Lady Jane Grey, her untimely death and the reason the world has forgotten her.
Lady Jane was born in October 1537 to Lady Frances Brandon and Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and was the eldest of three daughters. She was related to Henry VIII through her mother, Lady Brandon, who was the niece of the king, making young Jane his great-niece, and a girl with a claim to the throne.
The young girl was extremely talented, especially at languages, she was proficient in French, Hebrew and Italian, as well as fluent in English, Latin and Greek. She had good tutors too, and by the age of 9 she was living with Katherine Parr and her husband, Thomas Seymour, as a ward, and Jane was so close to the Dowager Queen that she even led her funeral procession in September 1548. Seymour had been planning the young Lady's marriage to his nephew, King Edward VI, however, when he was executed for treason in 1549, Jane returned to her home at Bradgate.
Jane's father, now Duke of Suffolk, introduced his daughter to court in 1551 and married her and her younger sister Katherine off to two important families. In 1553 Jane married Lord Guilford Dudley, son of the Duke of Northumberland, and Katherine married the Earl of Pembroke in a double wedding. Jane was just 15.
Jane's new father in law, the Duke of Northumberland was hatching a plan to get both his son and Jane on the throne after Edward fell ill. Edward VI died on July 6 1553, and 15-year-old Jane reluctantly took the throne. The reasoning for this plot from John Dudley was Mary Tudor's piety and catholicism, Dudley was a strong Protestant and wanted to continue the line after Edward VI's death, so he chose Jane, a young Protestant girl with a claim to the throne who he could mould to his own desires. She was crowned just four days after Edward's death.
The Nine Day Queen's peace did not last long as Mary and her Catholic supporters were gathering forces to attack, both politically and physically, the most important document being the reference to the 1544 Act of Succession made by Henry VIII to indicate Mary's succession should Edward die without heirs. Jane's supporters abandoned her after discovering that the unpopular Dudley was behind the scheme, including her own father who joined Mary's cause, though he was later declared a traitor.
On July 19th 1553, Jane's heir came to an end as Mary took the throne and locked her in the Tower of London in a set of apartments. On August 22nd Dudley was executed, and though on November 13 both Jane and her husband were declared guilty of treason, Mary spared them because of their young age and ultimate ignorance of the political plots around them.
It was ultimately Jane's father who condemned her to her fate after he joined Sir Thomas Wyatt's rebellion upon hearing of Mary's betrothal to Phillip of Spain, another Catholic. Mary did suppress the revolt, however, had now lost all sympathy for any political opponents, and so on the 12th of February 1554, Lady Jane Grey, disgraced Queen of England was executed two hours after her husband. It is said that she admitted her wrongdoing to the Queen, but professed her innocence to God.
Her legacy remained as a Protestant Martyr for years, however, she has slowly faded from public view, becoming merely the Nine-Day Queen, not the strong and intelligent woman she should be perceived as. Though she had no impact on the arts, science or government during her short reign, she was a brave and courageous young girl who was simply a pawn in the game played around her.
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