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| 4 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
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| 5 | <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Microsoft FrontPage 5.0">
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| 6 | <meta name="ProgId" content="FrontPage.Editor.Document">
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| 7 | <meta http-equiv="Content-Language" content="en-us">
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| 8 | <meta name="Author" content="Marilee">
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| 9 | <title>Tudor Monarchs: King Edward VI</title>
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| 10 | <style fprolloverstyle>A:hover {color: #000000; font-weight: bold}
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| 11 | </style>
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| 12 | </head>
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| 13 | <body text="#000000" bgcolor="#FFFFFF" link="#000000" vlink="#000000" alink="#000099">
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| 15 | <center><table BORDER=0 CELLSPACING=8 CELLPADDING=0 WIDTH="98%" >
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| 17 | <td ALIGN=RIGHT VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="20%"> </td>
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| 21 | <td VALIGN=BOTTOM WIDTH="80%"> </td>
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| 22 | </tr>
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| 88 | <center>
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| 89 | <p>
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| 90 | <img SRC="seymour-cr.jpg" ALT="etching of Edward's mother, Jane Seymour" BORDER=1 height=169 width=150><p>
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| 91 | <font size="2">engraving of Jane Seymour, mother of Edward VI</font><p><br>
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| 143 | <p>
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| 144 | <img SRC="seymour-min.jpg" ALT="miniature portrait of Jane Seymour by Horenbout" height=165 width=166>
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| 145 | <br><font size="2"> miniature portrait of Jane Seymour, painted by Lucas
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| 146 | Horenbout</font><br>
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| 208 | <p><img SRC="ed6baby-crop.jpg" ALT="Holbein's famous portrait of Edward as a toddler" BORDER=2 height=194 width=150><p>
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| 209 | <font size="2">Edward as a young prince, painted by Hans Holbein</font><p>
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| 210 | <font size="2">to learn more about this portrait, </font>
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| 211 | <a href="http://nga.gov/cgi-bin/pinfo?Object=74+0+none"><font size="2">click
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| 212 | here</font></a><p><br>
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| 262 | <p><img SRC="ed1543-crop.jpg" ALT="portrait of Prince Edward in 1543" BORDER=2 height=194 width=137>
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| 263 | <br> <font size="2"> portrait of Edward VI, c1546, by an unknown artist</font><br>
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| 312 | <img SRC="parr-cr.jpg" ALT="Edward's beloved stepmother, Katharine Parr" BORDER=2 height=191 width=150><p>
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| 313 | <font size="2">Edward VI's beloved stepmother, Katharine Parr, painted by
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| 314 | William Scrots, c1543 </font>
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| 370 | <p><img SRC="edward4-cr.jpg" ALT="profile portrait of Edward VI" BORDER=2 height=228 width=150>
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| 371 | <br> <font size="2"> Edward VI, c1546, perhaps painted by William Scrots</font><br>
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| 394 | <p> <p> <p> <p> <p> <p>
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| 423 | <p><img SRC="ed6main-cr.jpg" ALT="Edward VI, once more in a Henrician pose" BORDER=2 height=214 width=150></center>
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| 424 |
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| 425 | <p align="center"><font size="2">Edward VI in a pose reminiscent of his father,
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| 426 | c1543, painted by William Scrots</font><br>
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| 578 | </p>
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| 579 | <p> </td>
|
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| 580 |
|
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| 581 | <td WIDTH="15"></td>
|
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| 582 |
|
|---|
| 583 | <td VALIGN=TOP WIDTH="80%">
|
|---|
| 584 | <img SRC="edward6.gif" ALT="King Edward VI" height=48 width=315>
|
|---|
| 585 | <br>
|
|---|
| 586 | <img SRC="loseley.jpg" ALT="portrait of Edward VI in 1547, in a pose reminiscent of his father" BORDER=2 height=311 width=226 align=LEFT><b>Henry
|
|---|
| 587 | VIII had just one legitimate son, Prince Edward. Born in October
|
|---|
| 588 | 1537, Edward was the fulfillment of his father's tangled marital history.
|
|---|
| 589 | Henry had ended his marriages to Katharine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn when
|
|---|
| 590 | they failed at the most important queenly duty, each woman bearing a healthy
|
|---|
| 591 | princess but no surviving prince. Jane Seymour, the king's third
|
|---|
| 592 | wife, was luckier. She ensured the king's lasting affection when
|
|---|
| 593 | she gave birth to Edward, but she died soon afterwards of puerperal sepsis.
|
|---|
| 594 | The infant prince was the only male Tudor heir of his generation; he had
|
|---|
| 595 | two sisters and Henry VIII's sisters Mary and Margaret had several daughters.
|
|---|
| 596 | If Edward died, the throne would pass to a woman and the Tudor dynasty
|
|---|
| 597 | would end. Accordingly, King Henry did all he could to protect his
|
|---|
| 598 | son's health; the infant prince lived in safe seclusion until his father
|
|---|
| 599 | wed Katharine Parr. Henry's last wife became a beloved mother to
|
|---|
| 600 | Edward and he adopted the zealous Protestantism which she championed.
|
|---|
| 601 | He also grew close to his half-sister Elizabeth, with whom he shared a
|
|---|
| 602 | household for some years. His older half-sister, Mary, was an equally
|
|---|
| 603 | zealous Catholic; her religion and the vast difference in their ages prevented
|
|---|
| 604 | a close relationship. Edward became king at the age of 10, but he
|
|---|
| 605 | was a mere figurehead. His Seymour uncles battled with and ultimately
|
|---|
| 606 | lost the Protectorship to the ambitious John Dudley, duke of Northumberland.
|
|---|
| 607 | During his brief reign, Edward demonstrated impressive piety and intelligence.
|
|---|
| 608 | But his potential would never be realized. He died an agonizing death
|
|---|
| 609 | at 15, possibly from a combination of tuberculosis and the measles.
|
|---|
| 610 | Northumberland had persuaded him to leave the throne to his Protestant
|
|---|
| 611 | cousin, Lady Jane Grey. This decision begat one of the most tragic
|
|---|
| 612 | tales of Tudor England.</b>
|
|---|
| 613 | <br>
|
|---|
| 614 | <blockquote><a href="edward6.html#Biography">Read
|
|---|
| 615 | a more detailed biography of King Edward VI</a>.
|
|---|
| 616 | <p><b>Primary Sources</b>
|
|---|
| 617 | <br>Read <a href="../primary.html">Edward's
|
|---|
| 618 | journal entries</a>.
|
|---|
| 619 | <br><a href="../ed6birth.html">Jane Seymour's
|
|---|
| 620 | pregnancy is announced</a>, 1537</blockquote>
|
|---|
| 621 |
|
|---|
| 622 | <blockquote>Visit <a href="http://www.geocities.com/marilee-cody/images.html">Tudor
|
|---|
| 623 | England: Images</a> to view portraits of Edward.
|
|---|
| 624 | <br>Visit the <a href="seymour.html">Jane
|
|---|
| 625 | Seymour site</a> to learn more about Edward's mother.
|
|---|
| 626 | <br>Visit the <a href="../relative/janegrey.html">Lady
|
|---|
| 627 | Jane Grey site</a> to learn more about Edward's cousin and heiress.
|
|---|
| 628 | <p>Test your knowledge of King Edward's life at <a href="../tudor1.html">Tudor
|
|---|
| 629 | Quizzes</a>.<p><font size="2">The above portrait is of King Edward VI, c1547, by
|
|---|
| 630 | an unknown artist.
|
|---|
| 631 | <a href="http://www.geocities.com/marilee-cody/newpics.html">Click here</a> to
|
|---|
| 632 | learn more.</font></blockquote>
|
|---|
| 633 |
|
|---|
| 634 | <br>
|
|---|
| 635 | <blockquote><a NAME="Biography"></a><b>Biography</b>
|
|---|
| 636 | <br>Henry VIII married Jane Seymour in shocking haste and, when she died
|
|---|
| 637 | less than two years later, he sought another wife immediately afterwards.
|
|---|
| 638 | This evident dislike of bachelorhood was a cornerstone of Henry's adult
|
|---|
| 639 | life. But it shouldn't imply that he didn't grieve for Jane.
|
|---|
| 640 | Indeed, unlike his other wives, she was the only one he always spoke of
|
|---|
| 641 | with affection. The cynic may argue this was because she died before
|
|---|
| 642 | Henry could turn on her. Whatever the case, when his own life came
|
|---|
| 643 | to an end, Henry envisioned a grand tomb to hold him and his 'entirely
|
|---|
| 644 | beloved' Jane. This did not come to pass; instead, Henry's body was
|
|---|
| 645 | interred with Jane's at her burial site, St George's Chapel.
|
|---|
| 646 | <p>It is indicative of Henry's contradictory character that, ten years
|
|---|
| 647 | and three wives after her death, he still held Jane in such sentimental
|
|---|
| 648 | regard. Though he is notorious for his six marriages, one could easily
|
|---|
| 649 | argue that only his union with Jane Seymour - brief though it was - completely
|
|---|
| 650 | satisfied him, as man <i>and</i> king. Unlike her immediate predecessor
|
|---|
| 651 | Anne Boleyn (whose motto was <i>le plus heureuse </i>- 'the most happy'),
|
|---|
| 652 | Jane chose as her motto, 'Bound to obey and serve.' A more striking
|
|---|
| 653 | contrast to the witty, flirtatious and passionate Anne Boleyn could not
|
|---|
| 654 | be imagined. While Anne had been almost exotic in her attractiveness,
|
|---|
| 655 | stylish, and educated at the notorious French court, Jane was the pious
|
|---|
| 656 | and dutiful daughter of an old English family. Certainly she had
|
|---|
| 657 | as many ambitious relatives (including two brothers executed by her son),
|
|---|
| 658 | but she never imposed upon the king. When she argued for Henry to
|
|---|
| 659 | reinstate his daughter Mary, the king replied that she would do well to
|
|---|
| 660 | think of herself and the children they would have; Jane replied, with typical
|
|---|
| 661 | tact and submissiveness, that she was thinking only of the king's happiness.
|
|---|
| 662 | She had the most pleasing feminine habit of showing disinterested concern
|
|---|
| 663 | for others. Again, a contrast to her predecessor who had despised
|
|---|
| 664 | - and been despised by - Princess Mary.
|
|---|
| 665 | <p>But Jane's quiet, pliant nature should not be mistaken for shyness or
|
|---|
| 666 | ignorance. Indeed, she was intelligent enough to manage Henry Tudor,
|
|---|
| 667 | a feat at which even great men like Wolsey, Cromwell, and More struggled.
