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LADY JANE GREY (1537-1554)

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Originally appearing in Volume V12, Page 591 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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LADY JANE See also:GREY (1537-1554)  , a See also:lady remarkable no less for her accomplishments than for her misfortunes, was the See also:great-granddaughter of See also:Henry VII. of See also:England . Her descent from that See also:king was traced through a See also:line of See also:females . His second daughter See also:Mary, after being See also:left a widow by See also:Louis XII. of See also:France, married See also:Charles See also:Brandon, See also:duke of See also:Suffolk, who was a favourite with her See also:brother King Henry VIII . Of this See also:marriage came two daughters, the See also:elder of whom, Lady Frances Brandon, was married to Henry See also:Grey, See also:marquess of See also:Dorset; and their issue, again, consisted of daughters only . Lady Jane, the subject of this See also:article, was the eldest of three whom the marquess had by Lady Frances . Thus it will appear that even if the See also:crown of England had ever fallen into the See also:female line of descent from Henry VII., she could not have put in a rightful claim unless the issue of his elder daughter, See also:Margaret, had become See also:extinct . But Margaret had married See also:James IV. of See also:Scotland; and, though her descendant, James VI., was ultimately called to the See also:English See also:throne, Henry VIII. had placed her See also:family after that of his second See also:sister in the See also:succession; so that, failing the lawful issue of Henry himself, Lady Jane would, according to this arrangement, have succeeded . It was to these circumstances that she owed her exceptional position in See also:history, and became the victim of an ambition which was not her own . She was See also:born at her See also:father's seat named Bradgate in See also:Leicester-See also:shire about the See also:year 1537 . Her parents, though severe disciplinarians, bestowed more than See also:ordinary care upon her See also:education, and she herself was so teachable and delighted so much in study that she became the marvel of the See also:age for her acquirements . She not only excelled in See also:needlework and in See also:music, both vocal and instrumental, but while still very See also:young she had thoroughly mastered Latin, See also:Greek, See also:French and See also:Italian . She was able to speak and write both Greek and Latin with an accuracy that satisfied even such critics as See also:Ascham and her See also:tutor Dr See also:Aylmer, afterwards See also:bishop of See also:London .

She also acquired some knowledge of at least three See also:

Oriental See also:tongues, See also:Hebrew, See also:Chaldee and Arabic . In Ascham's Schoolmaster is given a touching See also:account of the devotion with which she pursued her studies and the harshness she experienced from her parents . The love of learning was her solace; in See also:reading See also:Demosthenes and See also:Plato she found a See also:refuge from domestic unhappiness . When about ten years old she was placed for a See also:time in the See also:household of See also:Thomas, See also:Lord See also:Seymour, who, having obtained her wardship, induced her parents to let her stay with him, even after the See also:death of his wife, See also:Queen See also:Catherine See also:Parr, by promising to marry her to his See also:nephew, King See also:Edward VI . Lord Seymour, however, was attainted of high See also:treason and beheaded in 1549, and his brother, the duke of See also:Somerset, made some overtures to the marquess of Dorset to marry her to his son the See also:earl of See also:Hertford . These projects, however, came to nothing . The duke of Somerset in his turn See also:fell a victim to the ambition of See also:Dudley, duke of See also:Northumberland, and was beheaded three years after his brother . Meanwhile, the dukedom of Suffolk having become extinct by the deaths of Charles Brandon and his two sons, the See also:title was conferred upon the marquess of Dorset, Lady Jane's father . Northumberland, who was now all-powerful, fearing a great See also:reverse of See also:fortune in See also:case of the king's death, as his See also:health began visibly to decline, endeavoured to strengthen himself by marriages between his family and those of other powerful noblemen, especially of the new-made duke of Suffolk . His three eldest sons being already married, the See also:fourth, who was named Lord See also:Guilford Dudley, was accordingly wedded to Lady Jane Grey about the end of May 1553 . The match received the full approval of the king, who furnished the See also:wedding See also:apparel of the parties by royal See also:warrant . But Edward's See also:state of health warned Northumberland that he must lose no time in putting the See also:rest of his project into See also:execution .

