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Mid-Tudor Crisis: Succession - Coggle Diagram
Mid-Tudor Crisis: Succession
end of Henry VIII
Catherine of Aragon failed to give him a male heir, just Princess Mary in 1516 who was declared illegitimate by Succession Act 1534, making Princess Elizabeth heir presumptive
Anne Boleyn's execution led to the Succession Act 1536, declaring Elizabeth illegitimate and prompted Henry to again consider legitimising his son, Duke of Richmond, Henry Fitzroy but he then died
Henry then acquired a legitimate male heir Prince Edward in 1537 but by 1543 Henry's health showed that Edward would likely still be a minor when succeeding to the throne
the succession Act passed in 1543, receiving royal assent in 1544, re-legitimised Elizabeth and Mary
Henry's will dated 30th September 1544 laid down succession arrangements of Edward, Mary and Elizabeth or his sister, Mary Duchess of Suffolk if they died without issue
it also set up a regency council of 16 men to act on Edward's behalf
however, this was taken over by Edward Seymour as he took the title of Lord Protector within weeks
Northumberland
by the end of March 1553 it was reported that Edward was dying
Northumberland had supported radical Protestantism so he didn't want the Catholic Mary to come to the throne as planned
he produced the
Devyse
to attempt to alter the succession, as even Edward was prepared to exclude his sisters from the succession if he could continue Protestantism
Northumberland's choice was Lady Jane Grey, who was married to his son, Guilford Dudley
in June 1553 Mary and Elizabeth were declared illegitimate and preparations were made to ratify the new succession in Parliament
however, Edward died 6th July so without parliamentary sanction, the
Devyse
was patently illegal
he didn't plan for this possibility so took 3 days until Lady Jane Grey was proclaimed Queen
however, support for Mary appeared quickly and she gathered Catholic supporters in Norfolk
Northumberland summoned troops and sent a naval squadron to intercept Mary but they declared allegiance to Mary due to his cruelty in putting down the Kett's rebellion
members of the Council declared Mary queen 19th July 1553 so he accepted failure and declared her on 20th
Mary
the overthrow of Northumberland's
Devyse
restored Henry's will with Elizabeth as successor if Mary was to die childless, which was an issue as she was Protestant so would move policy back
however, denying her the right of succession required either parliamentary legislation to overturn 1544 Act or Elizabeth's disqualification through treason
despite Elizabeth's suspected involvement in the Wyatt's rebellion 1554 and so her confinement to the Tower of London, there was no evidence and so she was released after 2 months
attempts to change the succession through Acts of Parliament came to nothing
she was then forced to accept that Elizabeth would be her successor, formally naming her so 6th November 1558 and dying 9 days later on 17th
Philip of Spain recognised Elizabeth's succession by sending his envoy a month before Mary's death
her succession was accepted by Mary's key councillors as her Lord Protector, Nicholas Heath proclaimed it on 17th November