|
|---|
| 668 | She also managed to capture and maintain a king's interest while he was
|
|---|
| 669 | married to another woman. Certainly Henry was increasingly weary
|
|---|
| 670 | of Anne and the lack of a male heir but his desire for Jane also urged
|
|---|
| 671 | on Anne's execution. And before the execution, Henry was careful
|
|---|
| 672 | to obtain a divorce from Anne as well; this meant that his marriage to
|
|---|
| 673 | Jane was the first legal union of his life. At forty-five, well into
|
|---|
| 674 | middle-age, the king declared he was finally entering a legally and spiritually
|
|---|
| 675 | pure marriage.
|
|---|
| 676 | <p>If Jane would have maintained Henry's interest and affection forever
|
|---|
| 677 | cannot, of course, be known. She lived just eighteen months after
|
|---|
| 678 | their marriage, long enough to deliver a prince and short enough to enshrine
|
|---|
| 679 | her memory. Beyond Henry, she also impressed others as the perfect
|
|---|
| 680 | epitome of a quiet, obedient and kind wife - various ambassadors and contemporaries
|
|---|
| 681 | agree on this. But one musn't forget that she knowingly - if quietly
|
|---|
| 682 | - carried on an affair with a married man while ostensibly serving his
|
|---|
| 683 | wife. Many vilified Anne Boleyn for the very same behavior; however,
|
|---|
| 684 | Jane's behavior is rarely portrayed in a negative manner.
|
|---|
| 685 | <p>The exact date she met the king is not known. But before he dallied
|
|---|
| 686 | with her, he had made another of Anne Boleyn's ladies-in-waiting his mistress.
|
|---|
| 687 | This was Margaret (or Madge) Shelton, Anne Boleyn's first cousin, a girl
|
|---|
| 688 | 'very gentle of countenance' and 'soft of speech.' She was governess
|
|---|
| 689 | to Princess Elizabeth and her husband was captain of the child's guard.
|
|---|
| 690 | The affair with Madge lasted about six months in early 1535; Chapuys, the
|
|---|
| 691 | Imperial ambassador, also mentions another affair in autumn 1534 but the
|
|---|
| 692 | woman's name is not known. In autumn 1535, the king's fancy turned
|
|---|
| 693 | to Jane Seymour. Henry was on progress to Southampton and stayed
|
|---|
| 694 | at her father's home, Wolf Hall in Wiltshire, with the traveling court.
|
|---|
| 695 | This meeting at Wolf Hall was not their first (it simply couldn't have
|
|---|
| 696 | been since she had been in royal service since 1529). But Henry VIII
|
|---|
| 697 | was rarely one for passion at first sight and, for one reason or another,
|
|---|
| 698 | Jane attracted his <i>amorous</i> attentions at Wolf Hall.
|
|---|
| 699 | <p>He had not deserted his relationship with Anne, however; there was still
|
|---|
| 700 | a chance she would provide a male heir and Henry was loathe to end a marriage
|
|---|
| 701 | he had fought so hard to secure. Still, in the back of all minds,
|
|---|
| 702 | the precedent of repudiated Katharine existed. If the aunt of the
|
|---|
| 703 | Holy Roman Emperor could be divorced, why not 'Nan Bullen'? But such
|
|---|
| 704 | speculation was dormant until Anne suffered a stillbirth during the summer
|
|---|
| 705 | of 1534.
|
|---|
| 706 | <p>Before this, Chapuys and other enemies commented that she was growing
|
|---|
| 707 | old, her dark good looks were fading; she was in her mid-thirties, no longer
|
|---|
| 708 | young and leaving her safest reproductive years behind. She still
|
|---|
| 709 | could manage Henry though she lacked Jane Seymour's delicate touch.
|
|---|
| 710 | But she would have been a fool to think her position was completely secure.
|
|---|
| 711 | Each new dalliance, each sharp word reinforced her tenuous position.
|
|---|
| 712 | Above all else, she must produce a male heir - Henry would never repudiate
|
|---|
| 713 | the mother of his son. So when she miscarried late in her pregnancy,
|
|---|
| 714 | she naturally worried. It did not help her disposition or relations
|
|---|
| 715 | with the king.
|
|---|
| 716 | <p>Shortly thereafter, Henry began the dalliance mentioned above.
|
|---|
| 717 | Anne drove her rival from court, Chapuys relates, Henry was angry and threatening
|
|---|
| 718 | - he told Anne that she "had good reason tto be content with what he had
|
|---|
| 719 | done for her, which he would not do now if the thing were to begin and
|
|---|
| 720 | that she should consider from what she had come and other things."
|
|---|
| 721 | One can imagine the effect of such words on Anne. She became terminally
|
|---|
| 722 | insecure and anxious even as she struggled to conceive and deliver a healthy
|
|---|
| 723 | child. And Henry, sensitive as always, remarked that he believed
|
|---|
| 724 | she had never been pregnant at all. (This was untrue - Anne's advancing
|
|---|
| 725 | pregnancy had been noted by several contemporaries.)
|
|---|
| 726 | <p>From the fall of 1534 and most of 1535, Anne sought security in the
|
|---|
| 727 | only way possible. But Henry was occasionally impotent, a not uncommon
|
|---|
| 728 | occurrence for an overweight man of forty-five. Like most men of
|
|---|
| 729 | his age (and many of ours), he didn't blame himself; after all, he was
|
|---|
| 730 | still attracted to other women. Ironically enough, it was after his
|
|---|
| 731 | visit to Wolf Hall, when he returned to London in October 1535, that he
|
|---|
| 732 | and Anne conceived a child. The fancy for Jane Seymour, only a few
|
|---|
| 733 | weeks old, would be overlooked.
|
|---|
| 734 | <p>Furthermore, Katharine of Aragon had finally passed away on 7 January
|
|---|
| 735 | 1536. The great rival vanquished and she herself pregnant, Anne lived
|
|---|
| 736 | as her motto decreed - 'the most happy.' But Katharine's death was
|
|---|
| 737 | not the happy event it may have seemed. After all, in the eyes of
|
|---|
| 738 | Catholic Europe, Katharine had always been Henry's wife. With her
|
|---|
| 739 | death, the king of England was officially widowed. In other words,
|
|---|
| 740 | he was free to marry again. The union with Anne was not recognized.
|
|---|
| 741 | And just a few weeks after Katharine's death, Anne miscarried the child.
|
|---|
| 742 | It was a male fetus, about fifteen weeks old. Her own sorrow as a
|
|---|
| 743 | mother was undoubtedly overwhelmed by the realization that she was doomed.
|
|---|
| 744 | <p>She told Henry she had miscarried because he had suffered a serious
|
|---|
| 745 | fall and the news, related by her uncle Norfolk, had distressed her terribly.
|
|---|
| 746 | Henry was uninterested. According to Anne's attendants, he said to
|
|---|
| 747 | her, "I see God will not give me male children" and that he would have
|
|---|
| 748 | "no more boys by <i>her</i>." Perhaps two miscarriages was not uncommon
|
|---|
| 749 | in Tudor England but, in light of Katharine of Aragon's many miscarriages,
|
|---|
| 750 | Anne's were magnified.
|
|---|
| 751 | <p>With Anne now widely believed to be incapable of delivering a male heir,
|
|---|
| 752 | Henry's relationship with Jane Seymour assumed a new importance.
|
|---|
| 753 | There are stories which cannot be confirmed as true - Anne discovered Jane
|
|---|
| 754 | sitting on the king's lap, Anne discovered gifts Henry had bought for 'Mistress
|
|---|
| 755 | Seymour' - but they are disquieting. In any case, Jane was bewitching
|
|---|
| 756 | the king in her own quiet way much as Anne herself had done. She
|
|---|
| 757 | denied the king just enough to ensure a chaste reputation and certainly
|
|---|
| 758 | Henry was like many men - the forbidden fruit was all the more attractive.
|
|---|
| 759 | And she also came from a respectable noble family which passionately pounced
|
|---|
| 760 | upon the Boleyn's declining fortunes.
|
|---|
| 761 | <p>The Seymours had old antecedents though their claim of Norman ancestry
|
|---|
| 762 | was dubious. Their name was originally St Maur and a Sir Wido de
|
|---|
| 763 | Saint Maur was supposed to have come over with the conquest. Prosperous
|
|---|
| 764 | marriages enriched the family and extended their holdings. Jane's
|
|---|
| 765 | father was born in 1474 and knighted in the field by Henry VII at a battle
|
|---|
| 766 | called Blackheath. He continued to enjoy royal favor into Henry VIII's
|
|---|
| 767 | reign, accompanying the king on his French campaign in 1513 and also the
|
|---|
| 768 | infamous Field of Cloth of Gold in 1532. He was a Gentleman of the
|
|---|
| 769 | Bedchamber and sheriff of his home county but never especially prominent
|
|---|
| 770 | or ambitious. What was important was his reputation as a pious and
|
|---|
| 771 | courteous man; also, he was often in close contact with the king.
|
|---|
| 772 | And, even more important, he came from a large family with many healthy
|
|---|
| 773 | children. Jane herself was one of ten children; her own mother had
|
|---|
| 774 | six sons, though two of died of the sweating sickness in 1528.
|
|---|
| 775 | <p>Jane's father was over 60 when the king's fancy turned to her; it was
|
|---|
| 776 | her older brothers Edward and Thomas who stood to profit most from her
|
|---|
| 777 | ascendancy. They seized - and relished - this unexpected opportunity
|
|---|
| 778 | to advance their fortunes. Their sister, in her mid-twenties, was
|
|---|
| 779 | not particularly beautiful; her most pleasing feature was her fair, unblemished
|
|---|
| 780 | skin. Chapuys, who had no cause to denigrate her, described her as
|
|---|
| 781 | 'of middle stature and no great beauty.' But she was calm, courteous,
|
|---|
| 782 | and kindly. Such characteristics were important, especially to a
|
|---|
| 783 | monarch like Henry who felt himself surrounded by devious and temperamental
|
|---|
| 784 | women. She was also virtuous. She may have responded to Henry's
|
|---|
| 785 | flirtations (who would deny the king?) but she responded to no others -
|
|---|
| 786 | this despite service under two queens. But when Henry sent her gifts
|
|---|
| 787 | with a letter, she returned them, saying, "If the King desired to make
|
|---|
| 788 | her a present of money, she prayed that it might be when she made an honorable
|
|---|
| 789 | marriage." Once again, the royal appetite was whetted. And,
|
|---|
| 790 | of course, such modest behavior was desirable in a woman Henry increasingly
|
|---|
| 791 | wanted to wed.
