Synopses & Reviews
Lady Jane Grey is the queen England rejected. In July 1553, Edward VI, the heir to Henry VIII, died after only a brief reign as a minor. His death left the Tudor dynasty in turmoil. In the aftermath, Jane Grey was proclaimed queen only to be ousted after thirteen days by Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s bastard daughter. Seven months later she had Jane beheaded.
History has portrayed Jane as both a hapless victim of political intrigue and a Protestant martyr, but most of all as an irrelevance, hence the popular but erroneous label, the ‘nine days queen’. Revisiting the sources surrounding Jane Grey’s upbringing, Eric Ives challenges these views, presenting Jane Grey as an accomplished young woman with a fierce personal integrity, and England’s outstanding female scholar. He teases out the complex evidence of the 1553 crisis and dissects the moves and motives of each of the other protagonists: Edward VI himself, feverishly re-writing his will during his dying days; Mary Tudor, the woman who ‘won’ the crown; John Dudley, Jane’s father-in-law, traditionally the villain of the piece; and her father, Henry Grey. As the story moves through the summer of 1553 to Jane’s execution, we see these people as agents in Jane Grey’s unfolding tragedy and her eventual moral triumph. The result is a new and compelling dissection by a master historian and storyteller of one of history’s most shocking injustices.
Review
"This is a thoroughly absorbing and ingenious book which will appeal to scholars and general readers alike." (History Today, June 2010)
Review
"Written in a scholarly fashion, with an abundance of family trees, maps and a list of titles and offices, this book is a factual, yet compelling, take on a much covered story. A fascinating tale, this will appeal to both scholars and general readers alike." (Family History Monthly, 1 April 2012)
"This is a thoroughly absorbing and ingenious book which will appeal to scholars and general readers alike." (History Today, June 2010)
Review
"A Tudor mystery is brilliantly solved, and the story of one of England's most dangerous crises is thrillingly told… This book, which takes us as close to the truth of these events as is possible, will convince scholars who thought that they knew the story already, and delight general readers."
–Susan Brigden, Lincoln College, Oxford
"A highly ingenious solution to the mystery of Jane Grey's thirteen-day usurpation of the throne. Ives's research skills are formidable and will make this book essential, if provocative reading."
–John Guy
"Eric Ives has provided the first full-scale account of one of the most surprising sequences of events in the politics of Tudor England. It is an engrossing tale, here presented in incisive style by a scholar who has an instinctive grasp of how to bring the surprises back to life."
–Diarmaid MacCulloch, author of Reformation, Europe's House Divided, and A History of Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years
Synopsis
Lady Jane Grey is one of the most elusive and tragic characters in English history.
In July 1553 the death of the childless Edward VI threw the Tudor dynasty into crisis. On Edward's instructions his cousin Jane Grey was proclaimed queen, only to be ousted 13 days later by his illegitimate half sister Mary and later beheaded. In this radical reassessment, Eric Ives rejects traditional portraits of Jane both as hapless victim of political intrigue or Protestant martyr. Instead he presents her as an accomplished young woman with a fierce personal integrity. The result is a compelling dissection by a master historian and storyteller of one of history’s most shocking injustices.
About the Author
Eric Ives is Emeritus Professor of English History at the University of Birmingham and author of The Life and Death of Anne Boleyn (Wiley-Blackwell, 2004). He has written widely on Tudor history, the history of law, and on the development of modern higher education. In 2001 he was awarded the OBE for services to history and the University of Birmingham.
Table of Contents
List of Illustrations.
List of Figures.
Preface.
Titles and Offices.
Figures.
Map.
Prologue.
Part I The Scene.
1 The Year of Three Sovereigns.
2 In Search of Jane Grey.
3 Jane Grey in Context.
Part II The Protagonists.
Jane Grey.
4 A Damnable Inheritance.
5 Jane the Person.
6 Family Priorities.
7 A Godly Upbringing.
Mary Tudor.
8 Father and Daughter.
9 Sister and Brother.
John Dudley.
10 John Dudley: The Career.
11 John Dudley: The Black Legend.
12 John Dudley: Motives.
Edward.
13 The Young King.
14 'My Deuise for the Succession'.
15 King and Minister.
16 The Will of a King.
Part III Thirteen Days.
17 Preparations.
18 Jane the Queen.
19 The Council in London.
20 The March on Framlingham.
21 A Second Front.
22 The Rebellion of Mary Tudor.
Part IV Consequences.
23 Every Man for Himself.
24 The Tower.
25 Nemesis.
26 The River of Jordan.
27 Afterlife.
28 Envoi.
Notes.
Bibliographical Abbreviations.
Index.