LADY JANE GREY 1537 -
Acknowledgements
Lady Jane Grey: 1590s, artist unknown – National Portrait Gallery, London. Execution: by the French painter Paul Delaroche (1797-
xxxxxThe young Lady Jane Grey, the great granddaughter of Henry VII, reluctantly became involved in a plot to prevent the succession of Mary I, a devout Roman Catholic, and lost her life as a result. The Duke of Northumberland, having persuaded the young Edward to nominate the Protestant Lady Jane Grey as his successor (thus putting aside the claims of his two half-
xxxxxWhen Edward died in July 1553, he then declared Jane Queen of England, and she reluctantly accepted the crown. She wore it for little more than a week. Mary, daughter of Henry VIII's first wife, Catherine of Aragon -
xxxxxA beautiful and learned young lady, it would appear that she was an innocent victim in Northumberland's political plot, a plot designed not simply to ensure the succession of a Protestant to the throne, but also to keep the reins of government in his own hands, via his royal daughter-
E6-