Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset (c. 1500 – 22 January 1552), was Lord Protector of England during part of the Tudor period from 1547 until 1549 during the minority of his nephew, King Edward VI (1547–1553). Despite his popularity with the common people, his policies often angered the gentry and he was overthrown. He was the eldest brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VIII. Edward Seymour was born c. 1500, the son of Sir John Seymour (1474–1536) by his wife Margery Wentworth. In 1514, aged about
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset had Somerset arrested and brought the king to Richmond. Edward summarised the charges against Somerset in his "Chronicle": "ambition, vainglory, entering into rash wars in mine youth, negligent looking on Newhaven, enriching himself of my treasure, following his own opinion, and doing all by his own authority, etc." In February 1550, John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, emerged as the leader of the Council and, in effect, as Somerset's successor. Although Somerset was released from the Tower and restored to the Council in early 1550, he was executed for felony in January 1552 after scheming to overthrow Dudley's regime. Edward noted