1542. War with Scotland. The Scottish army routed on Solway Moss (Nov. 25); James V. died a few days after, and was succeeded by his daughter Mary, only a week old.
1544. Henry empowered to alter the succession by will. Parliament remitted to the king all money he had borrowed since 1542, and directed that any sums he had paid back should be returned to him. He invaded France, besieged and captured Boulogne, but, as his ally the Emperor Charles made a separate peace at Crêpy, he was obliged to return to England.
1545. An indecisive action between the English and French fleets off Portsmouth.
1546. Peace concluded with France. The duke of Norfolk and his son, the earl of Surrey, committed to the Tower for high treason.
1547. Execution of the earl of Surrey. The execution of his father was prevented by the death of the king.
Edward VI.
D. He was the son of Henry VIII. and of Jane Seymour. B. at Hampton Court, 1537. Dd. at Greenwich, July 6, 1553. R. 6½ years (1547 to 1553).
1547. The earl of Hertford, the king’s maternal uncle, appointed protector, and soon after created duke of Somerset. War with Scotland. The Scots defeated with great loss at Pinkie (Sept. 10). Repeal of the Statute of Six Articles.
1548. The French sent troops to assist the Scots; and Queen Mary was conveyed to France.
1549. The Act of Uniformity of divine worship passed. Execution of Lord Seymour, brother of the protector, for high treason. Insurrections in Cornwall, Devon, and Norfolk;—the western insurrection caused chiefly by the changes in religion; the eastern by the enclosing of land;—the latter, which was the most formidable, was suppressed by the earl of Warwick; and Ket, the leader, was hanged at Norwich Castle. These outbreaks led to the institution of lords-lieutenant of counties. Somerset removed from the protectorate by Warwick and his friends, and sent to the Tower.