Louise said:

If he hadn't of disinherited them in the first place due to his marital shenanigans he wouldn't have needed to go to the trouble of yet again changing the succession. I suspect as he realised he would have no further children he thought, oops, best not put all my eggs in one basket. Having said that I doubt he thought either Mary or Elizabeth would actually become Queen. After all, he had a healthy son!  

Actually Edward was far from Healthy, he'd had a number of illnesses in his life, and the doctors I think had told him that Edward was rather delicate.

DuchessofBrittany said:

Boleyn said:

Louise said:

If he hadn't of disinherited them in the first place due to his marital shenanigans he wouldn't have needed to go to the trouble of yet again changing the succession. I suspect as he realised he would have no further children he thought, oops, best not put all my eggs in one basket. Having said that I doubt he thought either Mary or Elizabeth would actually become Queen. After all, he had a healthy son!  

Actually Edward was far from Healthy, he'd had a number of illnesses in his life, and the doctors I think had told him that Edward was rather delicate.

Recently some historians (such as Skidmore) have challenged the assertion that Edward was always a sick child. Henry protected him out of fear of disease, but that was Henry’s own germaphobia than any problems Edward was having. It is noted Edward was born healthy and suckled well. It seems he had normal childhood illness (much like his two half-sisters), but as a young man, he loved to hawk, and enjoyed other activities.

Do you know that's actually bashed me over the head and got my brain to wake up..I completely agree with you here.. Henry was paranoid about disease etc. and to be fair I think he inherited this from his father, Henry was always out and out doing things that normal kids do all the while Arthur was alive, although understandly Henry 7th did ban Henry from actually jousting, and settled for the more softer form of jousting as riding at the ring. Apart from that Henry used to get into fights, go hawking although he actually didn't enjoy it, and it was something he became passionate about in his later years etc. 

After Arthur died Henry 7th literely shut Henry away I know it sounds strange me saying that but I can't find another word for it, Henry 7th, made sure that Henry was only allowed out to exercise at certain times, this generally took the form of walking around the Palace Garden, I don't know if he was allowed to go riding, etc, and that any food he had was only prepared by his own cook etc. Henry's rooms were directly behind his father's rooms and could only be got to by going through Henry 7th rooms.Your've got to feel sorry for Henry as it can't have been easy for him to live like a prisoner like this which I suppose you could call it this loosely of course.

Henry 7th paranoia about death was probably what triggered Henry's paranoia of the same towards Edward. I believe Henry had a cabinet full of different medicines which he belived could cure everything from a pain in the big toe to a boil on the bottom none of which probably worked anyway. 

Edward I believe if given the chance to do all the things that normal children did would have probably grown up fit and healthy and the Tudor Dynasty would have had a very different story to tell.

I wonder if Henry's paranoia was also something to why Mary was so sickly I use that word loosely, but bear in mind before Anne and Jane came along, Mary was the only heir, so as far as Henry was concerned she had to be wrapped up in cotton wool and not be allowed to do anything to endanger her health.. Whereas Elizabeth did all all the things that normal children do, and we all know the outcome, I wonder why Elizabeth's up bringing was different.

So in some respect you could say that it was Henry's fault that 2 of his children died young because of his sheer paranoia.

This is a very good comment Duchess, this will be taxing my brain for a little while, Thank you..

DuchessofBrittany said

Boleyn, I recommend reading Chris Skidmore’s Edward VI: The lost king of England. Skidmore does a great job of examining Edward’s health, and reconsiders the myths surrounding his health problems. It was the one book that changed my perceptions of the boy-king, and I finished the book seeing Edward through a different lens. Skidmore effectively argues it was not until the months leading to his death did Edward’s health seriously decline.

I’ll have a look for that book Duchess, and thank you for recommending it to me..
I think it will be a while yet though before i can get around to it, as my daughter brought me a late birthday present of Tudor related books, should keep me a little busy for a while.