Edward VI: Difference between revisions

{{short description|King of England and Ireland from 1547 to 1553}}

{{featured article}}

{{Use British English|date=May 2015}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}

{{Infobox royalty

| image        = Circle of William Scrots Edward VI of England.jpg

| alt          = Formal portrait in the Elizabethan style of Edward in his early teens. He has a long pointed face and a small full mouth.

| succession  = [[King of England]] and [[List of Irish monarchs|Ireland]]

| moretext    = ([[Style of the British sovereign#Styles of English sovereigns|more ...]])

| cor-type    = [[Coronation of Edward VI|Coronation]]

| predecessor  = [[Henry VIII]]

| reg-type    = Regents

| successor    = [[Lady Jane Grey|Jane]] (disputed) or [[Mary I]]

| birth_date  = 12 October 1537

| death_date  = 6 July 1553 (aged 15)

| death_place  = [[Greenwich Palace]], England

| father      = [[Henry VIII of England]]

| mother      = [[Jane Seymour]]

| burial_date  = 8 August 1553

| burial_place = [[Westminster Abbey]]

'''Edward VI''' (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was [[King of England]] and [[King of Ireland|Ireland]] from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553.{{Efn|[[Henry VIII]] had replaced the style "[[Lord of Ireland]]" with "King of Ireland" in 1541; Edward also maintained the [[English claim to the French throne]] but did not rule France.<ref>{{Harvnb|Scarisbrick|1971|pp=548–549}}, and {{Harvnb|Lydon|1998|p=119}}.</ref>}} He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of [[Henry VIII]] by his third wife, [[Jane Seymour]], Edward was the first English monarch to be raised as a [[Protestant]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2018/3/11/5-fascinating-facts-about-king-henry-viiis-son-king-edward-vi#.XdR7c3dFz4g |title=5 Fascinating Facts about King Henry VIII's son, King Edward VI |date=11 March 2018 |access-date=19 November 2019 |archive-date=17 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211217230341/http://www.historyisnowmagazine.com/blog/2018/3/11/5-fascinating-facts-about-king-henry-viiis-son-king-edward-vi#.XdR7c3dFz4g |url-status=live}}</ref> During his reign, the realm was governed by a [[regency]] council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle [[Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset]] (1547–1549), and then by [[John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland]] (1550–1553).

== Early life ==

[[File:Hans Holbein the Younger - Edward VI as a Child - Google Art Project.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|alt=Painting of Prince Edward as a baby, depicted with regal splendour and a kingly gesture. He is dressed in red and gold, and a hat with ostrich plume. His face has delicate features, chubby cheeks and a fringe of red-gold hair.|Prince Edward in 1538, by [[Hans Holbein the Younger]]. He holds a golden rattle that resembles a sceptre; and the Latin inscription urges him to equal or surpass his father.{{Sfn|Foister|2006|p=100}}]]

=== Upbringing and education ===

Edward was a healthy baby who [[suckled]] strongly from the outset. His father was delighted with him; in May 1538, Henry was observed "dallying with him in his arms ... and so holding him in a window to the sight and great comfort of the people".<ref name="Loach 1999 p=8">{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=8}}.</ref> That September, the Lord Chancellor, [[Thomas Audley, 1st Baron Audley of Walden|Lord Audley]], reported Edward's rapid growth and vigour,<ref name="Loach 1999 p=8"/> and other accounts describe him as a tall and merry child. The tradition that Edward VI was a sickly boy has been challenged by more recent historians.<ref>e.g.: {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=372}}; {{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=161}}; {{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|p=21}}.</ref> At age four, he fell ill with a life-threatening "[[quartan fever]]",{{Efn|A fever recurring about every four days, today usually associated with [[malaria]].}}{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|p=27}} but, despite occasional illnesses and poor eyesight, he enjoyed generally good health until the last six months of his life.{{Efn|Edward was also ill in 1550 and "of the measles and the smallpox" in 1552.}}{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|pp=33, 177, 223–234, 260}}

