Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset

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Edward Seymour
Edward Seymour.jpg
Portrait of Edward Seymour as 1st Earl of Hertford (cr 1537), by unknown artist, Collection of Marquess of Bath, Longleat House, Wiltshire. The Latin inscription either side of his head is: "E(dwardus) SE(ymour) C(omes) HER(tfordiensis)" ("Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford"). He wears the chain of the Order of the Garter from which hangs the Great George.
Born c. 1500
Died 22 January 1552
Tower Hill, London
Cause of death Execution by decapitation
Resting place Chapel Royal of St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, London, United Kingdom
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Title 1st Duke of Somerset (1547)
Other titles 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache (1536)

1st Earl of Hertford (1537)

Knight of the Garter (1541)[1]
Nationality English
Residence Somerset House, London
Syon House, Isleworth, Middlesex
Wars and battles French Wars, 1522–1524
The Rough Wooing
Siege of Boulogne, 1544
Battle of Pinkie
Offices Warden of the Scottish Marches
Lord Great Chamberlain
Lord High Treasurer
Earl Marshal of England
Lord Protector
Spouse(s) Catherine Fillol
Anne Stanhope
Parents Sir John Seymour
Margery Wentworth
Signature
Signature Edward Seymour 1st Duke of Somerset.gif
Arms of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset: Quarterly, 1st and 4th: Or, on a pile gules between six fleurs-de-lys azure three lions of England (special grant); 2nd and 3rd: Gules, two wings conjoined in lure or (Seymour)[2] These arms concede the positions of greatest honour, the 1st & 4th quarters, to a special grant of arms incorporating the fleurs-de-lys and lions of the royal arms of Plantagenet

Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, KG, (c. 1500[3] – 22 January 1552) was the eldest brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d.1537), third wife of King Henry VIII (1509-1547) and mother of King Edward VI (1547-1553), the latter whom as his uncle and during his minority he served as Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of King Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549.

Origins and early career

Edward Seymour was born circa 1500, the son of Sir John Seymour (1474-1536) by his wife Margery Wentworth. In 1514 aged about 14 he received an appointment in the household of Mary Tudor.

When Edward's sister Jane Seymour married King Henry VIII in 1536, he was created Viscount Beauchamp on 5 June 1536, and Earl of Hertford on 15 October 1537. He became Warden of the Scottish Marches and continued in royal favour after his sister's death on 24 October 1537.

Somerset's Protectorate

Council of Regency

Upon the death of Henry VIII (28 January 1547), Seymour's nephew became king as Edward VI. Henry VIII's will named sixteen executors, who were to act as Edward's Council until he reached the age of 18. These executors were supplemented by twelve men "of counsail" who would assist the executors when called on.[4] The final state of Henry VIII's will has occasioned controversy. Some historians suggest that those close to the king manipulated either him or the will itself to ensure a shareout of power to their benefit, both material and religious. In this reading, the composition of the Privy Chamber shifted towards the end of 1546 in favour of the Protestant faction.[5] In addition, two leading conservative Privy Councillors were removed from the centre of power. Stephen Gardiner was refused access to Henry during his last months. Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, found himself accused of treason; the day before the king's death his vast estates were seized, making them available for redistribution, and he spent the whole of Edward's reign in the Tower of London.[6] Other historians have argued that Gardiner's exclusion had non-religious causes, that Norfolk was not noticeably conservative in religion, that conservatives remained on the Council, and that the radicalism of men such as Sir Anthony Denny, who controlled the dry stamp that replicated the king's signature, is debatable.[7] Whatever the case, Henry's death was followed by a lavish hand-out of lands and honours to the new power group.[8] The will contained an "unfulfilled gifts" clause, added at the last minute, which allowed Henry's executors to freely distribute lands and honours to themselves and the court,[9] particularly to Seymour, who became the Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's Person, and who created himself Duke of Somerset.[8]

