Somerset's Government and Policies (AQA A-Level History): Revision Notes

Somerset's government and policies

Context: Edward VI's accession and the establishment of the regency

When Henry VIII died in January 1547, his nine-year-old son Edward succeeded to the throne. This marked the first time in English history that a child king inherited not only the crown but also the titles of Supreme Head of the Church of England and Defender of the Faith. The succession was peaceful, though it created immediate challenges about how power would be exercised during the king's minority.

Edward had been born in October 1537 to Jane Seymour, Henry's third wife. His birth delighted Henry, who had desperately wanted a male heir, and Edward's upbringing reflected the importance of his position. The young prince proved academically gifted, particularly in languages and theology.

In 1552 Edward contracted measles and then smallpox, recovering from both illnesses. However, the following year he fell ill with what was initially described as tuberculosis but is now understood to have been a chronic infectious disease affecting the chest. Despite later historical assumptions about Edward's poor health, there is limited evidence that his early death was inevitable until spring 1553.

Somerset's rise to power

Edward Seymour had married Henry VIII in 1536, making her brother, Edward Seymour, an influential figure at court. When Jane gave birth to the future Edward VI in 1537, her brother's position became even stronger. He accumulated wealth and important titles, including Lord High Admiral and Lieutenant-General of the North.

Following Henry VIII's death, Edward Seymour manoeuvred to control the Regency Council that was supposed to govern collectively on behalf of the young king. He successfully gained the titles of Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector. Within the Council, he had allies who supported continuing the moderate religious reforms Henry had begun, and together they worked to prevent more conservative councillors from blocking further Protestant changes. Somerset also attempted to address social problems that had worsened during Henry's reign, particularly the impact of land enclosures and rising prices on peasant communities.

He inherited multiple complex problems from Henry VIII's reign, making his task exceptionally difficult from the outset.

Somerset's dilemmas in 1547

Somerset faced three interconnected policy challenges upon assuming power, each fraught with risks:

War with Scotland

Henry VIII had revived an old conflict, partly to prevent France from using Scotland to weaken England. The succession in 1547 remained uncertain, creating ongoing dangers. Over £2 million had already been spent on the war without meaningful results, bringing England close to bankruptcy.

The question was whether to continue or withdraw. Continuing the war risked further expenditure the country could ill afford and might provoke a French invasion of southern England whilst English forces were occupied in the north. However, withdrawing might damage national pride and disappoint the nobles and gentry who had raised forces and led troops during the 1540s campaigns, hoping to win personal fame and rewards.

Religious reform

The reform faction dominated the Council and government circles, expecting Somerset to advance Protestant changes. A Protestant minority existed in parts of the country, especially in London and the south-east, and these groups were anxious for further reform.

Additionally, making changes might alarm the Catholic powers of Europe, particularly Emperor Charles V, at a time when England was already at war with France and Scotland.

Economic and financial reform

There was substantial evidence of popular discontent over issues such as enclosure, price rises, and the breakdown of traditional village communities. Taking action on these problems might satisfy ordinary people that something was being done to help them.

Yet making changes, particularly regarding enclosure rights, would antagonise the gentry class upon whom the government depended for local administration and support. Furthermore, attempting to improve national finances by raising taxes would prove unpopular and might undermine whatever support the new regime could rely upon.

Religious reform, 1547–49

Somerset held personal sympathy for Protestant ideas. As Lord Protector, he recognised the need to make religious changes but tried to adopt a moderate and cautious approach. He supported Archbishop Thomas Cranmer in this work. However, this gradualist approach proved difficult to maintain given the pressures building from different directions.

The return of Protestant exiles and growing radicalism

As news of Henry VIII's death reached continental Europe, exiled Protestants who had fled persecution during the 1530s and 1540s began returning from the Netherlands and Germany. They settled in towns and villages along the east coast, and their radical demands frequently caused clashes within local communities.

The reform faction controlled the government and wanted to see reform progress, but English bishops remained fairly evenly split on whether to support further changes. This division created tension and made a coherent policy difficult to establish.

