George VI, King of Great Britain and its Dominions, is not just the father of the living, but also a symbol of the fortitude of the British nation, which it showed in the fight against Nazism during the Second World War. The monarch, who at first did not enjoy recognition either among the people or the parliament, became the favorite of his country, and his reign became one of the brightest periods in the history of England.
Childhood and youth
Albert Frederick Arthur George was the second of six children of the King and Victoria Maria Augusta, née Duchess of Teck. By the way, at first Mary was supposed to become the wife of George V’s older brother, Albert Victor, but the heir to the throne died of the flu.
The royal parents were strict people; the upbringing of their heirs was entrusted to nannies and tutors, which could not but affect the children. Some sources write that Henry’s brother was addicted to drugs, and George, Duke of Kent, suffered from alcoholism.
The future king's stuttering is also a consequence of nervous tension caused by indifference and harsh morals in the family. This myth appeared thanks to the famous film “The King’s Speech!”
The film, awarded 4 Oscars, became the source of numerous quotes attributed to the British monarch. For example, that being late is George’s strong point, or that he is the most powerful king, because long pauses in speech add weight. However, it is unknown whether George VI actually said these words.
Following a centuries-old tradition, George VI graduated from more than one higher military educational institution and served in the army. The king got rid of the illness that had tormented him for almost 40 years with the help of speech therapist Lionel Logue, who later, upon ascending the throne, was promoted to Commander of the Royal Victorian Order.
Moreover, together with Simpson, already in the status of the Duke of Windsor, he visited the leader of the Third Reich in Germany. Seeing this as a threat to the throne, the new King George VI and the Prime Minister removed Edward away, giving him the post of governor in the Bahamas.
According to rumors, George digested the news that he was to become a pillar of the British monarchy for several days, locking himself in a room and refusing to talk to anyone. Already insecure, George was depressed, but set about correcting the image of the royal family.
During the reign of the last king of Northern Ireland and the emperor of India, the British Empire ceased to exist. From its ruins arose the Commonwealth of Nations, in which England retained a dominant position. The former English colonies actually swore allegiance to the crown, becoming evidence of the strengthening of the doctrine of the “symbolic king”.
If for the world community the monarchy demonstrated a brilliant ability to adapt to any conditions, then in domestic politics the situation was not so brilliant. It was under George VI, at the height of the post-war crisis, that the court and parliament entered into an agreement to exempt the royal family from paying taxes. Only her daughter Elizabeth II renounced this privilege in the 21st century.
The royal court had to prove its right to exist. The post-war social revolution destroyed centuries of reverence for the crown. There were growing ideas in society that the old British way of life was making it difficult to compete with the rest of the world. In addition, the Labor Party won the parliamentary elections. Under these conditions, George insisted on the appointment of the ardent anti-communist Ernest Bevin as Foreign Minister.
The king did not save in the face of the new government. Studying the programs of proposed economic and social changes, George VI introduced amendments or generally objected to innovations. This especially affected the issues of state control, nationalization of industries, and increased taxes for wealthy citizens.
The confrontation with Labor was not public and subsequently led to the conclusion that George VI, unlike his father, was more constructive in the conduct of public affairs.
George proved to be a political heavyweight when he persuaded the head of the cabinet, Clement Attlee, to hold parliamentary elections that returned Winston Churchill to power. And the king had complete understanding with him.
Personal life
The personal life page in the king’s biography is not as dramatic as that of his predecessor. Georg did not have to make big sacrifices, although there were rumors here too. One of the legends says that the monarch was introduced to speech therapist Log by his mistress, actress Evelyn Lei, nicknamed Boo. And this supposedly happened at the instigation of Queen Elizabeth, George’s wife.
Elizabeth Bowles-Lyon, of course, is also of blue blood - a countess, a representative of the Scottish family of Strathmore and Kinghorne. The couple had known each other since childhood, but Elizabeth twice rejected George's proposal. She explained the refusal by saying that she was afraid of the burden of responsibility and restrictions that are automatically assigned to members of the royal family.
The marriage produced two daughters: the heir to the throne, Elizabeth II, and the “rebel princess” Margaret. The youngest was so nicknamed for her behavior inappropriate for royalty.
