Part Two: Edward VI’s Inheritance

Part Two: Loving Cups and Poisoned Chalices

History has suggested many explanations for the sequence of dramatic events that were the reign of King Henry VIII. From the brutal judicial murders ofEmpson and Dudley; through the early wars; through the spectacles of Renaissance diplomacy and theField of Cloth of Gold; through the King’s Great Matter and the Royal Supremacy; to the very last strike from his deathbed against his closest noble ducal allies in the house of Howard – Henry Tudor never lost his capacity to surprise. But of the all the explanations history suggests oddly the most satisfying one is wholly the king’s own…the quest for a legitimate male heir.
Henry VIII was a most dutiful monarch. He did his duty to his wife; he did his duty by the church he defended from heresy – as the Pope himself acknowledged in awarding him the personal soubriquet ‘Fidei Defensor’; and he did his duty by the realm – enlarging its prestige and influence.
In return the king had expected his due from God – a son and heir.…continued here

 

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