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Adding collections for Tudor tutorials that Jenny had gone through, with the flags necessary for diffcol to work.
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4	<meta name="content" content="Lady Jane Grey The Nine Days Queen biography portraits primary sources">
5	<meta name="page_topic" content="Tudor Relatives: Lady Jane Grey: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources The Nine Days' Queen 1553">
6	<meta name="author" content="Marilee Mongello">
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11	<title>Lady Jane Grey: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</title>
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18	<table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="667">
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20	<td width="25%" height="29"></td>
21	<td valign="top" width="50%" height="29"> </td>
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24	<tr>
25	<td width="25%" height="3"></td>
26	<td width="50%" height="3">
27	<p align="center"><IMG height=47 alt="Lady Jane Grey"
28	src="janegrey.gif" width=320></td>
29	<td width="25%" height="3"></td>
30	</tr>
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32	<td width="25%" height="610"></td>
33	<td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
34	<p align="center">
35	<IMG height=287
36	alt="The Execution of Lady Jane Grey by Paul Delaroche"
37	src="janegrey-nga.jpg" width=358 border=2></p>
38	<blockquote>
39	<p><A
40	href="janegrey.html#Biography"><br>
41	<font size="4">Read
42	the biography of Lady Jane Grey</font></A><font size="4">.</font></p>
43	<P><B><BR>Primary Sources</B> <BR><A
44	href="../jane1.html">An eyewitness account
45	of Jane's coronation</A>, 1553. <BR><A
46	href="../prijane1.html">Jane's letter to
47	Queen Mary from the Tower of London</A>, 1554. <BR><A
48	href="../exjane.html">An eyewitness account
49	of Jane's execution</A>, 1554. <BR> </P>
50	<p>Visit <a href="http://www.marileecody.com/images.html">Tudor England:
51	Images</a> to view portraits of Jane.<BR><BR><br>Visit the <A
52	href="cathgrey.html">Lady
53	Catherine Grey site</A> to learn more about Jane's tragic
54	sister.<BR>Visit the <A
55	href="../monarchs/edward6.html">King Edward
56	VI site</A> to learn more about Jane's cousin who left her the throne.
57	<BR><br>Test your knowledge of Jane Grey's life at <A
58	href="../tudor1.html">Tudor
59	Quizzes</A>.</p>
60	<p><br><b><font size="2">Links  <br></font></b>
61	<font size="2">Visit <A href="http://www.geocities.com/jane_the_quene/">Sarah's
62	Lady Jane Grey website</A>.  <br>Visit <A
63	href="http://www.bitterwisdom.com/ladyjanegrey/">The Lady Jane Grey Internet
64	Museum</A>.</font></p>
65	<P><font size="2"><b><br>Interact<br></b>Meet other Tudor Dynasty enthusiasts at
66	<a href="http://quietly.still-inspired.com/tudor">Tudor Rose: The Tudor
67	Dynasty Fanlisting</a>.<a href="http://tudorhistory.org/lists/list.html"><br>Tudor Talk </a>  This email discussion list is sponsored by Tudorhistory.org.<br>
68	<a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Reign_of_the_Tudors_rpg/">Reign
69	of the Tudors</a>  This is a role-playing game set in 16th century
70	England.  If you would like to 'play' Jane Grey or Anne Boleyn or
71	other Tudors, click the link to join.</font></P>
72	</blockquote>
73	</td>
74	<td width="25%" height="610"></td>
75	</tr>
76	</table>
77
78	<blockquote>
79	<blockquote>
80	<blockquote>
81	<p>
82	<A name=Biography></A>
83	<B>Jane Grey remains one of the most compelling and tragic figures in
84	Tudor history.  She possessed royal blood through her grandmother,
85	Princess Mary Tudor, and this heritage brought her to the scaffold in
86	1554.  Jane had been named heiress to the English throne in her
87	great-uncle Henry VIII's will, but only if his son Edward and daughters
88	Mary and Elizabeth died without issue.  But Edward ruled for just six
89	years and his ambitious advisor, John Dudley, was determined to remain in
90	power.  To that end, he persuaded Edward to write his own will and
91	leave the throne to his pious cousin, Jane Grey.  Though just fifteen
92	at the time, she was known for her Protestant piety and learning; it was
93	this religious devotion which persuaded Edward to alter the succession.
94	Deeply pious himself, he could not leave the throne to his Catholic
95	sister, Mary.  Jane was quickly wed to Dudley's son and crowned queen
96	of England in July 1553.  But she ruled for just nine days, trapped
97	and unhappy.  Mary Tudor claimed the throne with great popular
98	support and Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London.  Her
99	subsequent execution was a political necessity for Mary Tudor.
100	Despite her youth, Jane met her end with great dignity and courage.</B></p>
101	<hr>
102	</blockquote>
103	</blockquote>
104	<p><font size="4">'I think that at the supper I neither receive flesh nor
105	blood, but bread and wine; which bread when it is broken, and the wine when it
106	is drunken, put me in remembrance how that for my sins the body of Christ was
107	broken, and his blood shed on the cross. ...I ground my faith upon God's word,
108	and not upon the church...  The faith of the church must be tried by
109	God's word, and not God's word by the church; neither yet my faith.'
110	</font> <I><FONT size=-1>Jane Grey to John Feckenham,
111	1554</FONT></I></p>
112	<blockquote>
113	<blockquote>
114	<hr>
115	<p><B>Biography</B><BR><B>Ancestry</B>
116	<BR>Lady Jane Grey was the eldest child of Lord Henry and Lady Frances
117	Grey, the duke and duchess of
118	<IMG height=205
119	alt="Princess Mary Tudor, grandmother of Lady Jane Grey"
120	src="grey1.jpg" width=101 border=2 align="left">Suffolk.  She was a viable heir to
121	the English throne because of her maternal grandmother, <A
122	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/brandon.html">Princess
123	Mary Tudor</A>.  After the death of her first husband, King Louis
124	XII of France in 1515, Mary secretly wed her true love, <A
125	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/brandon.html">Charles
126	Brandon</A>.  Brandon was her brother <A
127	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/henry8.html">Henry
128	VIII</A>'s best friend; the king's friendship and Brandon's service to
129	the Crown led to his creation as duke of Suffolk in 1514.  He and
130	Mary had a son, Henry, who died as teenager.  Their next eldest
131	child was a daughter, Frances.  Under the terms of the Third Act of
132	Succession (1544) and Henry VIII's last will and testament (1547), the
133	Suffolk line would inherit the throne after Henry VIII's children died
134	childless.  In other words, the throne would pass to Henry's son <A
135	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/edward6.html">Edward</A>;
136	if Edward died childless, it passed to Henry's eldest daughter <A
137	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/mary1.html">Mary</A>;
138	if she died childless, it passed to Henry's youngest daughter <A
139	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/eliz1.html">Elizabeth</A>.
140	If Elizabeth died childless, the throne passed to Lady Frances.
141	This plan completely disregarded the children of Henry's elder sister <A
142	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/margaret.html">Margaret</A>,
143	the former queen of Scots.  Henry did not care for Margaret and,
144	more importantly, did not want the English throne in Scottish hands. </p>
145	<P>    So it was through Princess Mary that Jane Grey was
146	bequeathed her deadly heritage.  Still, no one in the 1540s
147	expected the Suffolk line to rule.  After all, Henry VIII had left
148	three heirs and it was unlikely all three would die childless.  Of
149	course, we know that this did occur and the Tudor dynasty died with
150	Elizabeth I in 1603.  It was only in 1552, with Edward VI's health
151	rapidly failing, that people realized there would be a succession
152	crisis.  According to parliament and Henry VIII's will, Mary was
153	Edward's heir - but she was Catholic, in her late thirties, and never
154	robust.  More importantly, Edward was a devout Protestant and did
155	not want Roman Catholicism restored in England.  Urged on by
156	self-interested advisors, he removed Mary from the succession on the
157	grounds of her illegitimacy (she was declared so by parliament in
158	1532.)  But if he removed Mary, he also had to remove Elizabeth
159	even though she was a Protestant; Elizabeth had also been declared a
160	bastard by parliament in 1536.  In his <I>Device for the
161	Succession</I>, written in his own hand, Edward wrote that they were
162	both "illegitimate and not lawfully begotten."  </P>
163	<P>    Edward's course of action removed the succession
164	from the heirs of Henry VIII and gave it to the heirs of Henry's younger
165	sister, Mary.  This was a tumultuous course for many reasons.
166	For example, the king of France, Henry II, was raising <A
167	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/maryqos.html">Mary
168	Stuart</A>, Margaret Tudor's granddaughter; he planned to marry this
169	ten-year-old <A
170	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/maryqos.html">queen
171	of Scots</A> to his son and heir, Francois.  By all the accepted
172	laws of primogeniture, she had a better claim to the English throne than
173	her Suffolk cousins.  In fact, most European Catholics believed
174	Mary's claim better than her Tudor cousins, Mary and Elizabeth, since
175	both were illegitimate by acts of constitutional and canon law.
176	However, Mary of Scotland was in France - not England; also, the
177	Suffolks were Protestant and she was not.  Edward VI never
178	considered leaving her the throne.  </P>
179	<P>    The above paragraph illustrates the complexity of
180	blood ties within the Tudor family.  And since Mary Tudor was
181	half-Spanish and thus cousin to the Holy Roman Emperor, the succession
182	crisis interested most of the major powers of Europe - France, the
183	Hapsburg Empire, Italy (the pope hoped to bring England back to his
184	authority), and the Protestant princes of Germany.  When Edward VI
185	died in 1553, all of these nations waited to see who would
186	triumph.  Mary....  Elizabeth....  Mary of
187	Scotland....  Jane Grey....  Which would become queen?
188	</P>
189	<P>    Also, Europe waited to see how England would
190	welcome a queen as their sole ruler.  All of the possible
191	candidates for the throne were women, an unprecedented occurrence.
192	The only woman to attempt to rule England as her father's sole heir had
193	been Matilda in the 12th century; she had been forced out of the country
194	by popular revolt and a male cousin named Stephen of Blois became
195	king.  Now it seemed the English had no choice but to accept a
196	woman ruler.  </P>
197	<P>    And because of the secret marriage of Mary Tudor
198	and Charles Brandon, the first woman to rule England in her own right
199	would be Jane Grey.  <BR>  </P>
200	<P><B>Early Life and Education</B> </P>
201	<BLOCKQUOTE>
202	<p>'I will tell you a truth which perchance ye will marvel
203	at.  One of the greatest benefits that God ever gave me is that
204	he sent me so sharp and severe parents and so gentle a
205	schoolmaster.  For when I am in the presence of Father or Mother,
206	whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry
207	or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do
208	it as it were in such weight, measure and number, even so perfectly as
209	God made the world; or else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly
210	threatened, yea presently sometimes with pinches, nips and bobs and
211	other ways (which I will not name for the honour I bear them), so
212	without measure misordered, that I think myself in hell, till time
213	comes that I must go to Mr Aylmer, who teacheth me so gently, so
214	pleasantly, with such fair allurements to learning, that I think all
215	the time nothing while I am with him.  And when I am called from
216	him, I fall on weeping because whatsoever I do else but learning is
217	full of grief, trouble, fear and wholly misliking to me.'
