Stability of the Monarchy - Edward VI
Causes of challenges to the monarchy:
- VIII’s complicated marriages
- age of the ruler
- gender of the ruler
- issues of marriage
How did VIII try to solve the succession problem?
- Male heir
- Third Act of Succession
- VIII’s will
- Regency Council established * sixteen equal members * balance between reformist and religious conservatives.
How serious a threat to the power of the monarchy was Edward’s age?
- England’s record of young kings usually resulted in civil war
- Factional struggles in the Regency Council
- Edward was unable to lead troops in war
- Image of the monarchy
- emergence and strength of Somerset
The Devise:
- 1533
- declared both Mary and Elizabth illegitimate
- names Lady Jane Grey (male heirs then herself) as the successors.
Individuals:
- Cranmer * hero to Protestants, failure to Catholics * Made archbishop of Canterbury in 1533 * trusted with the annulment
- Somerset * contrasting opinions of him * good duke concerned about the poor * typical Tudor statesman: greedy and out to imporve his own position * Commission into enclosure * anti-somerset faction rose up - Norfolk, Gardiner, Northumberland etc - shows he was unpopular to the nobility. * accused of plotting against the Privy Council - arrested and executed
- Northumberland (Dudley) * low reputation * conspired against Somerset * married his son to Lady Jane Grey * potential influence on the Devise.
Parts of provenance to pick up on:
- tone
- who wrote
- when written
- format
- religion of writer
- motive
- audience
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