Lisle had now reached the forefront of public esteem, seen as England’s greatest general, a status which will have rankled with Hertford.70 He held the convoluted title of Lieutenant General of the Army and Armada upon the Sea in Outward Parts against the French. In July 1545, he entertained the King with his household at Portsmouth on board the Henri Grâce à Dieu. On Suffolk’s death in the next month, he was catapulted into the void left by Henry’s lifelong companion, playing cards with the King until well into his sleepless nights. On 29 January 1547, two days before the King’s death, Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial Ambassador, wrote: ‘Seymour and Dudley will have the management of affairs, because apart from the king’s affection for them … there are no other nobles of a fit age and ability for the task.’71
Chapter 2 The Seymour brothers’ rivalry
Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. He had lain unconscious for several days beforehand, making it difficult to ascertain his final wishes, and these were interpreted by those surrounding the death bed to their advantage. Henry had nominated his son Edward, then aged 9, to succeed him, followed by his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, notwithstanding that each had previously been declared illegitimate by Acts of Parliament. As soon as he expired, Hertford rode through the night with Sir Anthony Browne to Prince Edward’s residence at Ashridge. He gave immediate instructions for the Prince and his household to be moved to Enfield, the winter residence of the Princess Elizabeth. Robert Dudley and his colleagues ‘were busy for several hours in supervising the packing of chests and carts for the twenty-mile journey’.1 It was not until their arrival that the royal children were advised by Hertford of their father’s death. The demise of such a dominating figure left an enormous chasm in their lives, leaving the whole atmosphere subdued. Edward sobbed with apprehension in his sister’s arms, while Hertford and Browne ‘knelt in homage’ to him.2
Hertford had no time to indulge in ‘shocked inertia’.3 Although Henry had placed power in the hands of a ‘Committee of Equals’, common sense dictated that a powerful individual was needed at the helm. As the King’s uncle, Hertford was the logical choice and he assumed the title of Lord Protector. He was ‘a dry, sour, opinionated man’, but his new status was not questioned by other members of the Council, and Lisle wholeheartedly supported him. Gardiner, who was an articulate and dangerous opponent, strongly resisted his appointment in his efforts to retain Henrican doctrine. His role was now reduced to that of organising the mourning for Henry VIII, and even then only under Cranmer’s supervision. There was also a half-hearted objection from Thomas Wriothesley, the Lord Chancellor, another with Catholic affiliations.
To accord with the King’s apparent wishes, the new Council granted themselves titles of a higher rank than before. The new Lord Protector became Duke of Somerset, with Lisle being made Earl of Warwick, a title chosen because he was a distant connection of the Beauchamp Earls. The former Earldom had died with Warwick ‘the Kingmaker’, whose daughter Anne had married Richard III. Wriothesley was bought off with the Earldom of Southampton, and the Protector’s ally, Sir William Paget, became a Knight of the Garter, as did Dorset (although he was not made a member of the Council). Sir John, Lord Russell, was granted lands at Woburn in Bedfordshire. The most influential members of the Council were now Somerset, Warwick, Cranmer and Paget. Cranmer was in an unassailable position as the mastermind of the English Reformation. Within a few weeks, Southampton was forced to hand over his role as Lord Chancellor to Somerset, who also claimed the roles of High Steward, Lord Treasurer and Earl Marshal of England.
With Warwick’s ambition for land and wealth, he pressed hard for the grant of Warwick Castle, hoping to make it the focal point of his Midland estates. He had never envisaged himself in a position of supreme power and harboured no jealousy over Somerset becoming Protector. From the outset, it is apparent that Somerset felt isolated while trying to establish his authority, and he, not Warwick, should be blamed for ‘sowing the seeds of enmity’ between them.4 With his military achievements making him universally popular, Warwick seemed a threatening rival whose authority needed to be curbed. Although he was granted the purely ceremonial office of Lord Great Chamberlain, it rankled with him when forced to resign as Lord High Admiral, so that the role could be granted to Thomas Seymour. It had been lucrative and he had devoted great energy to it. He had no respect for Thomas, who had served under him as Vice Admiral. Thomas had caused ‘his superior considerable trouble by inadequate performance of his duties and scandalous patronage of pirates’.5 He had turned a blind eye to their looting of ships, in return for sharing in the spoils. Nevertheless, Warwick was now left free to attend council meetings, where he could develop his political abilities. His tactic was to encourage his son Robert, whose status was now enhanced as an earl’s son, to reinforce the family’s friendship and influence with the young King.