|
|---|
| 792 | <p>Jane's family was joined by supporters who had been slighted by the
|
|---|
| 793 | Boleyn faction. In other words, anyone who had not prospered under
|
|---|
| 794 | Anne's rule wanted to support Jane. On 18 April 1536, Cromwell (Henry's
|
|---|
| 795 | chief minister and confidante) threw in his lot with the Seymours.
|
|---|
| 796 | He vacated his apartments at Greenwich Palace so the Seymours could move
|
|---|
| 797 | in. This was crucial. Not only could the king visit Jane discreetly,
|
|---|
| 798 | without anyone knowing, but Cromwell's opinion carried weight with Henry.
|
|---|
| 799 | Anne Boleyn's fall was inevitable; Jane Seymour's rise was unstoppable.
|
|---|
| 800 | <p>On Friday, 19 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was executed on various charges,
|
|---|
| 801 | the most powerful being that of treason. The secret betrothal of
|
|---|
| 802 | King Henry and Jane took place at Hampton Court the next day. During
|
|---|
| 803 | Anne's arrest and trial, Henry's sense of decency (never great) had persuaded
|
|---|
| 804 | him to send Jane away. She went to Sir Nicholas Carew's house at
|
|---|
| 805 | Croydon where she was afforded every respect. But as the date of
|
|---|
| 806 | Anne's demise approached, Henry grew more impatient; Jane was moved to
|
|---|
| 807 | a closer house just a mile from the king's residence at Whitehall.
|
|---|
| 808 | From there she went to Hampton Court for her betrothal; it was back again
|
|---|
| 809 | to Whitehall for the marriage on 30 May. Thomas Cranmer performed
|
|---|
| 810 | the ceremony. One can imagine it was a happy and triumphant day for
|
|---|
| 811 | Jane but confidence would have been foolhardy. After all, the king
|
|---|
| 812 | had divorced one wife who had not born a son and executed another.
|
|---|
| 813 | She had known both Katharine and Anne quite well. Even if she didn't
|
|---|
| 814 | grieve for their fates, she must have realized the instability of her own.
|
|---|
| 815 | <p>Once queen, Jane chose a phoenix rising from a castle filled with Tudor
|
|---|
| 816 | roses and the panther for her heraldry. It was easy enough to alter
|
|---|
| 817 | Anne's leopards and falcons, after all. On their first procession
|
|---|
| 818 | through London as husband and wife, they passed the Tower where the late
|
|---|
| 819 | queen's body lay stuffed in an arrow chest, the head tucked beneath the
|
|---|
| 820 | arm. For 'Jane the Quene,' the Tower was hung with banners and streamers.
|
|---|
| 821 | Furthermore, there was the incredible dowry the king had lavished upon
|
|---|
| 822 | her - 104 manors, 5 castles and various gardens and forests. Henry
|
|---|
| 823 | also planned an equally lavish coronation for his new queen. This,
|
|---|
| 824 | however, was stymied by an outbreak of the plague; Henry said that it would
|
|---|
| 825 | only be postponed. As soon as it was healthy and safe, Jane would
|
|---|
| 826 | be officially crowned.
|
|---|
| 827 | <p>Meanwhile, Jane displayed good common sense by ordering her ladies-in-waiting
|
|---|
| 828 | to dress conservatively. She wanted no one to tempt the king even
|
|---|
| 829 | as she had done. She also became mother to two motherless princesses.
|
|---|
| 830 | Both Mary and Elizabeth benefited from Jane's kindness. Mary was
|
|---|
| 831 | of marriageable age (seven years younger than Jane) and could be used as
|
|---|
| 832 | a tool in Henry's diplomacy. Three-year-old Elizabeth, lacking Mary's
|
|---|
| 833 | maternal nobility, was not marriageable yet but Henry was described as
|
|---|
| 834 | 'very affectionate' toward her. He called her 'his Madame Ysabeau'
|
|---|
| 835 | and allowed both Elizabeth and Mary, though bastardized, precedence over
|
|---|
| 836 | their cousins.
|
|---|
| 837 | <p>Jane's religious opinions should be discussed, if only because history
|
|---|
| 838 | has often misread her true feelings. Unlike her brothers and son,
|
|---|
| 839 | Jane was not a Protestant. She was conservative in her religion as
|
|---|
| 840 | she was in her behavior. The first harsh words Henry was recorded
|
|---|
| 841 | as speaking to her were over religion; she mentioned that a rebellion was
|
|---|
| 842 | perhaps God's rebuke over Henry's dissolution of the monasteries.
|
|---|
| 843 | Henry brusquely reminded her that the late queen had died as a result of
|
|---|
| 844 | meddling in his affairs. This implied threat would have been enough
|
|---|
| 845 | to frighten any woman. Luckily, Jane became pregnant a few months
|
|---|
| 846 | later, in early January 1537. This news undoubtedly helped lessen
|
|---|
| 847 | the sadness of her father's death on 21 December 1536.
|
|---|
| 848 | <p>Jane's condition was announced in March and the news was officially
|
|---|
| 849 | celebrated on Trinity Sunday, 27 May 1537. She was now the king's
|
|---|
| 850 | 'most dear and most entirely beloved wife', as Henry wrote to the duke
|
|---|
| 851 | of Norfolk. Her coronation was now planned to be after the child's
|
|---|
| 852 | birth, probably late October. There is no sign that the pregnancy
|
|---|
| 853 | was especially difficult; all writings point to Jane's good stature and
|
|---|
| 854 | health. Henry canceled a progress to stay with her and certainly
|
|---|
| 855 | the entire court - and country - held their breath, wondering if this young
|
|---|
| 856 | woman would succeed in her greatest duty.
|
|---|
| 857 | <p>Certainly Henry was optimistic and, as usual, the astrologers and doctors
|
|---|
| 858 | predicted the birth of a son. They had been wrong with Elizabeth
|
|---|
| 859 | but Henry was eager to forget and make preparations. He had a Garter
|
|---|
| 860 | stall made for this long-awaited son in St George's Chapel at Windsor;
|
|---|
| 861 | the royal apartments at Hampton Court Palace were refurbished in preparation
|
|---|
| 862 | for the birth; Jane's brothers were yet again elevated to new positions,
|
|---|
| 863 | granted more lands and pensions. And finally, on 9 October, she went
|
|---|
| 864 | into labor.
|
|---|
| 865 | <p>Her labor was as arduous as any could be in the sixteenth century.
|
|---|
| 866 | It lasted three days; after the first two, a procession was mounted in
|
|---|
| 867 | London to pray for the Queen. On 12 October, the eve of the Feast
|
|---|
| 868 | of St Edward, the child was born. Jane was well enough after the
|
|---|
| 869 | birth to receive guests, most touchingly her husband. Henry wept
|
|---|
| 870 | when he took this longed-for heir in his arms. The christening was
|
|---|
| 871 | held three days later and, wrapped in furs and velvet, she attended.
|
|---|
| 872 | Princess Mary acted as godmother to her half-brother and four-year-old
|
|---|
| 873 | Elizabeth was carried by Thomas Seymour.
|
|---|
| 874 | <p> It would be impossible to list all the celebrations which occurred
|
|---|
| 875 | when Prince Edward was born. Suffice to say, 2000 shots were fired
|
|---|
| 876 | from the Tower and bells were rung throughout the countryside. On
|
|---|
| 877 | 18 October, Henry had his son proclaimed Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall
|
|---|
| 878 | and Earl of Carnarvon. Yet again the Seymour brothers were given
|
|---|
| 879 | generous endowments for the king was never more generous or magnanimous.
|
|---|
| 880 | But their sister who had made such celebrating possible was not recovering
|
|---|
| 881 | from the birth. In modern times, we call her illness puerperal fever.
|
|---|
| 882 | In Jane's time, it was the most common cause of death for pregnant women.
|
|---|
| 883 | Cleanliness and the proper treatment for infections were not understood.
|
|---|
| 884 | Once she became infected, she was doomed. On 19 October, she took
|
|---|
| 885 | to her bed again; she recovered somewhat on the 23rd, as her attendants
|
|---|
| 886 | reported, but only for a matter of hours. Soon she was delirious
|
|---|
| 887 | and, early the next morning, her confessor was sent for. Henry, who
|
|---|
| 888 | had planned to go hunting that day, postponed his trip - but only for that
|
|---|
| 889 | day, he told a courtier. It was enough; 'Jane the Quene' died near
|
|---|
| 890 | midnight on 24 October, living just days after her great triumph.
|
|---|
| 891 | For her husband, increasingly obese, bald, and well into middle-age, the
|
|---|
| 892 | grief was genuine. He planned a sumptuous burial for 12 November
|
|---|
| 893 | and the churches that had celebrated Edward's birth now began to pray for
|
|---|
| 894 | the soul of the late queen. Hampton Court Palace, scene of her triumph
|
|---|
| 895 | and death, was hung with black.
|
|---|
| 896 | <p>Princess Mary was chief mourner at her step-mother's funeral but Henry
|
|---|
| 897 | did not attend. He wished to be alone with his grief. Jane
|
|---|
| 898 | Seymour was buried as a queen - unlike Katharine of Aragon who had died
|
|---|
| 899 | as Princess Dowager and Anne Boleyn, who had died divorced and disgraced.
|
|---|
| 900 | Her hearse was taken to Windsor and interred in a vault in St George's
|
|---|
| 901 | Chapel. Henry was perhaps already planning a sufficient monument
|
|---|
| 902 | for the grave he would eventually share with Jane. But he also kept
|
|---|
| 903 | track of his late wife's possessions - her jewelry was distributed to her
|
|---|
| 904 | ladies, Princess Mary, and her brothers. But her dowry, the 104 manors
|
|---|
| 905 | and 5 castles, were given back to the king. And, very soon indeed,
|
|---|
| 906 | speculation began - who would receive these favors next?
|
|---|
| 907 | <p>Henry VIII turned to the continent for his next wife, the German princess
|
|---|
| 908 | Anne of Cleves. The marriage was famously annulled only a few months
|
|---|
| 909 | later. His fifth wife was Anne Boleyn's cousin, the young and pretty
|
|---|
| 910 | Catherine Howard. She met her cousin's fate not even two years into
|
|---|
| 911 | the marriage and then Henry wed the twice-widowed Katharine Parr.
|
|---|
| 912 | Pious, intelligent and an accomplished nurse, she would be his last wife.
