Somerset, Duke of (1506?-1552), Edward Seymour, was a brother of Jane Seymour, the third wife of Henry VIII of England. Henry made him Earl of Hertford in 1537, and he led English armies in Scotland and France. On the death of Henry VIII in 1547, Somerset made himself Protector of England and guardian of the young King Edward VI, his nephew. He took the title Duke of Somerset in the same year. He fought the Battle of Pinkie against the Scots in 1547.
Somerset’s main achievement was to continue the movement toward Protestantism that was begun by Henry VIII. Somerset repealed the “Six Articles” that defined heresy in Roman Catholic terms, and his Act of Uniformity (1549) established the first Book of Common Prayer. Somerset’s power made him many enemies, and, in 1550, he was deposed. In 1551, the Duke of Northumberland had him arrested on a false charge. Somerset was executed.
