Queen Elizabeth's family connections.
In order that our readers may clearly understand the nature of the plan which Northumberland adopted, we present, on the following page, a sort of genealogical table of the royal family of England in the days of Elizabeth.
TABLE OF THE ROYAL FAMILY OF ENGLAND IN THE TIME OF ELIZABETH.
| 1. King Henry VII. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| = 2. King Henry VIII. | |||||
| Catharine of Aragon. | = 4. Queen Mary. | ||||
| Anne Boleyn. | = 5. Queen Elizabeth. | ||||
| Jane Seymour. | = 3. King Edward VI. | ||||
| Anne of Cleves. | |||||
| Catharine Howard. | |||||
| Catharine Parr. | |||||
| =Margaret. | |||||
| James IV. of Scotland | = James V. of Scotland | = Mary Queen of Scots | } | =6. King James VI. of Scotland and I. of England. | |
| Earl of Angus | = Margaret Douglas | = Earl of Lenox | = Lord Darnley | ||
| = Mary. | |||||
| Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk | = Frances, marchioness of Dorset | =Lady Jane Grey | |||
| = Eleanor. | |||||
EXPLANATION.
This table gives the immediate descendants of Henry VII., a descent being denoted by the sign =. The names of the persons whom they respectively married are in italics. Those who became sovereigns of England are in small capitals, and the order in which they reigned is denoted by the figures prefixed to their names.
Explanation of the table.
King Henry's will.
By examination of this table it will be seen that King Henry VII. left a son and two daughters. The son was King Henry VIII., and he had three children. His third child was King Edward VI., who was now about to die. The other two were the Princesses Mary and Elizabeth, who would naturally be considered the next heirs after Edward; and besides, King Henry had left a will, as has been already explained, confirming their rights to the succession. This will he had made near the time of his death; but it will be recollected that, during his life-time, both the marriages from which these princesses had sprung had been formally annulled. His marriage with Catharine of Aragon had been annulled on one plea, and that of Anne Boleyn on another. Both these decrees of annulment had afterward been revoked, and the right of the princesses to succeed had been restored, or attempted to be restored, by the will. Still, it admitted of a question, after all, whether Mary and Elizabeth were to be considered as the children of true and lawful wives or not.