Edward VI (Penguin Monarchs): The Last Boy King by Stephen Alford

Author:Stephen Alford
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
ISBN: 9780141976921
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
Published: 2014-12-04T00:00:00+00:00

But the council in London was unmoved. In fact it stood firmer than ever. The following day a letter was drafted for both Princess Mary and Princess Elizabeth to offer evidence of Somerset’s treason. Most shocking of all was what they alleged Somerset had said publicly at Hampton Court before he went to Windsor, going so far as to claim that he made a threat to kill the king: ‘ “here he is”, quoth he, pointing to the king’s majesty, “that shall die before me” – the most abominable saying that ever passed mouth of a subject towards his prince and sovereign.’10

So the council’s position even after Edward’s letter was just as robust and challenging as it had been before it. Perhaps the councillors saw Somerset weakening; perhaps they knew that to win – and to survive too – they had to press harder than ever their own authority. They wrote to the king himself on 9 October, replying to his letter of the day before. Not surprisingly they took great care in drafting it and made sure to keep a properly registered copy in the council’s book.

With his own eyes Edward had seen Thomas Seymour fall. He had listened to Hugh Latimer preaching at Whitehall on the power he held from God to rule his subjects. He had recorded the spasms of a great rebellion. He had been effectively kidnapped by the Duke of Somerset. Now the young king was given a short lesson in the already complicated constitutional history of his reign. The council explained that Somerset’s powers were limited:

The protectorship and governance of your most royal person was not granted him by your father’s will but only by agreement first amongst us the executors and after of others; those titles and special trust was committed to him during your majesty’s pleasure and upon condition he should do all things by advice of your Council.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.