=== "The Rough Wooing" ===

== Accession ==

Henry VIII's will named sixteen [[executor]]s, who were to act as Edward's council until he reached age 18. The executors were supplemented by twelve men "of counsail" who would assist them when called on.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|pp=17–18}}; {{Harvnb|Jordan|1968|p=56}}.</ref> The final state of Henry VIII's will has been the subject of controversy. Some historians suggest that those close to the king manipulated either him or the will itself to ensure a share-out of power to their benefit, both material and religious. In this reading, the composition of the [[Privy Chamber]] shifted towards the end of 1546 in favour of the reforming [[political faction|faction]].{{Sfn|Starkey|2002|pp=130–145}} In addition, two leading conservative Privy Councillors were removed from the centre of power.

Whatever the case, Henry's death was followed by a lavish handout of lands and honours to the new power group.{{Sfn|Loach|1999|pp=19–25}} The will contained an "unfulfilled gifts" clause, added at the last minute, which allowed the executors to freely distribute lands and honours to themselves and the court,<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|2002|p=142|loc=describing this distribution of benefits as typical of "the shameless back-scratching of the alliance"}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=332|loc=calling the changes to the will "convenient"}}.</ref> particularly to [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward Seymour]], the new king's uncle who became [[Lord Protector of the Realm]], Governor of the King's Person and [[Duke of Somerset]].{{Sfn|Loach|1999|pp=19–25}}

Henry VIII's will did not provide for the appointment of a Protector. It entrusted the government of the realm during his son's minority to a regency council that would rule collectively, by majority decision, with "like and equal charge".{{Efn|The existence of a council of executors alongside the Privy Council was rationalised in March when the two became one, incorporating the executors and most of their appointed assistants and adding the now [[Duke of Somerset|Duke of Somerset's brother]] [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley|Thomas Seymour]], who had protested at his exclusion from power.}}<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|2002|pp=138–139}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|p=69}}.</ref> Nevertheless, a few days after Henry's death, on 4 February, the executors chose to invest almost regal power in the Duke of Somerset.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|p=7}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|p=65}}.</ref> Thirteen of the sixteen (the others being absent) agreed to his appointment as Protector, which they justified as their joint decision "by virtue of the authority" of Henry's will.<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|2002|pp=138–139}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|p=67}}.</ref> Somerset may have done a deal with some of the executors, who almost all received hand-outs.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|pp=26–27}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1962|p=203}}.</ref> He is known to have done so with William Paget, private secretary to Henry VIII,{{Efn|In 1549, Paget was to remind Seymour: "Remember what you promised me in the gallery at Westminster before the breath was out of the body of the king that dead is. Remember what you promised immediately after, devising with me concerning the place which you now occupy ... and that was to follow mine advice in all your proceedings more than any other man's".<ref>Quoted in {{Harvnb|Guy|1988|p=211}}.</ref>}} and to have secured the support of Sir Anthony Browne of the Privy Chamber.{{Sfn|Alford|2002|pp=67–68}}

Somerset's takeover of power was smooth and efficient. The [[Holy Roman Empire|imperial ambassador]], [[François van der Delft]], reported that he "governs everything absolutely", with Paget operating as his secretary, though he predicted trouble from John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who had recently been raised to [[Earl of Warwick]] in the share-out of honours.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jordan|1968|pp=69, 76–77}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|pp=63–65}}</ref> In fact, in the early weeks of his Protectorate, Somerset was challenged only by the Chancellor, [[Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton|Thomas Wriothesley]], whom the [[Earldom of Southampton]] had evidently failed to buy off, and by his own brother.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=333}} Wriothesley, a religious conservative, objected to Somerset's assumption of monarchical power over the council. He then found himself abruptly dismissed from the chancellorship on charges of selling off some of his offices to delegates.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loades|2004|pp=33–34}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=333}}.</ref>

