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THE NINE DAYS’ QUEEN
THE NINE DAYS’ QUEEN
BY THE SAME AUTHOR The Pageant of London The Sultan and his Subjects LADY JANE GREY FROM THE PAINTING BY LUCAS DE HEERE AT ALTHORP THE NINE DAYS’ QUEEN LADY JANE GREY AND HER TIMES BY RICHARD DAVEY EDITED, AND WITH INTRODUCTION, BY MARTIN HUME, M.A. WITH TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS METHUEN & CO. 36 ESSEX STREET W.C. LONDON First Published in 1909 TO MY DEAR WIFE ELEANORA DAVEY...
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AUTHOR’S NOTE
AUTHOR’S NOTE
My object in writing this book has been to interest the reader in the tragic story of Lady Jane Grey rather from the personal than the political point of view. I have therefore employed, more perhaps than is usual, what the French historians term le document humain in my account of the extraordinary men and women who surrounded Lady Jane, and who used her as a tool for their ambitious ends. The reader may possibly wonder why in several of the earlier chapters Lady Jane Grey plays so shadowy a pa
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
The tragedy of Lady Jane Grey is unquestionably one of the most poignant episodes in English history, but its very dramatic completeness and compactness have almost invariably caused its wider significance to be obscured by the element of personal pathos with which it abounds. The sympathetic figure of the studious, saintly maiden, single-hearted in her attachment to the austere creed of Geneva, stands forth alone in a score of books refulgent against the gloomy background of the greed and ambit
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CHAPTER I BRADGATE HALL AND THE GREYS OF GROBY
CHAPTER I BRADGATE HALL AND THE GREYS OF GROBY
There is no more picturesque spot in England than Bradgate Old Manor, the birthplace of Lady Jane Grey. It stands in a sequestered corner, about three miles from the town of Leicester, amid arid slate hillocks, which slope down to the fertile valleys at their feet. In Leland’s Perambulations through England , a survey of the kingdom undertaken by command of Henry VIII , Bradgate is described as possessing “a fair parke and a lodge lately built there by the Lorde Thomas Grey, Marquise of Dorsete,
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CHAPTER II BIRTH AND EDUCATION
CHAPTER II BIRTH AND EDUCATION
Lady Jane Grey was born at Bradgate Old Manor 10 in October 1537, most probably in the first days of the month, for Prince Edward, her cousin, came into the world on the 12th, 11 St. Edward’s Eve, and three days later Henry, Marquess of Dorset, attended the royal christening, which he would scarcely have done if his own wife, a member of the royal family, had not been safely delivered. His presence in London can be traced in the State Papers from the date of Prince Edward’s birth until the first
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CHAPTER III THE LADY LATIMER
CHAPTER III THE LADY LATIMER
No task is more congenial to the earnest student of history than that of tracing the origin of some important event, and following its gradual development from a trivial incident to its culmination in a great matter destined to alter the fortunes, and even change the faith, of an entire nation. If we would reach a thorough comprehension of the chain of events which led up to the proclamation of Jane Grey as Queen of England, we must now leave her to pursue her Greek and Latin studies and broider
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CHAPTER IV THE KING’S HOUSEHOLD
CHAPTER IV THE KING’S HOUSEHOLD
Not Solomon in all his glory—nor Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent of Istambul—was lodged more sumptuously than Tudor King Henry VIII of England. When Katherine Parr espoused the much-married monarch, she found herself mistress of a score of royal palaces, each furnished in a manner not unworthy of the splendour of Aladdin after that fortunate youth had gained possession of his magic Lamp, and served by the most numerous retinue ever brought together in this ancient kingdom of ours. The Venetian e
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CHAPTER V MRS. ANNE ASKEW
CHAPTER V MRS. ANNE ASKEW
It was in the latter years of Henry VIII ’s reign that Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester, conceived his scheme for the reconciliation of England and England’s monarch with the Roman Pontiff. Although a less astute intriguer than his powerful opponent Cranmer, Gardiner, who was apt to lose his temper and blurt out things best kept to himself, was a man of marked ability, one of whom his crafty master made frequent use, playing him off against the Archbishop, and so retaining the balance of p
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CHAPTER VI THE HOWARDS AND THE SEYMOURS
CHAPTER VI THE HOWARDS AND THE SEYMOURS
The collapse of the conspiracy against Katherine Parr led to an immediate counter-plot on the part of the Seymours and their allies to compromise the Duke of Norfolk and his son, Surrey, and thereby frustrate the aspirations of the Catholics, of whose party Norfolk was the acknowledged chief. A previous attempt to inflict irretrievable damage on the credit of the Howards had partially failed, though the unsavoury revelations connected with the arrest and execution of Queen Katherine Howard had c
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CHAPTER VII HENRY VIII
