Editing House of Tudor (section)

== Edward VI ==
[[File:Book of Common Prayer, 1549 (2).jpg|thumb|upright|The title page of Archbishop Cranmer's [[Book of Common Prayer]], 1549]]
Henry died on 28 January 1547. His [[Will (law)|will]] had reinstated his daughters by his annulled marriages to [[Catherine of Aragon]] and [[Anne Boleyn]] to the [[Succession to the British Throne|line of succession]]. Edward, his nine-year-old son by [[Jane Seymour]], succeeded as [[Edward VI of England]]. Unfortunately, the young King's kingdom was usually in turmoil between nobles who were trying to strengthen their own positions in the kingdom by using the Regency in their favour.<ref>{{Cite web |title=History of the Monarchy > the Tudors > Edward VI |url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheTudors/EdwardVI.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110605024015/http://www.royal.gov.uk/HistoryoftheMonarchy/KingsandQueensofEngland/TheTudors/EdwardVI.aspx |archive-date=5 June 2011 |access-date=12 April 2011}}</ref>

=== England under Lord Somerset ===

Although Henry had specified a group of men to act as regents during Edward's minority, [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Edward Seymour]], the young king's uncle, quickly seized control and created himself [[Duke of Somerset]] on 15 February 1547. His domination of the [[Privy Council]], the king's most senior body of advisers, was unchallenged. Somerset aimed to unite England and Scotland by marrying Edward to his cousin, the young [[Mary, Queen of Scots]], and aimed to forcibly impose the [[English Reformation]] on the [[Church of Scotland]]. Somerset led a large and well equipped army to Scotland, where he and the Scottish regent [[James Hamilton, 2nd Earl of Arran]], commanded their armies at the [[Battle of Pinkie]] on 10 September 1547. The English won the battle, and after this Queen Mary was smuggled to France, where she was betrothed to the [[Dauphin of France|Dauphin]], the future King [[Francis II of France]]. Despite Somerset's disappointment that no Scottish marriage would take place, his victory at Pinkie made his position appear unassailable.{{Sfn|Mackie|1952|pp=480–485}}

Edward VI was taught that he had to lead religious reform. In 1549, the Crown ordered the publication of the [[Book of Common Prayer]], containing the forms of worship for daily and Sunday church services. The controversial new book was not welcomed by either reformers or Catholic conservatives; it was especially condemned in [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], where traditional Catholic loyalty was at its strongest. In Cornwall at the time, many of the [[Cornish people|people]] could only speak the [[Cornish language]], so the uniform [[English Bible]]s and church services were not understood by many. This caused the [[Prayer Book Rebellion]], in which groups of Cornish non-conformists gathered round the mayor. The rebellion worried Somerset, now [[Lord Protector]], and he sent an army to impose a military solution to the rebellion. The rebellion hardened the Crown against Catholics. Fear of Catholicism focused on Edward's elder half-sister, [[Mary I of England|Mary]], who was a pious and devout Catholic. Although called before the Privy Council several times to renounce her faith and stop hearing the Catholic Mass, she refused. Edward had a good relationship with his sister [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]], who was a Protestant, albeit a moderate one, but this was strained when Elizabeth was accused of having an affair with the Duke of Somerset's brother, [[Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley]], who had married Henry VIII's widow, [[Catherine Parr]]. Seymour had invaded Edward's apartments and had killed his dog in a scheme to forcefully gain control over him.
Elizabeth was interviewed by one of Edward's advisers, and she was eventually found not to be guilty, despite forced confessions from her servants [[Kat Ashley]] and [[Thomas Parry (Comptroller of the Household)|Sir Thomas Parry]]. Thomas Seymour was beheaded on 20 March 1549.

=== Problematic succession ===
[[File:Edward VI of England c. 1546.jpg|thumb|upright|A small boy with a big mind: [[Edward VI]], desperate for a Protestant succession, changed his father's will to allow [[Lady Jane Grey]] to become queen]]

[[Lord Protector]] [[Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset|Somerset]] was also losing favour. After forcibly removing Edward VI to [[Windsor Castle]], with the intention of keeping him hostage, Somerset was removed from power by members of the council, led by his chief rival, [[John Dudley, Earl of Warwick]], who created himself [[Duke of Northumberland]] shortly after his rise. Northumberland effectively became Lord Protector, but he did not use this title, learning from the mistakes his predecessor made. Northumberland was furiously ambitious, and aimed to secure Protestant uniformity while making himself rich with land and money in the process. He ordered churches to be stripped of all traditional Catholic symbolism, resulting in the simplicity often seen in [[Church of England]] churches today. A revision of the [[Book of Common Prayer]] was published in 1552. When Edward VI became ill in 1553, his advisers looked to the possible imminent accession of the Catholic Lady Mary, and feared that she would overturn all the reforms made during Edward's reign. Perhaps surprisingly, it was the dying Edward himself who feared a return to Catholicism, and wrote a new [[will (law)|will]] repudiating the 1544 will of Henry VIII. This gave the throne to his cousin [[Lady Jane Grey]], the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister [[Mary Tudor (queen consort of France)|Mary Tudor]], who, after the death of [[Louis XII of France]] in 1515 had married Henry VIII's favourite [[Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk]].

Edward VI died on 6 July 1553, at the age of 15. With his death, the direct male line of the House of Tudor ended.