Henry VIII's will did not provide for the appointment of a Protector. It entrusted the government of the realm during his son's minority to a Regency Council that would rule collectively, by majority decision, with "like and equal charge".[10] Nevertheless, a few days after Henry's death, on 4 February, the executors chose to invest almost regal power in the earl of Hertford.[11] Thirteen out of the sixteen (the others being absent) agreed to his appointment as Protector, which they justified as their joint decision "by virtue of the authority" of Henry's will.[12] Seymour may have done a deal with some of the executors, who almost all received hand-outs.[13] He is known to have done so with William Paget, private secretary to Henry VIII,[14] and to have secured the support of Sir Anthony Browne of the Privy Chamber.[15]

Hertford's appointment was in keeping with historical precedent,[16] and his eligibility for the role was reinforced by his military successes in Scotland and France. In March 1547, he secured letters patent from King Edward granting him the almost monarchical right to appoint members to the Privy Council himself and to consult them only when he wished.[17] In the words of historian G. R. Elton, "from that moment his autocratic system was complete".[18] He proceeded to rule largely by proclamation, calling on the Privy Council to do little more than rubber-stamp his decisions.[19]

Somerset's takeover of power was smooth and efficient. The imperial ambassador, Francis Van der Delft, reported that he "governs everything absolutely", with Paget operating as his secretary, though he predicted trouble from John Dudley, Viscount Lisle, who had recently been raised to Earl of Warwick in the share-out of honours.[20] In fact, in the early weeks of his Protectorate, Somerset met opposition only from the Chancellor, Thomas Wriothesley, whom the Earldom of Southampton had evidently failed to buy off, and from his own brother.[21] Wriothesley, a religious conservative, objected to Somerset’s assumption of monarchical power over the Council. He then found himself abruptly dismissed from the chancellorship on charges of selling off some of his offices to delegates.[22]

Thomas Seymour

Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral and brother of Edward Seymour

Somerset faced less manageable opposition from his younger brother Thomas, who has been described as a "worm in the bud".[23] As King Edward's uncle, Thomas Seymour demanded the governorship of the king’s person and a greater share of power.[24] Somerset tried to buy his brother off with a barony, an appointment to the Lord Admiralship, and a seat on the Privy Council—but Thomas was bent on scheming for power. He began smuggling pocket money to King Edward, telling him that Somerset held the purse strings too tight, making him a "beggarly king".[25] He also urged him to throw off the Protector within two years and "bear rule as other kings do"; but Edward, schooled to defer to the Council, failed to co-operate.[26]

In April 1547, using Edward’s support to circumvent Somerset’s opposition, Thomas Seymour secretly married Henry VIII's widow Catherine Parr, whose Protestant household included the 11-year-old Lady Jane Grey and the 13-year-old Princess Elizabeth.[27]

In summer 1548, a pregnant Catherine Parr discovered Thomas Seymour embracing Princess Elizabeth.[28] As a result, Elizabeth was removed from Catherine Parr's household and transferred to Sir Anthony Denny's. That September, Catherine Parr died in childbirth, and Thomas Seymour promptly resumed his attentions to Elizabeth by letter, planning to marry her. Elizabeth was receptive, but, like Edward, unready to agree to anything unless permitted by the Council.[29] In January 1549, the Council had Thomas Seymour arrested on various charges, including embezzlement at the Bristol mint. King Edward himself testified about the pocket money.[30] Most importantly, Thomas Seymour had sought to officially receive the governorship of King Edward, as no earlier Lord Protectors, unlike Somerset, had ever held both functions. Lack of clear evidence for treason ruled out a trial, so Seymour was condemned instead by an Act of Attainder and beheaded on 20 March 1549.[31]

War

Somerset’s only undoubted skill was as a soldier, which he had proved on expeditions to Scotland, burning Edinburgh in May 1544, and in the defence of Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1546. From the first, his main interest as Protector was the war against Scotland.[32] After a crushing victory at the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in September 1547, he set up a network of garrisons in Scotland, stretching as far north as Dundee.[33] His initial successes, however, were followed by a loss of direction, as his aim of uniting the realms through conquest became increasingly unrealistic. The Scots allied with France, who sent reinforcements for the defence of Edinburgh in 1548,[34] while Mary, Queen of Scots, was removed to France, where she was betrothed to the dauphin.[35] The cost of maintaining the Protector's massive armies and his permanent garrisons in Scotland also placed an unsustainable burden on the royal finances.[36] A French attack on Boulogne in August 1549 at last forced Somerset to begin a withdrawal from Scotland.[37]

