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Edward VI: The Lost King of England

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Edward VI, son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour became King of England in 1547, aged 9, and died in 1553 aged 16. Edward's reign is often viewed as almost incidental in the Tudor dynasty: most of his regnal period was influenced by self-serving advisers.

Edward was not merely a cipher. His role in the work of government was limited, but not non-existent. Henry VIII had originally intended that England be governed by a council of regency during Edward's minority. As a consequence of the struggle for power, as Henry was dying, Edward Seymour emerged as Lord Protector. In a court riven by factionalism, Seymour dominated until he himself was forced out and subsequently executed, by John Dudley (later the Duke of Northumberland). While it is difficult to catch significant glimpses of the boy behind the king, Mr Skidmore does provide images that show that Edward was not always sickly, and had considerable promise both academically and athletically. There is also evidence that Edward's influence on the religious change taking place was quite profound. Henry VIII's reformation was driven purely by expedience and was institutionally based. Edward, by contrast, was influenced by reformers and the 1552 Prayer Book marked a shift from doctrinal conservatism to a Church of England which was more fundamentally protestant.

I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in knowing more about the short reign of Edward VI, the reasons why he named Lady Jane Grey as his successor and the development of the Church of England. Edward's reign cannot be looked at in isolation: far too many of the dominant political figures featured in the previous reign. However, reading Mr Skidmore's book sheds new light on a significant period of English history.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

Chris Skidmore's biography of the Tudor boy-king, Edward VI, takes a lively and well-researched look at the court politics that surrounded Edward's six-year regency. While viciously infighting to increase their own power, titles, and wealth, Edward's ruling council also managed to set the course of Protestant reform in England, and to prepare the young king to assume power in his own right (cut short by Edward's death from tuberculosis in 1553, at the age of 15).

Edward was an intelligent and able boy, keenly Protestant in religion, and inheriting the Tudor temper and love of ostentation; in other words, he was a lot like Elizabeth. Skidmore argues convincingly that Edward was, at the time of his death, already assuming power; thus, for example, Edward's notorious "Devise for the Succession," that disinherited both Mary and Elizabeth in favor of Lady Jane Grey, was the product of Edward's own wishes, only reluctantly supported by his council (who lost their heads over it anyway, once Mary came to power).

Above all, "Edward VI" explains the complex politics of the time in a very clear and interesting way; it is a model of expository writing. Extensive quotes from contemporary letters, diaries, and poems immerse the reader in this fascinating world. The book also includes a quite helpful set of capsule biographies, geneological tables, notes, bibliography, and index. Most people who are interested in Tudor England will probably want to have this book in their personal library.

Poor Edward VI1 (reigned as British King from 1547-1553). When you think of the Tudors the images which come to mind are that of Henry VIII and two of his daughters: Mary and Elizabeth. Somehow history has given the adolescent king Edward short shrift! In this new biography this omission is rectified with a sober and historically well researched book by Chris Skidmore.
Edward VI was born to Jane Seymour (she died a few days after the difficult birth) making Henry VIII a proud papa as he believed a long reign of Tudor monarchs was thereby ensured. He was wrong. His daughter Mary by first wife Catherine of Aragon would reign as Queen of England from 1553-1558 earning the sobriquet "Bloody Mary" for her penchant to send Protestants to the stake. Her famous half-sister Elizabeth I was the daughter of Henry and the executed Ann Boleyn. Elizabeth ruled England as a Protestant virgin queen from 1558-1603. Upon her death the son of Mary Queen of Scots James VI of Scotland became King of England until his demise in 1625.
Edward was doomed to an early death but the cause of his final illness has never been determined. It may have been TB or poison or some other ailment. We will never know. His reign was marked by rebellions and battles between Catholics and Protestants. The greatest rivalry occurred between Lord Somerset a brother of Jane Seymour and Lord Northumberland, Both of these pretenders to the throne would be beheaded on Tower Hill. They are the most intersting characters in the book.
Edward was a bright person enjoying hunting, hawking, reading ancient languages and was an evangelical Protestant. He died at only 15 years of age. Edward hoped to hand the crown to his cousin Lady Jane Grey. Instead, Jane ruled a few days before being captured by Mary who became queen. Jane and many of her family members would die on the block.
Skidmore writes in a scholarly style heavy on dates, diplomacy and political intrigues. His book is a good introduction to Edward and promises a bright career for its author.

It is difficult to do a good biography of someone who died a teenager and whose reign was a half dozen years long. But Skidmore does it. He does a fine job of explaining the power struggle between Edward Seymour and John Dudley, the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland. He carefully guides the reader through the maze of who had power at what times. Skidmore also makes Edward a sympathetic figure without turning him into a stereotype of a life-long sickly invalid which has been a common misperception. He shows Edward's intellectual abilities and his gradual coming of age in his role as king. The impression given the reader is of a very bright (in fact, incredibly bright) young man with scholarly interests who overcame some serious health issues (including measles and small pox) and moved on to take an active interest in the religious struggles of his country. Edward was not overly concerned about his physical prowess (though he was working on that in his early teens), but was finally struck down with a disease that completely debilitated him for the last six months of his life. I found Skidmore's description of Edward a lively and engaging portrait of the young king. Likewise, his portrayals of Somerset and Northumberland show the complexity of these men, the good and the bad, in a way that does justice to these important characters in English history.

