Edward VI. (1547—1553)

Henry VIII. was succeeded by his only son, Edward VI., a minor nine years of age. He died in his sixteenth year, not without the suspicion of foul play. The Duke of Northumberland had persuaded him to will the crown to Lady Jane Grey, the duke's daughter-in-law. Thereupon, to cure him of an illness, his physicians were dismissed, and an ignorant woman undertook to restore him to health. Her potions killed him in less than no time.

Like nearly all princes who die young, innumerable virtues were ascribed to him. How far he deserved them is another matter. But let him have the benefit of the doubt. "Whom the gods love die young." Especially is this true of kings, who almost necessarily become more depraved the older they become. "It is the hand of little employment that hath the daintier sense," as Hamlet observed of grave-making.

The story that he humanely refused to sign the death-warrant of the heretic Joan of Kent, when Cranmer urged him to do so, like so many other good deeds of kings, is now known to be apocryphal.