Queen Elizabeth became a loyal friend and adviser to George, for whom royal duties remained an unbearable burden for a long time. On her initiative, England began collecting funds to help rebuild Stalingrad. Amazed by the courage of the Soviet people, the royal family wanted to make gifts on their own behalf.
They decided to donate a sword to the heroic city. The weapon in some sources is called the Sword of Stalingrad. The blade was made of gold and silver and was forged in the image of the swords of the Crusaders. The award ceremony took place in Tehran during a meeting of the leaders of the anti-Hitler coalition countries.
The royal couple led a far from idle lifestyle. George VI and Elizabeth spent months on state visits and participated in other events appropriate to their status. If George was not mentally ready to become king, then they said about Elizabeth that she was born to reign.
Death
When Georg turned 18, his mother gave her son a gift - a box of cigars. The addiction to tobacco played a bad joke on the king; he always smoked a lot. Unlike Elizabeth, who died at 101, George failed to live to a ripe old age.
After the war, doctors finally managed to convince the monarch to give up his addiction, but George VI’s health was already compromised. In 1951, one of his lungs was removed to prevent a recurrence of previously diagnosed cancer.
In addition, hereditary atherosclerosis of the vessels of the legs made itself known, and I had to resort to surgical intervention on the spine. The Christmas speech, which the British monarch always delivered live, was recorded in advance and in parts when George had the strength.
In January 1952, ignoring the doctors’ ban, the king came to accompany his daughter Elizabeth on a trip to Africa and Australia. Returning home, he went hunting. As Churchill later said, George knew that there would not be much time left. The cause of death of the King of Great Britain on February 6, 1952 was coronary thrombosis.
According to some sources, 300 thousand people came to the monarch's funeral. The august person was buried in the family residence - Windsor Castle, in St. George's Chapel, next to Edward IV, and.
In 1955, not far from the chapel, a monument to George VI was unveiled, and in 2009, a monument to his wife, Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, appeared nearby.
Memory
- 2005 – postage stamp of Kyrgyzstan
- 2010 – film “The King’s Speech!”
- 2015 – film “London Holiday”
- London The Bletchley bar. George VI cocktail with edible gold and diamonds
- Firstborn and - George Alexander Louis - named after George VI
Shakespeare William
Shakespeare William
Henry VI (Part 1)
William Shakespeare
Part one
CHARACTERS
King Henry VI.
Duke of Gloucester, uncle of the king, Lord Protector.
Duke of Bedford, uncle of the king, regent of France.
Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, granduncle of the king.
Henry Beaufort, the king's great-uncle, Bishop of Winchester, then
cardinal.
John Beaufort, Earl of Somerset, then Duke of Somerset.
Richard Plantagenet, son of Richard, late Earl of Cambridge, then
Duke of York.
Earl of Warwick.
Earl of Salisbury.
Earl of Suffolk.
Lord Talbot, then Earl of Shrewsbury.
John Talbot, his son.
Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March.
Sir John Fastolfe.
Sir William Lucy.
Sir William Glensdel.
Sir Thomas Gargreve.
Lord Mayor of London.
Woodville, Commandant of the Tower.
Vernon, adherent of the White Rose, or House of York.
Basset, adherent of the Scarlet Rose, or House of Lancaster.
Solicitor.
Mortimer's Guard.
Charles, Dauphin, then King of France.
René, Duke of Anjou, King of Naples.
Alençon, Duke.
Duke of Burgundy.
Bastard of Orleans.
Commandant of Paris.
Gunsmith in the city of Orleans.
Commander of the French troops in Bordeaux.
French sergeant.
Gatekeeper.
An old shepherd, father of John the Virgin.
Margaret, daughter of René, then wife of King Henry.
Countess of Auvergne.
Joan the Virgin, usually called Joan of Arc.
Lords, Tower guards, heralds,
sentries, officers, ambassadors, soldiers,
messengers and servants; evil spirits who are
The scene is partly England, partly
Westminster Abbey.
Dead March.
The body of King Henry V is carried into the ceremonial funeral bed.
He is surrounded by the Dukes of Bedford, Gloucester and Exeter, the Earl of Warwick, Bishop
Winchester, heralds and others.
Darken, day! Dress in mourning, heaven!
Comets, messengers of the fate of nations,
Wave your crystal braids of hair,
Scourge the indignant stars,
That Henry was doomed to death!
He was too famous to live long!
Our region has never lost a monarch like this.
