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coronation, King Edward VI of England, King Henry VIII of England, Lady Jane Grey, Privy Council, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Queen Mary I of England, Third Succession Act of 1544
Edward VI (October 12, 1537 – July 6, 1553) was King of England and Ireland from January 28, 1547 until his death in 1553. The only surviving son of King Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, Edward was the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant.
Lord Chancellor Thomas Wriothesley announced King Henry VIII’s death to Parliament on January 31, 1547 and general proclamations of Edward’s succession were ordered. The new king was taken to the Tower of London, where he was welcomed with “great shot of ordnance in all places there about, as well out of the Tower as out of the ships”.
The following day, the nobles of the realm made their obeisance to King Edward VI at the Tower, and his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset from was announced as Lord Protector of England . King Henry VIII was buried at Windsor on February 16, 1547 in the same tomb as Jane Seymour, as he had wished.
Four days later King Edward VI was crowned at Westminster Abbey on Sunday February 20, 1547. The ceremonies were shortened, because of the “tedious length of the same which should weary and be hurtsome peradventure to the King’s majesty, being yet of tender age”, and also because the Reformation had rendered some of them inappropriate.
On the eve of the coronation, Edward progressed on horseback from the Tower to the Palace of Westminster through thronging crowds and pageants, many based on the pageants for a previous boy king, Henry VI. He laughed at a Spanish tightrope walker who “tumbled and played many pretty toys” outside St Paul’s Cathedral.
At the coronation service, Cranmer affirmed the royal supremacy and called Edward a second Josiah, urging him to continue the reformation of the Church of England, “the tyranny of the Bishops of Rome banished from your subjects, and images removed”. After the service, King Edward VI presided at a banquet in Westminster Hall, where, he recalled in his Chronicle, he dined with his crown on his head.
During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland (1550–1553).
The transformation of the Church of England into a recognisably Protestant body also occurred under King Edward VI, who took great interest in religious matters. His father, King Henry VIII, had severed the link between the English Church and Rome, but continued to uphold most Catholic doctrine and ceremony.
It was during Edward’s reign that Protestantism was established for the first time in England with reforms that included the abolition of clerical celibacy and the Mass, and the imposition of compulsory English in church services.
In 1553, at age 15, Edward fell ill. When his sickness was discovered to be terminal, he and his council drew up a “Devise for the Succession” to prevent the country’s return to Catholicism. .
In June 1553, King Edward VI wrote his will, nominating his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, and her male heirs as successors to the Crown, in part because his half-sister Princess Mary was Catholic, while Lady Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England, whose foundation King Edward VI laid.
King Edward VI personally supervised the copying of his will which was finally issued as letters patent on June 21 and signed by 102 notables, among them the whole Privy Council, peers, bishops, judges, and London aldermen. The will removed his half-sisters, Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their claims under the Third Succession Act of 1544
The Third Succession Act of 1544 restored Henry VIII’s daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession, although they were still regarded as illegitimate.
King Edward VI also announced to have his “declaration” passed in Parliament in September, and the necessary writs were prepared. King Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, but his death was not announced until four days later.
This decision to alter the succession was disputed following King Edward VI’s death, and because the necessary writs were not passed by Parliament the Third Succession Act of 1544 remained Law making Lady Jane, rather her supporters, attempt to take the throne illegal.
After nine days Jane’s supporters abandoned her and Queen Mary took her rightful place on the throne. Queen Mary I, a Catholic, reversed King Edward VI’s Protestant reforms during her reign, but Queen Elizabeth I restored them in 1559.