EDWARD SEYMOUR

What titles did Edward Seymour have?

Earl of Hertford and Duke of Somerset

What religious convictions did Seymour have?

mildly radical protestant

What positive personality traits did Seymour have?

experienced soldier, stubborn

What negative personality traits did Seymour have?

autocratic ruler, arrogant and rude, obsessive gambler, lavish spender, not well educated

What ‘problem’ was Seymour obsessed with solving?

The ‘problem’ of Scotland

When did Seymour come to political prominence?

following his sister jane’s marriage to Henry VIII

What happened to Seymour in 1537?

became a privy counciller and was made Earl of Hertford

What title did Seymour have upon the death of Henry?

Lord protector of the realm and governer of the King’s Person

Why does A F Pollard explain that Somerset was good?

tolerant, anti-enclosure and a friend of the poor

What is the revisionist view of Somerset?

revionist view, autocratic, no parliament, no parliament, 17 rebellions

What is the third view od Somerset?

that he was a typical tudor staesman and thus both good and bad

How did the letters patent assist Somerset?

granted by Edward, willingly (not parliament), had given him Quasi-royal powers as he became ‘Lord protector of the realm and governer of the kings person’

What did Somerset do the Privy council as Lord Protector?

appoints and dismisses members, conservatives were politically weakened s they were dismissed (eg Wriothesly)

What did Somerset do to edward?

very strict, reduced the number of servants in Edward’s houshold

Who was Sir William Stanhope, what did he do?

Somerset’s brother in law and was the main figure in Edward’s houshold, so he reported back to Somerset

What did Somerset rule through?

the dry stamp, originally the stamp was used by 4 men but Somerset monoplosied it

What did Somerset countersign?

everything Edward signs, making edward dependent on him

What does Somerset work with?

not the privy council,set up his own council of six men, only 1 of which was on the privy council (dudley)

What does the autocracy and proclomations of Somerset highlight?

the extent of the ‘mid tudor crisis’

What act constraints proclomations?

1539 proclomation acts which stated they were of lesser importance than parliament laws

How does Somerset use proclomation?

useed 77 to bypass parliament, parliament agrees to it due to the ‘crisis nature’

What did Paget eventaually say about Somerset?

he reaped the bitter rewards of his failure to cultivate a relationship with his nephew

WHo was Edward’s favourite uncle, why?

Thomas, as he gave him money whilst Edward tightly controlled his money.

What titles did Dudley have?

Viscount Lisle and later Duke of Northumberland

Why did Somerset need money straight away?

to finance his foreign policy

What part of Henry VIII’s legacy made finance difficult?

great debasement of the 1540s which caused a decrease in trade as many lost faith in the english currency, sold off a lot of land from the dissolution

What did the crowns revenue stand at?

200,000 a year

How much did Somerset spend on war with Scotland?

half a million punds and continued the debasement of the coinage

Overall, how did Somerset structure the government?

used the systems already in place, exactly the way Henry VIII had ruled

What did Somerset feel enclosurement was to balme for?

for the hardships that the poor endured

What did Somerset become head of in 1548?

the head of the enclosure committee

What action occured in March 1549, which led histprians to view Somerset as ‘the good duke’?

a 5% tax on personal property

What was the 5% tax’s impact?

miniscule effect on the lives of people in England, except for the gentry farmers who felt he was obstructing the improvement of their estates

What problem occured both in the cities and the countryside?

vagrancy and poverty

What did the 1547 vagrancy act do?

a v was branded on the heads of ‘undeserving beggars’, and a duty for towns was madeto provide relief, , thesee people were sold into slavery for 2 years, children of vagrants were made into apprentices,

What was the real impact of the 1547 vagrancy act?

not actually put into effect but showed the government’s willingness to get involved with poor relief

What was England’s international position in 1547?

war with Scotland and tense relations with France

How did Somerset’s war with Scotland go?

intially well, somerset and dudley led armies to Berwick and with the aid of foreign mercenaries marched up to the lowlands to win the Battle of Pinkie (Sept 1547) but the scots secured French support and in June 1548, 6,000 french troops landed in scotland. Captured englsih forts and secured safe passage of the princess mary of France for her impending marriage

When did henry II declare war on England?

August 1549

What did Somerset do when Henry II declared war?

Somerset had to reomve troops from the scottish border, calais and Boulogne were not lost, his protecterhsip ended with a war in France and a hostile scottihs/french coalition in the north

when does Henry II inherit France, what is his view on England?

1547, anti english and wants Calais and Boulogne back

What does Henry VIII do to England, how?

makes it nationally catholic through the act of 6 articles

What religion is Edward?

Protestant

What does henry’s will say about religious change?

religion must stay the same until Ed is old enough to make up his own mind

What is the positivees of england becoming radically protestant?

lots of radical reformers coming over, and the influence of cranmer

What parts of England are more prone and accepting of religious change?

London and east Anglia (lots of trade with the netherlands)

Which continental countries were becoming more protestant?

France and the netherlands

What is the regency council full of?

reformers

How would England have to become protestant?

legally, through changing laws (act of six articles)

What threat does Mary pose?

a potential heir and an easy catholic figurehead

What is the issue with england being excomunicated in 1538?

will remain like this if the country goes protestant, and the only ally (charles V) will go to, expecially if pressure is put onto MAry as well.

What is the chantries act in 1547?

the chantries are sold off to the gentry class

Seymour could sell off the crownland and leftover dissolved land what, is the drawback of this?

good short term money, but long term no rent

What is the issue with loaning from foreign bankers?

high interest rates

Where are people no longer getting welfare from?

the church

What is the problem with the netherlands in the 1550s?

an economic slump so there is a slump in the cloth trade

How does England get round the decrease in the cloth trade?

create more cloth, so more sheep, more enclosurement, no crops, crops became scarce and expensive, health issues exerate this