Somerset faced less manageable opposition from his younger brother Thomas, who has been described as a "worm in the bud".{{Sfn|Loades|2004|p=34}} As the king's uncle, Thomas Seymour demanded the governorship of the king's person and a greater share of power.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=333, 346}} Somerset tried to buy his brother off with a [[baron]]y, an appointment to the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Lord Admiralship]], and a seat on the Privy Council, but Thomas was bent on scheming for power. He began smuggling pocket money to Edward, telling him that Somerset held the purse strings too tight, making him a "beggarly king".{{Sfn|Loades|2004|p=36}} He also urged the king to throw off the Protector within two years and "bear rule as other kings do"; but Edward, schooled to defer to the council, failed to cooperate.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loades|2004|pp=36–37}}; {{Harvnb|Brigden|2000|p=182}}.</ref> In the spring of 1547, using Edward's support to circumvent Somerset's opposition, Thomas Seymour secretly married Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr, whose Protestant household included the 11-year-old [[Lady Jane Grey]] and the 13-year-old Lady Elizabeth.{{Sfn|Erickson|1978|p=234}}

=== War ===

===Fall of Somerset===

Historians contrast the efficiency of Somerset's takeover of power, in which they detect the organising skills of allies such as Paget, the "master of practices", with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule.<ref>{{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|p=104}}; {{Harvnb|Dickens|1967|p=279}}.</ref> By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around the country. Until recent decades, Somerset's reputation with historians was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=333''n''}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|p=65}}. [[A. F. Pollard]] had taken this line in the early 20th century, echoed later by Edward VI's 1960s biographer [[W. K. Jordan]]. A more critical approach was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the 1970s.</ref> More recently, he has often been portrayed as an arrogant and aloof ruler, lacking in political and administrative skills.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=334–350}}

The Duke of Northumberland's mode of operation was very different from Somerset's. Careful to make sure he always commanded a majority of councillors, he encouraged a working council and used it to legitimise his authority. Lacking Somerset's blood-relationship with the king, he added members to the council from his own faction in order to control it. He also added members of his family to the royal household.{{Sfn|Loach|1999|p=94}} He saw that to achieve personal dominance, he needed total procedural control of the council.{{Sfn|Hoak|1980|pp=36–37}} In the words of historian [[John Guy (historian)|John Guy]], "Like Somerset, he became quasi-king; the difference was that he managed the bureaucracy on the pretence that Edward had assumed full sovereignty, whereas Somerset had asserted the right to near-sovereignty as Protector".{{Sfn|Guy|1988|p=215}}

Warwick's war policies were more pragmatic than Somerset's, and they have earned him criticism for weakness. In 1550, he signed a peace treaty with France that agreed to withdrawal from Boulogne and recalled all English garrisons from Scotland. In 1551, Edward was betrothed to [[Elisabeth of Valois]], [[Henry II of France|King Henry II]]'s daughter,<ref>{{Harvnb|Guy|1988|pp=218–219}}; {{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=108}} Edward sent Elisabeth a "fair diamond" from Catherine Parr's collection.</ref> and was made a [[Knight of Saint Michael]].{{Sfn|Carroll|2009|p=55}} Warwick realised that England could no longer support the cost of wars.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=113}}; {{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|p=55}}.</ref> At home, he took measures to police local unrest. To forestall future rebellions, he kept permanent representatives of the crown in the localities, including [[lords lieutenant]], who commanded military forces and reported back to central government.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=355}}; {{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=105}}.</ref>

{{further|Edwardian Reformation}}

[[File:Thomas Cranmer by Gerlach Flicke.jpg|thumb|alt=Portrait of Archbishop Cranmer as an elderly man. He has a long face with a large nose, dark eyes and rosy cheeks. He wears clerical robes with a black mantle and brown vestments over full white sleeves and has a doctoral cap on his head. He holds a liturgical book in his hands.|[[Thomas Cranmer]], Archbishop of Canterbury, exerted a powerful influence on Edward's Protestantism.]]

