British Kings "Bullet Book", Edward VI, 1547 - 1553
BillJones
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Edward VI Gold Half Pound
• Edward VI was raised to be king from the day he was born. He was given the best education and training passible. What was left out was his childhood.
• Edward was very intelligent. He was a good student, and his mental abilities were acknowledged throughout Europe.
• Edward became king at age nine when his father died.
• Given his young age, Edward’s uncle, Edward Seymour (a.k.a. Duke of Summerset) assumed the role of protector.
• Edward was a strong supporter of the Protestant faith and sought to cement Protestantism as the official state religion.
• Edward loved learning. This prompted him to found numerous grammar schools that bear his name.
• Edward’s health was poor, perhaps brought on by congenital syphilis he inherited from his father. In 1552 he contracted the measles which was followed by a bout of small pox. Both of these diagnoses have been questioned.
• During the bitter winter of 1553 he developed pulmonary tuberculosis. His condition continued to deteriorate as he suffered a long and agonizing decline. He died in July 1553 at age 15.
Comments
Since he never reached the age of 18 did he actually have any real authority or was the authority strictly in the hands of the Duke of Summerset? How much control was a "protector" supposed to have?
Nice coin!
I think that he had a growing level of power. When he was dying, Lady Jane Grey’s father coached him on writing a paper in which he named her as his successor. Those papers still exist, they were the basis for denying Queen Mary the crown. She would need an army to seize it. Yes, the regent, or whatever they called the king’s surrogate at time, had influence, but it was diminishing.
Some view Edward VI as a more important king than he might appear because of his support of the Protestant religion. He certainly would not have been happy with his half-sister, Mary’s policies, who persecuted and killed Protestants in large numbers.