Rebellion

During 1548, England was subject to social unrest. After April 1549, a series of armed revolts broke out, fuelled by various religious and agrarian grievances. The two most serious rebellions, which required major military intervention to put down, were in Devon and Cornwall and in Norfolk. The first, sometimes called the Prayer Book Rebellion, arose mainly from the imposition of church services in English, and the second, led by a tradesman called Robert Kett, mainly from the encroachment of landlords on common grazing ground.[38] A complex aspect of the social unrest was that the protestors believed they were acting legitimately against enclosing landlords with the Protector's support, convinced that the landlords were the lawbreakers.[39]

The same justification for outbreaks of unrest was voiced throughout the country, not only in Norfolk and the west. The origin of the popular view of Somerset as sympathetic to the rebel cause lies partly in his series of sometimes liberal, often contradictory, proclamations,[40] and partly in the uncoordinated activities of the commissions he sent out in 1548 and 1549 to investigate grievances about loss of tillage, encroachment of large sheep flocks on common land, and similar issues.[41] Somerset's commissions were led by the evangelical M.P. John Hales, whose socially liberal rhetoric linked the issue of enclosure with Reformation theology and the notion of a godly commonwealth.[42] Local groups often assumed that the findings of these commissions entitled them to act against offending landlords themselves.[43] King Edward wrote in his Chronicle that the 1549 risings began "because certain commissions were sent down to pluck down enclosures".[44]

Whatever the popular view of Somerset, the disastrous events of 1549 were taken as evidence of a colossal failure of government, and the Council laid the responsibility at the Protector's door.[45] In July 1549, Paget wrote to Somerset: "Every man of the council have misliked your proceedings ... would to God, that, at the first stir you had followed the matter hotly, and caused justice to be ministered in solemn fashion to the terror of others ...".[46]

Fall of Somerset

The sequence of events that led to Somerset's removal from power has often been called a coup d'état.[45] By 1 October 1549, Somerset had been alerted that his rule faced a serious threat. He issued a proclamation calling for assistance, took possession of the king's person, and withdrew for safety to the fortified Windsor Castle, where Edward wrote, "Me thinks I am in prison".[47] Meanwhile, a united Council published details of Somerset's government mismanagement. They made clear that the Protector's power came from them, not from Henry VIII's will. On 11 October, the Council had Somerset arrested and brought the king to Richmond.[45] Edward summarised the charges against Somerset in his Chronicle: "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority, etc."[48] In February 1550, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, emerged as the leader of the Council and, in effect, as Somerset's successor. Although Somerset was released from the Tower and restored to the Council in early 1550, he was executed for felony in January 1552 after scheming to overthrow Dudley's regime.[49] Edward noted his uncle's death in his Chronicle: "the duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Tower Hill between eight and nine o'clock in the morning".[50] Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset was interred at St. Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London.

Historiography

Historians have contrasted the efficiency of Somerset's takeover of power in 1547 with the subsequent ineptitude of his rule.[51] By autumn 1549, his costly wars had lost momentum, the crown faced financial ruin, and riots and rebellions had broken out around the country. Until recent decades, Somerset's reputation with historians was high, in view of his many proclamations that appeared to back the common people against a rapacious landowning class.[52] In the early 20th century this line was taken by the influential A. F. Pollard, to be echoed by Edward VI's 1960s biographer W. K. Jordan. A more critical approach was initiated by M. L. Bush and Dale Hoak in the mid-1970s. Since then, Somerset has often been portrayed as an arrogant ruler, devoid of the political and administrative skills necessary for governing the Tudor state.[53]

Marriages and progeny

Edward Seymour married twice:

The line of Edward Seymour and Anne Stanhope died out with the seventh Duke of Somerset in 1750, when the descendants of Edward Seymour by his first wife, Catherine Fillol, inherited the Somerset dukedom in accordance with the Private Act of 1541.[60]

