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 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