Crisis In Edwardian England

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Edwardian England has been debated to be in a period of crisis due to the fact there was a boy king on the throne and two polar opposites as Lord Protector for the two halves of Edward VI’s reign. Edward Seymour, the Duke of Northumberland was Lord Protector at the beginning of Edward’s reign in 1547; despite the fact Henry VIII did not allocate the job to a specific person in his will. John Dudley, the Duke of Northumberland, rose to power after successfully orchestrating the downfall of Somerset in 1549. Edward VI was in his minority therefore it was the responsibility of these two men to introduce how a government should be and how to deal with internal and external problems with policies. The extent of crisis during Edwardian England can…show more content…
In the south east, radical Protestants had risen up. The Western Rebellion (also known as the Prayer Book Rebellion) in 1549 was an act of social dissatisfaction and unrest due to the declaration of the Chantries Act, which led to the closing of the chantries. This was symbolic as the removal of the very last sign of Catholicism in England. The rebellions were not controlled and exterminated by the government as they were distracted in Scotland due to the garrisons being attacked. Any form of social disorder humiliated Somerset as he was an experienced military man, who should have been able to handle a tiny rebellion; but this did not show that Edwardian England was in a period of crisis. Another rebellion was the Kett Rebellion which was a public cry of outrage against enclosures. This clearly had no political motivation as they did not travel towards London and attack the king. John Guay says that it was the closest England came to class conflict in this period. This rebellion was handled more effectively than the Western Rebellion, as Northumberland was no pre-occupied with any foreign threats. Robert Kett, the leader of this rebellion was arrested and executed for treason in December of 1549. Overall social disorder did not lead or show Edwardian England as being in a period of crisis because both social uproars were dealt with effectively by the government as they were experienced military men against unexperienced commoners. In the Kett Rebellion Northumberland’s army killed 3,000

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