Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp was an English nobleman and politician who served as Lord Protector of England from 1547 to 1549 during the minority
Portrait of Edward Seymour as 1st Earl of Hertford (cr 1537)
Thomas Seymour, Lord Admiral and brother of Edward Seymour
One of Somerset's last desperate acts as Lord Protector was to request 1,000 troops from Sir Rowland Hill as Lord Mayor of London. Hill did not send assistance.
Execution of the Duke of Somerset, from a 19th-century book
Lady Jane Grey, also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage, and nicknamed as the "Nine Days Queen", was an English noblewoman who was proclaimed Queen of England and Ireland on 10 July 1553 and
17th-century portrait of a lady in the collection of Audley End House, labelled as Jane Grey, copy of the original at Syon House. Based on a portrait type identified as Lady Katherine Grey or Elizabeth I, it is believed that the Syon Portrait was created by William Seymour, 2nd Duke of Somerset, with the help of his grandfather, Lady Katherine Grey's widower, who had also known Jane Grey, tweaking the portrait type into a genuine resemblance of her.
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, Jane's father-in-law and strongman, led much of his daughter-in-law's brief reign.
Edward VI's "devise for the Succession". The draft will was the basis for letters patent, which declared Jane Grey successor to the Crown. Edward's autograph shows his alteration of his text, from "L Janes heires masles" to "L Jane and her heires masles". Inner Temple Library, London.