Our region has never known such a king.
He was mighty, worthy of command,
His raised sword blinded with rays.
The embrace was wider than the wings of a dragon,
And the gaze, blazing with furious fire,
He struck and drove his enemies harder,
Than the midday sun hitting your face.
What else can I say? His deeds
Immensely surpass all words:
He raised his hand only to win.
We are in mourning, why are we not covered in blood?
After all, Henry died and will not rise again.
We stand over a wooden coffin
And we honor the inglorious victory of death
With your presence, like prisoners,
Drawn by a triumphal chariot.
Or we will curse the ominous planets,
What did destruction bring to our glory?
Or suppose that the cunning French
Out of fear, the vile resorted to charms
And death was sent to him by witchcraft?
Bishop of Winchester
King, blessed by the king of kings!
The Last Judgment will not be so terrible,
How terrible his appearance was to the French.
In the name of the god of strength he fought:
The prayers of the church gave him success.
What's the church? Don't pray priests so zealously,
His life would not have ended so early.
The weak-willed sovereign is desired by you,
Who would obey you like a schoolboy.
Bishop of Winchester
(to Gloucester)
Whatever we want, you are the protector
And you want to rule the prince and the country.
Your wife is proud, you are afraid of her
You are greater than God and the clergy.
Don't talk about the spirit - you love the flesh,
And if you occasionally look into the church,
Then you pray for the death of your enemies.
Leave strife and humble yourself in spirit.
Let's go to the altar. - Here, heralds!
We will lay down our weapons instead of gold,
What is it for, since Henry is gone?
Posterity, expect hard times,
When a mother feeds a baby with tears,
The region will become a lake of salty tears,
And women alone will mourn the dead.
O Henry the Fifth! I call on your spirit!
Save the country, protect it from troubles,
Fight the evil stars in the sky!
The star of your soul will be more glorious,
Than Caesar's, brighter...
A messenger enters.
My greetings to you, most worthy lords!
I brought bad news from France:
Losses, failures, defeats.
Champagne, Guyenne, Reims and Orleans,
We lost Gisors, Paris, Poitiers.
What did you say at Henry’s grave?
Speak quietly, otherwise, perhaps,
He, having heard about such losses,
He will break open the lid of the coffin and rise again.
Is Paris lost? Has Rouen been taken from us?
When would Henry be brought back to life?
He would have died again from this news.
How did you lose them? What kind of betrayal?
There was no betrayal, just a flaw
People and funds. Rumors are circulating throughout the army,
Why did you break up in the party here?
While we must rush to battle,
You are arguing about generals:
He wants long wars with little spending,
Another would have rushed, but there are no wings,
And the third would prefer without costs
Achieve peace with sweet speeches.
Wake up, wake up, English nobility!
Let laziness not darken your youthful glory.
All the lilies were torn from our coat of arms,
The English shield is half cut down.
If only there were not enough tears over the grave,
Such news would cause a flood of them.
It’s up to me to listen to them; I am the ruler of France.
Give me the armor! I will fight for France
Away, inappropriate garments of sorrow!
I will give the French wounds instead of eyes,
So that they cry with blood about new troubles.
The second messenger enters.
Second messenger
Here are the letters, lords, they contain bad news.
All of France rebelled against the British,
With the exception of small towns.
Charles, the Dauphin, was crowned at Reims,
He is in league with the Bastard of Orleans,
René, Duke of Anjou, for him;
The Duke of Alencon also hurries to him.
Is everyone running to the Dauphin? Is he crowned?
Where to run from this shame?
We will run to grab the enemy’s chest.
If you hesitate, Bedford, you will fight alone.
Why did you doubt me, Gloucester?
In my thoughts I have already assembled such an army,
Which will flood the whole of France.
The third messenger enters.
Third messenger
O lords! I will now multiply my tears,
Why are you pouring over the coffin of the sovereign,
Telling you about the ill-fated battle
Between the worthy Talbot and his enemies.
Bishop of Winchester
Well? Talbot defeated the French? Right?
Third messenger
Oh no, Talbot was defeated in the battle.
I'll tell you the details now.
On the tenth our formidable lord,
Having lifted the siege, he left Orleans.
He had six thousand troops, no more,
When there are more than twenty thousand French
They attacked, quickly surrounding him.
