Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide

12 years of Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide

Posted on 2nd September 2013 by Tamise

Not sure where the time has gone but this website is 12 today!

Bradgate Park

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Was Guildford Dudley a good husband to Jane Grey? – Guest article by Leanda de Lisle

Posted on 30th August 2013 by Tamise

Historian Leanda de Lisle has very kindly written this guest article about Guildford Dudley and Lady Jane. Leanda’s new book, ‘Tudor: The Family Story’ was published yesterday.

In Trevor Nunn’s 1986 romantic film, Lady Jane, Helena Bonham Carter as Lady Jane Grey finds true love with Cary Elwes’s, Guildford Dudley. But for the most part Guildford Dudley’s place in the myths concerning his teenage wife is a dark one. In some of the stories Guildford emerges as little better than a whining, spoilt, rapist. So what are the actual facts we have concerning Guildford’s relationship with Jane?

Guildford was the fourth son of Edward VI’s Lord President, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. We don’t know his precise age, but he was certainly not a lot older than Jane, and, like her, may well have been only sixteen when he died.

The couple had an arranged marriage, as was the norm for children of the nobility, and at the usual age. There is no source written before Jane’s overthrow on 19 July 1553 to support the, oft repeated, Italian story that Jane resisted the marriage.

It was expected that Guildford would be granted the title of King, most likely in the September parliament (the next two subsequent consorts of reigning English Queens were both given the title). He was even sometimes referred to as such during her reign. But, again, there are no sources written before Jane’s overthrow that suggest she was under any pressure to pre-empt parliament’s decision on this matter. In the procession on the day Jane was proclaimed Queen, Guildford was no more than her consort. His name was not mentioned in the proclamation that declared Jane the Queen, and his signature does not appear alongside hers in the official documents she signed ‘Jane the Queen’.

Venetian reports, later written up by three different Italians include what may be a garbled account of a petition Jane made in the Tower in the expectation of a pardon after 19 July. These cast the blame for the attempt to keep Mary I from the throne in July 1553 on Northumberland’s supposed ambition to make his son King. In these reports ‘Jane’ describes bitter arguments with Guildford and his mother over his expectation that he will be King. Despite this supposed ill feeling the Italians also later relayed a story, describing how Guildford asked to see Jane on the final night of their lives, and embrace her one last time. She was said to have rebuffed him, saying it would be too distressing for them both, and that it was better to prepare for what was to come with prayer. It paints a very Italian picture of a passionate young man thinking of fleshly matters, while the pious Jane focuses on God.

It is impossible to know what stories, from these reports, originated with Jane and what did not, but it is worth comparing what we know with what we are told. We know on that on the last day of her reign Jane named her godson, Guildford. This suggests she respected him, at the very least. Such positive feelings are confirmed in later comments concerning Guildford, which are written and signed in her own hand, and therefore carry more weight that any reported speech. They describe him as a co-martyr. It is also notable that her last letters are signed using her married name, Lady Jane Dudley.

English contemporaries described Guildford as a ‘comely, virtuous and goodly gentleman’ who ‘most innocently was executed’. On balance the evidence suggests his wife shared these views of him.

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Books 2013: On sale today – Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction by Tracy Borman

Posted on 29th August 2013 by Tamise

29th August 2013 – Witches: A Tale of Sorcery, Scandal and Seduction by Tracy Borman

‘Witches traces the dramatic events which unfolded at one of England’s oldest and most spectacular castles four hundred years ago. The case is among those which constitute the European witch craze of the 15th-18th centuries, when suspected witches were burned, hanged, or tortured by the thousand. Like those other cases, it is a tale of superstition, the darkest limits of the human imagination and, ultimately, injustice – a reminder of how paranoia and hysteria can create an environment in which nonconformism spells death. But as Tracy Borman reveals here, it is not quite typical. The most powerful and Machiavellian figure of the Jacobean court had a vested interest in events at Belvoir.He would mastermind a conspiracy that has remained hidden for centuries.’

From The Random House Group

Further details – Random House Group

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

Tracy Borman

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Books 2013 – On sale today – Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda de Lisle

Posted on 29th August 2013 by Tamise

29th August 2013 – Tudor: The Family Story by Leanda de Lisle

‘The Tudors are a national obsession. But, as Leanda de Lisle shows, beyond the familiar headlines, and deep into their past, is a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew.

The Tudor canon typically starts with the Battle of Bosworth in 1485 and really picks up with Henry VIII and the Reformation. But our story starts earlier, with the obscure Welsh origins of Owain ap Maredudd ap Tudur, the man who would become known simply as ‘Owen Tudor’ and fall (literally) into a Queen’s lap and later her bed. It continues with the courage of a pregnant thirteen-year-old girl who went on to found and shape the Tudor dynasty; and the childhood and painful exile of her son, who would become Henry VII.The colossus of the next century, Henry VIII, his wives, and sisters, are given a fresh perspective in this context and show the sister Queens Mary and Elizabeth in a most unexpected light.

Here is the story of a dynasty’s rise and fall. It presents a family struggling at every turn to establish their right to the throne; a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure influence and the family line. Packed with all the headlines we know and love and with many new revelations along the way, it brings to life in a completely new – and very human way – this extraordinary family and their times.’

From Amazon.co.uk

Further details – Amazon.co.uk

Leanda de Lisle

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Tudor: The Family Story – Win a copy and Q&A with author Leanda de Lisle

Posted on 27th August 2013 by Tamise

Thank you to everyone who entered the competition. Look out for Leanda’s answers to your questions.

‘This fresh take on the Tudor dynasty is history at its best.’

(Publishers Weekly)

‘Tudor: The Family Story’ by Leanda de Lisle is published in the UK on 29th August by Chatto & Windus.