The religious convictions of both Somerset and Northumberland have proved elusive for historians, who are divided on the sincerity of their Protestantism.<ref>{{Harvnb|Haigh|1993|pp=169–171}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1962|p=210}}; {{Harvnb|Guy|1988|p=219}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|2004|p=135}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|pp=286–287}}.</ref> There is less doubt about the religious fervour<ref>{{Harvnb|Mackie|1952|p=524}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=354}}.</ref> of Edward, who was said to have read 12 chapters of scripture daily and enjoyed sermons, and was commemorated by [[John Foxe]] as a "godly imp".<ref>{{Harvnb|Brigden|2000|p=180}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|p=6}}.</ref> Edward was depicted during his life and afterwards as a new [[Josiah#Biblical narrative|Josiah, the biblical king]] who destroyed the [[Idolatry|idols]] of [[Baal]].{{Sfn|MacCulloch|2002|p=14}} He could be priggish in his anti-Catholicism and once asked Catherine Parr to persuade Lady Mary "to attend no longer to foreign dances and merriments which do not become a most Christian princess".<ref name="Skidmore 2007 p=38"/> But Edward's biographer Jennifer Loach cautions against accepting too readily the pious image of Edward handed down by the reformers, as in Foxe's influential ''[[Acts and Monuments]]'', where a woodcut depicts the young king listening to a sermon by [[Hugh Latimer]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|pp=180–181}}, pointing out, following Jordan, that Edward's ''Chronicle'' records nothing of his religious views and mentions no sermons; {{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|pp=21–29}}, countering that Edward's notebook of sermons, which was once archived and documented, has since been lost.</ref> In the early part of his life, Edward conformed to the prevailing Catholic practices, including attendance at mass, but he became convinced, under the influence of Cranmer and the reformers among his tutors and courtiers, that "true" religion should be imposed in England.{{Sfn|Brigden|2000|pp=180–181}}

The [[English Reformation]] advanced under pressure from two directions: from the traditionalists on the one hand and the [[zealots]] on the other, who led incidents of [[iconoclasm]] (image-smashing) and complained that reform did not go far enough. Cranmer set himself the task of writing a uniform liturgy in English, detailing all weekly and daily services and religious festivals, to be made compulsory in the first [[Act of Uniformity 1549|Act of Uniformity of 1549]].<ref name="E345">{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=345}}.</ref> The [[Book of Common Prayer (1549)|''Book of Common Prayer'' of 1549]], intended as a compromise, was attacked by traditionalists for dispensing with many cherished rituals of the liturgy, such as the [[elevation (liturgy)|elevation]] of the bread and wine,<ref>{{Harvnb|Brigden|2000|p=190}}; {{Harvnb|Haigh|1993|p=174}}; {{Harvnb|Dickens|1967|p=305}}.</ref>{{Efn|One of the grievances of the western [[Prayer Book Rebellion|prayer-book rebels]] in 1549 was that the new service seemed "like a Christmas game".}} while some reformers complained about the retention of too many "popish" elements, including vestiges of sacrificial rites at communion.<ref name="E345"/> Many senior Catholic clerics, including Bishops Stephen Gardiner of Winchester and [[Edmund Bonner]] of London, also opposed the prayer book. Both were imprisoned in the Tower and, along with others, deprived of their sees.<ref name="Brigden 2000 p=193"/> In 1549, over 5,500 people died in the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]] in Devon and Cornwall.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Solly, Meilon. "The Myth of 'Bloody Mary", ''Smithsonian Magazine'' |url=https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-myth-of-bloody-mary |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506233946/https://getpocket.com/explore/item/the-myth-of-bloody-mary |archive-date=6 May 2022 |access-date=12 May 2021}}</ref>

