Editing Edward VI (section)

==Death and succession crisis==
{{see also|1553 succession crisis in England}}

===Devise for the succession===
[[File:Edward VI's 'devise for the succession'.png|thumb|alt= A letter written in pen and ink, with irregular writing and several alterations|In his "devise for the succession", Edward passed over his sisters' claims to the throne in favour of [[Lady Jane Grey]]. In the fourth line, he altered "L Janes heires masles" to "L Jane and her heires masles" (Lady Jane and her male heirs). [[Inner Temple Library]], London]]

In February 1553, Edward became ill, and by June, after several improvements and relapses, he was in a hopeless condition.<ref name="Ldeath"/> The king's death and the succession of his Catholic half-sister Mary would jeopardise the English Reformation, and Edward's council and officers had many reasons to fear it.{{Sfn|Starkey|2001|pp=111–112}} Edward himself opposed Mary's succession, not only on religious grounds but also on those of legitimacy and male inheritance, which also applied to Elizabeth.<ref>{{Harvnb|Starkey|2001|pp=112–113}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|p=232}}.</ref> He composed a draft document, headed "My devise for the succession", in which he undertook to change the succession, most probably inspired by his father's precedent.{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=142–144}} He passed over the claims of his half-sisters and settled the Crown on his first cousin once removed, the 16-year-old Lady Jane Grey, who on 25 May 1553 had married [[Lord Guilford Dudley]], a younger son of the Duke of Northumberland.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ives|2009|p=321}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|pp=238–239}}.</ref> In the document he writes:

{{Blockquote|text=My devise for the Succession

1. For lakke of issu ''[masle inserted above the line, but afterwards crossed out]'' of my body ''[to the issu (masle above the line) cumming of thissu femal, as i have after declared inserted, but crossed out]''. To the L Franceses heires masles, ''[For lakke of erased]'' ''[if she have any inserted]'' such issu ''[befor my death inserted]'' to the L' Janes ''[and her inserted]'' heires masles, To the L Katerins heires masles, To the L Maries heires masles, To the heires masles of the daughters wich she shal haue hereafter. Then to the L Margets heires masles. For lakke of such issu, To th'eires masles of the L Janes daughters. To th'eires masles of the L Katerins daughters, and so forth til yow come to the L Margets ''[daughters inserted]'' heires masles.

2. If after my death theire masle be entred into 18 yere old, then he to have the hole rule and gouernauce therof.

3. But if he be under 18, then his mother to be gouuernres til he entre 18 yere old, But to doe nothing w'out th'auise (and agremet inserted) of 6 parcel of a counsel to be pointed by my last will to the nombre of 20.

4. If the mother die befor th'eire entre into 18 the realme to be gouuerned by the cousel Prouided that after he be 14 yere al great matters of importaunce be opened to him.

5. If i died w'out issu, and there were none heire masle, then the L Fraunces to be (reget altered to) gouuernres. For lakke of her, the her eldest daughters,4 and for lakke of them the L Marget to be gouuernres after as is aforsaid, til sume heire masle be borne, and then the mother of that child to be gouuernres.

6. And if during the rule of the gouuernres ther die 4 of the counsel, then shal she by her letters cal an asseble of the counsel w'in on month folowing and chose 4 more, wherin she shal haue thre uoices. But after her death the 16 shal chose emong themselfes til th'eire come to (18 erased) 14 yeare olde, and then he by ther aduice shal chose them" (1553).|author=Edward VI |source=Devise for the Succession<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/edward6devise.htm|title=Edward VI: Devise for the Succession—1553|date=2010|publisher=Luminarium: Encyclopedia Project|access-date=21 October 2016|archive-date=26 December 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226203018/http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/edward6devise.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> }}

