This day in Tudor history, 13th October 1549, was the beginning of the end for Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Edward VI's uncle, for it was on this day that the king's council abolished both his protectorate and his membership of the Council.
Somerset had been left vulnerable by social unrest in the kingdom and when things got tense between him and John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, and his supporters, Somerset took action, action that would see him being branded a traitor.
In today's talk, I explain exactly what Protector Somerset did to provoke his downfall and what happened next.
Edward Seymour ended up being executed on 22nd January 1552 and you can find out more about his execution in my talk from 22 January:
Also on this day in history:
- 1499 - Queen Claude of France, wife of Francis I, was born in Romorantin-Lanthenay. Claude was the eldest daughter of Louis XII of France and Anne of Brittany.
- 1534 – Alessandro Farnese became Pope Paul III.
- 1536 - Lord Darcy reported to Henry VIII that the East Riding, West Riding, North Riding and “all the commons of Yorshire” were “up” in rebellion.
- 1579 – Death of Sir William Drury, soldier and Lord Justice of Ireland, at Waterford, during Desmond's Rebellion. He was buried in Dublin, at St Patrick's Cathedral.
- 1591 – Death of Sir Edward Waterhouse, administrator, at his estate, Woodchurch in Kent. Waterhouse served Elizabeth as Chancellor of the Exchequer and of the Green Wax in Ireland from October 1586 to October 1589.