169-411: Lady Jane Grey (1536/7 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley after her marriage and as the " Nine Days' Queen ", was an English noblewoman who claimed the throne of England and Ireland from 10 to 19 July 1553. Jane was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII , through his youngest daughter Mary , and a grand-niece of Henry VIII , and cousin to Edward VI , Mary I and Elizabeth I . Under
338-558: A boy, than by hearing one of Homer's poems explained by another". Ascham was then appointed by the University to read Greek at open schools and received payment through honorary stipends. This was monumental for Ascham because at the time, there was no established lecturer of Greek at the University. Here he fell under the influence of Sir John Cheke , who was admitted a fellow in Ascham's first year, and Sir Thomas Smith . Cheke in turn
507-589: A child, Frances's eldest daughter, Jane, could. She was young, healthy, and brought up in the Protestant faith, and her other qualities were of no importance. Edward VI personally supervised the copying of his will which was finally issued as letters patent on 21 June and signed by 102 notables, among them the whole Privy Council , peers, bishops, judges, and London aldermen . Edward also announced to have his "declaration" passed in parliament in September, and
676-480: A clear conscience, Edward, guided primarily by Dudley, planned the exclusion of his older half-sister from the line of succession. The king’s intentions aligned closely with Dudley’s fears: Dudley, who had become a symbol of the hated Reformation for Mary, reasonably believed that Mary might seek to eliminate both him and his family once she came to power. Both the King and Protector Dudley knew of Mary's intense devotion to
845-666: A cost of £24,000. However, as France was becoming more concerned with the Italian Wars , the French were happy to agree to the Peace of Étaples . Henry had pressured the French by laying siege to Boulogne in October 1492. Henry had been under the financial and physical protection of the French throne or its vassals for most of his life before becoming king. To strengthen his position, however, he subsidised shipbuilding, so strengthening
1014-511: A duke, but the king. When the Duchess of Northumberland heard of the argument, she became furious and forbade Guildford to sleep any longer with his wife. She also commanded him to leave the Tower and go home, but Jane insisted that he remain at court at her side. Princess Mary was last seen by Edward in mid-February, and both her advisors and the imperial ambassador were keeping her informed about
1183-484: A few thousand troops, but was soon captured and executed. When the King's agents searched the property of William Stanley ( Chamberlain of the Household , with direct access to Henry VII) they found a bag of coins amounting to around £10,000 and a collar of livery with Yorkist garnishings. Stanley was accused of supporting Warbeck's cause, arrested and later executed. In response to this threat within his own household,
1352-540: A fiscally prudent monarch who restored the fortunes of an effectively bankrupt exchequer . Henry VII introduced stability to the financial administration of England by keeping the same financial advisors throughout his reign. For instance, except for the first few months of the reign, the Baron Dynham and the Earl of Surrey were the only Lord High Treasurers throughout his reign. Henry VII improved tax collection in
1521-455: A general treatise on educational method, the book concentrates on the teaching of Latin; and it was not intended for schools, but "specially prepared for the private brynging up of youth in gentlemen and noblemens houses". It advocated "the double translation of a model book", the book recommended being Sturmius 's Select Letters of Cicero ; the method itself was not new. The book's plea for gentleness and persuasion instead of coercion in schools,
1690-421: A growing reputation for shrewd decisiveness". On the debit side, he may have looked a little delicate as he suffered from poor health. Historians have compared Henry VII with his continental contemporaries, especially Louis XI of France and Ferdinand II of Aragon . By 1600 historians emphasised Henry's wisdom in drawing lessons in statecraft from other monarchs. In 1622 Francis Bacon published his History of
1859-645: A humanist education from John Aylmer , speaking Latin and Greek from an early age, also studying Hebrew with Aylmer, and Italian with Michelangelo Florio . She was particularly fond, throughout her life, of writing letters in Latin and Greek. Through the influence of her father and her tutors, she became a committed Protestant and also corresponded with the Zürich reformer Heinrich Bullinger . She preferred academic studies rather than activities such as hunting parties and allegedly regarded her strict upbringing, which
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#17327761518832028-588: A letter to Johannes Sturm , the Strassburg schoolmaster , Ascham praised Elizabeth's growth as a student: "She talks French and Italian as well as English: she has often talked to me readily and well in Latin and moderately so in Greek. When she writes Greek and Latin nothing is more beautiful than her handwriting . . . she read with me almost all Cicero and great part of Titus Livius : for she drew all her knowledge of Latin from those two authors. She used to give
2197-409: A pen which he himself mended specifically for princess Elizabeth. Through Cecil, and at the fourteen-year-old princess's own wish, he was selected as her tutor against another candidate, also named Grindal, who was pressed by Admiral Seymour and Queen Catherine . In 1548, Ascham began teaching Elizabeth, future queen of England, in Greek and Latin chiefly at Cheshunt , a job he held until 1550. On
2366-541: A plan to seize the throne by engaging Richard quickly because Richard had reinforcements in Nottingham and Leicester . Though outnumbered, Henry's Lancastrian forces decisively defeated Richard's Yorkist army at the Battle of Bosworth Field on 22 August 1485. Several of Richard's key allies, such as Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland , and also Lord Stanley and his brother William , crucially switched sides or left
2535-426: A small French and Scottish force, landing at Mill Bay near Dale, Pembrokeshire . He marched toward England accompanied by his uncle Jasper and John de Vere, 13th Earl of Oxford . Wales was historically a Lancastrian stronghold, and Henry owed the support he gathered to his Welsh birth and ancestry, being agnatically descended from Rhys ap Gruffydd . He amassed an army of about 5,000–6,000 soldiers. Henry devised
2704-459: A special commission, took place on 13 November 1553, at Guildhall in the City of London . The commission was chaired by Sir Thomas White , Lord Mayor of London , and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk . Other members included Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby , and John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath . As was to be expected, all defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. The Duke of Suffolk
2873-926: A speech upon ascending the scaffold: Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact, indeed, against the Queen's highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but touching the procurement and desire thereof by me or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency, before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day. While admitting to action considered unlawful, she declared that "I do wash my hands thereof in innocence". Jane then recited Psalm 51 ( Have mercy upon me, O God ) in English, and handed her gloves and handkerchief to her maid. The executioner asked her for forgiveness, which she granted him, pleading: "I pray you dispatch me quickly." Referring to her head, she asked, "Will you take it off before I lay me down?", and
