General Notes

English courtier and military commander. His father, Edmund Dudley, a lawyer
involved in tax extortion under King Henry VII, was executed upon the
accession of King Henry VIII. Dudley's mother remarried, and his stepfather
gained him favor at court. He was made governor of Calais in 1538 and warden
of the Scottish marches in 1542, the year he was elevated to the peerage as
Viscount Lisle. He was created earl of Warwick in 1546. Upon the accession
of King Edward VI, a minor, in 1547, Dudley became joint regent and lord
chamberlain of England. After subduing a Scottish rebellion in 1547, he
embarked on a struggle for power with the Seymour family, headed by Edward
Seymour. Dudley was created duke of Northumberland in 1550 and two years
later disposed of his rival, Seymour, by having him tried and executed on
false charges. Subsequently, he conspired to gain the succession to the
English throne for his heirs by marrying his son, Guildford (died 1554), to
Lady Jane Grey. His resistance to the accession of Queen Mary I led to his
execution in 1553.