He did not have time to build his people,
Cover your shooters with rows of spears.
Only by tearing out the stakes from the fences,
They were randomly stuck into the ground,
To stop the cavalry pressure.
The battle lasted more than three hours.
The brave Talbot created with his sword
Such miracles that you can’t tell
Sent hundreds of souls to hell. Nobody dared
Fight him. He chopped here and there.
The enemies shouted: “It’s the devil in armor!”
The whole army was amazed, looking at him.
The soldiers, seeing his courage,
Everyone shouted in unison: “Talbot! Talbot!”
And they rushed into the abyss of the evil battle.
Our victory would have ended gloriously,
Whenever Sir John Fastolfe was not a coward.
He, being placed in the rearguard,
To come to the aid of the army at the right moment,
He ran like a coward without drawing his sword.
Then confusion and massacre began;
We were surrounded by enemies.
The Walloon is vile, pleasing to Charles,
Pointed a spear at Talbot's back,
Pierced someone who has not yet been dared
All the forces of France look into the eyes.
Our Talbot was killed? So I'll kill myself
Because I live here in luxurious idleness,
Meanwhile, betrayed, deprived of help,
The glorious leader has fallen and is surrounded by enemies.
Third messenger
Oh no, he's alive, although he's captured,
Lords Skells and Hungerford were taken with him,
And the majority are captured or killed.
I alone will pay the entire ransom.
I'll throw the Dauphin down from his throne:
His crown for his friend will be a ransom.
For the lord of each I am four
Noble French ladies. - Farewell, lords.
I will light a funny fire
In France, St. George's celebration.
I will gather an army of ten thousand,
And all of Europe will tremble.
Third messenger
Hurry: Orleans is under siege;
Our army is tired and weakened;
The Earl of Salisbury asks for reinforcements:
He barely restrains the rebellion among the troops;
There are only a handful of them, but the hordes are repulsed.
You swore an oath to Henry, my lords,
Remember: destroy the Dauphin
Or our power to conquer it.
I remember this and say goodbye to you,
I must prepare for the trip.
During the childhood of the king, England was ruled by his uncle, the Duke of Gloucester and the bishop, and later Cardinal Beaufort. Henry VI was the only king of England who also held the title of King of France and was even crowned in 1431. The regent and responsible for the conduct of the military campaign was another of the king’s uncles, the Duke of Bedford, and he fought unsuccessfully - mainly because he was obstructed in every possible way by his empty-headed brother, Duke Humphrey of Gloucester. When Bedford died in 1435, England lost almost all of its continental possessions. Henry was forced to renounce the French throne and was crowned in Reims.
Henry grew up kind, pious and educated, but weak in both body and mind. He was more drawn to books than to war, actively promoted the development of education and made large donations to the founding of colleges at Eton and Cambridge. At the same time, Henry was under the influence of others all his life. If before Henry came of age, the country was ruled by the Duke of Gloucester, then after that the king came under the influence of the “peace party,” led by Cardinal Beaufort and the Earl of Suffolk. Through their mediation, peace was concluded with France, the so-called Treaty of Tours, according to which Henry received Margaret of Anjou, the king's niece, as his wife, and gave Maine and Anjou to France. They tried to keep this deal secret from parliament, but in 1446 it became public knowledge. Suffolk was considered the main culprit, but Henry and Margaret managed to protect him.
In 1445, Henry and his associates captured the Duke of Gloucester, one of the leaders of the “war party.” The Duke died in captivity, and perhaps the cause of his death was not natural. The king's only remaining enemy and direct heir, the Duke of York, was sent into honorable exile to rule Ireland. (The Duke of York, like Henry VI, was a great-great-grandson. And given that the king's grandfather Henry IV seized power by force, the legitimacy of the Lancastrians could be questioned.) Henry's companions, Suffolk and Edmund, son of Cardinal Beaufort, received the title as a reward Duke
Meanwhile, dissatisfaction with the king and his entourage grew in society, mainly due to the illegal distribution of lands to favorites, the deterioration of the financial situation and the loss of territories in France. The Duke of Suffolk was the most hated. At the insistence of the House of Commons, Henry was forced to send him into exile, but Suffolk's ship was captured in the English Channel, and the Duke himself was killed.
