A TLIAD: The Reign of Edward VI of England

[Kynan]

Edward VI of England

As Edward Tudor, King of England, lay sickly in his bed, most feared the worst. His Regent, the Duke of Northumberland, had devised a scheme to marry his son to Jane Grey, and thus have his own family rise to the throne, as a Dudley dynasty. However, as the Regent had a miracle doctor brought to the capital to prolong the King’s life through potions made of arsenic, a miracle occurred. Having been deadly ill, the young man seems to have fallen into a severe fever, and all hope seemed lost. However, within days, the fever broke, and recovery could begin.

Now, it was not until April that the King of England could leave his bed, and even then only for short periods of time. But as Edward recovered, he found the tide had turned against his Regent. The Lady Mary, his sister, had been turned away during is illness and, later, his recovery. Now unable to find any excuse to leave her out, the Duke of Northumberland hoped his continual talk of her as an unfaithful subject would hold. However, it was not to be.

The two embraced upon meeting each other for the first time in months, although the Lady Mary was forced to undergo the appropriate formalities as any English subject would to meet the King. But once they had been gone through, the young man had her rise and the siblings found a common ground as they hadn’t in many years. The talk of religion was left out, and instead, they spoke to the King’s illness and his recovery. It was a joyous occasion for the two of them, and when the King’s sister left the court again to attend to her own lands and issues, she did so laden with gifts, and with confidence that all was well between the two.

It took until July for the King of England to welcome his other sister to court, at by which time he was walking and attending the councils meetings again. As they had before is illness, the two shared a sense of formality, although there was talk of the Lady Elizabeth crying when her brother told her the story of how he had seen Heaven briefly. This was a story that the King would repeat often to guests, to remind them how close he had been to death. He often remarked that, despite how sickly he had been, God himself had willed him to live, and he had listened. Nevertheless, Elizabeth Tudor left his court as her sister had, laden with gifts and comfortable that her brother was safe.

The young King did not immediately agree to take action against the Regent that now was so unpopular he could not move safely without a full guard on employ. The affection Edward had towards the man who had taken over from his uncle was still apparent. In late July, seemingly without reason, the King gifted Northumberland with two very large grants, that seemed to many to be the next step on the continual rise for the Dudley family. The first was the grant to John Dudley to the tune of $734, as a sort of bonus for his care of the King during his illness. The second, and much more grand gift, was the bestowal of the Earldom of Leicester to the Regent’s son Guildford, who had married the Lady Jane Grey.

However, these proved not to be the next step on the ladder to greatness for the Duke, but a parting gift of sorts. The King of England would, for now, keep Northumberland close to him, but as of his 16th birthday, in October, the King felt sufficiently mature enough to take his place as the King of England with his full powers and responsibilities. Northumberland thus fell into place as his primary advisor, with his sons as members of the King’s entourage. In particular, the Earl of Leicester found himself given certain privileges, as he and his wife joined in on the revelry that became an important part of the King’s new, unrestricted court.

The King’s sisters also found themselves drawn into the merriment that marked the October celebrations of the King’s majority. Mary, initially, seems to have questioned her brother’s choice to begin his reign unhindered, particularly as it removed her one argument legally that kept her ignoring of his religious policies. However, the celebrations for the King’s sixteenth birthday was a chance for the 37 year old Lady Mary to dress well and dance, a pastime she enjoyed. And as religion remained a topic untouched by either of them, she felt comfortable enough.

The Lady Elizabeth, meanwhile, found that King Edward’s majority meant two things for her. An excuse to wear nice clothes and dance, and the beginning of the end of her freedom as a single woman. While the King did not immediately demand she agree to the proposed Danish match that had been proposed months previously, he agree to take the negotiations further, ending the stall they had been placed under since prior to his illness. While not pleased, the 19 year old Elizabeth found little to actually say as to the betrothal, which was yet to actually be formalized. And as the Lady Mary had found her own proposed marriage voided by the lack of funds to her dowry, the young woman remained confident that it might pass, and she might continue her freedom.

