Edward VI

When I was at school, all I remember hearing about Edward VI was that he was always sick.? A sickly boy who died as a teenager.? His rule was short and did not amount to much.? He probably wouldn’t get a prime television series made about him or feature in any movies as a center character.? Edward does not appear to have done much in his short life, anything of any note that happened during his reign was accomplished by others.?

However, historians have over recent years gone back to revise over young Eddie’s time as King and it might well appear that the teenager was more influential and more in control than previously thought.? True, at the beginning of his reign he would not have been able to do much, being only nine at the time of his death.? Daddy Henry worried that he might die before his son came of age and so set about forming a ruling council to take care of things whilst Edward was growing up.? Naturally, this ruling council was made up of Henry’s closest lords and noblemen, as well as family (which amounts to the same thing).? The head of the council was quickly established as Edward Seymour.? Edward was young Eddie’s uncle.? He was brother to Jane Seymour and Thomas Seymour (more on him later) and after the death of Henry he quickly moved to secure himself as head of little Eddie’s government.? He managed to keep the death of the King quiet for a few days to give himself time.? He gave himself a promotion to the rank of Duke (he became the Duke of Somerset), and announced himself as ‘Lord Protector of all the realms and dominions of the King’s majesty’.? Which was nice.??

Edward also feared for his young nephew’s safety and so moved the boy to his own house where he could keep him away from his sisters and step-mother, Catherine Parr, and so be able to keep him very close under his own influence.? Edward had moved to make himself the most important man in the country, and with the King kept close, he was effectively its ruler.? However, I am not so sure this was probably a good thing at this time.? Considering the previous King had been Henry VIII the new Lord Protector had a right mess on his hands to clear up.?

Henry had ended his reign at war with France and Scotland.? He’d also created religious rifts in the country, as well as with the Catholic countries abroad.? Because of this, the threat of invasion was still present, as well as possible rioting and rebellion from a disgruntled nation.? Henry’s habit of also killing his political rivals and those who looked at him in the wrong way over the years had also left for an unstable government and economy which was near collapse. The two Edwards had their work cut out for them.? So what were the problems and how were they dealt with?? Well, I shall try my best to sort through them.?

Firstly, let us talk about the problems with Scotland.? Tensions with our northern neighbours were always tense (still are when it comes to the Calcutta Cup).? Since Flodden, Henry VIII had always kept a keen eye on the north.? It is no secret that English Kings looked upon Scotland as a part of their own island, and so they felt it should belong to them.? The Scots tended to look south and think that it should not.? Anyway, in 1543, Henry had tried to bring Scotland under his control, not by force (surprisingly for him) but by the age-old use of marriage.? Marriage was used as a diplomatic tool, especially when it involved children from ruling families.? In this case, Henry VIII wanted his 6 year old boy Eddie to be betrothed to the less than a year old baby, Queen Mary Stuart (better known to history as Mary Queen of Scots).? A Treaty was put together and signed in Greenwich.? However, the Scots really did not want this to happen and so soon afterwards the deal was broken.? Henry reacted as he always did to anyone saying no, with brute force.? He invaded Scotland.? In a series of attacks the English caused havoc along the border.? It became known to history as ‘the rough wooing of Scotland’.? For those of you who aren’t old enough to know, ‘wooing’ is defined as to ‘try to gain the love of (someone), especially with a view to marriage.’? Henry’s whole attitude towards women can probably be summed up by this event.? This spiralled into an Anglo-Scottish war.? Henry VIII, having died in 1547, would not see the end of it but left it as part of Eddie’s inheritance.

So, now that Henry was dead, maybe the war could end?? Not so.? The new Protector also liked the idea of having English influence over Scotland and ending the ‘auld alliance’ between them and France, so he decided to force the matter by taking an army north.? In September 1547, a battle took place at Pinkie Cleugh the Scots had the advantage in numbers and the best location. However, they then foolishly decided to attack across a river and lost these advantages. The Scots were hit hard by the English cannon fire.? The English showed little mercy to the Scots and butchered them.? Six thousand men were killed whilst the others fled. This day became known in Scotland as ‘Black Saturday’ (not very woke). The Scots managed to get the last laugh though by managing to smuggle their young Queen out of the country to France where she would marry the French Dauphin.??

