Today we’re talking about some of the political moves after the death of Henry VIII, as members of the council consolidated power – namely Edward Seymour, the uncle to the new King Edward VI, who was still only nine years old at the time.
Henry had named 16 executors who were meant to form a regency council until Edward was old enough to rule on his own, with each member having an equal say. But the will also gave members the right to gift themselves land and honors, so Edward Seymour took advantage of that and made himself the Duke of Somerset today in 1547.
He also named himself Lord Protector of the council with 13 of the 16 members voting to approve this. For the next few years he essentially ruled as king in all but name.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th-century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Author Janet Wertman on Edward VI
Autumn 2018 Tudor Summit: Janet Wertman on The Path to Somerset
Autumn 2017 Tudor Summit: Janet Wertman on the Seymours
Episode 13: Edward VI
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.