Thomas was extremely jealous of his brother’s appointment as Lord Protector and was ‘a restless ambitious ne’er-do-well’.6 He was always a thorn in Somerset’s side, despite being ‘somewhat empty of matter’, though ‘brilliantly good looking’.7 ‘He had only to enter a room for everyone to stop talking and turn to stare at him.’8 As the younger uncle of the young King, he went out of his way to charm people of both sexes to advance his career. He had fulfilled diplomatic roles on behalf of the Crown and was indisputably persuasive. In 1539, he escorted Anne of Cleves from Calais to London to meet Henry. Yet he lacked ability and was thoroughly mistrusted by Somerset. Having been nominated to the Regency Council on behalf of Edward VI, Somerset’s offer of the role of Lord High Admiral, hitherto held by Warwick, left him at his brother’s beck and call to spend long stretches on his naval duties abroad. As a sop, Thomas was created Lord Seymour with the grant of the idyllic Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire in addition to other valuable estates. This did not prevent him from scheming to unseat his brother, and he was prone to ‘outbursts of spiteful bad temper when he did not get what he wanted’.
In accordance with tradition, the first few days of the new reign were spent by the court in the uncomfortable surroundings of the Tower while secure government was established. Its royal suite, which had remained unoccupied since the death of Anne Boleyn, was hastily made ready with furnishings from the Wardrobe Tower. Robert was present when Edward made a well-rehearsed speech for the investiture of new council members with their titles.9 Two days later, Edward was radiant when he was greeted by the ‘people’s wild acclaim’10 as he processed through the streets thronged with cheering Londoners from the Tower to Westminster for his coronation. One commentator exclaimed: ‘Your heart would melt to hear him named – the beautifullest creature that liveth under the sun; the wittiest, the most amiable and gentlest thing of all the world.’11 He had never been in better health. Dorset was given the honour of carrying the Sword of State in front of the King, who was followed by several thousand men-at-arms. Robert also played a prominent role.12 As an earl’s son, he will have been positioned towards the front of the procession. When the King conferred six knighthoods, as was the custom, one of these was granted to Warwick’s eldest surviving son John, now Viscount Lisle. During the coronation ceremony conducted by Cranmer at Westminster Abbey, Edward was created Supreme Head of the Church of England, a role which became ‘the mainspring of his life’.13 He was established as an absolute monarch but was expected to defer to the Protector’s advice.
After several days of festivities, during which Thomas Seymour particularly excelled himself in the tournaments, normality returned. Somerset saw to it that Edward’s household resumed its routine of lessons, games and sermons. Nevertheless, the King was also expected to keep court. He took his meals seated on a cushioned chair of state served by his kneeling comrades, made up of a privileged coterie, shielded from the outside world by the Protector and the Council. Solemn ceremonial was now punctuated with sporting pastimes enjoyed with Robert and others of the King’s young companions. They were also involved in entertainments, with costume
s being needed for six masques, probably for the Shrovetide revels. ‘By 1551, the King’s household boasted eighteen trumpeters, two lutenists, one harpist, one rebec player, seven viol players, four sackbut players, one bagpiper, eight minstrels and several singing men.’14 Edward was learning the lute and virginals himself. He also practised dancing, archery, and took part in real tennis, hunting and running at the ring (a game to practise jousting by charging at a ring suspended on a rope with a lance), but the natural desire to protect him from injury limited his involvement with his ‘more expendable companions’.15 Although he enjoyed playing cards and chess, Ascham discouraged gambling.
Thomas Seymour looked for any means to promote his standing, which his brother seemed to be thwarting. His first ploy was to approach Dorset through an intermediary in London to suggest that he could arrange for Jane Grey to become betrothed to his nephew, the young King, who was a year her junior. With Henry VIII having always hoped to arrange Edward’s betrothal to Mary Queen of Scots, no alternatives had been considered, but in July 1548, Mary set out for France as the intended bride of the French Dauphin. This left Edward open to offers, with Somerset hoping that he might arrange his marriage to one of his daughters. Marriage to Edward was not a connection that the Dorsets are likely to have considered for Jane, and there is no doubt that they were flattered and excited at the prospect, which would be extremely advantageous for them. Despite their initial scepticism, when Thomas offered the Dorsets a tempting loan of £2,000, they were won over.16 They agreed that Jane should move with her attentive tutor, John Aylmer, from their family home at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire to live, from February 1547, as Thomas’s ward in his household at the palatial Seymour Place in the Strand. Jane, who was aged 10, was blissfully ignorant of the intrigue. She was easily won over by Thomas and described him as ‘a loving and kindly father’,17 although she did not see him frequently. There can be little doubt that separation from the torment of a stringent upbringing at home and from her frivolous younger sisters suited Jane, and she flourished under Aylmer’s tutelage in the indulgent environment provided by her guardian.
