Ziletti


In November 1553, Dr Stephan Edwards discovered two letters written in London in July 1553 that mention Lady Jane Grey. He writes that, ‘To my knowledge, neither of these letters has ever been published in English, and no historian writing on the subject of Jane Grey or the succession dispute of 1553 has ever cited them. They are presented here for what I believe is the first time in the modern era.’ (Some Grey Matter )

The letters appear in the third volume of ‘Lettere di Principi’ a series of ‘a collection of letters to, from, or about a wide variety of early-sixteenth-century European rulers, noblemen, and princes of the Roman Catholic Church’ (Some Grey Matter ), which was published, in 1577 by Giordano Ziletti. According to Edwards, the author and recipient of the letters are unknown but he thinks that they were written by a member of the Venetian diplomatic embassy.


Details of the contents of the letters can be read here: Dr Stephan Edwards and two new letters about Lady Jane Grey


You can read the English translation of the letters here:

Some Grey Matter – Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July of 1553


Extracts can be found in the following:

John Dudley: The Life of Lady Jane Grey’s Father-In-Law by Christine Hartweg

The Lost Kings: Lancaster, York & Tudor by Amy Licence

Princely Education in Early Modern Britain by Aysha Pollnitz

Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Lady Jane Grey by Nicola Tallis