One engagement that was not in danger at this time was the proposed marriage between the King of England and the French Princess, Elisabeth de Valois. The daughter of the French King Henri II was only eight at this time, but had been betrothed to Edward since 1550, and was thus referred to by her court as the Queen of England, as Catherine of Aragon had been during her youth. The King of France sent a reminder of this to Edward VI of England, in the form of a gift to the young King: a portrait of is betrothed, standing next to a portrait of Edward. The English King returned the favour with a portrait of himself next to the portrait of Elisabeth, next to the portrait of Edward. The joke was not lost on Henri II, who commented that the likeness to the original portrait was striking.​

 

[Kynan]

The Lady Mary Tudor

In late November, the King of Denmark sent the Lady Elizabeth a portrait of his son, as a way of courting the King of England’s sister for his son. Edward had agreed to the match, but took a very progressive stance, that his sister should also agree to it as well. However, this did not mean he would not pressure her to take it, but simply that he demanded she publicly endorse her marriage before it occurred. It was during this time that he publicly announced that the King of Denmark was also courting his cousin, the Lady Katherine Grey, which was decidedly not true. It was hoped that the talk of someone else marrying the heir to Denmark might move Elizabeth to agree to the match.

In the end, the thing that changed the Lady Elizabeth’s mind as to the Danish betrothal was the suggestion at court, during the Christmas celebrations, that she might be married to the Duke of Northumberland’s eldest son, the Earl of Warwick. While the Earl had a title, he had no money of his own, and marriage to the King’s sister would not only enrich him, it would move the Dudley family further forward within the world of English nobility. However, the Lady Elizabeth was not interested in the son of a man hated by the English people, which might endanger her succession to the throne. If she was going to do that, she may as well be on a different throne.

Thus, sometime in January of 1554, the Lady Elizabeth was formally betrothed to the Prince of Denmark, with the agreement that she would marry Frederick of Denmark by proxy in May, giving the King’s sister enough time to settle her affairs in England. The King himself was terribly excited for the ceremony, and Edward spent much money on his sister’s wardrobe in preparation for her departure. Mary, too, seemed excited for her sister’s wedding, even if it was to a Protestant Prince. She would give Elizabeth a necklace set with pearls and silver, which would adorn her neck during the proxy wedding.

Having seen his sister married to the Danish Prince, it took 6 further months for the King to have her leave. At first, she managed to stall for a month, claiming fears of the sea. Then, she fell sick, legitimately, and was bedridden for three weeks. Then, one of her maids died, and she demanded she be allowed to stay for the funeral. Excuses lasted until the King’s birthday, at which point she agreed to leave come November, and, despite actually failing sick, the 20 year old bride finally boarded the ship which would take her to Denmark, to meet her husband.

The King’s other sister, Mary, now received summons to London, to discuss the matter of her religion with her brother. At first, she arrived with confidence, sure he would agree to grant her the right to hear mass away from court. But she was wrong. After a year of his personal rule, he demanded to know why she continued to ignore the laws set for all subjects of his realm. Edward’s point was simple: as a private citizen she was breaking the law, and as his heir she was setting a bad example to other private citizens. Mary attempted to appeal to her brother’s heart, but he was clear. It was either his way, or nothing at all.

Mary, shortly, would attempt to hear a private mass at court itself, in her apartments while the court was in procession. The lady was discovered by her brother when he burst in with the Duke of Northumberland, who had warned the King that he had heard Mary planned to hear daily mass with a few close friends while pretending to be ill. Having been discovered, many assumed Mary would be publicly forced to attend a Protestant service, and perhaps renounce the Pope publicly. That, at least had been what Edward had previously suggested be her punishment if he ever caught her. However, egged on by the Duke, he had her placed under arrest in her apartments, while he considered his options.

It took until early December for Mary to be moved to the Tower of London, having been forced to stay in her apartments at Richmond Palace for three weeks without leave. The Countess of Leicester sent her a prayer book approved by the King, along with a letter imploring her to apologize to the King and accept his religious authority. However, Jane Dudley was one of few who wrote to the Lady Mary, who found her solitude one of the greater punishments she had to endure. Without her friends at the court there to support her, the King’s elder sister worried that she would capitulate, and during the Spanish Ambassador’s only visit to her during her captivity, he recorded that she was physically ailing and morally weak. This, however, was a false assessment, as to the end, she held onto her beliefs. All the way to her trial on January 1st. Her punishment was left to the King.​

 

[Kynan]

The Lady Sidney

When the King first heard the suggestion that he have his sister executed for disobeying the laws of England and treason, he balked. Mary had, for many years, been a mother figure to him, and it was she that he had been warmest to of his sisters. However, he had the poison words of the Duke of Northumberland in his ears. With Mary gone, none of the royal family would be there to disobey him. His heir after Mary, theoretically the Countess of Leicester but technically Elizabeth, was a young married woman of the correct religion, who publicly endorsed the Protestant faith; regardless of which one was discussed. And thus, in early January, the King signed the warrant of execution towards the Lady Mary.

