Although Henry VIII’s marriage to Jane Seymour would transform the fortunes of her oldest brother, Edward Seymour was a rising man before his sister caught the eye of the king. Edward was born around 1500 to John and Margery Seymour, whose chief residence was Wolf Hall in Wiltshire. He was his parents’ second son; his …
Into nearly every novel about Lady Jane Grey must fall this scene: Jane and her parents, Henry and Frances Grey, Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, are strolling around their home at Sheen when a hand, wielding a bloody axe or sword, suddenly pops out of the wall, giving the family the fright of their lives …
A while back when doing research on the Seymour family, I came across what I found was a rather amusing letter from Robert Tutt to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (the one who secretly married Katherine Grey). The ill-fated marriage and Katherine’s early death left the earl with two sons, Edward Seymour (Lord Beauchamp) and …
While looking for something else this morning, I made the mistake of looking in the Lisle letters and got completely sidetracked by the question of the birthdates of the older children of Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and his second wife, Anne Stanhope. Since this has blown a good part of the day, I thought …
It’s a Boy! No, It’s a Girl! Some Seymour Birth Dates Read More »
Hi, there! Between taxes and a lovely weekend in Washington, D.C., with the family, I haven’t had much time to blog, but I did want to stop in and commemorate the death of Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset. She’s an important character in Her Highness, the Traitor (coming out on June 1!), and I’m seriously …
I’m coming up for air after a busy couple of weeks, and haven’t had time to prepare much of substance for the blog, but I thought you might enjoy seeing these two letters written on June 3, 1544, one from the Lady Mary (i.e., the future Mary I), one from Katherine Parr. Both are directed …
The Queen, the Princess, and the Impatient Countess Read More »
Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset, was one of the more prickly personalities of the Tudor period, but among her attractive qualities was her devotion to her husband, which he repaid in full. One of the most difficult periods in the couple’s lives was in 1549, when Somerset, who as uncle to King Edward VI had …
A Devoted Duchess: Anne Seymour, Duchess of Somerset Read More »
On January 22, 1552, Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, uncle and former Protector to Edward VI, was executed on Tower Hill. Somerset was a complex man, neither the “Good Duke” of one stereotype nor the greedy megalomaniac of another, but he was probably out of his element as Protector and had a knack for alienating …
On January 2, 1549, William, Lord Paget sent an unusual gift to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset (shown in the portrait here), who was acting as Protector for his nephew Edward VI. Paget, who had been a trusted adviser to Henry VIII and had played a leading role in making Somerset Protector, was in the …
In The Children of Henry VIII, Alison Weir writes that while John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, was planning for Lady Jane Grey to marry his son Guildford, “Jane was already betrothed to Edward Seymour, Lord Hertford, the fifteen-year-old son of the late Duke of Somerset, but her parents had no qualms about breaking this precontract.” …
Was Lady Jane Grey Precontracted to the Earl of Hertford? Read More »
