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On July, 6, 1553, Edward VI Tudor, King of England (1547-53), died at the age of 15. From the article:
"Edward VI of England
Edward VI of England reigned as king from 1547 to 1553 CE. Succeeding his father Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE), Edward was only nine years old at the time and so the kingdom was ruled by a council of nobles, foremost among whom was Edward’s maternal uncle, Edward Seymour (l. c. 1500-1552 CE) until he was replaced by John Dudley, the Earl of Northumberland (l. 1504-1553 CE). During Edward’s reign, Protestant religious reforms continued as the Church of England broke further away from the traditions of the established Catholic Church directed by the Pope. There were also popular uprisings as the economy faltered and inflation was rampant. Edward's reign was short as he died of tuberculosis aged just 15. He was succeeded by his cousin Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554 CE) until what the majority of the people and nobility regarded as the rightful heir, his elder half-sister, was installed nine days later as Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE).
Henry VIII & The Succession
Henry VIII married six times but it was his first three marriages that each produced a future monarch. With Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE), Henry had a daughter, Mary (b. Feb. 1516 CE). With Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536 CE), there was another daughter, Elizabeth (b. Sep. 1533 CE). With wife number three, Jane Seymour, who was a lady-in-waiting at court, Henry had his first and last legitimate son, Edward, born on 12 October 1537 CE in Hampton Court Palace. At the joyous news, there followed 2,000 cannon shots let off in the Tower of London, bells rang out across England and there were 24 hours of parties and feasts but, tragically, Jane died 12 days after giving birth, most likely from post-natal fever.
Henry VIII left his son Edward an impoverished kingdom split over religious issues.
As the first marriage was annulled to permit the second and Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery, so each of their children was disinherited and it was Edward who became the official heir to the throne. As more wives came and went and no more children were forthcoming, Henry changed his mind in 1544 CE and declared that Edward could be succeeded by his half-sister Mary with Elizabeth next in line.
Henry VIII’s health declined rapidly in his later years as the king became seriously overweight and suffered a badly ulcerated leg. The king died on 28 January 1547 CE at Whitehall Palace in London; he was 55 years old. Henry was buried in Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, next to his late third wife, Jane Seymour, and he was duly succeeded by Edward who became Edward VI at his coronation in Westminster Abbey on 20 February 1547 CE. Henry, having split the Church in England from Rome to acquire his first marriage annulment and gone on a massive spending spree on palaces and wars, left his son an impoverished kingdom split over religious issues and, particularly, whether or not to press on with reforming the Church.
The Regency & Church Reform
As Edward was only nine when he became king, England was effectively ruled by a council of nobles, chief amongst these was the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, the young king’s uncle. Henry VIII had stipulated that the regency council not be dominated by any single individual but this proved to be a difficult principle to maintain in practice. The ambitious Seymour gave out titles and money to his supporters and promoted himself from the Earl of Hertford to the Duke of Somerset in 1547 CE, thus making himself, in effect, sole regent. Seymour was a committed Church reformer and, with the aid of such figures as Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, he showed his intent from the very start of his nephew’s reign by including an oath in the coronation ceremony that the king would uphold the Reformation begun by his father. Next came the 1547 CE Treason Act which lifted old restrictions and permitted the free discussion of religious matters, as well as the printing and distribution of related materials.
Iconography, murals & pictorial stained glass windows were all removed from churches & services were now conducted in English, not Latin.
Seymour had his enemies amongst those Catholics not in favour of Church reform and these included his own brother Thomas Seymour, the Lord High Admiral. Edward Seymour jealously guarded his position of favour with the young king and his two half-sisters and even had Thomas Seymour executed in March 1549 CE when he tried to muscle in on the royal court.
Reforms continued apace as the term Protestantism came into widespread use for the first time. Iconography, murals, and pictorial stained glass windows were all removed from churches, and services were now conducted in English, not Latin. Catholic altars were replaced by communion tables. Priests were now permitted to marry. A new Book of Common Prayer was issued in English in 1549 CE and made compulsory under the Act of Uniformity of the same year. The prayer book was updated with an even more radical departure from Roman Catholicism in 1552 CE when the idea of transubstantiation was rejected (that the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ). Religious guilds were suppressed, endowments (chantries) were abolished for priests to sing mass for the souls of the dead, and church lands were confiscated. The riches gained lined the pockets of the nobility, although Edward did use some of the cash to found a number of grammar schools.
Many hard-liner traditionalists took a stand against these changes, although there was also a surprising apathy on the part of most. When religion mixed with politics, though, there were more serious consequences such as several popular uprisings. These riots and disturbances were further fuelled by land enclosures (the use of common land to create private hunting estates or grazing land for livestock), inflation (caused by heavy war costs and currency debasement), and new taxes on wool cloth and sheep. On top of these problems, the population of England had risen from 2.3 million in 1530 to 3 million in 1550 CE putting prices up as demand increased and making it difficult for some to find work. The uprisings included riots in Cornwall and the Mousehold Heath rebellion in Norfolk led by Robert Kett who audaciously declared his own commonwealth in 1549 CE. These troubles were eventually put down, some ruthlessly like the massacre at Dussindale in Norfolk (26 August) but they were enough to see Seymour removed from office and be replaced by John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick in October 1549 CE.
A Manipulated King?
Edward, meanwhile, had never displayed a particularly strong constitution as a young child, despite the careful efforts to preserve the health of what his father had called ‘his most precious jewel.’ The prince and then king continued his education in Latin, Greek, theology, philosophy, and the classics. Edward also practised many sports such as horse-riding, fencing, archery, and tennis, and the arts were not neglected with lessons in dancing and music, especially the lute. While the fledgeling king was thus occupied, the hawks of political office hovered around his court to take from it what they could. As the noted Tudor historian G. R. Elton noted:
Edward was naturally haughty and arrogant, like all the Tudors; also like all his family, he had a marked intellectual ability…The king was a cold-hearted prig, a fact which not even the pathos of his miserable death can make one forget. Self-righteous, inclined to cruelty, and - need we wonder at it? - easily swayed by cunning men, he exercised such little influence as he possessed in favour of disastrous policies and disastrous politicians. (202)
Foreign Policy
England’s familiar enemies in war were France and Scotland, the ‘Auld Alliance.’ There was a plan in 1543 CE for Edward, the Prince of Wales, to marry Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1542-1567 CE) but neither nation was keen to forgo any of their independence. The English persisted with the scheme with the so-called ‘Rough Wooing’ of 1544-5 CE when the Scottish lowlands were ravaged but, unsurprisingly, this policy only hardened Scottish resolve.
A campaign by Edward Seymour in Scotland in 1547 CE had met with some success, notably the victory at the Battle of Pinkie (near Musselburgh) on 10 September but no lasting advantage was achieved and the newly established English garrisons there came under repeated Scottish attack. The French were also besieging Boulogne, and Seymour’s commitment of troops in France and Scotland may explain his fatal dallying when trying to deal with the popular revolts in England. Wars in two countries were, in any case, beyond the financial means of England and, accordingly, 1550 CE saw a peace treaty signed between England, France, and Scotland, the Treaty of Boulogne (so-called because Boulogne was returned to the French crown).
Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Dudley, Earl of Warwick gained the confidence of Edward and made himself the Earl of Northumberland in 1551 CE. He moved quickly to remove any rivals and even the discredited Edward Seymour was executed on 22 January 1552 CE. Edward kept a diary and his descriptions are surprisingly unemotional, even when they touch on the death of his uncle: "The Duke of Somerset had his head cut off on Tower Hill between eight and nine o’clock this morning" (Jones, 227).
Dudley pressed on with the Reformation with gusto, perhaps more motivated by greed for the church’s wealth than any true religious conviction. The more radical prayer book mentioned above was introduced and further restrictions made on ‘Popish’ practices like the toning down of the vestments of the clergy and abolition of prayers for the dead. The economy improved somewhat thanks to anti-enclosure legislation and an end to the practice of mixing too much copper into the silver coinage which dampened inflation. The king and new regent (in all but name) worked closely together with the earl secretly teaching Edward speeches he could deliver with aplomb to the King's Council the following day. But then disaster struck. Edward contracted both measles and smallpox in the summer of 1552 CE. In 1553 CE, after a particularly harsh winter, he was showing the effects of tuberculosis and his days were numbered.
Death & Successors
The king’s successor had been appointed by his father if Edward had no children: Mary, his elder half-sister, but she was an ardent Catholic and so would very likely reverse the Reformation when she became queen (and also end Dudley’s career). Dudley, therefore, persuaded Edward, who was himself a keen Reformist, to nominate instead his cousin Lady Jane Grey. Edward died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 6 July 1553 CE at Greenwich Palace, aged just 15. Dudley kept the death secret for a few days while he moved to install Lady Jane Grey as queen, then just 16 years of age.
Lady Jane Grey was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England (r. 1485-1509 CE), granddaughter of Mary Tudor (1496-1533 CE) the sister of Henry VIII and, perhaps more significantly, the daughter-in-law of John Dudley. The king’s council and Parliament accepted Edward’s nomination of Jane. Unfortunately for all Dudley’s carefully laid plans, Mary was not about to let this opportunity slip away, and she had plenty of support she could call upon immediately. The choice between a lady with only distant royal relations and a daughter of Henry VIII was an easy one to make for the public regardless of religious convictions. An army marched in Mary’s name on London, and both the nobility and commoners were united that Henry VIII’s original wish should be honoured. Mary was met by cheering crowds in London on 3 August 1553 CE. Dudley was duly ousted and Lady Jane Grey, who had been a reluctant participant in the whole nine-day scheme, was confined in the Tower of London until her execution there on 12 February 1554 CE. Dudley was executed on 22 August 1553 CE. Mary was crowned in Westminster Abbey and so became Mary I of England on 1 October 1553 CE. Mary reigned until 1558 CE when she was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603 CE), with whom arrived England’s Golden Age."
"Edward VI of England
Edward VI of England reigned as king from 1547 to 1553 CE. Succeeding his father Henry VIII of England (r. 1509-1547 CE), Edward was only nine years old at the time and so the kingdom was ruled by a council of nobles, foremost among whom was Edward’s maternal uncle, Edward Seymour (l. c. 1500-1552 CE) until he was replaced by John Dudley, the Earl of Northumberland (l. 1504-1553 CE). During Edward’s reign, Protestant religious reforms continued as the Church of England broke further away from the traditions of the established Catholic Church directed by the Pope. There were also popular uprisings as the economy faltered and inflation was rampant. Edward's reign was short as he died of tuberculosis aged just 15. He was succeeded by his cousin Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554 CE) until what the majority of the people and nobility regarded as the rightful heir, his elder half-sister, was installed nine days later as Mary I of England (r. 1553-1558 CE).
Henry VIII & The Succession
Henry VIII married six times but it was his first three marriages that each produced a future monarch. With Catherine of Aragon (1485-1536 CE), Henry had a daughter, Mary (b. Feb. 1516 CE). With Anne Boleyn (c. 1501-1536 CE), there was another daughter, Elizabeth (b. Sep. 1533 CE). With wife number three, Jane Seymour, who was a lady-in-waiting at court, Henry had his first and last legitimate son, Edward, born on 12 October 1537 CE in Hampton Court Palace. At the joyous news, there followed 2,000 cannon shots let off in the Tower of London, bells rang out across England and there were 24 hours of parties and feasts but, tragically, Jane died 12 days after giving birth, most likely from post-natal fever.
Henry VIII left his son Edward an impoverished kingdom split over religious issues.
As the first marriage was annulled to permit the second and Anne Boleyn was executed on charges of adultery, so each of their children was disinherited and it was Edward who became the official heir to the throne. As more wives came and went and no more children were forthcoming, Henry changed his mind in 1544 CE and declared that Edward could be succeeded by his half-sister Mary with Elizabeth next in line.
Henry VIII’s health declined rapidly in his later years as the king became seriously overweight and suffered a badly ulcerated leg. The king died on 28 January 1547 CE at Whitehall Palace in London; he was 55 years old. Henry was buried in Saint George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle, next to his late third wife, Jane Seymour, and he was duly succeeded by Edward who became Edward VI at his coronation in Westminster Abbey on 20 February 1547 CE. Henry, having split the Church in England from Rome to acquire his first marriage annulment and gone on a massive spending spree on palaces and wars, left his son an impoverished kingdom split over religious issues and, particularly, whether or not to press on with reforming the Church.
The Regency & Church Reform
As Edward was only nine when he became king, England was effectively ruled by a council of nobles, chief amongst these was the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, the young king’s uncle. Henry VIII had stipulated that the regency council not be dominated by any single individual but this proved to be a difficult principle to maintain in practice. The ambitious Seymour gave out titles and money to his supporters and promoted himself from the Earl of Hertford to the Duke of Somerset in 1547 CE, thus making himself, in effect, sole regent. Seymour was a committed Church reformer and, with the aid of such figures as Thomas Cranmer, the archbishop of Canterbury, he showed his intent from the very start of his nephew’s reign by including an oath in the coronation ceremony that the king would uphold the Reformation begun by his father. Next came the 1547 CE Treason Act which lifted old restrictions and permitted the free discussion of religious matters, as well as the printing and distribution of related materials.
Iconography, murals & pictorial stained glass windows were all removed from churches & services were now conducted in English, not Latin.
Seymour had his enemies amongst those Catholics not in favour of Church reform and these included his own brother Thomas Seymour, the Lord High Admiral. Edward Seymour jealously guarded his position of favour with the young king and his two half-sisters and even had Thomas Seymour executed in March 1549 CE when he tried to muscle in on the royal court.
Reforms continued apace as the term Protestantism came into widespread use for the first time. Iconography, murals, and pictorial stained glass windows were all removed from churches, and services were now conducted in English, not Latin. Catholic altars were replaced by communion tables. Priests were now permitted to marry. A new Book of Common Prayer was issued in English in 1549 CE and made compulsory under the Act of Uniformity of the same year. The prayer book was updated with an even more radical departure from Roman Catholicism in 1552 CE when the idea of transubstantiation was rejected (that the Eucharistic elements of bread and wine become the body and blood of Jesus Christ). Religious guilds were suppressed, endowments (chantries) were abolished for priests to sing mass for the souls of the dead, and church lands were confiscated. The riches gained lined the pockets of the nobility, although Edward did use some of the cash to found a number of grammar schools.