With Mary gone, Somerset left soldiers in Scotland and also many copies of the Protestant Bible. The Scots, being Catholic, were not happy with this English interference in their religion, not to mention that the English troops were now based in their country. As a result of Uncle Edward’s invasion resentment of the English had only been strengthened in Scotland (which is saying something!) and the war continued, but badly for England.? The English army found itself stuck in Scotland for the next three years, without an objective and it just wound up sitting on the border repelling attacks from disgruntled Scots from out of poorly built forts. Each of these forts would be attacked and overrun in turn. It was a costly experience for Protector Somerset, and not just financially as it would be one that would tarnish his reputation in England.?

The other problem in England that Henry had left behind was that of religion.? Henry had split the English Church away from the Catholic Pope in Rome to come under the control of the English monarchy.? This ‘Break from Rome’ had caused all sorts of spiritual problems for people who feared that their souls would be forever damned should they not have access to the Catholic Church.? However, Henry had ruthlessly dealt with any insurrection or protests against his changes and so the new English Church was established.? The problem was now that Henry had control of the Church, he now had to lead the people in their faith and tell them what to believe.? When it came to this, Henry remained a devout Catholic, and would not hear of any changes to the core beliefs.? Therefore, the English Church did not become ‘Protestant’ as many thought, but instead was really just the same old service, but with a new CEO.? In fact, Henry was just as ruthless towards Protestants as he had been towards those who rejected his supremacy over the English Church.? One of the charges brought against his closest advisor Thomas Cromwell was for his Protestant faith and heresy.? It helped to secure Thomas’s execution.? So, when Henry died, what would be the new King’s stance on religion?? Would he keep things the same, would he revert back to Catholic or would he be more Protestant?? Well, as it happened the new young King was very much of the Protestant faith.?

It is perhaps in religion that the young King’s influence can be seen the most.? He appears to have been very much involved with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, in championing the Protestant faith in England.? Protector Edward was also of the faith and between them, changes to the English Church began from the get-go. Change is not always popular with people, especially when it is fast, strict and flies in the face of generations of tradition and belief.? The religious changes imposed by the new King were not popular with many.? To give you some idea of how radical the changes were I refer to the Articles of Faith drawn up by the English Church when it first came into being.? These were, in a way, a statement of intent or list of key faiths that those of the English Church would have to follow.? When Henry VIII first started up his new Church he had ‘six articles’ which basically just dealt with who was in charge.? Nothing much else changed.? In 1552, ‘forty-two’ were created.? However, these were just the icing on the cake.? Changes had begun as soon as the new King was in position championed by Protector Edward, but also by the young Protestant King Eddie himself.??

In 1547, more religious buildings were closed down.? This time it was the ‘chantries’ which were targeted.? Chantries were small chapels or mini-churches built by the rich and would be devoted to saying prayers for their souls in Purgatory.? The idea of Purgatory was a very Catholic one, and not shared by Protestants at all.? To a Catholic, Purgatory was a middle ground, a place your soul would go if you had not been good enough to warrant a straight shot into Heaven, but not so bad that you deserved eternal suffering in Hell.? It was, I suppose, a sort of waiting room for the soul before it went to Heaven where your soul would still suffer, but eventually it would be cleansed and be able to enter Paradise.? The Catholic Church taught that a soul’s exit from Purgatory could be sped up by prayers from those still living.? The Protestants were against the idea of Purgatory altogether.? There was only Heaven and Hell, no in-between.? When the Chantries were closed early in Edward’s reign it was not just a continuation of the dissolution but also a demonstration of the new King’s faith and the strong Protestant direction the English Church would now be going in.?

The young King would authorise many changes to the English Church over his short reign.? Working with the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer and his Council the English Church changed, not just in doctrine but physically as well.? Changes to the appearance of local Churches and their services were extreme and many of these caused anger and upset to the population.? In 1547 the changes began immediately with the aforementioned dissolving of the Chantries and the seizing of the money for the Crown. Soon after in 1549 it was announced that priests would be allowed to marry.? The catholic church preferred it’s Priests to remain celibate, as they were to mimic Jesus who according to the Catholics was also celibate and unmarried.? However, the Protestant belief was that a Priest was just a man, nothing divine about him and therefore not required to remain single.? This change actually suited the Archbishop, who had been married before and was married again in 1532 after he’d become a monk in 1523.? He had to keep this infringement of the rules, named Margaret, secret; along with his children after his appointment to Archbishop of Canterbury.

