Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide

Books 2015 – on sale today – Joan of Arc (paperback) by Helen Castor

Posted on 7th May 2015 by Tamise

7 May 2015 – Joan of Arc (Paperback) by Helen Castor

‘We all know the story of Joan of Arc. A peasant girl who hears voices from God. A warrior leading an army to victory, in an age that believes women cannot fight. The Maid of Orléans, and the saviour of France. Burned at the stake as a heretic at the age of just nineteen. Five hundred years later, a saint. Her case was heard in court twice over. One trial, in 1431, condemned her; the other, twenty-five years after her death, cleared her name. In the transcripts, we hear first-hand testimony from Joan, her family and her friends: a rare survival from the medieval world. What could be more revealing? But all is not as simple as it seems, because this is a life told backwards, in hindsight – a story already shaped by the knowledge of what Joan would become.

In Joan of Arc: A History, Helen Castor tells this gripping story afresh: forwards, not backwards, setting this extraordinary girl within her extraordinary world where no one – not Joan herself, nor the people around her, princes, bishops, soldiers or peasants – knew what would happen next.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Helen Castor

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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Books 2015 – on sale today – The Hollow Crown by Dan Jones

Posted on 30th April 2015 by Tamise

30 April – The Hollow Crown: The Wars of the Roses and the Rise of the Tudors (Paperback) by Dan Jones

‘The fifteenth century experienced the longest and bloodiest series of civil wars in British history. The crown of England changed hands violently seven times as the great families of England fought to the death for power, majesty and the right to rule. Dan Jones completes his epic history of medieval England with a new book about the Wars of the Roses – and describes how the Plantagenets tore themselves apart and were finally replaced by the Tudors.

With vivid descriptions of the battle of Towton, where 28,000 men died in a single morning, to Bosworth, where the last Plantagenet king was hacked down, this is the real story behind Shakespeare’s famous history plays.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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A Realm Divided by Dan Jones added to Books 2015

Posted on 26th April 2015 by Tamise

8 October – A Realm Divided: England in 1215 by Dan Jones

‘1215 – the penultimate year of the reign of a king with the worst reputation of any in our history – saw England engulfed by crisis.

Weakened by the loss of Normandy, King John faced insurrection by his disgruntled barons. With the assistance of the Archbishop of Canterbury, they drew up a list of their demands. In June, in a quiet Thames-side water-meadow, John attached his regal seal – under oath – to a charter that set limits on regal power. In return, the barons renewed their vows of fealty. Groundbreaking though ‘Magna Carta’ was, it had scant immediate impact as England descended into civil war that would still be raging when John died the following year.

Dan Jones’s vivid account of the vicissitudes of feudal power politics and the workings of 13th-century government is interwoven with a exploration of the lives of ordinary people: how and where they worked, what they wore, what they ate, and what role the Church played in their lives.

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Head of Zeus

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

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Jane’s Betrothal Is Announced…

Posted on 24th April 2015 by Tamise

Eric Ives writes that Jane, ‘like the overwhelming majority of girls of her class…came to attention only when it was announced that she was to marry.’ (1) This announcement happened 462 years ago today. Ives states that ‘the earliest evidence of Jane’s betrothal to Guildford is a warrant dated 24 April 1553 to deliver ‘wedding apparel’ to the bride and groom, their respective mothers and also the lady marquis of Northampton.’ (2)

Four days later, the Imperial Ambassador, Jehan Scheyfve, reported news of the upcoming marriage in two reports.

‘Nevertheless, his conduct is open to suspicion, especially considering that during the last few days he has found means to ally and bind his son, my Lord Guilford, to the Duke of Suffolk’s eldest daughter, whose mother is the third heiress to the crown by the testamentary dispositions of the late King, and has no heirs male.’ (3)

He also writes.

‘My Lord Guilford, son of the Duke of Northumberland, is betrothed to the eldest daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, with the consent and approval of the King and his Council. Their marriage is to be solemnized at Whitsuntide.’ (4)

In a further report dated 12 May, the Ambassador includes details of the forthcoming wedding.

‘This Whitsuntide the marriage of the Duke of Northumberland’s son to the eldest daughter of the late Duke of Suffolk is to be celebrated. They are making preparations for games and jousts. The King has sent presents of rich ornaments and jewels to the bride.’ (5)

Sources

1. Ives, E. (2009) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, Wiley-Blackwell, p.183
2. Ibid p.185.
3. ‘Spain: April 1553’, in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11, 1553, ed. Royall Tyler (London, 1916), pp. 23-37 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol11/pp23-37 [accessed 21 April 2015].
4. Ibid.
5. ‘Spain: May 1553’, in Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11, 1553, ed. Royall Tyler (London, 1916), pp. 37-48 http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-state-papers/spain/vol11/pp37-48 [accessed 22 April 2015].

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Stephan Edwards finds another possible Jane portrait…

Posted on 21st April 2015 by Tamise

Two months after the publication of his detailed search for portraits of Lady Jane Grey, Stephan Edwards has posted about a new painting on his website, Some Grey Matter.

The South Carolina Portrait