In his document Edward provided, in case of "lack of issue of my body", for the succession of male heirs only—those of Lady Jane Grey's mother, [[Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk]]; of Jane herself; or of her sisters [[Lady Katherine Grey|Katherine, Lady Herbert]], and [[Lady Mary Grey|Lady Mary]].{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=137, 139–140}}{{Efn|In case there were no male heirs at the time of his death, England should have no king, but the Duchess of Suffolk should act as regent until the birth of a royal male. Edward made detailed provisions for a minority rule, stipulated at what age the male rulers were to take power, and left open the possibility of his having children.<ref>{{Harvnb|Ives|2009|pp=137–139}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|pp=172–173}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|p=231}}.</ref>}} As his death approached, and possibly persuaded by Northumberland,{{Sfn|Loades|1996|p=240}} he altered the wording so that Jane and her sisters themselves could succeed. Yet Edward conceded their right only as an exception to male rule, demanded by reality, an example not to be followed if Jane and her sisters had only daughters.{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=147, 150}}{{efn|By the logic of the devise, [[Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk]], Jane's mother and Henry VIII's niece, should have been named as Edward's heir, but she, who had already been passed over in favour of her children in Henry's will, seems to have waived her claim after a visit to Edward.{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=157, 35}}}} In the final document both Mary and Elizabeth were excluded because of bastardy;{{Sfn|Ives|2009|p=167}} since both had been declared bastards under Henry VIII and never made legitimate again, this reason could be advanced for both.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jordan|1970|p=515}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=373''n''16}}</ref> The provisions to alter the succession directly contravened Henry VIII's [[Third Succession Act]] of 1544 and have been described as bizarre and illogical.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=163}}; {{Harvnb|Jordan|1970|p=515}}.</ref>

[[File:Streathamladyjayne.jpg|thumb|alt=A stiff Elizabethan-style three-quarter portrait of Lady Jane Grey wearing elaborate formal dress and holding a prayer book. She is a tall pale young woman.|[[Lady Jane Grey]] was proclaimed queen four days after Edward's death.]]

In early June, Edward personally supervised the drafting of a clean version of his devise by lawyers, to which he lent his signature "in six several places."{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=145, 314}} On 15 June, he summoned high-ranking judges to his sickbed, commanding them on their allegiance "with sharp words and angry countenance" to prepare his devise as letters patent and announcing that he would have these passed in Parliament.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=164}}; {{Harvnb|Hoak|2004}}</ref> His next measure was to have leading councillors and lawyers sign a bond in his presence, in which they agreed to perform Edward's will faithfully after his death.{{Sfn|Ives|2009|pp=160–161}} A few months later, [[Chief Justice of the Common Pleas|Chief Justice]] [[Edward Montagu (judge)|Edward Montagu]] recalled that when he and his colleagues had raised legal objections to the devise, Northumberland had threatened them "trembling for anger, and ... further said that he would fight in his shirt with any man in that quarrel".<ref>{{Harvnb|Ives|2009|pp=105, 147}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|p=241}}.</ref> Montagu also overheard a group of lords standing behind him conclude "if they refused to do that, they were traitors".{{Sfn|Ives|2009|p=160}} At last, on 21 June, the devise was signed by over 100 notables, including councillors, peers, archbishops, bishops and sheriffs;{{Sfn|Ives|2009|p=161}} many of them later said they had been bullied into doing so by Northumberland, although in the words of Edward's biographer Jennifer Loach, "few of them gave any clear indication of reluctance at the time".{{Sfn|Loach|1999|p=165}}

It was now common knowledge that Edward was dying, and foreign diplomats suspected that some scheme to debar Mary was under way. France found the prospect of the emperor's cousin on the English throne disagreeable and engaged in secret talks with Northumberland, indicating support.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=166}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|pp=254–255}}.</ref> The diplomats were certain that the overwhelming majority of the English people backed Mary, but nevertheless believed that Queen Jane would be successfully established.{{Sfn|Loades|1996|pp=256–257}}

For centuries, the attempt to alter the succession was mostly seen as a one-man plot by the Duke of Northumberland.{{Sfn|Ives|2009|p=128}} But since the 1970s, many historians have attributed the inception of the "devise" and the insistence on its implementation to the king's initiative.<ref>e.g.: {{Harvnb|Jordan|1970|pp=514–517}}; {{Harvnb|Loades|1996|pp=239–241}}; {{Harvnb|Starkey|2001|pp=112–114}}; {{Harvnb|MacCulloch|2002|pp=39–41}}; {{Harvnb|Alford|2002|pp=171–174}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|pp=247–250}}; {{Harvnb|Ives|2009|pp=136–142, 145–148}}; {{Harvnb|Hoak|2004}}</ref> [[Diarmaid MacCulloch]] has made out Edward's "teenage dreams of founding an evangelical realm of Christ",{{Sfn|MacCulloch|2002|p=41}} while [[David Starkey]] has written that "Edward had a couple of co-operators, but the driving will was his".{{Sfn|Starkey|2001|p=112}} Among other members of the Privy Chamber, Northumberland's intimate [[Sir John Gates]] has been suspected of suggesting to Edward to change his devise so that Lady Jane Grey herself—not just any sons of hers—could inherit the Crown.{{Sfn|Hoak|2004}} Whatever the degree of his contribution, Edward was convinced that his word was law{{Sfn|Mackie|1952|p=524}} and fully endorsed disinheriting his half-sisters: "barring Mary from the succession was a cause in which the young King believed".{{Sfn|Hoak|1980|p=49}}

