Edward VI Biography and Timeline — Page 3

Scottish Ratification of Peace

Mary of Guise ratifies Scotland's inclusion in the Anglo-French peace settlement, helping end the Rough Wooing.

Role range: 1543-1551 – 1547-1553

Removal of Altars

Bishop Nicholas Ridley orders stone altars in his London diocese to be replaced by wooden communion tables.

Role range: 1547-1553

Removal of Altars

The Privy Council orders the removal of remaining stone altars and their replacement with communion tables across England.

Role range: 1547-1553

Scottish Marriage Negotiations Renewed

Permits renewed discussion of a marriage with Mary, Queen of Scots, even though French influence has already weakened the earlier Greenwich project.

Role range: 1547-1553

Ordinal

An English Ordinal for the making of bishops, priests and deacons is introduced during Edward's reign.

Role range: 1547-1553

Old Service Books Ordered Surrendered

Edward orders bishops to collect and destroy obsolete Latin service books that might encourage restoration of pre-Reformation worship.

Role range: 1547-1553

French Marriage Treaty

Approves a dynastic treaty providing for his future marriage to Elisabeth of Valois as part of closer Anglo-French relations.

Role range: 1547-1553

Duke of Northumberland

John Dudley is created Duke of Northumberland while continuing to dominate Edward VI's government.

Role range: 1547-1553

Second Arrest of Somerset

The former Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, is arrested again after allegations of plotting against Northumberland and other councillors.

Role range: 1547-1553

Trial of Duke of Somerset

Somerset is acquitted of high treason but convicted of felony after a trial at Westminster Hall.

Role range: 1547-1553

Execution of Duke of Somerset

Edward's uncle and former Lord Protector is executed on Tower Hill after his conviction.

Role range: 1547-1553

Second Act of Uniformity

Parliament authorises the revised prayer book and strengthens legal requirements for uniform Protestant worship.

Role range: 1547-1553

Parliament

Edward VI's first Parliament, which originally opened in November 1547, reaches its final dissolution.

Role range: 1547-1553

Edward's Serious Illness Raises Heir Question

Edward suffers a serious illness, reminding the council that the unmarried teenage king has no direct heir and that Mary remains next by statute.

Role range: 1547-1553

Second Act of Uniformity Passed

Parliament authorises a revised Book of Common Prayer and imposes stronger requirements for conformity to the national liturgy.

Role range: 1547-1553

Illness of Edward VI

Edward suffers serious infectious illness during the year; later accounts connect this period with measles and smallpox.

Role range: 1547-1553

Black Rubric

A declaration later known as the Black Rubric is added to clarify that kneeling at communion does not imply adoration of the elements.

Role range: 1547-1553

Second Book of Common Prayer

The revised and more explicitly Protestant Book of Common Prayer comes into general use.

Role range: 1547-1553

Alehouse Licensing Act Passed

Parliament gives local justices authority to license and regulate alehouses as part of wider efforts to control public disorder.

Role range: 1547-1553

Edwardian Treason Law Revised Again

Parliament revises treason law and evidential rules as Edward's government seeks firmer protection against political challenges.

Role range: 1547-1553

Parish Poor Collectors Required

Parliament develops organised parish poor relief by requiring local collectors to gather contributions for people unable to support themselves.

Role range: 1547-1553

Parliament

Edward VI's second Parliament opens in London.

Role range: 1547-1553

Taxation Grant

Parliament grants Edward VI two fifteenths and tenths during the final parliamentary session of his reign.

Role range: 1547-1553

Parliament

Edward VI's second Parliament closes after a short final session of the reign.

Role range: 1547-1553

Device for the Succession

As his health worsens, Edward develops a succession plan intended to prevent Mary from inheriting the Crown.

Role range: 1547-1553

Succession

Judges are shown Edward's devise for the succession and asked to put his proposed settlement into legal form.

Role range: 1547-1553

Judges Summoned on Succession

Edward summons senior judges to his sickbed and presses them to prepare his succession devise as letters patent.

Role range: 1547-1553

Forty-Two Articles

The Forty-Two Articles are promulgated as a Protestant doctrinal statement shortly before Edward's death.

Role range: 1547-1553

Letters Patent for the Succession

Letters patent embody Edward's succession settlement and place Lady Jane Grey ahead of Mary and Elizabeth.

Role range: 1547-1553

Device Expanded to Lady Jane

Edward alters his succession plan so that Lady Jane Grey herself, not merely hypothetical male descendants, can inherit if he dies without issue.

Role range: 1547-1553

Forty-Two Articles Authorised

The Forty-Two Articles are issued with royal authority, summarising Protestant doctrine shortly before Edward VI's death.

Role range: 1547-1553

Death of Edward VI

Edward VI dies at Greenwich Palace aged fifteen after a prolonged pulmonary illness.

Role range: 1547-1553

Burial

Edward VI is buried in Henry VII's Lady Chapel at Westminster Abbey using the reformed English service.

Role range: 1547-1553

Health of Edward VI

Edward develops a persistent fever and cough early in the year, beginning the illness that eventually proves fatal.

Role range: 1547-1553

Edward Attempts Alternative Succession

Edward VI sought to bypass his half sisters by arranging for Lady Jane Grey to succeed him.