Almost immediately disturbances began. Thomas, Lord Seymour, Somerset’s younger brother, was sent to the Tower on the charge of aspiring to the kingdom by offering marriage to the Princess Elizabeth. He had secretly married Queen Katharine Parr on King Henry’s death, and when she died (Sept. 5, 1548) he made this new move. Other acts of ambition were charged against him, as well as of using his office of Lord High Admiral for privateering. He was beheaded on Tower Hill March 20, 1549, and though he was not worthy of much sympathy, public opinion was indignant against the heartlessness of his brother the Protector, and advantage was taken of it by the Catholic party to form a faction against him. He was accused, not unjustly, of accumulating vast riches by seizing property of the Church and Crown. A leader of the opposition to him was found in Dudley, Earl of Warwick. A meeting of his opponents was held in Ely Place in October 1549, with the result that the Tower was seized and Somerset was shut up in it. He was deposed from the Protectorate, and in February 1550 was pardoned and re-admitted to the Privy Council. But in October 1551 he was again arrested on the charge of plotting to raise the country and murder Warwick. On this charge he was tried and beheaded on Tower Hill. He was the first Protestant ruler of England, “a rank Calvinist,” and was, in fact, in close communication with Calvin. It was certainly his influence which led to the changes between the two English prayer-books of 1549 and 1552. His royal nephew, apparently, was, as Burnet puts it, “not greatly concerned” for him. This is his entry in his diary: “January 22, the Duke of Somerset had his head cut off upon Touer Hill between eight and nine a cloke in the morning.” His fall involved the ruin of some of his principal supporters. Thus Sir Ralph Vane (or Fane; he belonged to the still existent Westmoreland family), though he had distinguished himself in the army, had offended the Duke of Northumberland. He was charged with complicity with Somerset and hid himself in a stable at Lambeth, but was arrested. Before the Privy Council he showed a bold front, and on his condemnation declared that his murder would make Northumberland’s pillow uneasy. He was hanged, and the royal diary recording his “felony” and death adds that on his trial he “answered like a ruffian.” Sir Miles Partridge was also hanged; Sir Thomas Arundel and Sir Michael Stanhope were beheaded; the Earl of Arundel, Lords Grey and Paget were acquitted. Edward VI’s was a short reign, but a terrible amount of blood was shed on the scaffold, through the machinations of evil counsellors. CHAPTER V THE TUDOR QUEENS