England Under Protector Somerset; An Essay

London, England: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., Ltd, 1900. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Hardcover. Good. xii, Erratum slip bound in, 362, [2] pages. General Index. Index to References and Bibliography. Some cover wear. Some endpaper discoloration. Some pencil marks noted. Footnotes. Includes chapters on The Coup D'Etat; The Protector's Task; Principles and Methods of Government; Somerset and the Religious Revolution; Foreign Relations; The Attempted Union with Scotland; the Protector and the Lord High Admiral; The Protector and the Social Discontent; The Protector's Fall; Reaction; Trial and Execution of the Protector; The Protector's Work and Character; and Appendix. Albert Frederick Pollard, FBA (16 December 1869-3 August 1948) was a British historian who specialized in the Tudor period. He was one of the founders of the Historical Association in 1906. He achieved a first class honours in Modern History in 1891. He became Assistant Editor of and a contributor to the Dictionary of National Biography in 1893. His main academic post was that of Professor of Constitutional History at University College London which he held from 1903 to 1931. He was a member of the Royal Commission on Historical Manuscripts. He edited History, 1916-1922, and the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research, 1923-1939. He published 500 articles in the Dictionary of National Biography, and many other books and papers concerning history. He was a major force in establishing history as an academic subject in Britain. The Evolution of Parliament, one of his influential textbooks, was published in 1920. Pollard is identified with the Whiggish school of history, along with his student, J. E. Neale. Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset KG PC (1500 - 22 January 1552) (also 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp), also known as Edward Semel, was the eldest surviving brother of Queen Jane Seymour (d. 1537), the third wife of King Henry VIII. He was Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 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. Seymour served in the Duke of Suffolk's campaign in France in 1523, being knighted by the duke on 1 November, and accompanied Cardinal Wolsey on his embassy to France in 1527. Appointed Esquire of the Body to Henry VIII in 1529, he grew in fervor with the king, who visited his manor at Elvetham in Hampshire in October 1535. Upon the death of Henry VIII (28 January 1547), Seymour's nephew became king as Edward VI. Henry VIII's will named sixteen executors, who were to act as Edward's Council until he reached the age of 18. These executors were supplemented by twelve men "of counsail" who would assist the executors when called on. Seymour (then known as Earl of Hertford), became the Lord Protector of the Realm and Governor of the King's Person, and who created himself Duke of Somerset. A few days after Henry's death, on 4 February, the executors chose to invest almost regal power in Edward Seymour. Thirteen out of the sixteen (the others being absent) agreed to his appointment as Protector, which they justified as their joint decision "by virtue of the authority" of Henry's will. Seymour's appointment was in keeping with historical precedent, and his eligibility for the role was reinforced by his military successes in Scotland and France. He was senior to his ally Lisle in the peerage, and was the new king's closest relative. In March 1547, he secured letters patent from King Edward granting him the almost monarchical right to appoint members to the Privy Council himself and to consult them only when he wished. He proceeded to rule largely by proclamation, calling on the Privy Council to do little more than rubber-stamp his decisions. During 1548, England was subject to social unrest. After April 1549, a series of armed revolts broke out, fueled by various religious and agrarian grievances. The two most serious rebellions, which required major military intervention to put down, were in Devon and Cornwall and in Norfolk. The sequence of events that led to Seymour's removal from power has often been called a coup d'état. He was executed in January 1552.