Thomas’s next ploy was to consider his own marriage. He had been romantically linked to Catherine Parr during her widowhood (following the death in 1543 of her second husband, Sir John Nevill, 3rd Lord Latimer) prior to her marriage to Henry VIII. Yet when she became attached to the household of the Princess Mary, she had caught the eye of the ageing King, and saw it as her duty to accept his marriage proposal, rather than the infinitely more glamorous Thomas. Thomas was quickly removed from view with appointments as ambassador and later Marshal of the royal army in the Netherlands. He was abroad when the royal marriage took place, but later held senior military posts in England, including that of Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports. In the meantime, he worked hard to secure a royal marriage for himself, becoming romantically linked to Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond, the widow of Henry’s illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy. Following Henry VIII’s death, he even approached his brother to seek marriage to the Princess Elizabeth, now 14, and later to the Princess Mary, now 32, but Somerset told him in no uncertain terms that ‘neither of them was born to be king, nor to marry a king’s daughter’.18 Undaunted, Thomas rekindled his courtship of Catherine Parr, who was living at Chelsea Manor with the Princess Elizabeth, now deeply attached to her stepmother. Catherine was a tall, attractive woman of almost 35, who had been left extremely wealthy under Henry VIII’s will. Furthermore, she had always been in love with Thomas. She later wrote to him: ‘As truly as God is God, my mind was fully bent the other time I was at liberty, to marry you before any man I know.’19
Soon after Jane Grey’s arrival at Seymour Place, Catherine and Thomas became lovers, but with Catherine still in mourning they were forced to conduct their relationship in secret. He visited her at dead of night and they were clandestinely married in May 1547. With Catherine retaining her apartments at the royal palaces, the young King, who had been advised of the secret at an early stage, gave it his blessing. He continued to visit them when she was at court, enabling Thomas to gain private access to him to work out the best way to break the news to Somerset. Somerset was furious when he heard, and the Princess Mary also disapproved of their indecent haste, but Thomas moved into Chelsea Manor, bringing Jane Grey with him. This was a positive development for Jane and her parents, who were admirers of Catherine and could only approve. Although she remained Thomas’s ward, she could now spend more time with Catherine, who welcomed her with open arms, while her tutor, John Aylmer, continued to encourage her in her studies.
Thomas’s marriage to Catherine met with the strong disapproval of Somerset’s second wife, Ann Stanhope, ‘a woman for many imperfections intolerable, and for pride monstrous, subtle and violent’.20 She had already arranged for Somerset’s children by his first wife, Catherine Fillol, whom he had divorced in 1535, to be declared illegitimate and she attempted to dominate her husband, undermining his authority. She now claimed precedence at court as the wife of the Protector. Catherine Parr had disapproved of Somerset’s appointment as Lord Protector, believing, as King Edward’s stepmother, that she should have become Regent herself. As the Queen Dowager, she also claimed seniority, resulting in some unseemly elbowing between the sisters-in-law. She was within her rights, and Thomas showed her great deference at court to demonstrate her superior rank.
Elizabeth remained at Chelsea Manor. She was left short of money, as her £3,000 settlement under the will of Henry VIII was not paid to her during Somerset’s Protectorate. She was developing into an attractive young lady and, with her stepmother’s love and devotion, was beginning to flourish.21 Catherine continued to shape the religious thinking of all her charges. She had already published The Lamentations of a Sinner, a popular religious pamphlet with a preface by Cecil, who did not spare her blushes with his fulsome praise. It dazzled her charges with her intellect.22 With the help of Archbishop Cranmer, Edward ‘began introducing a series of religious reforms that revolutionized the English church, placing it firmly in the realms of the Protestant movement that was growing on the continent’.23
Elizabeth was always reported by Ascham to be a remarkably gifted student. Yet even he saw that the abilities of the precociously talented Jane Grey were superior to those of his own pupil. Jane was soon corresponding with Protestant theologians in Europe. She could speak nine languages and was studying Hebrew. It is reasonable to assume that Elizabeth resented the intensity of her moral outlook and her outspokenness, although all their correspondence suggests that Jane was in awe of her haughty cousin, three years her senior. There can be little doubt that Elizabeth already felt a degree of antagonism before steps were taken to promote Jane ahead of her in the succession.