This did not mean the warrant went through immediately. At first, despite signing it, the King held off, warned that executing the Holy Roman Emperor’s first cousin would send them into war. And with Spain and France recently reconciled with the marriage of Philip II of Spain to Margaret de Valois, England could not afford to anger them. In addition, the Lady Mary was quite popular throughout the country, and to have her executed would surely end in chaos. However, time was running out for Mary.

Imprisoned in the Tower, the Lady Mary grew quite ill. Initially allowed to roam the gardens with an escort when she pleased, the lady found that privilege lost to her in late January, after two young boys were seen gifting her bouquets of flowers. A simple gift of a child to a stranger was construed as a message from the Emperor of war, or perhaps news from the Pope. Mary herself sent a letter to Edward, demanding the children, who had been taken for questioning, be sent back to their parents, as they had done nothing wrong. Her requested was granted three days later, although she herself faced many more punishments.

To ensure none of the ladies who attended her grew too close to the imprisoned woman. Edward, under the direction of Northumberland, had the women swapped out every three days, until the 4th of February, when they were replaced with the Duke of Northumberland’s daughters, the Lady Sidney, recently married to the Lord Sidney, and the Lady Katherine, betrothed to the Earl of Huntington’s son. Since Mary’s existence during this time was simple, the two found their jobs easy, and sometime in before the 16th of February, the Lady Katherine was removed, for fear her youth could mean she might be corrupted. The Lady Sidney stayed on, however, and reported to her father.

Sometime in late February, the Lady Mary fell so sick it was thought she would die, which would solve the King’s problem and mean that the Spaniards could have no complaint that she was executed for her religion, as she would have died of natural causes. Letters were even prepared for the announcement of her death, which carefully included references to Mary’s own conviction in the later years of Edward’s Regency that she had not long to live. However, as her health seemed to return, the issue of her execution were brought back into light.​

 

[Kynan]

Philip II of Spain

The alliance between the Spanish and the French fell apart in March of 1555, when the Queen of Spain, who previously had been the Princess Margaret of France, died giving birth to her first child by Philip II of Spain, Don Juan de Spain. While the birth of a son that shared the blood of the two dynasties might have, otherwise, been a thing to bring the countries together, this was not the case. No longer held to the treaty, as his wife had died, the King of Spain rejected the proposal that he marry the King of England’s betrothed, Elisabeth de Valois, his previous King’s niece, and instead began his invasion of Navarre, claiming the territory for himself by right of his great grandfather, Ferdinand II of Aragon, who he claimed had been the rightful monarch.

France, expectedly, dithered as to whether they should aid their cousins in Navarre, or attempt to salvage the Spanish treaty. However, when Edward VI of England send his own men, led by the Duke of Northumberland, to aid the Queen of Navarre against the Spanish, their choice was made for them. It was either seem like cowards on the world stage, or fight. And, like most people do to save face, the French King pretended he had decided to go to war first, and sent in his army.

While this was unfolding, the King received a letter from his sister in Denmark, who was expecting her first child by her husband. She, expected, counselled against the execution of her sister. Elizabeth, ever the pragmatist, asked why the actions of one woman, alone in the country, deserved a traitor’s death. Within the letter, she also warned the King of England that, if he took this step, he would be branded forever as a man who had put his sister to death. He would lose the respect of his people, and would definitely face rebellion, should Mary die in captivity. The Princess of Denmark was quite brutally honest in her advice, warning him that, should Mary and himself be assassinated for that deed, she would be forced to come to England, and that unrest was sure to follow. Would he put England through a War of Succession just over a simple mass?

This, in fact, showed much of Elizabeth’s thought’s during this time. Having made a life for herself in Denmark, she proved popular with the people; the Tudor ease with the people was something she had inherited. But, conversely, she did not forget her homeland, and demanded that friends keep her informed as to the situation at hand. In fact, her main source of news about Mary came from the Lady Sidney, who copied her letters to the King and send them to Elizabeth, who she valued as a friend. In turn, Elizabeth had acted as the godmother to the Lady Sidney’s eldest child, Edward Sidney, in 1554, and to the next child, Jane Sidney, that year. While an English noblewoman was too low to act as the main godmother to the heir to the Danish Throne, Elizabeth had extended an invitation to visit her once the child was born, and even sent the Lady Sidney a portrait of herself pregnant, which was a gift not even her brother received.

