Edward Tudor, the only son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, was born October 12, 1537, in Hampton Court Palace. Edward’s birth led to great celebration, as he was the 46-year-old King’s only legitimate and long-awaited son. His mother was Jane Seymour, King Henry VIII’s third wife. His mother died 12 days after his birth from complications of childbirth. He had two older half-sisters: Mary, his sister from his father’s first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and Elizabeth, from his father’s second wife, Anne Boleyn.
Due to the king’s intense desire to have a surviving male heir, young Edward was kept in relative seclusion from the court in an effort to prevent illness. Other than one severe bout of illness at age four, probably from malaria, and having poor eyesight, Edward was generally healthy. As he grew, he enjoyed hunting and was quite athletic. He received a robust humanist education and enjoyed learning. By age seven, Edward was reading Erasmus’s edition of
At age nine, Edward succeeded his father as King when Henry VIII died on January 28, 1547. About a month after Henry VIII’s death, Edward was crowned following a spectacular five-hour procession through London to Westminster Abbey in a doublet of white velvet with cloth of silver and gold, patterned with knots of diamonds and pearls.
Prior to his death, Henry VIII created a Council of Regency to rule until Edward came of age. The young king’s uncle, Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset, held
Members of the Council of Regency were all advocates for the Protestant Reformation of England that began with King Henry VIII. Protestantism became even more firmly rooted in England during the reign of Edward VI. Under the Council’s direction, the Church of England implemented a
Under the influence of Archbishop Thomas Cramer, Edward VI and his Council also oversaw the purifying of the Church of England of many of its medieval Catholic remnants, particularly the visual ones in churches that appeared in stone, wood, and glass. Stained glass windows were removed, frescoes painted over, and many statues of saints were literally defaced (with noses knocked off) or removed entirely. Other cultural aspects of English life also were discontinued or discouraged, including religious pageants on holy days, the performance of mystery plays, and more pagan or folk celebration such as maypoles. This series of changes and pressures continued into the 17th century as Puritanism gained influence.
In February 1553, the 15 year-old, unmarried Edward VI contracted an upper-respiratory infection that progressively got worse. In June, physicians determined that his illness was chronic and historians believe it may have been tuberculosis. With the next successor to the throne being his half-sister, Mary, who remained a staunch Catholic, the Council of Regency sought a more suitable, Protestant option to rule England. Influenced by the Council, Edward VI drafted a convoluted succession plan that changed his will and disinherited both of his purportedly illegitimate half-sisters to keep them from the throne, instead favoring Lady Jane Grey, who was the great-granddaugter of King Henry VII.
Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, at the age of 15. Days later, the Lord Protector John Dudley appointed his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey, as the Queen of England; however, she was overthrown the next month after a rule of only nine days due to the overwhelming support for Edward’s half-sister Mary, who became Mary I, Queen of England and Ireland.