Many hard-liner traditionalists took a stand against these changes, although there was also a surprising apathy on the part of most. When religion mixed with politics, though, there were more serious consequences such as several popular uprisings. These riots and disturbances were further fuelled by land enclosures (the use of common land to create private hunting estates or grazing land for livestock), inflation (caused by heavy war costs and currency debasement), and new taxes on wool cloth and sheep. On top of these problems, the population of England had risen from 2.3 million in 1530 to 3 million in 1550 CE putting prices up as demand increased and making it difficult for some to find work. The uprisings included riots in Cornwall and the Mousehold Heath rebellion in Norfolk led by Robert Kett who audaciously declared his own commonwealth in 1549 CE. These troubles were eventually put down, some ruthlessly like the massacre at Dussindale in Norfolk (26 August) but they were enough to see Seymour removed from office and be replaced by John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick in October 1549 CE.
A Manipulated King?
Edward, meanwhile, had never displayed a particularly strong constitution as a young child, despite the careful efforts to preserve the health of what his father had called ‘his most precious jewel.’ The prince and then king continued his education in Latin, Greek, theology, philosophy, and the classics. Edward also practised many sports such as horse-riding, fencing, archery, and tennis, and the arts were not neglected with lessons in dancing and music, especially the lute. While the fledgeling king was thus occupied, the hawks of political office hovered around his court to take from it what they could. As the noted Tudor historian G. R. Elton noted:
Edward was naturally haughty and arrogant, like all the Tudors; also like all his family, he had a marked intellectual ability…The king was a cold-hearted prig, a fact which not even the pathos of his miserable death can make one forget. Self-righteous, inclined to cruelty, and - need we wonder at it? - easily swayed by cunning men, he exercised such little influence as he possessed in favour of disastrous policies and disastrous politicians. (202)
Foreign Policy
England’s familiar enemies in war were France and Scotland, the ‘Auld Alliance.’ There was a plan in 1543 CE for Edward, the Prince of Wales, to marry Mary, Queen of Scots (r. 1542-1567 CE) but neither nation was keen to forgo any of their independence. The English persisted with the scheme with the so-called ‘Rough Wooing’ of 1544-5 CE when the Scottish lowlands were ravaged but, unsurprisingly, this policy only hardened Scottish resolve.
A campaign by Edward Seymour in Scotland in 1547 CE had met with some success, notably the victory at the Battle of Pinkie (near Musselburgh) on 10 September but no lasting advantage was achieved and the newly established English garrisons there came under repeated Scottish attack. The French were also besieging Boulogne, and Seymour’s commitment of troops in France and Scotland may explain his fatal dallying when trying to deal with the popular revolts in England. Wars in two countries were, in any case, beyond the financial means of England and, accordingly, 1550 CE saw a peace treaty signed between England, France, and Scotland, the Treaty of Boulogne (so-called because Boulogne was returned to the French crown).
Dudley, Earl of Warwick
Dudley, Earl of Warwick gained the confidence of Edward and made himself the Earl of Northumberland in 1551 CE. He moved quickly to remove any rivals and even the discredited Edward Seymour was executed on 22 January 1552 CE. Edward kept a diary and his descriptions are surprisingly unemotional, even when they touch on the death of his uncle: "The Duke of Somerset had his head cut off on Tower Hill between eight and nine o’clock this morning" (Jones, 227).
Dudley pressed on with the Reformation with gusto, perhaps more motivated by greed for the church’s wealth than any true religious conviction. The more radical prayer book mentioned above was introduced and further restrictions made on ‘Popish’ practices like the toning down of the vestments of the clergy and abolition of prayers for the dead. The economy improved somewhat thanks to anti-enclosure legislation and an end to the practice of mixing too much copper into the silver coinage which dampened inflation. The king and new regent (in all but name) worked closely together with the earl secretly teaching Edward speeches he could deliver with aplomb to the King's Council the following day. But then disaster struck. Edward contracted both measles and smallpox in the summer of 1552 CE. In 1553 CE, after a particularly harsh winter, he was showing the effects of tuberculosis and his days were numbered.
Death & Successors
The king’s successor had been appointed by his father if Edward had no children: Mary, his elder half-sister, but she was an ardent Catholic and so would very likely reverse the Reformation when she became queen (and also end Dudley’s career). Dudley, therefore, persuaded Edward, who was himself a keen Reformist, to nominate instead his cousin Lady Jane Grey. Edward died of pulmonary tuberculosis on 6 July 1553 CE at Greenwich Palace, aged just 15. Dudley kept the death secret for a few days while he moved to install Lady Jane Grey as queen, then just 16 years of age.
Lady Jane Grey was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England (r. 1485-1509 CE), granddaughter of Mary Tudor (1496-1533 CE) the sister of Henry VIII and, perhaps more significantly, the daughter-in-law of John Dudley. The king’s council and Parliament accepted Edward’s nomination of Jane. Unfortunately for all Dudley’s carefully laid plans, Mary was not about to let this opportunity slip away, and she had plenty of support she could call upon immediately. The choice between a lady with only distant royal relations and a daughter of Henry VIII was an easy one to make for the public regardless of religious convictions. An army marched in Mary’s name on London, and both the nobility and commoners were united that Henry VIII’s original wish should be honoured. Mary was met by cheering crowds in London on 3 August 1553 CE. Dudley was duly ousted and Lady Jane Grey, who had been a reluctant participant in the whole nine-day scheme, was confined in the Tower of London until her execution there on 12 February 1554 CE. Dudley was executed on 22 August 1553 CE. Mary was crowned in Westminster Abbey and so became Mary I of England on 1 October 1553 CE. Mary reigned until 1558 CE when she was succeeded by her half-sister Elizabeth I (r. 1558-1603 CE), with whom arrived England’s Golden Age."
Edward VI of England
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The Child Who Became King | Edward VI of England | Real Royalty
Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's most striking monarchs: a brother and sister, tied by blood and a...
Thank you, my friend SGT (Join to see) for making us aware that the only son of British King Henry VIII Tudor namely Edward VI Tudor died of tuberculosis on July, 6, 1553 at age 15 after reigning since his father's death on January 28, 1547.
The Child Who Became King | Edward VI of England | Real Royalty
Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's most striking monarchs: a brother and sister, tied by blood and affection, and torn apart by religion, power, and some of the bloodiest episodes in English history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyDHUkcN2o
Images
1. Edward VI and the Pope An Allegory of the Reformation at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The painting represents the handing over of power from Henry VIII to his son Edward VI. Henry lies in bed, and Edward sits on a dais beneath a cloth of state, with a book at his feet containing a text from Isaiah, which falls onto the slumped figure of a pope. The pope points a triple cross towards two monks, lower left, who pull on chains attached to Edward's dais. Standing to Edward's side is a figure identified as his uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Other figures on the right represent Edward's Privy Council and include the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (in white), the Lord Privy Seal John Russell (grey beard), and William Paget (forked beard), the Comptroller of the King's Household. At top right is a picture of iconoclasm, the smashing of idols, an activity approved of by Cranmer and many religious reformers
2. King Edward VI (1537–1553) painted by Guillaume Scrots oil on panel located at Christ's Hospital
3. Edward VI as a Child probably 1538, oil on panel, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger
4. Detail of the Family of Henry VIII c. 1545, Oil on canvas, king seated in the center beneath a canopy of state flanked by his third wife, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward, later Edward VI.