===Illness and death===
Edward had become ill in January 1553 with a fever and cough that gradually worsened. The [[List of ambassadors of the Holy Roman Empire to England|imperial ambassador]], [[Jean Scheyfve]], reported, "he suffers a good deal when the fever is upon him, especially from a difficulty in drawing his breath, which is due to the compression of the organs on the right side".{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|pp=244–245}}

Edward felt well enough in early April to take the air in the park at Westminster and to move to Greenwich, but by the end of the month he had weakened again. By 7 May he was "much amended", and the royal doctors had no doubt of his recovery. A few days later the king was watching the ships on the Thames, sitting at his window.{{Sfn|Loades|1996|p=238}} But he relapsed, and on 11 June, Scheyfve, who had an informant in the king's household, reported, "the matter he ejects from his mouth is sometimes coloured a greenish yellow and black, sometimes pink, like the colour of blood".{{Sfn|Loach|1999|p=159}} Now his doctors believed he was suffering from "a suppurating tumour" of the lung and that his life was beyond recovery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=160}}; {{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|p=254}}.</ref> Soon, his legs became so swollen that he had to lie on his back, and he lost the strength to resist the disease. To his tutor John Cheke he whispered, "I am glad to die".{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|p=254}}

Edward made his final appearance in public on 1 July, when he showed himself at his window in Greenwich Palace, horrifying those who saw him by his "thin and wasted" condition. During the next two days, large crowds arrived hoping to see the king again, but on 3 July, they were told that the weather was too chilly for him to appear. Edward died at the age of 15 at [[Greenwich Palace]] at 8&nbsp;pm on 6 July 1553. According to [[John Foxe]]'s account of his death, his last words were: "I am faint; Lord have mercy upon me, and take my spirit".<ref>{{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|p=258}}; {{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=167}}. See Foxe's ''Acts and monuments,'' VI, 352.</ref>

Edward was buried on 8 August 1553 immediately to the west of his grandfather Henry VII's tomb in the [[Henry VII Lady Chapel|Lady Chapel]] at Westminster Abbey, right under the Chapel's original altar, with reformed rites performed by Thomas Cranmer. The procession was led by "a grett company of chylderyn in ther surples" and watched by Londoners "wepyng and lamenting"; the funeral chariot, draped in cloth of gold, was topped by an effigy of Edward, with crown, sceptre, and garter.{{Sfn|Loach|1999|pp=167–169}} A monument was designed but not realised, leaving Edward's burial place unmarked until 1966, when an inscribed stone was laid in the chapel floor by [[Christ's Hospital]] school to commemorate its founder. The inscription reads: "In Memory Of King Edward VI Buried In This Chapel This Stone Was Placed Here By Christ's Hospital In Thanksgiving For Their Founder 7 October 1966".<ref>{{cite web |title=Edward Vi |website=Westminster Abbey |url=https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/edward-vi |access-date=23 September 2019 |archive-date=2 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230402091552/https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/royals/edward-vi |url-status=live }}</ref>

The cause of Edward VI's death is not certain. As with many royal deaths in the 16th century, rumours of poisoning abounded, but no evidence has been found to support them.<ref>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|p=160}}; {{Harvnb|Jordan|1970|p=520''n''1}}</ref> The Duke of Northumberland, whose unpopularity was underlined by the events that followed Edward's death, was widely believed to have ordered the imagined poisoning.{{Sfn|Dickens|1967|p=352}} Another theory held that Edward had been poisoned by Catholics seeking to bring Mary to the throne.{{Sfn|Skidmore|2007|pp=258–259}} The surgeon who opened Edward's chest after his death found that "the disease whereof his majesty died was the disease of the lungs".<ref name = Sk260>{{Harvnb|Skidmore|2007|p=260}}.</ref> The Venetian ambassador reported that Edward had died of consumption—in other words, [[tuberculosis]]—a diagnosis many historians accept.{{Sfn|Loach|1999|p=161}} Skidmore believes that Edward contracted tuberculosis after a bout of [[measles]] and [[smallpox]] in 1552 that suppressed his natural immunity to the disease.<ref name="Sk260"/> Loach suggests instead that his symptoms were typical of acute [[bronchopneumonia]], leading to a "suppurating pulmonary infection" or [[lung abscess]], [[septicaemia]] and [[kidney failure]].<ref name =Ldeath>{{Harvnb|Loach|1999|pp=159–162}}.</ref>

