William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset was the great-grandson of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c.1500-1552), the uncle of King Edward VI and Lord Protector of England. Seymour made a secret marriage at Greenwich on 22 June 1610 to Arbella Stuart (d.1615), daughter of Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox and Elizabeth Cavendish. Arbella was thirteen years his senior, and King James I disapproved of the marriage as the union of two potential Tudor pretenders to the throne, who were respectively fourth and sixth in line, could only be seen as a threat to the ruling dynasty. As a result, William was condemned to life
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, found himself accused of treason, On December 24–25, he offered his vast estates to the Crown making them available for redistribution, and he spent the whole of Edward's reign in the Tower of London. Other historians have argued that Gardiner's exclusion had non-religious causes, that Norfolk was not noticeably conservative in religion, that conservatives remained on the Council, and that the radicalism of men such as Sir Anthony Denny, who controlled the dry stamp that replicated the king's signature, is debatable. Whatever the case, Henry's death was followed by a lavish hand-out of lands and