Lady Jane Grey
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| "Reign" | July 6/July 10 1553 - July 19 1553 |
| Predecessor | Edward VI |
| Successor | Mary I |
| Spouse | Lord Guilford Dudley |
| Issue | None |
| Royal House | Tudor |
| Father | Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk |
| Mother | Lady Frances Brandon |
| Born | October 12, 1537 |
| Died | February 12, 1554 |
Lady Jane Grey (October 12, 1537 – February 12, 1554), a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, reigned de facto as queen regnant of the Kingdom of England for nine days in 1553.
Jane's mother, Lady Frances Brandon, had a claim to the throne as the daughter of King Henry VIII's younger sister Mary Tudor. (Frances Brandon's father, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, had married Mary Tudor as her second husband.) Jane's status as a monarch remains controversial, as her succession contravened two Acts of Parliament. The Act of Succession of 1544 enabled the will of King Henry VIII to specify the order of succession of his children. In contrast, the published will of King Edward VI, which named Lady Jane Grey as heir presumptive, contravened the law because Edward, as a minor, had not legally reached an age where he could make a will.
Though Jane's "accession" breached the laws of England, many powers of the land for a short time accepted as Queen of England, even if only as part of a power-struggle to stop Henry's elder daughter, Princess Mary (a Roman Catholic) from acceding to the throne. Jane's brief rule ended, however, when the authorities revoked her proclamation as queen. The new Marian régime eventually had her executed for treason.
Popular history sometimes refers to Lady Jane as "The Nine Days' Queen" (July 10 - July 19, 1553) or as "The Thirteen Days' Queen" (July 6 - July 19, 1553) — owing to uncertainties as to when she actually succeeded to the throne and as to when her formal deposition took place. Most commonly the tag occurs as "Nine Days". Historians have taken either the day of her predecessor's death (July 6) or that of her official proclamation as Queen (July 10) as the beginning of her short reign.
Lady Jane had a reputation as one of the most learned women of her day, and the historian Alison Weir describes her as one of "the finest female minds of the century".
Claim to the throne
Jane's claim to the throne came through her mother, Lady Frances Brandon, the daughter of Mary Tudor (herself a daughter of King Henry VII of England) and of her second husband, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk. Lady Frances, who lived until 1559, renounced her own claim to the throne in favour of her daughter.According to the notion of male primogeniture, the Suffolks (Brandons and later Greys) comprised the junior branch of the heirs of Henry VII. The 1544 Act of Succession restored both Mary and Elizabeth to the line of succession, even though the law continued to regard both of them as legal bastards. Furthermore, this Act authorised Henry VIII to alter the succession by his will. His last will re-inforced the succession of his three surviving children, and then declared that should none of his three children leave heirs, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary. His will excluded the descendants of his elder sister Margaret Tudor (whose claims had primacy over those of the Suffolks) owing to Henry's desire to keep the English throne out of the hands of the Scots monarchs.
Several Protestant nobles had become wealthy when Henry VIII closed the Catholic monasteries and divided the Church lands and possessions among his supporters. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, figured prominently among the Protestant nobility, and had acted as regent during the reign of Henry's son, Edward VI. Fearing a return to Catholicism (and the consequent prospect of losing his wealth and power), Northumberland led a faction that, when it became clear Edward VI would not survive long, would ensure the accession of a Protestant instead of the Catholic Mary Tudor. Northumberland hastily arranged for his son Guilford Dudley to marry Jane, hoping through him to gain control over his new daughter-in-law and the reins of England. When informed by her parents of her betrothal, Jane refused to obey: she regarded Guilford as ugly and stupid. Scholars today still scratch their heads over what made this seemingly quiet and obedient girl go completely against precedent and refuse her parents' marriage arrangements. Jane's refusal notwithstanding, her parents forced her into submission.
The question of the succession had arisen as a result of the religious unrest that had occurred during the reign (1509 - 1547) of Henry VIII. When Henry's Protestant son and successor Edward VI lay dying (1553) at the age of 15, his Roman Catholic half-sister Mary held the position of Heir Presumptive to the throne. However, Edward VI named the (Protestant) heirs of his father's sister Mary Tudor (not his own half-sister Mary) as his successors in a will composed on his deathbed under the persuasion of Northumberland. He knew that this effectively left the throne to his favored cousin Jane Grey, who (like him) staunchly supported Protestantism and had a very high level of education.
At the time of Edward's death, without Edward's will (which had dubious legal standing, since it ran contrary to the Act of Succession of 1544), Jane stood fourth in line to the throne, after Mary, Elizabeth, and Frances. Jane's claim to the throne therefore remained obviously weak.
Accession
Edward VI died on July 6 1553. Northumberland had Lady Jane Grey proclaimed Queen of England during her stay at the New Inn, Gloucester on July 10 1553, just four days later. According to some accounts, Northumberland tricked Jane into putting on the crown; however, she refused to name her husband as king, titling him instead the Duke of Clarence. This infuriated the Dudleys, and Guilford's mother counselled him to refuse to share Jane's bed and to leave her castle. She had the castle guard stop him, and told him what he did at night did not concern her, but that during the day he belonged at her side.