===Lady Jane and Queen Mary===
[[File:Anthonis Mor 001.jpg|thumb|left|alt=A formal seated portrait in the Spanish style of Mary I. She has a sallow fleshy face with reddish-brown hair and light eyes. Her mouth is firmly set and her eyes wary. She wears a dress of fine dark brown fur over a brocade underskirt heavily patterned in the Florentine style. Her cap is bordered with jewels and pearls. Much of her jewellery is grey pearls. She holds a pair of kid gloves and a rose.|Two weeks after Edward's death, the [[Privy Council of England|Privy Council]] proclaimed his half-sister as [[Queen Mary I]], despite Edward's attempt to prevent her accession.]]

Lady Mary was last seen by Edward in February, and was kept informed about his health by Northumberland and through her contacts with the imperial ambassadors.{{Sfn|Loades|1996|pp=239–240, 237}} Aware of Edward's imminent death, she left [[Hunsdon House]], near London, and sped to her estates around [[Kenninghall]] in Norfolk, where she could count on the support of her [[tenants]].{{Sfn|Loades|1996|pp=257, 258}} Northumberland sent ships to the Norfolk coast to prevent her escape or the arrival of reinforcements from the continent. He delayed the announcement of the king's death while he gathered his forces, and Jane Grey was taken to the Tower on 10 July.{{Sfn|Jordan|1970|p=521}} On the same day, she was proclaimed queen in the streets of London, to murmurings of discontent. The Privy Council received a message from Mary asserting her "right and title" to the throne and commanding that the council proclaim her queen, as she had already proclaimed herself.<ref>{{Harvnb|Erickson|1978|pp=290–291}}; {{Harvnb|Tittler|1991|p=8}}.</ref> The council replied that Jane was queen by Edward's authority and that Mary, by contrast, was illegitimate and supported only by "a few lewd, base people".{{Sfn|Jordan|1970|p=522}}

Northumberland soon realised that he had miscalculated drastically, not least in failing to secure Mary's person before Edward's death.<ref>{{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=375}}; {{Harvnb|Dickens|1967|p=353}}.</ref> Although many of those who rallied to Mary were Catholics hoping to establish that religion and to defeat Protestantism, her supporters also included many for whom her lawful claim to the throne overrode religious considerations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Jordan|1970|p=524}}; {{Harvnb|Elton|1977|p=375}}.</ref> Northumberland was obliged to relinquish control of a nervous council in London and launch an unplanned pursuit of Mary into [[East Anglia]], from where news was arriving of her growing support, which included a number of nobles and gentlemen and "innumerable companies of the common people".{{Sfn|Erickson|1978|p=291}} On 14 July Northumberland marched out of London with 3,000 men, reaching [[Cambridge]] the next day; meanwhile, Mary rallied her forces at [[Framlingham Castle]] in Suffolk, gathering an army of nearly 20,000 by 19 July.<ref>{{Harvnb|Tittler|1991|p=10}}; {{Harvnb|Erickson|1978|pp=292–293}}.</ref>

It now dawned on the Privy Council that it had made a terrible mistake. Led by the Earls of [[Henry Fitzalan, 19th Earl of Arundel|Arundel]] and Pembroke, on 19 July the council publicly proclaimed Mary as queen; Jane's nine-day reign came to an end. The proclamation triggered wild rejoicing throughout London.{{Sfn|Jordan|1970|pp=529–530}} Stranded in Cambridge, Northumberland himself proclaimed Mary queen—as he had been commanded to do by a letter from the council.{{Sfn|Loades|2004|p=134}} William Paget and the Earl of Arundel rode to Framlingham to beg Mary's pardon, and Arundel arrested Northumberland on 24 July. Northumberland was beheaded on 22 August, shortly after renouncing Protestantism.{{Sfn|Loades|2004|pp=134–135}} His recantation dismayed his daughter-in-law, Jane, who followed him to the scaffold on 12 February 1554, after [[Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk|her father]]'s involvement in [[Wyatt's rebellion]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Tittler|1991|p=11}}; {{Harvnb|Erickson|1978|pp=357–358}}.</ref>