Grey

**Bradgate, Leicestershire, England** **London, England**
 * __Introduction:__**
 * Lady Jane Grey; also known Lady Jane Dudley**
 * Born October, 1537**
 * Died February 12, 1554**

__**Biographical Info:**__ //**Parents** - Henry Grey and Frances Brandon// //**Birthplace** - Bradgate, Leicestershire, England// //**Education** -// Her parents, being Protestant, saw to it that Jane, the eldest of three daughters, had a proper education in the “new religion,” as the Protestant faith was called. Jane was an intelligent, learned, clever, and scholarly girl; by the time of her death, she could read six languages, including Greek and Hebrew. She was well versed in the Greek and Roman classics, philosophy, and contemporary religious doctrine, and she early on developed a reputation as a precocious child nearly obsessed with her studies. Her father tried to get their family power by supposedly persuading King Edward to make Jane the heir in his will.  Jane was described as very pretty and intelligent.

__**Rising status in field:**__ After Henry VIII died, his widow Catherine Parr married Thomas Seymour. They decided to ward Jane Grey (pay her parents to be partial guardians). After Catherine died in childbirth, Thomas wanted to try to wed Jane Grey to her cousin and king, Edward. This helped Jane Grey get to know Edward. Jane’s parents, while neither particularly well educated nor overwhelmingly enthusiastic about their eldest daughter’s dedication to learning, did not mind sending Jane off to court to study with her cousins, Princess Elizabeth and the future King Edward. Such connections could potentially benefit Jane’s parents, for as provincial nobility, they were constantly struggling for political and social influence. These potential political connections could also benefit them in their pursuit of a suitable husband for their daughter. Somerset suggested several times to Jane’s parents that a marriage between Edward and Jane would benefit all involved. __**Key Accomplishment 1:**__ Overcoming her parents: How they treated her, her father forcing her to marry Lord Guildford Dudley and to become Queen. Northumberland, understandably worried about his position should Mary succeed her half brother Edward, and perhaps also concerned about the likely return to Catholicism, agonized over possible courses of action. Edward was getting sicker and sicker, and Northumberland decided that Mary had to be excluded somehow from the succession. According to Henry’s will, the next successor after Mary was Elizabeth, his daughter with Anne Boleyn. Elizabeth was a Protestant, but Northumberland had little influence over her. Following Elizabeth was Frances Brandon, followed by Lady Jane. If Northumberland could alter the succession to elevate Frances or Jane to the throne, he could continue to exert his considerable influence over the government.

Northumberland had Edward draft a will of his own that precluded his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. (Elizabeth was excluded on the pretext that she might marry a foreigner, which the English did not want.) This left Frances as the heir, but Northumberland had her sign away her claim, essentially “abdicating” in favor of her daughter. Lady Jane was thus left as the primary heir. Yet this new succession was far from secure. While it was entirely a monarch’s prerogative to change his or her will, and the duty of the kingdom to follow the will’s provisions, any change in the succession had also to be approved by Parliament. Thus, despite the fact that Edward’s will was a binding legal document and that anyone who refused to carry out its provisions was guilty of treason, the entire will was not legal until approved by Parliament. Anyone who did follow the will, then, was breaking the law. There is also some uncertainty as to whether Edward himself wrote the new will or whether Northumberland wrote it and simply had the sick king sign it. Meanwhile, Northumberland had proposed a marriage between his youngest son, Guildford, and Jane. Such a match was an advantageous one for the Greys, and they approved. Jane protested violently; though noble children rarely had any say in their marriages, she pleaded to not be married. Regardless, Jane and Guildford were hastily married on May 25, 1553. Noble weddings tended to be large affairs, but this ceremony was a small and hasty event, with few guests and little joy. At first, the two newlyweds were allowed to stay with their families rather than to live with each other, but Jane’s parents later insisted that they stay together, presumably so that Jane could conceive an heir to the throne. With the potential royal couple waiting in the wings, Edward in June formally changed his will; he also declared his two half sisters illegitimate, which effectively removed them from the succession regardless of the will. Northumberland took the king’s will and had Edward’s advisers sign it to acknowledge their support for the plan, though few were eager to do so. Since Parliament was not in session, however, Parliament’s approval was not likely to come before Edward’s death. In place of a legitimate parliamentary approval, Northumberland had as many parliamentarians as he could locate sign the document, thus providing some semblance of legality. Had it been in session, Parliament as a whole would most likely have debated the new will fiercely, since it skipped the two most rightful heirs. Edward VI died on July 6, 1553, and Northumberland quickly pressured remaining advisers to support his plot. On July 9, at Syon House, north of London, Jane was told that she had been declared queen. She was shocked, and at first she refused the crown. It became clear to her, belatedly, that she was simply a pawn. "When I am in the presence either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep silent, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do it, as it were...even so perfectly as God made the world, or else I am so sharply taunted, yea presently some times with pinches, nips, and bobs...that I think myself in hell." __**Key Accomplishment 2:**__ Overcoming becoming Queen; Mary trying to force her to give up her Protestant religion for Catholicism. //"I pray God! I, nor no friend of mine, die so."// Mary decided to execute Jane when there was a Protestant rebellion against her; she decided that Jane could not live because she would be a figure for future rebellion.  "Although it hath pleased God to hasten my death by you, by whom my life should rather have been lengthened, yet can I patiently take it, that I yield God more hearty thanks for shortening my woeful days." __**Conclusion:**__ Lady Jane Grey was Queen for 9 days, and was able to overcome her parents' cruelty and force.

Electronic source: [|http://web.ebscohost.com/brc/detail?sid=0a600fad-4242-49c5-9a45-f238c04003aa%40sessionmgr111&vid=4&hid=113&bdata=JnNpdGU9YnJjLWxpdmU%3d#db=b6h&AN=103331GLREN3631008611]