Edward Seymour

Background

Edward Seymour was the son of Sir John Seymour of Wolf Hall, Wiltshire. He was born in 1506.

Career

The flowering of Henry VIII's passion for Jane Seymour, Edward's younger sister, opened the gates to royal preferment. One week after Jane's marriage to Henry, Edward was created Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, and 3 days after the christening of his nephew Edward, he was made Earl of Hertford. Henry VIII's death provided him with his opportunity. With the cooperation of Henry's secretary, he kept Henry's death a secret until he secured possession of his 9-year-old nephew, now Edward VI. He made known Henry's death at a council meeting on January 31, 1547, and secured assent to his becoming lord protector; later he became Duke of Somerset.

On Easter, 1548, Somerset instituted a new religious service. The first Act of Uniformity, prescribing the new service and commanding the use of an English Prayer Book, passed in 1549. The tone was Protestant, the emphasis on transforming the Mass into a commemorative act. Somerset's dream of Scottish union foundered on his inability to complete arrangements for marrying Edward VI to Mary, Queen of Scots, who instead married Francis, the Dauphin of France. In 1548 Somerset issued a proclamation forbidding enclosure and set up an investigatory commission which led to discontent among landowners. Moreover, his plan to place a head tax on sheep aroused opposition.

The revolts of 1549—the rebellion in the western counties of Devonshire and Cornwall, a reaction to the Prayer Book; and Ket's Rebellion in Norfolk, originating from economic discontent—caused further dissatisfaction. John Dudley, the Earl of Warwick, who had successfully crushed Ket's Rebellion, gained control of the council, and Somerset was sent to the Tower on October 14, 1549. Released later, he was ordered to appear before the council on October 4, 1551, the same day that Warwick became Duke of Northumberland. Somerset was sent to the Tower on October 16 and executed after trial at Tower Hill on January 22, 1552.

A successful general who beat the Scots at Musselburgh (Sept. 10, 1548), the last pitched battle fought between the two countries, he did not pay enough attention to the practical politics which might have prevented his fall. His enduring monument is the part he played in the advance of Protestant views and the promulgation of Thomas Cranmer's magnificent Prayer Book.

Achievements

• Somerset tried, unsuccessfully, to persuade the Scots to join a voluntary union with England, but, when his appeal was rejected, he destroyed all chances of reconciliation by invading Scotland and defeating the Scots at the Battle of Pinkie. He is also known for his religious reforms.

Religion

In domestic affairs, the Protector proceeded with moderation in consolidating the Protestant Reformation in England. He repealed Henry VIII’s heresy laws, which had made it treason to attack the king’s leadership of the church; the first Book of Common Prayer, which was imposed (1549) by an Act of Uniformity by Somerset, offered a compromise between Roman Catholic and Protestant learning. Nevertheless, these and other apparently moderate measures stirred up antagonisms that resulted in Catholic uprisings in western England in 1549.

Personality

Handsome and personally gracious, Somerset was an ambitious man who lacked the patience to bring his visionary ideas to fruition.

Connections

Edward Seymour married twice. Firstly in about 1527, to Catherine Fillol, (or Filliol) a daughter and co-heiress of Sir William Fillol, of Fillol's Hall, Essex and Woodlands, Horton, Dorset. Catherine bore two sons, whose paternity however was questioned by her husband after it was alleged that she had had an affair (possibly with her father-in-law, Sir John Seymour), which resulted in both being excluded in 1540 from their paternal and maternal inheritances and all their claims to their father's dignities being postponed to his children by his second wife.

Secondly, before 9 March 1535, to Anne Stanhope, only child and sole heiress of Sir Edward Stanhope by his wife Elizabeth Bourchier, daughter of Fulk Bourchier, 10th Baron FitzWarin. . Seymour's suspicions about the fathering of Catherine Fillol's sons led him to pass an Act of Parliament in 1540, entailing his estates away from the children of his first wife in favour of the children of Anne Stanhope. By Anne, he had ten children.

Father:

Sir John Seymour

Mother:

Margery Wentworth

Wife:

Catherine Fillol

Wife:

Anne Stanhope

Daughter:

Lady Elizabeth Seymour

Daughter:

Lady Catherine Seymour

Daughter:

Lady Anne Seymour

Daughter:

Lady Jane Seymour

Daughter:

Lady Mary Seymour

Daughter:

Lady Margaret Seymour

Son:

Edward Seymour

Son:

Lord Henry Seymour

Son:

Lord Edward Seymour

Son:

John Seymour

Son:

Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford

References

• Reform and Reformation: England, 1509-1558
• The English Reformation 2nd Edition