Edward VI of England church property that had begun under Henry VIII resumed under Edward—notably with the dissolution of the chantries—to the great monetary advantage of the crown and the new owners of the seized property. Church reform was therefore as much a political as a religious policy under Edward VI. By the end of his reign, the church had been financially ruined, with much of the property of the bishops transferred into lay hands. The religious convictions of both Somerset and Northumberland have proved elusive for historians, who are divided on the sincerity of their Protestantism. There is less doubt, however, about the
Edward of Angoulême a member of the House of Plantagenet and the second, but eldest surviving grandson of the reigning English monarch, Edward III. Edward was related to the reigning French royal House of Valois through his paternal grandmother, Philippa of Hainault. His mother, Joan, was his father's first cousin once removed, and was "suo jure" Countess of Kent. Edward's date of birth has been a matter of debate. In the Dictionary of National Biography article for his father, Edward's birth year is given as 1363, 1364 or 1365, based on three contemporary chronicles, including that of Jean Froissart. A letter sent by