3042-456: A spouse for Henry VII's heir-apparent. The marriage did not take place during his lifetime. Otherwise, at the time of his father's arranging of the marriage to Catherine of Aragon, the future Henry VIII was too young to contract the marriage according to Canon Law and would be ineligible until age fourteen. Henry made half-hearted plans to remarry and beget more heirs, but these never came to anything. He entertained thoughts of remarriage to renew
3211-652: A treaty with France at Etaples that brought money into the coffers of England, and ensured the French would not support pretenders to the English throne, such as Perkin Warbeck. However, this treaty came at a price, as Henry mounted a minor invasion of Brittany in November 1492. Henry decided to keep Brittany out of French hands, signed an alliance with Spain to that end, and sent 6,000 troops to France. The confused, fractious nature of Breton politics undermined his efforts, which finally failed after three sizeable expeditions, at
3380-479: A wave of popular support. She was accompanied by her half-sister Elizabeth and a procession of over 800 nobles and gentlemen. Jane is often called the Nine-Day Queen, although if her reign is dated from the moment of Edward's death on 6 July 1553, it could be reckoned to have lasted for almost two weeks (13 days). On 19 July 1553, Jane was imprisoned in the Tower's Gentleman Gaoler's apartments, and Guildford
3549-551: A week to try to build up a larger force. He was in a dilemma over who should lead the troops. He was the most experienced general in the Kingdom, but he did not want to leave the government in the hands of his colleagues, in some of whom he had little confidence. Jane decided the issue by demanding that her father should remain with her and the Council. On the night of July 10, during dinner, the Duchess of Suffolk, Jane's mother, and
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#17327761518833718-498: A year at a time. Their chief task was to see that the laws of the country were obeyed in their area. Their powers and numbers steadily increased during the time of the Tudors, never more so than under Henry's reign. Despite this, Henry was keen to constrain their power and influence, applying the same principles to the justices of the peace as he did to the nobility: a similar system of bonds and recognisances to that which applied to both
3887-490: A year, and then to Elizabeth—a testimony to his tact and caution in those changeful times. On 1 June 1554, he married Margaret Harleston , of South Ockendon , Essex, the daughter of Sir Clement Harleston. By her he had at least four sons and three daughters. Ascham was not a rich man, and when marrying Margaret, Ascham had to resign both his College Greek Readership and his University Public Oratorship. Margaret herself brought very little dowry, leaving Ascham to seek help from
4056-509: Is equally true that Henry VII was diligent about keeping detailed records of his personal finances, down to the last halfpenny; these and one account book detailing the expenses of his queen survive in the British National Archives, as do courtiers' accounts and many of the king's own letters. From these accounting books, the evidence is clear that, until the death of his wife, Henry was a more doting father and husband than
4225-493: Is his close friend Edward Grant (1540s–1601), headmaster of the venerable and still extant Royal College of St. Peter at Westminster—better known as Westminster School —who collected and edited his letters and delivered a panegyrical oration on his life in 1576. Ascham was educated at the house of Sir Humphrey Wingfield , a barrister , Ascham tells us, in the Toxophilus under a tutor named R. Bond. His preferred sport
4394-415: Is not clear why Pembroke participated in the coup, especially since his son and heir Henry had married Jane's sister, Katherine , the same day as Jane and Guildford Dudley's wedding. Once the coup was consummated, the rest of the councillors, including those who were still loyal to Jane, accepted it. On 19 July, the Council met at Baynard's Castle , Pembroke's property, to end the claim of Lady Jane Grey to
4563-501: Is not known precisely where Cabot landed, but he was eventually rewarded with a pension from the king; it is presumed that Cabot perished at sea after a later unsuccessful expedition. Henry VII was one of the first European monarchs to recognise the importance of the newly united Spanish kingdom; he concluded the Treaty of Medina del Campo , by which his son Arthur, Prince of Wales , was married to Catherine of Aragon . He also concluded
4732-532: Is unusual that he did not remarry. His son Henry was the only male heir left after the death of his wife; the death of Arthur therefore created a precarious political position for the House of Tudor. During Henry VII's lifetime the nobility often criticised him for re-centralising power in London and, later, the 16th-century historian Francis Bacon was ruthlessly critical of the methods by which he enforced tax law. It
4901-569: The Burgundian Netherlands in retaliation for Margaret of Burgundy's support for Perkin Warbeck. The Merchant Adventurers , the company which enjoyed the monopoly of the Flemish wool trade, relocated from Antwerp to Calais . At the same time, Flemish merchants were ejected from England. The dispute eventually paid off for Henry. Both parties realised they were mutually disadvantaged by the reduction in commerce. Its restoration by
5070-552: The Greek language , Ascham went on to read lectures and teach fellow St. John students the language. He believed that the best way to learn a language was by teaching it. Ascham was applauded for his encouragement of Greek learning in the University. In particular, Robert Pember , a fellow student, praised Ascham's lectures and his method of teaching a language in order to learn it. In a letter to Ascham, Pember stated that "he would gain more knowledge by explaining one of Aesop's Fables to
5239-529: The King's Council , he proposed his daughter Jane as a bride for the Protector's eldest son, Lord Hertford . Nothing came of this, however, and Jane was not engaged until 25 May 1553, her bridegroom being Lord Guildford Dudley , a younger son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland . The Duke, Lord President of the King's Council from late 1549, was then the most powerful man in the country. On 25 May 1553,
Lady Jane Grey - Misplaced Pages Continue
5408-505: The Low Countries had long-lasting benefits to the English economy. He paid very close attention to detail, and instead of spending lavishly he concentrated on raising new revenues. He stabilised the government's finances by introducing several new taxes. After his death, a commission found widespread abuses in the tax collection process. Henry reigned for nearly 24 years and was peacefully succeeded by his son, Henry VIII . Henry VII
5577-594: The Magnus Intercursus was very much to England's benefit in removing taxation for English merchants and significantly increasing England's wealth. In turn, Antwerp became an extremely important trade entrepôt (transhipment port), through which, for example, goods from the Baltic, spices from the east and Italian silks were exchanged for English cloth. In 1506, Henry extorted the Treaty of Windsor from Philip
5746-656: The Tower of London . Despite such precautions, Henry faced several rebellions over the next twelve years. The first was the 1486 rebellion of the Stafford brothers , abetted by Viscount Lovell , which collapsed without fighting. Next, in 1487, Yorkists led by Lincoln rebelled in support of Lambert Simnel , a boy they claimed to be Edward of Warwick (who was actually a prisoner in the Tower). The rebellion began in Ireland, where