218	<I><FONT size=-1>Lady Jane Grey to Roger Ascham,
219	1550</FONT></I></p>
220	</BLOCKQUOTE>
221	<p>Jane Grey was not close to her
222	parents.  Henry Grey was the marquess of Dorset; he became the duke
223	of Suffolk in 1551.  He married Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon's
224	eldest daughter Frances when she was sixteen.  At the time, Grey
225	was a ward of Brandon's.  He was also an appropriate match for a
226	Princess's daughter.  The Grey family had an ancient and impressive
227	lineage, originally receiving lands from Richard the Lionheart.
228	Later, they rose to prominence under Edward IV; he had married Elizabeth
229	Woodville, the widow of Sir John Grey and mother of his two sons.
230	When she became queen, she tirelessly promoted the interests of the Grey
231	family.  In fact, her eldest Grey son, Thomas, was created marquess
232	of Dorset during Edward IV's reign.  His son, also called Thomas,
233	was a companion to Charles Brandon - soldiering with him in France in
234	1513 and journeying there a year later to celebrate Princess Mary
235	Tudor's wedding to the French king.  In 1530, Thomas Grey died and
236	Brandon became his son's guardian.  The marriage between Frances
237	and the heir, Henry Grey, was a satisfactory way to join two noble
238	families together.  </p>
239	<P>    Their marriage was celebrated at Suffolk Place in
240	London.  Mary Tudor died some months later.  Charles Brandon
241	remarried, this time to an heiress called Catherine Willoughby.
242	She bore him two sons (his son with Mary Tudor had recently died).
243	When Brandon passed away in 1545, he and Catherine's eldest son, called
244	Henry after his late half-brother, became duke of Suffolk.  He and
245	his younger brother died of the dreaded sweating sickness a few years
246	later.  This left the dukedom of Suffolk vacant until 1551, when
247	Edward VI would award it to Henry Grey.  </P>
248	<P>    As mentioned, Henry VIII had left the throne to
249	his children and, if they died without issue, "to the heirs of the body
250	of the lady Frances our niece, eldest daughter to our late sister the
251	French Queen lawfully begotten...."  This meant that the Grey
252	children (by this time Frances and Henry had 3 daughters - Jane born in
253	1537, Catherine born in 1540, and Mary born in 1545) had enhanced
254	social status.  In 1547, when the will was read, no one seriously
255	expected them to gain more.  Edward was small and blond, like his
256	long-dead uncle Arthur, lacking Henry VIII's robust athleticism and good
257	health.  But he was expected to live, marry, and provide
258	heirs.  Therefore, any immediate interest in the Grey children
259	centered on how Edward would favor them.  Understandably, it was
260	thought that he might marry the eldest, his cousin Jane.  They were
261	the same age, both precocious, very serious, and fervently
262	Protestant.  </P>
263	<P>    Jane had been raised, with her two sisters, at
264	Bradgate.  This was the principal family home on the edge of
265	Charnwood Forest.  It was a beautiful and luxurious estate, suited
266	to the Grey's semi-regal status.  Lady Frances was very conscious
267	of her royal heritage and, as she grew older, became quite like her
268	uncle Henry.  She and her husband were well-known for their love of
269	riding, hunting, hawking and gambling.  They were not, however, the
270	most interested of parents.  In this, they resembled their
271	aristocratic contemporaries. They provided very well for their three
272	daughters.  While Frances and Henry spent time in London, their
273	daughters remained at Bradgate, in the hands of capable servants.
274	Jane's nurse was a woman called Mrs Ellen and would remain with her
275	until Jane's execution; her first tutor was probably the house chaplain,
276	Dr Harding.  The first ten years of Jane's life, from her birth in
277	October 1537 (the exact date is not known) to her residence in Katharine
278	Parr's household in 1547, are not documented.  It is likely she
279	received the typical upper-class girl's education - its primary emphasis
280	would be on instilling good manners and the 'feminine' virtues of
281	obedience and docility.  She undoubtedly learned needlework and was
282	taught dancing and how to play some musical instruments.  But
283	neither of her parents were scholars and no one in the sixteenth century
284	expected women to be well-educated.  She may have visited London,
285	accompanying her parents to Dorset Place in Westminster; she may have
286	met her royal cousins.  No one knows.  But in March 1547, Lady
287	Jane Grey finally emerges into the historical landscape.  It was
288	then that she entered the household of the dowager queen <A
289	href="../monarchs/parr.html">Katharine
290	Parr</A>, Henry VIII's sixth and last wife.  </P>
291	<P>    Katharine had retired from court upon Edward VI's
292	accession, though she remained close to London.  Her<IMG height=191 alt="Jane's guardian, Katharine Parr"
293	src="parr-cr.jpg" width=150 border=2 align="right"> dower manor,
294	Chelsea, was in the suburbs.  It was a comfortable brick home with
295	modern amenities.  Here, Katharine planned to live with the man she
296	had longed to marry before Henry laid claim to her, Thomas Seymour,
297	Edward VI's uncle.  She also brought with her the 13 year old
298	Princess Elizabeth.  Katharine Parr was justly celebrated for her
299	warm and open nature; she was a good stepmother to all of Henry's
300	children, particularly the youngest two.  A few weeks after
301	Katharine and Elizabeth settled at Chelsea, Jane Grey came to join
302	them.  She was sent to acquire polish and learn social graces, a
303	common practice for daughters of the nobility.  </P>
304	<P>    Jane acquired much more than social skills at
305	Katharine's household.  For the first time in her young life, she
306	was truly happy.  Katharine was a devout Protestant and the most
307	intellectual of Henry's queens.  Her home was the center of the
308	Protestant 'New Learning'; there was instruction and frequent
309	debates.  Jane, quiet and studious by nature, thrived.  And
310	though her parents were Protestant, it was at Katharine Parr's that she
311	became devoutly committed to the faith.  The Greys, after all, had
312	become Protestants like many nobles - because it was a matter of
313	political necessity.  At Katharine's, Jane became a Protestant
314	because she truly believed in its tenets.  This serious and intense
315	study of faith would remain with her throughout her short life.
316	</P>
317	<P>    During Edward VI's reign, the Lord Protector was
318	Edward Seymour, duke of Somerset.  Katharine Parr had married his
319	younger brother, Sir Thomas Seymour.  Thomas was very ambitious and
320	angered that his brother had so much authority while he had to be
321	content with a baronetcy, a seat on the Privy Council, and the office of
322	Lord Admiral.  Thomas and Katharine Parr had planned to marry years
323	before but Henry's sudden interest in the twice-widowed heiress delayed
324	their plans.  Within months of his death, however, they were wed in
325	a secret ceremony; the exact date is not known but it was probably April
326	1547. Their whirlwind courtship offended some but Edward VI gave them
327	his blessing.  Some people remarked that the new Lord Admiral would
328	have preferred marrying Princess Elizabeth, such was his ambition.
329	He certainly lacked the evangelical zeal of his new wife, always
330	remembering important business when it was time for prayers.  He
331	possessed great charm, particularly with women and children; and his
332	desire to advance his own career led to some indiscreet behavior -
333	notably bursting into Princess Elizabeth's bedroom in the early morning,
334	still in his bedclothes, to tickle her awake.  This was dangerous
335	play for an ambitious man and a thirteen-year-old heiress to the
336	throne.  </P>
337	<P>    At any rate, Thomas had wed the dowager queen and
338	she loved him passionately.  Meanwhile, other supporters of his
339	brother Edward, the Lord Protector, were also rewarded for their
340	loyalty.  John Dudley, for example, became earl of Warwick.
341	Meanwhile, Thomas was also becoming interested in the other young
342	heiress who lived with his wife - Lady Jane Grey.  When news of
343	Henry VIII's will came out, he wasted no time in becoming friends with
344	the Greys.  He sent his most trusted friend and servant, John
345	Harington, to talk to Jane's father, Henry Grey.  Harington was to
346	use 'all the persuasions he could' to gain Jane Grey's wardship and
347	marriage rights.  Later, Harington would say he never promised
348	anything explicitly but Henry Grey remembered a guarantee that
349	Jane would marry King Edward.  On this basis, Grey sold his
350	daughter to Seymour for the sum of £2000.  Seymour paid a few
351	hundred immediately, promising to pay the rest in installments.
