101 Amazing Facts about the Tudors by Jack Goldstein

Author:Jack Goldstein
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Henry VIII, Henry VII, Edward VI, Mary I, Elizabeth, Elizabeth I, Mary, Ruff, Wives, Catherine, Aragon, Parr, Anne Boleyn, Royalty, King, Queen, Throne, England, English, Monarch, Lancaster, York, Wolsey, Hampton Court, London
ISBN: 9781783339112
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited 2014
Published: 2014-08-13T00:00:00+00:00

Elizabeth

Edward VI

Edward, Henry’s only son, came to the throne when he was just nine years old. Henry had been aware that his son was likely to still be a boy when he died, and had therefore chosen a number of people (his final wife in particular) to act as regents until he was an adult - these would be trusted advisors who would assist him in his rule.

Despite all of the planning, Edward’s boyhood reign was not smooth - a regency rarely was. There would always be a struggle for power amongst noblemen, using their influence to turn their own positions into favourable ones. Almost immediately after Henry’s death, Edward Seymour (his uncle, and of course Henry’s brother-in-law) established himself in the most controlling position, and awarded himself the title Duke of Somerset.

The Duke’s ultimate aim was to unite England and Scotland (something which even today divides opinion!). He felt that the best way to achieve this would be to marry the young Edward to Mary, Queen of Scots, a young girl herself who had acceded to the throne when she was just nine days old! He attempted to do this not through diplomacy, but by marching an army up to Scotland and partaking in battle. Although he was successful, Mary was smuggled out to France, where she was married to the Dauphin (a French Nobleman).

Although Edward was still just a young boy, he understood the importance of being King. For him, religion was an important part of his rule, and he ordered the publication of the Book of Common Prayer - a book to be used for services in the new Church of England. This didn’t go down too well, particularly in Cornwall, very much a Catholic area. The Duke of Somerset didn’t help things when he sent a military force to the county and killed around one in ten of the Cornish population. Interestingly though, the young Edward didn’t see much wrong with this - he was fairly hard-line in his anti-Catholic beliefs (unsurprising when you consider who his father was!)

Other noblemen weren’t so keen on Somerset’s strategies though - the stability of the monarchy (and therefore the aristocracy which they were part of) was reliant on not annoying the general public too much. The Duke realised that he wasn’t in the best of positions, and forcibly kidnapped Edward, taking him to Windsor castle where he held him hostage.

In the end, Edward was rescued by the Earl of Warwick, who basically put himself in the position that Edward Seymour had held - but he promoted himself to become the first Duke of Suffolk.

Suffolk brought about some stability, however the young Edward - still just a teenager - became ill. This concerned many people (including Edward himself) as he did not yet have any heirs. This would therefore make it likely that his step-sister would take the throne - and she was Catholic!

In an attempt to stop this from happening, Edward wrote a new will which was to give the succession to Lady Jane Grey, his protestant cousin.

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