Edward VI of England

Edward VI (12 October 1537 – 6 July 1553) was King of England and Ireland, from 28 January 1547 to his death.

Edward was the son of Henry VIII of England and Jane Seymour. His mother died 12 days after his birth. He became king at the age of 9, when his father died. Although he had two older sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, Edward was the heir apparent to the throne because he was male. Because he was such a young king, the country was governed by nobles. He had two advisors (or regents). The first was his uncle, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, who became Lord Protector. 

For the first two-and-a-half years of Edward's reign, Lord Somerset advised and guided the young king. Somerset was then replaced by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.

Edward was the first Protestant King of England. Although his father, Henry VIII, had broken the Church of England away from the Roman Catholic Church, he had not changed much else. Most of the major changes to the Church of England happened during Edward's reign. They were led by Somerset, Northumberland and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer. Also during his reign, England tried to take over Scotland. After a good start, it ended in defeat. His reign also saw economic problems and unrest.

Edward had never been a healthy boy, and his health failed in 1553, when he died at fifteen-and-a-half years old, probably from tuberculosis. Before he died, Edward haf named his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his heir and excluded his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. He wanted to prevent Mary, a Catholic, from returning the country to Catholicism. However, Mary, his Catholic half-sister, overthrew Jane after only nine days and became the Queen of England. Mary undid the reforms of Edward's reign, and the country went through another period of religious changes. However Mary died in 1558, and her successor, Elizabeth, restored the reforms in 1559.

 Religious changes 
Laws were passed to make churches more plain. Catholic churches were rich in decorations and colour. Under Edward, stained glass windows and icons were now removed from churches, and the furniture within churches became very basic and plain.

The actual services became simpler,and the common person could now understand what was being said as services. now called Holy Communion, were in English, rather than Latin. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer wrote the Book of Common Prayer, also in English. Priests no longer had to dress in the bright clothing thaty was associated with the Catholic Church. They were also allowed to marry. The king remained as Head of the Church.

All of those changes were a major break from the traditions of the Catholic Church. In parts of Germany and Switzerland, religious groups had also broken away in protest against the wealth and the corruption of the Catholic Church. They became known as Protestant, and England under Edward, became a Protestant country with an independent Church of England.

Category:1537 births
Category:1553 deaths
Category:House of Tudor
Category:Kings and Queens of England
Category:16th century in England