Chapter 13 - Edward VI, Somerset and Northumberland

Question 1

what is a protector?

Answer 1

the term used to describe Edward Seymour, the Duke of Somerset, who was in charge of the kingdom as edward was too young to rule in his own right; somerset’s rule is described as a ‘protectorate’ or ‘protectorship’

Question 2

why did Edward have a difficult inheritance?

Answer 2

• the country was divided on religous grounds
• crown finances had been ruined by expensive wars against france and scotland
• the coinage had been debased, leading to a considerable rise in the rate of inflation and a substantial decline in real incomes for many.

Question 3

how many members made up the regency council?

Answer 3

16, supported by a further 12 who were required to assist as required

Question 4

how were decisions in the regency council to be made?

Answer 4

by a majority

Question 5

how was the regency council balanced?

Answer 5

between protestants such as Hertford, Cranmer and Sir Anthony Denny and religous conservatives such as Thomas Wriothesley, now the earl of southampton, and Lord St John.

Question 6

were the great noble families underepresented in the regency council?

Answer 6

yes

Question 7

what did the regency council do with regards to its power?

Answer 7

it promptly delegated its power to Hertford who was appointed protector.

Question 8

what was the government fearful for?

Answer 8

good order and security

Question 9

what did the tone of Cranmer’s homily on obedience, published in 1547, make very clear?

Answer 9

the government was fearful for good order and security

Question 10

what were the clergy in their pulpits requried to reinforce to their congregations?

Answer 10

that obedience to the authority of the king was in accordance with the will of god; disobedience was, therefore, a mortal sin

Question 11

what did hertford become?

Answer 11

the duke of somerset

Question 12

what had somerset done within weeks?

Answer 12

he had awarded himself control, governing largely with members of his own household, only one of whom, Sir Thomas Smith, was appointed a member of the privy council.

Question 13

how did somerset reinforce his power by controlling the privy chamber?

Answer 13

throught the appointment of one of his supporters, Sir Michael Stanhope, as chief gentleman.

Question 14

why were there fears about the breakdown of law and order?

Answer 14

increasingly, members of the privy council felt resentment at the protectorate; within a few weeks one of them, the earl of southampton, had been arrested. moreover, there could be no guarantee of wider public acceptance of somerset’s protectorate.

Question 15

what were factional problems reinforced by?

Answer 15

policy failings under somerset

Question 16

what factional rivalries were there in the early days of somerset’s regime?

Answer 16

Somerset’s brother, Thomas Seymour, sought to turn edward VI against his brother, the protector, but he also tried to plot with the earl of southampton against somerset.

Question 17

what lay at the heart of somerset’s policy failings?

Answer 17

• somerset’s approach to foreign policy, especially with regard to scotland.
• he also badly mishandled the rebellions that broke out in 1549

Question 18

why had misgivings about somerset been growing?

Answer 18

his arrogant and dictatorial manner created enemies, especially southampton who resented his earlier imprisonment.

Question 19

who was the most important enemy somerset had made?

Answer 19

the earl of warwick

Question 20

who did warwick work with to remove somerset?

Answer 20

southampton, along with two other conservative noblemen, the earl of arundel and lord st John

Question 21

what happened in october 1549 when warwick and the other conspirators decided to strike?

Answer 21

• there was a stand-off between the conspirators, based in london, and somerset who was at hampton court but who crucially still had control over the king.
• somerset and edward retreated to windsor where somerset was arrested on the orders of the regency council.

Question 22

what did warwick do to try and avoid the concentration of power that had brought somerset down?

Answer 22

there was no attempt to re-establish the protectorate

Question 23

why did warwick (northumberland) do a second coup against the conservatives?

Answer 23

he feared he himself might be ejected by the conservatives

Question 24

what determined the religious character of Northumberland’s regime?

Answer 24

the purging of the conservatives Southampton and arundel, Cranmer’s support and the king’s own increasingly assertive protestantism.

Question 25

how did northumberland ensure his control over the court?

Answer 25

he appointed his own hardman, Sir John Gates, as vice-chamberlain of the household to ensure his control over the court

Question 26

how did Northumberland operate government before somerset’s attempt at a counter-coup?

