Tag: Linda Porter

Who Was … Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley?

~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Name: Henry Stuart

Title/s: Lord Darnley / King Consort of Scotland

Birth: 7th December 1545 at Temple Newsam, Yorkshire, England

Death: 10th February 1567 at Kirk O’Field, Edinburgh, Scotland

Burial: 14th February 1567 at Holyrood Abbey, Scotland

Spouse: Mary Queen of Scots 1542-1587, married 1565

Children: James VI of Scotland 1566-1625

Parents: Matthew Stewart, 4th Earl of Lennox 1516-1571 & Margaret Douglas, Countess of Lennox 1515-1578

Siblings: Charles Stuart, 1st Earl of Lennox 1557-1576

Noble Connections: Through his mother, Margaret Douglas, Henry Stuart is the grandson of Margaret Tudor and thus the great-grandson of Henry VII of England. His maternal relations aside from the Tudors are the Earls of Angus. His paternal relations are the Earls of Lennox and Atholl.

Controversy: The main controversy over the life of Henry Stuart, Lord Darnley, is how he died. His body and that of his valet were found in Kirk O’Field, where they had been staying. There was the sound of an explosion early in the morning, later attributed to barrels of gunpowder left in the room underneath Darnley’s. The pair were found in the orchard having fled the scene and Darnley appeared to have been smothered.

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Who Was … Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley?

~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment 

Thomas Seymour was brother to Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, and to Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector to Edward VI. He married Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Katherine Parr, after Henry’s death, and supposedly then proposed marriage to Princesses Mary and Elizabeth after her death. He was executed on the orders of his brother and nephew (the two Edwards) for treason in 1549.

Name: Thomas Seymour

Title/s: Baron Seymour of Sudeley

Birth: c.1508, probably at Wolf Hall, Wiltshire, England

Death: 20 March 1549 on Tower Hill, London, England

Buried: Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London, England

Spouse: Katherine Parr 1512-1548

Children: Mary Seymour 1548-?

Parents: Sir John Seymour 1474-1536 and Margery Wentworth 1478-1550

Siblings: John Seymour ?-1510 / Edward Seymour Duke of Somerset c.1500-1552 / Henry Seymour 1503-1578 / Anthony Seymour ?-1528 / Jane Seymour c.1509-1537 / Margery Seymour ?-1528 / Elizabeth Paulet Marchioness of Winchester 1518-1568 / Dorothy Leventhorpe 1515-1552

Noble Connections: His sister, Jane, became Queen of England as the third wife of Henry VIII, and through this marriage he was uncle to Edward VI. His brother, Edward, was Lord Protector during the minority of Edward VI, and he married the dowager queen, Katherine Parr.

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On This Day in History – 20 March – Execution of Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley

~ Helene Harrison ~ Leave a comment

Thomas Seymour at the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London.
Thomas Seymour at the Royal Armouries at the Tower of London.

Event- Execution of Thomas Seymour

Year- 1549

Location- Tower Hill, London

Thomas Seymour was executed on Tower Hill in London for high treason on 33 different counts. He was already being watched as he was considered untrustworthy and was openly envious of his brother, the Protector Somerset.

In January 1549 it was alleged that Seymour intended to kidnap his nephew, the young king Edward VI. On 16 January 1549 Seymour broke into the king’s apartments at Hampton Court and shot the king’s spaniel after it barked at him. It has also been suggested that Seymour wrote letters to Princesses Mary and Elizabeth encouraging them to rise up against his brother, the Protector.

The warrant was delayed in its signing, as both Protector Somerset (Seymour’s brother) and King Edward VI (Seymour’s uncle) were reluctant to sign it. Many people couldn’t believe the cruelty of Somerset and the King in signing the death warrant of a man of their own blood.

Possibly the most famous line on Seymour’s death was that uttered by Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I): “this day died a man of much wit and very little judgement”. This wasn’t an exaggeration as Seymour had a way with words from all sources, and wrote poetry, but he doesn’t seem to have understood government, which is possibly why Henry VIII didn’t include him in the regency council for his son.

Further Reading–

  • John Maclean, The Life of Sir Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley (1869)
  • Linda Porter, Katherine the Queen: the Remarkable Life of Katherine Parr (2010)
  • Chris Skidmore, Edward VI: the Lost King of England (2007)
  • Alison Weir, Children of Henry VIII (1996)