Biographies:
1. schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/edward-vi
2.
1. Background from {[https://schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/edward-vi/]}
Key Facts & Summary
• Edward VI was Henry VIII’s only male son.
• He became king of England at the age of nine and ruled until he was fifteen.
• Not much is known about him: however, he was an entitled and self-righteous child.
• Edward was not at all active in the governance of his reign.
• During his reign Protestantism and the Reformation took shape.
Biography
Edward VI was the only son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He was born on October 12, 1537, and his mother died only twelve days after giving birth to him. Jane is described as a pleasant and ‘quiet’ woman that possessed much charisma In 1547, on January 28, Henry VIII died and Edward became the king of England at only nine years old. He was crowned the same year on February 29, and as the Spanish ambassadors recall, ‘there was no very memorable show of triumph or magnificence’ (Westfall 2001).
Although it is commonly believed that Edward was a ‘frail’, unhealthy boy, the child-king was actually in good health, ‘robust’, and athletic, with a keen interest in Greek, Latin, French, and theology (Morrill 2019).
Edward VI was too young to rule. Therefore, he was assigned two advisors: the Duke of Somerset, his uncle; and the Duke of Northumberland (Trueman 2015). Both advisors wanted to change England’s religion: in fact, both the king and the country had become Protestant following the Reformation.
Whilst the Duke of Somerset and of Northumberland were meddling in the government’s affairs, King Edward spent his childhood playing tennis, backgammon, chess, cards, and martial arts (Westfall 2001). Moreover, the young boy enjoyed gambling until his teacher Roger Ascham reprimanded him severely and forbade such costly occupation (Westfall 2001).
Moreover, he dedicated himself to the study of the music by learning how to sing and play the lute. After all, when King Henry VIII employed the Flemish musician Philip van Wilder, he wanted his son to fully appreciate such art and encourage him to learn how to compose music (Westfall 2001).
However, when he became king, Edward did not play an active part in control of his reign. Rather, he was a ‘puppet’ in the hands of more politically ambitious men that sought to implement changes in their favour (such as on the religious front).
Edward VI’s personality
Since Edward died at a very young age, not much is known in regards to his personality and of the person that he would become. However, G.R. Elton provides us with an account of Edward’s behaviour as a teenager and states: ‘Edward played no part in his reign; … his character and views … were neither attractive nor promising. Edward was naturally haughty and arrogant, like all Tudors; also like his family, he had a marked intellectual ability which an appalling schooling had turned into a precocious passion for protestant theology. The king was a cold-hearted prig, a fact which even the pathos of his miserable death cannot make forget. Self-righteous, inclined to cruelty and … easily swayed by cunning men, he exercised such little influence as he possessed in favour of disastrous policies and disastrous politicians’ (Hartweg 2012; citing Elton).
Changes to the Church
When Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic religion, nothing much had changed apart from his right to divorce with ease. However, the Dukes in charge of Edward took the religious matters more seriously: churches were made to look more simple and ‘plain’, ‘stained glass windows’ as well as religious pictures and anything sumptuous was removed from Churches; even the furniture was changed in order to be replaced by ones that were more ‘basic and plain’ (Trueman 2015).
Moreover, the service was no longer carried out in Latin: the holy mass was carried out in English. With the new reforms, priests were allowed to marry and were not obliged to wear the same type of clothing as Roman Catholic priests (Trueman 2015).
Edward VI’s Journal
Edward’s journal is fascinating since it provides its readers with further information about the not-well-known king. One interesting passage depicts his relation with his sister, Mary. It is worth noting that whereas Edward was Protestant, Mary was a fervent Catholic that did not intend to change her faith. In such entry, Edward writes about a quarrel he had had with his sister, and thus he writes: ‘The lady Mary, my sister, came to me to Westminster, where after greetings she was called with my council into a chamber where it was declared how long I had suffered her mass, in hope of her reconciliation, and how now, there is no hope as I saw by her letters, unless I saw some speedy amendment I could not bear it. She answered that her soul was God’s and her faith she would not change, nor hide her opinion with dissembled doings. It was said I did not constrain her faith but willed her only as a subject to obey. And that her example might lead to too much inconvenience’ (Edward VI 1551).
In essence, Edward was attempting to dissuade Mary from practicing Catholicism in order to avoid any ‘inconveniences’. As a response, Mary I simply claimed ‘Riper age and experience will teach Your Majesty much more yet’, to which the king replied ‘You also may have somewhat to learn. None are too old for that’ (Whitelock 2009).
Edward VI’s death
Since his accession to the throne, Edward was always considered a feeble and sick boy.
Before dying, on July 6, 1553, Edward prayed and Chris Skidmore, a historian, wrote down the king’s exact words. The following passage reveals the young king’s wishes for the kingdom, and his desire of remaining a protestant country: ‘Lord God, deliver me out of this miserable and wretched life, and take me among thy chosen: howbeit not my will, but thy will be done. Lord I commit my spirit to thee. O Lord! Thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee: yet, for thy chosen’s sake, send me life and health, that I may truly serve thee. O my Lord God, bless thy people, and save thine inheritance! O Lord God save thy chosen people of England! O my Lord God. defend this realm from papistry, and maintain thy true religion; that I and my people may praise thy holy name, for thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake!’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Edward VI).
Edward had been ill for almost six months, and he did not present any signs of imminent recovery. It is not entirely clear what type of disease Edward VI suffered from, however, thanks to an account of the Imperial Ambassador Jeahan Scheyfve, it is known that: ‘the King of England is still confined to his chamber, and seems to be sensitive to the slightest indisposition or change, partly at any rate because his right shoulder is lower than his left and he suffers a good deal when the fever is upon him, especially from a difficulty in drawing his breath, which is due to the compression of the organs on the right side. It is an important matter for consideration, especially as the illness is increasing from day to day, and the doctors have now openly declared to the Council, for their own discharge of responsibility, that the King’s life is threatened, and if any serious malady were to supervene he would not be able to hold out long against it. Some make light of the imperfection, saying that the depression in the right shoulder is hereditary in the house of Seymour, and that the late Duke of Somerset had his good share of it among the rest. But he only suffered inconvenience as far as it affected his appearance, and his shoulder never troubled him in any other way. It is said that about a year ago the King overstrained himself while hunting, and that the defect was increased. No good will he ever do with the lance. I opine that this is a visitation and sign from God’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Calendar of State Papers).
