Page "Tudor dynasty" Paragraph 21

After Henry led troops during the Siege of Boulogne in 1544 – an attempt to take French territory for England – he died on 28 January 1547.

His will had reinstated his daughters by his annulled marriages to Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn to the line of succession, but did not legitimise them.

( Because his marriages had been annulled, they legally never occurred, so his children by those marriages were illegitimate.

) In the event that all 3 of his children died without heir, the will stipulated that the descendant of his younger sister Mary would take precedence over the descendants of his elder sister, Margaret, Queen of Scotland.

Edward, his nine-year old son by Jane Seymour, succeeded as Edward VI of England.

Unfortunately, the young King's kingdom was usually in turmoil between nobles who were trying to strengthen their own position in the kingdom by using the Regency in their favour.