In 1449, Edmund Beaufort, the newly created Duke of Somerset, suffered a series of setbacks in Normandy, and England lost another province on the continent. In 1450, a certain Jack Cade, calling himself John Mortimer, raised an uprising in Kent. At the Battle of Sevenoaks, he defeated the royal army and occupied London, but after a few days, due to the lack of normal leadership, the uprising itself subsided. In the same 1450, England lost its oldest possession in France, Aquitaine, and only Calais remained of the once numerous lands under the rule of the English king. In 1452, Richard, Duke of York, returned without permission from Ireland and began to demand a seat in Parliament and the arrest of Somerset. Henry initially agreed, but under pressure from Margaret he changed his mind, and York was again isolated.
By 1453, like his grandfather, Henry had lost his mind and could not even properly rejoice at the birth of his own son. Meanwhile, York secured the support of the very rich and influential Earl of Warwick and secured his appointment as protector of the kingdom during Henry's illness. Queen Margaret, however, could not accept the loss of influence, and every time Henry regained his sanity, York had to transfer state affairs to him. The struggle between Lancastrian and Yorkist supporters escalated into a violent feud known as the Wars of the Roses (the scarlet rose was the symbol of the Lancastrians, and the white rose was the symbol of the Yorkies).
In 1460, Warwick captured London and captured Henry VI. Soon Richard York arrived in London with the intention of taking the throne from Henry. Parliament, however, agreed only to appoint Richard as heir. This decision did not suit Margarita, as it deprived her son of the rights to the crown. She gathered an army in the northern counties and marched on London. At the Battle of Wakefield in December 1460, the Lancastrians were victorious, and Richard of York was killed and his head, as an edification to the rebels, by order of the queen, adorned the wall of the city of York. On February 17, 1461, troops loyal to the king won the Second Battle of St. Albans and freed Henry from captivity, but Margaret and Henry did not dare to march on London and retreated north.
On March 4, 1461, Londoners, among whom there were many Yorkists, at the instigation of the Earl of Warwick, proclaimed Richard's son king. Over the course of several months, the White Rose army inflicted several defeats on the Lancastrians. Somerset and other Henry supporters were killed or executed. Margarita, having left her husband, fled first to and then to, where she continued to weave intrigues. Mad Henry, abandoned by everyone, wandered around the country in the company of wandering monks, who eventually handed him over to the Yorks. In July 1465, Henry was captured and imprisoned in the Tower.
In 1470, Margaret, in alliance with the Earl of Warwick, who had quarreled with York, and with the support of the King of France, organized a coup in England. Henry was released from prison and returned to the throne, but Warwick was now in charge of all affairs of the state. In the spring of 1471, the supporters of the Scarlet Rose suffered two defeats, first at Barnet and then at Tewkesbury. In the last battle, the Lancasters were completely defeated (almost no one was left alive from the “Margarita’s army”). Edward, son of Henry VI, was captured and immediately executed. Henry himself was again imprisoned in the Tower, where on May 21, the day he entered the capital, he died. According to the official version, he died of melancholy upon learning of the death of his son, but it is possible that he was killed by order.
In 1477 he died in the Battle of Nancy. In connection with this event, the Lancasters could have used help, now unlimited by anyone, but except for Queen Margaret, none of them were alive. bought her from him for 2000 pounds and gave her refuge in France, where she died 5 years later.
In one of the rooms of the Tower of London, in the early morning of May 21, 1471, a murder was committed. His victim was 49-year-old Henry VI, who became the third king and the last representative of the Lancaster dynasty ─ one of the side branches of the ancient Plantagenet family. By the will of fate, he found himself at the center of bloody events, which later received the very poetic name of the Wars of the Scarlet and White Roses.
The last king of the Lancastrian line
Unlike the German king Henry VI, the Holy Roman Emperor, who became famous for his numerous military campaigns and extreme cruelty against rebellious vassals, his English namesake, also Henry, and also VI, but who lived two and a half centuries later, was a quiet and peace-loving man. Born on December 6, 1421, even in infancy he received the right to two crowns at once - English and French. However, showing all the signs of mental retardation, he remained throughout his life only a toy in the hands of various political adventurers.
Until 1437, when the young heir to the throne came of age, a regency council established by parliament ruled the country on his behalf. But even after the official coronation took place, all affairs were actually in charge not by him, but by a group of enterprising and dexterous nobles, among whom Earl William Suffolk especially stood out.
