Edward VI
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Edward VI was King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death in 1553. He was crowned on 20 February 1547 at the age of nine. The only surviving son of Henry VIII by his third wife, Jane Seymour, Edward was the first English monarch to be raised as a Protestant. During his reign, the realm was governed by a regency council because Edward never reached maturity. The council was first led by his uncle Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (1547–1549), and then by John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland (1550–1553).
Portrait by William Scrots, c. 1550
Prince Edward in 1538, by Hans Holbein the Younger. He holds a golden rattle that resembles a sceptre; and the Latin inscription urges him to equal or surpass his father.
Edward as Prince of Wales, 1546. He wears the Prince of Wales's feathers and crown on the pendant jewel. Attributed to William Scrots. Royal Collection, Windsor Castle
The badge of Prince Edward, from John Leland's Genethliacon illustrissimi Eaduerdi principis Cambriae (1543)
Henry VIII
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Henry VIII was King of England from 22 April 1509 until his death in 1547. Henry is known for his six marriages and his efforts to have his first marriage annulled. His disagreement with Pope Clement VII about such an annulment led Henry to initiate the English Reformation, separating the Church of England from papal authority. He appointed himself Supreme Head of the Church of England and dissolved convents and monasteries, for which he was excommunicated by the pope.
Portrait of Henry VIII after Hans Holbein the Younger, c. 1537–1562
Portrait by Meynnart Wewyck, 1509
The meeting of Francis I and Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520
Henry with Emperor Charles V (right) and Pope Leo X (centre), c. 1520