A KING’S ONE TRUE LOVE | Edward VI (1537–1553) was King of England and Ireland from 1547 until his death. The long-awaited legitimate son of King Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, he ascended the throne at just nine years old. The early years of his minority reign were dominated by his maternal uncles, Edward and Thomas Seymour. Edward Seymour, serving as Lord Protector, drove early Protestant reforms but was ultimately deposed and executed for felony in 1552 following widespread political and social instability. His brother, Thomas Seymour, had been executed earlier in 1549 after a failed, covert attempt to gain personal influence over the young king. Following their downfalls, leadership of the regency council passed to the ambitious Duke of Northumberland. Under Northumberland's administration, Edward continued to champion sweeping religious reforms, including the introduction of the Book of Common Prayer. A highly intelligent and fiercely pious youth, the king fell fatally ill at the age of fifteen. Heavily influenced by Northumberland—who was notably the father-in-law of Lady Jane Grey—Edward sought to prevent his Catholic half-sister, Mary, from unravelling his Protestant legacy. When he realised his illness was terminal (likely TB), he had letters patent drafted to divert the crown to Jane. However, Jane Grey’s nine-day claim was illegal with no parliamentary backing. The succession had been established by Henry VIII’s Acts of Succession, which were passed by Parliament and required another Act passed by Parliament to nullify—which Edward never did. His letters patent were simply not sufficient to overrule an Act of Parliament, so Mary was the natural, legal successor and automatically acceded to the throne upon Edward’s death. Because English law had only ever known kings, Mary's automatic succession made her England's first official Queen Regnant. She subsequently pushed through the Queen Regent's Prerogative Act of 1554, explicitly cementing into law that a Queen holds the exact same sovereign power, rights, and absolute authority as a King, writing the legal blueprint that made ruling as a woman possible. #thetudors #edwardvi #tudor #britishhistory #tudors - @driphistorian