5915-535: The Treaty of Perpetual Peace with Scotland (the first treaty between England and Scotland for almost two centuries), which betrothed his daughter Margaret Tudor to King James IV of Scotland. By this marriage, Henry VII hoped to break the Auld Alliance between Scotland and France. Though this was not achieved during his reign, the marriage eventually led to the union of the English and Scottish crowns under Margaret's great-grandson, James VI and I , following
6084-628: The Wars of the Roses (1455–1487). Vindicating the Lancastrian cause, he cemented his claim by marrying the Yorkist heiress, Elizabeth of York , daughter of Edward IV. Henry restored power and stability to the English monarchy following the civil war. He is credited with many administrative, economic and diplomatic initiatives. His supportive policy toward England's wool industry and his standoff with
6253-606: The crusade . Later on, Henry had exchanged letters with Pope Julius II in 1507, in which he encouraged him to establish peace among Christian realms, and to organise an expedition against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire . Henry VII was much enriched by trading alum , which was used in the wool and cloth trades as a chemical fixative for dyeing fabrics. Since alum was mined in only one area in Europe (Tolfa, Italy), it
6422-566: The navy (he commissioned Europe's first ever – and the world's oldest surviving – dry dock at Portsmouth in 1495) and improving trading opportunities. John Cabot , originally from Genoa and Venice, had heard that ships from Bristol had discovered uncharted newfound territory far west of Ireland. Having secured financial backing from Florentine bankers in London, Cabot was granted carefully phrased letters patent from Henry in March 1496, permitting him to embark on an exploratory voyage westerly. It
6591-416: The will of Henry VIII , Jane was in line to the throne after her cousins. She had a humanist education and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day. In May 1553, she was married to Lord Guildford Dudley , a younger son of Edward VI's chief minister John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland . In June 1553, the dying Edward VI wrote his will, nominating Jane and her male heirs as successors to
6760-606: The Catholic faith; The Princess had half accepted some of her father's reforms, but bitterly disapproved of all those made by Edward, and the fear of both Edward and Dudley is that if she came to the throne, she would reestablish Catholicism, reversing all the reforms made. Mary regarded the Pope's cause as her own, and Mary's Catholic convictions were so strong that when Edward's parliament passed an Act of Uniformity that required all church services to be in English, she continued to have
6929-620: The Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula on the north side of Tower Green. No memorial stone was erected at their grave. Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk, was executed 11 days after Jane, on 23 February 1554. The executions did not contribute to Mary's or the government's popularity. Five months after the couple's death, John Knox , the famous Scottish reformer , wrote of them as "innocents ... such as by just laws and faithful witnesses can never be proved to have offended by themselves." Of Guildford Dudley,
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7098-572: The Crown, in part because his half-sister Mary was Catholic, while Jane was a committed Protestant and would support the reformed Church of England , whose foundation Edward laid. The will removed his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, from the line of succession on account of their illegitimacy, subverting their lawful claims under the Third Succession Act . Through Northumberland, Edward's letters patent in favour of Jane were signed by
7267-445: The Crown. Whatever the degree of his contribution, Edward was convinced that his word was law and fully endorsed disinheriting his half-sisters: "barring Mary from the succession was a cause in which the young King believed". Referred to by the court as Jane Dudley, wife of Guildford, Jane was charged with high treason , as were her husband, two of his brothers, and the former archbishop of Canterbury , Thomas Cranmer . Their trial, by
7436-420: The Duchess of Northumberland broke into tears, due to the arrival of Mary's letter, as the duchesses knew that they could be left in a vulnerable position if Mary triumphed and acceded to the throne. On 12 July, Mary and her supporters gathered an army of nearly twenty thousand at Framlingham Castle , Suffolk, Duke of Norfolk's property, to eventually confront the forces led by Dudley. On 14 July Northumberland
7605-517: The Duke felt that launching a final attack against Mary meant fighting a hopeless campaign. The army proceeded from Cambridge to Bury St Edmunds and retreated again to Cambridge. Stranded in Cambridge, Northumberland surrendered and proclaimed Mary in the Marketplace, as he had been ordered in a letter from the Council. After proclaiming Mary, the Duke raised his cap and "laughed to try to hide
7774-511: The Duke of Northumberland, was accused of treason, and executed less than a month later. Jane was held prisoner in the Tower, and in November 1553 was also convicted of treason, which carried a sentence of death. Mary initially spared her life, but Jane soon became viewed as a threat to the Crown when her father, Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk , became involved with Wyatt's rebellion against Queen Mary's intention to marry Philip of Spain . Jane and her husband were executed on 12 February 1554. At
7943-473: The Duke, his sons, and his entourage. The prisoners returned riding side by side through London to the Tower on 25 July, the guards having difficulties protecting them against the hostile populace. A pamphlet appearing shortly after Northumberland's arrest illustrated the general hatred of him: "the great devil Dudley ruleth, Duke I should have said". He was now commonly thought to have poisoned King Edward while Mary "would have been as glad of her brother's life, as
8112-462: The Duke, who was with his sons, lodged on the premises. In contrast to his father and his brother, Warwick resisted arrest. A letter from the Council arrived that everyman could go his way, so the Duke asked to be set free, "and so continued they all night [at liberty]". At dawn on 21 July, the Duke and his sons "was booted ready to have ridden in the morning", and escape. However, it was too late, as that same morning Arundel arrived to once again arrest
8281-658: The Earl of Arundel, together with William Herbert, Earl of Pembroke orchestrated a coup d'état in the Privy Council in Northumberland's absence. Arundel, one of the leaders of the Conservative faction within the Council and a staunch opponent of the reformist religious policies of both the King and Northumberland, had been imprisoned twice by Dudley for having sided with the previous Protector, Somerset; but it
8450-680: The Earl of Pembroke, undertook to protect Edmund's widow Margaret, who was 13 years old when she gave birth to Henry. When Edward IV became King in 1461, Jasper Tudor went into exile abroad. Pembroke Castle, and later the Earldom of Pembroke , were granted to the Yorkist William Herbert , who also assumed the guardianship of Margaret Beaufort and the young Henry. Henry lived in the Herbert household until 1469, when Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (the "Kingmaker"), went over to
