The coronation of Edward VI as King of England and Ireland took place at Westminster Abbey, London, on 20 February 1547. Edward ascended the throne following the death of his father, King Henry VIII.Jennifer Loach, Edward VI (Yale, 1999), pp. 35–37.
Background King Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. His son, Edward VI, was nine years old. He was brought from Hertford Castle to Enfield, where he joined his half-sister Elizabeth.John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, vol. 1 (London, 1857), p. lxxxv. He was proclaimed king on 30 January.William Douglas Hamilton, A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors by Charles Wriothesley, vol. 1 (London: Camden Society, 1875), p. 180.Edward VI's Diary, British Library Learning Timeline Edward later wrote that the cause of his father's death was dropsy. Henry was buried at Windsor next to Jane Seymour, Edward's mother, on 16 February.Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), pp. 281–282: William Douglas Hamilton, A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, vol. 1 (London: Camden Society, 1875), p. 182: John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, vol. 2 (London, 1857), p. 210
The Privy Council deliberated on the late King's will concerning the succession. Using the Liber Regalis, they made some changes to the traditional order of coronation ceremonies,Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 78–79. avoiding making any doctrinal comments on the proceedings, and explained:for the tedious length of the same which should weary and be hurtsome peradventure to the King's Majesty being yet of tender age fully to endure and bide out; and also for that many points of the same were such as by the laws of the realm at this present were not allowable.Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), pp. 294–295 modernised here.
The day chosen for the coronation was Shrove Sunday. An order of service was drawn up under the authority of the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, and the executors of Henry VIII.Gilbert Burnet, History of the Reformation, vol. 4 (London, 1820), pp. 130–134. After Edward was crowned with St Edward's Crown, the Protector would be first to hold up his hand to pay homage.C. S. Knighton, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic Series, Edward VI, 1547–1553 (HMSO, 1992), no. 10: John Roche Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council, vol. 2 (London, 1890), pp. 29–33: The National Archives SP 10/1 f.25a.
The king's older half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth and attendant ladies and gentlewomen seem not to have been invited or present at the coronation events, possibly due to considerations of relative precedence and expense.Agnes Strickland, Lives of the bachelor kings of England (London, 1861), pp. 246–247
Contemporary descriptions of the ceremonies of his royal entry on 19 February and the coronation on 20 February are held by the College of Arms and the Society of Antiquaries.Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2008), p. 198.John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, vol. 1 (London, 1857), pp. cclxxix–cccvThomas Hearne, Joannis Lelandi antiquarii de rebus Britannicis collectanea, vol. 4 (London, 1770), pp. 310–333
A new crown for Edward Three crowns would be used, including a new "imperial" crown made by the goldsmith Everart or Everard Everdyes from gold, precious stones, and pearls. The word "imperial" signifies the style of a crown, with raised arches.Arthur MacGregor, The Late King's Goods: Collections, Possessions and Patronage of Charles I in the Light of the Commonwealth Sale Inventories (London, 1989), p. 259. Everdyes used scrap gold from the Secret Jewel House including a set of nine letters "I" or "J", perhaps originally made for Edward's mother Jane Seymour. The new crown was set with pearls from Henry VIII's collars and caps, and may have included the large balas ruby of the Black Prince, a stone sourced in Myanmar.C. S. Knighton, Calendar of State Papers, Domestic, Edward VI (London, 1992), p. 3 no. 9: TNA SP 10/3 f.15: Arthur Collins, Jewels and Plate of Elizabeth I (London, 1955), p. 12. Everdyes' crown was detailed in Edward's inventory:Item a Crowne of golde Imperiall made for the kinges majestie our Soveraigne Lorde Edwarde the vjth the nether Border sett with ix pointed diamountes and ix Settes of peerles and v peerles in every sett being uppon the same border certeyne Borders of Antiques of golde sett with viij rocke Rubies and xx peerles with foure borders which make the Crown Imperiall sett with iiij Emeraldes iiij rubies and iiij diamountes with lxxj peerles and with a Lardge Ballace in the toppe percede, sett with a litell crosse of golde in the toppe of the Ballace enameled.David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1998), p. 89 no. 3279.
Everdyes also made a coronet for the Duke of Somerset, embellished with Henry VIII's diamonds. After the coronation, he returned unused pearls taken from the jewels of Henry VIII to the Jewel House.David Starkey, Inventory of Henry VIII, vol. 1 (London, 1998), p. 98 nos. 3680–3685. His workshop was located at Westminster Palace.Calendar of the Patent Rolls Preserved in the Public Record Office: Philip and Mary, vol. 4 (London, 1939), pp. 166–168 In 1604 the large ruby in Everdyes' crown was described again as "a verye greate ballace perced".Janet Arnold, 'Coronation Portrait of Queen Elizabeth I', Burlington Magazine, 120 (1978), p. 732: Francis Palgrave, Antient Kalendars of the Exchequer, vol. 2 (London, 1836), pp. 299–300
New costume for the coronation was embroidered with damask gold and silver thread by Guillaume Brellant and Thomas and William Ibgrave. The fur used to edge the royal gowns was supplied by Katherine Addington.Lisa Monnas, Merchants, princes and painters: silk fabrics in Italian and Northern paintings, 1300–1550 (Yale, 2008), p. 333.