|
|---|
| 913 | By the time of this last marriage, the king was suffering from a variety
|
|---|
| 914 | of ailments, most caused by his increasing obesity. He continued
|
|---|
| 915 | to take a keen interest in his son's education and Katharine Parr became
|
|---|
| 916 | a true mother to the young Elizabeth and Edward. Her passionate Protestantism
|
|---|
| 917 | had a great effect on both children; it also nearly caused her death, since
|
|---|
| 918 | Henry VIII had become even more tyrannical as the years passed.
|
|---|
| 919 | <p>The king's own death on 28 January 1547 was the second and final time
|
|---|
| 920 | the Tudor throne would pass, easily and without dispute, to a male heir.
|
|---|
| 921 | But Edward VI's extreme youth ensured that his reign would not immediately
|
|---|
| 922 | be his own.
|
|---|
| 923 | <p>
|
|---|
| 924 | <hr WIDTH="100%">
|
|---|
| 925 | <p>Who was this young man, the product of his father's long and desperate
|
|---|
| 926 | search for an heir? He died at the age of sixteen, never more than
|
|---|
| 927 | a puppet king who had to beg his uncle for pocket money and was beaten
|
|---|
| 928 | by his tutors. Edward VI was just a child when crowned at Westminster.
|
|---|
| 929 | His father knew the dangers of leaving a child as heir and did his best
|
|---|
| 930 | to protect the court from factionalism. However, Henry's will was
|
|---|
| 931 | shortsighted and hardly practical; he wanted a regency council of peers,
|
|---|
| 932 | each equal to the other. But even as he lay dying, the earl of Hertford
|
|---|
| 933 | and Sir William Paget were already planning their coup. Hertford,
|
|---|
| 934 | Jane Seymour's brother and Edward's uncle, would be made Lord Protector
|
|---|
| 935 | and Paget would be first minister. On 28 January 1547, Hertford rode
|
|---|
| 936 | to his nephew and brought him to the security of the Tower of London.
|
|---|
| 937 | On 31 January the council met there and agreed to Paget's nomination of
|
|---|
| 938 | Hertford as protector. Only then was Henry VIII's demise made public
|
|---|
| 939 | and Edward VI proclaimed king. There followed a distribution of titles
|
|---|
| 940 | and sinecures, the most notable being Hertford's elevation to the dukedom
|
|---|
| 941 | of Somerset.
|
|---|
| 942 | <p>However, Somerset's authority was not fully secure; the council's nomination
|
|---|
| 943 | of him as Protector was just a verbal agreement. Without letters
|
|---|
| 944 | patent authenticated by the Great Seal, he had a title but no legal basis
|
|---|
| 945 | for control. But the Great Seal was in the hands of the lord chancellor,
|
|---|
| 946 | a conservative named Wriothesley who had been created earl of Southampton
|
|---|
| 947 | during the accession honors. But even elevated to an earldom, Wriothesley
|
|---|
| 948 | was not happy with what he perceived to be Somerset's usurption of power.
|
|---|
| 949 | He refused to affix the seal to Somerset's patent of formal authority.
|
|---|
| 950 | Early in March, Somerset was able to rid himself of this nuisance.
|
|---|
| 951 | He brought to the council's attention certain irregularities in the chancellor's
|
|---|
| 952 | office (notably his neglect of the legal side of his responsibilities),
|
|---|
| 953 | and forced Wriothesley's resignation. Somerset's ally Lord Rich was
|
|---|
| 954 | quickly appointed lord chancellor and the Great Seal was finally affixed
|
|---|
| 955 | to the letters patent. Somerset was now the most powerful man in
|
|---|
| 956 | England, with the exception of his young nephew.
|
|---|
| 957 | <p>One of the powers Somerset acquired in his patent of office was the
|
|---|
| 958 | right to appoint whoever he wanted to the Privy Council. To that
|
|---|
| 959 | end, he brought in some of the older, experienced men who had not been
|
|---|
| 960 | appointed executors in Henry's will. But he never allowed the council
|
|---|
| 961 | to function with any degree of autonomy and rarely consulted its members.
|
|---|
| 962 | Instead, he used them to simply endorse his own privately-made decisions.
|
|---|
| 963 | On the rare occasions he did meet with them, he demonstrated an appalling
|
|---|
| 964 | lack of the attributes all leaders need - tact and cunning. His tongue
|
|---|
| 965 | was so savage that he reduced a colleague to tears and, before long, Paget
|
|---|
| 966 | was warning him about his arrogance and rudeness. Somerset ignored
|
|---|
| 967 | Paget as he ignored most everyone else. He ruled by edict, issuing
|
|---|
| 968 | proclamations to a greater extent than any head of government in the Tudor
|
|---|
| 969 | age.
|
|---|
| 970 | <p>His fall was inevitable. But it did not happen until five years
|
|---|
| 971 | into Edward's reign, by which time Somerset had effectively cemented the
|
|---|
| 972 | new religion in England and offended virtually every other nobleman.
|
|---|
| 973 | What did Edward VI think of his uncle's autocratic use of power?
|
|---|
| 974 | The boy king left behind a journal remarkable in its detachment; indeed,
|
|---|
| 975 | he recorded the executions of both Somerset and his younger brother with
|
|---|
| 976 | no emotion.
|
|---|
| 977 | <p>Edward was not completely cold, however. He was always affectionate
|
|---|
| 978 | to his stepmother, Katharine Parr, whose benevolent influence eased his
|
|---|
| 979 | lonely childhood. He also spent time with his half-sister Elizabeth;
|
|---|
| 980 | the two children were just four years apart in age and Elizabeth was a
|
|---|
| 981 | Protestant. He was never particularly close to his other half-sister,
|
|---|
| 982 | Mary. This was understandable for Mary was old enough to be his mother
|
|---|
| 983 | (21 years older) and a devout Catholic who refused to bow to her brother's
|
|---|
| 984 | religious convictions. Certainly she had obeyed their father but
|
|---|
| 985 | Edward was an adolescent who Mary believed was a pawn of Protestant heretics.
|
|---|
| 986 | (Visit the <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/primary.html">Primary
|
|---|
| 987 | Sources</a> site to read selections from Edward's journal & other documents)
|
|---|
| 988 | <p>Edward's education was always strict. His earliest tutors were
|
|---|
| 989 | female and he was guarded under the strictest regulations - for example,
|
|---|
| 990 | nobody less than a knight was allowed to visit him. At the age of
|
|---|
| 991 | six, his two principal tutors were appointed - Ricahrd Cox, a committed
|
|---|
| 992 | but moderate reformer, and John Cheke, the most distinguished humanist
|
|---|
| 993 | in the land. There is evidence that he was occasionally beaten. Upon
|
|---|
| 994 | his ascension, he was a precocious and intelligent boy. His elevation
|
|---|
| 995 | to the kingship did not end his courtesy to his tutors. In fact,
|
|---|
| 996 | he now began to share his studies with a handful of contemporaries; one
|
|---|
| 997 | of these, Barnaby Fitzpatrick, was the son of an Irish peer and became
|
|---|
| 998 | a Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber. He was also Edward's closest friend
|
|---|
| 999 | and, away on a mission to France, received letters from the king which
|
|---|
| 1000 | betray normal adolescent exuberance. These letters - along with those
|
|---|
| 1001 | to Katharine Parr - are the only examples in which Edward exhibits emotion.
|
|---|
| 1002 | <p>Edward left behind a reputation for bigoted, extreme Protestantism which
|
|---|
| 1003 | he does not deserve. There were many pro-Protestant laws enacted
|
|---|
| 1004 | during his reign, with his approval, but at the instigation of his guardians.
|
|---|
| 1005 | He was a devout Protestant, the product of the new religion which even
|
|---|
| 1006 | his father had not understood. Still, he was by no means as self-righteouslessly
|
|---|
| 1007 | intolerant as his older sister; perhaps he would have been - but that is
|
|---|
| 1008 | just speculation.
|
|---|
| 1009 | <p>Edward's ministers demonstrated passionate self-interest in this religious
|
|---|
| 1010 | climate. These Protestant lords had profitted economically from the
|
|---|
| 1011 | dissolution of the monasteries and no one - lord or commoner - wanted to
|
|---|
| 1012 | reinstate papal taxation. They were determined to keep their land
|
|---|
| 1013 | grants, gold plate, and other treasures. In doing so, they appealed
|
|---|
| 1014 | to the intellectual vanity of their young king. Edward was raised
|
|---|
| 1015 | a Protestant, even as Mary had been raised a Catholic, and there is no
|
|---|
| 1016 | reason to doubt he held his faith as deeply. Unlike their sister
|
|---|
| 1017 | Elizabeth, who declared she wanted no windows in men's souls, Edward and
|
|---|
| 1018 | Mary believed they were guiding their subjects onto the path of righteousness.
|
|---|
| 1019 | When Somerset and others altered their beliefs with changing political
|
|---|
| 1020 | climates, they were careful to appeal to this sense of self-righteousness.
|
|---|
| 1021 | <blockquote><b><font size=-1>I wrote a more detailed account of Edward's
|
|---|
| 1022 | childhood before writing this section; if you would like to read it, <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/edward33.html">please
|
|---|
| 1023 | click here</a>. It will be somewhat repetitious since it contains
|
|---|
| 1024 | information found at this page, but there is more detail and might be useful
|
|---|
| 1025 | for students researching Edward's life.</font></b></blockquote>
|
|---|
| 1026 | The essential fact of Edward's brief reign is this - it is more a commentary
|
|---|
| 1027 | on Somerset and his successor, Northumberland, than it is on Edward himself.
|
|---|
| 1028 | In the early months of his rule, the councilors were more interested in
|
|---|
| 1029 | securing the throne and creating a peaceful transition to the new order.
|
|---|
| 1030 | As Edward's uncle and a soldier of experience, Somerset was the natural
|
|---|
| 1031 | choice as 'Protector of all the realms and domains of the King's Majesty
|
|---|
| 1032 | and Governor of his most royal person.' The other fifteen men Henry
|
|---|
| 1033 | had selected as councilors were men only recently promoted to high office;
|
|---|
| 1034 | twelve of them were Protestant, since the Howards - the leading Catholic
|
|---|
| 1035 | faction at court - had fallen from power. Somerset's main rivals
|
|---|
| 1036 | for power were John Dudley, earl of Northumberland (soon promoted to earl
|
|---|
| 1037 | of Warwick) and his own brother, Thomas Seymour (soon created Baron Seymour
|
|---|
| 1038 | of Sudeley and Lord High Admiral.) Seymour was ambitious and angry
|
|---|
| 1039 | that he could not wield absolute power; in his opinion, why should one
|
|---|
| 1040 | uncle have control and another be fobbed off with consolation prizes?
