- Thomas Somerset
Thomas Somerset (born about 1530; died in the
Tower of London ,27 May 1587 ) was an EnglishRoman Catholic layman, kept imprisoned for long periods byElizabeth I of England .Life
He was the second son of
Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester . He was committed to theFleet prison , 10 June, 1562, "for translating an oratyon out of Frenche, made by the Cardinall of Lorraine", i.e.Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine ,Archbishop of Reims , "and putting the same without authority in prynte". On 27 June, 1562, he was summoned before theLords of the Council atGreenwich , who expected "an humble submission, for wante whereof, and for that he seamed to go about to justifye his cause, he was returned to the Flete, there to remaine until he" should "have better considered of himself".After an imprisonment of close on twenty years he was released on
bail , 28 February, 1581-82, to attend to legal business inMonmouthshire . On 2 May, 1582, he was too ill to travel, and was permitted to remain at liberty till he should recover. By 22 October, 1585, he was in the Tower on a charge ofhigh treason . Being possessed of properties inGloucestershire and Monmouthshire, he paid the costs of his imprisonment, and his name therefore is not to be found in theTower Bills .References
*Catholic Record Society's Publications, I (London, 1905, etc.), 49;
*DASENT, Acts of the Privy Council (London, 1890-1907), VII, 108; XIII, 336, 407;
*Calendar State Papers Domestic 1581-90 (London, 1865), 249, 278, 305;
*COLLINS, Peerage, I (London, 1779), 201.
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