CHAPTER VII HENRY VIII
On the night of Wednesday, 27th January 1547, Henry Tudor lay dying on that huge fourpost bedstead which Andrea Conti, an Italian traveller who visited Whitehall a few years after the King’s death, described as “looking like a High Altar,” so costly were its hangings of crimson velvet and cloth of gold, so dazzling its rich embroideries. 92 The vast apartment was hung with rare Flemish tapestry glistening with gold thread; the furniture, of carved oak and inlaid ebony, was upholstered in gloriou
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CHAPTER VIII CONCERNING THE LADY JANE AND THE QUEEN-DOWAGER
CHAPTER VIII CONCERNING THE LADY JANE AND THE QUEEN-DOWAGER
The will of Henry VIII conferred upon the houses of Seymour and Grey a towering position in the State which naturally brought forward into extraordinary relief the hitherto ignored name of Lady Jane. A few weeks earlier she was but the eldest daughter of the rather weak-minded Marquis of Dorset, a man whom no one seems to have held in any great consideration, notwithstanding his royal alliance and rather showy past career as a soldier under Henry VIII ; to-day she was almost as prominent in the
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CHAPTER IX THE QUEEN AND THE LORD HIGH-ADMIRAL
CHAPTER IX THE QUEEN AND THE LORD HIGH-ADMIRAL
At the time of the much-discussed clandestine marriage between Thomas Seymour and Katherine Parr, the Princess Elizabeth was a precocious girl of fifteen, not beautiful, but tall for her age, well developed, and of elegant figure. The aquiline features, which age was to harshen, were softened at this early period by the roundness of youth; and the brilliant complexion stood in no need of the artificial assistance to which the Queen so freely resorted in her later life. The splendid auburn hair—i
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CHAPTER X THE LADY JANE GOES TO SEYMOUR PLACE
CHAPTER X THE LADY JANE GOES TO SEYMOUR PLACE
All Thomas Seymour’s schemes and conspiracies and political and domestic intrigues were brought to nought by his wife’s death, and he swiftly realised that the danger of his position was immeasurably increased by her decease. She had been an effective barrier between himself and his foes, for nothing could persuade the King to consider her otherwise than with great affection, as one of the only two persons he really loved (his young companion Barnaby Fitzpatrick being the other). Sudeley was now
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CHAPTER XI THE EDUCATION OF LADY JANE
CHAPTER XI THE EDUCATION OF LADY JANE
The extraordinary revival of letters in Italy, France, and Germany at the close of the fifteenth century did not fail to influence English education, and especially that of high-born women. In this department the exclusively classical culture then in vogue, which barred many subjects now held of far greater importance, would undoubtedly be deemed unpractical and excessive for women nowadays. Modern literature, however, was then in its infancy, and apart from the classics there was little to read
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CHAPTER XII JOHN DUDLEY, EARL OF WARWICK
CHAPTER XII JOHN DUDLEY, EARL OF WARWICK
Immediately after the execution of Thomas Seymour, John Dudley steps forward on the lurid stage of this history. If Seymour was a rascal, Dudley, son of a rascal, was even worse. Divested of his magnificent habiliments and picturesque surroundings, this man was a far meaner and more sordid ruffian than was ever my Lord of Sudeley—more devilish in his cunning and, if anything, more unscrupulous. John Dudley was the son of that notorious Edmund Dudley who, under Henry VII , had remorselessly plund
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CHAPTER XIII THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF SOMERSET
CHAPTER XIII THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF SOMERSET
In the earlier stages of his struggle for power, when he felt himself insecure with the Protestant party, Warwick had endeavoured to secure Catholic support by promising the old religion a satisfactory amount of freedom; but no sooner was he safe in his saddle, during Somerset’s imprisonment (1549–50), than he became its inveterate enemy. The Protector had made an effort to liberate Gardiner, but Warwick kept him more closely confined than ever. During the new ruler’s term of office, the interna
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CHAPTER XIV THE LADY JANE MARRIES THE LORD GUILDFORD
CHAPTER XIV THE LADY JANE MARRIES THE LORD GUILDFORD
The execution of the Duke of Somerset left the stage clear for Northumberland, who was now all-powerful. 181 More cunning than his predecessor, he avoided offending the nation by assuming the title of “Protector,” and rousing his colleagues’ jealousy by styling himself “Highness.” Little cared he whether he sat on the King’s right hand or on his left, so long as his young sovereign obeyed him implicitly—on this point he was resolved. His ambition was sordid enough: he had no care for the people,
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CHAPTER XV ON THE WAY TO THE TOWER
CHAPTER XV ON THE WAY TO THE TOWER
