duke of somerset

Book Review: “The Path to Somerset” by Janet Wertman

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If you know anything about me at all you know I love all things Thomas Seymour. It's because of my love for Thomas that I tend to hold Edward Seymour in a bad light - he, after all, was at the helm when Thomas was executed. The Path to Somerset is the second book in the Seymour saga by Janet Wertman - her first book was on Jane Seymour, called Jane the Quene. This book covers the career of Edward Seymour starting in March 1539. Queen Jane has been dead for a year and a half [More]

The Regency Council of Edward VI

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As Henry VIII lay dying in his bedchamber in January 1547, Edward Seymour and William Paget were whispering in the gallery outside his chamber door at Westminster plotting the future. We know this is true because later Paget calls out Edward Seymour on following through on what they had discussed in the gallery that day in a later letter – the letter is also a warning to his close friend. At the point of this letter, Thomas Seymour was already dead (20 March 1549) and things [More]

Tudor Power Couple: Edward and Anne Seymour

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The consummate “power couple from hell” Edward Seymour and his wife Anne Stanhope were portrayed in Showtime’s “The Tudors” as selfish, greedy and uncompromising. In real life you could say the same...or is there more to the story? Edward Seymour Born in 1500, Edward Seymour was the second son of John Seymour and Margery Wentworth and grew up at Wolf Hall. The eldest son of the couple, John most likely died in infancy - so Edward was now the oldest. He had nine siblin [More]

Thomas Seymour: Prisoner to Greed

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Thomas Seymour had a way with women - his charisma so great and his looks so good that even Katherine Parr couldn't help but fall for him. He was described as "...fierce in courage, courtly in fashion, in personage stately, in voice magnificent."  Yet with all those wonderful attributes he did not marry until he was nearly forty years old. In 1547, after the death of King Henry VIII, his son Edward succeeded him as King Edward VI of England. Young Edward's mother, Jan [More]

Edward Seymour: Father or Brother?

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  In about 1527 Edward Seymour (future Earl of Hertford/Duke of Somerset) and brother of Jane Seymour, married his first wife, Katherine Fillol. Katherine was the daughter of Sir William Fillol and an heiress to his lands. In 1527 they had a son...John and in 1529, another son...Edward. It would seem the first child was named after Edward's father, John Seymour and the second named after Edward himself. As someone who does a lot of genealogical research I can [More]

Mary, Queen of Scots (Guest Article)

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Mary, Queen of Scots   by Susan Abernethy The Freelance History Writer Many know the story of Mary, Queen of Scots. While telling the story of Margaret Tudor, Queen of Scotland I was struck by the similarities between her and her granddaughter, Mary. They both had three husbands and had a child named James who became King of Scotland when they were just babies. Both women allowed their private lives to influence their public life contributing to a loss of politica [More]