Succession And Marriage Notes

A Mid Tudor Crisis 1536-1569 Succession and Marriage

Succession of Edward VI Henry VIII was succeeded by nine-year-old prince Edward, his son by his third wife, Jane Seymour. This was a problem in itself because Edward was too young to rule, and periods of minority government were often times of potential political unrest. To avoid any possible disputes Henry made a final settlement of the succession in his will of 1546. This replaced the Succession Acts of 1534, 1536, and 1544, although the terms were similar to the Act of 1544. In the event of Edward dying without heirs, the succession was to pass first to Mary, the daughter of Catherine of Aragon. If Mary died without heirs her sister Elizabeth, daughter of Anne Boleyn, was to succeed. The major change to the previous settlement was that if all Henry’s children were to die without heirs, the throne was to pass to his niece Frances Grey. This final clause meant that the other possible claimant for the throne, the infant Mary Queen of Scots, was excluded. Although the will had replaced the earlier succession settlements, the Acts of 1534 and 1536, which had made Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate to remove them from the line of succession, were not repealed. Henry’s major concern in his will was to secure the peaceful succession of his son and safeguard the royal supremacy. By 1546 it had become clear that the surest way to achieve this, and so prevent a power struggle, was to give authority to Seymour and the reform faction. A Regency Council was nominated consisting of Seymour and 15 of his most trusted allies. Members of the Council were to have equal powers, and were to govern the country until Edward reached 18 years of age!

Northumberland Changes the Succession By 1552 Northumberland seemed to be firmly in control, but his power depended on the support of Edward VI. By the end of the year the King’s health was deteriorating quickly, and the problem of the succession became a central issue once again. In accordance with Henry VIII’s will, Mary was to succeed if Edward died childless. However, it was feared that because of Mary’s strong Catholic sympathies she might replace Northumberland and renounce the royal supremacy. To prevent a return to Catholicism, and to retain power, Northumberland, with the full support of the King, planned to change the succession. Lady Jane Grey, the protestant granddaughter of Henry VIII’s sister Mary, was chosen to succeed. Unfortunately for Northumberland, Edward VI died before the plans for seizure of power could be completed. Queen Jane reigned for only nine days before being removed by Mary. A potential crisis had been avoided.

Mary’s Marriage The Privy council was divided on the issue of Mary’s marriage and the issue coming early in her reign highlights her political inexperience and stubbornness. There were two realistic candidates for Mary’s hand; •

Edward Courtney, Earl of Devon, who was favoured by Gardiner (Catholic)

•

Philip II of Spain, who was supported by Paget (Moderate)

Courtney was a descendant of earlier English Kings and such a marriage would have strengthened the Tudor dynasty, but Mary favoured a closer link to the Habsburgs through Philip. It was not until the 27 October that Mary raised the matter in Council, and then only to announce that she was going to marry Philip. Mary disregarded all opposition to her plans. On 7 December a marriage treaty was drafted and presented to council. It was ratified at the beginning of January 1554. The terms of the treaty were favourable to England. Philip was to have no regal power in England, no foreign appointments were to be made to the Privy Council, and England was not to be involved in, or pay towards the cost of any of Philip’s wars. If the marriage was childless , the succession was to pass to Elizabeth. In spite of these safeguards Mary’s popularity began to ebb, as many people thought that England would be drawn into Philip’s wars and become a mere province of the Habsburg empire. By the end of January 1554, anti-Spanish feelings led to rebellion. The rebellion was led by Sir Thomas Croft, Sir Peter Carew and Sir Thomas Wyatt. These men had all held important offices at court under both Henry VIII and Edward VI. Although they had supported Mary’s accession, they feared that teh growing Spanish influence would endanger their own careers.