Kingship and Politics in the Reign of Edward VI [Paperback]

A reappraisal of the reign of Henry VIII's son, Edward VI (154753).This book offers a reappraisal of the kingship and politics of the reign of Edward VI, the third Tudor king of England who reigned from the age of nine in 1547 until his death in 1553. The reign has often been interpreted as a period of political instability, but this account challenges the view that the king's minority was a time of unstable and political faction. It also shows how, during the reign of Elizabeth I, the Edwardian idea of what is was to be a monarch dominated Tudor politics.This book offers a reappraisal of the kingship and politics of the reign of Edward VI, the third Tudor king of England who reigned from the age of nine in 1547 until his death in 1553. The reign has often been interpreted as a period of political instability, but this account challenges the view that the king's minority was a time of unstable and political faction. It also shows how, during the reign of Elizabeth I, the Edwardian idea of what is was to be a monarch dominated Tudor politics.This book is a reconstruction of the kingship and politics of the third Tudor king of England, Edward VI (born 1537), who reigned between 1547 (from the age of nine) until his death in 1553. The reign has often been interpreted as a period of political instability, mainly because of the king's age. This book explores how the reign was remarkably stable; and also how, during the reign of Elizabeth I (1558-1603) the Edwardian idea of what it was to be a monarch--and many of the same men who had served Edward VI as councillors and courtiers--dominated Tudor politics.List of illustrations; Acknowledgements; Abbreviations and conventions; Introduction; 1. Constructing the reign of Edward VI; 2. King and kingship; 3. The dynamics of power, 15479; 4. Reforming the kingdom; 5. An evolving polity, 154953; 6. Beyond 1553: the Edwardian legacy; Bibliography; Index. ...a valuable, well-written and easy-to-read book, and one I highly recoml£j