|
|---|
| 1041 | A more temperate man would have been content with his newly ennobled title
|
|---|
| 1042 | and position on the council but Seymour was ambitious and jealous - a lethal
|
|---|
| 1043 | combination. In the end, he would bring down himself and his brother,
|
|---|
| 1044 | thus securing Dudley's ascendancy.
|
|---|
| 1045 | <p>Somerset loved his younger brother and, in general, was considered a
|
|---|
| 1046 | kind man - but he was unfortunately ill-equipped to manage his squabbling
|
|---|
| 1047 | council and had a mean-tempered wife who offended virtually everyone she
|
|---|
| 1048 | met. She was his second wife and mother of his nine children; Somserset's
|
|---|
| 1049 | first wife had been banished to a convent after having an affair with his
|
|---|
| 1050 | father. Anne Stanhope was as proud and quarrelsome as her brother-in-law
|
|---|
| 1051 | Seymour. She considered herself the first lady of the realm, claiming
|
|---|
| 1052 | precedence over Katharine Parr, Henry VIII's widow. When Seymour
|
|---|
| 1053 | married Katharine just four months after Henry's death, Anne and virtually
|
|---|
| 1054 | everyone at court saw it as evidence of his vast ambition. It opened
|
|---|
| 1055 | yet another rift between the two brothers.
|
|---|
| 1056 | <p>There were, of course, reasons for Seymour to be jealous. On 16
|
|---|
| 1057 | February 1547, Henry VIII was buried with the Seymour brothers' sister,
|
|---|
| 1058 | Jane, at St George's chapel in Windsor, and - the very next day - Edward
|
|---|
| 1059 | VI confirmed his uncle as duke of Somerset. Along with the title
|
|---|
| 1060 | came an income of 7400 pds a year, a vast sum in those days. By contrast,
|
|---|
| 1061 | Henry VIII left Princesses <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/mary1.html">Mary</a>
|
|---|
| 1062 | and Elizabeth 3000 pds each - less than half of Somerset's income but still
|
|---|
| 1063 | considered a great sum. Seymour had to content himself with the lands
|
|---|
| 1064 | of his baronetcy as well as his wife's fortune - and, soon enough, embezzlement.
|
|---|
| 1065 | When his brother made it clear he would not share ultimate authority, Seymour
|
|---|
| 1066 | began to plot against him. Already, he had begun flirting with the
|
|---|
| 1067 | adolescent Elizabeth, being raised at his wife's home in Chelsea (discussed
|
|---|
| 1068 | in greater detail at the <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs.html">Elizabeth
|
|---|
| 1069 | I</a> pages.) He also secured the guardianship of <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/janegrey.html">Jane
|
|---|
| 1070 | Grey</a>, telling her parents he would arrange her marriage to the young
|
|---|
| 1071 | king. Thus, he was in control of two of Henry VIII's heirs.
|
|---|
| 1072 | He also began visiting his nephew, attempting to gain Edward's affections
|
|---|
| 1073 | by giving him presents and money. Since Somerset was strict with
|
|---|
| 1074 | his nephew and kept him constantly short of money, the king was grateful
|
|---|
| 1075 | for the gifts.
|
|---|
| 1076 | <p>But even as Seymour began his ambitious plans, Somerset was careful
|
|---|
| 1077 | to court Princess Mary's favor. This was a smart policy since she
|
|---|
| 1078 | was her brother's heir, popular with the English people, and cousin to
|
|---|
| 1079 | the Holy Roman Emperor. Also, she was content to remain in the countryside
|
|---|
| 1080 | since she disliked Edward's Protestant court. Many historians have
|
|---|
| 1081 | written that Seymour and others courted Mary's favor with the view that
|
|---|
| 1082 | she would one day be queen. However, this is wrong - as is the view
|
|---|
| 1083 | that Edward VI was a sickly king, always delicate of health. In fact,
|
|---|
| 1084 | until the last eighteen months of his life, Edward was quite healthy and
|
|---|
| 1085 | gave every intention of living many years. He was slender and had
|
|---|
| 1086 | fair coloring but also enjoyed activity and took a keen - and passionate
|
|---|
| 1087 | - interest in learning and religion. ; As he grew older, he naturally
|
|---|
| 1088 | chafed at his uncle Somerset's absolute control over his life.
|
|---|
| 1089 | <p>Somerset - unlike his brother and Dudley - never played to Edward's
|
|---|
| 1090 | natural feelings of superiority and authority. He treated the king
|
|---|
| 1091 | as he treated his children - with firmness, discipline, and a strict regimen.
|
|---|
| 1092 | Seymour and Dudley spoke to the young king
|
|---|
| 1093 | <i>as a king</i>, pretending
|
|---|
| 1094 | to defer to his naturally superior wisdom. For a while, though, Somerset
|
|---|
| 1095 | kept near-absolute control over the council. He became popular with
|
|---|
| 1096 | the poor - and unpopular with his fellow nobles - by promoting reform of
|
|---|
| 1097 | agricultural laws (creating fixed rents and the abolition of enclosures)and
|
|---|
| 1098 | he attempted to reform the judicial system in favor of equality for all.
|
|---|
| 1099 | In fact, he established a court of pleas at his own home in London.
|
|---|
| 1100 | This earned him the nickname 'the Good Duke' but to his councilors he was
|
|---|
| 1101 | too moderate to satisfy any faction and too headstrong to listen to anyone.
|
|---|
| 1102 | To this perception of arrogance and class-betrayal was added a spiritual
|
|---|
| 1103 | weakness - Somerset would not allow anyone to be tortured or burned over
|
|---|
| 1104 | religious matters. This tolerance was unexpected and unwelcome by
|
|---|
| 1105 | his peers.
|
|---|
| 1106 | <p>But along with idealistic plans for social reform, Somerset was also
|
|---|
| 1107 | grasping and greedy. The combination of such traits was considered
|
|---|
| 1108 | hypocritical and inconsistent. After all, his councilors muttered,
|
|---|
| 1109 | who was Somerset to criticize their rents when he spent the government's
|
|---|
| 1110 | money with little regard for moderation? They pointed to his London
|
|---|
| 1111 | residence, Somerset House, built at the exorbinant cost of 10000
|
|---|
| 1112 | pds; there were other homes, too, equally grand and all designed to emphasize
|
|---|
| 1113 | his stature as Lord Protector. It may be that Somerset was uneasy
|
|---|
| 1114 | in his role since, before his sister's ascendancy, his family was only
|
|---|
| 1115 | moderately successful. In just ten years, they had become the pre-eminent
|
|---|
| 1116 | family in the land and he may have been insecure about such a rapid rise.
|
|---|
| 1117 | In any case, he was encouraged in such spending by his wife.
|
|---|
| 1118 | <p>Somerset's main problem was that he lacked the charisma and will-power
|
|---|
| 1119 | of Henry VIII, a man who had blustered and bullied his council into action.
|
|---|
| 1120 | The sheer intimidating force of his personality had awed everyone - and
|
|---|
| 1121 | Somerset lacked that bravura, a natural ability to inspire and lead.
|
|---|
| 1122 | Instead, he was forced to shout and insult his peers into action, at one
|
|---|
| 1123 | time driving a man to tears. Meanwhile, his brother was proving an
|
|---|
| 1124 | embarrassment. Right after Henry's death, Seymour had sought permission
|
|---|
| 1125 | to marry Elizabeth; when that was denied, he renewed a former attachment
|
|---|
| 1126 | to Katharine Parr and married her. In any case, in the four months
|
|---|
| 1127 | after Henry's death before he married Katharine, his nephew King Edward
|
|---|
| 1128 | had suggested he marry Anne of Cleves or Princess Mary. But Seymour's
|
|---|
| 1129 | own brother squashed both those plans, the union with Mary in particular;
|
|---|
| 1130 | Seymour was not 'born to be king, nor to marry a king's daughter.'
|
|---|
| 1131 | So when he married the queen dowager, people naturally assumed it was a
|
|---|
| 1132 | union of ambition and not affection.
|
|---|
| 1133 | <p>Seymour further angered the council and his brother by flirting with
|
|---|
| 1134 | Princess Elizabeth; she was sent from he and Katharine's Chelsea home after
|
|---|
| 1135 | Katharine became pregnant. When Katharine died in childbirth, Seymour
|
|---|
| 1136 | was soon engaged in pressing his suit to Elizabeth again as well as arguing
|
|---|
| 1137 | with the council - and his brother in particular - over Katharine's possessions.
|
|---|
| 1138 | He was also ingratiating himself with King Edward by bribing a man called
|
|---|
| 1139 | John Fowler, one of the king's closest servants. Fowler and Edward
|
|---|
| 1140 | were close and shared conversations; they revealed the young king's increasing
|
|---|
| 1141 | frustration with Somerset's actions. Edward wanted more pocket money,
|
|---|
| 1142 | less severe tutors, more time for leisure pursuits - he wanted to be treated
|
|---|
| 1143 | as king and not a child. Fowler, paid by Seymour, was happy to pass
|
|---|
| 1144 | these complaints on. So Seymour smuggled in some money and small
|
|---|
| 1145 | presents and, though these pleased the king, they didn't personally endear
|
|---|
| 1146 | his uncle to him. Perhaps even the young Edward could sense his uncle's
|
|---|
| 1147 | calculating ambition.
|
|---|
| 1148 | <p>But Edward did publicly support and bless his uncle and stepmother's
|
|---|
| 1149 | marriage. And, in a fit of anger, he once told Seymour that - if
|
|---|
| 1150 | Somerset should die - he would appoint his 'favorite' uncle Lord Protector.
|
|---|
| 1151 | Such statements only encouraged Seymour. Soon enough, in November
|
|---|
| 1152 | 1547, Seymour had urged Edward to sign a document which would be placed
|
|---|
| 1153 | before Parliament in its new session; it would officially divide the office
|
|---|
| 1154 | of Lord Protector between the king's two uncles. Edward was naturally
|
|---|
| 1155 | cautious and asked his tutor, John Cheke, for guidance. Cheke was
|
|---|
| 1156 | a learned man obsessed with otherwordly concerns but he also understood
|
|---|
| 1157 | the intrigues of the Tudor court. His advice was for Edward to not
|
|---|
| 1158 | sign and distance himself from both uncles. Seymour was furious.