352	</P>
353	<P>    In other words, Thomas Seymour was hedging his
354	bets - if Edward VI died unexpectedly (as Tudor boys often did), he
355	could arrange something with the Princess Elizabeth.  If Edward
356	lived, he could gain influence by marrying his ward, Jane Grey, to the
357	king.  Jane, of course, was oblivious to Seymour's plans.  She
358	remained in Katharine Parr's household, moving from Chelsea, to Hanworth
359	in Middlesex, or Seymour Place in London.  Her sensitive and eager
360	mind, long starved for affection and knowledge, was finally engaged on a
361	course of study - Latin, Greek and modern languages as well as religious
362	instruction.  As relations between the Seymour brothers
363	deteriorated for a variety of reasons, Katharine Parr became
364	pregnant.  About halfway through the pregnancy, she happened upon a
365	very unpleasant sight - her husband and stepdaughter, Princess
366	Elizabeth, locked in a passionate embrace.  Katharine's reaction
367	was a testament to her good character.  She successfully averted an
368	ugly scandal; a few weeks later, Elizabeth and her household staff were
369	sent to Cheshunt on a visit to old family friends.  She parted from
370	Katharine with real affection and sadness; Elizabeth undoubtedly felt
371	embarrassed and guilty.  </P>
372	<P>    Jane Grey remained with Katharine.  There is
373	no evidence she was ever particularly close to Elizabeth; the gulf
374	between nine and thirteen is great.  Though they lived in the same
375	homes for over a year, there are no surviving letters or
376	reminisces.  Perhaps Jane was grateful for Elizabeth's departure;
377	the princess was described as proud and disdainful, not good company for
378	a shy child.  On 13 June 1548 Jane accompanied Katharine and Thomas
379	to their Gloucestershire estate, Sudeley Castle.  On 30 August
380	Katharine gave birth to a baby daughter, Mary; within a week, the
381	dowager queen was dead, buried in the chapel at Sudeley.  She was
382	yet another victim of puerperal fever.  Jane Grey, small for her
383	age, freckled and with red hair, acted as chief mourner.  </P>
384	<P>    Meanwhile, her parents were becoming
385	restless.  More than a year had passed since Seymour purchased
386	their daughter's wardship.  In that time, no match had been made
387	with Edward VI.  Also, they wondered if it would be better to marry
388	Jane to the Lord Protector's son.  They wrote to Thomas Seymour,
389	consoling him on the loss of his wife and remarking that, since
390	Katharine was dead, her household would be dispersed - therefore, Jane
391	should be sent home; Seymour was not to be outfoxed.  He wrote that
392	his own mother was coming to Sudeley, to take charge of Katharine's
393	household (none of which would be dispersed); she would be 'as dear unto
394	Jane as though she were her own daughter.'  He did let Jane go home
395	briefly in September.  It was undoubtedly an unpleasant journey for
396	the young girl.  However, Seymour was able to regain her parents'
397	favor.  He stressed his determination to wed her to Edward (the
398	greatest prize) and agreed to pay another £500 on his bond.  The
399	Greys were chronically short of cash and wanted this grand
400	marriage.  Jane returned to the Seymour household.  </P>
401	<P>    But the noose was tightening around Thomas
402	Seymour's neck.  He had been boasting about his intent to destroy
403	his overbearing brother and he had encouraged gossip that he would marry
404	Princess Elizabeth.  This gossip was perhaps the most damaging,
405	particularly to the eyes of the young king.  Was Seymour attempting
406	to seize the throne?  John Dudley, earl of Warwick, had long waited
407	for the opportunity to destroy the Seymour brothers.  He wanted to
408	be Lord Protector himself and was quite prepared to turn on his old
409	friend, Edward Seymour.  He used the arrogant and ambitious Thomas
410	to destroy them both.  On 17 January 1549, Thomas Seymour was
411	arrested at Seymour Place in London.  Jane Grey was immediately
412	brought home by her alarmed parents.  Because Parliament was in
413	session, it was decided that Thomas would not have a trial - instead a
414	bill of attainder was drawn up and passed through both houses in early
415	March.  All that was needed was for the Lord Protector to sign the
416	bill.  For about a week, Edward Seymour did nothing.  He was
417	understandably hesitant to execute his brother.  Seizing his
418	chance, Dudley urged the council to appeal to the king - flattering his
419	authority, they asked for him to sign the bill so they could proceed
420	without further troubling the Protector.  Edward cared little for
421	either of his uncles (the Protector kept him short of pocket money and
422	assigned him cold-hearted tutors.)  He signed the bill.  On 20
423	March 1549, Thomas Seymour was executed on Tower Hill.  </P>
424	<P>    Meanwhile, Dudley moved to take control of the
425	government.  The year 1549 was marked by discontent - rising
426	prices, high unemployment, bad harvests; also, people resented the
427	radical religious changes passed since Henry VIII's death.  There
428	were two serious revolts, in the West Country and Norfolk, both of which
429	alarmed the land-owning gentry.  Seymour had once been popular with
430	the common people but his execution of his own brother struck many as
431	cold-blooded and evil.  Dudley had counted on this reaction.
432	He also counted on the support of the gentry; he was a capable soldier
433	and put down the rebellion in the West Country.  This pleased the
434	landowners and the king.  Also, it allowed Dudley to gather a
435	well-armed and experienced group of soldiers about him.  On 10
436	October, he and his supporters captured the fleeing Edward Seymour at
437	Windsor Castle.  He was arrested and taken under guard to the
438	Tower.  Dudley became one of the six prime attendants on the King
439	but - very intelligently - did not take the title of Lord
440	Protector.  </P>
441	<P>    Dudley was on the list of sixteen executors Henry
442	VIII had appointed in his will.  In 1543 he had been appointed Lord
443	High Admiral, a post he relinquished reluctantly to the unqualified
444	Thomas Seymour; in 1549, he regained that title.  He was also a
445	family man with several sons.  But Dudley had learned from his
446	dealings with Henry VIII; he knew to treat Edward not as one of his own
447	sons but as a king.  He flattered the king, allowed him greater
448	access to money, more physical freedom.  Luckily for Dudley, his
449	coup coincided with Edward's own physical maturity.  He became a
450	sportsman, which Dudley encouraged, and began to travel a bit outside of
451	London.  </P>
452	<P>    His cousin Jane was not so fortunate.  She
453	had returned to a home devoid of affection which also included physical
454	abuse normal in the sixteenth-century (smacks, pinches, and the
455	like).  The Greys were discovering that their daughter had matured
456	into a thoughtful, intelligent, and self-righteously pious young
457	woman.  She openly disapproved of their lack of piety, their
458	devotion to material gain and social advancement, as well as their
459	gambling.  They were happy to hire a tutor, John Aylmer, to
460	continue her education - and take her off their hands.  Aylmer was
461	a friend of Roger Ascham, the former tutor of Princess Elizabeth.
462	On a visit to Aylmer, Ascham met Jane Grey; she impressed him
463	greatly.  He preserved their meeting in his educational treatise,
464	<I>The Schoolmaster</I>.  </P>
465	<P>    Were the Greys really such terrible parents?
466	There is no doubt that Jane and her parents were not affectionate to one
467	another.  Yet this was normal in an age which expected children to
468	be dutiful and obedient and that discipline built character.  In
469	fairness to them, Jane was openly critical of their pleasure-loving
470	lifestyle.  She encouraged the chaplain to deliver sermons against
471	gambling, told visitors that she found her parents foolish and
472	irritating, and she was very self-righteous.  What parent would
473	enjoy the company of such a devout thirteen-year-old?  At home,
474	Jane met John ab Ulmer, a Swiss Protestant and student of Henry
475	Bullinger, chief pastor of the Protestant church in Zurich.  They
476	were both friends of Aylmer and Ascham.  The four men corresponded
477	about the education of this most pious young girl.  There are many
478	surviving letters - Jane thanking Bullinger for sending a copy of his
479	treatise on Christian Perfection - and some reveal her as more than a
480	pious Protestant martyr.  In one, Aylmer is concerned that she is
481	taking too much of an interest in music and her appearance.  He was
482	distressed - but what good news for the student of Jane's life!
483	She is human, after all.  </P>
484	<P>    Of course, the European reformers were hopeful
485	that Edward VI would marry this most proper cousin.  Their union
486	would make England a most blessed Protestant realm.  But Jane
487	turned fourteen and was still not betrothed to anyone while Edward was
488	in serious talks to wed the French princess Elisabeth.  </P>
489	<P>    Meanwhile, Charles Brandon's two sons with
490	Catherine Willoughby had died.  This meant that their half-sister
491	Frances Grey was sole surviving heir to the Brandon estates.  On 4
492	October 1551, the title of duke of Suffolk was given to her husband in
493	right of his wife.  And on 11 October, just a week later, Dudley
494	was made duke of Northumberland; two years of Edward's favor had
495	sufficiently emboldened him to petition the king.  He was the first
496	man to receive a ducal title who had no ties of marriage or blood to the
497	reigning royal family.  </P>
498	<P>    For Jane Grey, that week in 1551 was to have
499	terrible consequences. <BR>  </P>
500	<P><B>Marriage</B> <BR>The political situation in England during
501	Edward's reign is fully explored in the Edward VI pages.  Suffice
502	to say, the duke of Northumberland, John Dudley, had replaced Edward
503	Seymour as the true power behind the throne.  In spring 1552, his
504	young master fell ill.  No one was especially concerned; Edward VI
505	had been ill before and recovered well enough.  But this time he
506	did not fully recover.  It seemed as if his physical resemblance to
507	the long-dead Prince Arthur went beyond their fair coloring and delicate
508	physique - they were both consumptive as well.  </P>
509	<P>    This naturally terrified the Protestant lords who
510	had prospered during his six-year reign.  The Princesses Mary and
511	Elizabeth were rarely seen at the king's court, Mary in
512	particular.  She could no longer persuade herself that Edward was
513	simply a misguided Protestant pawn.  He had, like Henry before him,
514	ordered her to change her religion; he was king and expected
515	obedience.  He was closer to Elizabeth (only 4 years older than
516	him) and she was suitably Protestant.  But she, too, was rarely at
517	court.  His Grey family, however, was increasingly present.
518	</P>
519	<P>    When Mary of Guise, mother of Mary queen of Scots
520	and regent of Scotland, visited England in November 1551, Mary and
521	Elizabeth were not invited.  But Frances and Henry Grey were there,
522	bringing their fourteen-year-old daughter Jane.  Mary of Guise's
523	two-day visit to Hampton Court was Jane's official debut on the English
524	political scene.  In early February, Jane contracted an unspecified
525	illness.  It was serious enough to warrant mention from Aylmer (in
526	a letter to Ascham.)  After her recovery, Jane's parents persuaded
527	her to devote less time to study and more to social concerns.  Of
528	course, an educated and pious daughter was an asset but they also wanted
529	a daughter who could attract a king in marriage.  </P>
530	<P>    On 2 April 1552, Edward became ill with the
531	measles.  As mentioned, he recovered somewhat - enough to<IMG height=194 alt="Jane's cousin, King Edward VI"
532	src="edward6-crop.jpg" width=137 border=2 align="right"> attend St
533	George's Day services at Westminster Abbey.  He also jousted,
534	played on the tennis courts, and went hunting.  And on 27 June, he
535	began his most extensive progress through the south and west of his
536	kingdom.  The king enjoyed himself (he had never traveled so far
537	outside London) but the pace was exhausting; combined with the illness
538	in April and his strenuous athletics, it wore him down.  Passer-by
539	thought he was ill; he was pale, losing weight, and lost his
540	appetite.  He returned to Windsor in mid-September.  By then,
541	the tuberculosis which killed him had begun in earnest.  By
542	Christmas 1552, his condition was obvious.  The holiday
543	celebrations were unusually festive, perhaps to take notice from the
544	king's health.  Princess Mary came to visit in February but his
545	illness prevented their meeting for three days.  Still, the king's
546	illness meant an increased respect for Mary, his heir under Henry VIII's
547	will.  </P>
548	<P>    The exact nature and course of Edward's illness is
549	discussed at the Edward VI page.  It was tuberculosis, or
550	consumption as it was then called.  On 11 April 1553, Edward moved
551	his household to his favorite residence, Greenwich Palace.  He had
552	managed to open parliament in March but those who hadn't seen him since
553	the holidays were shocked at his appearance; he was terribly thin and,
554	oddly, his left shoulder seemed higher than his right.  It was
555	obvious Edward was suffering terribly.  Northumberland, his closest
556	advisor, was torn - he talked of retiring from political life but this
557	was a passing dream.  He had made too many enemies - particularly
558	the Catholic nobles and churchmen who would rally around Mary.  In
559	truth, if Mary succeeded, the best Dudley could hope for was complete
560	financial and political ruin.  More than likely, he would lose his
561	head.  He could, of course, attempt to marry Princess Elizabeth to
562	his one remaining unmarried son, Guildford.  Why didn't he?
563	It certainly seems less convoluted than attempting to place Jane Grey on
564	the throne.  The truth was that Elizabeth Tudor, nearly twenty
565	years old, had seasoned political acumen - she would never be Dudley's
566	pawn.  Dudley knew her well enough to guess as much.
