Lady Jane Grey, formally Jane of England (1537 — 12
February 1554), a grand-niece of Henry VIII of
England, reigned as uncrowned Queen regnant of the Kingdom of England for nine days[1] in July 1553.
Though Jane's accession, pursuant to the Will of King Edward VI, may have
breached the laws of England, many powers of the land proved willing to accept her as Queen of England, even if only as part of a
power-struggle to stop Henry's eldest daughter, Princess Mary, a Roman Catholic, from
ascending to the throne. Jane's brief rule ended, however, when the authorities revoked her proclamation as Queen. Mary's
subsequent régime eventually had her executed for treason.
Popular history sometimes refers to Lady Jane as "The Nine Days' Queen" (10 July —
19 July 1553) or, less commonly, as "The Thirteen Days' Queen"
(6 July — 19 July 1553) — owing to
uncertainties as to when she succeeded to the throne. Historians have taken either the day of her
predecessor's death (6 July) or that of her official proclamation as Queen (10 July), as the beginning of her short reign.
Lady Jane had a reputation as one of the most learned women of her day, and the historical writer Alison Weir describes her as one of "the finest female minds of the century".
Early life and education
Lady Jane Grey, by Magdalena van de Passe and Willem van de Passe, engraving, published 1620. The origin of the image
remains unknown.
Jane was born at Bradgate Park near Leicester on an
unknown date in 1537, the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, Marquess of
Dorset and his wife Lady Frances Brandon. She had two younger sisters,
Lady Catherine Grey and Lady Mary Grey;
through their mother, the three sisters were great-granddaughters of Henry VII and members of the House of Tudor. Jane was well educated, having studied Latin,
Greek and Hebrew as well as modern languages.
Through the teachings of her tutors, she became a devout Protestant.
Jane had a difficult childhood. Frances Brandon was an abusive, cruel, and domineering woman who felt that Jane was "too weak
and too gentle". [citation needed] Her daughter's meekness and quiet, unassuming manner irritated the bold
Frances who sought to 'harden' the child with regular beatings. Devoid of a mother's love and craving affection and
understanding, Jane turned to books as solace and quickly mastered the arts and the languages. In 1546, she was sent to live as
the ward of the 35-year old Catherine Parr, who had married King Henry VIII in 1543. Queen Catherine was a warm and loving woman who took the young Jane under her
wing. Having never experienced any demonstration of love from her own mother, Jane basked in the warm affection she received from
her Aunt Catherine and blossomed into a fine young woman. Her spirits rose and she learned to assert herself. After King Henry
VIII died Catherine married Sir Thomas Seymour.
Unfortunately, Catherine died shortly after the birth of her only child, leaving the young Jane once again bereft of a maternal
figure. Jane acted as chief mourner at Catherine's funeral.
Thomas Seymour attempted to marry Jane off to his own nephew, Edward VI, but it
was difficult as in reality it was his brother, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke
of Somerset who held the power. A match with Princess Elisabeth of France
(Henry II of France's daughter) was already being arranged and with two conflicting
goals, the Seymour brothers engaged in a power struggle. The marriage never took place between the King and Jane. The Seymour
brothers were eventually both tried for treason and executed after a coup by the ambitious John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland.
Jane, left without hope of marriage, became the center of negotiations between Frances Brandon and John Dudley. Her mother
wished to marry her to Lord Guilford Dudley, son of the Duke, now the new power.
Jane was alarmed at the prospect of marrying into the Dudley family, a traitorous lot who she had come to fear and hate. But like
most women of the sixteenth century she had no choice but to accede to her parents' will.
Claim to the Throne
Jane's claim to the throne came through her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, the
daughter of Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France (daughter of King
Henry VII of England) and of her second husband, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. The will of Edward VI excluded Frances and
willed the Crown directly to Jane.
According to male primogeniture, the Suffolks — Brandons and later Greys — comprised
the junior branch of the heirs of Henry VII. The Third Succession Act restored both
Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, although the law continued to
regard both of them as illegitimate. Furthermore, this Act authorised Henry VIII
to alter the succession by his will. His last will reinforced the succession of his three surviving children, then declared that,
should none of his three children leave heirs, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary. Henry's will excluded
the descendants of his elder sister Margaret Tudor, owing in part to Henry's desire to
keep the English throne out of the hands of the Scots monarchs, and in part to a previous Act
of Parliament of 1431 barring foreign-born persons, including royalty, from inheriting property in England.
