EDWARD
VI (r. 1547-1553)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. 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
Seymour's victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 - although he failed
to follow this up with satisfactory peace terms.
During Edward's reign,
the Church of England became more explicitly Protestant - Edward himself was fiercely
so. 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,
Seymour was too liberal to deal effectively with Kett's rebellion against land
enclosures in Norfolk. Seymour was left isolated in the Council and the Duke of
Northumberland subsequently overthrew him in 1551. Seymour was executed in 1552,
an event which was briefly mentioned by Edward 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; 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 accepted Jane as his heir and, on his death from tuberculosis in
1553, Jane assumed the throne.