567	Therefore, only Jane Grey (fourth in line, after her mother Frances)
568	remained.  She would be amenable enough, the duke thought.
569	</P>
570	<P>    Certainly Frances and Henry were happy enough to
571	encourage Dudley.  With Edward dying, there was no possibility of
572	Jane marrying him.  They may have been put off by Dudley's
573	ambition; he first attempted to marry Guildford to Eleanor Brandon's
574	only child, Margaret Clifford (Eleanor was Frances's younger
575	sister.)  But, swayed by the prospect of wealth and power, they
576	agreed to marry Jane to Guildford.  In late April or<img border="2" src="../films2.jpg" width="171" height="215" alt="Cary Elwes and Helena Bonham Carter as Guildford and Jane in the 1986 film 'Lady Jane'" align="left"> early May, the
577	betrothal was announced.  Jane had protested the union but was
578	persuaded by 'the urgency of her mother and the violence of her father';
579	in other words, persuaded by verbal and physical abuse.  </P>
580	<P>    Many have argued that Jane protested because she
581	didn't like Guildford.  That is unlikely.  He was handsome
582	enough (like most of the Dudley men), fair-haired and about her
583	age.  He was arrogant and spoilt; his mother openly favored
584	him.  But he had no other documented flaws.  When considered
585	against other men of the age, he was a good match.  Jane's
586	reservations centered on his father.  She disliked and feared
587	Dudley, as most people did.  But the duke had a weapon against Jane
588	which he would wield effectively - religion.  She was a devout and
589	committed Protestant.  She didn't want Mary as queen any more than
590	he did.  And, unlike Dudley, Jane's desire was based on real
591	principle, not simple greed.  </P>
592	<P>    So on 25 May 1553, Jane married Guildford at the
593	Dudley's London residence, Durham House.  It was one of the great
594	homes of Tudor England; her sister <A
595	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/relative/cathgrey.html">Catherine</A>
596	was also married that day, to the earl of Pembroke's heir.  Orders,
597	signed by the king, had been sent to the Master of the Wardrobe so that
598	the grandest clothing and jewels could be used.  Edward was
599	supposed to attend but was far too ill.  He did not watch as his
600	cousin marched down the aisle, richly appareled in cloth of gold and
601	silver, her red hair braided with pearls.  </P>
602	<P>    For many, Jane and Guildford's marriage marks the
603	beginning of the attempt to change the line of succession.  In
604	reality, Edward VI had been pondering the problem for months.  Ever
605	since he became ill, he had wondered how to prevent his Catholic sister
606	from becoming queen.  His reasoning was purely religious.
607	Edward was a devout Protestant; he wanted his nation, for its own sake,
608	to remain Protestant.  Just as Mary believed Catholicism was the
609	path to righteousness, Edward believed in Protestantism.  He was
610	king, charge by God with responsibility for his people's religious
611	welfare.  It was a sacred duty.  For the sake of his immortal
612	soul, Mary had to be prevented from leading England on the path to
613	damnation.  This necessity overcame all else.  What was Henry
614	VIII's will when compared to divine retribution?  </P>
615	<P>    So in late 1552/early 1553, he first began his
616	Device for the Succession.  At first he left the throne to Lady
617	Frances Grey and her male heirs, then to Jane Grey and her male
618	heirs.  But it was evident that Frances Grey would have no more
619	children and none of her daughters would bear children in time.  So
620	he made a change - simple and explosive - he left the throne to 'the
621	Lady Jane and her heirs male.'  </P>
622	<P>    It was the beginning of the end for Jane Grey.
623	<BR>  </P>
624	<P><B>'Jane the Quene'</B> <BR>Edward's <I>Device for the Succession</I>
625	was eventually issued with the title <I>Letters Patent for the
626	Limitation of the Crown</I>.  It disinherited Mary and Elizabeth
627	because they were 'illegitimate and not lawfully begotten.'
628	Furthermore, they were only half-sisters of the king, not entitled to
629	succeed him, and might marry foreign husbands who would 'tend to the
630	utter subversion of the commonwealth of this our realm.'  But
631	Edward's device would have no legal validity as long as Henry VIII's
632	1544 Act of Succession was still acknowledged by parliament.  But
633	there was no time to wipe that law from the statute book.  Instead,
634	Dudley planned to gain support from government and then carry out a coup
635	so quickly that its legality would not matter.  </P>
636	<P>    To gain government support, he spent June 1553
637	persuading the Privy Council, judiciary, and various churchmen to
638	endorse Edward's device.  The Lord Chief Justice, Sir Edward
639	Montague, and the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, were uneasy;
640	but Dudley was desperate and called them traitors.  Furthermore,
641	the king ordered them to obey.  So the <I>Letters Patent for the
642	Limitation of the Crown </I>was endorsed with the Great Seal on 21
643	June.  It was recognized by the Lord Chancellor, the Privy
644	Councilors, twenty-two peers of the realm, the Lord Mayor of London,
645	various aldermen and sheriffs, the secretaries of state (including
646	William Cecil, Elizabeth I's great statesman), and various judges and
647	churchmen.  King Edward VI did not live long after this
648	triumph.  After months of agony, he died in the early evening of
649	Thursday 6 July.  </P>
650	<P>    Jane Grey, meanwhile, had been married to
651	Guildford Dudley for almost six weeks.  She disliked her in-laws
652	more than she disliked her parents so, immediately after the marriage,
653	returned to Suffolk Place at Westminster.  From there, she moved to
654	her parents' new residence in London, a former Carthusian monastery they
655	were converting into a grand home.  Dudley's wife, the duchess of
656	Northumberland and Jane's mother-in-law, was not happy with this
657	arrangement.  She informed the Greys that Edward VI was dying and
658	Jane had been made heir to his throne; she must hold herself in
659	readiness (in other words, come to the Dudley home.)  Jane later
660	said this was the first she knew of the king's impending death.
661	She didn't believe the duchess and told her as much; she accused the
662	Dudleys of lying so they could steal her away from her parents.
663	The duchess accused the Greys of deliberating keeping Guildford and Jane
664	apart.  Such petty conflict indicated rougher waters ahead for all
665	involved.  </P>
666	<P>    In the end, there was no reason Jane should not be
667	with her husband.  She went to the Dudley's residence, Durham
668	House, and possibly consummated her marriage.  But, after only a
669	few days, she became ill and accused the Dudleys of poisoning her.
670	The charge was ludicrous (she was the key to their political salvation)
671	and showed a surprising lack of logic on Jane's part.  But the
672	Dudleys were concerned with her physical and mental state.  They
673	sent her to Chelsea, Catherine Parr's former home where Jane had been so
674	happy.  It was there that, on Sunday 9 July, Dudley's eldest
675	daughter, Mary Sidney, came to visit her; they were to leave Chelsea and
676	go to Syon House, a former convent on the Thames which Dudley
677	controlled.  </P>
678	<P>    At this point, it is right to question Jane's true
679	knowledge of Dudley's plans.  Remember, even if she knew Dudley
680	intended to make her queen, there was nothing she could do to prevent
681	it.  She was not stupid; the charge of poisoning was probably a
682	result of nervousness and hysteria.  She knew her own
683	lineage.  She knew that she was fourth in line for the English
684	throne, after Mary, Elizabeth and her own mother Frances.  She also
685	knew that, for some reason, the Dudleys and her parents were desperate
686	to marry her to Guildford as quickly as possible.  She also watched
687	her sister wed into another influential noble family on the same
688	day.  Something was afoot and she undoubtedly suspected Dudley's
689	plan.  In the end, her awareness of the plot was undoubtedly a
690	greater strain than ignorance.  After all, she could do nothing to
691	escape her family or in-laws.  She was, quite literally,
692	trapped.  </P>
693	<P>    When she arrived at Syon House with Mary Sidney,
694	she found her parents, in-laws, and a variety of distinguished nobles -
695	the earls of Arundel, Huntington, and Pembroke, and the marquess of
696	Northampton.  They greeted her very pleasantly and then knelt
697	before her in reverence.  Jane was naturally embarrassed.
698	Dudley, in his capacity as President of the Council, then announced
699	Edward's death.  The young king had led a 'virtuous life' and
700	always cared for his kingdom - cared enough to disinherit his unworthy
701	sisters and appointed his cousin Jane as his successor.  </P>
702	<P>    Jane was stunned.  She may have suspected as
703	much but the actual moment of declaration was too much for her.
704	She muttered that she was 'insufficient' for the task.  The Lords
705	of the Council then took a solemn oath to shed their blood in defense of
706	her claim.  Jane murmured a quick prayer - if it was God's will
707	that she be queen, then she would trust in God to help her govern
708	England for His glory.  </P>
709	<P>    Her reaction was not what those gathered
710	expected.  She was not openly thrilled, excited, or even
711	pleased.  She made no stirring speech to raise their spirits - she
712	simply uttered a prayer to God.  Did Jane want to be queen?
713	That is a much-debated question, impossible to answer.  But
714	whatever her desire, she was queen and - for nine long days - ruled
715	England.  <BR>  </P>
716	<P><B>'Jana Regina'</B> <BR>On Monday 10 July 1553, the new queen, Jane
717	Grey, was taken in full state from Syon to Westminster (this journey was
718	along the Thames in barges.)  They dined at the Dudley home, Durham
719	House, and then journeyed by barge again to the Tower of London.
720	It was an ancient custom that all new sovereigns must come tot the Tower
721	and take possession of it at the beginning of their reigns.  Jane
722	and her various attendants arrived at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.
723	There was an eyewitness account by a Genoese merchant named Baptista
724	Spinola.  He was standing with a group of spectators outside the
725	main Tower gates, waiting to catch a glimpse of this new queen.  He
726	wrote:  </P>
727	<UL>
728	<p>She is very short and thin, but prettily shaped and
729	graceful.  She has small features and a well-made nose, the mouth
730	flexible and the lips red.  The eyebrows are arched and darker
731	than her hair, which is nearly red.  Her eyes are sparkling and
732	reddish brown in color. </p>
733	</UL>
734	<p>Her complexion was good, unmarked by the
735	pox, but freckled; she had sharp white teeth and a lovely smile.