Also, in 1549, Eddie and Thomas introduced a new prayer book to be used in all English Churches.? This new book was introduced to the country and went down like a lead balloon, especially in the West.? Uprisings broke out in Cornwall and spread through Devon.? From June until August, Somerset’s government sought to end the rebellion but it was slow to deal with the problem probably because it was also having to deal with another uprising that broke out in East Anglia in July.? The uprisings were separate with religious objections being part of the grievances held by those involved but economic factors also had their part to play.? However, to the Council, they just saw them as one big problem.

The economic problems facing the normal working people of England had been increasing in intensity over the years.? Most (if not all) were caused by Henry VIII who in his warmongering had bankrupted the country.? Also, when the monasteries lost their land to the King this land was sold to the Gentry. Much of this land had previously been ‘Common Land’ - open to the people to grow crops on for themselves and to sell. However, many of the Gentry now ‘enclosed’ this land (fenced it off with walls), threw off the peasants and used the land for sheep. For the gentry this brought in lots of money as the wool trade in Europe was doing very well. However, the normal villagers lost their homes and jobs. Henry VIII did try to stop some enclosures and Somerset tried too by forbidding them and putting a tax on sheep, which just wasn’t fair to the sheep.?

In 1547, the problem with unemployment led to a rise in beggars (vagrants). To try to discourage people from begging the Vagrant Act was passed. This said that any beggar who was found who was able bodied (could work) could be branded with a ‘V’ (ouch!) and kept in slavery for two years.? This didn’t do anything to adequately deal with the problem and thus the rebellions, which began in 1549.? In East Anglia, it started off in Wymondham after a small group of peasants got together to protest against rich robber barons who had stolen the common land, leaving the peasants to starve.? Led by Robert Kett and his brother William, some peasants began to break down the fences of unpopular landowners in Norfolk. They killed and ate 20,000 sheep (sheep do have it rough).? The rebels numbered about 12,000 and they gathered on Mousehold Heath near Norwich. Kett and the organisers, which included the Mayor of Norwich, kept good order.? Some 15,000 rebels eventually gathered here and their pitched battles against government forces on the streets of Norwich led to a national crisis.

Somerset might have agreed with the plight of the rebels but Lord Dudley, Earl of Warwick, did not and he had the Council declare the protest a rebellion. An army of 13,000 men was gathered and supported by 1,500 foreign mercenaries who had just arrived in England. They were originally intended for Scotland but these troops were now sent to Norfolk under the command of Dudley.? This army eventually forced the rebels back to the Heath.? Dudders offered the rebels a pardon but Kett refused saying that they were not rebels and therefore did not need to be pardoned (bad move). Dudley attacked, killed hundreds of peasants and 300 were captured and executed in Norwich. Kett and other leaders were hanged from the battlements of Norwich Castle.? Despite Robert Kett's unfortunate demise his name lives on.? An oak tree at which Kett and the rebels are said to have met before they marched on Norwich still stands as a living memorial to the man once called traitor, now called hero.? Given our current economic climate, Westminster really should be taking notes.??

So, the rebellions were crushed and the rich carried on getting richer.? However, as a result of these rebellions, as well as the problems in Scotland, Uncle Edward was now seriously in trouble with the Council.? It’s apparent what with him trying to prevent enclosures from happening, that Edward did have some sympathy for the poor but this made him into a class traitor.? Other problems had also plagued the Lord Protector’s rule. His destruction of religious houses along The Strand in London to make way for his building of his personal palace, Somerset House, was criticised but another problem was his brother, Thomas (told you we’d deal with him later).? After Henry VIII’s death, Thomas Seymour had married Katherine Parr.? The two had previous history so this wasn’t unexpected.? However, Katherine took the young Princess Elizabeth to live with them.? After Katherine died in child-birth Edward discovered that his brother Thomas had plotted to marry the young princess Elizabeth and overthrow him. Thomas was arrested and the Council had Thomas executed.? Edward’s own reputation took another hit for having his own brother executed, even though he must have been in an impossible situation.? It was Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who now made a bid for power and he convinced the Council that if he had been Lord Protector then the rebellions in the country would never have happened. Somerset was imprisoned but was promised his life if he resigned from being Lord Protector. He did and was allowed to stay on the Council after his release in 1550. Unfortunately Dudley was not satisfied and Uncle Edward was later ‘discovered’ to be plotting against him.? Dudley had him executed based on a false charge of treason in 1552.? Young King Eddie showed very little sorrow for the death of his uncle. He felt that Somerset had lectured him too much. He simply wrote in his diary of his uncle: ‘The Duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o’clock in the morning’.? Pretty cold, like his Daddy. Some called Somerset the ‘Good Duke’ for his honesty. He was certainly more honest than the man who replaced him.

