The reign of the Tudor king Edward VI should have been a long and prosperous one, and on
his deathbed his father King Henry VIII would have dreamed of his son securing the future
of the Tudor dynasty for centuries.
However this was not to be as at the age of 15, Edward VI died which shocked the nation.
He was known for being a rather sickly young King, but his reign changed England forever.
It’s considered that Edward as he was still a boy did not have the full say over changes
to religion that occured during his reign, and it’s believed that the regency council
set up to govern England until he was of age were the ones who called the shots, turning
England further Protestant.
But Edward’s short reign is remembered for these large scale religious changes, continuing
the English Reformation began by his father.
However what happened when the young King passed away?
Join us today as we look at, ‘The PAINFUL Death Of King Edward VI - The Boy Tudor King.’
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At around 2am on the 12th October 1537, inside one of the rooms of Hampton Court Palace,
Jane Seymour the third wife of Henry VIII gave birth to a healthy son, that was described
as, ‘the most beautiful boy that ever was seen.’
This was the moment King Henry VIII had been waiting for, over 20 years of disappointment
had given him in his eyes a legitimate male heir to continue the Tudor dynasty.
The King overjoyed rode to Hampton Court to meet his son, and cross the country there
were huge celebrations.
Three days later inside of the chapel of Hampton Court Palace, the christening for the young
boy took place, and the child was christened Edward.
However the boy that Henry wished for so much, would reign for only around six and a half
years, and it would be his shunned half-sister Elizabeth who would become the greatest Tudor
monarch of all.
Edward spent the early years of his life inside of Hampton Court, but there was great upset
following his birth after his mother Jane Seymour passed away.
This caused the King to be very distraught, as it’s believed Jane died from postnatal
complications.
He was kept at Hampton Court as it was believed the air was cleaner outside of the centre
of London, and he was noted to have been a rather happy and healthy child.
His governess wrote in March 1539 with Edward around 18 months old that, ‘My lord prince
is in good health and merry.
Would to God the King and your Lordship had seen him last night.
The minstrels played, and his grace danced and played so wantonly that he could not stand
still.’
He was raised amongst women, however as he reached his 6th birthday things changed, as
the Tudors believed this was the age when a child became an adult.
Because of this, Henry VIII ordered that his son’s household and apartments should be
changed so that they were the exact same as his, and he ordered huge Flemish tapestries
to adorn the walls.
Edward’s childhood was spent having the finest humanist education in a well protected
environment, and his health was monitored very heavily by the royal doctors who checked
up on him regularly.
They were very worried about anything that could go wrong, and if Edward did not eat
something it would be noted down.
Edward was given a very rich diet, and it was said that in October 1541 that the Prince
was handsome and well fed, and also very tall for his age.
It was also said that his posture was a little off, saying his right shoulder was lower than
his left, leading to the fact that the young prince may have had scoliosis of the spine.
This condition was in the family, as his maternal uncle Edward Seymour did suffer from this.
In the very same month, Edward became ill and suffered with a fever and illness that
today would be referred to as malaria.
Edward was incredibly sick, and it looked like he was going to die and this caused great
upset to King Henry VIII.
He sent his own doctor to see to Edward, and he visited the prince regularly and gave him
soups and broths and no meat.
He was kept on a boring diet of food, and because of this Edward became annoyed as he
did not have the food he was accustomed to.
He even called the doctor a food and questioned his skills, but this feistiness was a sign
that he was recovering.
After 10 days of being gravely ill, he did recover from the illness, and he then returned
to his carefree lifestyle following this.
After the death of King Henry VIII, Edward inherited the throne becoming King on the
28th January 1547, and being coronated on the 20th February.
But following becoming King, Edward was stricken by a mysterious illness that confined him
to his bed.
Again those who were close to him did not expect him to survive and the doctors even
decided he was a lost cause.
This news was kept incredibly secret, however Edward within a few weeks had once again recovered,
and was noted to have taken part in hunts shortly after.
But in the spring of 1552, the doctors became very concerned yet again, as Edward was sick
with smallpox.
This was a very deadly disease that was common within Tudor England, and both his father
and half sister Elizabeth caught it during their lives but managed to survive.
For Edward though his fight against smallpox was short-lived, and he recovered rather quickly.
When he met with an Italian Astrologer in October 1552, it was said how the King was
very short-sighted and also a little death and to read the boy did wear glasses.
He was known to have been given eye drops in the form of some mixture for his eyes.
However in December 1552, this is where things went very downhill for Edward VI.
Edward began to show signs that he was suffering from Tuberculosis, and it’s believed that
a bout of measles he also had could have left him immuno suppressed, and allowed him to
become infected with TB.
Tuberculosis known as consumption was a horrific illness that claimed the lives of many, and
it did not discriminate.
On the 16th February 1553.
Edward became very sick with a cold that caused a fever.
During this time, Princess Mary his eldest half sister came to visit him to reconcile
their differences, but Edward was stuck in bed with a horrible cough.
