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Lady Jane Grey (ca. September-October, 1537 – February 12, 1554), a great-granddaughter of Henry VII of England, reigned as uncrowned 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 an Act of Parliament. The Act of Succession of 1543 enabled the will of King Henry VIII to specify the order of succession of his children. In contrast, the later published will of King Edward VI of June 1553 naming Lady Jane Grey as his heir presumptive may have contravened customary testatory law because Edward, then just 15 years old, had not legally reached the legal testatory age of 21. But more importantly, many legal theorists of the day believed that the monarch could not contravene an Act of Parliament, even in matters of the succession, but must instead seek a new Act specifically granting such powers.
Though Jane's "accession" may have breached the laws of England, many powers of the land proved willing to accept her as Queen of England, even if only as part of a power-struggle to stop Henry's 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 subsequent 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 historical writer 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. The will of Edward VI excluded Lady Frances (who lived until 1559), so that the succession passed over her and directly to her daughter Jane.
According to the notion of male primogeniture, the Suffolks (Brandons and later Greys) comprised the junior branch of the heirs of Henry VII. The 1543 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-enforced the succession of his three surviving children, then declared that, should none of his three children leave heirs, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary. His will excluded the descendants of his elder sister Margaret Tudor (whose claims had primacy over those of the Suffolks), owing in part to Henry's desire to keep the English throne out of the hands of the Scots monarchs, and in part to a previous Act of Parliament of 1431 barring foreign-born persons (including royalty) from inheriting property in England.
Several Protestant nobles had become wealthy when Henry VIII closed the Catholic monasteries and divided the Church lands and possessions among his supporters. John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland, figured prominently among the Protestant nobility, and in the last years of Edward's reign had acted as Edward's principal advisor and chief minister. Northumberland, when it became clear that Edward VI would not survive long, led the faction that feared any accession by Mary Tudor. This fear stemmed from the knowledge that Mary would certainly revoke the religious changes made during Edward's reign, and that she might reclaim from the nobility all former church and monastic properties in order to restore them to the Roman Catholic Church. Many Englishmen also expressed concern that Mary favoured for herself a Spanish marriage which might bring in Spanish nobles to rule England in place of Northumberland and his colleagues. Northumberland arranged for his son Guildford Dudley to marry the Protestant (and anti-Catholic) Jane, hoping through him to gain control over his new daughter-in-law and the reins of England. When informed by her parents of her betrothal, Jane refused to obey: she regarded Guildford as ugly and stupid. Popular historical writers 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, perhaps under the persuasion of Northumberland. He knew that this effectively left the throne to his cousin Jane Grey, who (like him) staunchly supported Protestantism and had a very high level of education.
At the time of Edward's death, without Edward's will (which had dubious legal standing, since it ran contrary to the Act of Succession of 1543), the crown would have passed, under the terms of both the Act of Succession of 1543 and of Henry VIII's will, to Mary and her male (not female) heirs. Should Mary die without male issue, the crown would pass to Elizabeth and her male heirs. And should Elizabeth die without male issue, the crown would pass not to Frances Brandon but rather to any male children she might have produced by that time. In the absence of male children born to Frances, the crown would pass to any male children Jane might have. Jane thus did not feature in the line of succession prior to the last draft of Edward's will of June 1553. Only in the last draft did Edward finally include Jane Grey, knowing that in the line of succession at that time included no Protestant-born male children. Jane's claim to the throne therefore remained obviously weak.
Accession
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Edward VI died on July 6 1553. Northumberland had Lady Jane Grey proclaimed Queen of England on July 10 1553, just four days later — once she had taken up a secure residence in the Tower of London (English monarchs customarily resided in the Tower from the time of accession until their coronation). According to some fictional accounts, Northumberland tricked Jane into putting on the crown; however, she refused to name her husband as king, offering to make him a duke instead.
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, largely because the English people regarded her as the rightful heiress, but perhaps partly because of the continuing sympathy for her mother, Catherine of Aragon (Henry VIII had had his own marriage with Catherine annulled). 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 late January 1554 sealed Jane's fate, although she had nothing to do with it directly. Wyatt's rebellion started as a popular revolt, precipitated by the imminent marriage of Mary to the Catholic Prince Philip (later King of Spain, 1556 - 1598). But Jane's father (the Duke of Suffolk) and other nobles joined the rebellion, calling for Jane's restoration as Queen. Philip and his councillors pressed Mary to execute Jane to put an end to any future focus for unrest. Five days after Wyatt's arrest the execution of Jane and Guildford took place.
On the morning of February 12 1554, the authorities took Guildford 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" 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 Guildford 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.
- Karleen Bradford's historical fiction novel, The Nine Days Queen, tells the story from Jane's perspective.
- Alison Wier published a historical fiction novel based on Lady Jane Grey's life, "Innocent Traitor" in early 2006. The novel has been praised by some observers for its seeming historical accuracy.
- 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:
- Bob Dylan's song Queen Jane Approximately may refer to Lady Jane
- The Rolling Stones' song Lady Jane took its inspiration from Lady Jane Grey
External links
- http://www.luminarium.org/encyclopedia/ladyjanegrey.htm Luminarium: Lady Jane Grey]
- 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.
- SomeGreyMatter Contains an extensive bibliography with reviews of each work, as well as discussion of two portraits identified in 2005 as depicting Lady Jane Grey.
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