History Spotlight, 2/12

Lady Jane Grey

More fun with Henry VIII and his ill-fated relations. Lady Jane Grey, grand-niece of Henry was executed for treason today after reigning for only nine days.
As always with Henry, it all goes back to his obsession with having a son to carry on the Tudor line. Henry's first wife, Catherine gave him Mary - no good. His second wife, Anne, give him Elizabeth, also no good. His third wife, Jane Seymour (not that one) finally managed to give him a son, Edward in 1537, and then conveniently died two weeks later. That was the kind of wife Henry liked: produced sons and not a lot of sass back. Edward was quickly named to the succession and Mary and Elizabeth were tacked on as afterthoughts. So, at that point, the line of succession went: Edward, Mary, Elizabeth.
Henry kicked off in 1547 and Edward became King Edward IV at the tender age of nine. As might be imagined of a nine-year old king, Edward was heavily influenced by his advisors, and they milked their role for all it was worth. Edward was always a very sickly lad. The various diseases of the time, coupled with tuberculosis and a case of syphilis inherited from his old man meant that his reign was destined to be short. In 1553, at the age of fifteen he was laying on his deathbed. One of his advisors, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland had the idea of one, making sure the Catholic Mary didn't get the throne and two, putting one of his own relations, his cousin Jane, on the throne. He got Edward to sign a "Devise for the Succession" which disowned Mary and Elizabeth and made Jane the next in line.
When Edward died on July 6, 1553, Jane was proclaimed Queen, even though that violated the Third Succession Act of 1543 which was very specific in the Edward > Mary > Elizabeth line. As you might imagine, Mary would have something to say about this.
Mary rallied her followers from the outlying counties (because of Jane's imprateur of a usurper, Mary had supporters from both Catholic and Protestant factions) and they marched on London. In English rebellions, London is always the lynch pin. Many a successful revolt has died at the gates of London, even though it managed to win in the sticks. In this case, London opened it's gates for Mary's army and Jane found herself in the Tower of London after only nine days on the throne. Mary toyed with the idea of letting Jane go - after all it was her uncle that was causing all the problems. But you don't get the nickname "Bloody Mary" by letting people go and, in the end, Jane, her uncle, her husband and anyone remotely connected to her aborted reign went to the chopping block.