Edward VI

was Ed VI's most radical bishop. He had travelled extensively in Protestant areas of Europe and returned to england in 1549 when he was appointed a chaplain to Somerset. Northumberland appointed him bishop of Gloucester, and he showed much inflexible radicalism in that post. He was burnt as a heretic under Mary I.

was a Cambridge-educated reformer. He was a chaplain to HVIII and quickly emerged as a prominent reformer in Ed VI's reign. He was successively bishop of Rochester and London, and was burnt as a heretic in Mary's reign.

was son of HVIII's tax gatherer, Edmund Dudley, and he was a soldier whose political career progressed during the 1540s. He initially enjoyed a good working relationship with Somerset, but this deteriorated. He overthrew Somerset in October 1549 and became Lord President of the Council and in 1551 Duke of Northumberland. He was executed for treason after the failure of the plot to place Lady Jane Grey on the throne.

owed his initial advancement to the support of his brother-in-law, Sir Anthony Denny, and became Vice-Chamberlain of the household and one of the Chief Gentlemen of the Privy Chamber. He incurred the animosity of Princess Mary by preventing her from attending Mass and this helped to seal his fate; he was executed along with Northumberland.

prospered as a diplomat and administrator under HVIII. He was appointed clerk to the Privy Council in 1540 and in 1543 became one of Henry's two principal secretaries. He was excluded from the Privy Council by EI.

a Nottinghamshire gentleman, owed his position to the marriage of his sister to the Duke of Somerset (then Sir Edwards Seymour). The two remained closely linked and Stanhope was a key household officer under Ed VI as Groom of the Stool and Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber. In other words, he was the king's keeper. He was imprisoned when Somerset fell from power and executed following his involvement in Somerset's attempted coup against Northumberland

was a great-granddaughter of Henry VII. A protesetant, she had married Guildford Dudley, son of Duke of Northumberland and became the object of the Devyse. Having been declared queen by the Privy Council after Ed V| died, she was deserted by most of her councillors once they realised the extent of Mary's popular support. Though initially spared by Mary, she was executed for treason in 1554.