Edward VI and The Nine Day Queen

Edward VI

Edward, son of Henry and Jane Seymour, became king when he was nine years old. He would become Edward VI and his reign would be very short. Edward was a supporter of the new church that his father established and Mary tried but failed to get him to see what she thought was the errors of his ways. Because Edward was so young a lord protector was needed and that job fell to Jane Seymour's brother Edward Seymour. Later Edward Seymour was overthrown by John Dudley. During Edwards short reign the Act of Uniformity was passed which abolished Catholic mass. Mary openly defied this act and continued to practice her religion. Edward would soon grow sick, at only 15 years old, with what many believe to be tuberculosis. The nation was set into a panic because many feared what Mary would do if she was to become queen. They believed she would take away the protestant religion and return England back to the church of Rome. And where there is fear, there are plots, and where there are plots, innocent parties usually pay the price.

John Dudley

Edward and his advisors drew up a new line of succession in which Edward named Lady Jane Grey (his cousin), as his next heir and left both of his sisters completely out of the document. And thus when Edward died Jane took the throne. This was to be an even shorter reign than her cousins had been. Jane was young, either 16 or 17, when she was declared queen and most likely had no desire to take the throne from Mary I. Her parents, Frances Brandon and Henry Grey, were the ambitious ones and wanted to rule the country through her daughter. It didn't help matters that Jane's husband's parents were just as ambitious. Her husband was Guilford Dudley, son of John Dudley who had become lord protector after Edward Seymour. This put John Dudley in a good position to move the plot to put Jane Grey on the throne.

Jane's Signature as Queen

Unfortunately there are no confirmed portraits of Jane, probably because her life was so short and she was only in the lime light for little over a week. Anyways Jane accented the throne on July 10th 1553. Mary meanwhile was building up supporters for her cause. Mary took quite the risk in staying in the country, her life was in danger if she was caught by the wrong hands, but she believed strongly in her right to become the next queen of England. Mary went to Farmlingham Castle for protection and watched as her support grew. She sent a proclamation across the land proclaiming herself as the rightful queen and within nine days the Privy council placed their support in Mary and she was able to come to london and claim the throne.

Farmlingham Castle 

 
This is when we start to see Mary's true colors. Mary was wronged, her right to the throne was clearly stated by her father in his line of succession. Obviously someone had to be punished for committing treason. John Dudley was executed rather quickly for his acts in the plot, and many wanted Jane to share her fathers fate. Mary however, who in my belief had a soft heart and a good head on her shoulders, refused to execute either Jane of her husband Guilford. Mary understood that these children were pawns in the adult's treason and she could not bring herself to order their execution. Unfortunately less then a year later another plot was hatched to put Jane back on the throne, which had nothing to do with her because she was imprisoned in the tower, and thus Mary could no longer leave the young girl alive if she was ever going to feel secure in her throne. Jane was executed on February 12th 1554 at the Tower of London.

Me Gleefully Exploring The Tower of London

Thats all for this post. Next time we will finally learn about Mary as she was as a queen. Im looking forward to it!

Happy Journeys,
Lady Thiessen