736	Because she was so short, she wore chopines; these were shoes with a
737	special cork sole designed to make her appear taller.  Her gown was
738	made of green velvet stamped with gold (the colors undoubtedly flattered
739	her red hair.)  Her husband Guildford, Spinola wrote, was 'a very
740	tall strong boy with light hair' and clothed in white and silver
741	velvet.  He 'paid her [Jane] much attention.'  </p>
742	<P>
743	<IMG height=343 alt="Lady Jane Grey or Katharine Parr? by Master John"
744	src="grey3.jpg" width=170 border=2 align="left">    Once in the Tower, Jane was installed in the royal
745	apartments (now destroyed.)  There, another rift occurred between
746	her and the Dudleys, much more serious than the first.  Jane was
747	visited by the Lord Treasurer, the Marquess of Winchester, who brought a
748	selection of the royal jewels for her to try on.  Among them was
749	the crown.  Jane would later stress that she never asked for the
750	crown - it was brought to her.  Winchester asked her to check if it
751	fitted properly.  Jane would not.  She had played at being
752	queen for nearly twenty-four hours but this, the most sacred symbol of
753	the monarchy, was another reminder of the danger - and importance - of
754	her role.  If she put it on, there was no turning back.  This
755	was how she viewed it.  So she hesitated, would not take it from
756	Winchester.  He didn't recognize her uneasiness.  He told her
757	to take it, remarking that another would be made to crown her husband
758	king.  </P>
759	<P>    It was then Jane realized the extent of Dudley's
760	duplicity.  He had manipulated Edward, knowing the devout
761	Protestant king wanted the throne to go to his equally devout cousin
762	Jane; but, all along, Dudley simply wanted his own son crowned
763	king.  None of the lords cared whether England was a righteous
764	nation; no one cared about Edward's will.  Instead, her royal blood
765	was to be used to maintain Dudley's control of England, to make his
766	family into royalty.  She was outraged and angry.  And Jane
767	was a Tudor herself, as proud of her royal background as she had a right
768	to be.  The Dudleys, that arrogant, pretentious family, had no
769	right to exploit her.  She told those assembled that she would
770	gladly make Guildford a duke, but he would never be king.  </P>
771	<P>    Guildford was present for this declaration.
772	He rushed out and fetched his mother.  The duchess, no admirer of
773	Jane's anyway, joined her son in an attack - Jane was an unnatural wife
774	and behaved like a child; in the end, Jane did not give in.  The
775	duchess said Guildford would be leaving with her for Syon House.
776	When they had left, Jane called in the earls of Arundel and
777	Pembroke.  They were ordered to prevent Guildford from
778	leaving.  Jane did not like her husband - she probably pitied him
779	for he was a pawn as well - but they had to stay together.  He was
780	the consort to the monarch and could not act like a spoiled child.
781	</P>
782	<P>    Later, Jane would tell Mary I's officers this
783	story, adding, 'I was compelled to act as a woman who is obliged to live
784	on good terms with her husband; nevertheless I was not only deluded by
785	the duke and the Council, but maltreated by my husband and his
786	mother.'  The battle, however, had been domestic.  Jane would
787	soon have much greater problems to confront.  For, later that
788	evening, the Sheriff of London and various heralds and trumpeters,
789	marched to the Cross in Cheapside to proclaim Jane queen.  The
790	announcement was met with silence.  </P>
791	<P>    For Jane's father-in-law, the architect of the
792	plan to make her queen, her accession had gone smoothly.  He
793	controlled London - with the Tower and armory, the treasury, and navy -
794	and no councilors offered resistance.  Jane's only rival for the
795	crown was Mary Tudor, thirty-seven, often ill, with no organized support
796	or wealth.  Her situation was so dire that her champion, the
797	Emperor Charles V, urged his ambassador to be friendly with Dudley; he
798	wanted the duke's promise to protect Mary.  Every observer
799	considered the throne won by Dudley.  But none of these learned men
800	considered the feelings of ordinary Englishmen.  And they, unlike
801	their aristocratic lords, would not gain wealth of prestige by
802	supporting Jane or Mary.  So their support was based solely on
803	ideas of right and wrong - to them, it was wrong for Jane to be queen
804	and right for Mary to be queen.  It was that simple.  (<FONT
805	size=-1><A href="../jane1.html">Click here
806	to read an eyewitness account of Jane's coronation</A>.)</FONT> </P>
807	<P>    Dudley understood popular opinion.  He also
808	recognized the limits of his support - after all, most of the nobles
809	would not stand by him if things turned ugly.  But he believed that
810	a quick coup, eliminating all opposition, was the key to success.
811	So he had to get hold of Mary and Elizabeth.  Mary, the daughter of
812	Katharine of Aragon, was much-loved by the English people.  They
813	had always been sympathetic to her mother's plight; most believed Mary
814	was legitimate, that Katharine had been forced aside by the king's lust
815	and Anne Boleyn's ambition.  Did Mary understand the importance of
816	this support?  She had been receiving regular letters from Dudley
817	about her brother's condition.  They were accurate for Dudley
818	wanted to remain in her good graces as long as possible.  In early
819	July, he sent summons for Mary to come to Edward's deathbed.  She
820	set out from Hunsdon (an old palace in Hertfordshire) but had not
821	traveled far before a message reached her - the summons was a
822	trap.  Mary, oddly for her, acted decisively and immediately turned
823	back.  With half a dozen attendants, she went to Kenninghall in
824	East Anglia.  She had friends there and, if need be, would be near
825	the coast and safety in the Spanish Netherlands.  </P>
826	<P>    When he realized she had fled, Dudley sent his son
827	Robert after her.  But they couldn't capture her and, on 9 July, he
828	was forced to act without her in his power.  The Bishop of London,
829	Nicholas Ridley, preached at St Paul's Cross, calling Mary and Elizabeth
830	bastards, and specifically singling out Mary as a papist who would
831	destroy the true religion and make England the pawn of foreign
832	powers.  The next day, of course, Jane was proclaimed queen.
833	But it was on that day that the Council received a letter from
834	Mary.  It expressed her surprise that they hadn't announced her
835	brother's death to her, his heir; furthermore, they were commanded to
836	proclaim her queen in London.  They responded by reminding her of
837	her illegitimacy and inability to inherit 'the Crown Imperial of this
838	realm'; she must demonstrate her obedience to the 'Sovereign Lady Queen
839	Jane' and turn herself over to the authorities.  It was hardly
840	reassuring for Mary.  Also, her old allies, the Spanish envoys,
841	were not responding to her desperate pleas for help.  </P>
842	<P>    Jane spent little time with her lords during her
843	nine days as queen.  She sent an order to the Master of the
844	Wardrobe for twenty yards of velvet, twenty-five ells of fine Holland
845	linen cloth, thirty-three ells of coarser material for lining; she also
846	collected the royal jewels, a motley assortment of fish-shaped
847	toothpicks and Henry VIII's shaving materials.  This reveals an
848	important fact about Jane's nine-day reign.  She made no explicit
849	political statements; she was Dudley's puppet.  He was the one who
850	met with the council, he was the one who wanted to capture Mary Tudor;
851	he was the one tried to shore up their perilous situation.  When
852	they fell from power, Jane never protested or attempted another
853	coup.  One can imagine that she felt relieved to be simply Lady
854	Jane Grey again.  </P>
855	<P>    Dudley spent the nine days attempting to
856	strengthen their position.  It was imperative to capture Mary; when
857	that failed, he needed to at least track her movements.  If he
858	could reach her potential supporters first, there was a chance he could
859	sway them to his side.  Dudley undoubtedly feared that (like his
860	father during Henry VIII's reign), he would be the sacrificial lamb of
861	Edward's unsuccessful government.  But he worked well under
862	pressure, leaving Jane to fight domestic battles with her husband and
863	mother-in-law.  </P>
864	<P>    Elizabeth, meanwhile, remained in the
865	country.  She was no admirer of her half-sister Mary but knew that
866	if Jane Grey was recognized as queen, her own claim to the crown was
867	forfeit.  So she chose the safest course - she remained quiet,
868	neither supporting nor rejecting Jane.  Like all of England and
869	most of Europe, she was watching and waiting.  It became evident on
870	11 July, just a day after her coronation, that Jane's hold on England
871	was flimsy at best.  Dudley had prepared a letter for circulation
872	to all the sheriffs and lieutenants in England; it announced Jane's
873	succession and ordered them to resist any appeal from Mary.  But
874	Dudley knew the issue would not be settled so easily.  It would be
875	decided on the field of battle.  He was an experienced soldier and
876	determined to succeed.  So he ordered a muster on 12 July at
877	Tothill Fields, offering 10 pence a day as pay (a very high rate.)
878	Dudley intended to put Jane's father, Henry Grey, in charge of this army
879	and remain in London himself.  He realized that most of his hold on
880	the council was based on personal intimidation.  </P>
881	<P>    But the queen would not hear of it.  When
882	told that her father was going to battle, Jane burst into tears and
883	begged the council to let him remain at home, 'in her company.'
884	The councilors were already preparing to make Dudley a scapegoat for
885	their treason.  Since the queen was so distraught, they argued, it
886	would be better for Dudley to command the army.  After all, he was
887	a great soldier, renowned for his defeat of the rebels in East Anglia
888	(that triumph had begun his rise to power.)  It was up to Dudley,
889	the councilors said, 'to remedy the matter.'  And Dudley had no
890	choice but to leave.  'Since ye think it good, I and mine will go,
891	not doubting of your fidelity to the Queen's majesty which I leave in
892	your custody.'  </P>
893	<P>    Dudley did doubt their fidelity and he had every
894	reason to doubt it.  But he couldn't turn back now.  On 13
895	July he had his personal armor delivered and appointed a retinue to meet
896	him at Durham Place.  Afterwards, he addressed the councilors for
897	the last time.  They were to send reinforcements to meet him at
898	Newmarket, he said, for he and his companions would need much
899	support.  They were leaving their wives and children behind,
900	trusting in the loyalty of the council.  And, Dudley warned, if any
901	man thought to betray him or the queen, their punishment would be
902	eternal.  Remember, Dudley said, the oath you took 'to this
903	virtuous lady the Queen's highness, who by your and our enticement is
904	rather of force placed therein than by her own seeking and
905	request.'  The assembled lords assured him of their loyalty; one of
906	them said, 'If we should shrink from you as one that were culpable,
907	which of us can excuse himself as guiltless?  Therefore herein your
908	doubt is too far cast.'  Dudley's final words?  'I pray God it
909	be so,' he said and left for battle.  It was not an auspicious
910	beginning.  </P>
911	<P>    Dudley did not trust the lords so he sent his
912	cousin Henry Dudley on a secret mission to France that day, promising
913	Calais and Ireland in exchange for immediate military assistance.
914	He did not tell the lords of this; nor did they tell him they were
915	meeting secretly with the Imperial ambassadors.  A report arrived
916	that Buckinghamshire had declared Mary to be queen but Mary herself was
917	still unsure.  She retreated from Kenninghall to Framlingham
918	Castle, nearer the coast.  She sent an urgent message to the
919	Imperial envoys; if her cousin Charles V did not help her, she was
920	doomed.  In the midst of this confusion and treachery, Dudley had
921	assembled an army of three thousand.  Early on Friday, the 14th of
922	July, he left Durham Place for Cambridge.  The villagers he passed
923	were silent, staring at the side of the road - 'The people press to see
924	us, but not one sayeth God speed us.'  </P>
925	<P>    As Dudley marched on, his situation became more
926	perilous.  Norwich, one of the wealthiest towns in England,
927	declared Mary queen, as did Colchester, Devon, and Oxfordshire.