|
|---|
| 1159 | He went about telling councilors that he wanted Edward to live with him
|
|---|
| 1160 | and the queen dowager and - more threateningly - he could easily steal
|
|---|
| 1161 | the king from under Somerset's nose. When Katharine died on 5 September
|
|---|
| 1162 | 1548 after a difficult childbirth, one important link to his nephew disappeared.
|
|---|
| 1163 | After all, Edward had been genuinely fond of Katharine. But after
|
|---|
| 1164 | her death, Seymour became even more openly ambitious and insulting to his
|
|---|
| 1165 | brother. There were rumors that he wanted to marry his former ward
|
|---|
| 1166 | Jane Grey but Seymour found this laughable. He had more ambitious
|
|---|
| 1167 | plans - once again, he intended to woo Princess Elizabeth. It may
|
|---|
| 1168 | have been that Katharine Parr exerted a calming influence upon her husband
|
|---|
| 1169 | and, once she died, he became more obvious and unrestrained in his plans.
|
|---|
| 1170 | Whatever the case, he began to voice open disapproval of his brother's
|
|---|
| 1171 | government, threatening to disrupt Parliamenr; in short, he was a great
|
|---|
| 1172 | embarrassment to the protector. Somerset tried to be conciliatory
|
|---|
| 1173 | but Seymour had none of it. He began to gather support (at least
|
|---|
| 1174 | nominally) from other nobles who were dissatisfied with Somerset for less
|
|---|
| 1175 | personal reasons. As Lord High Admiral, a post he had heretofore
|
|---|
| 1176 | neglected, Seymour was able to control the English navy. He openly
|
|---|
| 1177 | asked people for support in case of a coup. In other words, he was
|
|---|
| 1178 | completely indiscreet.
|
|---|
| 1179 | <p>Meanwhile, Elizabeth's governess Mrs Ashley, another victim of Seymour's
|
|---|
| 1180 | charm, was encouraging her young charge to think kindly of Seymour.
|
|---|
| 1181 | But Elizabeth was cautious and less than thrilled; she retired to the country
|
|---|
| 1182 | and stayed far away from London. But others had heard of Seymour's
|
|---|
| 1183 | plans and one of these was Lord Russell, the keeper of the Privy Seal,
|
|---|
| 1184 | an important office in Tudor England. He confronted Seymour with
|
|---|
| 1185 | rumors of his intention to wed Elizabeth; he said this would ensure Seymour's
|
|---|
| 1186 | ruin. Furthermore, Russell cautioned, King Edward would view a match
|
|---|
| 1187 | with Elizabeth very suspiciously - after all, it smacked of ambition and
|
|---|
| 1188 | the next step would be his own death. Then, Seymour and Elizabeth
|
|---|
| 1189 | would rule. Seymour's folly went further, however. He was also
|
|---|
| 1190 | embezzling vast sums in a complicated scheme with the vice-treasurer of
|
|---|
| 1191 | the Bristol mint. (Once again, this is discussed in the Elizabeth
|
|---|
| 1192 | I pages as well.)
|
|---|
| 1193 | <p>The vice-treasurer was a man called Sir William Sharington. Sharington
|
|---|
| 1194 | had taken advantage of the general laxity and chaos the new reign to clip
|
|---|
| 1195 | and debase the coinage produced at Bristol. He doctored the account
|
|---|
| 1196 | books to cover the operation but rumors spread of his crimes. It
|
|---|
| 1197 | was inevitable - after all, others worked at the mint and Sharington was
|
|---|
| 1198 | using the money to refurbish his house in a very lavish manner. Seymour
|
|---|
| 1199 | discovered Sharington's secret and, rather than turn him in, decided upon
|
|---|
| 1200 | blackmail. He planned to use the proceeds to finance his coup to
|
|---|
| 1201 | take over the government. Furthermore, he as using his position as
|
|---|
| 1202 | Lord High Admiral to encourage piracy (rather than protect against it,
|
|---|
| 1203 | as was his duty), allowing the pirates safe passage in exchange for shares
|
|---|
| 1204 | of their booty. He also charged ships a toll to pass from England
|
|---|
| 1205 | to Ireland on official government business.
|
|---|
| 1206 | <p>He also planned to kidnap Edward, with John Fowler's help. Fowler
|
|---|
| 1207 | provided keys to Edward's room and forged a stamp of Edward's signature.
|
|---|
| 1208 | But at the end of 1548, everyone knew of his plans. The council openly
|
|---|
| 1209 | discussed charges against him. His aristocratic friends cautioned
|
|---|
| 1210 | that their support would not be forthcoming after all. Soon enough,
|
|---|
| 1211 | someone had tipped off the council to one of the greatest crimes - the
|
|---|
| 1212 | Bristol mint was raided and Sharington fell to pieces, accusing Seymour
|
|---|
| 1213 | of forcing him to commit treason and turning King's evidence against him.
|
|---|
| 1214 | (In an ironic footnote, he was not only pardoned - but restored to his
|
|---|
| 1215 | office and position in life.) Somerset attempted to help his brother,
|
|---|
| 1216 | summoning him to London for a private audience. Seymour refused.
|
|---|
| 1217 | Somerset had no choice but to lay all before the council and let them proceed
|
|---|
| 1218 | against his brother. Soon enough, John Fowler's incriminating evidence
|
|---|
| 1219 | was laid bare - as was King Edward's. But still no direct action
|
|---|
| 1220 | was taken against him; it was just a treason investigation. But on
|
|---|
| 1221 | 16 January, Seymour ensured his immediate arrest.
|
|---|
| 1222 | <p>He still had the forged keys to Edward's apartment at Hampton Court
|
|---|
| 1223 | and, in the middle of the night, decided to risk everything on kidnapping
|
|---|
| 1224 | the king. He entered through the privy garden - but, in the room
|
|---|
| 1225 | outside Edward's bedroom, slept the king's pet spaniel. The dog woke
|
|---|
| 1226 | up, barking, and Seymour shot him. A Yeoman of the Guard appeared,
|
|---|
| 1227 | demanding an explanation, even as King Edward awoke and stood in his bedroom
|
|---|
| 1228 | doorway; he was clad in his nightshirt and openly terrified. Seymour
|
|---|
| 1229 | told them he had come to test the king's guards; the dog had attacked him
|
|---|
| 1230 | so he was forced to shoot. The guard let him leave but, upon learning
|
|---|
| 1231 | of the incident, the council decided to confine Seymour to the Tower while
|
|---|
| 1232 | they investigated. The official charge was attempting to murder King
|
|---|
| 1233 | Edward; even the suspicion of regicide was enough to condemn Seymour.
|
|---|
| 1234 | On 18 January, the council officially sent agents to question everyone
|
|---|
| 1235 | Seymour had conspired with; among those questioned were Princess Elizabeth
|
|---|
| 1236 | and her household.
|
|---|
| 1237 | <p>Seymour refused to appear privately before the council; he would settle
|
|---|
| 1238 | for nothing less than an open trial. On 22 February, the council
|
|---|
| 1239 | officially indicted him of thirty-three charges of treason. And Seymour
|
|---|
| 1240 | never had an open trial in which to make his case - as in Henry VIII's
|
|---|
| 1241 | time, a Bill of Attainder was passed on 4 March, approved by Parliament
|
|---|
| 1242 | and King Edward. Somerset delayed signing the death warrant so the
|
|---|
| 1243 | council, led by Dudley, went to Edward for his signature. So on 20
|
|---|
| 1244 | March, Seymour was executed at the Tower of London, dying 'dangerously,
|
|---|
| 1245 | irksomely, horribly.' Somerset's understandable inability to condemn
|
|---|
| 1246 | his brother resulted in a growing rift on the council. His family
|
|---|
| 1247 | was disgraced and he was angry at the councilors for so rapidly proceeding
|
|---|
| 1248 | against his brother. It was only a matter of time before he, too,
|
|---|
| 1249 | fell from power.
|
|---|
| 1250 | <p>Somerset's fall was engineered by Dudley and helped along by a backlash
|
|---|
| 1251 | against his regime. How did Somerset's policies help foster a climate
|
|---|
| 1252 | of betrayal and manipulation; specifically, how had he failed in his duties
|
|---|
| 1253 | as Lord Protector?
|
|---|
| 1254 | <p>
|
|---|
| 1255 | <hr WIDTH="100%">
|
|---|
| 1256 | <br><b>A more thorough discussion of Somerset's government policies, and
|
|---|
| 1257 | how they led to his downfall</b>
|
|---|
| 1258 | <p>Somerset's government was a confused jumble of misplaced idealism and
|
|---|
| 1259 | factional squabbling. With the dynamic and charismatic figure of
|
|---|
| 1260 | Henry VIII gone, Tudor government was in a shambles. Its fate was
|
|---|
| 1261 | inevitable - an autocratic king was replaced with a nine-year-old boy -
|
|---|
| 1262 | what else could result but chaos? Henry VIII had been a mass of contradictions
|
|---|
| 1263 | always united in the belief that the king's will was the highest authority.
|
|---|
| 1264 | Even when his religious policies became incomprehensible to anyone but
|
|---|
| 1265 | him, he still believed they were righteous - and through the force of his
|
|---|
| 1266 | will and use of kingly authority, he convinced most others of the same.
|
|---|
| 1267 | Up until the week of his death, he entertained foreign ambassadors and
|
|---|
| 1268 | plotted grandiose foreign invasions, displaying a disturbing interest in
|
|---|
| 1269 | current events while his council thought he should be contemplating the
|
|---|
| 1270 | afterlife. When he was gone, no one knew how to fill the void.
|
|---|
| 1271 | Certainly his heir, still a child, was king in name only. His Lord
|
|---|
| 1272 | Protectors - first Somerset and then Dudley - tried to <i>act</i> as kings
|
|---|
| 1273 | and both perished. The truth was obvious and inescapable - the English
|
|---|
| 1274 | people may have muttered (at great risk) about Henry's religious quarrels
|
|---|
| 1275 | and his private follies but they had respected his position as king.
|
|---|
| 1276 | The men that followed him had grown up in his shadow, jockeying for position
|
|---|
| 1277 | and favor. When he died, they struggled amongst themselves for Henry's
|
|---|
| 1278 | vanished supreme authority. In the end, they failed and the English
|
|---|
| 1279 | people suffered six years of turmoil.
|
|---|
| 1280 | <p>Somerset's position as Lord Protector seemed natural enough. After
|
|---|
| 1281 | all, no one seriously expected a council of sixteen peers to rule England.
|
|---|
| 1282 | Factionalism and squabbling had long marked Henry's court (particularly
|
|---|
| 1283 | after Cromwell's execution) and it only worsened after his death.