8619-530: The Government decided to continue with the sentence against Jane and her husband. The former Queen was becoming a serious threat to Mary, so the executions of Grey and Guildford Dudley were also an opportunity to remove possible inspirations for future unrest and unwelcome reminders of the past. It troubled Queen to let her cousin die, but she accepted the Privy Council's advice. Mary signed the order on 19 January. Bishop and Lord Chancellor Gardiner pressed for
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#17327761518838788-728: The Handsome , Duke of Burgundy. Philip had been shipwrecked on the English coast, and while Henry's guest, was bullied into an agreement so favourable to England at the expense of the Netherlands that it was dubbed the Malus Intercursus ("evil agreement"). France, Burgundy, the Holy Roman Empire, Spain and the Hanseatic League all rejected the treaty, which was never in force. Philip died shortly after
8957-630: The Horse and chamberlain , Adrian Stokes . She died in 1559. In 1836, American poet Lydia Sigourney published a poem, "Lady Jane Grey", in her volume Zinzendorff and Other Poems . In 1911, the British historian Albert Pollard called Jane "the traitor-heroine of the Reformation". During the Marian persecutions and its aftermath, Jane became viewed as a Protestant martyr, featuring prominently in
9126-428: The King instituted more rigid security for access to his person. In 1499, Henry had the Earl of Warwick executed. However, he spared Warwick's elder sister Margaret, who survived until 1541 when she was executed by Henry VIII. For most of Henry VII's reign Edward Story was Bishop of Chichester . Story's register still exists and, according to the 19th-century historian W.R.W. Stephens, "affords some illustrations of
9295-695: The Lancastrians. Herbert was captured fighting for the Yorkists and executed by Warwick. When Warwick restored Henry VI in 1470, Jasper Tudor returned from exile and brought Henry to court. When the Yorkist Edward IV regained the throne in 1471, Henry fled with other Lancastrians to Brittany . He spent most of the next 14 years under the protection of Francis II, Duke of Brittany . In November 1476, Francis fell ill and his principal advisers were more amenable to negotiating with King Edward. Henry
9464-883: The Marches for his son Arthur, which was intended to govern Wales and the Marches , Cheshire and Cornwall . He was content to allow the nobles their regional influence if they were loyal to him. For instance, the Stanley family had control of Lancashire and Cheshire, upholding the peace on the condition that they stayed within the law. In other cases, he brought his over-powerful subjects to heel by decree. He passed laws against "livery" (the upper classes' flaunting of their adherents by giving them badges and emblems) and "maintenance" (the keeping of too many male "servants"). These laws were used shrewdly in levying fines upon those that he perceived as threats. However, his principal weapon
9633-529: The Northumberland army spent a week practically without action, until on 20 July, the Duke learned that the previous day the Council had declared for Mary. Supported by the gentry and nobility of East Anglia and the Thames Valley , Mary's support grew daily and, through luck, came into possession of powerful artillery from the Royal navy. Given the circumstances and the fact that the Council had changed sides,
9802-754: The Ottoman Empire, and selling it to the Low Countries and in England. This trade made an expensive commodity cheaper, which raised opposition from Pope Julius II, since the Tolfa mine was a part of papal territory and had given the Pope monopoly control over alum. Henry's most successful diplomatic achievement as regards the economy was the Magnus Intercursus ("great agreement") of 1496. In 1494, Henry embargoed trade (mainly in wool) with
9971-568: The Pauline Epistles but the archbishop, scenting heresy in some passage relating to the marriage of the clergy, sent it back to him. Ascham's first published work, Toxophilus ("Lover of the Bow") in 1545, was dedicated to Henry VIII . The objects of the book were twofold, to commend the practice of shooting with the long bow , and to set the example of a higher style of composition than had yet been attempted in English. Ascham presented
10140-524: The Plantagenets was suspected of coveting the throne. Henry had Parliament repeal Titulus Regius , the statute that declared Edward IV's marriage invalid and his children illegitimate, thus legitimising his wife. Amateur historians Bertram Fields and Sir Clements Markham have claimed that he may have been involved in the murder of the Princes in the Tower, as the repeal of Titulus Regius gave
10309-493: The Plantagenets, the descendants of his aunt Margaret (the Scottish Stewarts) and his own older half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth, Edward was forced to choose from the descendants of his aunt Mary, Widow Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk. There were no male descendants in this branch of the Tudors, and the oldest woman of childbearing age was Mary's thirty-five-year-old daughter Frances Grey. If Frances could not bear
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#173277615188310478-506: The Princes a stronger claim to the throne than his own. Alison Weir points out that the Rennes ceremony, two years earlier, was plausible only if Henry and his supporters were certain that the Princes were already dead. Henry secured his crown principally by dividing and undermining the power of the nobility, especially through the aggressive use of bonds and recognisances to secure loyalty. He also enacted laws against livery and maintenance ,
10647-463: The Queen pleases" ( burning was the traditional English punishment for treason committed by women). The imperial ambassador reported to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor , that her life was to be spared. Jane submitted a letter of explanation to the Queen, "asking forgiveness ... for the sin she was accused of, informing her majesty about the truth of events." In this account, she spoke of herself as "a wife who loves her husband". In December, Jane
10816-575: The Reign of King Henry VII . By 1900 the "New Monarchy" interpretation stressed the common factors that in each country led to the revival of monarchical power. This approach raised puzzling questions about similarities and differences in the development of national states. In the late 20th century a model of European state formation was prominent in which Henry less resembles Louis and Ferdinand. Henry VII and Elizabeth had seven children: Roger Ascham Roger Ascham ( / ˈ æ s k ə m / ; c. 1515 – 30 December 1568)
10985-416: The Yorkist claimant, Edward IV . After Edward retook the throne in 1471, Henry spent 14 years in exile in Brittany . He attained the throne when his forces, supported by France , Scotland and Wales , defeated Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field . He was the last king of England to win his throne on the field of battle, defending it two years later at the Battle of Stoke Field to decisively end
11154-481: The Yorkist heiress Margaret Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury suo jure . He took care not to address the baronage or summon Parliament until after his coronation, which took place in Westminster Abbey on 30 October 1485. After his coronation Henry issued an edict that any gentleman who swore fealty to him would, notwithstanding any previous attainder, be secure in his property and person. Henry honoured his pledge of December 1483 to marry Elizabeth of York and
11323-438: The alliance with Spain; Joanna, Dowager Queen of Naples (a niece of Queen Isabella of Castile), Queen Joanna of Castile , and Margaret, Dowager Duchess of Savoy (sister-in-law of Joanna of Castile) were all considered. In 1505 he was sufficiently interested in a potential marriage to Joanna of Naples that he sent ambassadors to Naples to report on the 27 year-old Joanna's physical suitability. The wedding never took place, and