His sister Mary attempted to visit Edward, however, the king’s suffering was too intense, and she was not able to enter his chamber for three days. Although on the June 24, the Imperial Ambassador had publicly proclaimed in London that the king was far too ill to live more than three days, at the beginning of July Edward made an appearance in Greenwich in order to prove that he was alive. However, as Schefve reported on July 4, the king was ‘so thin and wasted that all men said he was doomed’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Calendar of State Papers).
The English people’s prophecy was indeed correct, and on July 6, Edward VI exhaled his last breath.
Biography
[1.] Hartweg, C. (2012). Edward VI – Growing into his own. All Things Robert Dudley.
[2.] Morrill, J.S. (2019). Edward VI: king of England and Ireland. Britannica.
[3.] Trueman, C.N. (2015). Edward VI. History Learning Site.
[4.] Westfall, S. (2001). The Boy who would be king: court reveals of King Edward VI, 1547-1553. Comparative Drama. 35 (3).
[5.] Whitelock, A. (2009). Mary Tudor: England’s first Queen. Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing.
2. Background from {[http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/tudor_6.htm]}
Edward VI reigned 1547-1553
Early Years
Edward VI, the only legitimate son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, was born at Hampton Court Palace, after a difficult and protracted labour, on 12th October, 1537.
Edward's christening in the chapel royal at Hampton Court, was a long and elaborate ceremony followed by a grand reception for the nearly four hundred guests. His arrival on the Vigil of St. Edward the Confessor decided the Prince's name and his elder sister, the Lady Mary, stood as the child's godmother, his other sister, the four year old Lady Elizabeth also took part, carrying the chrisom. His mother Queen Jane Seymour also participated although she had to be carried into the chapel on a portable bed.
Edward was never to know his mother, Jane Seymour contracted puerperal fever (or childbed fever) an infection of the uterus following childbirth and died twelve days later, on October 24th. Henry VIII is reported to have mourned the loss of his third wife sincerely, she was accorded a magnificent state funeral at which the Lady Mary, Henry's elder daughter who Jane had done much to reconcile with her father, acted as a chief mourner. Queen Jane was interred at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Edward was appointed a nurse, Mother Jack, to care for him, at four years old he contracted a quartan fever, the effects of which gripped him for months, but he eventually made a recovery. Despite of occasional illnesses and poor eyesight, he enjoyed generally good health and was described as a tall and merry child. Edward was initially placed in the care of Margaret Bryan, and at the age of six the young Prince was appointed his first tutor. He grew to be extremely fond of his last step mother, Catherine Parr, who took a lively interest in all of her husband's children from his previous marriages and provided a home life for them, which had been conspicuously lacking in Edward's life prior to her arrival.
The future Edward VI was a precocious and highly intelligent child, he was sparely built, but in most of his surviving portraits adopts the stance of his formidable father. Edward had the red hair of the Tudors and had one shoulder somewhat higher than the other, possibly a result of his difficult delivery. He quickly became proficient in Latin, Greek and French. Like all the Tudors, he was fond of music and played the lute.
On 1 July 1543, Henry VIII signed the Treaty of Greenwich with the Scots, sealing the peace with Edward's betrothal to his seven-month-old cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. The Scots were in a weak bargaining position after their defeat at Solway Moss the previous November, and Henry, seeking to unite the two realms, stipulated that Mary be handed over to him to be brought up in England. When the Scots repudiated the treaty in December 1543 and renewed their alliance with France, Henry was furious. In April 1544, he ordered Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, to invade Scotland and "put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh town, so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God lightened upon (them) for their falsehood and disloyalty". Edward Seymour responded with the most savage campaign ever launched by the English against the Scots. The war, which continued into Edward's reign, has become known as "The Rough Wooing".
Reign
Edward became King of England at nine years old, in January, 1547. The child was much distressed to hear of his father's death and he and his sister Elizabeth clung to each other weeping when the ominous news was relayed to them. His coronation took place on 19th February , 1547 and was performed by Archbishop Cramner. The lavish ceremonials were reduced to only seven hours, due to the new king's youth.
Henry VIII's will had decreed the kingdom was to be in the control of a Council of Regency during his son's minority. King Edward's ambitious maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, however, gained control, Hertford was made Lord Protector and later Duke of Somerset.
Somerset, in common with his young nephew, was an ardent Protestant. The use of English was enforced in church services by the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer. The heresy laws of Henry VIII were repealed. In Cornwall, these changes produced simmering ill feeling, which boiled into rebellion, the uprising was put down with severity.
Somerset lead an army into Scotland and defeated the Scots at the battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10th September, 1547. A further expedition was launched, burning and plundering all before it in the hope of forcing the Scots to hand over Mary, this "rough wooing" had an adverse effect on English marriage plans, the six year old Queen of Scots was smuggled out of the country to France, where in August, 1548, she was married to the Dauphin Francis, son of King Henry II of France.
The young King himself seems to have been a bigoted Protestant who was intensely interested in theology. He complained that his uncle, the Protector, kept him short of money. Edward's other maternal uncle, Thomas Seymour, the Lord Admiral, an ambitious and reckless man who had married Edward's step-mother, Catherine Parr, with unseemly haste after the death of Henry VIII, plotted to gain power with his nephew and Somerset was forced to send his brother to the block on a charge of high treason.
The Duke of Somerset was ousted from office in 1549 by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who became Duke of Northumberland in 1551. Somerset followed his brother to the block on a charge of treason, the young Edward noted coldly in his diary- "the duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o'clock in the morning". Northumberland ingratiated himself with the impressionable young King and acquired a dominating influence over him.
The highly religious Edward strongly disapproved of his elder sister Mary's ardent Catholicism. At the age of ten, he had written to their step-mother, Catherine Parr, urging her to influence Mary to give up foreign dances and merriments, which "did not become a Christian princess" When summoned to London to answer for her transgressions in continuing attendance at the Catholic mass, she told Edward that she would sooner he took away her life than her religion, he indignantly replied with irritation that he "required no such sacrifice." Mary responded by lecturing the King in front of his council "Riper age and experience will teach Your Majesty much more yet," Edward, embarrassed, responded sharply " You also may have somewhat to learn, none are too old for that."
Mary was summoned to appear before the council again on the matter of her attendance at mass and entered London with a large retinue of retainers. Her powerful maternal cousin, Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, threatened war on England in support of Mary. In the ensuing debate with his council, Edward, who adopted a defiant attitude to the Emperor's threats, was humiliatingly overruled, for which he shed bitter tears. Mary's victory was fated not to last, the French alliance was strengthened, after which the council proceeded to move against her. She and her household were deprived of the mass but defiantly continued to practice it in secret.
The Death of Edward VI
King Edward fell ill in April 1552, of a combination of measles and smallpox. Later in the year he began to exhibit signs of tuberculosis, or consumption as it was known at the time. By June it was obvious that the King was unlikely to survive. It is now known that the measles virus supresses host immunity to tuberculosis. The unscrupulous Northumberland, fearing for his own political survival under Edward's successor, the fanatically Catholic Mary, influenced the impressionable young King to disinherit both his sisters in favour of his cousin Lady Jane Grey.