Whatever advice the King had received from his sister in Denmark, the words on a paper did not outweigh the words he was hearing in person. Of his main men, only the Countess of Leicester vouched for mercy, and that was with the condition that the Lady Mary submit to him, which she most assuredly had not. Indeed, sometime in early March, Mary seems to have begun receiving messages from a Catholic priest, receiving pardon for her sins. As she was allowed only visitors that were okayed by the King himself, and he had only allowed three people to visit since the Lady Sidney had been instated as her lady-in-waiting, it is likely these were snuck in by a maid hired to clean the rooms come the turning of the month. With this, however, Mary felt ready to die.​

 

[Kynan]

John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland

The date was finally decided in March, for the 2nd of April. Initially, the King had been suggested that it should be a public event, to prove that he would not tolerate treason, or disobedience, from his subjects. But, in this case, the King proved sensible, and the Lady Mary was instead granted a private execution, attended by the only a Protestant priest, the Spanish Ambassador, and the Lady Sidney, along with four men of good standing, whose names are lost to history.

The execution went off well, as those things that have been planned for four months often do. The Lady Mary was refused the right to wear red, as this was the colour of martyrdom. Instead, the King had her provided with a dress in the Tudor colours, in recognition of their family connection. Thus, in green and white, the Lady Mary stood on a scaffold in a large, empty room, watched by seven people. Her last words were standard, apologizing for having been treasonous to the King, and commending him. However, upon laying her head down to await the swing of the axe, the booming voice of Mary Tudor was heard reciting a prayer in Latin, which was a funeral prayer. The Spanish Ambassador noted that the Lady Sidney burst into tears at this point, while the Protestant priest seemed unnerved by the prayer. Thus, at the age of 39, Mary Tudor was executed, and the King of England had to face his country.

Unable to quickly respond to such an event, the King of Spain threatened the King of England with war, if justice for his cousin was not met swiftly. His invasion of Navarre was being held up by an outbreak of sickness through his army, however, and Philip was very much distracted by preparations to marry Eleanor of Austria, his first cousin and third wife. Thus, Spain ended up only threatening England, but that was enough to add to the pressure put upon Edward VI of England.

Up until the imprisonment of his sister, Edward had been a very popular King. Despite sending men to Navarre, he had managed to keep taxes steady so far, kept a fine court and, most importantly, had the Tudor charm to fall back on. However, no matter how much respect he had from his people, Mary had been extremely popular, and it had been demanded by the people that she be released. A petition with almost 20,000 signatures had arrived at court a week after she had been brought to the Tower, demanding she be freed. Another had arrived in late February, bearing 30,000. However, he had ignored his people and had only one man to blame: the Duke of Northumberland.

While Mary was conferred to a traitor’s grave, alongside her stepmothers Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, the King himself faced an immediate uprising in her lands in Essex, and another in Wales. Even the Irish, notorious for their hatred of the English monarchy, worked themselves up into at least two riots following Mary Tudor’s death, although both ended fairly quickly. However, the Essex Rebellion, as it is known, found many within it, and a narrative immerged that would be used by the King himself to escape blame. The Duke of Northumberland had demanded the Lady Mary’s death, and the King had been forced to agree. While Edward may not have liked seeming the fool, he knew an opportunity when he saw one, and despite his fondness for the Duke, he had him arrested on April 18th, and sent to the Tower of London.

Such quick action led to the Rebellion stalling, although initially there was a slight wave where they hoped to put Margaret Douglas on the throne. However, the Scottish Countess was nowhere near as popular as the Lady Mary had been, and no one had disputed the King’s right to rule, just the men he had by his side. They had won, and thus they dispersed. But one man could not disperse and be done with the whole ordeal, and that was Northumberland.​

 

[Kynan]

Elizabeth Tudor

Having been placed under arrest for treason and manipulation of the King, the Duke had at first thought it was a jest, which under the circumstances was something Edward had taken to doing to lighten the court’s mood. Thus, he was easily brought to his holding cell, and there awaited his release, ready to laugh with the King. He even wrote a mock letter of his response, which congratulated Edward on such a convincing ruse. However, when a priest arrived to prepare him for his trial, scheduled for a week later, he realised the joke was truly on him.