Ancestry

Family of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
16. Sir John Seymour of Wulfhall and of Hatch Beauchamp
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
8. John Seymour of Stapleford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
17. Isabel William or Williams
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
4. John Seymour of Wulfhall, of Stapleford, of Stitchcombe and of Huish
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
18. Sir John Croker of Lineham[65]
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
9. Elizabeth Coker or Croker
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
19. Elizabeth Fortescue
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
2. Sir John Seymour of Wulfhall
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
20. William Darell or Darrell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
10. Sir George Darell or Darrell of Littlecote
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
21. Elizabeth Calston
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
5. Elizabeth Darell or Darrell
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
22. John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton (1400-1462)
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
11. Margaret Stourton of Littlecote
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
23. Margery or Marjory Wadham
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
1. Edward Seymour
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
24. Sir Roger Wentworth, Esq., then Kt., of Parlington and of Nettlestead
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
12. Sir Philip Wentworth, Kt., of Nettlestead
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
25. Margery or Margaret Despenser
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
6. Sir Henry Wentworth of Nettlestead
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
26. Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Mary Clifford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
27. Lady Elizabeth Percy
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
3. Margery or Margaret Wentworth
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
28. John Say
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
14. Sir John Say of Baas, of Little Berkhamsted and Sawbridgeworth, and of Lawford
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
29. Maud ...
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
7. Anne Say
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
30. Sir Laurence or Lawrence Cheney or Cheyne
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
15. Elizabeth Cheney
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
31. Elizabeth Cokayn or Cokayne
 
 
 
 
 
 