He persuaded the king that if the crown should descend to his sister Mary the See also:

work of the See also:Reformation would be undone and the liberties of the See also:kingdom would be in danger . Besides, both Mary and her sister See also:Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate by See also:separate acts of See also:parliament, and the objections to Mary queen of Scots did not require to be pointed out . Edward was easily persuaded to break through his father's will and make a new See also:settlement of the crown by See also:deed . The document was witnessed by the signatures of all the See also:council and of all but one of the See also:judges; but those of the latter See also:body were obtained only with difficulty by threats and intimidation . Edward VI. died on the 6th See also:July 1553, and it was announced to Lady Jane that she was queen . She was then but sixteen years of age . The See also:news came upon her as a most unwelcome surprise, and for some time she resisted all persuasions to accept the fatal dignity; but at length she yielded to the entreaties of her father, her father-in-See also:law and her See also:husband . The better to mature their plans the See also:cabal had kept the king's death See also:secret for some days, but they proclaimed Queen Jane in the See also:city on the loth . The See also:people received the announcement with See also:manifest coldness, and a vintner's boy was even so bold as to raise a cry for Queen Mary, for which he next See also:day had his ears nailed to the See also:pillory and afterwards cut off . Mary, however, had received See also:early intimation of her brother's death, and, retiring from See also:Hunsdon into See also:Norfolk, gathered See also:round her the See also:nobility and See also:commons of those parts . Northumberland was despatched thither with an See also:army to oppose her; but after reaching New-See also:market he complained that the council had not sent him forces in sufficient See also:numbers and his followers began to See also:desert . News also came that the earl of See also:Oxford had declared for Queen Mary; and as most of the council themselves were only seeking an opportunity to See also:wash their hands of See also:rebellion, they procured a See also:meeting at Baynard's See also:Castle, revoked their former acts as done under See also:coercion, and caused the lord See also:mayor to proclaim Queen Mary, which he did amid the shouts of the citizens .

The duke of Suffolk was obliged to tell his daughter that she must See also:

lay aside her royal dignity and become a private See also:person once more . She replied that she relinquished most willingly a crown that she had only accepted out of obedience to him and her See also:mother, and her nine days' reign was over . The leading actors in the See also:conspiracy were now called to See also:answer for their deeds . Northumberland was brought up to London a prisoner, tried and sent to the See also:block, along with' some of his partisans . The duke of Suffolk and Lady Jane were also committed to the See also:Tower; but the former, by the See also:influence of his duchess, procured a See also:pardon . Lady Jane and her husband Lord Guilford Dudley were also tried, and received See also:sentence of death for treason . This, however, was not immediately carried out;, on the contrary, the queen seems to have wished to spare their lives and mitigated the rigour of their confinement . 591 Unfortunately, owing to the See also:general dislike of the queen's marriage with See also:Philip of See also:Spain, See also:Sir Thomas See also:Wyat soon after raised a rebellion in which the duke of Suffolk and his See also:brothers took See also:part, and on its suppression the queen was persuaded that it was unsafe to spare the lives of Lady Jane and her husband any longer . On See also:hearing that they were to See also:die, Lady Jane declined a parting interview with her husband lest it should increase their See also:pain, and prepared to meet her See also:fate with See also:Christian fortitude . She and her husband were executed on the same day, on the 12th of See also:February 1554, her husband on Tower See also:Hill, and herself within the Tower an See also:hour afterwards, amidst universal sympathy and compassion . See Ascham's Schoolmaster; See also:Burnet's History of the Reformation; See also:Howard's Lady Jane Grey; See also:Nicolas's See also:Literary Remains of Lady Jane Grey; See also:Tytler's England under Edward VI. and Mary; The See also:Chronicles of Queen Jane, ed . J .

G . See also:

Nichols; The See also:Accession of Queen Mary (Guaras's narrative), ed . R . See also:Garnett (1892); See also:Foxe's Acts and Monuments .

End of Article: LADY JANE GREY (1537-1554)
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