The Duke knew he had no chance at swaying the trial to his side, although he did try. However, even his sons, the Earl of Warwick and Leicester, voted against him, and he was sentenced to an execution for manipulation of the King, although the word treason was never used. This was for two big reasons. The first was that the Earl of Warwick had demanded that Edward ensure that his inheritance was secure, and that the title of Duke be passed down. By wording the documents a certain way, the loss of titles generally seen with treason were not used, and thus Edward could ensure his friend was safe. The second was that the King of England truly did not believe that Northumberland had committed treason, but knew that it was either use a scapegoat or lose the people’s love. Plus, by losing the two biggest influences on his late Regency in the form of Mary and Northumberland, Edward was able to truly establish himself as his own man.

Elizabeth, in Denmark, was appalled at her brother’s actions. Still heavily pregnant with what would be the Princess Mary of Denmark, named after the sister she had just lost, Elizabeth was not one of the people satisfied that Northumberland had fallen. While she had not personally liked the man, she placed the blame for Mary’s death squarely on her brother’s head, and from her position of safety abroad, she let him know. Two separate letters of Elizabeth’s survive discussing her sister’s death, one to her brother, and one to the Holy Roman Emperor. The one to her brother to full of sarcastic language, and she begins by congratulating him on two successful hunts. That Edward had not hunted since January was irrelevant, as this was her way of making him feel guilty for what he had done. The letter to Charles von Hapsburg was much more sincere and sad. In it, she expressed her horror that the King could do such a thing, and ended it by thanking him for the masses he ordered in her honour. Elizabeth may not have been a Catholic, but she respected the ways people dealt with grief.

This did not, however, mean that she was totally off her brother, just that she had been upset with him following these events. Following the birth of the Princess Mary in July, she asked Edward if he might act as godfather to the Princess, which he agreed to. As godmother, Elizabeth had Elisabeth de Valois, who would be Queen of England. The name may have been a jab, but Elizabeth knew that Edward was a pragmatist, and that he would not end the alliance with Denmark so quickly in petty anger. She held power at this time over her brother by being absent from his will, and she knew it.​

 

[Kynan]

Elisabeth de Valois

The new Duke of Northumberland was not quite as unpopular as his father had been, but he also wasn’t quite as powerful. Unmarried, he unsuccessfully attempted a marriage contract to Katherine Grey, who was technically his sister by marriage, as her sister was his sister-in-law. He then attempted a betrothal with Margaret Clifford, the King’s cousin and young woman who had been suggested for at least two of his brothers. When that went nowhere, he settled upon the daughter of the Baron Stafford, Anne Stafford. The Baron Stafford and his wife, the Lady Ursula Stafford (previously Pole) were in high favour with the King of England, as they had been for many years. The Baron would, during the celebrations for the King’s 18th birthday in October, be regranted the title Earl of Stafford, along with lands previously held by his father as Duke of Buckingham. Thus, marriage to that family was yet another great match for the Dudley clan, but far from the heiress his father had married. However, it was not money John Dudley was after, but prestige. As a relatively new family, the Dudleys had to find that illustrious royal blood through marriage, and what better way than a wife related to the English royals in multiple different ways, who’s great-uncle was King Edward IV of England, a man who the current King is hoping to emulate through the magnificence of his court.

The King, however, favoured the Duke of Northumberland’s younger brother Ambrose, who would act as the King’s right hand man during several tournaments at the English Court, and he and his wife, the Baroness Elizabeth Tailboys, would find that Edward demanded that he be the godfather to their children, of which only Edward Dudley, born in 1555, survived infancy. The King found that he enjoyed the Baron Tailboys much more than, say, Sir Robert Dudley, who tended to show up the King, or the Duke, who was rapidly becoming more and more serious, just as the King began to explore the more wild side of ruling.

Just how wild he would go was finally seen in late January of 1556, when Edward VI of England began his affair with Grace Lumley, sister to the Baron Lumley. The young woman, of a similar age to the King, had been first noticed by Edward around his birthday celebrations the previous year. The Lady Grace had been brought to court by her brother with hopes of marrying her to another gentleman, who would end up marrying elsewhere. Thus, without purpose, she had joined the entourage of the Countess of Leicester, who had become highly influential at her cousin’s court. Through that connection, Grace had quickly become friendly with the King, and by January, the two were inseparable.

