Thomas Somerset

Thomas Somerset (born about 1530; died in the Tower of London, 27 May 1587) was an English Roman Catholic layman, kept imprisoned for long periods by Elizabeth I of England.

Life

He was the second son of Henry Somerset, 2nd Earl of Worcester. He was committed to the Fleet 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 the Lords of the Council at Greenwich, 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 in Monmouthshire. 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 of high treason. Being possessed of properties in Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire, he paid the costs of his imprisonment, and his name therefore is not to be found in the Tower Bills.

Ancestry

References

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Thomas Somerset". Catholic Encyclopedia. Robert Appleton Company. 

The entry cites:

• • Catholic Record Society Publications, I (London, 1905, etc.), 49;
  • Dasent, Acts of the Privy Council (London, 1890–1907), VII, 108; XIII, 336, 407;
  • Calendar of State Papers Domestic 1581-90 (London, 1865), 249, 278, 305;
  • Collins, Peerage, I (London, 1779), 201.