11492-487: The art of shooting and present a literary piece with proper English vocabulary. He criticised other English authors for sprinkling foreign terms into their works. Prior to Toxophilus ' publication, the bow had been forgotten by the English people with firearms evolving as the prevailing weapons of choice. The book sparked renewed interest in the practice of archery and Ascham was able to present it as an "innocent, salutary, useful, and liberal division". Many recognise
11661-483: The avaricious and parsimonious character of the king". It seems that Henry was skilful at extracting money from his subjects on many pretexts, including that of war with France or war with Scotland. The money so extracted added to the King's personal fortune rather than being used for the stated purpose. Unlike his predecessors, Henry VII came to the throne without personal experience in estate management or financial administration. Despite this, during his reign he became
11830-429: The axeman answered, "No, madam." She then blindfolded herself. Jane then failed to find the block with her hands, and cried, "What shall I do? Where is it?" Probably Sir Thomas Brydges , the Deputy Lieutenant of the Tower, helped her find her way. With her head on the block, Jane spoke the last words of Jesus as recounted in the Gospel of Luke : "Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit!" Jane and Guildford are buried in
11999-526: The battlefield. Richard III's death at Bosworth Field effectively ended the Wars of the Roses. To secure his hold on the throne, Henry declared himself king by right of conquest retroactively from 21 August 1485, the day before Bosworth Field. Thus, anyone who had fought for Richard against him would be guilty of treason and Henry could legally confiscate the lands and property of Richard III, while restoring his own. Henry spared Richard's nephew and designated heir, John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln , and made
12168-508: The book to Henry VIII at Greenwich soon after his return from the capture of Boulogne , and received a grant of a pension of £10 a year. Toxophilus was the first book on archery in English. The work is a Platonic dialogue between Toxophilus and Philologus. Editions were published in 1571, 1589 and 1788, and by Edward Arber in 1868 and 1902. In 1563 Ascham began the work The Scholemaster , published posthumously in 1570, which ensured his later reputation. Richard Sackville , he states in
12337-410: The book's preface, told him that "a fond schoolmaster" had, by his brutality, made him hate learning, much to his loss, and as he had now a young son, whom he wished to be learned, he offered, if Ascham would name a tutor, to pay for the education of their respective sons under Ascham's orders, and invited Ascham to write a treatise on "the right order of teaching". The Scholemaster was the result. Not
12506-516: The border by her father: he would never see her again. Margaret Tudor wrote letters to her father declaring her homesickness, but Henry could do nothing but mourn the loss of his family and honour the terms of the peace treaty he had agreed to with the King of Scotland. Henry VII died of tuberculosis at Richmond Palace on 21 April 1509 and was buried in the chapel he commissioned in Westminster Abbey next to his wife, Elizabeth. He
12675-409: The chronicler Grafton wrote ten years later: "even those that never before the time of his execution saw him, did with lamentable tears bewail his death." With only her two surviving teenage daughters and her husband executed for treason, Jane's mother, the Duchess of Suffolk faced ruin. As a wife, she had no possessions in her own right. All of her husband's possessions were forfeited by the Crown as
12844-517: The connections he had made throughout the years. His relationship with Cardinal Reginald Pole led to Ascham's securing from the queen the reversion of a lease of the manor of Salisbury Hall in Walthamstow , Essex, a manor once owned by Pole's family. Ascham became fatally ill on 23 December 1568, having just finished a poem of thanks for the blessings Queen Elizabeth I had bestowed on England through her reign. Ascham made his last confession to
13013-476: The construction of King's College Chapel, Cambridge , started under Henry VI, guaranteeing finances which would continue even after his death. Henry VII's policy was to maintain peace and to create economic prosperity. Up to a point, he succeeded. The Treaty of Redon was signed in February 1489 between Henry and representatives of Brittany. Based on the terms of the accord, Henry sent 6,000 troops to fight (at
13182-483: The couple were married at Durham House in a triple wedding, in which Jane's sister Katherine was matched with the heir of the Earl of Pembroke , Lord Herbert , and another Katherine , Lord Guildford's sister, with Henry Hastings , the Earl of Huntingdon 's heir. Henry VIII had three children: Mary , who was raised Roman Catholic, and Elizabeth and Edward , the latter from the King's third marriage to Jane Seymour (who died in 1537 after complications arising from
13351-542: The death of Henry's granddaughter Elizabeth I . Henry also formed an alliance with Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I (1493–1519) and persuaded Pope Innocent VIII to issue a papal bull of excommunication against all pretenders to Henry's throne. In 1506, Grand Master of the Knights Hospitaller Emery d'Amboise asked Henry VII to become the protector and patron of the Order, as he had an interest in
13520-403: The entire privy council, bishops, and other notables. After Edward's death, Jane was proclaimed queen on 10 July 1553, and awaited coronation in the Tower of London . Support for Mary grew rapidly and most of Jane's supporters abandoned her. The Privy Council of England suddenly changed sides, and proclaimed Mary as queen on 19 July 1553, deposing Jane. Her primary supporter, her father-in-law,
13689-655: The envoys were forced to depart. By 1483, Henry's mother was actively promoting him as an alternative to Richard III , despite her being married to Lord Stanley , a Yorkist. At Rennes Cathedral on Christmas Day 1483, Henry pledged to marry Elizabeth of York , the eldest daughter of Edward IV. She was Edward's heir since the presumed death of her brothers, the Princes in the Tower , King Edward V and Richard of Shrewsbury, Duke of York . With money and supplies borrowed from his host, Francis II of Brittany, Henry tried to land in England, but his conspiracy unravelled resulting in
13858-555: The event exists. Henry's paternal grandfather, Owen Tudor , originally from the Tudors of Penmynydd , Isle of Anglesey in Wales, had been a page in the court of King Henry V . He rose to become one of the "Squires to the Body to the King" after military service at the Battle of Agincourt . Owen is said to have secretly married the widow of Henry V, Catherine of Valois . One of their sons
14027-493: The execution of his primary co-conspirator, Henry Stafford, 2nd Duke of Buckingham . Now supported by Francis II's prime minister, Pierre Landais , Richard III attempted to extradite Henry from Brittany, but Henry escaped to France. He was welcomed by the French, who readily supplied him with troops and equipment for a second invasion. Henry gained the support of the Woodvilles, in-laws of the late Edward IV, and sailed with
14196-491: The expense of Brittany) under the command of Lord Daubeney. The purpose of the agreement was to prevent France from annexing Brittany. According to John M. Currin, the treaty redefined Anglo-Breton relations. Henry started a new policy to recover Guyenne and other lost Plantagenet claims in France. The treaty marks a shift from neutrality over the French invasion of Brittany to active intervention against it. Henry later concluded