928	Dudley had sent six royal ships to the port near Framlingham to cut off
929	Mary's possible escape; the ships deserted Dudley and, with crews and
930	heavy guns, proclaimed Mary queen.  Meanwhile, the loyal towns were
931	sending money, men, and supplies.  The ordinary Englishman, ordered
932	by his lord to fight in Dudley's army, refused to go.  Dudley's own
933	army was - understandably - racked with dissension; no one wanted to be
934	on the losing side.  Once the news had reached London that the
935	ships had deserted Dudley, the councilors decided to save
936	themselves.  They attempted to leave the Tower, where they had been
937	stationed since Dudley's departure.  On the 16th of July, at about
938	7 o'clock in the evening, the main gates of the Tower were locked; they
939	keys were delivered to Jane.  Jane suspected one of the lords
940	(possibly Winchester, the lord treasurer) of trying to leave the
941	city.  </P>
942	<P>    Meanwhile, she was continuing her rule - sending
943	out letters signed 'Jane the Quene' which instructed her loyal subjects
944	to suppress Mary's rebellion.  But she must have realized the
945	futility of it all.  She was just a teenage girl, inexperienced and
946	frightened.  It was simply a question of waiting for the end.
947	On the 18th of July, most of her councilors had left the Tower on the
948	pretext of visiting the French ambassador.  In reality, they were
949	planning a visit to the Imperial embassy.  Once there, they assured
950	Charles V's envoys that they had always been loyal to Mary; they had
951	been kept prisoner by Dudley, forced to declare Jane queen.  But
952	now they were free and determined to proclaim Mary queen of
953	England.  They did so around 5 o'clock in the evening, on Thursday,
954	the 19th of July.  London erupted into a joyous celebration.
955	The foreign ambassadors were astonished, with the French envoy writing:
956	'The atmosphere of this country and the nature of its people are so
957	changeable that I am compelled to make my despatches correspondingly
958	wavering and contradictory.'  They all agreed it owed more to
959	Providence than anything else.  </P>
960	<P>    Jane was terribly frightened.  She had long
961	fought with her parents but, upon becoming Dudley's pawn, had sought
962	support from them, particularly her father.  He came to Jane as she
963	ate supper that night and told her she was deposed.  Together, they
964	took down the cloth of estate from above her head.  He ordered his
965	men to leave their weapons and then went to Tower Hill.  Those near
966	him heard him mutter, 'I am but one man.'  He proclaimed Mary queen
967	and then left for his London residence.  Jane was left alone in the
968	Tower.  Lady Throckmorton, one of her ladies-in-waiting, returned
969	to the Tower for her duties but could not find Jane.  She asked for
970	the queen's whereabouts and was told that the <I>Lady</I> Jane was now a
971	prisoner, detained elsewhere in the Tower.  </P>
972	<P>    Jane was in the deputy lieutenant's house,
973	awaiting her fate.  The indignities began.  Her belongings
974	were sorted through, all her money confiscated; within the day, she was
975	accused of stealing valuables from the royal wardrobe.  Mary was
976	riding to London, now accepted as queen.  Dudley was arrested by
977	his former ally, the earl of Arundel.  His entire family was taken
978	to the Tower; as they were marched through the streets, the crowd pelted
979	them with filth and insults.  Even the Imperial envoy called it
980	'dreadful' and 'a strange mutation.'  For Dudley's fall from power
981	had been rapid, extraordinarily so - the nine days' progress from ruler
982	to traitor was a confusing mix of treachery, rumor, and disgrace.
983	</P>
984	<P>    Mary did release Dudley's wife from the Tower,
985	almost immediately; the duchess hurried to the queen to beg for her
986	family's release.  Mary ordered her from the city.  Her cousin
987	Frances, however, was more fortunate.  She had a private audience
988	with the queen.  Within days, Henry Grey (who had been arrested at
989	his London home and sent to the Tower on the 28th) was released.
990	On 3 August, Mary made her state entry into London.  As she rode
991	past cheering crowds, clad in purple velvet and rich jewels, Jane Grey
992	waited in prison, along with her husband and father-in-law.  </P>
993	<P>    What would be their fate?  All Europe
994	pondered this, even as Jane prepared to plead her case.  <BR>
995	</P>
996	<P><B>'I pray you despatch me quickly'</B> <BR>Jane Grey possessed the
997	committed idealism of a religious fanatic and the events following her
998	brief reign allowed her a place in history as a Protestant martyr.
999	Her cousin Mary never questioned her passionate Catholicism; Jane did
1000	question her own Protestantism but the quest for spiritual meaning only
1001	reinforced her
1002	<img border="2" src="../mary1faq.jpg" alt="portrait of Princess Mary Tudor, later Queen Mary I; also painted by Master John (note the stylistic similarities)" width="165" height="213" align="right">already strong convictions.  Had she remained queen,
1003	there is every possibility she would have persecuted Catholics with the
1004	same energy Mary persecuted Protestants (thus earning the nickname
1005	'Bloody Mary.')  Instead, Jane's fate was to be executed and later
1006	celebrated as a Protestant martyr, the greatest sacrificial lamb of
1007	Mary's misguided policies.  The truth is, of course, more
1008	complex.  Mary did not execute Jane because of their religious
1009	differences.  Rather, she was motivated by political necessity and
1010	her own desire to marry and reinstate the Catholic church in
1011	England.  </P>
1012	<P>    Immediately after her accession, Mary had
1013	imprisoned Jane in the Tower of London.  The former queen was
1014	well-treated but undoubtedly frightened.  She probably expected
1015	imminent execution for she had long since realized the severity of her
1016	crime.  Since it became clear no one would intercede for her, she
1017	wrote to Mary herself.  Only an Italian translation of the letter
1018	exists.  In it, Jane described events since her marriage to
1019	Guildford Dudley.  She was wrong for accepting the crown - she
1020	freely admitted this; but she had relied on the advice of others.
1021	She knew the queen's 'goodness and clemency'; Mary must realize that 'I
1022	might have taken upon me that of which I was not worthy, yet no one can
1023	ever say either that I sought it.... or that I was pleased with
1024	it.'  Mary believed her cousin, an honest, plain-spoken child, for
1025	all her heretical ways.  <SMALL>(<A
1026	href="http://www.englishhistory.net/tudor/primary/janemary.html">Click
1027	here to read Jane's letter to Mary</A>.) </SMALL> </P>
1028	<P>    Mary was in the midst of arranging her marriage to
1029	Philip of Spain, the son and heir of Charles V.  It was the
1030	culmination of a decades-old dream.  She had spent the last few
1031	years in the countryside, surrounded by a Catholic household and
1032	sympathetic nobles.  Thus, she never realized the extent of
1033	Protestantism in the vital areas of London and its surrounding
1034	countryside.  Mary assumed all of England wanted to return to the
1035	early 1520s, the years before Henry VIII had decided to abandon her
1036	beloved mother and break with the church of Rome.  Mary assumed
1037	that the popular support which had taken the throne from Jane
1038	indicated support not simply for her rule - but for <I>Catholic</I> rule
1039	in general.  In this misguided view, she was initially supported by
1040	her most trusted political advisor - a Spaniard named Simon Renard, the
1041	newly arrived Imperial ambassador.  </P>
1042	<P>    Charles V had instructed Renard to guide Mary
1043	through the crucial first months of her reign.  At first, signs
1044	were good - Mary attended Mass with her privy councilors but, on 12
1045	August 1553, told her council that she would not 'compel or constrain
1046	other men's consciences.'  She hoped her subjects would open their
1047	hearts to the truth and, shortly thereafter, return to the religion she
1048	supported.  Renard was also instructed to urge moderate punishment
1049	upon those who had supported Jane.  Charles did not want his cousin
1050	to be too cruel; that would hurt her reputation.  He needn't have
1051	worried.  Mary was, in fact, too lenient for Renard.  'As to
1052	Jane of Suffolk, whom they tried to make Queen, she [Mary] could not be
1053	induced to consent that she should die.'  Mary firmly believed her
1054	cousin was innocent of any intrigue; Jane had never intended to be
1055	queen, but had been the unwilling dupe of Dudley.  She could not
1056	put this innocent young woman to death.  </P>
1057	<P>    Renard admitted that Jane was 'morally' innocent
1058	but, nevertheless, she had worn the crown of England.  In times of
1059	trouble, those nine days may be used as a precedent for deposing Mary
1060	and restoring Jane.  Mary was commended for her trusting nature but
1061	she must remember that kindness could be destroyed by duplicity.
1062	Renard was somewhat mollified when, on 18 August, Dudley was sentenced
1063	to die.  He was convicted along with his eldest son and William
1064	Parr, marquess of Northampton.  The following day a group of lesser
1065	nobles were convicted.  Dudley's execution was set for Monday 21
1066	August but, at the last minute, Dudley announced he wanted to reconciled
1067	to the Catholic faith.  Did he hope to avert his own death,
1068	appealing to Mary's religion?  Or did he genuinely wish to
1069	convert?  Whatever the case, his execution was delayed for one day
1070	while he made his peace with God.  At 9 o'clock the next morning,
1071	he was escorted - with his son and Parr - to St Peter ad Vincula, the
1072	church within the Tower of London grounds.  There, he attended mass
1073	and, upon receiving the sacrament, Dudley addressed the crowd:
1074	</P>
1075	<UL>
1076	<p>My masters, I let you all to understand that I do most faithfully
1077	believe this is the very right and true way, out of the which true
1078	religion you and I have been seduced these sixteen years past, by the
1079	false and erroneous preaching of the new preachers....  And I do
1080	believe the holy sacrament here most assuredly to be our Saviour and
1081	Redeemer Jesus Christ and this I pray you all to testify and pray for
1082	me. </p>
1083	</UL>
1084	<p>He died the next morning, before a great crowd of
1085	spectators.  He repeated his speech at the mass; it had a great
1086	effect on the crowd.  </p>
1087	<P>    By this point, Jane Grey knew she was safe from
1088	imminent death.  She was still in the Tower but treated with
1089	increasing respect.  A week after Dudley's execution, Rowland Lea
1090	(an official of the royal mint who lived in the Tower and was the author
1091	of the <I>Chronicle of Queen Jane</I>) ate with her.  She had a
1092	staff of four (two attendant ladies, Mrs Tilney and Mrs Jacob, one
1093	manservant, and her nurse and lifelong companion, Mrs Ellen.)  The
1094	government paid them each 20 shillings a week; Jane was allowed a
1095	generous allowance of 90 shillings a week.  She was allowed books
1096	and spent most of her time reading and studying.  When she wished
1097	it, she walked in the Queen's garden.  She no longer had to deal
1098	with her parents or her in-laws, undoubtedly a welcome relief.  The
1099	gentleman gaoler, called Partridge, and his wife were kind and
1100	respectful.  Lea recorded Jane's comments on Dudley:  </P>
1101	<UL>
1102	<p>'Woe worth him! he hath brought me and our stock in most miserable
1103	calamity and misery by his exceeding ambition.  But for the
1104	answering that he hoped for life by his turning, though other men be
1105	of that opinion, I utterly am not; for what man is there living, I
1106	pray you, although he had been innocent, that would hope of life in
1107	that case; being in the field against the Queen in person as general,
1108	and after his taking so hated and evil spoken of by the commons? and
1109	at his coming into prison so wondered at [reviled] as the like was
1110	never heard by any man's time.  Who was judge that he should hope
1111	for pardon, whose life was odious to all men?  But what will ye
1112	more?  Like as his life was wicked and full of dissimulation, so
1113	was his end thereafter.  I pray God, I, nor no friend of mine,
1114	die so.  Should I, who am young and in my few years, forsake my
1115	faith for the love of life?  Nay, God forbid!  Much more he
1116	should not, whose fatal course, although he had lived his just number
1117	of years, could not have long continued.  But life was sweet, it
1118	appeared; so he might have lived, you will say, he did not care
1119	how.  Indeed the reason is good; for he that would have lived in
1120	chains to have had his life, by like would leave no other mean
1121	[un]attempted.  But God be merciful to us, for he sayeth, Whoso
1122	denieth him before me, he will not know him in his Father's Kingdom.'
