Jane Seymour gave birth to Edward at Hampton Court. The birth had complications and Jane became ill.

Jane Seymour died after complications with the birth of Edward VI. She was buried in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

The Succession to the Crown Act was an act passed by Parliament specifiying the order of succession to the English throne after the death of King Henry VIII. Although Edward was the youngest the order would be Edward, Mary and then Elizabeth.  ^[1]

At Greenwich a treaty was signed by the Scots and King Henry VIII swearing firstly peace between the two nations and secondly the agreement that Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, should marry Henry's son Edward. Although these two treaties were initially agreed they had been rejected by the Scots by the end of the year. King Henry at first wanted Mary to be brought to England but two sides agreed that she should remain in Scotland until her tenth birthday.

Edward Seymour, the Earl of Hartford, and Duke of Somerset was given the title Lord Protector and was given the task of ruling England while Edward VI was too young to rule unaided.

The coronation of King Henry VIII's son Edward took place at Westminster Abbey. He was crowned as Edward VI.

A condition of King Henry VIII's will was the marriage of his son Edward to Mary, Queen of Scots. It was his hope to unite the two nations. But the Scottish refused to comply. So Somerset, the Protector of England took an army in Scotland. These events were part of a series known as the 'Rough Wooing'.

Thousands of Scots gathered near the town of Musselburgh, just to the east of Edinburgh. They faced an English army led by the Duke of Somerset. The Scots had a good position on the battle field but wasted it when they attacked. The Scots were heavily defeated. The defeat at Pinkie Cleugh was a threat to Mary, Queen of Scots, and so she was secretly moved from Stirling Castle to the Augustinian Inchmahome Priory located on an island on lake Menteith. ^[2]

To comply with the agreement to marry Mary Stuart to the French Dauphin, the young queen was moved from Inchmahome Priory to Dumbarton Castle on the banks of the River Clyde on the west of Scotland. It was here that she waited before sailing to France. ^[2]

The request of the Scottish Regent, Mary of Guise, for help to fight the English was answered by the arrival of an army of several thousand French. The assistance came on condition that her daughter Mary Stuart should marry the French Dauphin, Francis and is known as the Treaty of Haddington. ^[3]

Queen Mary was placed aboard the French ship at Dumbarton with a large number of her attendants. Along with her went the four Marys. Although the English fleet were directed to stop her they did not manage to find the French ship. A stormy crossing to France left many of the travellers sick. ^[4]

Thomas Seymour, the Protector's brother, had married the late king's widow Catherine Parr. Suspicion fell on Thomas after the untimely death of Catherine in late 1548 and it was suspected that he wanted to marry Elizabeth, King Henry VIII's daughter. He may have also tried to bribe the young king Edward VI into giving him more power. Thomas was arrested, charged with treason and sent to the Tower of London. Without much of a trial he was exectuted.

The war between England and Scotland and France was ended with the signing of the Treaty of Boulogne. The English withdrew from Scotland. This allowed the French king, Henry II to concentrate on his enemy, Charles V, The Holy Roman Emporer. ^[3]

Even after after Somerset's fall from grace he was still a threat and was hated by John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick. On an exaggerated charge of treason Somerset was arrested and taken to the Tower of London. Whether he was guitly of what he was accused of or not, Somerset was executed.

Edward VI signed a change to his earlier will or 'devise' and nominated Lady Jane Grey as heir to the English throne. The change was orchestrated by the John Dudley, duke of Northumberland and Sir John Gates. Lady Jane Grey had married the Duke's son Guilford Dudley a few months earlier and the will initially stated that Jane's male heirs would be next in line in inherit the Crown of England. This was altered when it was seen that Edward would die before Jane had any children so that Jane herself would become Queen.

King Edward VI died at Greenwich Palace as the age of 15.