The Tudors Vs History: 21/?

The Tudors vs History: 21/?

“She was still holding out in the second week of June [1536], but becoming increasingly disturbed that she had received no reply to her letters to her father. On the first day of the month she had written to the king desiring his blessing and asking forgiveness ‘for all the offences that I have done to your grace, since I had first discretion to offend’. She was, she said, ‘as sorry as any living creature.’ […] She also congratulated him on his marriage and asked to be allowed to see the new queen.”

– The Myth of ‘Bloody Mary’, Linda Porter

“ Rejoices to hear of the marriage between his Grace and the Queen now being. Desires leave to wait upon the latter and do her Grace service. Prays God to send him a prince. Hounsdon, 1 June.”

– Princess Mary to [Henry VIII].  

“Henry VIII: June 1536, 1-5.” Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 10, January-June 1536. Ed.  James Gairdner. London: Her Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1887. 424-440.     

“The early sixteenth century was a time when prophecies were popular and prophets were confident: men and women puzzled over ancient rhymes which might (or might not) be held to have predicted such mighty topics such as the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the split from Rome, and the dissolution of the monasteries. But no one ever predicted the King would marry six times and, if they had, he would not have believed it. Nor for that matter would any of his six queens have believed the various densities which lay in store for them, if predicted at birth: not one but two princesses were to die cast off; equally surprising, four women of modest enough birth were to become royal consorts; most astonishingly of all…two of these apparently unexceptional women were to die a traitor’s death.” Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII.

Pictured in order: Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard, and Catherine Parr

On one of her visits to court, [Mary] heard the Venetian organist, Dionysius Memo, playing for her father’s guests and ran after him calling, ‘Priest, priest!’ , not because she was interested in his religious role but to encourage him to play more. Henry was proudly indulgent of this slight lapse in his child’s otherwise dignified behavior. Her taste he could not fault, since it had been Henry himself who brought Memo, the organist of St. Mark’s, to England not long after Mary’s birth.

– The First Queen of England: the myth of ‘Bloody Mary’, Linda Porter

I find it weird when Katherine of Aragon biographers try to shoehorn in her being ‘Machiavellian’, like...I think she was politically gifted, I think she used her networks well, I think she knew when to be discreet, I think she knew how to utilize her public moments for public sympathy/approval (famously, like Blackfriars) but sometimes I feel like biographers apply this...weirdly, to private moments?

Be strong, my daughter…Remember who you are 

Helena Bonham Carter as Queen Lady Jane Grey in Lady Jane (1986).

3 years before his death, Henry VIII made the Third Succession Act of 1544, which restored his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, to the line of succession. Henry’s will stated that if none of his three children should have decadents, the throne would be passed to the heirs of his younger sister, Mary. Lady Jane Grey just happened to be the granddaughter of Mary Tudor.

In the summer of 1553, the 15 year old Edward VI knew he was dying. Knowing that when he shall die, his half sister Mary would ascended to throne, he decided to name his protestant cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his successor instead. Edward wanted to ensure his protestant legacy, and Mary was a devout Roman Catholic.

3 days after the death of Edward VI, Jane was informed that she was now the Queen. There’s no doubt that she was probably surprised by this, and she even stated later that she accepted the crown with reluctance.

On July 10th of 1553, Jane was proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland. However, she refused to name her husband, Lord Guilford Dudley, as King. Instead, she only made him Duke of Clarence.

Jane’s time of royalty would not last long, though. As soon as Princess Mary heard of her brothers death, she began to rally supporters for her succession to the throne. There was a plan for troops to capture Mary, but the Privy Council switched their allegiance and proclaimed Mary as Queen.

Jane reigned for just 9 days, and has been given the title of the “Nine-Day Queen.” She is also the shortest reigning monarch in history. On July 19th of 1553, Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London, as well as her husband. Princess Mary then ascended to the throne to become Queen Mary I.

Jane, her husband, her husbands two brothers, and Thomas Cranmer were all charged with high treason. The trial took place on November 13th of 1553, and all defendants were found guilty. It is likely that Jane would have not been executed if the rebellion of Thomas Wyatt the Younger didn’t happen, but fate seemed to have been going downhill for Jane, and quickly. Her sentence was to be “burned alive on Tower Hill or beheaded as the Queen pleases”.

On the morning of February 12th of 1554, Jane was taken to Tower Green for her execution, just after her husband. While upon the scaffold she gave this speech: “Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed against the Queen’s highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day.”

Jane then handed her gloves and handkerchief to her maid, and the executioner asked her for forgiveness, which she granted. She said to him, “I pray you dispatch me quickly.” She then asked, “Will you take it off before i lay me down?” The execution answered, “No, madam.” Jane blindfolded herself, but then failed to find the block with her hands. She cried out, “What shall I do? Where is it?” The Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower helped her find her way to it. Jane then laid her head on the block, speaking the words: “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!”

Jane and her husband were buried in unmarked graves in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula on the north side of Tower Green. She was just 16 or 17 years old when she died.