1123	</p>
1124	</UL>
1125	<p>Jane's intense religious convictions and her hatred of Dudley are
1126	evident in this passage.  She further demonstrated her religious
1127	intolerance when writing to Dr Harding, a former chaplain at her
1128	parents' home of Bradgate and her first tutor.  Harding had joined
1129	other Protestant chaplains in renouncing his reformed faith and becoming
1130	Catholic once again.  Jane was completely disgusted and appalled by
1131	his cowardice:  </p>
1132	<UL>
1133	<p>'I cannot but marvel at thee and lament thy case, who seemed
1134	sometime to be the lively member of Christ, but now the deformed imp
1135	of the devil; sometime the beautiful temple of God, but now the
1136	stinking and filthy kennel of Satan; sometime the unspotted spouse of
1137	Christ, but now the unshamefaced paramour of Antichrist; sometime my
1138	faithful brother, but now a stranger and apostate; sometime a stout
1139	Christian soldier, but now a cowardly runaway.  Yea, when I
1140	consider these things, I cannot but speak to thee, and cry out upon
1141	thee, thou seed of Satan.  <BR>Oh wretched and unhappy man, what
1142	art thou but dust and ashes?  And wilt thou resist thy Maker that
1143	fashioned thee and framed thee?  ....Wilt thou refuse the true
1144	God, and worship the invention of man, the golden calf, the whore of
1145	Babylon, the Romish religion, the abominable idol, the most wicked
1146	mass?' </p>
1147	</UL>
1148	<p>Such rhetoric reveals insight into Jane's character.
1149	She was pious, devout, and kind - but she was also self-righteous and
1150	intolerant.  She and Mary were more alike than many realized.
1151	Both were plain-spoken, transparently honest, and passionately believed
1152	their religion was the sole path to salvation.  </p>
1153	<P>    While Mary prepared for her coronation, Jane
1154	remained in the Tower.  The Dudley brothers were now allowed to
1155	exercise on the roof of their prison, Beauchamp Tower, though there is
1156	no evidence that Jane and Guildford saw one another.  Mary did not
1157	speak of her imprisoned cousin.  Her time was taken up with her
1158	coronation and impending marriage, as well as the conflict her marriage
1159	was causing.  Most Englishmen did not want Mary to wed a Spaniard,
1160	for the same reasons Edward VI had excluded her from the succession -
1161	she was past middle-aged and would probably bear no children.
1162	Therefore, she would leave the throne to a Catholic husband and England
1163	would become yet another state of the Imperial empire.  But as the
1164	weeks passed, Mary's leniency began to be questioned.  So Mary gave
1165	in to pressure and ordered Jane and the four Dudley sons to stand trial;
1166	the order had been prepared in mid-September but Mary did not allow the
1167	trial to take place until two months later.  </P>
1168	<P>
1169	<IMG height=184 alt="engraving of Lady Jane Grey"
1170	src="grey2.jpg" width=150 border=2 align="left">    As they were led out of the Tower to be arraigned
1171	at Guildhall, the executioner walked before them.  He carried an
1172	axe, as was the custom.  Jane dressed soberly for the occasion, as
1173	befitted a proper young lady of the reformed church.  She was clad
1174	all in black; she wore a black cloth gown, black cape trimmed with
1175	velvet, and a black French hood trimmed with velvet.  At her girdle
1176	hung a prayer book also bound in black velvet.  She held a book of
1177	prayers open in her hands as she walked behind Guildford.  She was
1178	attended by her two ladies, Mrs Tilney and Mrs Jacob.  The
1179	proceedings were a mere formality.  Jane and the four Dudleys pled
1180	guilty to the charge of high treason.  Sentence was passed against
1181	them; the men would be hung, drawn, and quartered and Jane would be
1182	burnt or beheaded at the Queen's pleasure.  They returned to the
1183	Tower, this time with the edge of the axe turned towards them.  In
1184	this way, spectators knew they were condemned.  </P>
1185	<P>    But the passing of the sentence was simply a
1186	formality.  As Renard reported in his subsequent dispatches, 'It is
1187	believed that Jane will not die' and, a week later, 'As for Jane, I am
1188	told her life is safe.'  Meanwhile, her parents had left the
1189	reformed church.  Henry Grey was forced to pay a 20000 pd fine but
1190	given a general pardon.  He returned to court.  His wife was
1191	Queen Mary's favorite lady and their two daughters, Catherine and Mary,
1192	were her ladies-in-waiting.  In fact, Frances Grey was shown great
1193	favor at court, even gaining precedence over Princess Elizabeth.
1194	Most observers believed Jane would soon be pardoned and released, free
1195	to join her family at court.  The rehabilitation of the Greys
1196	seemed complete.  </P>
1197	<P>    However, Mary's fervent desire to wed Philip of
1198	Spain was soon to have tragic consequences for the sixteen-year-old Jane
1199	Grey.  <BR>  </P>
1200	<P><B>'So perish all the Queen's enemies'</B> <BR>The complexities of
1201	Mary Tudor's decision to marry the twenty-six widower, Philip of Spain,
1202	are discussed at her <A
1203	href="../monarchs/mary1.html">website</A>.
1204	They can be outlined briefly here.  Mary - and most of her
1205	contemporaries - believed she must marry; she needed a husband for
1206	support and guidance.  No woman had ruled England in her own right
1207	before.  Most Englishmen wanted Mary to wed the great-grandson of
1208	Edward IV, Edward Courtenay.  He was the last of the Plantagenets,
1209	young, good-looking, and charming; his high birth led him to spend most
1210	of his youth in prison.  Mary was kind to him.  She released
1211	him from the Tower and restored he and his mother to favor.  She
1212	remembered that Edward's parents had supported her mother during the
1213	great divorce.  But she also made it clear she would not marry
1214	him.  For Mary, whose life had possessed little happiness and peace
1215	after her adolescence, had always turned to her mother's family for
1216	advice and support.  And she continued to do so when she became
1217	queen.  Certainly Philip of Spain, heir to the Hapsburg empire, was
1218	the most sought-after prince in Europe.  But he was also the
1219	grandson of her aunt, which meant a great deal to the sentimental Mary
1220	Tudor.  </P>
1221	<P>    Still, she did not immediately plan to marry
1222	him.  She was deeply religious and had spent the past twenty years
1223	essentially alone and unloved.  She was naturally fearful of
1224	marriage.  She asked Renard - was Philip too young for her?
1225	would she be able to satisfy him for she was ignorant of 'that which was
1226	called love' ?  In short, she was a deeply devout and chaste maiden
1227	and he was a twenty-six-year-old widower.  Would he be happy with
1228	her?  Renard assured her that Philip was delighted to wed
1229	Mary.  And, he added, they would have children together, providing
1230	England with a Catholic succession.  Mary replied that she had
1231	never considered marriage until God had raised her to the throne but -
1232	now that she was queen - she would lead her subjects down the path of
1233	righteousness.  With the might of the Holy Roman Empire behind her,
1234	her faith would be triumphant.  So she agreed to marry Philip in
1235	late October 1553; their engagement was made official.  </P>
1236	<P>    She was faced with a hostile reaction.  Both
1237	her subjects and the king of France made their anger known.  Many
1238	Englishmen believed Charles V wanted to drag England into war against
1239	France, another costly and ineffectual enterprise.  In truth,
1240	Charles really wanted control of that vital sea route between Spain and
1241	the Netherlands; he needed to control the English coast in order for his
1242	trade route to operate at its maximum profitability.  But England
1243	has always been an insular nation.  With Protestant propagandists
1244	and the French ambassador spreading all sorts of rumors (from Spanish
1245	invasions to immediate wars), the people were in an uproar.
1246	Furthermore, Mary's councilors were an ineffectual bunch and their
1247	policies were roundly criticized.  It seemed that, just months into
1248	her reign, Mary was steadily falling from favor.  </P>
1249	<P>    On 2 January 1554, Charles V's envoys arrived to
1250	iron out the details of the marriage contract.  To secure his
1251	valuable trade route, Charles was prepared to be generous.  In
1252	fact, he included every provision possible to stifle English
1253	fears.  But it was no use.  The people didn't want the
1254	marriage.  Soon enough, word reached London of uprisings in the
1255	countryside - Carew in Devonshire, Wyatt in Kent, Crofts in
1256	Wales....  The councilors were alarmed.  And then word reached
1257	them that Henry Grey, the duke of Suffolk, had disappeared from his
1258	country home, Sheen.  They had planned the uprising for March when
1259	Philip was due to arrive but Courtenay, timid after years in the Tower,
1260	betrayed them.  So the conspirators were forced into action.
1261	Carew could not raise his force without Courtenay's help so he fled to
1262	France and Crofts plans fell through.  But, by the end of January,
1263	Wyatt had taken Rochester and the royal ships at the Medway.  The
1264	duke of Norfolk left with a force from London but many men
1265	deserted.  Wyatt was encouraged and pressed on to London.  For
1266	two days, the fate of the Spanish marriage hung in the balance.
