Edward, Somerset, and Northumberland

• Sir Michael Stanhope


  • Status due to marrying Somerset's sister
  • Groom of the Stool
  • Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber
  • Imprisoned when Somerset fell from power
  • Executed following his involvement in Somerset's coup against Northumberland
• Royal authority under Edward VI

  • Had difficult inheritance
  • The country was divided on religious grounds
  • Crown finances had been ruined by expensive wars against France and Scotland
  • To pay for the wars the coinage had been debased leading to high inflation and thus the decline of real incomes
  • Crown compromised its long term security by selling off monastic lands (often discounted) to raise money quickly
• Regency Council

  • 16 members
  • Supported by a further 12 who were required to assist
  • Decisions made through a majority
  • Protestants- Hertford, Cranmer, Sir Anthony Denny
  • Religious conservatives- Thomas Wriothesly (Earl of Southampton), Lord St John (later Marquis of Winchester)
  • Several administrators and lawyers who were expected to ensure the interests of good government
  • Great noble families were under-represented
  • Didn't last long; promptly delegated its power to Hertford who was appointed Protector
• Government under Edward VI


  • Fearful for good order and security
  • The tone of Archbishop Cranmer's homily on Obedience (1547) made this clear
  • Clergy were required to reinforce that obedience to the King was in accordance with the will of God i.e. disobedience was a mortal sin
• Sir William Paget

  • Clerk to the Privy Council 1540
  • One of Henry's two principal secretaries 1543
  • Close to Somerset
  • Served Northumberland and Mary
  • Excluded from the Privy Council by Elizabeth
• The Duke of Somerset

  • Counted on the support of Archbishop Cranmer, Viscount Lisle (later Earl of Warwick, and Duke of Northumberland), Sir William Paget
  • Rewarded his supporters with promotions within the peerage and substantial grants of Crown lands
  • Gave himself quasi-royal powers
  • Governed largely with members of his own household, only one of whom, Sir Thomas Smith was appointed a member of the Privy Council
  • Reinforced his power by controlling the Privy Chamber through the appointment of his supporter, Sir Michael Stanhope, as Chief Gentleman
  • Resentment towards him e.g. within a few weeks the Earl of Southampton had been arrested
  • There was no guarantee of wider public acceptance of Somerset's protectorate
  • Widespread fear about the breakdown of law and order
  • Factional rivalries
  • Thomas Seymour sought to turn Edward VI against the Somerset and tried to plot with the Earl of Southampton against him
• Somerset's fall from power

  1. August 1549 Warwick and Southampton along with the Earl of Arundel and Lord St. John tried to secure the support of Princess Mary but she remained neutral