14365-440: The fact that she was noted as being in her seventeenth year at the time of her execution. Frances was the eldest daughter of Henry VIII 's younger sister, Mary . Jane had two younger sisters: Lady Katherine and Lady Mary . Through their mother, the three sisters were great-granddaughters of Henry VII ; great-nieces of Henry VIII; and first cousins once removed of the future Edward VI , Mary I and Elizabeth I . Jane received
14534-404: The fortress and proclaimed Mary I on nearby Tower Hill . The historical consensus assumes that this was in recognition of overwhelming support of the population for Mary. However, there is no clear evidence for that outside Norfolk and Suffolk, where Northumberland had put down Kett's Rebellion , and many adherents to the Catholic faith and opponents of Northumberland, lived there. Rather, it seems
14703-412: The gentry and the nobles who tried to exert their elevated influence over these local officials. All Acts of Parliament were overseen by the justices of the peace. For example, they could replace suspect jurors in accordance with the 1495 act preventing the corruption of juries. They were also in charge of various administrative duties, such as the checking of weights and measures. By 1509, justices of
14872-631: The great lords' practice of having large numbers of "retainers" who wore their lord's badge or uniform and formed a potential private army. Henry began taking precautions against rebellion while still in Leicester after Bosworth Field. Edward, Earl of Warwick , the ten-year-old son of Edward IV's brother George, Duke of Clarence , was the senior surviving male of the House of York. Before departing for London, Henry sent Robert Willoughby to Sheriff Hutton in Yorkshire, to arrest Warwick and take him to
15041-418: The historically Yorkist nobility, headed by the powerful Gerald FitzGerald, 8th Earl of Kildare , proclaimed Simnel king and provided troops for his invasion of England. The rebellion was defeated and Lincoln killed at the Battle of Stoke . Henry showed remarkable clemency to the surviving rebels: he pardoned Kildare and the other Irish nobles, and he made the boy, Simnel, a servant in the royal kitchen where he
15210-591: The inception of the "devise" and the insistence on its implementation to the king's initiative. Diarmaid MacCulloch has made out Edward's "teenage dreams of founding an evangelical realm of Christ", while David Starkey has stated that "Edward had a couple of co-operators, but the driving will was his". Among other members of the Privy Chamber, Northumberland's intimate Sir John Gates has been suspected of suggesting to Edward to change his devise so that Lady Jane Grey herself—not just any sons of hers—could inherit
15379-515: The increased taxes. Henry also increased wealth by acquiring land through the act of resumption of 1486 which had been delayed as he focused on defence of the Church, his person and his realm. The capriciousness and lack of due process that indebted many would tarnish his legacy and were soon ended upon Henry VII's death, after a commission revealed widespread abuses. According to the contemporary historian Polydore Vergil , simple "greed" underscored
15548-519: The last at Nuremberg in 1611. They were re-titled by William Elstob in 1703. Report and Discourse of the Affairs and State of Germany 1553 was published by John Daye (1570). Ascham's English works were edited by James Bennett, with a life by Samuel Johnson in 1771, reprinted in 1815. John Allen Giles in 1864–1865 published in 4 vols. select letters from the Toxophilus and Scholemaster and
15717-508: The means by which royal control was over-asserted in Henry's final years. Following Henry VII's death, Henry VIII executed Richard Empson and Edmund Dudley , his two most hated tax collectors, on trumped-up charges of treason. Henry VII established the pound avoirdupois as a standard of weight; it later became part of the Imperial and customary systems of units. In 1506 he resumed
15886-470: The monarch that he could not disinherit just one of his two older half-sisters: he would also have to disinherit Elizabeth, although she, like her half-brother, was also a Protestant. Instigated by Northumberland, Edward decided to disinherit both Mary and Elizabeth, thus contravening the Succession Act of 1544, and appointed Jane Grey as his heir. The essence of Edward's will was to give priority to
16055-403: The morning of 12 February, Guildford was led towards Tower Hill, where "many ... gentlemen" waited to shake hands with him. Guildford made a short speech to the assembled crowd, as was customary. "Having no ghostly father with him", he knelt, prayed, and asked the people to pray for him, "holding up his eyes and hands to God many times". He was killed with one stroke of the axe, after which his body
16224-575: The morning to the Greek Testament and afterwards read select orations of Isocrates and the tragedies of Sophocles . To these I added St. Cyprian and Melanchthon 's Commonplaces." In 1550, Ascham had an unspecified quarrel with the court, which he described only as "a storm of recent violence and injury". As a result, Ascham returned to Cambridge. Whilst there, Cheke informed Ascham that he had been appointed secretary to Sir Richard Morrison (Moryson), appointed ambassador to Charles V . It
16393-437: The necessary writs were prepared. The King died on 6 July 1553, but his death was not announced until four days later. On July 9, Jane was informed that she was now Queen. She was initially reluctant to accept the crown, although she later relented after pressure from an assembly of nobles, including her parents and her parents in-laws, while Guildford chimed in with a lovelier approach, with "prayers and caresses". On July 10 she
16562-472: The negotiations. Henry's principal problem was to restore royal authority in a realm recovering from the Wars of the Roses. There were too many powerful noblemen and, as a consequence of the system of so-called bastard feudalism , each had what amounted to private armies of indentured retainers ( mercenaries masquerading as servants). Following the example of Edward IV, Henry VII created a Council of Wales and
16731-489: The new learning as they termed or went beyond his fellows", he "lacked neither open praise, nor private exhibition". He procured Ascham's election to a fellowship, "though being a new bachelor of arts, I chanced among my companions to speak against the Pope ... after serious rebuke and some punishment, open warning was given to all the fellows, none to be so hardy, as to give me his voice at election." The day of election Ascham regarded as his birthday", and "the whole foundation of
16900-488: The nobility of the Middle Ages . In 1502, Henry VII's life took a difficult and personal turn in which many people he was close to died in quick succession. His first son and heir apparent, Arthur, Prince of Wales, died suddenly at Ludlow Castle , very likely from a viral respiratory illness known at the time as the " English sweating sickness ". This made Henry VII's second son, Henry, Duke of York , heir apparent to
17069-508: The other Beaufort line of descent through Lady Margaret's uncle, Edmund Beaufort, 2nd Duke of Somerset . Henry also made some political capital out of his Welsh ancestry in attracting military support and safeguarding his army's passage through Wales on its way to the Battle of Bosworth. He came from an old, established Anglesey family that claimed descent from Cadwaladr , in legend, the last ancient British king. On occasion Henry displayed
17238-489: The parish priest of St Sepulchre-without-Newgate , William Gravet, simply saying "I want to die and be with Christ", according to Edward Grant. He died on 30 December 1568, most likely from malaria. Ascham was then buried on 4 January 1569 in St. Sepulchre-without-Newgate, in London. Ascham obtained from Edward Lee , then Archbishop of York , a pension of £2 a year, in return for which he translated Oecumenius ' Commentaries on
