Edward VI - Somerset - Revision Cards in A Level and IB History

Somerset

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Somerset = Protestant
Abolished medieval laws against heresy and allowed the printing of scripture in English
Introduced Protestant changes which Cromwell and Cranmer had wanted:
- The Act of Six Articles was repealed
- 1549 - Clerical marriage was permitted
- 1549 - Book of Common Prayer was imposed, translated into English by Cranmer (rather than latin)
- 1549 - Act of Uniformity - English prayer book = compulsory in all churches; Latin Mass was to be abolished
- Chantries abolished
  - Chapels set up for priests to say prayers for souls for dead; full of costly treasures
  - Money frm sale of treasuries in dissolved chantries = used to found number of King Edward VI Grammar Schools
- Catholic priests = imprisoned or had to flee to Europe
Bishops put up little resistance - only Stephen Gardiner and Edmund Bonner stood firm

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Bound by Henry VIII's will - involved marriage arrangement of marriage between Edward VI and Mary, Queen of Scots
- Scots didn't want this
Tried to isolate Scotland with alliance with France
- French king Francis I died in 1547 - new king Henry II
- Henry II renewed Anglo-Scottish alliance and sent fleet of warships with 4000 troops to Scotland
Somerset had to intervene in Scotland
- Land and naval invasion
  - 16,000 infantry, 4000 cavalry, 30 warships and 50 supply ships
Battle of Pinkie - 10 September 1547
- Scots were defeated south of Edinburgh
- Gave Somerset control of border region
Mary, Queen of Scots moved to France with intentions of her marrying heir to the French throne - Francis II
Costly foreign policy - £600,000
- Cemented links between France and Scotland
Summer 1549 - withdrew troops from Scotland to deal with rebellions & protect the south coast

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Commission established to investigate legality of recent enclosures
- Many poor families in the Midlands and south had lost customary rights
- Welcomed commissioners
Not everyone welcomed arrival of enclosure commissioners
- Gentry landowners who made wealth from sheep farming feared loss of livelihood
1548/9 - new laws raising tax on sheep and cloth
Major economic problem in the first half of the sixteenth century = inflation
Biggest rises affected food stuffs such as bread, cheese and meat
Rising population put pressure on agriculture and wages were failing to keep pace with rising prices
- reached peak in 1540s
- caused more economic and social problems among poorer classes, even when harvest was good
1548 - tried to pay for foreign policy via coin debasement
- only worsened economic conditions
Food prices had risen by 100% since 1500

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Western and Kett rebellions threatened a complete breakdown of government in 2 English regions
- Somerset's response = slow almost to the point of paralysis
- Western rebels beaten by royal army mid-August
- Earl of Warwick put end to Kett's rebellion
- Combined total of 4,000 deaths
Rebellions shook government to the core and gave those who were aggrieved at Somerset's leadership an opportunity to strike
Somerset arrested 11 October and imprisoned in Tower
Released Feb 1550 and rejoined Privy Council
Rumours circulated; arrested again on charge of treason
- Specifically of plotting to assassinate rivals in council
January 1552 - Somerset Executed

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Jan 1547 - Accession of Edward VI; Edward Seymour (Somerset) became Lord Protector
Sept 1547 - English defeated Scots at Battle of Pinkie
Nov 1547 - Parliament repeals anti-Protestant legislation of 1539 in Treason Act; Act abolishing chantries
1548 - In the summer the French army landed in Scotland; Mary, Queeen of Scots moved to France
Jan 1549 - Act of Uniformity and new Prayer Book; taxes increased on sheep and cloth
June 1549 - Outbreak of Western rebellion in Devon; Kett's rebellion in Norfolk
Oct 1549 - Fall of Somerset

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