The inglorious end of a favorite
In 1455, he arranged the marriage of Henry VI with Possessing a strong and imperious character, she immediately overshadowed her feeble-minded husband and brought closer to her the count, to whom she owed the crown. Finding himself in the position of favorite, he soon received the ducal title and became the absolute master of the palace.
However, even in those ancient times, royal power in England had certain boundaries established by Parliament, which the newly-minted Duke clearly did not take into account. In 1447, pushed by arrogance and arrogance, he got involved in an adventure with the seizure of territories belonging to France, as a result of which he was defeated and, as a person who caused significant damage to the kingdom, was beheaded by the verdict of parliament. Margarita was powerless to help her favorite.
Split in court circles and the beginning of the war
Meanwhile, the health of her husband, the legitimate King of England Henry VI, deteriorated noticeably. At times he fell into complete madness, and Parliament was forced to appoint a protector (a person who ruled on behalf of the incapacitated king), who, bypassing the queen, became Duke Richard of York, who hated both Margaret herself and her executed favorite. It was this appointment that triggered a split among the highest English nobility, some of which supported the queen in her claims to power, and showed hostility towards the rest, who took the side of Richard York.
Very soon, the confrontation that arose between the two formed parties escalated into a brutal bloodshed, which went down in the history of the country as the War of the Scarlet and White Roses. It received this name because the banner of the queen’s supporters, who personified the Lancastrian line of the Plantagenets, featured a scarlet rose, while their opponents had a white one. In essence, it was a war between supporters of the priority of royal power over parliamentary power and their opponents.
Military operations developed with varying degrees of success. In 1458, the rebellious Richard almost died after being abandoned by his supporters who went over to the side of Henry VI, who, in a moment of rare mental enlightenment, announced an amnesty for all those who voluntarily laid down their arms. Thus, the army of the White Rose temporarily lost its combat capability, but two years later York’s close ally, the Earl of Warwick, gathered scattered forces and, having defeated the royal army, captured London. The unfortunate king Henry VI was captured and found himself behind bars.
Law above all
Surprisingly, representatives of the White Rose party, who captured the capital in battle, arrested the king, and became full-fledged masters of the situation, were unable to enthrone their leader Richard York. It turns out that in the world, in addition to military force, there is also a law, and it was this law that did not allow the rebellious duke to be crowned without the consent of parliament, that is, the constitutionally elected legislative body. Respectable men refused him, and the only thing York managed to achieve was the right to inherit the throne in the event of the death of its rightful owner, King Henry VI.
Martial Queen
This decision of parliament deprived the son of Margaret of Anjou of the right to the throne. And she, showing truly unfeminine energy and firmness, managed to gather an army in the northern counties of the country, at the head of which she marched on London. In February 1461, a major battle took place near the city of Wakefield, in which her main opponent, Richard York, was killed. At the same time, Margarita managed to free her husband from captivity, with whom she took refuge in the north of the country.
Apparently this was her mistake. During the absence of the royal couple, the mood of the parliamentarians changed, and they considered it better to remove the long-suffering Henry from the throne, and in his place to elevate the eldest son of the deceased Richard of York, who became the next king of England, who went down in history under the name Edward IV. The basis for this decision was that the latter belonged to one of the branches of the Plantagenet family.
Military failures of the king's supporters
This was soon followed by a series of major military defeats suffered by Lancastrian supporters united under the scarlet rose banner. They were first defeated at the Battle of Towton, and then, when Margaret went to France for support, the remnants of her forces suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Hexham.
Almost all military leaders loyal to the queen were killed in battle or executed. The deposed King Henry VI managed to escape from the battlefield and for almost a whole year he hid in the castle of one of his supporters, until finally he was handed over to the victors by a monk who happened to be there.
Tragic ending
After this, the fugitive was captured, brought to London, and for the second time in his life he found himself behind bars. Henry gained his freedom only five years later, after the ardent supporter of the Lancastrians, the Earl of Warwick, rebelled and temporarily seized power. He even returned the crown to him, and for a short time he was again nominally considered the English monarch. However, soon his supporters suffered a final defeat. The young son of Henry VI was captured and executed, and he himself was stabbed to death in one of the towers of the Tower. The ashes of the ill-fated king now rest in Windsor Castle in Berkshire.
