Edward VI of England

Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because he never reached maturity. Edward’s reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest. The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward.

About Edward VI of England in brief

Summary Edward VI of EnglandEdward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. Edward was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, and England’s first monarch to be raised as a Protestant. During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because he never reached maturity. Edward’s reign was marked by economic problems and social unrest that in 1549 erupted into riot and rebellion. The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under Edward, who took great interest in religious matters. Edward named his first cousin once removed, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir, excluding his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. This decision was disputed following Edward’s death, and Jane was deposed by Mary nine days after becoming queen. During her reign, Mary reversed Edward’s Protestant reforms, which nonetheless became the basis of the Elizabethan Religious Settlement of 1559. The tradition that Edward VI was a sickly boy has been challenged by more recent historians. The formal royal household around Edward was, at first, under Sir William Sidney, and later Sir Richard Stanhope. From the age of six, Edward began his formal education under John Cheke, John Cox, and Richard Cheke. He was lavishly provided with toys and comforts, including his own troupe of minstrels. He put as he later established it in his later years, the women of the royal household, such as Blanche Herbert, Lady Herbert, and Sir Richard Sidney, Sir Richard, Sir William Stanley and Sir William.

Henry. Henry demanded exacting standards of security and cleanliness in his son’s household, stressing that Edward was ‘this whole realm’s most precious jewel’ Visitors described the prince as ‘the most contented child in the world’ He died in February 1553, at age 15, when his sickness was discovered to be terminal, and he and his Council drew up a ‘Devise for the Succession’ to prevent the country’s return to Catholicism. His death was followed by the death of his mother Jane, who died on 23 October 1537 from presumed postnatal complications, and died the following night. The people greeted the birth of a male heir, ‘whom we hungered for so long’, with joy and relief. Te Deums were sung in churches, bonfires lit, and \”their was shott at the Tower that night above two thousand gonnes\”. Edward was christened on 15 October, with his half sister Mary as godmother and the 4-year-old Lady Elizabeth carrying the chrisom; and the Garter King of Arms proclaimed him as Duke of Cornwall and Earl of Chester. His father, Henry VIII, 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\”. His father had severed the link between the Church and Rome, but Henry VIII had never permitted the renunciation of Catholic doctrine or ceremony.