Henry VIII of England died in 1547, leaving behind three children: Mary, the daughter of Katherine of Aragon; Elizabeth, the daughter of Anne Boleyn; and Edward, the son of Jane Seymour. As the male heir, the throne went to Edward, even though he was only nine years old when his father died.
Edward VI - Manipulated Puppet or Mindful King?
Edward is often implied to have been a sickly, foppish child, completely controlled by his Council. The truth is probably far more complex.
Edward was groomed to be king practically from birth. He was an accomplished scholar. His build was slender, but he was not known for being infirm. Diplomats of the day expected him to have a long and prosperous reign.
While there is no doubt that Edward was at least partially under the influence of powerful men, there is also no doubt that he took an active part in ruling his kingdom. He certainly took an active role in persecuting his older sister, Mary.
The Catholic versus the Protestant
Mary had been born when England was a Catholic country. Even after her father broke with the Roman Catholic Church to marry Anne Boleyn, Mary continued to worship as a Catholic.
Edward was born into a country in religious fluctuation. He was raised with Protestant sympathies, and his Protector, the Duke of Somerset, was an unabashed reformer. By the fall of 1547, Edward had issued a proclamation that all masses were to be heard in English rather than in Latin.
Mary's household continued to celebrate mass in Latin. She was able to defy the king because her cousin was King Charles V of Spain. England could not afford his ill will, and he made it clear he would not take kindly to Mary being persecuted for her religious beliefs.
1549 - The Act of Uniformity
Edward VI continued with his reforms. In 1549, he decreed that the English Book of Common Prayer be used in all churches. Mary refused to obey and embarked on an argument that she would repeat many times through the next few years. She said the king was too young to know his own mind and had fallen under unwholesome influences.
This infuriated Edward, who wrote her a stern letter in his own hand.
The summer of 1549 was a difficult one for England and a dangerous time for Mary. Rebellions sprung up throughout the country. Many of the common people did not like the religious reforms. They were ready to rally behind Mary and place her on the throne. Wisely, Mary did not encourage them, but she also continued to celebrate her Catholic masses.
The Rise of the Earl of Warwick
Meanwhile, the Duke of Somerset was falling out of favor as Protector. A new player, John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick, had found favor with the king after helping to quell the rebellions. Mary despaired. She privately considered Dudley to be "the most unstable man in all England."
Warwick did indeed make things more difficult for Mary. In August of 1950, he ordered her to hold no further Catholic masses. She ignored him.
Edward wrote her a threatening letter, saying, "I will see my laws strictly obeyed, and those who break them shall be watched and denounced."
1551 - Mary Tudor's Ultimatum
In March of 1551, Mary was ordered to court. She came, but she and her servants arrived defiantly carrying their rosaries. A crowd of some 400 supporters followed her into the city.
When she reached Whitehall Palace, where Edward was staying, Mary knelt humbly before him. Edward greeted her with a kiss, but he and his Council then spent the better part of two hours questioning and berating her. Both siblings wept. Mary finally issued an ultimatum. Her soul, she said, was God's, and her body was the king's. She hoped it would please him to take her life rather than her religion.
Edward backed down. Perhaps it was because he had once been close to his older sister. More likely, it was because Charles V had threatened to invade England if Mary were forbidden her Catholic masses.
After this fiery confrontation, Edward and his Council left Mary alone for the most part, though they continued to regularly arrest and harass members of her household.
Edward VI Strikes Out From Beyond the Grave
In April of 1552, Edward caught the measles. He appeared to make a full recovery, but as he tried to keep up a heavy schedule of public appearances, it was clear his health was failing.
Mary saw her brother one final time, in February of 1553. Edward was ill with a lung infection, and spent only a short time with his sister, but it seems they passed that time amicably. Neither mentioned religious matters.
In spite of his apparent good will, Edward was determined that his death would not mark a return to Catholicism for England. In January of 1553, he began working on a document called The King's Devise, which would change the line of succession. Instead of Mary, the fanatically Protestant Jane Grey, a distant cousin of Edward's, would become the next ruler.
When it became clear that he would not recover, Edward showed the document to his mentor, John Dudley. Together, they pushed it through legal channels. There are rumors that Edward took small doses of arsenic to fend off death until the succession could be arranged to his satisfaction.
He accomplished his goal. When he died on July 6, 1553, at the tender age of fifteen, the Council proclaimed Lady Jane Grey Queen of England.
Edward's actions could have sent the country spiraling into Civil War. Thanks to Mary's political acumen, they did not.
Sources
Erickson, Carolly (1978). Bloody Mary: The Remarkable Life of Mary Tudor. Doubleday & Company, Inc.: New York.
Porter, Linda (2007). The First Queen of England: The Myth of Bloody Mary. St. Martin's Press: New York.
Weir, Alison (1996). The Children of Henry VIII. Ballantine Books: New York.
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