The writings of Martin Luther, the German reformer who had initiated the Reformation by criticising Catholic Church practices and arguing for changes in religious belief, and John Calvin, a Protestant reformer who developed more extreme ideas than Luther, particularly concerning predestination (the belief that God had already chosen who would be saved), circulated freely.

Initial measures and the approach to reform

At first, the government adopted a logical policy that helped delay decisive action. A full-scale enquiry into the state of the Church of England was launched, with commissioners sent out to investigate conditions in every parish. Additionally, measures were introduced which undid the Six Articles Act (previously passed under Henry VIII) and rules that required services and Bibles to be in English were strengthened.

When Parliament met in November 1547, it was used to enact religious change, but legislation achieved little more than underlining what was already happening. The Treason Act repealed the Six Articles Act and the heresy, treason and censorship laws which had previously restricted religious expression.

The Chantries Act

Religious debate had intensified during the closing years of Henry VIII's reign. The Chantries Act abolished the chantries – small religious houses endowed with lands to support priests who sang masses for the souls of the deceased. This followed logically after the dissolution of the monasteries a decade earlier, because the main function of a chantry was to pray for the souls of the dead, a Catholic practice.

The Act of Uniformity, 1549

The Act was designed to impose a single standard of worship across England, ending the religious confusion and argument that had been growing since 1534. Its terms required that English be used as the language of worship and that congregations be offered both bread and wine during communion. This represented a clear breach with the Catholic tradition of reserving the wine for the priesthood alone.

However, the Act did not go as far as creating a full Protestant Church. Services were conducted along familiar lines and by priests who dressed and behaved as they always had. The legislation aimed for compromise rather than radical transformation.

Cranmer's Prayer Book and the search for compromise

Alongside the Act, Archbishop Cranmer introduced a new Prayer Book setting out the form that services should follow. It proved a masterpiece of deliberate vagueness. Whilst not entirely denying the central Catholic idea that the priest transformed the bread and wine into the 'real presence' of Christ (His body and blood), the Prayer Book gave the impression that the priest was simply commemorating an event, thus reassuring Protestants.

Assessment of Somerset's religious reforms

During his brief time in power, Somerset dismantled the obstacles to religious change that had been erected by the conservative faction in the late 1530s whilst avoiding an open religious schism. The Privy Council hoped that these moderate reforms would satisfy the reformers without antagonising the religious conservatives too much, and that the large proportion of uncommitted laity would accept what was happening.

Foreign policy under Somerset

Somerset was bound by Henry VIII's will, which had arranged a marriage between Edward VI and Mary, Queen of Scots. However, this arrangement was not desired in Scotland, and Somerset had to deal with the twin threats of Scotland and France.

He hoped to isolate Scotland by agreeing an alliance with France. However, Francis I of France died in 1547 and the new king, Henry II, was determined to assert himself. He renewed the Anglo-Scottish alliance (the 'Auld Alliance') and sent a fleet of warships with 4,000 troops to Scotland.

The Scottish campaign

Somerset had to intervene in Scotland. He did so through a joint land and naval invasion. Somerset used Berwick as a base and invaded with 16,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, backed up at sea by a fleet of 30 warships and 50 supply ships. In the west, an army of 2,000 marched from Carlisle across the border into Scotland, backed up with 500 cavalry.

The Scottish army was large but poorly equipped compared with the English cannons and cavalry. A short distance south of Edinburgh, the Scots were defeated at the Battle of Pinkie. This gave Somerset control of all the border region, but success was limited as the English army was not strong enough to occupy the whole of Scotland.

Costs and consequences

Somerset's foreign policy proved costly. £600,000 had cemented links between France and Scotland, with the prospect of a future marriage that would unite the two thrones. By 1549, Somerset had serious concerns about developments in England. In the summer he withdrew troops from Scotland to deal with rebellions that had broken out and also to protect the south coast against a possible French invasion.

Economic problems under Somerset

Somerset's reputation as the 'Good Duke' rested on his apparent desire to help those who had suffered from the consequences of land enclosure. A commission was established to investigate the legality of recent enclosures. Government inspectors toured the country, and many poor families in the Midlands and the south who had lost their lands and customary rights when landowners had converted fields from open strips for crop production into fenced-off pastures for sheep grazing welcomed the commissioners.

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