Answer 26

Northumberland did for a time operate an effective government through the Privy Council

Question 27

who transformed himself into Northumberland’s key administrator after Paget was increasingly excluded from the decision making process?

Answer 27

William Cecil

Question 28

what happened to Somerset after his counter-coup failed?

Answer 28

he was executed

Question 29

how did Northumberland react to Somerset’s attempted coup?

Answer 29

by becoming less conciliar in his approach to government, he basically started to behave in the same way somerset had before he was removed

Question 30

who had possession of the dry stamp?

Answer 30

northumberland’s henchman, Gates, this meant he could affix the king’s signature to documents

Question 31

what had Henry VIII laid down in his will about the succession?

Answer 31

that he should be succeeded by his son Edward, but that if Edward was to die without children, then he should be succeeded by Princess Mary

Question 32

when was Edward taken ill?

Answer 32

February 1553

Question 33

when did the venetian ambassador report that Edward was dying?

Answer 33

the end of march 1553

Question 34

why did the decline in Edward’s health create an immediate problem for Northumberland?

Answer 34

if Mary came to the throne then catholicism would be restored and northumberland had supported a more radical form of protestantism

Question 35

what was the plan to alter the succession known as?

Answer 35

the devyse

Question 36

who was Northumberland’s preferred choice for the next monarch?

Answer 36

Lady Jane Grey

Question 37

how did Edward view both of his half-sisters?

Answer 37

in his eyes both were illegitimate and he was prepared to exclude them from the succession

Question 38

when were Mary and Elizabeth declared illegitimate?

Answer 38

June 1553

Question 39

why did the parliament that was being prepared to ratify the new succession never happen?

Answer 39

Edward died on the 6th of July before the parliament could meet

Question 40

when did edward die?

Answer 40

6th July 1553

Question 41

what did the lack of parliamentary sanction mean about the devyse?

Answer 41

it was illegal

Question 42

how long did it take for Northumberland to carry out his plans after the king died and declare lady jane grey as queen?

Answer 42

3 days

Question 43

when was Lady Jane Grey declared queen?

Answer 43

9 July 1553

Question 44

what was Somerset’s aggressive approach to Scotland determined by?

Answer 44

the strategic objective of reasserting the ancient claim of Edward I to the Scottish throne

Question 45

what was Somerset’s aim with Scotland?

Answer 45

to enforce the marriage between Edward VI and the infant Mary, Queen of Scots and thereby unite the crowns of England and Scotland

Question 46

what was the difference between Henry VIII’s and Somerset’s foreign policy?

Answer 46

for Henry scotland was a sideshow to france but scotland was the main priority of somerset

Question 47

what was Somerset’s chosen strategy for Scotland?

Answer 47

to defeat the scots in battle, build and garrison a number of forts on the borders and south of scotland and force the scots into submission

Question 48

how did Somerset’s approach to scotland initially begin?

Answer 48

it initially began well, he defeated the scots and the battle of Pinkie in September 1547

Question 49

why did Somerset’s policy on Scotland begin to unravel?

Answer 49

• the forts proved expensive and difficult to garrison.
• the english could not capture the strategically significant castles at Dunbar and Edinburgh
• Somerset underestimated the amount of cooperation between scotland and france and failed to block the forth of firth properly, thereby enabling the french to relieve edinburgh

Question 50

what did the french relief of edinburgh mean?

Answer 50

the french were able to control mary, queen of scots who was taken to france to marry the dauphin.

Question 51

what were somerset’s foreign policy failings?

Answer 51

• he had engaged in a military strategy that proved unaffordable at a time of financial pressure
• he had failed to secure the marriage of edward and mary, queen of scots
• the deteriorating relationship with France led in 1549 to the threat of war and the prospect of french invasion of southern england, at the moment he was most vulnerable because of rebellions

Question 52

what were Northumberland’s successes with foreign policy?

Answer 52

• he was able to reduce foreign policy expenditure
• he ended the wars against scotland and france

Question 53

how did northumberland improve the crown’s finances?

Answer 53

• he returned boulogne to the french.
• the french paid £133,333 to recover boulogne
• he abandoned the garrisons in scotland, which had proved expensive to maintain