Forgotten King? Not any longer after having read this book: Edward VI restored to his rightful place in history
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Popular views of the Tudor history seem to regard the 5 years reign of Edward VI as a mere transitional period between the monumental rule of his father Henry VIII, the disastrous rule of his elder half-sister (Bloody) Queen Mary and the Golden Age of his younger half-sister Elisabeth. Edward seems to be disappearing - in so far is the subtitle the lost King of England justified - and dismissed as the sickly boy king for whose birth the kingdom was turned upside down. Some might remember Mark Twain's novel, The Prince and the Pauper, in which the young Edward VI and a pauper boy of identical appearance accidentally replace each other.
Was that really the case? Here Chris Skidmore wants us to rethink and see Edward as an educated, quite brilliant, very serious young man who had all the Tudor tracts and had the qualities to be a great king. A bit one is dealing with the big "if-question".... if he would have lived, what would have been....Well, that is usually the question asked about the heirs to the throne who died before their accession. But Edward was king. That is a crucial difference. So there is more to judge Edward upon.
Our thinking about this child-king is corrupted by hindsight. Because he died young one seems to believe he was always sick, and a mere pawn of his advisers. But this is very wrong. Before his final illness there is no serious history of illness.
His reign marked the final transition to Protestantism. While Henry VIII had left the country in a religious limbo, Edward became the first protestant king, a development that the reign of Queen Mary could not revise and was finalized by Elisabeth. Edward was fully behind this. He was a "hard-core" protestant. Even his sombre, highly developed sense of duty and what seems like an impersonal coolness in his dealings with other people proves this. Of course his regents - the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland - were the driving actual forces, but the king backed and supported this. Too young to assume the day-to-day work of government, did not mean for Edward to delegate the workings of his conscience. Therefore, the famous Device for the Succession which left the crown not to his half sisters but to his very protestant Cousin Lady Jane Grey is not that surprising. While the debate is not yet solved whether the Device originated with the Duke of Northumberland or the king himself, there is a huge possibility that the king was all behind it. At least he signed it and that meant something.
Chris Skidmore's book is a balanced and lively account of Edward's reign and personality. He guides the reader through the web of Tudor court politics and the serious religious disputes of the time. After having read this book one can not dismiss this king any longer as the sickly boy king, but sees indeed a man of much conviction and determination. He was after all a Tudor. His determination is however equally dangerous as the one of his half-sister Mary - him for Protestantism, she for Catholicism. Both do not have the greatness of their half-sister Elisabeth. In my assessment both would have never said a line like Elisabeth: There is only one God. The rest is trifle. Religious tolerance would not have been a trademark of Edward's reign had he lived as it was not a sign of Bloody Mary's rule.
All in all, after having read Skidmore's book one will never talk about a "lost king". It is great read - lively and engaging, painting a fully rounded picture of Edward VI.
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this whole realm's most precious jewel - England's first protestant King
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Edward VI seems to many just the boy king in between the great Henry VIII and is famous half isters "Bloody Mary" and legendary Queen Elizabeth I., the King who wanted to deprive us of Queen Elizabeth by passing his throne to the Lady Jane Grey. The main thing seems to be the story of his birth, him being a male and the quest by Henry VIII for a male heir.
What he really did and whether his rule of merely six years had any impact seems to have been overlooked or ignored. How could a king who died at the age of 15 have an impact at all? His regents - the Dukes of Somerset and Northumberland - are of more importance.
Christopher Skidmore in his biography of Edward VI tries to establish for the first time his significant personal impact on the history of his country. He was the first real protestant king of England!! Edward VI is not the constant sick boy-king of no will of his own, but a healthy, vigorous, precocious, like all Tudor princes and princesses highly educated, and decisive. Here emerges a new perspective to his personality and his reign which did not lack drama.
I like the style and the new look on Edward and his reign. He has a point of not dismissing him as a mere tool in the hands of ambious politicians. However, I feel she pushes it maybe a bit too far. I see more potential, a boy-king who starts to exercise his powers before the final illness caught up with him. He has definitely the "power gene" of the Tudor kings and queens. Where one would have ended up with him, is mere speculation. The extremely protestant streak - like in Lady Jane Grey, his chosen successor - is more worrying than encouraging. I am not sure that he would have the genius of his half-sister Elizabeth. I could easily seem him going down the route of his catholic half-sister Mary. Whatever you personally think of him and his reign, this book is worthwhile a read as it encourage you to re-think this period of the English history.
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Cold but well researched
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A history of the Tudor boy king's reign and what his impact might have been had he lived. Unfortunately tries to sell the idea that Protestants burning Catholics or taking away their religious rights is any better than Catholics doing the same thing to Protestants earlier or in Mary's reign. Not a particularly humanist starting point. Over detailed in some of the details of popular uprisings but well researched this is an informative book though it lacks any warmth.
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A wonderful retelling of a largely forgotton monarch
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This book is superb. Easy to read, packed with information, and yet full of original thought. Skidmore not only presents the facts in an interesting & shrewd way but he also presents the main characters (Edward, Northumberland, Seymour etc)as people rather than stone politicians. A very good book.
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Accomplished debut
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Chris Skidmore writes with a pacy engaging style in telling the story of Edward VI, a significant yet under profiled king of the Tudor period. This narrative history, filling a lacuna of over thirty years since his last biography tells the story of a precocious boy king whose reign was played out in the political battleground of treachery, religious antagonism and Machiavellian politics by his protectors. As true today as it was then, Skidmore is an accomplished author with a skill for picking out fascinating stories in the tale of this tragic yet fascinating boy king.
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