Queen for Nine Days

For a while now, I’ve been fascinated with the story and character of Lady Jane Grey. In case you don’t know, Jane is famous for being Queen of England for only nine days in 1553 at the age of 16 (or 17). Despite her youth, she was a scholar, studied in Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Italian, and well-versed in the classics and theology. In fact, it’s said she preferred studying over hunting (cool!). Jane’s mother was the daughter of Henry VIII’s youngest sister, which gave Jane a royal connection. However, since Henry had three children of his own, Edward (from wife #3, Jane Seymour), Mary (from wife #1, Catherine of Aragon), and Elizabeth (from wife #2, Anne Boleyn), the throne of England was an unlikely prospect for her. And she was fine with that. The details of the intrigues that got Jane to the throne, and eventually to the Tower and her death are way beyond the scope of this brief article. So, here’s just the basics.

Henry VIII left the throne to his three children, then to his youngest sister and her grandchildren (not Jane’s mother). When Henry died, his young son Edward became king. It seems he was on very good terms with Lady Jane–possibly to the point where marriage might have been an option. But Edward was a sickly child, and was himself on his deathbed at age 15. One of Edward’s last acts was to draw up a “device” which named Jane as his heir, and proclaimed both his sisters illegitimate and ineligible for the throne. Why?

King Henry had usurped the power of the Pope and made himself head of the church in England. Much of the rest of the Reformation of the English church under Henry was superficial. He wasn’t interested in the Lutheran or Calvinistic (“Reformed”) type of reformation as had happened in Europe–his concerns were more to do with power than theology. His son Edward’s leanings, however, were more sympathetic to the Protestant cause, and perhaps even more “Reformed” than Henry would have liked. Certainly, far more than his sister Mary would ever want. As daughter of Catherine of Aragon (the initial wife Henry had wanted to divorce, but the Pope refused, instigating the whole break with Rome in the first place), Mary remained staunchly Catholic and loyal to the Pope. Edward and those who advised him, were well aware that if Mary should become queen, the Protestant Reformation in England could well be over. Mary had made no secret of her desire to return England to Papal favor and reinstate the Catholic faith. Lady Jane, on the other hand, had received a good Protestant education, and was certainly very sympathetic to the “Reformed” cause (she corresponded with Heinrich Bullinger, one of the leading lights of the Zurich Reformation). Edward and his advisers would rather Jane become queen than Mary, and Edward signed a document naming Jane as his heir and delegitimizing Mary and Elizabeth (though Elizabeth was a supporter of her father’s church, Edward couldn’t very well deligitimize one sister and not the other). King Edward died not long after this, and Jane was proclaimed Queen of England.

As was customary, Lady Jane was led by procession to the Tower of London to await her official coronation. She never left. Lady Jane’s in-laws (who were far more interested in the English throne than she was) and those on their side left one important detail undone in their plans for Jane: capturing Mary to make sure she didn’t rally support to claim back the throne. Which is exactly what Mary did. On top of this, while the English as a whole were not too happy with the thought of going back to Catholicism, they were all quite loyal to the rules of succession and, like it or not, saw Mary as the rightful heir to the throne. And to add the nasty cherry to the cake, Edward’s re-jiggling of the succession had never received Parliamentary approval, which was necessary for it to be legal. And Jane had already signed some documents as “Queen Jane.” Which, unbeknownst to her, was technically treason. Oops.

Lady Jane went from being monarch-in-residence in the Tower, to prisoner-awaiting-trial. After only nine days as queen she was deposed, and Mary took the throne  that was legally hers (and that Jane was really all too happy for Mary to have, despite their theological differences). But Jane now faced trial for treason, which basically meant she was awaiting a date for her execution: the result of the trial was a foregone conclusion. Jane was beheaded on February 12, 1554.

One of the things I find amazing about this story is the fact that despite their intense theological differences, Jane and Mary, who were essentially cousins, remained on good terms. Jane never really wanted to steal the crown from Mary, and Mary sent her own chaplain to Jane in the Tower to try to convert her to Catholicism, which might have been Jane’s only hope for survival. To a degree, they were both victims of the machinations of others–Jane particularly.

If you want to read further on the story of Lady Jane Grey, there are plenty of books and online resources. One that may be of interest to YA fans is a book by Ann Rinaldi that I read recently called NINE DAYS A QUEEN. It’s a fictional account of Jane’s life told from Jane’s point of view. Most of it is historically accurate, with some embellishments for the sake of storytelling. I enjoyed it, and recommend it.

UPDATE: In honor of the anniversary of the death of Doctor Who actress Elisabeth Sladen, I should note that there was a story in season 4 of her spin-off series, The Sarah Jane Adventures that featured Lady Jane Grey. It was called “Lost in Time.” Check it out if you can (Netflix, DVD, etc.).