Lady Jane was the grand-daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary and was conveniently married to Northumberland's son, Guildford Dudley. To allow time for his plans to progress, the Protector dismissed Edward's doctors and installed a female to administer to the dying king. Her 'restringents' brought on a temporary improvement but probably slowly poisoned him through the levels of arsenic they contained. Edward's sufferings reached a pitch where they became intolerable, he was heard to whisper to his tutor "I am glad to die." His legs and arms swelled and his skin darkened, while his fingers and toes became gangrenous, he also lost his hair and nails.
On July 6th, 1553, during the close atmosphere of a violent thunderstorm, which rumour said was the spectre of Henry VIII, stamping his feet in characteristic fury and venting his wrath at the extinction of his dynasty, King Edward VI died in agony, crying out with pathos "I am faint, Lord, have mercy upon me, take my spirit.".
News of the King's death was not released until 10th July to allow Northumberland time to bring his plans to fruition and establish his daughter-in-law on England's throne. Edward's body lay unburied until August 8th, when it was interred in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey under Protestant rites by his eventual successor, his sister Mary I. The service was carried out by his godfather, Thomas Cramner. Mary had wanted to give her half-brother a Catholic funeral, but was persuaded against it, instead, while the Protestant service was taking place, she had masses said for the soul of her young brother at the Tower."
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The Child Who Became King | Edward VI of England | Real Royalty
Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's most striking monarchs: a brother and sister, tied by blood and affection, and torn apart by religion, power, and some of the bloodiest episodes in English history.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tHyDHUkcN2o
Images
1. Edward VI and the Pope An Allegory of the Reformation at the National Portrait Gallery, London.
The painting represents the handing over of power from Henry VIII to his son Edward VI. Henry lies in bed, and Edward sits on a dais beneath a cloth of state, with a book at his feet containing a text from Isaiah, which falls onto the slumped figure of a pope. The pope points a triple cross towards two monks, lower left, who pull on chains attached to Edward's dais. Standing to Edward's side is a figure identified as his uncle, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Other figures on the right represent Edward's Privy Council and include the Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer (in white), the Lord Privy Seal John Russell (grey beard), and William Paget (forked beard), the Comptroller of the King's Household. At top right is a picture of iconoclasm, the smashing of idols, an activity approved of by Cranmer and many religious reformers
2. King Edward VI (1537–1553) painted by Guillaume Scrots oil on panel located at Christ's Hospital
3. Edward VI as a Child probably 1538, oil on panel, painted by Hans Holbein the Younger
4. Detail of the Family of Henry VIII c. 1545, Oil on canvas, king seated in the center beneath a canopy of state flanked by his third wife, Jane Seymour and Prince Edward, later Edward VI.
Biographies:
1. schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/edward-vi
2.
1. Background from {[https://schoolhistory.co.uk/notes/edward-vi/]}
Key Facts & Summary
• Edward VI was Henry VIII’s only male son.
• He became king of England at the age of nine and ruled until he was fifteen.
• Not much is known about him: however, he was an entitled and self-righteous child.
• Edward was not at all active in the governance of his reign.
• During his reign Protestantism and the Reformation took shape.
Biography
Edward VI was the only son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. He was born on October 12, 1537, and his mother died only twelve days after giving birth to him. Jane is described as a pleasant and ‘quiet’ woman that possessed much charisma In 1547, on January 28, Henry VIII died and Edward became the king of England at only nine years old. He was crowned the same year on February 29, and as the Spanish ambassadors recall, ‘there was no very memorable show of triumph or magnificence’ (Westfall 2001).
Although it is commonly believed that Edward was a ‘frail’, unhealthy boy, the child-king was actually in good health, ‘robust’, and athletic, with a keen interest in Greek, Latin, French, and theology (Morrill 2019).
Edward VI was too young to rule. Therefore, he was assigned two advisors: the Duke of Somerset, his uncle; and the Duke of Northumberland (Trueman 2015). Both advisors wanted to change England’s religion: in fact, both the king and the country had become Protestant following the Reformation.
Whilst the Duke of Somerset and of Northumberland were meddling in the government’s affairs, King Edward spent his childhood playing tennis, backgammon, chess, cards, and martial arts (Westfall 2001). Moreover, the young boy enjoyed gambling until his teacher Roger Ascham reprimanded him severely and forbade such costly occupation (Westfall 2001).
Moreover, he dedicated himself to the study of the music by learning how to sing and play the lute. After all, when King Henry VIII employed the Flemish musician Philip van Wilder, he wanted his son to fully appreciate such art and encourage him to learn how to compose music (Westfall 2001).
However, when he became king, Edward did not play an active part in control of his reign. Rather, he was a ‘puppet’ in the hands of more politically ambitious men that sought to implement changes in their favour (such as on the religious front).
Edward VI’s personality
Since Edward died at a very young age, not much is known in regards to his personality and of the person that he would become. However, G.R. Elton provides us with an account of Edward’s behaviour as a teenager and states: ‘Edward played no part in his reign; … his character and views … were neither attractive nor promising. Edward was naturally haughty and arrogant, like all Tudors; also like his family, he had a marked intellectual ability which an appalling schooling had turned into a precocious passion for protestant theology. The king was a cold-hearted prig, a fact which even the pathos of his miserable death cannot make forget. Self-righteous, inclined to cruelty and … easily swayed by cunning men, he exercised such little influence as he possessed in favour of disastrous policies and disastrous politicians’ (Hartweg 2012; citing Elton).
Changes to the Church
When Henry VIII broke ties with the Catholic religion, nothing much had changed apart from his right to divorce with ease. However, the Dukes in charge of Edward took the religious matters more seriously: churches were made to look more simple and ‘plain’, ‘stained glass windows’ as well as religious pictures and anything sumptuous was removed from Churches; even the furniture was changed in order to be replaced by ones that were more ‘basic and plain’ (Trueman 2015).
Moreover, the service was no longer carried out in Latin: the holy mass was carried out in English. With the new reforms, priests were allowed to marry and were not obliged to wear the same type of clothing as Roman Catholic priests (Trueman 2015).
Edward VI’s Journal
Edward’s journal is fascinating since it provides its readers with further information about the not-well-known king. One interesting passage depicts his relation with his sister, Mary. It is worth noting that whereas Edward was Protestant, Mary was a fervent Catholic that did not intend to change her faith. In such entry, Edward writes about a quarrel he had had with his sister, and thus he writes: ‘The lady Mary, my sister, came to me to Westminster, where after greetings she was called with my council into a chamber where it was declared how long I had suffered her mass, in hope of her reconciliation, and how now, there is no hope as I saw by her letters, unless I saw some speedy amendment I could not bear it. She answered that her soul was God’s and her faith she would not change, nor hide her opinion with dissembled doings. It was said I did not constrain her faith but willed her only as a subject to obey. And that her example might lead to too much inconvenience’ (Edward VI 1551).
In essence, Edward was attempting to dissuade Mary from practicing Catholicism in order to avoid any ‘inconveniences’. As a response, Mary I simply claimed ‘Riper age and experience will teach Your Majesty much more yet’, to which the king replied ‘You also may have somewhat to learn. None are too old for that’ (Whitelock 2009).
