Political rivalries and the death of Henry VIII

• Whoever was most influential in the king's last months

  Was likely to be in a position to dominate under his successor
• Edward Seymour


  • Norfolk's rival
  • Uncle of Jane Seymour's son, the male heir to the throne
• The dying king

  Consented to Norfolk's death
• Norfolk was spared the axe by the king's death on 28 January 1547
• The new Council did not want to inaugurate the reign with bloodshed
• Norfolk remained a prisoner in the Tower for the whole of young Edward VI's reign