Citations

  1. http://www.heraldica.org/topics/orders/garterlist.htm
  2. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.1036
  3. Barrett L. Beer: "Seymour, Edward, duke of Somerset (c.1500–1552)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Online edn, Jan 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2010 (subscription required).
  4. Loach 1999, pp. 17–18; Jordan 1968, p. 56
  5. Starkey 2002, pp. 130–145
  6. Starkey 2002, pp. 130–145; Elton 1977, pp. 330–31
  7. Loach 1999, pp. 19–25. In addressing these views, Loach cites, among others: G. Redworth, In Defence of the Church Catholic: the Life of Stephen Gardiner (Oxford, 1990), 231–37; Susan Brigden, "Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, and the Conjoured League", Historical Journal, xxxvii (1994), 507–37; and Eric Ives, "Henry VIII's Will: A Forensic Conundrum", Historical Journal (1992), 792–99.
  8. 8.0 8.1 Loach 1999, pp. 19–25
  9. Starkey 2002, p. 142; Elton 1977, p. 332. David Starkey describes this distribution of benefits as typical of "the shameless back-scratching of the alliance"; G. R. Elton calls the changes to the will "convenient".
  10. Starkey 2002, pp. 138–39; Alford 2002, p. 69. The existence of a council of executors alongside the Privy Council was rationalised in March when the two became one, incorporating the executors and most of their appointed assistants and adding Thomas Seymour, who had protested at his exclusion from power.
  11. MacCulloch 2002, p. 7; Alford 2002, p. 65
  12. Starkey 2002, pp. 138–39; Alford 2002, p. 67
  13. Loach 1999, pp. 26–27; Elton 1962, p. 203
  14. In 1549, Paget was to remind Seymour: "Remember what you promised me in the gallery at Westminster before the breath was out of the body of the king that dead is. Remember what you promised immediately after, devising with me concerning the place which you now occupy ... and that was to follow mine advice in all your proceedings more than any other man's". Quoted in Guy 1988, p. 211
  15. Alford 2002, pp. 67–68
  16. Alford 2002, pp. 49–50, 91–92; Elton 1977, p. 333. Uncles of the king had been made Protector in 1422 and 1483 during the minorities of Henry VI and Edward V (though not also Governor of the King's Person, as Hertford's brother Thomas, who coveted the role for himself, pointed out).
  17. Alford 2002, p. 70 ; Jordan 1968, pp. 73–75. In 1549, William Paget described him as king in all but name.
  18. Elton 1977, pp. 334, 338
  19. Alford 2002, p. 66
  20. Jordan 1968, pp. 69, 76–77; Skidmore 2007, pp. 64–63
  21. Elton 1977, p. 333
  22. Loades 2004, pp. 33–34; Elton 1977, p. 333
  23. Loades 2004, p. 34
  24. Elton 1977, pp. 333, 346.
  25. Loades 204, p. 36
  26. Loades 2004, pp. 36–37; Brigden 2000, p. 182
  27. Erickson 1978, p. 234
  28. Somerset 1997, p. 23
  29. Loades 2004, pp. 37–38
  30. Loades 2004, pp. 40–41; Alford 2002, pp. 96–97
  31. Alford 2002, pp. 91–97
  32. Brigden 2000, p. 183; MacCulloch 2002, p. 42
  33. Mackie 1952, p. 484
  34. Mackie 1952, p. 485
  35. Wormald 2001, p. 62; Loach 1999, pp. 52–53. The dauphin was the future Francis II of France, son of Henry II of France.
  36. Brigden 2000, p. 183
  37. Elton 1977, pp. 340–41
  38. Loach 1999, pp. 70–83
  39. Elton 1977, pp. 347–350; Loach 1999, pp. 66–67, 86. For example, in Hereford, a man was recorded as saying that "by the king's proclamation all enclosures were to be broken up".
  40. Loach 1999, pp. 60–61, 66–68, 89; Elton 1962, p. 207. Some proclamations expressed sympathy for the victims of enclosure and announced action; some condemned the destruction of enclosures and associated riots; another announced pardons for those who had destroyed enclosures by mistake ("of folly and of mistaking") after misunderstanding the meaning of proclamations, so long as they were sorry.
  41. Loach 1999, pp. 61–66.
  42. MacCulloch 2002, pp. 49–51; Dickens 1967, p. 310
  43. "Their aim was not to bring down government, but to help it correct the faults of local magistrates and identify the ways in which England could be reformed." MacCulloch 2002, p. 126
  44. Loach 1999, p. 85
  45. 45.0 45.1 45.2 Elton 1977, p. 350
  46. Loach 1999, p. 87
  47. Brigden 2000, p. 192
  48. Quoted in Loach 1999, p. 91. By "Newhaven" is meant Ambleteuse, near Boulogne.
  49. Guy 1988, pp. 212–15; Loach 1999, pp. 101–102
  50. Loach 1999, p. 102
  51. MacCulloch 2002, p. 104; Dickens 1967, p. 279
  52. Elton 1977, p. 333n; Alford 2002, p. 65.
  53. Elton 1977, pp. 334–350
  54. Vivian, Heraldic Visitations of Devon, 1895, p.702, pedigree of Seymour
  55. Locke, A. Audrey, The Seymour Family: History and Romance, London, 1911, p.193
  56. Locke, A. Audrey, The Seymour Family: History and Romance, London, 1911, p.193[1]
  57. Locke, A. Audrey, The Seymour Family: History and Romance, London, 1911, p.194[2]
  58. His name was officially Lord Edward Seymour, being not the designation of a baron but the courtesy title of the son of a duke. Per Vivian, Herald's Visitations of Devon, 1895, p.702, pedigree of Seymour of Berry Pomeroy, as confirmed by the inscription on his monument in Berry Pomeroy Church: Here lyeth the bodies of the Honorable Lord Edward Seymour, knight, sonne unto th Right Honorable Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset...
  59. The Complete Peerage vol.XIIpI, p.84
  60. 60.0 60.1  Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  61. Debrett's Peerage, 1968, p.1036
  62. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/rogers-andrew-1599
  63. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/rogers-richard-1527-1605
  64. http://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1558-1603/member/rogers-richard-1527-1605
  65. or Sir Robert Coker of Lydeard St Lawrence

References

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Political offices
Preceded by Lord High Admiral
1542–1543
Succeeded by
The Viscount Lisle
Preceded by Lord High Treasurer
1547–1549
Succeeded by
The Marquess of Winchester
Earl Marshal
1547–1549
Succeeded by
The Earl of Warwick
Vacant
Title last held by
The Duke of Gloucester
Lord Protector of the Realm
1547–1549
Vacant
Title next held by
Oliver Cromwell
Peerage of England
New creation Duke of Somerset
Baron Seymour of Hache

1547–1552
Forfeit
Title next held by
William Seymour (dukedom)
New creation Earl of Hertford
1537-1552
Forfeit
New creation Viscount Beauchamp
1536-1552
Forfeit