The Probert Encyclopaedia of People

EDWARD SEYMOUR

Edward Seymour (duke of Somerset) was an English statesman. He was born in 1506 and died in 1552. A son of Sir John Seymour, his early years were passed at court where he was attendant upon Henry VIII and Wolsey. In 1536 he was made a viscount, and in 1537 earl of Hertford, his sister Jane, having just been married to the king. In charge of the forces sent to Scotland in 1544, he took Edinburgh, and he gained further military experience on the borders and in France. In 1547, on the accession of Edward VI, Edward Seymour was a member of the council of regency. Almost at once he was chosen protector and made duke of Somerset, and for two years he governed England. He gained the Battle of Pinkie Cleugh in 1547 and carried through a moderate reformation of the Church, and made an attempt to stop the enclosure of common lands. His policy and position, however, created enemies and foreign affairs started to go badly for England. This resulted in his fall secured by his rival the Duke of Northumberland who managed to have Edward Seymour tried and subsequently executed for treason in 1552.
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