Several Protestant nobles had become wealthy when Henry VIII closed the Catholic monasteries and divided the Church's assets among his supporters.
John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, figured prominently among the Protestant nobility, and in the last years of Edward's reign
had acted as Edward's principal advisor and chief minister. When it became clear that Edward VI would not survive long,
Northumberland led the faction that feared accession by Mary Tudor. This fear stemmed from the knowledge that Mary would
certainly revoke the religious changes made during Edward's reign, and that she might reclaim from the nobility all former church
and monastic properties in order to restore them to the Roman Catholic Church. Many Englishmen also expressed concern that Mary
favoured for herself a Spanish marriage which might bring in Spanish nobles to rule England in place of Northumberland and his
colleagues. Northumberland arranged for his son Lord Guilford Dudley to marry the Protestant (and anti-Catholic) Jane, hoping
through him to gain control over his new daughter-in-law and the reins of England. When informed
by her parents of her betrothal, Jane refused to obey: she regarded Guilford as ugly and stupid. Historians do not know what made
this seemingly quiet and obedient girl turn against precedent to refuse her parents' marriage arrangements. Jane's refusal
notwithstanding, her parents forced her into submission.
The question of the succession had arisen as a result of the religious unrest that had occurred during the reign (1509–1547)
of Henry VIII. When Henry's Protestant son and successor Edward VI lay dying in 1553 at the age of 15, his Roman Catholic
half-sister Mary held the position of Heir Presumptive to the throne. However, Edward VI named the (Protestant) heirs of his
father's sister Mary Tudor (not his own half-sister Mary) as his successors in a will composed on his deathbed, perhaps under the
persuasion of Northumberland. He knew that this effectively left the throne to his cousin Jane Grey, who (like him) staunchly
supported Protestantism and had a very high level of education.
At the time of Edward's death, without Edward's will (which had dubious legal standing, since it ran contrary to the Third
Succession Act), the crown would have passed, under the terms of the Third Succession Act and of Henry VIII's will, to Mary and
her male (not female) heirs. Should Mary die without male issue, the crown would pass to Elizabeth and her male heirs. And should
Elizabeth die without male issue, the crown would pass not to Frances Brandon but rather to any male children the latter might
have produced by that time. In the absence of male children born to Frances, the crown would pass to any male children Jane might
have. Jane thus did not feature in the line of succession prior to the last draft of Edward's will of June 1553. Only in the last
draft did Edward finally include Jane Grey as his heir presumptive, knowing the line of
succession included no Protestant-born male children. This may have contravened customary testatory law because Edward, then just
15 years old, had not legally reached the legal testatory age of 21. But more importantly, many contemporary legal theorists
believed the monarch could not contravene an Act of Parliament, even in matters of the succession; Jane's claim to the throne
therefore remained obviously weak.
Ancestors
Jane Grey's ancestors in three generations
Titles
- 1537-1553: Lady Jane Grey
- 1553-1553: Lady Jane Dudley
- 1553-1553: Her Royal Majesty the Queen of England
- 1553-1554: Lady Jane Dudley
Accession
Painting sometimes claimed to depict Lady Jane Grey; by an unknown
16th century
artist.
Edward VI died on 6 July 1553. Northumberland had Lady Jane Grey
proclaimed Queen of England on 10 July 1553, just four days later
— once she had taken up a secure residence in the Tower of London (English monarchs customarily resided in the Tower from the
time of accession until their coronation). Jane refused to name her husband Dudley as king by letters patent and deferred to Parliament. She offered to make him Duke of Clarence instead.
Northumberland faced a number of key tasks in order to consolidate his power. Most
importantly, he had to isolate and, ideally, capture Princess Mary in order to prevent her from gathering support around her.
Mary, however, advised of his intentions, took flight, sequestering herself in Framlingham
Castle in Suffolk.
