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28 January and Henry, who had not been
well for a few years, died at Whitehall Palace aged 57 years, seven months. He had reigned for 37 years and 9 months.
In order to marry the woman he wanted, who he then beheaded 3 years later, he had completely changed religion in England. He did not necessarily
agree with many of the views of the so-called Protestants but he would not let the Pope, in Rome, dictate to him. He was quite ruthless with people who got
in his way, executing not only two of his wives but also several of his closest advisors.
Henry was succeeded by his only son Edward who was just 9 at
the time. If you remember, Edward VI was the son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour but she died within a few weeks of his birth. Because he was only 9 when his
father died and he became King, he was too young to actually rule. A council of 12 men were appointed by Parliament to look after things until he was 18. Initially
this was led by his uncle Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset.
Somerset was a soldier and he entered into a war with Scotland which ended up going badly. After 2 years as leader things went badly for Somerset too
as he was removed from power. Edward wrote that Somerset had been removed because of his "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent
looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority.” In other words he was a greedy, bossy boots.
He was replaced by a man called John Dudley, Earl of Warwick. Somerset was removed from the council, imprisoned in the tower and then released and
invited back to the council. To show things were now friendlier, Dudley married Somerset’s daughter but Somerset then started plotting against Dudley and was
arrested again and then beheaded. Dudley remained as leader until Edward’s death in 1553.
The change in religion that had started under Henry VIII continued
while Edward was King. Edward, apparently, took a great interest in religion. He was said to be a bright child and had short red hair. Thomas Cranmer, the
Archbishop of Canterbury, pushed ahead with reforms. In 1549 Parliament passed the Act of Uniformity which, among others things, said all church services had to
be in English. Up till then services were conducted in Latin.
A new Book of Common Prayer was issued which had been approved by a committee of 13 clergymen who had met the previous year. Thomas Cranmer had been
working privately on it for several years. By now, 1549, Cranmer was sixty years old and had been Archbishop of Canterbury since 1533. Aso around this time all
crosses and images of saints were removed from churches and clergy were allowed to marry which was a bit late for Cranmer as he had married in 1532 when it was
still illegal.
Edward got on with both his sisters who Henry had actually made his legitimate children in 1544. He also seems to have liked Henry’s last wife,
Catherine Parr but he and his council were worried that Mary, who would succeed Edward although she was 20 years older and might die first, would change religions
again as she was a Catholic; remember her mother was Catherine of Aragon who was Spanish and definitely Catholic.
Edward had been betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots after the Treaty of Greenwich, signed in 1543 when Mary was only seven months old. The agreement was
that when Mary was 10, in 1552, and Edward was nearly 16, the marriage would take place. However the Scots were a bit sneaky and in 1548 agreed to a marriage
between Mary and the son of the King of France. This annoyed the English and a war began. France got involved and the battles went on for many years but in 1549
Somerset began to withdraw from Scotland
Forward to 1553AD
