A Religious Seesaw
Henry's death led to a religious seesaw effect in England. Three different monarchs succeeded him in a fairly short amount of time, and each of these different monarchs had a different religious philosophy. The first of Henry's children to take the throne was Prince Edward VI, Henry's son by Jane Seymour. Edward was too young to rule independently when he first assumed the throne, so he had advisers who made decisions for him. These advisers were largely Protestant, and most of the decisions that they made favored Protestantism. The advisers also raised Edward as a Protestant, so that when when he was old enough to rule independently, he would continue to make decisions that favored Protestantism. When Edward was on his deathbed, which was a short time after he became King, he tried to change the Act of Succession so that the Lady Jane Grey would become Queen instead of his sister and rightful heir, Mary. He wanted to do this, because he knew Jane would continue to favor Protestantism, as where Mary would favor Catholicism. When Edward died, Jane became queen. After only nine days, however, the English people rallied behind Mary and put her on the throne. As Queen of England, Mary reversed the Protestant changes and reconciled with the Catholic Church. She burned many religious dissenters and married a Spanish, Catholic king. When Mary died, her younger half-sister Elizabeth became Queen of England. As Queen, Elizabeth brought the Anglican Church back, but she was tolerant towards other denominations. Because of Henry's decision to leave the Catholic Church, religion in England switched between Protestantism and Catholicism under his successors.