Northumberland enjoyed wealth and power. As Protector his decisions benefitted himself. He stopped Somerset’s laws that had forbidden enclosures. Due to this unemployment in the country grew worse and led to a further increase in beggars, but he and his mates made a pile of cash.? He did do some good things though, he encouraged the explorers Sebastian Cabot, Willoughby and Chancellor. He also withdrew the troops from Scotland and ended the war with France.? Under him or possibly in spite of him, members of the Council did help to make some things better.? For example, Sir Thomas Gresham solved some of the country’s money problems and improved trade. Government organisation was improved with the help of William Cecil (Later, Lord Burghley and main figure in Elizabeth’s government).? Dudley continued the Reformation along with Thomas Cranmer but in his case it was not for religious reasons. The land he took he kept for himself and his family.

In 1552, King Eddie and Thomas Cranmer made a second attempt to introduce a new prayer book.? This Prayer Book was introduced new practises that included the following: Altars were abolished and replaced by simple tables, Priests were not to wear elaborate vestments,? private confessions were ended and replaced by a general confession said by all during the service, the Mass was abolished and replaced with Holy Communion (the difference being that the bread and wine now only represented Christ and did not become Christ).? Also, Predestination, the belief that it was already decided if you were bound for heaven or hell was accepted as truth. It was no longer possible to buy a place in heaven through good works, donating money to the church or saying prayers. Bells were banned and the words ‘priest’ and ‘altar’ were replaced with ‘minister’ and ‘table’. Also in this year, Cranmer published the aforementioned Forty-two Articles of belief.

Dudders pushed that Eddie should receive his full powers at 14, as he was deemed intelligent enough by many.? However, this is probably so that the Duke could wield more power through the young King.? Unfortunately for Dudley, in 1553 Eddie began to cough badly and his health declined.? Under the terms of Henry VIII’s will if Edward was to die without children the Crown was to pass to Mary. Mary was a strong Catholic and Northumberland knew that if she became Queen then she would restore the catholic faith to England and Northumberland, as a Protestant, would lose his power.

Northumberland’s son, Lord Guilford Dudley, was quickly married to Lady Jane Grey, who was the grandchild of Henry VIII’s sister, Mary (another Mary). Northumberland then persuaded King Eddie to leave the crown to Lady Jane Grey’s future children. This would mean that Mary Tudor would not get the crown and Northumberland would be the grandfather and grandfather-in-law of the future King or Queen.? Edward did not need much persuading as he also feared his half-sister’s Catholicism. However, before Jane could have any children Edward’s health got worse and it was known he would soon die. Jane Grey was promoted to the heiress to the throne with Mary and Elizabeth demoted to illegitimate (again).? On 6th July 1553 Edward died from tuberculosis.? Northumberland kept the death secret for three days (a familiar tactic) so he could organise. Jane was made Queen on 10th July 1553. However, Mary escaped him and went to East Anglia. The Duke of Norfolk’s family was still Catholic and threw their support behind Mary. Northumberland went after her but Mary was proclaimed Queen in Cambridge on the 19th July.? Northumberland had no troops as the nobles decided to ally with Mary and so he surrendered himself. He asked for mercy claiming he had always really been a Catholic (yeah-right!). Mary entered London in August. Northumberland didn’t get his mercy and was executed at the Tower of London in July 1553.? Lady Jane and her husband were imprisoned in the Tower.? Mary felt that Jane had been just a pawn used by others and wanted to show mercy so she kept them both under lock and key.?

So, was Edward actually a largely ineffective King?? Well, I guess so, as his rule was dominated by two powerful men.? However, his fierce impact on England’s religion must have led to a lasting effect on the psychology of the people.? Along with Cranmer, he was certainly influential in trying to push his beliefs forwards very quickly.? But since he only survived to 15 and his sister undid many of his changes, we’ll never really know what might have happened. However, I imagine that if he had survived to become King under his own rights I don’t think those who had tried to influence him would have survived.? He gives me the impression of being very much a chip-off the old block and if he was anything like his Dad and sisters, there would have been a lot more heads-off the old block.