08-Rome Strikes Back

London, 1553 – Edward dies – he had foreseen the coming danger – Mary
restores Romanism – persecution – especially of Anabaptists – God brings
good out of it
It was on the 6th of July, 1553, that the sixteen-year-old King Edward VI
died, a disaster which sent shivers of alarm through the hearts of all who
longed for the full reformation of the church in England. Edward himself
had realised what was waiting in the wings, ready and eager to take his
place. He knew only too well what the nature of the danger was, even the
calamity which would overtake the godly following his death, and the
menacing form it would take. His last prayer expressed it very clearly
when he said: ‘O Lord God, defend this realm from papistry, and maintain
thy true religion’.