Henry VIII's ulcer bursts!

[Alberto Knox]

My university research is revealing some gems of potential alternate history.

According to an article I recently perused, the life of Henry VIII was in serious danger during the February of 1541 when the ulcer is leg seemed about to burst and send the poisons seeping through his whole body.

In OTL Henry pulled through but suppose worst comes to worst and by the end of the month the king has shrugged off his mortal coil, leaving us with King Edward VI not yet 4 years old.

What could happen?

 

[JimmyJimJam]

"The Tudors" gets a different title and more likely than not is a miniseries.

 

[TapReflex]

There would certainly be no Church of England as we know it.
Hence no Civil War,
and less Religious intolerance, and less of a need for people like Puritans or Quakers to take Land in America.

We'd Butterfly Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, the Salem Witch Trials, Oliver Cromwell, and thousands of dead Englishmen away.

 

[hexicus]

less Religious intolerance.

against ardent Catholics perhaps. More against Protestants surely? Especially if there is a civil war and funding comes from Catholic France.

After all, it wasn't long after this that Elizabeth was declaring she didn't want to make windows into men's souls.

 

[Basilisk]

Gross. Well at least it's creative.

But even more relevant, what if Queen Elizabeth gets pink eye? Then it gets infected and she loses an eye! That's history-changing stuff, folks. It'll be no small wonder why she's a virgin.

How many supermodels do you see with an infected eye? Not many.

 

[Antipater]

In 1541 Catherine Howard would still be queen. She was related to the Duke of Norfolk, this along with the Duke's immense wealth and prestige would set him up to be the leading man during a regency. The Seymours would not have a very strong base of support at this point, since Edward Seymour had not yet won renown from his successful military campaigns. Edward would be raised a Catholic under the tutelage of his mother and the Duke of Norfolk, and probably marry a French or Spanish Catholic princess.

I think it is safe to say that Elizabeth would never inherit in such a situation. Without Henry's will, she is legally a bastard, with no good claim to the throne, and no real backing either. However she would probably be well taken care of since her mother was Thomas Howard's niece.

I think it would be unlikely that England would go to war with France in this scenario as it did IOTL, the internal situation would be too unsettled. Francis would then be able to concentrate more fully on fighting Charles V, and maybe salvage something for France from the interminable Habsbourg-Valois wars.