Skidmore is a strong writer. Chapters and paragraphs are well-formed and easy for the reader to follow. I highly recommend this book for both content and readability. The book took Edward VI out of the shadow of his father and showed just how much the English Reformation relied on this intelligent and strongly anti-Catholic young king.

Everyone has heard of Henry VIII and his daughters Mary and Elizabeth. Just about the only awareness of his son, Edward VI, comes from the book "The Prince and the Pauper." Other than that piece of fiction, it is really as tho this prince and king never existed. And yet he had an enormous impact on England during his brief reign (and he died while a teenager)!

Author Chris Skidmore does a fine job of telling us the history of Henry VIIIs desire for a son and Edward's short rule as King of England. What was so important about his reign was that he was apparently quite precocious in education and had strong feelings regarding the Reformation. He solidified much that later become the Church of England. When he realized that he was going to die young, he tried to have Jane Grey as his heir (staunchly protestant), rather than his sister Mary.

It is interesting to see this young man as something more than just a footnote in his sisters' histories, and I was impressed by the work of the author.

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in this period in history.

Knowing practically nothing about King Edward VI, I was eager to read this book. The lesson to be learned is the same lesson as always concerning the Tudors: if you backstab and betray, you will be tortured and beheaded, and those who rejoiced to see your downfall will be next, as surely as night follows day. The author vividly shows all the courtiers manipulating, dealing, conspiring, lying, and forging signatures. And when it's obvious that the young king is going to die, the scheming and power-brokering gets even worse.

What is odd about this book is that while (I should say "whilst") the author often retains the spelling and archaic vocabulary of quoted material, when he's writing in his own voice, he uses "whilst" (often twice per page) and "amongst" and "amidst." That strikes me as rather stilted and dry. And when you factor in his bizarre use of dangling modifiers (as in "Taken to Newgate, the crowds gathered to see him.... p.129) and some interesting word-choice (he uses "prevaricated" when he means "vacillated" or "wavered"), it becomes an interesting read for an English teacher currently marking up student essays. I also noted his misuse of "whom" for "who" on p. 210, which makes me wonder if anyone with a knowledge of grammar proofread this.

But to return to the praise, there is a lot of fascinating detail. The description of the content of the medicine concocted to help the young king's poor eyesight was a real eye-opener to me. I will not divulge the ingredients because you need to come across them by yourself. The final chapters of chaos and tumult and bloodshed are very cinematic and make me realize I now need to read a biography of Lady Jane Grey and one of Bloody Mary Tudor. We think we live in interesting times, but we are nothing compared to the Tudor England described in this book.

The book is well written and is a good follow up for those who have read about the house of Tudor but have only gotten a good incite into Elizabeth, Henry VIII, and Mary. It is well detailed but I wouldn't start out with this book if you are new to reading about the Tudors.

For anyone interested in Tudor England and the Reformation, this book provides an excellent history of a young man largely overlooked because of his minority status and early death, prior to the reign of Mary. This is a very readable book for nonhistorians and is well referenced. This is a fascinating story of palace intrigue and battles over the Protectorate. Edward VI, despite his young age, was quite influencial regarding the continuation of his father's efforts to establish the Anglican Church in defiance of the pope. This book is recommended for those who wish to grasp a better understanding of 16th century England, explaining events leading to the reign of Mary, then Elizabeth, both half-sisters of the young Edward VI.

Edward VI is still a lost king despite this author's attempts to reveal an undiscovered chapter of this little explored time in Tudor history. The entire book only carries 2 real chapters on Edward: most of this book is about Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland and their travails. Their machinations are the defining background to Edward's reign, but the book should be titled about them rather than Edward. This is a poor history of an intriguing figure.

Although another reviewer has noted this exhaustively researched book is perhaps more of a history than a biography, Edward does not disappear nor is he a cipher. His thread appears throughout the pages but we see him as a minor player until the very end of his life because that's exactly what he was. When he was dying he crafted his Devise for the Succession which had an enormous effect on England's future. The country during Edward's minority had been controlled by unscrupulous noblemen, first the brothers of Jane Seymour, Somerset and Thomas Seymour, then John Dudley Duke of Northumberland. Edward was on the cusp of taking up the reins to rule when he succumbed to tuberculosis.

Edward remained steadfast and dedicated to the Protestant cause. His extraordinary interest and obsession over religion shaped the future of the country but the men who sought to control him all eventually lost their heads. So even though he died at age 16, Edward prevailed in that it was his policy that put Lady Jane Grey on the throne. Certainly Edward was egged on by Dudley whose son was married to Lady Jane, but it was nevertheless Edward's wish and idea to exclude his sisters Mary and Elizabeth in favor of Jane and her heirs male. Since Mary, especially, had loved Edward all his life, it was a sad blow to her to be pushed aside, but Edward was a fanatic and he could not stomach the thought of a Catholic on the throne of England.

We see as much about Edward as the author can dredge up from the very meager information that is available about the boy king. In these pages you feel that you are about as close to witnessing Edward as he really was as it is possible to get. As a little boy he was most attractive and very precocious and although he may appear at times to be priggish and cold-hearted, his warm letters to Barnaby Fitzpatrick, his childhood playmate, show another side of his personality. Determined, dedicated, firm, he dug in his heels to make certain his realm did not fall into Catholic hands. He would have made a formidable king.

You have to plow through a lot of meticulous detail about battles and uprisings to get to Edward but this book is interesting and accomplished. You'll see Edward, all right; you just have to search a bit. Highly recommended, especially for Tudor buffs.