Edward

=King Edward VI= BORN: 12 OCTOBER 1537 SUCCEEDED: 28 JANUARY 1547 DIED: 6 JULY 1553

**The King's Son**
Edward VI was born on October 12, 1537. His parents were England's King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife. For more than a quarter century Henry had desperately wanted a son, and Edward's birth caused great happiness. But Queen Jane soon fell ill with childbed fever, and on October 24 she died. Until the age of six Edward was raised by his nurse and other servants. During that time Henry took two wives in quick https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_1|__[S1]__, but both marriages ended badly; Anne of Cleves was discarded because the king found her ugly, and Katherine Howard was executed for adultery. In 1543 Henry married Katherine Parr, who became a loving stepmother to Edward and his older half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. She was a highly learned woman who personally oversaw Prince Edward's education. Edward's tutors taught him geography, government, history, French, German, Greek, and Latin. He was also given lessons in etiquette, https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_2|__[S2]__, horseback riding, music and other gentlemanly https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_3|__[S3]__. Perhaps most important to Edward was his study of the Scriptures. He became a devout Protestant even though his father, who had severed England's connection to the Roman Catholic Church, remained conservative and mostly Catholic in his beliefs. Although Edward was serious and studious, at times he displayed a https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_4|__[S4]__ temper. According to one account, he once tore a living falcon into four pieces.

**The Boy King**
Henry VIII died in 1547 and his nine-year-old son became King Edward VI. A council was appointed to rule during Edward's https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_5|__[S5]__, with Edward's uncle, the duke of Somerset (Jane Seymour's brother), as Protector of the country and the king. By this time Edward had completed his education and was https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_6|__[S6]__ in council meetings. It was decided that the king would take charge of the country at age sixteen. This was bad news for his sister Mary, an https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_7|__[S7]__ Catholic who refused to cooperate with Edward's religious reforms. However, Edward got along well with his other sister, Elizabeth, a moderate Protestant. Edward suffered https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_8|__[S8]__ of measles and smallpox in April 1552, and from that time his health declined. By the next spring it was obvious that the king was dying of consumption (tuberculosis). His father's will had specified that Mary should become queen if Edward died without children, but Northumberland had different ideas. He https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_9|__[S9]__ Edward to name the Protestant Lady Jane Grey as his successor. Lady Jane was the granddaughter of Henry VIII's sister Mary; she was also Northumberland's daughter-in-law, and through her Northumberland hoped to rule England. On July 6, 1553 Edward whispered his last prayer and died. He was fifteen years old. He would be https://files.itslearning.com/data/rkk/11626/pabygg/Edwardtudor.htm#_msocom_10|__[S10]__ -- briefly -- by the unfortunate [|__Lady Jane__].