1267	Londoners were undecided; Mary decided to sway the balance.  She
1268	went to Guildhall and made a rousing speech exhorting the Londoners to
1269	support her.  She did so against the advice of her council for they
1270	feared for her safety.  They needn't have worried.  When Wyatt
1271	reached London, he found the bridge closed to him.  </P>
1272	<P>    Mary had refused to let the Tower guns be turned
1273	on the traitors.  She feared the innocent citizens of Southwark
1274	would be harmed if they were fired.  The rebels eventually
1275	surrendered but Mary had learned a valuable lesson - she discovered the
1276	depth of her subjects' hatred of the Spanish marriage.  But it did
1277	not cause her to change her plans.  She was bewildered and angry
1278	but also hurt.  She had shown mercy and<IMG height=226 alt="Jane's cousin Mary Tudor in 1554, by Hans Eworth"
1279	src="mary1-eworthcr.jpg" width=160 border=2 align="right"> forgiveness and was
1280	rewarded by rebellion.  She was now particularly susceptible to Renard's advice.  Renard immediately questioned Mary's safety as
1281	well as Philip's - would the prince be safe when rebellions were
1282	occurring throughout the nation?  The queen was exhorted to ensure
1283	his safety.  She must do this by punishing the rebels so none would
1284	dare rebel again.  </P>
1285	<P>    Renard's advice was supported by Mary's
1286	council.  Inevitably, all her advisors urged Mary to execute Jane
1287	Grey.  Wyatt had been supported by the vanished Henry Grey.
1288	When he had disappeared from Sheen, he had gone to raise an army against
1289	the Spanish marriage.  But he gained little support.  Grey
1290	owed his life to Mary's kindness and he responded by seeking to
1291	overthrow her.  His intent was to lead men of the midland shires
1292	and join Wyatt near London.  His actual course fell far short of
1293	this goal - he fled from one county to another until he reached his
1294	manor of Astley.  He apparently hid in a tree trunk or under some
1295	hay; accounts vary.  He was promptly arrested by the earl of
1296	Huntingdon.  Later, rumors spread that he had proclaimed Jane queen
1297	during his ride through the midlands.  This was untrue but it
1298	didn't matter.  Jane had once been queen and, as Mary's advisors
1299	put it, she would be the figurehead of any Protestant plot.  Once
1300	again, she was <I>morally</I> innocent but she was still
1301	dangerous.  She had to die.  To this, Renard added that Philip
1302	could not arrive until the Protestant threat had been destroyed.
1303	All the opposition to her marriage had simply made the obstinate Mary
1304	more determined to marry Philip.  So the suspended sentence on Jane
1305	was revoked and she was condemned to die immediately.  </P>
1306	<P>    The date of the execution was set for Friday 9
1307	February 1554.  Mary, who so hated executing her cousin, tried one
1308	last time to save her soul.  She sent John Feckenham, dean of St
1309	Paul's, to Jane.  He was given a few days to sway Jane to the
1310	Catholic faith.  Jane, long deprived of intellectual company and
1311	theological debate, was polite.  But she rebutted each of
1312	Feckenham's arguments with her own.  Perhaps she relished this last
1313	chance to elucidate her precious faith.  After hours of argument,
1314	she remained Protestant.  But she had also come to like Feckenham
1315	very much.  So she accepted his offer to accompany her to the
1316	scaffold and she promised to 'pray God in the bowels of his mercy to
1317	send you his Holy Spirit; for he hath given you his great gift of
1318	utterance, if it pleased him also to open the eyes of your heart.'
1319	</P>
1320	<P>    Feckenham's work had delayed the executions until
1321	Monday 12 February.  Meanwhile, Jane was also preparing to die with
1322	as much grace and dignity she could summon.  She chose her dress,
1323	composed her speech, and appointed the two members of her household who
1324	would accompany her and dispose of her body.  She sent a letter to
1325	her sister Catherine and one to her father (brought to the Tower on 10
1326	February.)  The latter included a remonstration that his actions
1327	had hastened her death.  But she did not write to her mother nor
1328	did Frances attempt to visit her or her husband.  There exists a
1329	story that Guildford asked to see Jane before they died and that Mary
1330	granted his request.  Jane, however, refused to see him, waiting
1331	until they met 'in a better place.'  But there is no evidence the
1332	story is true.  In fact, Jane and her husband showed no interest in
1333	seeing one another while in the Tower.  </P>
1334	<P>    Jane did watch her husband's execution.  He
1335	was taken from Beauchamp Tower at 10 o'clock in the morning and led to
1336	the execution area on Tower Hill.  Jane stood by her window and
1337	watched as he went to his death.  Guildford died with great courage
1338	and dignity and, when the cart rolled past carrying his corpse, Jane
1339	muttered his name and a comment about 'the bitterness of death.'
1340	Perhaps she realized that he had been a victim, too.  In any case,
1341	she saw his blood-splattered body, thrown atop equally stained straw,
1342	driven to St Peter-ad-Vincula; his head was wrapped in a cloth beside
1343	the body.  </P>
1344	<P>    It was now Jane's turn to face death.  <SMALL><A
1345	href="../exjane.html">(Click here to read
1346	an eyewitness account of her execution</A>.)  </SMALL>She
1347	wore the <IMG height=360
1348	alt="Lady Jane Grey kneeling before the block, from Delaroche's painting"
1349	src="janecrop.jpg" width=165 border=2 align="left">same black outfit she had worn at her trial.  She carried
1350	her prayer book in her hands; she was escorted by Sir John Brydges, the
1351	lieutenant of the Tower.  Her nurse, Mrs Ellen, and her attendant,
1352	Mrs Tylney, also accompanied her.  They both cried but Jane was
1353	calm and composed.  She had, after all, watched her scaffold being
1354	erected near the White Tower; her rooms provided an excellent view of
1355	its construction.  Since she was a princess of royal blood, her
1356	execution was private.  Only a small crowd had been invited.
1357	</P>
1358	<P>    At the steps of the scaffold, he greeted
1359	Feckenham: 'God grant you all your desires and accept my own hearty
1360	thanks for all your attention to me. Although indeed, those attentions
1361	have tried me more than death can now terrify me.' She then ascended the
1362	steps and addressed the crowd.  She admitted she had committed
1363	treason when she accepted the crown but 'I do wash my hands in innocency, before God and the face of you, good Christian people this
1364	day.'  She wrung her hands and asked that they witness her death,
1365	and affirm that she died a good Christian.  She ended with yet
1366	another indication of her strong Protestant faith; she said, 'And now,
1367	good people, while I am alive, I pray you to assist me with your
1368	prayers.'  Protestants, unlike Catholics, did not believe in
1369	prayers for the dead.  She then knelt and asked Feckenham, 'Shall I
1370	say this psalm?'  She read the fifty-first psalm in English and he
1371	followed her in Latin.  </P>
1372	<P>    After the prayer, she told Feckenham, 'God I
1373	beseech Him abundantly reward you for your kindness to me.'  She
1374	then rose to her feet and completed her final duties.  She handed
1375	her gloves and handkerchief to her attendant, Mrs Tylney and her
1376	prayer-book to the lieutenant's brother, Thomas Brydges.  She then
1377	began to untie her gown; as was the tradition, the executioner stepped
1378	forward.  It was the custom that the victim's outer garments became
1379	the executioner's property.  Perhaps Jane did not know this; or
1380	perhaps she was simply terrified as that masked figure came toward
1381	her.  She stepped back and 'desired him to leave her alone.'
1382	Her attendants completed the unlacing.  They then gave her a
1383	handkerchief to tie over her eyes.  Next, the executioner knelt
1384	before her and begged her forgiveness.  This, too, was a custom and
1385	one Jane had expected.  She gave her forgiveness 'most
1386	willingly.'  </P>
1387	<P>    Now there was nothing to do but end it all.
1388	The executioner asked her to stand upon the straw.  Perhaps she saw
1389	the actual block for the first time.  Her composure faltered for
1390	just a brief moment.  She whispered, 'I pray you despatch me
1391	quickly,' and began to kneel.  She hesitated and asked, 'Will you
1392	take it off before I lay me down?', referring to the blindfold.
1393	The executioner replied, 'No, madame' and so she tied the handkerchief
1394	around her eyes.  She then knelt but, blindfolded, could not find
1395	the block.  Her arms flailed about for several moments and she
1396	cried out, 'What shall I do?  Where is it?'  Those standing on
1397	the scaffold were hesitant - should they help her?  A member of the
1398	crowd climbed the scaffold and helped her.  He guided her hands to
1399	the block.  She lowered her head and stretched forth her body; her
1400	last words were, 'Lord into thy hands I commend my spirit.'  The
1401	executioner swung his axe and severed her head.  Blood splattered
1402	across the scaffold and many of the witnesses.  The executioner
1403	then lifted her head and said, 'So perish all the Queen's enemies.
1404	Behold, the head of a traitor.'  It was the end of Lady Jane
1405	Grey.  </P>
1406	<P>    Permission had to be granted for her burial at St
1407	Peter-ad-Vincula since the church had recently become Catholic
1408	again.  Feckenham was forced to go to court for the
1409	permission.  So Jane's body lay exposed and unattended for nearly
1410	four hours, spread obscenely across the blood-soaked straw.  The
1411	French ambassador reported seeing it there hours after the
1412	execution.  Her attendants kept watch, though they were not allowed
1413	to cover the corpse.  Finally, Feckenham returned and Jane's body
1414	was laid to rest between the bodies of two other headless queens -
1415	<a href="../monarchs/boleyn.html">Anne
1416	Boleyn</a> and
1417	<a href="../monarchs/howard.html">Catherine Howard</a>.  During the reign of her Protestant
1418	cousin, <a href="../monarchs/eliz.html">Queen Elizabeth I</a>, Jane was celebrated as a martyr to her faith
1419	and she remains one of the most famous queens of England.</P>
1420	<hr>
1421	</blockquote>
1422	</blockquote>
1423	<p align="center"><font size="4">'Live still to die, that by death you may purchase eternal life.... As
1424	the preacher sayeth, there is a time to be born and a time to die; and the
1425	day of death is better than the day of our birth.'   </font><I><FONT
1426	size=-1>Jane Grey's message to John Brydges, lieutenant of the Tower of
1427	London, 1554</FONT></I></p>
1428	<blockquote>
1429	<blockquote>
1430	<hr>
1431	<P align="center"> <SMALL><A
1432	href="../exjane.html"><br></A></SMALL> <font size="2"><br>Visit <A href="http://www.geocities.com/jane_the_quene/">Sarah's
1433	lovely tribute to Lady Jane Grey</A>; it's a wonderful website.</font></P>
1434	<BLOCKQUOTE>
1435	<CENTER>
1436	<P><FONT size=-1><A
1437	href="../relatives.html">to Tudor
1438	Relatives</A></FONT> <BR><FONT size=-1><A
1439	href="http://englishhistory.net/tudor.html">to Tudor
1440	England</A></FONT></P></CENTER></BLOCKQUOTE>
1441	<P align="left"><font size="-1"><br><b>Note: </b> My favorite
1442	biographies of Lady Jane Grey are by Hester Chapman and Alison Plowden.
1443	Thanks for reading / exploring this website.  <i>-Marilee</i></font></P>
1444	</blockquote>
1445	</blockquote>
1446	</blockquote>
1447
1448	</body>
1449
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