|
|---|
| 1284 | There needed to be a leader, a respected man who (in the council's opinion)
|
|---|
| 1285 | would not be a ruler but a figurehead. In other words, he would be
|
|---|
| 1286 | perceived as leader while actually sharing authority with the council.
|
|---|
| 1287 | (A position, in other words, like that of Speaker of the House in the U.S.
|
|---|
| 1288 | Congress.) Of course, such a plan depended on the leader being willing
|
|---|
| 1289 | to share power privately. Somerset originally promised to do so but,
|
|---|
| 1290 | fairly quickly, decided to disregard his peers. This understandably
|
|---|
| 1291 | angered them. In addition to his arrogant refusal to consult them,
|
|---|
| 1292 | he also implemented policies which helped the poor at the expense of the
|
|---|
| 1293 | aristocracy.
|
|---|
| 1294 | <p>In private life, Somerset was regarded as a genial man, though criticized
|
|---|
| 1295 | as middle-of-the-road and unreadable. His wife, Anne Stanhope, was
|
|---|
| 1296 | the stereotypical shrewish wife who offended virtually everyone she met,
|
|---|
| 1297 | particularly other aristocratic wives. She bore Somerset nine children
|
|---|
| 1298 | and he was considered a strict but fair father. Insofar as it is
|
|---|
| 1299 | possible to sketch a psychological portrait of Somerset at this site, I
|
|---|
| 1300 | would characterize him as an essentially kind and sympathetic man who took
|
|---|
| 1301 | his responsibilities very seriously; he was also prone to feelings of inferiority
|
|---|
| 1302 | and easily offended. As a result, his government policies were idealistic
|
|---|
| 1303 | - but his personal relationships with counncil members were unsatisfying.
|
|---|
| 1304 | He came to be regarded as arrogant and bullying when, in fact, he was simply
|
|---|
| 1305 | ill-suited to his job. Added to this, he craved appreciation - he
|
|---|
| 1306 | cultivated the appearance of fairness and virtue even as he replaced the
|
|---|
| 1307 | council with his own hand-picked advisors.
|
|---|
| 1308 | <p>Somerset had achieved the position of Lord Protector simply because
|
|---|
| 1309 | his younger sister, Jane, bore Henry VIII the longed-for son. As
|
|---|
| 1310 | such, Henry always regarded her in a sentimental haze; she was the perfect
|
|---|
| 1311 | wife - gentle, meek and obedient. She had also fulfilled her duty
|
|---|
| 1312 | as queen by providing a male heir, though she tragically died as a result.
|
|---|
| 1313 | It was Jane who, years after her death, was painted as Henry's consort
|
|---|
| 1314 | in paintings of the Tudor dynasty; and it was Jane whom Henry wished to
|
|---|
| 1315 | lie beside in death. While she lived as queen (for a brief eighteen
|
|---|
| 1316 | months), her brothers, Edward and Thomas, were showered with favors.
|
|---|
| 1317 | After Edward VI's birth, the favors continued. Edward, the elder
|
|---|
| 1318 | brother who became duke of Somerset in 1547, was closer to Henry than Thomas
|
|---|
| 1319 | and adept at handling his mercurial monarch. In truth, Somerset had
|
|---|
| 1320 | emerged as a competent soldier and politician. But competency alone
|
|---|
| 1321 | could not run Tudor England; indeed, even the great Cromwell had struggled
|
|---|
| 1322 | to control Henry's council before they connived at his execution.
|
|---|
| 1323 | Somerset was no Cromwell. He lacked a coherent vision of government
|
|---|
| 1324 | and the personality to govern. But for several years he was Lord
|
|---|
| 1325 | Protector - before his younger brother's jealousy and ambition destroyed
|
|---|
| 1326 | them both.
|
|---|
| 1327 | <p>The personal tragedy of Edward and Thomas Seymour was discussed above.
|
|---|
| 1328 | Suffice to say, it played out against the backdrop of actual government
|
|---|
| 1329 | - all the mundane day-to-day policies whicch actually control a country.
|
|---|
| 1330 | Edward VI became king even as his father's past was catching up to the
|
|---|
| 1331 | English economy. Henry VIII had indulged in many frivolous pursuits,
|
|---|
| 1332 | including several extremely expensive battles in France. He left
|
|---|
| 1333 | behind a mountain of debt and little means to pay it. The English
|
|---|
| 1334 | economy was heavily dependent upon wool exports to Europe, particularly
|
|---|
| 1335 | the Low Countries. And it possessed the enviable ability to feed
|
|---|
| 1336 | its population without importing food - but only during good harvests.
|
|---|
| 1337 | When harvests were bad, famine occurred and the poor became beggars, often
|
|---|
| 1338 | relying on the newly-impoverished churches for support.
|
|---|
| 1339 | <p>Somerset dealt with crises by consulting his own advisors and not the
|
|---|
| 1340 | council. It was unfortunate that the disregarded councilors included
|
|---|
| 1341 | one John Dudley, earl of Warwick. Dudley was very ambitious and determined
|
|---|
| 1342 | to destroy both Seymour brothers. He began through simple gossip
|
|---|
| 1343 | - encouraging Thomas Seymour's jealousy whhile telling Somerset his brother
|
|---|
| 1344 | coveted his position. But, for a long while, Somerset was impervious
|
|---|
| 1345 | to Dudley's scheming. Within weeks of Henry's death, Somerset obtained
|
|---|
| 1346 | a dry stamp of Edward VI's signature - perhaps his most powerful tool (since
|
|---|
| 1347 | the king's signature implied the king's will - and the king's will was
|
|---|
| 1348 | law.) And he soon commanded that Edward's signature alone was not
|
|---|
| 1349 | completely legal; instead, documents must include both Edward <i>and</i>
|
|---|
| 1350 | Somerset's signatures. For almost exactly two years (until his brother
|
|---|
| 1351 | was arrested on 17 January 1549), Somerset ruled England as thoroughly
|
|---|
| 1352 | as any king. Indeed, it could be said he consulted the official privy
|
|---|
| 1353 | council less than Henry VIII had; certainly he entrusted less business
|
|---|
| 1354 | to it.
|
|---|
| 1355 | <p>His foreign policy was dominated by one thing - Scotland. He wanted
|
|---|
| 1356 | to marry Edward VI to Mary Stuart, heiress to the Scottish throne and known
|
|---|
| 1357 | to history as Mary queen of Scots. But he knew that such a betrothal
|
|---|
| 1358 | would have to be forced and enforced constantly. He also knew that
|
|---|
| 1359 | England could ill afford to continually invade their troublesome northern
|
|---|
| 1360 | neighbor. So Somerset proposed a logical - but impractical - plan.
|
|---|
| 1361 | He would maintain a permanent English presence in Scotland by constructing
|
|---|
| 1362 | armed garrisons. He invaded Scotland in September 1547 and won a
|
|---|
| 1363 | battle at Pinkie. He instantly began to build forts while neglecting
|
|---|
| 1364 | to enforce a naval blockade to prevent French involvement. Perhaps
|
|---|
| 1365 | Somerset did not correctly gauge the Scottish-French alliance; he was certainly
|
|---|
| 1366 | unprepared when 6000 French troops arrived and promptly captured English
|
|---|
| 1367 | forts and built their own garrisons. Two years after the Battle of
|
|---|
| 1368 | Pinkie, the French had moved Mary Stuart to France (thereby ending Somerset's
|
|---|
| 1369 | planned marriage between her and Edward.) Also, the battle had become
|
|---|
| 1370 | defensive and inconclusive. Somerset was reduced to hiring mercenaries
|
|---|
| 1371 | (over 7000) to maintain some positions but conditions were bleak enough
|
|---|
| 1372 | to drive mercenaries away. Soon enough, France had decided to declare
|
|---|
| 1373 | war; Henri II officially did so on 8 August 1549. England could not
|
|---|
| 1374 | fight France and so Somerset offered to return Boulogne (captured by Henry
|
|---|
| 1375 | VIII) five years before an earlier treaty demanded. The French king
|
|---|
| 1376 | demanded the return of Calais as well. So Somerset ordered new forts
|
|---|
| 1377 | built at both cities and managed to fend off an attack at Boulogne.
|
|---|
| 1378 | But soon enough the French king declared his trump card - Mary Stuart was
|
|---|
| 1379 | betrothed to his son and heir, the Dauphin. The message was clear
|
|---|
| 1380 | - soon, the French would control Scotland..
|
|---|
| 1381 | <p>The conflicts with Scotland and France cost a great deal of money and
|
|---|
| 1382 | hurt Somerset's reputation. Furthermore, he paid for the battles
|
|---|
| 1383 | by debasing coinage (hardly an intelligent policy.) He combined these
|
|---|
| 1384 | foreign policy and economic mishaps by his religious policy. Keep
|
|---|
| 1385 | in mind that in 1547 just 20% of Londoners were Protestant; Protestants
|
|---|
| 1386 | were also a vocal minority in Essex, Bristol, Kent and Sussex but outside
|
|---|
| 1387 | this all-important southeast corridor, the religion had barely spread.
|
|---|
| 1388 | It was long known that whoever could hold London could control all of England
|
|---|
| 1389 | - London was the capital and one of the laargest cities in Europe.
|
|---|
| 1390 | But since Protestants only accounted for 1/5 of the population, what explains
|
|---|
| 1391 | Somerset's - and the rest of government's - legal support for this new
|
|---|
| 1392 | religion? The answer is complicated and deserves its own book - in
|
|---|
| 1393 | brief, the Protestants were a minority but they were a vocal minority with
|
|---|
| 1394 | money and influence. Their members formed the basis of Somerset's
|
|---|
| 1395 | support and - as a vocal minority - they were far more passionate and committed
|
|---|
| 1396 | to spreading their faith than Catholics were with preserving the old order.
|
|---|
| 1397 | This is an important point; offensive actions are more ideologically appealing
|
|---|
| 1398 | than defensive actions. The group that initiated the changes (Protestants)
|
|---|
| 1399 | were far more likely to be committed
|
|---|
| 1400 | <i>and</i> inspired to action.
|
|---|
| 1401 | <p>Many of the wealthy Protestants had benefited from the dissolution of
|
|---|
| 1402 | the monasteries in the 1530s but many historians have exaggerated Henry
|
|---|
| 1403 | VIII's generosity, implying that he gave vast monastic lands away to favored
|
|---|
| 1404 | courtiers. In truth, he and Cromwell charged a fair - and often steep
|
|---|
| 1405 | - price for most of the lands. They were purchased by nobles - who
|
|---|
| 1406 | then were committed to keeping their new lands. But most were also
|
|---|
| 1407 | committed to Protestantism for very real ideological and religious reasons.