The image of the unfortunate king was included in the plots of several literary works and paintings. To this day, a series of plays by William Shakespeare “Henry VI” are performed on the stages of many theaters around the world. In it, the audience is presented with the tragedy of a monarch who owned two crowns from birth, but was unable to keep either of them in his hands.
Edward VI of the Tudor family ruled England for 6 years. His innovations left a noticeable imprint on the future fate of Britain. Edward's entire tenure on the throne was accompanied by various rumors and intrigues. The modern Protestant Church still uses the rituals that the king introduced into the religion.
The death of young Tudor led to turmoil and a series of strife.
Youth
Edward VI was born on October 12, 1537. His mother was Jane Seymour and his father was Henry VIII. The early years of the reign of the first crowned Tudor were marked by a huge rise in the power of England. The intensity of confrontation between representatives of different religions has decreased in society. Relations with the rebellious Ireland were partially established. But Henry led a riotous lifestyle. He divorced his wife, despite protests from the church, for which he was excommunicated. In recent years, madness has taken hold of the king. He became overly suspicious and executed everyone who, in his opinion, was plotting against him. And all this against the background of the absence of a male heir. Therefore, the birth of Edward in the country was perceived as hope for a bright future, because if Henry VII had not left heirs, civil strife would certainly have begun.
Edward's mother died during childbirth. The father, suffering from obesity and other ailments, died after 9 years. That same year, Edward VI took the crown. Since childhood, he demonstrated an interest in learning and self-development.
Since the young king could not resolve all issues on his own, he needed a regent, that is, a patron. There was a real struggle for this position. De facto, the regent was the main person in England and could exert significant influence on the country in pursuit of his interests. Edward Seymour was appointed patron. His decisions greatly influenced the reign of the king.
Period of Seymour's patronage
At a young age, Edward VI was not able to rule on his own, but the last word still remained with him. Seymour, who usurped power, bribed members of the Council in order to be able to make decisions alone. Young Edward only signed decrees, of which he understood little.
An important test for the ruler of England in the 16th century was the war with rebellious Scotland. The Scotts regularly rebelled and tried to regain their territories. Seymour resumed active hostilities in this direction. He himself stood at the head of the army and led the soldiers on a campaign.
The first skirmishes allowed the royal army to advance deeper into Scotland. At Pinka she was met by the Earl of Arran with a 25,000-strong army. But Seymour positioned his soldiers well along the coast. With the help of ships, the British quickly suppressed the offensive. A few hours later, 5 thousand Scots lay dead, and another fifteen hundred were captured. The losses of the royal army amounted to about 500 people. This decisive victory gave Seymour a vote of confidence from the people and the council. But further actions did not have such good results. France sent a large contingent to help the Scots. The coalition defeated the British troops, and its remaining members were forced to retreat.
King Edward VI was a devout Protestant. Therefore, oppression of other religions, especially Catholicism, began throughout the country. Such reforms led to a series of popular uprisings that had to be brutally suppressed. Internal problems forced the Privy Council to decide to remove Seymour. The regent was arrested, and the king testified against him.
New Regent
After this, a new battle began for the protection of the king. Meanwhile, Edward grew and became more and more interested in government affairs.
He devoted a lot of time to study. By the age of 15, the king knew French, Latin, and Greek. He also studied religion. It can be argued that the king's Protestantism was partly his personal choice, and not just the result of Seymour's influence.
king of england: final yearsOne of the most significant moments of Edward's reign was the introduction of the Book of Prayer, which seriously changed the position of Catholics in England. Popular discontent grew. Subsequently, these reforms were curtailed, but after several decades they formed the basis for the formation of the new Anglican Church.
Edward never had any health problems. As a child, he suffered from a dangerous form of fever, which at that time was practically incurable. But he recovered quickly. However, in the 16th year of his life he was struck down by tuberculosis. In just six months, Edward VI Tudor became exhausted and died. After his death, he left no direct heirs or male relatives. This led to another crisis in England.
Related materials:
- Princes in the Tower. Edward V and his brother Richard of York: versions of the murder
- Margaret Tudor: biography and descendants
- King George 6 of England. Biography and reign of King George 6
- Queen Mary of England: biography, years of reign
- King of England Stephen of Blois: biography, crowned ancestors, period of reign, historical events, date and cause of death