Within only nine days, the people of England had overwhelmingly declared their support for Mary, who swept into London in a
triumphant procession on 19 July. Parliament declared Mary the rightful Queen and denounced and
revoked Jane's proclamation as having been coerced. Mary had Jane and her husband imprisoned in the Gentleman Gaoler's apartments
at the Tower of London for high treason, although their lives were initially spared — the Duke of Northumberland was executed on
21 August 1553.
Trial
Jane and Lord Guildford Dudley were both charged with high treason, together with two of
Dudley's brothers[2]. Their trial, by a
special commission, took place on 13 November 1553[2], at the Guildhall in the City of London[3]. The commission was chaired by Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London[3][4], and included Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of
Derby[5], and John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath[6]. Both defendants were inevitably found guilty and sentenced to death[2]. Jane's sentence was that she "be burned alive on Tower Hill or
beheaded as the Queen pleases"[3][7]. However, the imperial ambassador reported to Charles V that
her life was to be spared[2].
Execution
The Protestant rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt in late January 1554 sealed
Jane's fate, although she had nothing to do with it directly. Wyatt's rebellion started as a popular revolt, precipitated by the
imminent marriage of Mary to the Catholic Prince Philip (later King of Spain,
1556–1598). But Jane's father (the Duke of Suffolk) and other nobles joined the rebellion, calling for Jane's restoration as
Queen. Philip and his councillors pressed Mary to execute Jane to put an end to any future focus for unrest. Five days after
Wyatt's arrest the execution of Jane and Guilford took place.
On the morning of 12 February 1554, the authorities took
Lord Guilford Dudley from his rooms at the Tower of London to the public execution place
at Tower Hill and had him beheaded. A horse cart carried his remains back to the Tower of London, past the rooms where Jane
remained as a prisoner. Jane was then taken out to Tower Green, inside the Tower of London, for a private execution. With few
exceptions, private executions applied to royalty alone; Jane's private execution occurred on the orders of Queen Mary, as a
gesture of respect for her cousin.
According to the account of her execution given in the anonymous Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen
Mary, which formed the basis for Raphael Holinshed's depiction,[8] Guilford faced the block first, and from her lodgings at Partidge's house,
Jane viewed his body being removed from the Tower Green. Upon ascending the scaffold, she gave a speech to the assembled
crowd:[9]
Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed, against the queen's highness
was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my behalf, I do
wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day
She then recited the psalm Miserere mei Deus (Have mercy upon me, O God) in English,[9] and handed her gloves and hankerchief to her maid. John de Feckenham, a Roman Catholic chaplain sent by Mary who had failed to convert Jane, stayed with her
during the execution. The executioner asked her forgiveness, and she gave it.[9] She pleaded the axeman, "I pray you dispatch me quickly". Referring to her
blindfold, she asked, "Will you take it off before I lay me down?" and the axeman answered, "No, madam". She then blindfolded
herself. Jane had resolved to go to her death with dignity, but once blindfolded, failing to find the block with her hands, began
to panic and cried, "What shall I do? Where is it?"[9] An unknown hand, possibly de Feckenham's, then helped her find her way and retain her dignity
at the end. With her head on the block, Jane spoke the last words of Christ as recounted by Luke: "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!"[9] She was then beheaded.
"The traitor-heroine of the Reformation", as historian AF Pollard called her,[10] was merely 16 (or possibly seventeen) years old at the time of her execution. Apparently, Frances
Brandon made no attempt, pleading or otherwise, to save her daughter's life; Jane's father already awaited execution for his part
in the Wyatt rebellion. Jane and Guilford are buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad
Vincula on the north side of Tower Green. Queen Mary lived for only four years after she ordered the death of her
cousin.
Henry, Duke of Suffolk was executed a week after Jane, on 19 February 1554. Merely three weeks after her husband's death and not even a month since her daughter's, Frances Brandon
shocked the English court by marrying her chamberlain, Adrian Stokes. She was also fully pardoned and allowed to live at Court
with her two surviving daughters. She is not known to have mentioned Jane ever again and was as indifferent to her child in death
as she was in life.
Lady Jane Grey in culture
- Fiction:
- Lady Jane became the subject of the 1715 she-tragedy entitled Lady Jane Grey: A
Tragedy in Five Acts, by Nicholas Rowe, which emphasizes the
pathos of Jane's fate.
- Lady Jane Grey was a supporting character in Mark Twain's 1882 novel The Prince and the Pauper. Her role is small, but she does have one crucial scene, in
which Tom Canty, the poor-boy lookalike of Edward VI (who is mistaken for the prince by everyone
at court), bows to Jane in a panic. The fact that the king would bow to an inferior such as Lady Jane is taken as a sign of
Edward's supposed insanity.
