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King Edward VI Tudor

Male 1537 - 1553  (15 years)    Has more than 100 ancestors but no descendants in this family tree.

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  • Name Edward VI Tudor 
    Prefix King 
    Birth 12 Oct 1537  Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Christening 15 Oct 1537  Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Gender Male 
    Death 6 Jul 1553 
    Burial 8 Aug 1553  Westminster Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Person ID I5942  Geneagraphie
    Last Modified 29 Aug 2000 

    Father King Henry VIII Tudor,   b. 28 Jun 1491, Greenwich, London, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 28 Jan 1547, Westminster Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 55 years) 
    Mother Johanna Seymour,   b. 1506   d. 24 Oct 1537, Hampton Court, London, Middlesex, England Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 31 years) 
    Marriage 30 May 1536  Whitehall Find all individuals with events at this location 
    Family ID F2610  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Event Map Click to hide
    Link to Google MapsBirth - 12 Oct 1537 - Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, England Link to Google Earth
    Link to Google MapsChristening - 15 Oct 1537 - Hampton Court Palace, Middlesex, England Link to Google Earth
     = Link to Google Earth 

  • Photos Photos (Log in)Photos (Log in)

  • Notes 
    • Feb 20, 1547 crowned King at Westminster.
      Jan 15, 1549 The Act of Uniformity was passed by the House of Lords, making the Catholic Mass illegal and introducing the Book of Common Prayer.
      1549 Book of Common Prayer by Archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer published
      May 20, 1549 Parliament passes an Act of Uniformity which forbids other prayer books
      1551 42 articles of religion published by archbishop of Canterbury Thomas Cranmer
      Mar 18, 1551 Mary Tudor meets with her brother Edward in hopes of reconciling their religious differences.
      Jun 27, 1552 King Edward sets out on an extended progress through the southern and western regions of England.
      Apr 14, 1552 Parliament passes a more radical Book of Common Prayer in the Second Act of Uniformity
      Jun 21, 1553 King Edward VI signs a statement naming Lady Jane Grey as his successor.

      Henry VIII died in 1547, secure in the knowledge that he had left behind the male heir to the throne that he had longed for.Unfortunately, the boy was young, not even 10 years old, when he became king. His uncle, Edward Seymour became Lord Protector, and through Edward, sought to control England. Seymour's brother, Thomas, was made Lord Admiral and was an early influence on the life of the King's sister, the Princess Elizabeth.
      Protector Somerset was later overthrown by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, who then took control as Edward's chief advisor. Protestants in England were happy for the young king's ascension to the throne, but feared what might happen if the boy died. It was common knowledge that Mary, Henry's eldest daughter and heir after Edward, would return the country to Roman Catholism. To prevent this from happening, several of the nobles plotted to bring another woman to the throne in her place. Some rallied behind the other heir of Henry VIII: Elizabeth. Others looked to the descendants of of Henry VIII's sister Mary. The oldest of these descendants was the Lady Jane Grey.

      He ascended the throne at age nine, upon the death of his father. He was betrothed to his cousin, Mary Queen of Scots, but deteriorating English-Scot relations prohibited their marriage. The frail, Protestant boy died of consumption at age sixteen having never married.
      Edward's reign was beset by problems from the onset. Ascending the throne while stillin his minority presented a backdrop for factional in fighting and power plays. Henry VIII, in his last days, sought to eliminate this potential problem by decreeing that a Council of Regency would govern until the child came of age, but Edward Seymour (Edward VI's uncle) gained the upper hand. The Council offered Seymour the Protectorship of the realm and the Dukedom of Somerset; he genuinely cared for both the boy and the realm, but used the Protectorship, as well as Edward's religious radicalism, to further his Protestant interests. The Book of Common Prayer, the eloquent work of Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, was instituted in 1549 as a handbook to the new style of worship that skated controversial issues in an effort to pacify Catholics. Henrician treason and heresy laws were repealed, transforming England into a haven for continental heretics. Catholics were pleased with the softer version of Protestantism, but radical Protestants clamored for further reforms, adding to the ever-present factional discord. Economic hardship plagued England during Edward's rule and foreign relations were in a state of disarray. The new faith and the dissolution of the monasteries left a considerable amount of ecclesiastical officials out of work, at a time when unemployment soared; enclosure of monastic lands deprived many peasants of their means of subsistence. The coinage lost value as new coins were minted from inferior metals, as specie from the New World flooded English markets. A French/Scottish alliance threatened England, prompting Somerset to invade Scotland, where Scottish forces were trounced at Pinkie. Then general unrest and factional maneuvering proved Somerset's undoing; he was executed in September 1552. Thus began one of the most corrupt eras of English political history. The author of this corruption was the Earl of Warwick, John Dudley. Dudley was an ambitious political survivor driven by the desire to become the largest landowner in England. Dudley coerced Edward by claiming that the boy had reached manhood on his 12th birthday and was now ready to rule; Dudley also held Edward's purse strings. Dudley was created Duke of Northumberland and virtually ruled England, although he had no official title. The Council, under his leadership, systematically confiscated church territories, as the recent wave of radical Protestantism seemed a logical, and justifiable, continuation of Henrician reform. Northumberland's ambitions grew in proportion to his gains of power: he desperately sought to connect himself to the royal family. Northumberland was given the opportunity to indulge in king making - the practice by which an influential noble named the next successor, such as Richard Neville during the Wars of the Roses - when Edward was diagnosed with consumption in January 1553. Henry VIII named the line of succession in his will;next in line after Edward were his sisters Mary and Elizabeth, followed by the descendants of Henry's sister, Mary: Frances Grey and her children. Northumberland convinced Edward that his Catholic sister, Mary, would ruin the Protestant reforms enacted throughout the reign; in actuality, he knew Mary would restore Catholicism and return the confiscated Church territories which were making the Council very rich. Northumberland's appeal to Edward's radicalism worked as intended: the dying lad declared his sisters to be bastards and passed the succession to Frances Grey's daughter, Lady Jane Grey, one of the boy's only true friends. Northumberland impelled the Greys to consent to a marriage between his son, Guildford and Lady Jane. Edward died on July 6, 1553, leaving a disputed succession. Jane, against her wishes, was declared queen by the Council. Mary retreated to Framlingham in Suffolk and claimed the throne. Northumberland took an army to capture Mary, but bungled the escapade. The Council abandoned Northumberland as Mary collected popular support and rode triumphantly into London. Jane after a reign of only nine days, was imprisoned in the Tower of London until her 1554 execution at the hands of her cousin Mary. Edward was a highly intellectual and pious lad who fell prey to the machinations of his powerful Council of Regency. His frailty led to an early death. Had he lived into manhood, he potentially could have become one of England's greatest kings. Jane Austen wrote, "This Man was on the whole of a very amiable character...", to which Beckett added, " as docile as a lamb, if indeed his gentleness did not amount to absolute sheepishness."



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