Edward,
the son of Henry
VIII
and Jane
Seymour was
born in 1537. He
was only 10 years old when his father died in 1547. He was too young
to rule, so his uncle, Edward Seymour,
Duke of Somerset, took over the running of the country.
The Duke of Somerset was
a Protestant and he soon began to make changes to the Church of England.
This included the introduction of an English Prayer Book and the decision
to allow members of the clergy to get married. Attempts were made
to destroy those aspects of religion that were associated with the
Catholic church, for example, the removal of stained-glass windows
in churches and the destruction of religious wall-paintings.
Somerset made sure that
Edward VI was educated as a Protestant, as he hoped that when Edward
was old enough to rule he would continue the policy of supporting
the Protestant religion.
Edward
Seymour
also showed concern for the poor and on 14 June 1549, he persuaded
Edward to pardoned all those people who had torn down hedges enclosing
common land. Many landless people thought that this meant that their
king disapproved of enclosures. All over the country people began
to destroy hedges that landowners had used to enclose common land.
This
led to the Kett
Rebellion in
Norfolk. The mayor of Norwich refused
to let Kett's army enter the city. However, Robert
Kett
and his men, armed with spears, swords and pitchforks, successfully
stormed the city walls. The English government were shocked when they
heard that Kett and his rebels controlled the second largest city
in England.
Robert
Kett
formed a governing council made up of representatives from the villages
that had joined the revolt. This council then sent details of their
demands to Edward VI. Seymour
responded
by sending John
Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, and
a large army to defeat Kett.
The
Privy Council became concerned that Seymour's policies were leading
to a popular uprising. In October, 1549, he was removed from power
and imprisoned in the Tower
of London.
Edward
Seymour
was released in 1550 and allowed to return to the Privy Council. Seymour
soon got involved in a conspiracy and he was once again arrested.
Seymour, was found guilty of treason and executed on 22nd January,
1552. John
Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, was now the most important
political figure in England.
Edward was suffering from
tuberculosis and as his health deteriorated
suddenly, and the Duke
of Northumberland,
tried to persuade the king to alter the succession in favour of his
own daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey.
Lady
Jane Grey was declared queen three days after Edward's death.
However, she was forced to abdicate nine days later in favour of Edward's
half-sister, Mary Tudor.
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