Alternate History: What If Edward VI Had Lived?

There doesn’t seem much hope for Henry VIII’s children when it comes to having their own kids, does it? Henry VIII seems to have had fertility problems during his later life, and Mary I had issues (at least it seems). It is difficult to guess for Edward IV and Elizabeth I.

Assuming that he had no fertility issues, if he’d have lived then it is highly likely that he would have had children of his own. He would have married a princess from another country and would have had his own heirs. Whether he would have had boys is another question, and he may have turned out as crazy as his father in search for that needed heir.

One thing is certain, Edward believed the same thing as his father: a woman could not successfully rule. He wanted a male to take the crown after him, and made it clear that only Lady Jane Grey could become queen. From there, it would pass only to her male heirs. So, it makes sense that Edward would have focused on having a male heir or two.

Who would have been his wife? I’m not too sure about that. With him being protestant, he may have had a German wife. I don’t think he would have opted for a French or Spanish wife. There was an attempt to marry him to Lady Jane Grey, but John Dudley would have still likely pulled the same stunt to try and get his own son closer to the throne. There may have been the option of one of his younger cousins, either Katherine or Mary Grey.

There was an attempt to get Mary, Queen of Scots to marry Edward VI. In the end, Mary married the French dauphin Francis, but he died young. She came back to Scotland in the 1570s and went on to marry again. It is possible that Edward may have been looking for another bride at that point depending on how things worked with his first wife (if he was even married by that point). He and Mary may have ended up marrying because it would have placed her on the English throne. At that point, Scotland was a Protestant country anyway.

One of the benefits of Elizabeth’s reign is that it brought some sort of balance between the Catholics and Protestants. She wasn’t allowed to become the Supreme Head of the Church like her father, and she agreed to introduce a few Catholic elements into the Protestant services. It helped to keep the rebellions to a minimum.

However, without Mary’s attempt at bringing back Catholicism, there would have been no need for this. Edward would have pushed his Protestant views through, and may have become the Supreme Head of Church. It would have pushed the Catholics out further, and could have lead to many rebellions. Mary would have likely been used as the name for those rebellions.

This has been an interesting alternate history to contemplate. Edward living past the age of 16 and having his own children would have changed so much in history. This is especially the case if he or Jane had boys of their own.