Edward VI’s death
Since his accession to the throne, Edward was always considered a feeble and sick boy.
Before dying, on July 6, 1553, Edward prayed and Chris Skidmore, a historian, wrote down the king’s exact words. The following passage reveals the young king’s wishes for the kingdom, and his desire of remaining a protestant country: ‘Lord God, deliver me out of this miserable and wretched life, and take me among thy chosen: howbeit not my will, but thy will be done. Lord I commit my spirit to thee. O Lord! Thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee: yet, for thy chosen’s sake, send me life and health, that I may truly serve thee. O my Lord God, bless thy people, and save thine inheritance! O Lord God save thy chosen people of England! O my Lord God. defend this realm from papistry, and maintain thy true religion; that I and my people may praise thy holy name, for thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake!’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Edward VI).
Edward had been ill for almost six months, and he did not present any signs of imminent recovery. It is not entirely clear what type of disease Edward VI suffered from, however, thanks to an account of the Imperial Ambassador Jeahan Scheyfve, it is known that: ‘the King of England is still confined to his chamber, and seems to be sensitive to the slightest indisposition or change, partly at any rate because his right shoulder is lower than his left and he suffers a good deal when the fever is upon him, especially from a difficulty in drawing his breath, which is due to the compression of the organs on the right side. It is an important matter for consideration, especially as the illness is increasing from day to day, and the doctors have now openly declared to the Council, for their own discharge of responsibility, that the King’s life is threatened, and if any serious malady were to supervene he would not be able to hold out long against it. Some make light of the imperfection, saying that the depression in the right shoulder is hereditary in the house of Seymour, and that the late Duke of Somerset had his good share of it among the rest. But he only suffered inconvenience as far as it affected his appearance, and his shoulder never troubled him in any other way. It is said that about a year ago the King overstrained himself while hunting, and that the defect was increased. No good will he ever do with the lance. I opine that this is a visitation and sign from God’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Calendar of State Papers).
His sister Mary attempted to visit Edward, however, the king’s suffering was too intense, and she was not able to enter his chamber for three days. Although on the June 24, the Imperial Ambassador had publicly proclaimed in London that the king was far too ill to live more than three days, at the beginning of July Edward made an appearance in Greenwich in order to prove that he was alive. However, as Schefve reported on July 4, the king was ‘so thin and wasted that all men said he was doomed’ (Ridgway 2011; citing Calendar of State Papers).
The English people’s prophecy was indeed correct, and on July 6, Edward VI exhaled his last breath.
Biography
[1.] Hartweg, C. (2012). Edward VI – Growing into his own. All Things Robert Dudley.
[2.] Morrill, J.S. (2019). Edward VI: king of England and Ireland. Britannica.
[3.] Trueman, C.N. (2015). Edward VI. History Learning Site.
[4.] Westfall, S. (2001). The Boy who would be king: court reveals of King Edward VI, 1547-1553. Comparative Drama. 35 (3).
[5.] Whitelock, A. (2009). Mary Tudor: England’s first Queen. Great Britain: Bloomsbury Publishing.
2. Background from {[http://www.englishmonarchs.co.uk/tudor_6.htm]}
Edward VI reigned 1547-1553
Early Years
Edward VI, the only legitimate son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, was born at Hampton Court Palace, after a difficult and protracted labour, on 12th October, 1537.
Edward's christening in the chapel royal at Hampton Court, was a long and elaborate ceremony followed by a grand reception for the nearly four hundred guests. His arrival on the Vigil of St. Edward the Confessor decided the Prince's name and his elder sister, the Lady Mary, stood as the child's godmother, his other sister, the four year old Lady Elizabeth also took part, carrying the chrisom. His mother Queen Jane Seymour also participated although she had to be carried into the chapel on a portable bed.
Edward was never to know his mother, Jane Seymour contracted puerperal fever (or childbed fever) an infection of the uterus following childbirth and died twelve days later, on October 24th. Henry VIII is reported to have mourned the loss of his third wife sincerely, she was accorded a magnificent state funeral at which the Lady Mary, Henry's elder daughter who Jane had done much to reconcile with her father, acted as a chief mourner. Queen Jane was interred at St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.
Edward was appointed a nurse, Mother Jack, to care for him, at four years old he contracted a quartan fever, the effects of which gripped him for months, but he eventually made a recovery. Despite of occasional illnesses and poor eyesight, he enjoyed generally good health and was described as a tall and merry child. Edward was initially placed in the care of Margaret Bryan, and at the age of six the young Prince was appointed his first tutor. He grew to be extremely fond of his last step mother, Catherine Parr, who took a lively interest in all of her husband's children from his previous marriages and provided a home life for them, which had been conspicuously lacking in Edward's life prior to her arrival.
The future Edward VI was a precocious and highly intelligent child, he was sparely built, but in most of his surviving portraits adopts the stance of his formidable father. Edward had the red hair of the Tudors and had one shoulder somewhat higher than the other, possibly a result of his difficult delivery. He quickly became proficient in Latin, Greek and French. Like all the Tudors, he was fond of music and played the lute.
On 1 July 1543, Henry VIII signed the Treaty of Greenwich with the Scots, sealing the peace with Edward's betrothal to his seven-month-old cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots. The Scots were in a weak bargaining position after their defeat at Solway Moss the previous November, and Henry, seeking to unite the two realms, stipulated that Mary be handed over to him to be brought up in England. When the Scots repudiated the treaty in December 1543 and renewed their alliance with France, Henry was furious. In April 1544, he ordered Edward's uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, to invade Scotland and "put all to fire and sword, burn Edinburgh town, so razed and defaced when you have sacked and gotten what ye can of it, as there may remain forever a perpetual memory of the vengeance of God lightened upon (them) for their falsehood and disloyalty". Edward Seymour responded with the most savage campaign ever launched by the English against the Scots. The war, which continued into Edward's reign, has become known as "The Rough Wooing".
Reign
Edward became King of England at nine years old, in January, 1547. The child was much distressed to hear of his father's death and he and his sister Elizabeth clung to each other weeping when the ominous news was relayed to them. His coronation took place on 19th February , 1547 and was performed by Archbishop Cramner. The lavish ceremonials were reduced to only seven hours, due to the new king's youth.
Henry VIII's will had decreed the kingdom was to be in the control of a Council of Regency during his son's minority. King Edward's ambitious maternal uncle, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, however, gained control, Hertford was made Lord Protector and later Duke of Somerset.
Somerset, in common with his young nephew, was an ardent Protestant. The use of English was enforced in church services by the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer. The heresy laws of Henry VIII were repealed. In Cornwall, these changes produced simmering ill feeling, which boiled into rebellion, the uprising was put down with severity.
Somerset lead an army into Scotland and defeated the Scots at the battle of Pinkie Cleugh on 10th September, 1547. A further expedition was launched, burning and plundering all before it in the hope of forcing the Scots to hand over Mary, this "rough wooing" had an adverse effect on English marriage plans, the six year old Queen of Scots was smuggled out of the country to France, where in August, 1548, she was married to the Dauphin Francis, son of King Henry II of France.
