The will of King Henry VIII of England was a significant constitutional document, or set of contested documents created in the 1530s and 1540s, affecting English, Scottish and Irish politics for the rest of the 16th century. In conjunction with legislation passed by the English Parliament, it was supposed to have a regulative effect in deciding the succession to the three following monarchs of the House of Tudor, the three legitimate and illegitimate children (the Third Succession Act expressly recognised the illegitimacy of Henry's daughters) of King Henry VIII. Its actual legal and constitutional status was much debated; and arguably the House of Stuart's succession to the English and Irish thrones after Elizabeth I did not respect Henry's wishes.
Last testament Henry VIII made a final revision to his last will and testament on 30 December 1546. It was signed using the "dry stamp", a device in use since 1545 and under the control of Anthony Denny and John Gates. It confirmed the line of succession as one living male and six living females. It began with Henry's three children, Edward, Mary and Elizabeth, followed by the three daughters of Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, who was the second child and eldest daughter of Henry VIII's younger sister, Princess Mary. Last in the line of succession was the daughter of Eleanor Clifford, Countess of Cumberland, who was the third child and younger daughter of the king's younger sister, Princess Mary.
Edward Mary Elizabeth Jane Katherine Mary Margaret
The will containing the line of succession was read, stamped and sealed on 30 December and placed in the custody of Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. After Henry died on the night of 27–28 January 1547, the will was locked in a box to which only Hertford had the key, delaying its reading to Parliament by Henry’s principal secretary until Hertford returned the key after he had secured the person of Prince Edward, Henry’s son and heir. David M. Head, “Was There a Seymour-Paget Coup After All? Reconsidering Henry VIII’s Wills, Written and Unwritten,” English Historical Review, forthcoming, January 2025. The document is still extant, but this fact was not generally known or accepted by the 1560s, when some believed it was lost, or had been destroyed.Levine, p. 155.
Executors The will appointed 16 executors. The executors had little impact in the short term because its powers were given to a smaller group. The executors were officially (with one other) the council of King Edward VI until 12 March 1547, when Protector Somerset nominated the council. The effective end of the Somerset Protectorate came in early 1550. Those executors who were still alive (13 of the original 16, Browne, Denny and then Wriothesley having died) had a leading constitutional role, in theory from 13 October 1549.
The executors comprised:Albert Frederick Pollard, England under Protector Somerset: an essay (1900), pp. 20–1; archive.org.
NamePosition/professionReligious orientationDate of deathThomas BromleyChief Justice of the King's Bench(Unknown, mostly absent)1555Sir Anthony BrowneCourtierCatholic1548Thomas CranmerArchbishop of CanterburyReformer1556Sir Anthony DennyCourtierReformer1549John Dudley, Viscount LisleMilitary leaderReformer1553Sir William HerbertCourtierReformer1570Sir Edward MontagueChief Justice of the Common Pleas(Unknown, mostly absent)1557Sir Edward NorthLawyerNeutral1564Sir William PagetPoliticianNeutral1563William Paulet, Baron St John of BasingPoliticianNeutral1572John RussellAdmiralReformer1555Edward Seymour, Earl of HertfordMilitary leaderReformer1552Cuthbert TunstallBishop of DurhamCatholic1559Sir Edward WottonAdministratorPossibly Catholic1551Nicholas WottonCleric and diplomatPossibly Catholic1567Thomas WriothesleyAdministratorCatholic1550
Pollard wrote that the traditional view, that the balance of the group of executors on the religious question was deliberately poised to create an equilibrium, is mistaken since the exclusion of Stephen Gardiner tipped the balance to the evangelical reformers. MacCulloch considers that in 1550, after the fall of Somerset, there was a balance but that the evangelicals manoeuvred to a position of superiority.
Third Succession Act
The constitutional standing of Henry VIII's last will depended on the Third Succession Act that received royal assent in 1544. Section VI of the act provides that the line of succession, if not continued by the king's children by his marriages, should be regulated by the contents of the king's last will. The wording is conditional on the will being signed by the king's hand. The issue of the "dry stamp" signature was brought up in the context of Anglo-Scottish diplomacy, carried out by Robert Melville on behalf of Mary, Queen of Scots, in 1567. Since the provisions of the will disadvantaged all the claimants of the House of Stuart, the point remained important.
Notes
References
Text of the Will, as printed in Rymer's Foedera, XV, 110-17 Extract from the will of King Henry VIII containing the provisions for succession to the crown - www.oxford-shakespeare.com