Edward VI was king of England from 1547 to 1553. He was born in 1537 at Hampton Court and died in 1553. He was the son of Henry VIII by Jane Seymour. Being only nine at his accession a council of regency was formed under his uncle the Earl of Hertford. Edward VI was intellectually precocious (fluent in Greek and Latin, he kept a full journal of his reign) but not physically robust. His short reign was dominated by nobles using the Regency to strengthen their own positions. The King's Council, previously dominated by Henry, succumbed to existing factionalism. On Henry's death, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford and soon to be Duke of Somerset, the new King's eldest uncle, became Protector. Edward Seymour was an able soldier; he led a punitive expedition against the Scots, for their failure to fulfil their promise to betroth Mary, Queen of Scots to Edward, which led to Edward Seymour's victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 - although he failed to follow this up with satisfactory peace terms.
During Edward VI's reign, the Church of England became more explicitly Protestant - Edward VI himself was fiercely Protestant. The Book of Common Prayer was introduced in 1549, aspects of Roman Catholic practices (including statues and stained glass) were eradicated and the marriage of clergy allowed. The imposition of the Prayer Book (which replaced Latin services with English) led to rebellions in Cornwall and Devon.
Despite his military ability, Edward Seymour was too liberal to deal effectively with Kett's rebellion against land enclosures in Norfolk. Edward Seymour was left isolated in the Council and the Duke of Northumberland subsequently overthrew him in 1551. Edward Seymour was executed in 1552, an event which was briefly mentioned by Edward VI in his diary: 'Today, the Duke of Somerset had his head cut off on Tower Hill.'
Northumberland took greater trouble to charm and influence Edward VI; his powerful position as Lord President of the Council was based on his personal ascendancy over the King. However, the young King was ailing. Northumberland hurriedly married his son Lord Guilford Dudley to Lady Jane Grey, one of Henry VIII's great-nieces and a claimant to the throne. Edward VI accepted Lady Jane Grey as his heir and, on his death from tuberculosis in 1553, Lady Jane Grey assumed the throne. Research Edward VI
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