Lady Jane Grey, an engraving by Magdalena & Willem Van de Passe
The young Jane
Jane was born in a wealthy, privileged Grey household in either 1536 or 1537. Unfortunately, whatever they had in material wealth would not be enough to make Jane a happy child. Frances Brandon Grey was not a loving mother. On the contrary, she was rather abusive to Jane.
Frances somehow didn’t understand why her eldest daughter was quiet and gentle of demeanor. She thought it was a sign of weakness on the child’s part. She thought that by regularly beating, threatening, taunting and reprimanding Jane, she would toughen up. Instead, Jane increasingly became less self-assured. She once told Lady Elizabeth’s tutor Roger Ascham that she ‘think myself in hell’ because of her very strict and frequently physically abusive upbringing.
As a means to cope and as a way to compensate for the lack of affection in her household particularly from her mother, Jane became an avid reader. She was educated by tutors, learned to read, developed a keen appreciation for the arts and studied several languages, including Hebrew, Latin and Greek. It was also through her tutors that Jane became a staunch Protestant.
Jane only came to know happiness when she was taken under the care of Catherine Parr, the last of Henry VIII’s wives. She was only 10 at the time. With the Queen, Jane was shown affection and was able to experience the care of a mother. She also had the opportunity to meet the royal heirs – Mary, Elizabeth and Edward. Jane was especially drawn to Edward because he was the one closest to her age.
Marrying Jane
When she became ripe for marriage, several potential husbands were considered for Jane. First was Jane’s childhood friend Edward, who was now the very young King Edward VI, who succeeded Henry VIII when he was barely 10 years old. Then there was Lord Hertford.
In the end, however, it was Lord Guilford Dudley who eventually married Lady Jane Grey, thanks in large part to her mother and Guilford’s father, the manipulative John Dudley, the first Duke of Northumberland. The young couple was married in May 1553.
In July of the same year, Edward VI died of tuberculosis. He was just three months shy of his 16th birthday.
Jane’s claim to the throne
Lady Jane Grey was the daughter of Henry Grey, who was the Marquess of Dorset and Lady Frances Brandon, daughter of Mary who was the sister of King Henry VIII. Lady Jane was the eldest among three sisters. Because of their mother’s royal blood, they became a part of the House of Tudor.
Actually, Lady Jane’s claim to the throne was not strong enough to assure her of guaranteed Queenship. There was the Third Succession Act, with which King Henry VIII imposed his will regarding the succession to the throne.
In case of his death, Henry’s three children or their heirs would succeed to the throne. If these children do not have issues (children of their own), the succession would fall into Mary’s (Henry’s sister) line.
Since the throne now belonged to Edward, the question of succession now fell to Mary Tudor, Henry’s elder daughter. Only if no male heirs would be produced by Mary (who at the time was getting older) or Elizabeth, the crown would land on Frances Brandon’s male child. Take note that Frances herself wouldn’t have a claim. Since she didn’t have any, the crown would not be given to Lady Jane but to her male child.
From here, you can see that any claims Lady Jane would have to the throne is flimsy at best. But due to the manipulations of people around her, the crown, deadly as it was, would land on Lady Jane’s head.
On his deathbed, Edward VI signed a will that made Lady Jane Grey a successor to the throne. The will stipulated that only his aunt Mary Tudor’s heirs will succeed. They were Protestants, after all.
It is rumored that John Dudley was instrumental for ‘persuading’ the young king to sign this will. Dudley had acted as regent to Edward during his reign. The will made Lady Jane a claimant. And she was the wife of Dudley’s son, which made the arrangement very convenient indeed for Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
Mary, Mary, quite contrary
Mary was the claimant to the throne but she was still considered illegitimate. Henry’s declarations and acts in his lifetime made it so, in spite of the fact that she was his first child by his first wife, Catherine of Aragon.
Mary was also a solid Catholic. Asking her to become a Protestant would be like asking the moon to turn its dark side around. She was as Catholic as they come and determined to remain so. Besides, she WAS going to marry the Catholic Philip, right? But England preferred her over the young Lady Jane.