The Duke of Northumberland is accused, even by almost contemporary authorities, of having forged the will of King Edward VI ; but, as we shall presently see, that King never made a will, but left a sort of tentative document called a “Devise” for the succession, written in his own hand; though maybe it was suggested or even dictated by the Duke. By an Act—the XXVIII of Henry VIII , cap. 7—it was enacted that, failing issue of Queen Jane Seymour, “Your Highness (Henry) shall have full and plenary
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CHAPTER XVI THE LADY JANE IS PROCLAIMED QUEEN
CHAPTER XVI THE LADY JANE IS PROCLAIMED QUEEN
No sooner had King Edward VI given up the ghost, than Northumberland devised a cunning attempt to obtain possession of the person of Princess Mary, then at Hunsdon. The Duke persuaded the Council to address a treacherous letter to her, after Edward was actually dead, but before his decease was divulged to the public, in which they gave no hint that her brother was dead, and informed her he was only very ill, and “prayed her to come to him, as he earnestly desired the comfort of her presence.” To
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CHAPTER XVII THE NINE DAYS’ REIGN
CHAPTER XVII THE NINE DAYS’ REIGN
As soon as Jane Grey and her escort had entered the royal apartments of the Tower, the heralds trumpeted, and a few minutes later (it was close on six o’clock), four of them read the new Queen’s proclamation, one of the most tedious State documents in existence, and the first in which a woman claims the title of “Supreme Head of the Church.” 221 The ceremony of solemn proclamation within the precincts of the Tower once over, other heralds proceeded for the same purpose to Cheapside and the Fleet
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CHAPTER XVIII THE LAST DAYS OF NORTHUMBERLAND
CHAPTER XVIII THE LAST DAYS OF NORTHUMBERLAND
All through the night of Queen Mary’s proclamation, Jane Grey was abandoned in the great fortress to the care of her personal attendants; and bitter must have been her distress, as she realised the cruel plight to which the mad ambitions of others had brought her. Everything helped to heighten her terror—the changed attitude of the guards, and other Tower officials, who a few brief hours before had treated her with obsequious deference, and who now marked their loyalty to Mary by an ostentatious
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CHAPTER XIX THE TRIAL OF QUEEN JANE
CHAPTER XIX THE TRIAL OF QUEEN JANE
The writer of the Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary relates that he dined with Queen Jane in “Partridge’s House,” on 27th August, and incidentally mentions her evident resentment at her father-in-law’s apostacy. This chronicler appears to have been a resident in the Tower, and a friend of Partridge. He writes: “I dined at Partridge’s house with my Lady Jane being there present, she sitting at the board’s end, Brydges, his wife, Sarah, my lady’s gentlewoman and her man, she commanding Brydge
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CHAPTER XX THE SUPREME HOUR!
CHAPTER XX THE SUPREME HOUR!
To Dr. Feckenham Mary assigned the melancholy task of announcing her hopeless position to Jane Grey. This duty he performed on 8th February, the day before that originally fixed for the execution, at the same time exhorting her to prepare for death. The little victim of great iniquity is said to have learnt her doom with Christian resignation and princely dignity. She did not fall into a consternation as when her accession to the throne was announced to her at Sion, but listened, dry-eyed, to th
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CHAPTER XXI THE FATE OF THE SURVIVORS
CHAPTER XXI THE FATE OF THE SURVIVORS
The Reforming Leaders, who had so flattered Lady Jane Grey when they saw a chance of her becoming Queen, do not seem to have felt much concern at her death. In a letter of 3rd April 1554, addressed to Bullinger, Peter Martyr says, “Jane, who was formerly Queen, conducted herself at her execution with the greatest fortitude and godliness”; Burcher, writing on 3rd March 1554 to Bullinger, casually remarks, “I have heard, too, that the Queen has beheaded his [Suffolk’s] daughter Jane, together with
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Portraits of Lady Jane’s Mother, Father, and Grandfather
Portraits of Lady Jane’s Mother, Father, and Grandfather
“Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, and her second husband, Adrian Stokes” (dated 1554). Small half-lengths of the Duchess of Suffolk on the left, and Adrian Stokes on the right. She wears a black dress with tags and jewels, gold-edged ruffs at neck and wrists, black jewelled hoods, two necklaces of pearls, one with pendants, right hand resting on cushion and holding glove, left holding ring. He wears a light-coloured embroidered doublet, black fur-lined surcoat slashed and with tags, ruffs at
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Bibliography of Lady Jane Grey
Bibliography of Lady Jane Grey
In literature, Lady Jane Grey has been a popular heroine. She figures in: The Tower of London , by Harrison Ainsworth. Jane Grey (French novel), by Alphonse Brot. Lady Jane Grey , by Philip Sidney. The life story of Lady Jane is told in Jeanne Grey , by Mdme. de Genlis. The Chronicle of Queen Jane and Queen Mary . Lives of Lady Jane Grey, by Howard, Agnes Strickland (in Tudor and Stuart Princesses ), and Dr. Harris Nicholas. There is a fine elegy of Lady Jane Grey by Sir Thomas Chaloner, one of
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