|
|---|
| 1408 | One should not underestimate the importance of religion to 16th century
|
|---|
| 1409 | people, though our own age is awash in skepticism and cynicism. For
|
|---|
| 1410 | people of the 16th century, the miseries of this world were transitory
|
|---|
| 1411 | - they were more committed to ensuring exiistence in the hereafter.
|
|---|
| 1412 | <p>Throughout Somerset's protectorate, the Tudor government - though sympathetic
|
|---|
| 1413 | to Protestantism - did not dare officially declare itself Protestant.
|
|---|
| 1414 | Why? Once again, the specter of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V hung
|
|---|
| 1415 | over England. And with the Franco-Scottish alliance a pressing concern,
|
|---|
| 1416 | Somerset could not afford to alienate the neutral Charles V. (Like
|
|---|
| 1417 | Henry VIII, Somerset wanted to avoid a Franco-Spanish-Scottish alliance
|
|---|
| 1418 | against England.) So he avoided an official declaration of England's
|
|---|
| 1419 | religious
|
|---|
| 1420 | sympathies and allowed Charles's cousin, Princess Mary, freedom to celebrate
|
|---|
| 1421 | Catholic services. But the religious policy was as confusing as everything
|
|---|
| 1422 | else during those years - what were the proper rites for church services?
|
|---|
| 1423 | what doctrinal changes from Henry's reign would remain? would the use of
|
|---|
| 1424 | an English bible be enforced? should the Host be elevated during mass?
|
|---|
| 1425 | These questions - and many others - remained hotly debated. Meanwhile,
|
|---|
| 1426 | Somerset's government passed numerous guidelines, each more upsetting to
|
|---|
| 1427 | traditionalists than the last - unlicensed preaching was banned on 24 April
|
|---|
| 1428 | 1548; <i>all</i> preaching was banned just five months later. Instead,
|
|---|
| 1429 | clergy would recite twelve government-approved homilies/proverbs from the
|
|---|
| 1430 | pulpit. Images were outlawed, altars were ordered removed, private
|
|---|
| 1431 | masses ended.... And the twelve government-endorsed homilies continued
|
|---|
| 1432 | this destruction, railing against good works and purgatory while advocating
|
|---|
| 1433 | salvation through faith <i>alone</i>. All churchmen felt themselves
|
|---|
| 1434 | under attack while their parishes agreed. (For example, good works
|
|---|
| 1435 | and purgatory were deeply-held beliefs of common people.)
|
|---|
| 1436 | <p>Added to this confusion was Edward VI's blossoming religious convictions.
|
|---|
| 1437 | Like his sister, Mary, Edward became committed to a specific ideology and
|
|---|
| 1438 | determined to impose it upon the English people - for their own good, of
|
|---|
| 1439 | course. His tacit approval did not matter much to Somerset (who,
|
|---|
| 1440 | after all, possessed the king's signature) but it was symbolic. For
|
|---|
| 1441 | the English people, the religious policies were frightening and confusing.
|
|---|
| 1442 | Most English people lived in the countryside and were fundamentally conservative
|
|---|
| 1443 | - as most rural populations are; they weree slow to change and suspicious
|
|---|
| 1444 | of new ideas. Confined to London for most of his short life, Edward
|
|---|
| 1445 | was unaware of this basic truth. Like Somerset, he resided in London
|
|---|
| 1446 | where the new ideas were rampant.
|
|---|
| 1447 | <p>But, of course, the people had another reason for dissatisfaction.
|
|---|
| 1448 | As mentioned earlier, Somerset's economic policy was essentially nonexistent.
|
|---|
| 1449 | There was no overriding philosophy - just one hare-brained scheme to raise
|
|---|
| 1450 | money after another. The population had been steadily increasing
|
|---|
| 1451 | (see <a href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/facts.html">Tudor Facts
|
|---|
| 1452 | & Figures</a>) and, of course, fueled a rise in prices. But along
|
|---|
| 1453 | with this, currency debasement continued and increased inflation.
|
|---|
| 1454 | One official mentioned the obvious solution - restore the coinage - but
|
|---|
| 1455 | Somerset was desperate for quick money to fund his Scottish plans.
|
|---|
| 1456 | Most of his economic policies were implemented by John Hales. Hales
|
|---|
| 1457 | introduced many bills to parliament 1548-49, the main ones were: the maintenance
|
|---|
| 1458 | of tillage, requiring sheep farmers to keep a certain number of cows to
|
|---|
| 1459 | ensure regular milk and cheese supplies; he also attempted to end the compulsory
|
|---|
| 1460 | purchase by the government of food at fixed prices. Those bills failed
|
|---|
| 1461 | - but a tax on sheep and wool was approvedd in order to discourage sheep
|
|---|
| 1462 | farming (and enclosures.) The attempts to end enclosures was perhaps
|
|---|
| 1463 | the most ill-advised of Somerset's policies. Landholders were naturally
|
|---|
| 1464 | opposed to it and, when they supposedly frustrated attempts to collect
|
|---|
| 1465 | evidence of enclosures, Somerset grew angry - he decided to proceed without
|
|---|
| 1466 | legal basis. (The landowners had frustrated the government by packing
|
|---|
| 1467 | juries with their own tenants and servants.) Somerset's decision
|
|---|
| 1468 | to proceed inflamed the entire Midlands (where the commission had begun
|
|---|
| 1469 | its work.)
|
|---|
| 1470 | <p>In May 1549, revolts began which can be loosely classified as 'class
|
|---|
| 1471 | warfare', or as close to such as Tudor England would ever get. This
|
|---|
| 1472 | was not a repeat of the Pilgrimage of Grace, where nobleman led their supporters
|
|---|
| 1473 | in protest of new religious policies. This was the revolt ot thousands
|
|---|
| 1474 | of laborers and poor farmers who had long resented the use of enclosures.
|
|---|
| 1475 | They were revolting against the noblemen with, so they believed, the government's
|
|---|
| 1476 | support. These poor people, who had suffered through rising inflation
|
|---|
| 1477 | and prices and debased currency, were determined to end a grossly unfair
|
|---|
| 1478 | practice. When Somerset insisted the nobles had deliberately filled
|
|---|
| 1479 | the juries with supporters, the people grew angry. They took to the
|
|---|
| 1480 | fields - filling ditches, tearing down fences and hedges. Too late,
|
|---|
| 1481 | Somerset recognized the force he had unleashed. He threatened to
|
|---|
| 1482 | disperse the rioters by force, to no avail. In May the first revolts
|
|---|
| 1483 | broke out; by August, revolts broke out in Leicestershire. It was
|
|---|
| 1484 | up to the nobility to restore order to their lands, using troops originally
|
|---|
| 1485 | destined for Scotland. But thousands perished during the fighting.
|
|---|
| 1486 | <p>The revolts had revealed the ugly undercurrent of dissatisfaction among
|
|---|
| 1487 | the English people. The factors already discussed combined to encourage
|
|---|
| 1488 | revolt. It was also a terribly hot summer with a bad harvest.
|
|---|
| 1489 | As prices rose, Somerset foolishly decided to fix maximum prices for goods
|
|---|
| 1490 | - but the prices were incredibly high and,, once again, demonstrated his
|
|---|
| 1491 | knowledge of London prices and ignorance of the rest of England.
|
|---|
| 1492 | In general, the rebels wanted such basic rights as this - the right to
|
|---|
| 1493 | have landlords forced off 'common' ground and the right to fish freely.
|
|---|
| 1494 | In a way, it was very much a 'Robin Hood' rebellion; they distrusted the
|
|---|
| 1495 | gentry and sought to separate the church and nobility.
|
|---|
| 1496 | <p>Somerset's policies during the rebellions were typical of 'the Good
|
|---|
| 1497 | Duke', or so the peasantry believed - but they enraged the nobility.
|
|---|
| 1498 | In effect, he waffled between action and inaction. When the revolts
|
|---|
| 1499 | began, he had not wanted to delay his Scottish campaign and so he didn't
|
|---|
| 1500 | respond immediately. Instead, he issued grandiose proclamations and
|
|---|
| 1501 | promised to pardon rebels if they stopped. Meanwhile, the revolts
|
|---|
| 1502 | spread and the council urged action. In July, Somerset finally brought
|
|---|
| 1503 | troops back from Scotland and sent them to smash the rebels with impunity.
|
|---|
| 1504 | Thousands of deaths ensued and much property was damaged. The council
|
|---|
| 1505 | was furious - Somerset had blundered once again, disregarding their advice
|
|---|
| 1506 | and following no clear policy of his own. Even Paget, his former
|
|---|
| 1507 | ally, was disgusted. He wrote Somerset a threatening and dismissive
|
|---|
| 1508 | letter which read, in part:
|
|---|
| 1509 | <ul>Society in a realm doth consist and is maintained by mean of religion
|
|---|
| 1510 | and law. And these two or one wanting, farewell all just society,
|
|---|
| 1511 | farewell king, government, justice and all other virtue. Look well
|
|---|
| 1512 | whether you have either law or religion at home and I fear you shall find
|
|---|
| 1513 | neither. ....And put no more so many irons in the fire at once as you have
|
|---|
| 1514 | had within this twelvemonth - war with Scotland, with France.... commissions
|
|---|
| 1515 | out for that matter, new laws for this, proclamation for another, one in
|
|---|
| 1516 | another's neck.</ul>
|
|---|
| 1517 | Paget's opinion of his former ally indicated the growing disillusionment
|
|---|
| 1518 | with Somerset. Coupled with his brother's ambitious attempt to overthrow
|
|---|
| 1519 | him, the complete loss of the council's confidence was thus the beginning
|
|---|
| 1520 | of Somerset's end.
|
|---|
| 1521 | <p>
|
|---|
| 1522 | <hr WIDTH="100%">
|
|---|
| 1523 | <center><font size=-1><a href="../monarchs.html">to
|
|---|
| 1524 | Tudor Monarchs</a></font>
|
|---|
| 1525 | <br><font size=-1><a href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html">to Tudor
|
|---|
| 1526 | England</a></font></center>
|
|---|
| 1527 | </blockquote>
|
|---|
| 1528 |
|
|---|
| 1529 | <center><font size=-1>written by <a href="mailto:[email protected]">Marilee</a></font></center>
|
|---|
| 1530 | </td>
|
|---|
| 1531 | </tr>
|
|---|
| 1532 | </table></center>
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| 1533 |
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| 1534 | </body>
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