So Lady Jane was proclaimed Queen of England on July 10, 1553. She and Guilford stayed in the Tower of London to await her coronation, as was the custom. Jane wasn’t really happy about the incident but she had no choice. To her credit, he refused to make matters worse by turning down the suggestion to name Guilford king. He became the Duke of Clarence.
So now the problem was the Catholic Mary. The wily Dudley Duke of Northumberland then began planning her capture. But it turned out that Mary was wilier than he was. She escaped and took up residence in Suffolk. From there, she somehow gathered supporters and marched into London on July 19 – Lady Jane Grey’s 9th day as Queen.
Parliament declared Mary the rightful heir and successor, promptly revoking the proclamation of Lady Jane Grey and her husband. Due to the popular support rallying behind Mary, even Lady Jane’s father began supporting, effectively turning his back against his own daughter. Lady Jane and Guilford, along with their supporters, were then captured and charged with (what else?) high treason. Her duplicitous father was imprisoned as well but pardoned later.
Guilty!
Lady Jane Grey was found guilty of treason, the punishment for which was being burned alive. This was the traditional treatment for female traitors. Perhaps as a way to save her cousin, Mary also sent a chaplain, John Feckenham, to try to persuade Jane to convert to Catholicism. She refused. Mary, however, spared Jane’s life but kept her, Guilford and others in prison.
Lady Jane would have lived longer had it not for the Protestant rebellion led by Thomas Wyatt. Wyatt staged the rebellion to protest the coming marriage of Queen Mary Tudor to Prince Philip of Spain. Philip was of course, Catholic.
Lady Jane was not in any way involved in the revolt but she again became a pawn in a deadly game. Her father, making another about-face trick, also joined the rebellion. And along with other noble supporters, pushed to have Jane restored as the Queen. Prince Philip was not pleased so he and his supporters and councilors demanded that Mary had Jane executed. How cruel of him? Well, he did use the Inquisition later on in his rule. He did contribute to the rise of the Spanish empire, though (and to its decline).
Queen Mary, probably eager to end the rebellion and quite willing to please her famously handsome fiancé, agreed. This was the only way to end any claims coming from Lady Jane’s end.
A young girl’s short life
The order to execute Jane was released. On February 12, 1554, just seven months after she was proclaimed Queen, Lady Jane Grey faced the executioner’s block. Guilford was beheaded first. According to some accounts, Jane was even able to see his body for the last time when it was being carried off on a horse-drawn cart. At Queen Mary’s command, the execution remained private, as was accorded to royals. Lady Jane was Queen Mary’s cousin, after all.
Lady Jane Grey was beheaded on the same morning her husband was. So ended Lady Jane Grey’s life, the sad and serious young girl who was only happy for short periods in her life.
Her ambitious father also met the same fate as his daughter. He, too, had his life ended with an axe.
The Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula is Lady Jane Grey and Guilford Dudley’s final resting place.
But what about Lady Frances?
You might probably be asking whatever happened to Jane’s mother, the Lady Frances Brandon Grey. Surely, after her machinations and her cruelty to Jane, she must have been punished by fate as well?
Well, you will be disappointed. The now-Queen Mary (later Bloody Mary) pardoned her in full. She also remarried less than a month after her husband and eldest daughter were executed. It was probably her way to survive the cruel court and the circumstances in which she then lived. She, along with Jane’s two sisters, remained figures of the Court. It is rumored that she never, ever mentioned Jane’s name from then on.
And no, she never did anything to speak for her daughter Jane when the latter was arrested, imprisoned and sentenced to die.
Nine or Thirteen?
Although Lady Jane Grey is more popularly known as the Nine Days Queen, some historians refer to her as the Thirteen Days Queen. This is largely based on calculation. Some historians count the days of her rule from the time Edward VI died, which was July 6th while others prefer to count from the day Lady Jane was proclaimed Queen (July 10th).