‘The Tudors are a national obsession; they are our most notorious family in history. But, as Leanda de Lisle shows in this gripping new history, beyond the well-worn headlines is a family still more extraordinary than the one we thought we knew.

By creating a full family portrait set against the background of this past, Leanda de Lisle enables us to see the Tudors in their own terms, rather than ours; and presents new perspectives and revelations on key figures and events. We see a family dominated by remarkable women doing everything possible to secure its future; understand why the Princes in the Tower were disappeared; look again at the bloodiness of Mary’s reign; at Elizabeth’s relationships with her cousins; and re-discover the true significance of previously overlooked figures. We see the supreme importance of achieving peace and stability in a violent and uncertain world, and of protecting and securing the bloodline.

Tudor tells a family story like no other, and brings it once more to vivid life.’ (Chatto & Windus)

Competition

To celebrate, The Lady Jane Grey Reference Guide offers you the chance to win a copy of this fascinating book and to ask the author any burning questions you have about the Tudors…

Leanda will choose some questions to answer and the Q&A will appear at this blog.

Thanks to Chatto & Windus you can win one of five copies in a UK, European and Commonwealth give-away!

To enter:

Submit a question to Leanda by emailing me at and leaving your name and country.

The competition ends at midnight (UK time) on Friday 6 September.

I will post the questions on this page.

You can submit the same question as someone else, as all names will be entered into the draw.

The five winners will be selected at random.

If you live outside the UK and Commonwealth you can still submit a question to be answered but it will not be entered into the draw.

Good luck!

You can follow Leanda de Lisle at:

Leanda de Lisle.com

Twitter

Facebook

Questions

Sarah B
Who is your favourite personality from the Tudor period and why?

Anne
Who is your favourite Tudor personality and why?

Nicola
How do you think Henry VIII would have been if he hadn’t of had his accident at the joust in 1536? Would his reign have been any different if the accident had never occurred?

Carolyn
Why did the Princes in the Tower really disappear? Were they regarded as a major threat to Henry Tudor’s claim to the throne, even though Richard III had declared his brother Edward IV’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville was invalid, and the two princes were illegitimate?

Anne
Who is your favourite Tudor personality and why?

Lauren
What made you decided to write a book on the family story of one of the most notorious royal families in England?

Eliza
What do you think happened in Anne Boleyn’s fall? Was it all Cromwell, who wanted her out of his way, or Henry ordered Cromwell to make Anne disappear and Thomas just obliged?

Rebecca
With all the negativity towards Anne Boleyn, Do you
think she did what she was tried for, or was it all a big mistake by people
just wanting her out of the way? Anne is my favourite of all Henry’s wives and I look forward to hearing your honest opinion….

Denise
Which previously overlooked person actually played a major role in changing history and how?

Aimee
What made you become interested in the Tudor period?

Rhiannon
If Prince Arthur had of lived what impact do you think that would have had on the country today?

Kristie
What influence (if any) do you feel that Margaret Beaufort had on Henry?

Natalie
Why do you think Elizabeth did not want Katherine Grey’s son, Edward, to succeed her?

Andria
Bearing in mind Henry VIII dark reputation regarding his treatment of his wives, why, during a reign of fear, did nobles believe that their daughters, should they marry Henry, would not meet a grisly end?

Cathy
Do you think Hilary Mantel’s softer, family man interpretation of Thomas Cromwell has any bearing in reality, or was he just as cunning and ruthless as most historians tend to interpret him as?

Gail
Elizabeth was close with her cousins from her mother’s side of the family. Is there any evidence that Elizabeth ever discussed their family history with her Boleyn cousins?

Kate
Given the amount of books already written about the Tudors, did you feel a pressure to deliver something completely different as to what had already been published?

Amanda
Over the last couple of years, Tudor history has been given a new life with more interest invested in it. What do you feel is the most significant idea put forward so far and do you feel that there is any areas which have been grossly misinterpreted or neglected?

Valerie
What are your thoughts on how Thomas Cromwell has been treated by history?

Margherita
If Katherine Grey had been allowed to live with her husband Hereford how would that have affected Elizabeth’s sense of security over her throne?

If Lady Jane Grey had not been forced into marriage and the thrown how do you think her life would have unfurled in England of the 16th Century?

Helene
Which Tudor personality do you think is the most underrated and why?

Martha
Henry VIII was believed to idolise King Henry V who, though a forerunner, was not his direct ancestor. Given that the Tudor dynasty sprung instead from the middle Lancastrian’s widow Catherine of Valois, how frustrating do you think Henry found being so close to and yet so obviously far from the hero of Agincourt, and how far do you think that his descent from Charles VI of France through Catherine was in his mind when he ‘reopened’ the Hundred Years War in 1513, despite the fact that emphasising this claim may have in turn emphasised the dubious nature of his conventional claim to the French throne via Margaret Beaufort, and indeed the English crown itself?

Kerry
Do you think/feel that Queen Elizabeth I ever regretted putting her paternal cousins, the Ladies Catherine and Mary Grey under house arrest? Lady Catherine was imprisoned for 7 years until her death at age 28. Was her death the reason why she took Lady Mary out of house arrest and made her one of her Ladies-in-Waiting?

Drew
Which historic person from the Tudor period would be most at home in the 21st Century ?

Vonni
If Jane Seymour had not died after giving birth to a son, do you think that the marriage would have lasted and been his final marriage?

Sarah L
I would like to know what your opinion of Jane Seymour is? History has painted her as a fairly bland character when compared to Anne Boleyn, someone who was coached by others in order to ensure she was appealing to the King. Do you think she was the meek mild woman she has been portrayed as or do you think she was every bit as ambitious as Anne was?