1553 succession crisis

Common card · No. 453166

A succession crisis arose in England in 1553 from an intractable personal and religious conflict between the Protestant King Edward VI and his older half-sister and heiress-presumptive, Mary, a Catholic. The plan to remove Mary from the succession and replace her with a Protestant heir-presumptive from the younger Tudor branch had been in Edward's mind since December 1552. In June 1553, the terminally ill Edward, influenced by the regent John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, named sixteen-year-old Jane Grey, great-granddaughter of Henry VII and daughter-in-law of John Dudley, as his successor. On July 6, 1553, Edward died, and three days later the Privy Council proclaimed Jane Grey Queen of England. Mary, anticipating the actions of the London authorities, fled to eastern England, proclaimed herself queen, and led an armed rebellion. By July 13, when John Dudley personally led a military operation against Mary, she had mobilized up to six thousand armed supporters. Not daring to attack...

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