There were rumours in the King’s household that he could have been poisoned, and there
was a lot of secrecy about the King’s illness.
A number of people were summoned to visit the King to try and help him, and one woman
who’s identity was not known said she could cure the King, however she did no such thing.
She administered a number of potions and ointments that soon made Edward worse and caused his
arms and legs to swell.
Edward was not looking very well at all, and as March came he still remained ill.
For around a month, he had not left his bedroom, and it was said that to move the King could
be dangerous.
However he did seem to recover slightly in April where he enjoyed a walk inside of Westminster
Park on days when the weather was good, and then he was moved on April 11th 1553, to Greenwich
Palace to escape the dirty air of central London.
He was seen inside the gardens by members of the public the following day, but by this
time he was getting worse.
His cough was still prominent, and he was coughing up horrific smelling and different
colour liquid.
Sometimes it was green or yellow, but in other times it was the colour of blood, showing
that Edward’s lungs were in great trouble.
By May 1553, it was believed that the air would help the King, and the doctors at this
time believed that Edward would make a full recovery, but the doctors believed he was
suffering from a tumour in his lung.
His stomach also swelled and he began to get bedsores from being in bed a lot of the time.
When he met with the French Ambassadors on the 17th May it was said that the King looked
weak, and that he coughed throughout the meeting.
But by the end of May he was going rapidly downhill, and was being given medication to
help him sleep.
His feet and head swelled up, and he was looked after by two of the Chief gentlemen of the
bedchamber, Sir Thomas Wroth and Sir Henry Salmon, and also a groom of the chamber Christopher
Salmon.
These men must have knew what was coming, but together they played board games and tried
to keep the King entertained.
Edward did then make arrangements for his succession.
He would disinherit his two half-sisters and name his cousin Lady Jane Grey and her heirs
as the successors to the throne to avoid Princess Mary becoming Queen and restoring England
to Catholicism.
On the 10th June, the situation looked bleak and Edward was given three days to live by
his doctors, as it was stated that he could not keep anything in his stomach.
He was afflicted with a fever that would not break, and on the 15th June this in particular
was very bad.
It did go away after 24 hours, but came back two days later, and Edward’s body was so
weak it could not fight the infection or disease.
He could not get up, and his legs were incredibly swollen.
It was said that by the 29th June, Edward had enough and five days later he could not
breath well and did not wake up much.
It was said his hair and nails were falling out, and he was covered in scabs.
The last few days of the young boy King were incredibly painful.
He was simply just waiting for his death.
On the 1st July 1553, he did appear at windows in the Palace to stop people spreading rumours
that he already had died, but he was dishevelled and looked a shadow of his former self.
Over the next few days, more crowds would gather, to catch a glimpse of the King but
he did not come out.
It was Sir Henry Sidney who remained with King Edward in his final moments.
Before Edward could not speak, Sidney told him to pray to God to stop England returning
to Catholicism, and it was noted that he wished his English subjects to die as protestants.
It was said Edward prayed, ‘“Lord God, deliver me out of this miserable and wretched
life, and take me among thy chosen: howbeit not my will, but thy will be done.
Lord I commit my spirit to thee.
O Lord!
Thou knowest how happy it were for me to be with thee: yet, for thy chosen’s sake, send
me life and health, that I may truly serve thee.
O my Lord God, bless thy people, and save thine inheritance!
O Lord God save thy chosen people of England!
O my Lord God.
defend this realm from papistry, and maintain thy true religion; that I and my people may
praise thy holy name, for thy Son Jesus Christ’s sake!”
The Bishop of Ely Thomas Goodrich then heard Edward’s last confession, and on the 6th
July 1553 at between 8 and 9 in the evening, King Edward VI died in the arms of Sir Henry
Sidney.
IT was said that his last words were, ‘I am faint, Lord have mercy upon me and take
my spirit.’
Following his death, a surgeon opened up the King’s chest, and stated that he had died
from lung disease, as the lungs had two large uncles and these had turned infected.
It’s believed that tuberculosis was what caused the King’s illness, or that the King
suffered from a pulmonary infection which affected his lungs.
At the time for this there was no treatment, meaning the infection would have damaged the
lungs and caused abscess.
This infection would have wreaked havoc in his body and septicaemia would have caused
his organs to shut down.
With this we do not know for certain what killed Edward VI, but it’s believed to have
been mostly TB and for this we can agree that Edward’s death was incredibly painful.
Following his death, Lady Jane Grey was summoned and declared Queen however 9 days later she
was deposed by Princess Mary who became Mary I. Edward was buried inside of the Henry VII
Lady Chapel inside of Westminster Abbey on the 8th August 1553.
It was said that the procession was led by a great company of mourners and that the crowds
mourned the King greatly.
Edward VI’s reign was incredibly short and was not what his father wished for him when
the child was born, but it did signal a large amount of change in England.
However he was a sickly young man, and his death at such a young age must have been horrific
for the boy Tudor King of England.
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