What if Henry VIII's son Edward VI doesn't die in 1547?

BigDave1967

Banned
What do you think would have happened if Edward VI lived past 1547? I remember the movie Lady Jane about Jane Grey where Jane and Edward were friends. I think there might have been the possibility that He would have married Jane Grey. Which would have given the Grey family a chance to try to manipulate the King. I think Edward would have freed his half sisters from pretty much house arrest. Mary and Elizabeth each could have very well tried to come up with plans to remove him as to put either one of them on the throne.

8 years isn't that big an age difference. He was originally betrothed to Mary, Queen of Scots, who was still 5 years younger. It's not great, but it's certainly an option; as said, Wiki supports it as having been agreed to in 1551 (and actually has 2 citations for the claim, although I can't check them). She married OTL in 1559 at the age of 14, so that's not too much longer to wait.

Now just because there's a betrothal, doesn't mean that it won't be broken. His first betrothal was, after all. 6 years (after his OTL death) is a long time, and any number of things could change. He could end up with a Habsburg (Ferdinand had several then-unmarried daughters of age) to shore up that alliance, or he could marry a foreign Protestant (no idea which one) to promote a greater Protestant alliance.

And yes, Catherine of Aragon wasn't a Habsburg, but for the purposes of 16th century geopolitics she represented a marital connection to the Habsburg bloc.

Was Jane Grey older than Edward was?
 
I think that we can be reasonably certain that, barring her premature death ITTL, Edward VI would marry Elisabeth of Valois. The marriage treaty stipulated that Elisabeth be married as soon as she reached twelve and that she be loaded with a dowry of 200 000 crowns by the French. So Edward will probably marry her around 1557 or 1558.

There are a number of reasons for this which, I would say, reflect his character and the reality of his position as things stood in 1553.

First, despite the fact that it is often brought up here on this board, Edward VI marrying his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, is largely Romantic fantasy and highly unlikely. Edward VI, much like his sisters, was always very conscious of his royal dignity. He was (at least in his mind) Edward Tudor, the only surviving son of the great Henry VIII, the chief Protestant prince of Christendom (more on this later). Edward would never have settled for anything less than a wife of equal rank to himself, i.e. a royal princess.

Elisabeth of Valois met these qualifications quite well. And, though born into the Old Religion, Edward was reported to have been reasonably sure that he could 'sway' her opinions in time (he was always a bit of a prig).

There was also the fact that England needed to maintain the French alliance for as long as possible in the foreseeable future, for a number of reasons. When the Peace of Bolougne was agreed upon in 1550, the country was facing bankruptcy--so much so that the namesake town of the treaty, the prize of the English since Henry VIII's capture of it years before, had to be ransomed back to the French for a quick injection of ready cash into the treasury (something to the tune of 400 000 crowns, if memory serves). Peace with France secured the Scottish border, avoided further expensive conflicts that England could not afford and pledged the English and the French to a mutual defensive pact.

Despite differences in religion, as it has been said, France was a natural ally for Edwardian England, because the Valois were more than willing to support Protestant princes when they were in opposition to the Habsburgs. If Edward was going to promote himself as the great champion of the Reformed Religion in Christendom and adopt an aggressive anti-Catholic foreign policy (Read: anti-Habsburg), the French were essential to his plans, at least for the immediate future.
 
@DavidT: Thank you very much for the quotes and the book rec. One thing I do find a bit iffy is 'no Shakespeare'. A slightly different Shakespeare, certainly, but, then, perhaps not all that different.
 
Top