The Tudors - Part 3, Edward VI and Lady Jane Gray

BillJones

Here is a half pound gold piece of Edward VI. Edward was the son that Henry VIII longed to have for all of his adult life. He was the child upon whom Henry lavished nearly all of his interest. I find Edward VI intriguing because of what might have been. He was obviously well educated and very intellegent. Had he lived to maturity, he might have been a great king, but fate dictated otherwise.

Edward VI, "God's Imp," 1547 - 1553
Edward VI was groomed to be king from the time he was born. He was blessed with superior intellect and was schooled by the best tutors. He began to study Greek and Latin at age five and was well versed in the history of the Protestant Reformation in northern Europe. When he became king at age nine in 1547, he was said to be learned and precocious, and his intellect and religious piety were noted throughout the continent. The only thing that was left out of his life was a childhood, and Henry VIII's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, was the closest thing he ever had to a mother.

Given the king's age more senior officials assumed primary responsibility for ruling the country. King Henry VIII had made provisions for a ruling regency council, but one of its members, Edward Seymour, who was the king's uncle and his late mother's brother, out maneuvered the others and made himself regent under the title, Duke of Summerset.

Like King Edward, Summerset was committed to the Protestant cause. He outlawed the traditional Catholic Mass and made the use of the Book of Common Prayer mandatory. Summerset's hold on power seemed secure until the beginning of 1549 when a royal sex scandal broke that would have made the front page of the modern National Enquirer.

Summerset's bother, Thomas Seymour, secretly married Henry VIII's last wife, Catherine Parr, soon after the king died. Using his position as Catherine's husband, he gained access to Princess Elizabeth and tried to seduce her. A story made the rounds that there was a love triangle between Catherine, Elizabeth and Thomas. The scandal got even juicier when it was claimed that Thomas had fathered a child with Princess Elizabeth! The only thing that was true was that Thomas had tried to seduce Elizabeth and had failed. Thomas was indicted for treason and convicted. Not even his brother as regent could save him, and he was executed.

In mean time Catholics in the western part of England rose up against the rules that forced them to use the Book of Common Prayer while peasants in other areas rose up against land enclose schemes by the local gentry. John Dudley, who was also known as the Earl of Warwick, led a force to put down the peasant revolt. In late August 1549 Warwick presided over a massacre of at least 3,500 peasants.

The Duke of Summerset came out in sympathy for the peasants, and Warwick used that as wedge issue to push him aside. Warwick had Summerset arrested and tossed into the Tower of London, and replaced him as the Lord Protector. Subsequently Warwick moved up in the hierarchy of nobles when he was made the Earl of Northumberland. As Summerset's replacement, Northumberland now had the ear of the king and proceeded to crack down on the Catholics even more. Catholic dress, including priestly vestments were outlawed as were various forms of worship, including prayers for the dead.

King Edward VI became very ill during the summer of 1552 with smallpox and measles. He never fully recovered, and during the brutally cold winter of 1553, he developed "pulmonary tuberculosis" which caused him to cough up thick, dark blood. He was also losing his hair would led some to say that he had inherited congenital syphilis from his father. It was clear that Edward would soon die, and the Protestant nobility was concerned that his Catholic half sister, Mary, would try to restore Catholicism if she became queen.

Just prior to his death, Edward, under the influence Northumberland, drew up a Devise for Succession which removed Mary and Elizabeth from the line of secession. In their place, the Devise named Lady Jane Gray queen, who was Henry VIII's great-niece,. The plan was that Lady Jane, who was devout Protestant, would continue the religious policies that had been set in place under Edward. Northumberland's fingerprints were all over the plot because Lady Jane had married his son, Guildford Dudley, a few months before Edward wrote out his Devise. Edward VI died on July 6, 1553. He was only 15 years old.

Lady Jane Gray, A Queen for Nine Days, 1553
At 16 years of age, Lady Jane Gray was a pawn that the Protestant nobles used to retain their powers. Despite that she was well educated and showed wisdom that was beyond her years. When she first heard that she was to be named queen, she declared that crown belonged Mary and that she had no right to it. When Northumberland pushed her to name her husband and his son king, she stated that she would make him a duke, but never a king.

Lady Jane Gray was named queen by the King's Council, but she would only rule for nine days before Mary raised an army and declared herself the true queen. Northumberland tried to intercept Mary before she reached London to claim the crown, but he was arrested and executed.

Jane Gray and her husband, Guilford, were convicted of treason, but in a rare act of mercy, Queen Mary planned to let them live. Mary's announcement that she would marry the strongly Catholic King Philip of Spain prompted another Protestant revolt, which sealed the young couple's fate. Lady Jane and Guilford were executed and became martyrs to the Protestant cause. There were no coins produced during the brief nine day rule of Lady Jane Gray, and she was never crowned.

There are fantasy coins that have been struck for “her reign,” but I have no interest in those pieces.

brg5658

As always, a great write-up.

Just as a note, the house is spelled "Tudor" -- not Tutor.

bronzemat

Great writeup and coin!

BillJones

@brg5658 said:
As always, a great write-up.

Just as a note, the house is spelled "Tudor" -- not Tutor.

I never was any good at spelling. Thank goodness for the computer spell checker.

asheland

I love reading these.

SDSportsFan

@brg5658 said:
As always, a great write-up.

Just as a note, the house is spelled "Tudor" -- not Tutor.

@BillJones said:

@brg5658 said:
As always, a great write-up.

Just as a note, the house is spelled "Tudor" -- not Tutor.

I never was any good at spelling. Thank goodness for the computer spell checker.

So in other words, you are tutoring us on the Tudors

Thank you for the great information!

Steve

petitioncrown

Wonderfull article and great coin. So difficult to find these days

Jackthecat1

A great coin and an interesting history article.

291fifth

The headsmen were certainly kept busy back in the 1500s!

BillJones

@291fifth said:
The headsmen were certainly kept busy back in the 1500s!

Yes it was definitely a "growth industry" at times. If you were good at it and got the job of chopping off the head of a person who had some money, you got paid on both ends - from the authority that called for the execution, and a tip from the person who was scheduled to lose their head. A botched head chopping was not a pretty sight. If it had to be done, you wanted to make sure that it was done quickly and correctly.

We will find out some more about executions when I post the Queen Mary story. One year when I spoke for The Great American Teach-in at my local high school this was one topic that got some kids' attention. Henry VIII's six wives was an interesting topic also.

cwt

@BillJones said:
...One year when I spoke for The Great American Teach-in at my local high school this was one topic that got some kids' attention. Henry VIII's six wives was an interesting topic also.

That you got these students' attention comes as no surprise. After reading your series of articles, my first thought was that you would make a great teacher

amwldcoin

You could pretty much compile these writings into a book!