Henry VIII Dies

January 28, 1547

The enormous, suppurating King of England died at Whitehall just before dawn, having wrecked the English church, married six wives, and bankrupted the Crown. Nine-year-old Edward VI inherited a realm halfway reformed and a regency council already at one another's throats. His inventory at death included over two thousand tapestries, six thousand guns, and a debased currency that had impoverished his subjects.