17407-415: The peace were key enforcers of law and order for Henry VII. They were unpaid, which, in comparison with modern standards, meant a smaller tax bill for law enforcement. Local gentry saw the office as one of local influence and prestige and were therefore willing to serve. Overall, this was a successful area of policy for Henry, both in terms of efficiency and as a method of reducing the corruption endemic within
17576-409: The physical description Henry sent with his ambassadors of what he desired in a new wife matched the description of his wife Elizabeth. After 1503, records show that Henry VII never again used the Tower of London as a royal residence; all royal births under Henry VIII took place in palaces. Henry VII falls among the minority of British monarchs that never had any known mistresses and, for the times, it
17745-482: The poor learning I have and of all the furtherance that hitherto elsewhere I have been tamed". He took his M.A. degree on 3 July 1537. He stayed for some time at Cambridge taking pupils, among whom was William Grindal , who in 1544 became tutor to Princess Elizabeth . Thomas Ashton , who was a foundational headmaster of Shrewsbury School , and an influential Tudor dramatist was in the St John's College fellowship at
17914-436: The possibilities for such family indulgences greatly diminished. Henry became very sick and nearly died, allowing only his mother Margaret Beaufort near him: "privily departed to a solitary place, and would that no man should resort unto him." Further compounding Henry's distress, within months of her mother's death, his older daughter Margaret, who had previously been betrothed to King James IV of Scotland, had to be escorted to
18083-470: The pregnancy and birth of Edward), who were raised as Protestant. After his divorce from Catherine of Aragon in 1533 and the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536, Henry rewrote the Act of Succession twice, declaring his eldest daughters Mary and Elizabeth illegitimate. Although Jane Seymour managed to briefly reconcile Henry with his daughters, the monarch's formal reconciliation with them would only come in 1543, at
18252-489: The ragged bear is glad of his death". Dumbfounded by the turn of events, the French ambassador Antoine de Noailles wrote: "I have witnessed the most sudden change believable in men, and I believe that God alone worked it." The Council switched their allegiance and proclaimed Mary queen in London, on 19 July. A majority of the councillors moved out of the Tower before switching their allegiance. Becoming aware of his colleagues' change of mind, Jane's father abandoned his command of
18421-407: The realm by introducing ruthlessly efficient mechanisms of taxation. He was supported in this effort by his chancellor, Archbishop John Morton , whose " Morton's Fork " was a catch-22 method of ensuring that nobles paid increased taxes: those nobles who spent little must have saved much, and thus could afford the increased taxes; in contrast, those nobles who spent much obviously had the means to pay
18590-628: The red dragon. He took it, as well as the standard of St. George , on his procession through London after the victory at Bosworth. A contemporary writer and Henry's biographer, Bernard André , also made much of Henry's Welsh descent. In 1456, Henry's father Edmund Tudor was captured while fighting for Henry VI in South Wales against the Yorkists . He died shortly afterwards in Carmarthen Castle . His younger brother, Jasper Tudor ,
18759-448: The same day as Jane's proclamation in London. Jane's proclamation in London was greeted by the public with murmurs of discontent. The council replied to Mary's letter that Jane was queen by Edward's authority and that Mary, by contrast, was illegitimate and supported only by "a few lewd, base people". Dudley interpreted the letter as a threat, although at that time he had not prepared for resolute action on Mary's part since he needed at least
18928-416: The same time. In 1540 he sent letters in both Greek and Latin to Edward Lee, the former adversary of Erasmus . In January 1548, Grindal, the tutor of princess Elizabeth, died. Ascham, one of the ablest Greek scholars in England, as well as public orator of the university, had already been in correspondence with the princess. In one of Ascham's letters to Katherine Ashley , he enclosed a new pen, as well
19097-813: The several editions of Foxe's Book of Martyrs ( Actes and Monuments of these Latter and Perillous Dayes ) by John Foxe . The story of Jane's life grew to legendary proportions in popular culture, producing romantic biographies, novels, plays, operas, paintings, and films, such as Lady Jane in 1986, and Amazon Prime’s My Lady Jane series that débuted in June 2024. Italics indicate people who predeceased Edward VI; Arabic numerals (1–5) indicate Edward VI's line of succession at his death according to Henry VIII's will; and Roman numerals (I–III) indicate Edward VI's line of succession at his death according to Edward's will. Henry VII of England Henry VII (28 January 1457 – 21 April 1509), also known as Henry Tudor ,
19266-540: The state of her brother's health. At the end of June, Mary was invited to visit her dying brother, however her advisors warned her that it was a plan devised by Northumberland to capture her and thus facilitate Jane's accession to the throne. Therefore, a few days before Edward's death, the Princess left Hunsdon House , near London, and sped to her extensive estates around Kenninghall in Norfolk , where she could count on
19435-479: The subject of his experience with Elizabeth's education, Ascham later wrote: "Yea, I beleve, that beside her perfit readines, in Latin, Italian, French, & Spanish, she readeth here now at Windsore more Greeke every day, than some Prebendarie of this Chirch doth read Latin in a whole weeke." Ascham's influence on Elizabeth is suggested by the fact that, for the remainder of her life, she remained an occasional writer of poems, such as " On Monsieur's Departure ". In
19604-554: The succession, and also bypassed the claims of the descendants of his elder sister, Margaret , who had married into the Scottish royal house and nobility. In February 1553 Edward VI fell ill (many historians believe it was tuberculosis ). Although he briefly recovered, in May he suffered a relapse again, and by early June his health had seriously deteriorated to the point that royal doctors informed Regent Dudley and other noblemen close to
19773-727: The support of her tenants . Northumberland sent part of the Royal Navy to the Norfolk coasts to prevent their escape or the arrival of reinforcements from the Continent. To claim her right to the throne, Mary began assembling her supporters in East Anglia . Northumberland soon realised that he had made a grave mistake in failing to capture and neutralise the Princess before she fled to her estates in Norfolk. Although many of those who rallied to Mary were Catholics hoping to reestablish
19942-506: The tears that fell down his pain-filled cheeks." Two members of the Council, the Catholics William Paget and Henry FitzAlan, 12th Earl of Arundel , rode to Framlingham to beg Mary's pardon, on behalf of the majority of the councillors, for having signed the document removing her from the succession and placing Jane Grey on the throne. A large group of townsmen and university scholars surrounded King's College to arrest
20111-467: The third son of John Ascham, steward to Baron Scrope of Bolton . The name Ascham is derived from Askham near York . His mother, Margaret, is said to have come from the Conyers family, but this is speculation. Thomas and John were Roger's two elder brothers, while Anthony Ascham was the youngest son of the Ascham family. The authority for this statement, as for most here concerning Ascham's early life,