Procession and pageants
Edward and his entourage travelled in a royal entry procession from the Tower of London to Westminster through the city of London on 19 February.Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), p. 283: Agnes Strickland, Lives of the bachelor kings of England (London, 1861), p. 236: John Gough Nichols, London Pageants (London, 1831), pp. 45–46. Two gentleman ushers, John Norris and William Raynesford, dressed in vintage costume as the Dukes of Normandy (or Gascony) and Guyenne, represented Edward's claim to these territories.John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, vol. 1 (London, 1857), p. cclxxx Edward was dressed in a "rich gown of cloth of silver all over embroidered with damask gold". During the procession, he sometimes walked a little ahead of the ceremonial canopy held above him, so "the people might better see his grace".Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2008), p. 96.
Citizens of London were taxed to pay for the shows and pageants.Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation (Cambridge, 2008), p. 96. Edward was greeted at Cheapside by actors playing Valentine and Urson (Orson).Cyrus Mulready, 'Sidney's Unities and the Staging of Romance', Mary Ellen Lamb & Valerie Wayne, Staging Early Modern Romance: Prose Fiction, Dramatic Romance, and Shakespeare (Routledge, 2009), pp. 50–51: Agnes Strickland, Lives of the bachelor kings of England (London, 1861), p. 238. These were twin brothers, warriors who had been lost as children. Urson was brought up by a bear and became a wild man or wodewose, while Valentine was found in a forest by Pepin the Hunchback and raised as a courtier. In the London pageant, they undertook to defend King Edward.Erzsébet Stróbl, 'The Figure of the Wild Man in the Entertainments of Elizabeth I', Zsolt Almási & Mike Pincombe, Writing the Other: Humanism versus Barbarism in Tudor England (Newcastle: Cambridge Scholars, 2008), pp. 62–63. Urson's verses included:For I wild Urson doth here signifyan emperor's son of excellent majestynotwithstanding in a forest nourished by a bear,where many knights I there did conquer;thus I am come, being nothing afraidof all the rebels to defend King Edward;whensover they come, early or late,I shall them thrash here at the gate.Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), pp. 285–286 modernised here.
The pageants at Cheapside were based on a performance staged in 1432 for the return of Henry VI of England from France. The script involved material from Robert Fabyan's edition of the works of John Lydgate.Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), pp. 284–286.Clare Sponsler, 'Henry VI's Triumphal Entry into London', TEAMS Middle English Texts
At Fleet Street, Edward was addressed by "Ancient Truth", who had been restored by Henry VIII and looked forward to Edward's reign as a "young King Solomon".Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2008), p. 97: Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), p. 293. At St Paul's, an acrobat, "a man from the nation of Aragon",Edmund Howes, Annales, or, a generall chronicle of England (London, 1631), p. 594 slid down a cable or tightrope from the steeple battlements "so swiftly as he had been a bird",Janette Dillon, The Language of Space in Court Performance, 1400–1625 (Cambridge, 2010), p. 23. or "an arrow out of a bow".John Gough Nichols, Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London (London: Camden Society, 1852), p. 53. Edward watched him perform more tricks on the rope, and "laughed right hartely".Sydney Anglo, Spectacle Pageantry, And Early Tudor Policy (Oxford: Clarendon, 1969), pp. 292–293: Henry Ellis, New Chronicles of England and France by Robert Fabyan (London, 1811), p. 709. This was the only place where the procession paused for any length of time; the king at times bypassing pageants and ignoring speeches made to him.
Coronation
The ceremony in the Abbey involved the Coronation Chair, which survives today. The chair, described as the "great white chair" was draped with rich white fabrics,Eleri Lynn, Tudor Textiles (Yale, 2020), p. 49: Janette Dillon, The Language of Space in Court Performance, 1400–1625 (Cambridge, 2010), p. 37. supplied by William Green.Maria Hayward, 'William Green, Coffer Maker', Furniture History, 36 (2000), p. 8. On the back of the "white chair" were two carved lions on the corner posts and a fleur-de-lis on a turret topping the centre. The chair was placed on steps on a stage called a "mounting scaffold" watched and guarded by the ushers, John Norris, William Raynesford, Richard Greenway, and Richard Blount of Iver and Mapledurham.John Gough Nichols, Literary Remains of King Edward the Sixth, vol. 1 (London, 1857), p. ccxciv: Thomas Hearne, Collectanea, 4, p. 325.
Edward showed himself at the four corners of the scaffold and Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury said the words of "recognition", inviting the congregation to assent to the coronation by their "duties of allegiance".Alice Hunt, The Drama of Coronation: Medieval Ceremony in Early Modern England (Cambridge, 2008), pp. 25, 93–94. As Edward was required to move to various positions in the abbey during the service, the ushers carried him in a portable chair.Agnes Strickland, Lives of the bachelor kings of England (London, 1861), p. 244.