In France, King Henri II feared that his daughter might be set aside for the Baron’s sister, for two reasons. One was, Elisabeth would only be 11 this year, and Edward was a virile young man of 18, to be 19 in October. While the age difference wouldn’t matter officially next year, the maturity of the King’s mistress in contrast to the tender youth of the French King’s own daughter might make Grace Lumley seem like a more suitable candidate for Queen. The second reason Henri was scared was the King’s own heritage, which included his mother, who was an English subject. If Edward continued to look to emulate Henry VIII of England, he might do so by marrying a subject, rather than a foreign Princess.

Henri II of France could not have been farther from reality, however. Edward had begun his affair with Grace out of sheer need for companionship, due to Edward’s own fears about prostitutes and mindless sex with many women. That was one lesson he had taken on board from his youth, and by beginning an affair with a virginal gentlewoman, the King of England ensured that he was safe from venereal diseases. However, Grace proved useful in another way, which was that she would become one of the great poets of the latter half of the 16th Century. For Edward enjoyed songs and poetry, and thus the Lady Lumley began to write daily sonnets to her lover, ranging from descriptions of his eyes to tragedies about missing him when he left their bed. During their time together, Edward would receive over 300 poems from Grace.​

 

[Kynan]

Grace Dudley (previous Lumley), Baroness Dudley

It was in late April of 1557 that the King of England was married by proxy to the Princess Elisabeth de Valois, who after all the worries by her father, had ended up as Queen of England anyway. The French Princess would not arrive in England until August, at which time she was brought to her husband’s side and coronated in early September, thus making the marriage and all that would follow official.

King Edward, meanwhile, found his bride delightful. Having been the youngest child, he had never been able to enjoy younger children than him very much, but Elisabeth was soft spoken and sweet, as well as delicately beautiful. She had no real ambitions at that time towards him or his country, and as he would find out, she responded enthusiastically to praise. When the two of them had their portrait taken together, two versions were painted, one with her standing on a stool to ensure that she was not quite so short next to him, and one painted with their real heights. The King would keep the more realistic one in his rooms, and prided it amongst the portraits he commissioned.

However, no matter how precious his Queen was, she was still a child, and thus the King continued his relationship with Grace Lumley, who would act as his official mistress for the time being. While he did grow fond of his wife, it was paternal, or rather, that of an older brother to a younger sibling. Thus, when Edward discovered his mistress was pregnant with their bastard child, one of the first people he let know was his wife. Of course, he sent the Lady Grace away from court to have the child.

His sister in Denmark, meanwhile, was preparing to give birth to her second child by her husband, the Prince of Denmark. With the Princess Mary thriving, Elizabeth hoped that the next child would be a son and heir, to solidify her place in this country. With her brother now safely married to the French Princess, she ended all hopes of returning to England on the Throne, and instead placed all her hopes for the future on her Danish children. When, in July, she gave birth to a son named John Frederick, who after his father, was now the heir to the Danish Throne. Thus, having succeeded in what her position demanded, the country rejoiced and Elizabeth celebrated with them.

The King of England’s bastard would be born sometime in December, a stillborn daughter who was hastily buried in the gardens of Hatfield, where Grace Lumley had ultimate ended up, after her initial choice of a hunting lodge in Northern England had burned down, prior to her arrival. The loss of the child damaged the relationship of the King and his mistress greatly, and Grace arrived back to his side a changed woman. While she continued her poetry and stayed at her lover’s side for a further six months, the two grew apart, and in early 1558, she was married off at his command to Sir Andrew Dudley, who was granted the title Baron Dudley and lands in Northern England. An old man, he had been loyal to the King during the Regency and later Edward’s personal rule.​

 

[Kynan]

Edward VI of England

In 1559 the alliance between England and Denmark became even more solid, with the accession of Frederick II of Denmark with his Queen, Elizabeth Tudor. King Edward Tudor, in England, had first the country go into mourning for the dead King of Denmark, then three days later began two weeks of celebrations to mark the accession of the new Danish King. Of course, this was more than slightly overdone for a foreign King to do, but as his nephew was now heir to the Danish Throne without question, it seemed appropriate to do so to Edward, no matter the expense. His sister, meanwhile, swept into power with a flurry of change.