After 1551, the Reformation advanced further, with the approval and encouragement of Edward, who began to exert more personal influence in his role as [[Supreme Head]] of the church.{{Sfn|Brigden|2000|p=195}} The new changes were also a response to criticism from such reformers as [[John Hooper (bishop)|John Hooper]], Bishop of Gloucester, and the Scot John Knox, who was employed as a minister in [[Newcastle upon Tyne]] under the Duke of Northumberland and whose preaching at court prompted the king to oppose kneeling at communion.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|pp=361, 365}} Cranmer was also influenced by the views of the continental reformer [[Martin Bucer]], who died in England in 1551; by [[Pietro Martire Vermigli|Peter Martyr]], who was teaching at Oxford; and by other foreign theologians.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|pp=361–362}}; {{Harvnb|Haigh|1993|pp=179–180}}; {{Harvnb|Dickens|1967|pp=318–325, 40–42}}.</ref> The Reformation's progress was further speeded by the consecration of more reformers as bishops.{{Sfn|Haigh|1993|p=178}}{{Efn|Notable among the new bishops were [[John Ponet]], who succeeded Gardiner at Winchester, [[Myles Coverdale]] at Exeter, and John Hooper at Gloucester.}} In the winter of 1551–52, Cranmer rewrote the ''Book of Common Prayer'' in less ambiguous reformist terms, revised [[canon law]] and prepared a doctrinal statement, the [[Forty-two Articles]], to clarify the practice of the reformed religion, particularly in the divisive matter of the communion service.{{Sfn|Dickens|1967|pp=340–349}} Cranmer's formulation of the reformed religion, finally divesting the communion service of any notion of the [[real presence]] of God in the bread and the wine, effectively abolished the mass.<ref>{{Harvnb|Brigden|2000|pp=196–197}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1962|p=212}}.</ref> According to Elton, the publication of Cranmer's revised prayer book in 1552, supported by a second [[Act of Uniformity 1552|Act of Uniformity]], "marked the arrival of the English Church at Protestantism".{{Efn|"The [[Prayer Book of 1552]], the Ordinal of 1550, which it took over, the act of uniformity which made the Prayer Book the only legal form of worship, and the Forty-two Articles binding upon all Englishmen, clerical and lay—these between them comprehended the protestant Reformation in England."{{Sfn|Elton|1962|p=212}}}} The [[Book of Common Prayer (1552)|prayer book of 1552]] remains the foundation of the Church of England's services.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=365}} But Cranmer was unable to implement all these reforms once it became clear in spring 1553 that Edward, upon whom the whole Reformation in England depended, was dying.{{Sfn|Elton|1977|p=366}}{{Efn|Edward approved the Forty-two Articles in June 1553, too late for them to be introduced—they later became the basis of [[Elizabeth I]]'s [[Thirty-nine Articles]] of 1563. Cranmer's revision of canon law, ''Reformatio Legum Ecclesiasticarum'', was never authorised by king or parliament.}}

Edward felt well enough in early April to take the air in the park at Westminster and to move to Greenwich, but by the end of the month he had weakened again. By 7 May he was "much amended", and the royal doctors had no doubt of his recovery. A few days later the king was watching the ships on the Thames, sitting at his window.{{Sfn|Loades|1996|p=238}} But he relapsed, and on 11 June, Scheyfve, who had an informant in the king's household, reported, "the matter he ejects from his mouth is sometimes coloured a greenish yellow and black, sometimes pink, like the colour of blood".{{Sfn|Loach|1999|p=159}} Now his doctors believed he was suffering from "a suppurating tumour" of the lung and that his life was beyond recovery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=160}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|p=254}}.</ref> Soon, his legs became so swollen that he had to lie on his back, and he lost the strength to resist the disease. To his tutor John Cheke he whispered, "I am glad to die".{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|p=254}}

===Lady Jane and Queen Mary===

==Protestant legacy==

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