Northumberland faced a number of key tasks in order to consolidate his power. Most importantly, he had to isolate (and ideally capture) Mary in order to prevent her from gathering support around her. Mary, however, advised of his intentions, took flight, sequestering herself in Framlingham Castle in Suffolk.
Deposal
Mary I proved to have more popular support than Jane, partly because of the continuing sympathy for the treatment her mother (Catherine of Aragon) had received at the hands of Henry VIII. At Framlingham Castle Mary amassed a force of 20,000 men which marched to London and deposed Jane. There then initially seemed some likelihood that Mary, who had now taken the throne, would spare Jane's life. Queen Mary sent John de Feckenham to Lady Jane in an attempt to convert her to Catholicism.Execution
The Protestant rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt in the first months of 1554 sealed Jane's fate, despite the fact that she had nothing to do with it directly. Wyatt's rebellion started as a popular revolt, precipitated by the imminent marriage of Mary to the Catholic Prince Philip (later King of Spain, 1556 - 1598). But Jane's father (the Duke of Suffolk) and other nobles joined the rebellion, calling for Jane's restoration as Queen. Philip and his councillors pressed Mary to execute Jane to put an end to any future focus for unrest. Mary offered Jane a pardon if she would convert to Catholicism, but Jane refused. Five days after Wyatt's arrest the execution of Jane and Guilford took place.
On the morning of February 12 1554, the authorities took Guilford Dudley from his rooms at the Tower of London to the public execution place at Tower Hill and had him beheaded. A horse cart carried his remains back to the Tower of London, past the rooms where Jane remained as a prisoner. Jane was then taken out to Tower Green, inside the Tower of London, for a private execution. (With few exceptions, private executions applied to royalty alone; Jane's private execution occurred at the request of Queen Mary, as a gesture of respect for her cousin.) John de Feckenham, who had failed to convert Jane, stayed with her during the execution. Jane had determined to go to her death with dignity, but once blindfolded, could not find the executioner's block. She had begun to panic when an unknown hand, possibly de Feckenham, helped her find her way and retain her dignity in the end.
The "traitor-heroine of the Reformation"[[Citing sources citation needed]] died at the age of 16 years. No record survives to indicate that her mother made any attempt, request or otherwise, to save her daughter's life; and Jane's father already awaited execution for his part in the Wyatt rebellion. Jane and Guilford lie buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula on the north side of Tower Green. Queen Mary lived for only four more years after she ordered the death of her cousin Jane.
Queen Mary imprisoned but subsequently pardoned Northumberland's other sons John, Ambrose, Henry and Robert for their part in their father's scheme.
Lady Jane Grey in culture
- Lady Jane became the subject of the 1715 she-tragedy entitled Lady Jane Grey, by Nicholas Rowe, which emphasizes the pathos of Jane's fate.
- She served as the main character in Nine Days a Queen- The Short Life and Reign of Lady Jane Grey (2005), by Ann Rinaldi.
- Films:
- * Lady Jane Grey; Or, The Court of Intrigue (1923)
- * Tudor Rose (1935), with Nova Pilbeam playing Lady Jane
- * Lady Jane (1986), with Helena Bonham Carter in the title-role
- Art: frequent depictions include:
- * The Execution of Lady Jane Grey
- * Lady Jane Grey Preparing for Execution
- * the engraving Lady Jane Grey
- Bob Dylan's song Queen Jane Approximately may refer to Lady Jane
- Popular belief sees the ghost of Ravenclaw house in the Harry Potter series as Jane Gray
External links
- [Tudor history teaching-tool for students aged 12 to 18]
- [Site of author C.W. Gortner] - Gortner's novel The Secret Lion about the final days of Edward VI's reign features Jane Grey
- [EnglishHistory.net's section on Lady Jane] A complete account of Lady Jane's life from birth to death
- [The Lady Jane Grey Internet Museum] Large collection of images of Jane and her career
- ["Is this the true face of Lady Jane?"] - article from The Guardian, 16 January 2006, describing a portrait (found in a South London home) that purportedly depicts Lady Jane Grey.
Bibliography
- Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary - anonymous primary source
- Children of England - Alison Weir
- Nine Days Queen of England - Faith Cook
- Lady Jane Grey: Nine Days Queen - Alison Plowden
|- style="text-align: center;"
|- style="text-align: center;"
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Preceded by:
Edward VI
|width="30%" align="center" rowspan=""|Succeeded by:
Mary I
|-
|-
| Monarchs of England | |
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| * Also Monarch of Denmark | † Also Monarch of Norway | ‡Also Monarch of Ireland | § Also Monarch of Scotland | ¶ Also Stadtholder of Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Gelderland, Overijssel and Drenthe | |
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