Previously, Elizabeth Tudor had been an enjoyable, but somewhat serious, figure at the Danish Court. This front had been a continuation of her public image in England, and had been a major reason that her father-in-law had been so fond of her. However, now that she was Queen Consort and no longer Princess Consort, the Danish Queen transformed into a completely different woman. Firstly, having hidden her hair, which had fallen out to an alarming degree during her second pregnancy, under modest caps, Elizabeth took to wearing large, heavy wigs in gold and red, with clothes to match. Overall, the atmosphere of the Danish Court became much more high energy with the young King and Queen, and with their readymade royal family, they grew in popularity.

The King of England, meanwhile, found that his own rule was beginning to change again, as his wife began to mature. Having initially agreed to allow her to hear mass privately, he pushed for a public conversion to the Church of England, which the young girl was happy to do. Although she was warned by her father’s ambassador and her mother’s letters that to do so was to turn from god, the kind words of the Countess of Leicester, herself more religious than ever and pregnant with her first child, and the King, turned her gradually to their side. Thus, in a public event in early 1560, the Queen of England attended her first Protestant event, which she seems to have taken to quite easily.

The King and Queen acted as godmother and godfather r to the Countess of Leicester’s child in April of that year, a son named Arthur Dudley, for the King’s long dead uncle, who was, as well, Jane Dudley’s great uncle on her mother’s side. Having given her husband a son, the Earl and Countess of Leicester continued their separate lives at Court. They were two very different people, but as they grew into adulthood, the found that they had a common interest, now represented in their son.

With the growth of the families surrounding the King, it is no wonder that Edward himself began to talk of growing his own family, with the Queen of England. While Elisabeth de Valois had matured greatly since her arrival, she was still a young girl and Edward himself wasn’t comfortable with her having children yet, considering how little she was. He was reminded that his great-grandmother had had her son Henry VII of England too young, and that had spoiled her fertility. Thus the King was forced to wait until 1563, when the Queen of England would become pregnant for the first time, with their first child.

With his Queen pregnant, the King would find that he was separated from her, as an outbreak of Sweating sickness was found in London, just as the Queen had left the city. Thus, London was placed under lockdown and Queen Elisabeth would travel to Hatfield, which the King himself recommended while he was not able to get to her. However, the two would never meet again, as Edward would fall sick for the second time in his life, aged 25, not quite 26. Edward Tudor died on the 6th of July, 1563, aged 25, after contracting sweating sickness a few weeks prior. Thus, the country fell into mourning for their young King, who had already ruled 16 years. His heir, however, was not an apparent thing yet, as his Queen was still pregnant, away from the capital.

Amongst the members of the Queen’s household in exile from the city was the Earl of Leicester and his wife, who stood to potentially rise to the Throne, should the baby not be born alive. However, the Countess herself had no use for the crown, and the threat of Danish invasion on behalf of the fourth time pregnant Elizabeth Tudor was always a thing that may happen. Thus Jane Dudley protected the Queen against the stresses that might have harmed her child, and was the first to see the birth of the new King, Henry IX of Engand. The reign of the Tudor Dynasty continued, in that single infant monarch.​

 

[Kynan]

The Tudor Line as of 1564

Edward VI of England (b.1537: d.1563) m. Elisabeth de Valois (b.1545) (a)

1a) Henry IX of England (b.1564)
​

Elizabeth Tudor (b.1536) m. Frederick II of Denmark and Norway (b.1534) (a)

1a) Mary of Denmark (b.1554)

2a) John Frederick of Denmark (b.1557)

3a) Christopher of Denmark (b.1559: d.1559)

4a) Anne of Denmark (b.1563)
​

Jane Grey (b.1537) m. Guildford Dudley, Earl of Leicester (b.1535) (a)

1a) Arthur Dudley (b.1561)​

 

[desmirelle]

Not even the monstrous Henry VIII executed his sister. It would have been so much easier to wed her off to, say the Duke of Beja who never married and could have used a nice, Catholic wife and it would have settled the question without bloodshed. And put the people at ease, going "How sweet of him to find her a husband when his father wouldn't." Now he's a bigger monster than his dad.

 

[Jan Olbracht]

Not even the monstrous Henry VIII executed his sister. It would have been so much easier to wed her off to, say the Duke of Beja who never married and could have used a nice, Catholic wife and it would have settled the question without bloodshed. And put the people at ease, going "How sweet of him to find her a husband when his father wouldn't." Now he's a bigger monster than his dad.

This. Execution of royals was not smooth issue , and execution of sister... Edward would be seen as western version of Ivan The Terrible, at best.