- She served as the main character in Nine Days a Queen- The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey (2005), by
Ann Rinaldi.
- Karleen Bradford's historical fiction novel, The Nine Days Queen, tells the
story from Jane's perspective.
- Historian and novelist Alison Weir published a historical fiction novel
based on Lady Jane Grey's life, Innocent Traitor, in February 2007. Some
reviewers have praised the novel for its seeming historical accuracy.
- Jane Grey appeared as a character in a Doctor Who short story entitled "Nine Days
Queen," written by Matthew Jones for Dr Who:
Decalog 2 (1995).
- Raven Queen by Pauline Francis, in which she is the central character. This novel, aimed at readers aged 12+ was published by
Usborne Books on 12 February 2007, the 453rd anniversary of her execution.
- Jane appears as a character in at least three historical novels for young women: Mary, Bloody Mary and Beware,
Princess Elizabeth, both by Carolyn Meyer, and Elizabeth I: Red Rose of the House
of Tudor by Kathryn Lasky, part of the Royal
Diaries literature series.
- Lady Jane Grey appears in Timeless Love by Judith O'Brien, a novel about a teenaged girl who is taken back in time to the
reign of the young King Edward VI.
- The World of Lady Jane Grey a historical fiction book by Gladys Malvern copyright 1965
External links
- The Lady Jane Grey Internet
Museum Large collection of images of Jane and her career
- Lady Jane Grey: The Nine Days Queen Good site
centred on the life of Lady Jane Grey.
- Mary Tudor takes the Crown — Tudor
History
- Jane the Quene: The Life and Times of
Lady Jane Grey A very good site offering biography, portraits, primary sources and much more.
- Tudor history teaching-tool for
students aged 12 to 18
- Site of author C.W. Gortner - Gortner's novel
The Secret Lion about the final days of Edward VI's reign features Jane Grey
- EnglishHistory.net's
section on Lady Jane A complete account of Lady Jane's life from birth to death
- "Is this the
true face of Lady Jane?" - article from The Guardian, 16 January 2006, describing a portrait (found in a South London home) that
purportedly depicts Lady Jane Grey.
- SomeGreyMatter Contains an extensive
bibliography with reviews of each work, as well as discussion of two portraits identified in 2005 as depicting Lady Jane
Grey.
- Lady Jane Grey Reference
GuideProvides a guide to the location of information about Lady Jane Grey. Including primary accounts, paintings, her own
writings, legends, media representations and a general bibliography.
- The true beauty of Lady Jane Grey - article in The Telegraph,
7 March 2007, describing a painted miniature from the collection
of the Yale University Center for British Art (New Haven, Connecticut, USA) that Oxford University professor of Tudor history Dr.
David Starkey argues is likely a life portrait of Lady Jane Grey from the mid-sixteenth century.
Bibliography
- ^ Official Website of the British Monarchy – Jane
- ^ a b c d Grey, Lady Jane (1537–1554), noblewoman and claimant to the English
throne by Alison Plowden in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2004)
- ^ a b c Factsheet: Lady Jane Grey, Nine
Days Queen at Historic Royal Palaces web site (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ White, Sir Thomas (1495?–1567), founder of St John's College, Oxford by Alexandra Shepard in Oxford Dictionary of National
Biography (OUP, 2004)
- ^ Stanley, Edward, third earl of Derby (1509–1572), magnate by Louis
A. Knafla in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (OUP, 2004)
- ^ John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath at thepeerage.com (accessed 19 August 2007)
- ^ Famous Prisoners of the Tower: Lady Jane Grey at destinations-uk.com (accessed 19
August 2009)
- ^ Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary. tudorhistory.org. Retrieved on
2007-07-11.
- ^ a b c d e 1554, the executions of Lady Jane Grey and
Lord Guildford Dudley. englishhistory.net. Retrieved on 2007-07-11.
- ^
A.F. Pollard (1905), The Political History of England, vol. 6, London: Longmans, Green
and Company, pp. 111
- anon.; edited by John Gough Nichols. Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years
of Queen Mary.
- Weir, Alison. Children of
England: The Heirs of King Henry VIII.
- Cook, Faith. Nine Days Queen of England.
See also
pdc:Lady Jane Grey
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