Edward VI

'Protestant King'

Edward VI

His reign used to be considered as relatively unimportant

His reign was lumped with Mary's as the 'mid-tudor crisis'

G.R. Elton called him an 'Inconsequential pawn'

Now Edward's reign is seen as 'pivotal'

Dale Hoak: 'Despite his youth and unfulfilled promise' in his reign the foundations were laid 'with his encouragement, of one of the greatest transformations of English society and English speaking culture' (namely the Protestant Reformation)

Eamonn Duffy

1547/8: Royal Visitations

1549: Mass Abolished

1550/1: 'mass books and brevaries surrendered', 'altars drawn down, wall whited and windows broken or blotted'

1553: 'Veils and vestments, chalices and chests and hangings, the accumulations of generations of pious donations were surrendered to the King's commissioners'

Duffy's book provides a major and majestic revisionist account of Edward's reign. His account dealt a blow to the 'decadence theory' of the decaying Catholic Church ripe for reformation. He argues that despite the attempts to destroy the Catholic Church by banning their vestments and mass books etc there was a 'vigour richness and creativity of late medieval England' which 'was undiminished'.

Duffy even uses the words of the Morebath vicar to reverse the decadence theory when he called the Church in Edward's reign 'ever dekeyd'.

Duffy argued that the time of Edward was 'the locust years' and 'nothing would ever be the same again'.

Mary's reign would be welcome because 'men breathed easier for the accession of a Catholic Queen'.

The front cover illustration of Duffy's book shows St Andrew's Church of Westfall in Suffolk with the font showing the seven sacraments. The front image shows the elevation of the host during mass with the heads cut off, signifying the beauty of the traditional church and the vandalism of the new religion.

Diarmaid MacCulloch

in contrast to Duffy, there is MacCulloch who argues that Edward's reign saw a 'religious revolution demolishing the traditional church in order to rebuild another.'

Therefore, instead of looking to the past that Edward demolished, MacCulloch looks to the reasons why the group of evangelical reformers sought to create the 'Anglican Church'.

He also focuses more on the leaders of the Reformation rather than the effect on Parishes but also looks at the strategic depictions of Edward.

For example there were Key Religious Innovations:

2 Prayerbooks

42 articles

Book of Homilies

Church Furnishings

MacCulloch argues against revisionist's use of Church Warden accounts because it may 'exaggerate the negative verdict'.

Edward is depicted as Josiah who wanted to see God truly worshipped and idolatry destroyed.

The illustration on the cover of MacCulloch's book depicts Edward on a medal with Latin inscriptions stating: 'Edward VI, by the Grace of God, King of England, France and Ireland, defender of the faith, and the Supreme Head on earth of the Church of England and Ireland, crowned 20th February 1546 at the age of 10 years.'

This medal omits 'Sub Christo' ('under Christ', which Henry VIII used).

The picture itself shows Edward in armour with the crown, orb and sword of state: showing a militant Tudor leading his church in a fight against the anti-Christ Pope.

Edward VI's diary

Despite his mother's pious Catholicism Edward was educated by reformist tutors such as Sir John Cheke. His Godfather was Archbishop Cranmer, unsurprising he wrote a treatise in French against Papal Supremacy.

Edward received the best education. He was a quick study, Dale Hoak wonders whether he may have had a 'photographic memory' as he could 'rattle off' names of all coastal outlets in Britain.

Edward wrote a diary but sadly an impersonal one, written in the third person. Edward reveals in his diary that he and Elizabeth learnt of their father's death from his Uncle, Edward Seymour at Elizabeth's residence on the 30th January 1547. Although he writes that it caused great grief in London, he reveals nothing of his personal feelings. He describes how the Privy Council's choice of Edward Seymour as Protector and governor of the King's person. He also mentions how his father's officers broke thei staffs and threw them into Henry's grave at his burial.

With Edward's engagement on religious matters under his Godfather, it led to John Foxe to emphasise Edward as the biblical boy king descibed in Chronicles 34:3 who purged Judah and Jerusalem of their carved images.

Edward VI timeline

1537 (12th Oct): Born, only legitimate son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour

1548 (28th Jan): Death of Henry VIII, Edward becomes King and begins the repeal of the Act of the six articles.

Sept: Battle of Pinkie, Seymour defeats the Scots.

1549 (June): New Prayer book introduced which leads to the rebellion in Devon and Cornwall.

July: Kett's rebellion in Norfolk

Oct: Somerset replaced as protector by Northumberland

1550: Edward helps Hooper in his quarrel with Bishop Ridley over the ceremony of consecration

1551: Edward takes part in his first jousting tournament

Oct: Dismissal of Sir Richard Rich as Lord Chancellor

1552: Second Prayer boook- more extreme form of Protestantism

1553: Cranmer's 42 articles

June: Edward changes succession to Lady Jane Grey

July: Death of Edward VI at Greenwhich Palace

First half of Edward's reign was dominated by his Uncle, Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and second half by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.

Alec Ryrie pointed out that the role of the Lord Protector was neither authorised by Henry VIII nor approved, Henry wanted a regency council of equals.

Somerset was supposed to be a safe pair of handds, a dour soldier, instead he turned out to be what Ryrie calls 'swash-buckling' with a dangerous habit of appealing to the lower orders with an evangelical enthusiasm to help them, and a foreign policy that encompassed a brutal war in Scotland whilst calling on the Scots to consider a United Kingdom at the same time.

Northumberland made tough decisions: Peace with Scotland and France and tried to improve the currency. His obedience to the King and to reform was to lead him to support the accession of Lady Jane Grey which would also eventually lead to his downfall in 1553.

Meanwhile Cranmer tried to continue religious reform.

Book of Common Prayer, 1549

Thomas Cranmer was a survivor and was the architect of reform: his was largely the prose of the English prayer book, the second of 1552 and the driving force of the 42 articles.

The first prayer book inspired at least a partial rebellion but it was the second version which contained the 'Drastic changes' (Ryrie):

-No more Mass (Communion service)

-No altar (Just a table)

-No real presence of Christ, the bread was to be eaten in remembrance only

1549:

21st January 1548/9: Act of Uniformity was in force by Whitsun

Same Matin, Mass and evensong

In English

No Parish procession, no elevation, sharing of bread

Only a few biblical saints days

Many Evangelicals wanted to move faster than Cranmer. Hooper rowed about the vestment he had to wear for his consecration as bishop. Knox wanted to abolish kneeling for the bread.

Had Edward not died so suddenly, would the Reformation have continued?

Many Parishoners might have been confused over the sudden changes, conforming but ready to absent themselves from church. (It was in this respect a top-down reformation)

MacCulloch argues that there were important changes in popular feeling perhaps by the product of Edwardian Reformation's 'idealum, righteous anger and excitement' evidenced by evangelical calls for Commonwealth charity against enclosion and corruption by the avalanche of Protestant tracts sold for profit not charity by printers; by the popularity of new communal singing, now all the Parish could join in, and perhaps by the beauty of their own language in the book of Common Prayer, English Bible and the homilies. The Word of God came among the people.

Edward's 42 Articles

Were intended to summarise Anglican Doctrine which included denial of the 'sacrifice of the mass'.