Edward VI: Henry VIII’s Overshadowed Son
(Pen and Sword Books UK – publication date April 30, 2023)
Edward VI has long been forgotten in the midst of larger and louder kings and queens of the Tudor dynasty. But Edward, as Henry VIII’s only legitimate son and heir, was a much more influential English monarch than he is given credit for – making huge steps to further the Protestant Reformation effort that his father had begun, changing the line of Tudor succession to include his cousin Lady Jane Grey, and motivating religious policy in both of his sisters’ later reigns – the harsh anti-reformation work of Catholic Mary I, and the leaps and bounds of Protestant reform that was achieved under Elizabeth I. Far from being the weak, insignificant ‘puppet king’ that hardly bears noticing, the aim of this new biography is to set Edward VI at the center of his own story, and to make the case that he is, in fact, a Tudor king worth remembering.
STEPHANIE KLINE 