It is probable that Cranmer and Cheke became concerned at the ambitions of both Somerset and Thomas Seymour. They were worried when Somerset started to adopt the royal ‘we’ in his correspondence. He was also snubbed by the French King, after referring to him in a letter as ‘brother’. They became concerned that Edward was not being involved in the signing of dispatches, which would have enabled them to vet the documentation. Being extraordinarily astute for his years, Edward seems to have mistrusted both his Seymour uncles; he was not taken in by Thomas’s attentions and refused to sign a request, drafted by Thomas, to make him the King’s personal governor. It may well be that Warwick’s contacts at court, particularly Robert, also coloured the King’s views against his uncles’ ambitions and shortcomings.
To reinforce his own authority, one of Somerset’s first steps was to commence another round of ‘Rough Wooings’ against the Scots. Yet again the objective was to induce the Scottish Government to support the marriage of Mary Queen of Scots to Edward. This would have subsumed the Scots under English control, ending their Auld Alliance with the French. With Mary’s mother, Marie of Guise, dominating the Scottish Council as Queen Dowager, she advocated a French marriage for her daughter and was not going to concede her betrothal to Edward wi
thout a fight.
In a show of significant strength, Somerset arranged a two-pronged attack into Scotland. While he led a well-equipped force estimated at 16,800 men in the east, Matthew Stuart, 4th Earl of Lennox, now married to Henry VIII’s niece, Margaret Douglas, led a second force up the west coast supported by Lord Wharton. Although much of Somerset’s army consisted of levies armed with longbows and bills, he had artillery and a nucleus of several hundred German and Spanish mounted mercenaries with arquebusiers (hackbutters), and 6,000 cavalry commanded by Lord Grey de Wilton, the High Marshal of the Army. Although Thomas Seymour should have travelled with the fleet in his capacity as Lord High Admiral he preferred to remain in London. This brought complaints from other members of the Admiralty board that his ‘laziness and cupidity amounted to corruption’.24 With Somerset seeing Warwick as a threat to his position in Government, he was not going to leave him behind, so Warwick was given command of the English infantry for the Scottish campaign. He was supported by Lord Dacre of Gillesland and Somerset himself, who seems to have taken a subordinate role given Warwick’s enviable military reputation. Cecil travelled with the army as Provost-Marshal, acting as a judge for the campaign, and seems narrowly to have escaped death from cannon-fire.25 With the English army marching up Scotland’s east coast, it received protection from the English fleet of thirty warships just offshore.
James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, the Scottish Regent, hastily gathered troops to face the English threat. Although he had more than 22,000 men, 10,000 of these were poorly armed Catholic clergy dressed in black, but they were reinforced by pikemen and contingents of highland archers. By repute, many of the Scottish troops were in receipt of English pay, and certainly large numbers made for the English lines when the going became tough. Arran’s principal problem was a shortage of cavalry, having only 2,000 lightly equipped horsemen under Lord Home. Although he had heavy artillery, his guns were difficult to manoeuvre, and were rendered useless at an early stage in the battle by archers commanded by Warwick. Arran’s infantry, commanded by the Earls of Angus and Huntly, the two most experienced Scottish generals, took up a well-entrenched position at Pinkie Cleugh above the Esk, occupying earthen fortifications, which had been established by the English on an earlier incursion. These were protected by marshland on the Scottish right. Despite the strength of their position, the Scots lacked discipline. In an early skirmish between opposing cavalry forces, Grey’s horsemen decimated most of Home’s horse, leaving the Scots inadequately provided. When English guns were moved forward to Inveresk to threaten the Scottish right, Arran advanced from his secure position to close in combat before the enemy artillery could be deployed. When 4,000 Irish mercenaries jumped the gun on the Scottish left by moving forward against the English right, they were scattered by a cannonade from the English fleet offshore. Although Angus’s pikemen on the Scottish right inflicted early losses on the English cavalry sent to disrupt their advance, their forward momentum was broken by a hail of arrows and shot from arquebusiers. With the English showing better discipline, their cavalry regrouped and renewed their charge to prevent the Scottish centre from supporting Angus. When Sir John Luttrell led the English vanguard of 300 experienced infantrymen against the Scottish centre, the Scots turned and fled, chased all the way back to Edinburgh by marauding cavalry. Luttrell’s advance had provided time for Warwick to outflank the Scots and to attack them from the rear. With the Scots being surrounded, many were drowned attempting to swim the Esk, which was in spate. Arran fled back into Edinburgh ‘scant with honour’. It is variously estimated that he lost between 6,000 and 10,000 men, while a further 1,500 were taken prisoner. The English claimed to have suffered 200 losses, but it is more likely to have been 500.
Elizabeth I's Secret Lover Page 3