The young King himself seems to have been a bigoted Protestant who was intensely interested in theology. He complained that his uncle, the Protector, kept him short of money. Edward's other maternal uncle, Thomas Seymour, the Lord Admiral, an ambitious and reckless man who had married Edward's step-mother, Catherine Parr, with unseemly haste after the death of Henry VIII, plotted to gain power with his nephew and Somerset was forced to send his brother to the block on a charge of high treason.
The Duke of Somerset was ousted from office in 1549 by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who became Duke of Northumberland in 1551. Somerset followed his brother to the block on a charge of treason, the young Edward noted coldly in his diary- "the duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o'clock in the morning". Northumberland ingratiated himself with the impressionable young King and acquired a dominating influence over him.
The highly religious Edward strongly disapproved of his elder sister Mary's ardent Catholicism. At the age of ten, he had written to their step-mother, Catherine Parr, urging her to influence Mary to give up foreign dances and merriments, which "did not become a Christian princess" When summoned to London to answer for her transgressions in continuing attendance at the Catholic mass, she told Edward that she would sooner he took away her life than her religion, he indignantly replied with irritation that he "required no such sacrifice." Mary responded by lecturing the King in front of his council "Riper age and experience will teach Your Majesty much more yet," Edward, embarrassed, responded sharply " You also may have somewhat to learn, none are too old for that."
Mary was summoned to appear before the council again on the matter of her attendance at mass and entered London with a large retinue of retainers. Her powerful maternal cousin, Charles V, King of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, threatened war on England in support of Mary. In the ensuing debate with his council, Edward, who adopted a defiant attitude to the Emperor's threats, was humiliatingly overruled, for which he shed bitter tears. Mary's victory was fated not to last, the French alliance was strengthened, after which the council proceeded to move against her. She and her household were deprived of the mass but defiantly continued to practice it in secret.
The Death of Edward VI
King Edward fell ill in April 1552, of a combination of measles and smallpox. Later in the year he began to exhibit signs of tuberculosis, or consumption as it was known at the time. By June it was obvious that the King was unlikely to survive. It is now known that the measles virus supresses host immunity to tuberculosis. The unscrupulous Northumberland, fearing for his own political survival under Edward's successor, the fanatically Catholic Mary, influenced the impressionable young King to disinherit both his sisters in favour of his cousin Lady Jane Grey.
Lady Jane was the grand-daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Mary and was conveniently married to Northumberland's son, Guildford Dudley. To allow time for his plans to progress, the Protector dismissed Edward's doctors and installed a female to administer to the dying king. Her 'restringents' brought on a temporary improvement but probably slowly poisoned him through the levels of arsenic they contained. Edward's sufferings reached a pitch where they became intolerable, he was heard to whisper to his tutor "I am glad to die." His legs and arms swelled and his skin darkened, while his fingers and toes became gangrenous, he also lost his hair and nails.
On July 6th, 1553, during the close atmosphere of a violent thunderstorm, which rumour said was the spectre of Henry VIII, stamping his feet in characteristic fury and venting his wrath at the extinction of his dynasty, King Edward VI died in agony, crying out with pathos "I am faint, Lord, have mercy upon me, take my spirit.".
News of the King's death was not released until 10th July to allow Northumberland time to bring his plans to fruition and establish his daughter-in-law on England's throne. Edward's body lay unburied until August 8th, when it was interred in the Henry VII Chapel at Westminster Abbey under Protestant rites by his eventual successor, his sister Mary I. The service was carried out by his godfather, Thomas Cramner. Mary had wanted to give her half-brother a Catholic funeral, but was persuaded against it, instead, while the Protestant service was taking place, she had masses said for the soul of her young brother at the Tower."
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PO3 Phyllis Maynard PFC Stephen Eric Serati SPC Corbin Sayi SSG Diane R. 1SG John Millan SSG Ed Mikus Capt Christian D. Orr MSgt Robert Pellam PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf
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Edward VI - The Boy King (British Monarchy Documentary) | Timeline
Edward inherited the throne when he was only nine, his quest to change England was to tear apart his family and his country. Written and presented by Dr Davi...
Edward VI - The Boy King (British Monarchy Documentary) | Timeline
Edward inherited the throne when he was only nine, his quest to change England was to tear apart his family and his country. Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling.
Mary was a queen driven by faith, she would send hundreds of her subjects to burn at the stake. Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's.
This music is all about the new Queen of England, Ann. How she got the King's love and in the middle loses her confidence and loses her King's love little by little. Enjoy this video and feel."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC8RffwiJ30
Images:
1. Detail from the opening page of the Ninth Book on the Reign of Edward VI in John Foxe's 'Acts and Monuments' depicting acts of iconoclasm, the purging of the temple and the departure of idolatrous Catholics from England
2. Edward VI Granting Permission to John a Lasco to Set Up a Congregation for European Protestants in London in 1550 painted by Johann Valentin Haidt located at United Reformed Church History Society, Westminster College, Cambridge
3. Edward VI sign his first death warrant against his protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset painted by John Pettie R.A
4. Edward VI chooses Lady Jane Grey as his heir on June 21, 1553
FYI MSG Andrew White MSG Felipe De Leon Brown LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson SP5 Mark Kuzinski LTC (Join to see)Capt Rich Buckley Lt Col Charlie Brown PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell PO3 Ellsworth Allen Westgate SSG Robert Mark Odom SP5 Michael Rathbun COL Ted Mc Sgt Kelli Mays LTC Bill Koski Cpl Gabriel F. LTC (Join to see) CPT (Join to see) CPT Paul Whitmer
Edward inherited the throne when he was only nine, his quest to change England was to tear apart his family and his country. Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling.
Mary was a queen driven by faith, she would send hundreds of her subjects to burn at the stake. Written and presented by Dr David Starkey, this is the compelling story of two of England's.
This music is all about the new Queen of England, Ann. How she got the King's love and in the middle loses her confidence and loses her King's love little by little. Enjoy this video and feel."
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yC8RffwiJ30
Images:
1. Detail from the opening page of the Ninth Book on the Reign of Edward VI in John Foxe's 'Acts and Monuments' depicting acts of iconoclasm, the purging of the temple and the departure of idolatrous Catholics from England
2. Edward VI Granting Permission to John a Lasco to Set Up a Congregation for European Protestants in London in 1550 painted by Johann Valentin Haidt located at United Reformed Church History Society, Westminster College, Cambridge
3. Edward VI sign his first death warrant against his protector Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset painted by John Pettie R.A
4. Edward VI chooses Lady Jane Grey as his heir on June 21, 1553
FYI MSG Andrew White MSG Felipe De Leon Brown LTC Greg Henning SGT Gregory Lawritson SP5 Mark Kuzinski LTC (Join to see)Capt Rich Buckley Lt Col Charlie Brown PO1 Angela (Gibbs) Reterstorf CPT Gabe Snell PO3 Ellsworth Allen Westgate SSG Robert Mark Odom SP5 Michael Rathbun COL Ted Mc Sgt Kelli Mays LTC Bill Koski Cpl Gabriel F. LTC (Join to see) CPT (Join to see) CPT Paul Whitmer
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