King Edward VI(1537-1553), Reigned 1547-53
Sitter associated with 47 portraits
The only son of Henry VIII and his third wife Jane Seymour, Edward succeeded his father in 1547 aged nine. Scholarly and firmly Protestant, he ruled during his minority with the help of a council, but was dominated by the policies of his two Protestant Protectors, first Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and then John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. The latter induced Edward to will the crown to Lady Jane Grey, in order to ensure the Protestant succession. Edward died of tuberculosis shortly before his sixteenth birthday.
published by Illustrated London News
wood engraving, published 4 February 1854