1.1. The Georgian era (1714-1830) spanned the combined reigns of the five British monarchs from the Electorate of Hanover, a member state of the Holy Roman Empire.
1.2. George III was the first Hanoverian king born in England rather than Germany. His parents were Frederick, prince of Wales, and Augusta of Saxe-Gotha.
1.3. On his father’s death in 1751, the 12-year-old George became prince of Wales. He was cared for in relative isolation by his mother and tutored by the Scottish nobleman Lord Bute.
2. GEORGE III: LATER RULE AND MENTAL ILLNESS
2.1. In 1778 George lapsed into a months-long period of violent insanity. He was restrained with a straitjacket and suffered various treatments as crisis of rule unfolded around him.
2.2. He recovered the next year and reigned for the next 12 as a newly beloved monarch and symbol of stability in the era of France’s revolutionary chaos.
2.3. George suffered a second major bout of insanity in 1804 and recovered, but in 1810 he slipped into his final illness.
2.4. George III died blind, deaf and mad on January 29, 1820.
3. GEORGE III: EARLY REIGN
3.1. George III became king of Great Britain and Ireland in 1760 following his grandfather George II’s death.
3.2. It was a political union—the two met for the first time on their wedding day—but a fruitful one, producing 15 children.
3.3. A year after his coronation, George was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke.
4. GEORGE III: THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
4.1. A year after his coronation, George was married to Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the daughter of a German duke.
4.2. In 1770 Lord North became prime minister, beginning a 12-year period of parliamentary stability.
4.3. In 1773 he passed an act taxing tea in the colonies. The Americans complained of taxation without representation.