  2. October there was a stand-off with the conspirators in London, Somerset and Edward in Hampton Court

  3. Somerset and Edward retreated to Windsor where Somerset was arrested on the orders of the Regency Council

  4. He surrendered having been promised that no treason charges would be pressed against him

  5. Committed to the tower
• The Duke of Northumberland (John Dudley/ Viscount Lisle/ Earl of Warwick)


  • Anxious to avoid excessive concentration of power similarly to Somerset, following his fall
  • Lord President of the Council
  • Initially unclear what type of regime he was going to preside over
  • Many of his key supporters in the coup had been conservatives who hoped for a regency led by Princess Mary
  • His second coup, directed at the conservatives, made the nature of the regime clearer
  • Likely that he acted because he feared that he himself might be ejected by the conservatives
  • The purging of the conservatives Southampton and Arundel, Cranmer's support, and the King's own increasingly assertive Protestantism determined the religious character of the regime
  • Warwick promoted to Duke of Northumberland
  • Already Lord Chamberlain
  • Appointed his own hardman, Sir John Gates as Vice-Chamberlain of the household to ensure his control over the court
  • Operated an effective government via Privy Council, undoubtedly made easier by the expulsion of the Earl of Southampton
  • Paget drew up guidelines for this, some of which Northumberland instituted, although Paget was increasingly excluded from the decision-making process
  • William Cecil, initially one of Somerset's men, transformed into Northumberland's key administrator
  • Broadly collective government didn't survive Somerset's attempt at a counter coup
  • Somerset readmitted to the council
  • Plotted to recover his old position but was outwitted by Northumberland
  • Somerset was executed which according to Dale Hoak saved England from a revival of the chaos that had characterised the protectorate
  • Northumberland became less conciliar in his approach to government in reaction
  • Presumed enemies e.g. Paget (sent to the Tower) were removed from the Council
  • Power strong with Northumberland and his henchman Gates who had possession of the dry stamp with which he could affix the king's signature to documents
• For several centuries, Northumberland was seen as ruthless and unscrupulous due to his coups against Somerset and the conservatives, Somerset's execution, and his failed attempt to alter the succession
• Dale Hoak argued that Northumberland was no more unscrupulous than any other leading Tudor politician
• David Loades views Northumberland as both "a major figure in English government for a crucial decade" whilst also being a "hardened professional" who "destroyed himself by a major miscalculation which left his reputation as discredited as his career"
• Northumberland's attempt to alter the succession

  1. HVIII's will; succeeded by Edward, but if Edward was to die without children, then he should be succeeded by Mary

  2. The rapid decline in Edward's health in February 1553 was a great problem

  3. If Mary succeeded Catholicism would be restored

  4. Northumberland was a radical protestant meaning he would be ruined

  5. Plan known as Devyse was formed to alter the succession

  6. Edward was anxious to ensure the continuation of Protestantism in the event of his death and was prepared to exclude his half-sisters from the succession, to whom both Edward considered illegitimate

  7. Northumberland's preferred choice was Lady Jane Grey, married to Guildford Dudley and great-granddaughter of Henry VII (Edward's cousin)

  8. June 1553, Elizabeth and Mary declared illegitimate and preparations were made to call a parliament to ratify the new succession

  9. Edward died 6th July 1553 before Parliament could meet

  10. Without parliamentary sanction Devyse was patently illegal

  11. Northumberland had no Plan C

  12. Took him 3 days to carry out his plan and not until 9th July 1553 did he proclaim Lady Jane Grey as queen
• Somerset's foreign policy

  • 1547 inherited HVIII's ruinous FP
  • Aggressive approach to Scotland was determined by the strategic objective of reasserting the ancient claim of Edward I to the Scottish throne
  • Aim to enforce the marriage between Edward VI and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots to unite the crowns of England and Scotland
  • Main strategy was to defeat the Scots in battle, build and garrison a number of forts in the borders and the south of Scotland, and thus force the Scots into submission
  • Defeated Scots at the Battle of Pinkie in September 1547 but the strategy began to unravel
  • Forts were difficult and expensive to garrison
  • The English couldn't capture the strategically significant castles at Dunbar and Edinburgh
  • Somerset underestimated the amount of co-operation between Scotland and France, and failed to block the Firth of Forth properly thus enabling the French to relieve Edinburgh
  • In the process the French were able to gain control of the young Queen Mary who was taken to France August 1548 to marry the Dauphin, the heir to the French throne
  • His military strategy had been unaffordable at a time of financial pressure
  • Failed in his political objective to secure the marriage of Queen Mary and King Edward
  • The deteriorating relationship with France led in 1549 to the threat of war and the prospect of a French invasion of southern England; in his most vulnerable state due to the ongoing rebellions which heightened resentment among members of the Privy Council about his autocratic style of government
• Northumberland's foreign policy

  • Able to reduce foreign policy expenditure in order to help stabilise the Crown's finances
  • Ended the wars against Scotland and France
  • To end the war with France he was forced to return Boulogne to the French
  • May have been perceived as a humiliating defeat
  • But brought about immediate improvements in the Crown's financial position
  • Occupation of Boulogne was a constant drain on resources
  • The French were willing to pay £133,333 to recover the port
  • The financial benefit from this outweighed any fears about continuing French influence over affairs in Scotland