ACEO, 2.5 x 3.5 inches, watercolor, gouache and gold ink, August 2007 Edward VI was the only surviving son of Henry VIII. His mother, Jane Seymour, died a few days after his birth from perpueral fever. He was a bright child and though he suffered some illness as a child he was not considered sickly. He was a rather serious child and had been taught to hide his feelings, though he was doted on by his female relatives and had an intellectual rivalry with Elizabeth. He was nine when he was crowned King in 1547. Henry's will had named executors who were to act as a Council of Regency. His uncle Edward Seymour was made Duke of Somerset and was appointed Lord Protector. His brother Thomas Seymour ( who had been married to Katharine Parr) tried in 1549 to overthrow him but the plot failed and he was executed. Edward had embraced Protestantism and tried to prevent his sister Mary from practicing her Catholicism, though she was eventually allowed to practice privately. This did not prevent Edward publicly scolding her for her disobedience, even though she was 20 years older than him. Somerset's reign as Protector was seen as a failure and he began to lose support, and though he fled with the King to Windsor he was deposed and later executed. John Dudley, Earl Of Warwick took his place and was made Duke of Northumberland by Edward. By 1552 it was clear that Edward had contracted tuburculosis. In 1553 Edward wrote a new will naming Lady Jane Grey as his successor, excluding Mary and Elizabeth. It is unclear if this was Edward or Northumberlands idea but it was obvious Edward was dying and something had to be done - Edward certainly did not want the country to be ruled by a Catholic and Northumberland wanted to hold onto his position of power. Northumberland had brought in a medicine woman who fed the King potions - it is very likely they contained arsenic which prolonged the Kings life with agonising results. His belly swelled up though his limbs were stick thin, his developed ulcers all over his body and he coughed up foul smelling bile and blood. He finally died on the 6th July 1553. It is said that his body was substituted with that of a similiar aged and looking young man who had been murdered for the purpose, for fear that the arsenic would be discovered in an autopsy, and that the real Edward was actually buried in the field adjoining Greenwich Palace.