20280-548: The throne and proclaim Mary as Queen of England. That same day, a few hours before Queen Mary's proclamation in London, the baptism of one of the Gentlemen Pensioners ' children took place. Jane had agreed to be the godmother and wished the child's name to be Guildford. The Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner , who had been imprisoned in the Tower for five years, took great offence at this fact as he heard of it. Mary rode triumphantly into London on 3 August, on
20449-562: The throne to the unborn sons of Lady Frances Brandon, followed by the unborn sons of her daughter Jane Grey. The choice of the descendants of Henry VII's youngest daughter was easy: Edward had no choice. He could not follow Salic law because of the paucity of men in the Tudor line: the only such man, the Scotsman Henry Stewart, Lord Darnley , barely 6 or 7 years old and son of the King's first cousin, Lady Margaret Douglas ,
20618-529: The throne. Henry IV's action was of doubtful legality, as the Beauforts were previously legitimised by an act of Parliament , but it weakened Henry's claim. Nonetheless, by 1483 Henry was the senior male claimant heir to the House of Lancaster remaining after the deaths in battle, by murder or execution of Henry VI (son of Henry V and Catherine of Valois), his son Edward of Westminster, Prince of Wales , and
20787-402: The throne. The King, normally a reserved man who rarely showed much emotion in public unless angry, surprised his courtiers with his intense grief and sobbing at his son's death. His concern for the Queen is evidence that the marriage was a happy one, as is his reaction to Queen Elizabeth's death the following year, when he shut himself away for several days, refusing to speak to anyone. Henry VII
20956-517: The time of her execution, Jane was either 16 or 17 years old. Lady Jane Grey was the eldest daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk , and his wife, Frances Brandon . The traditional view is that she was born at Bradgate Park in Leicestershire in October 1537, while more recent research indicates that she was born somewhat earlier, possibly in London, sometime before May 1537 or between May 1536 and February 1537. This would coincide with
21125-491: The time she was still viewed with some suspicion by the Queen, and employed the Duchess's two surviving daughters as maids of honour. In 1555 there was talk of a possible marriage between Frances and her relative Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon , but Courtenay was reluctant, and soon went into exile to the Republic of Venice , where he subsequently died. Frances, to avoid having problems with Mary again, married her Master of
21294-628: The traditional Latin mass celebrated in her private chapel. When Edward and his advisors pressured Mary to conform to the Law of Uniformity, the Princess went so far as to appeal her situation to her first cousin, the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V , the most powerful monarch in Catholic Europe, who threatened to intervene militarily in England if the Government continued to interfere with Mary's religion. Edward's advisors warned
21463-415: The traditional faith and defeat Protestantism, among her supporters there were also Protestants who were dissatisfied with the governance of both Edward and Dudley, and many for whom the Princess's legitimate claim to the throne overrode religious considerations. On 9 July, from Kenninghall, she sent a letter saying that she was now Queen and demanded the obedience of the Council. The letter arrived on 10 July,
21632-525: The university very inferior to Cambridge, then to Innsbruck and Venice . Ascham read Greek with the ambassador Morrison four or five days a week. His letters during the embassy in 1553, which was recalled on Mary's accession, were later published as the Report and Discourse on Germany. The work, which was possibly a history of political turmoil in Germany in the 1550s, is incomplete. Common theories are that
21801-633: The urging of his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr . The princesses were reinstated in the line of succession in the Final Act of 1544, although they were still regarded as illegitimate. Furthermore, this Act authorised Henry VIII to alter the succession by his will. Henry's will reinforced the succession of his three children, and then declared that, should none of them leave descendants, the throne would pass to heirs of his younger sister, Mary, which included Jane. For reasons still unknown, Henry excluded his niece and Jane's mother, Lady Frances Brandon from
21970-412: The use of the bow as a disciplined skill, requiring more practice than any other instrument of offence. From this private tuition Ascham was sent "about 1530", at the age, it is said, of fifteen, to St John's College, Cambridge , then the largest and most learned college in either university, where he devoted himself specially to the study of Greek, then newly revived. Equipped with a small knowledge of
22139-517: The wedding took place in 1486 at Westminster Abbey. He was 29 years old, she was 20. They were third cousins, as both were great-great-grandchildren of John of Gaunt . Henry married Elizabeth of York with the hope of uniting the Yorkist and Lancastrian sides of the Plantagenet dynastic disputes, and he was largely successful. However, such a level of paranoia persisted that anyone (John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln, for example) with blood ties to
22308-456: The work was either lost, damaged, or left unfinished. Ascham's next job was an appointment as Latin Secretary to Mary I . Throughout the first few months he held the position, Ascham was bombarded with a torrent of work, which included countless letters. Through the efforts of Bishop Gardiner on his return to England, this office he likewise discharged to Queen Mary with a pension of £20
22477-636: The world to come joy everlasting. Your humble son to his death, G. Dudley Mary initially decided to spare the lives of Jane and her husband, assuming that they had been mere pawns in the midst of a much larger political plan designed and orchestrated by Northumberland, and the Duke was executed on 22 August 1553, a month after Mary's accession to the throne. However, the Wyatt's Rebellion in January 1554 against Queen Mary's marriage plans with Philip of Spain ultimately sealed Jane's fate. The Queen's marriage plan
22646-429: The world; or else I am so sharply taunted, so cruelly threatened, yea presently sometimes with pinches, nips and bobs and other ways (which I will not name for the honour I bear them) ... that I think myself in hell. Around February 1547, Jane was sent to live in the household of Edward VI's uncle, Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley , who soon married Henry VIII's widow, Katherine Parr . After moving there, Jane
22815-538: The young couple's execution in a court sermon, and the Imperial ambassador Simon Renard was happy to report that "Jane of Suffolk and her husband are to lose their heads." Their execution was initially scheduled for 9 February 1554, but was postponed for three days to give Jane the opportunity to convert to Catholicism. Jane asked for a visit from Protestant divine, but the Queen denied her request, and instead Mary sent her chaplain, Father John Feckenham to see Jane, who
22984-534: The young monarch that he had only a few weeks to live. At the time, Edward's heir presumptive was his Catholic half-sister, Mary. Edward, in a draft will ("My devise for the Succession") composed earlier in 1553, had first restricted the succession to (non-existent) male descendants of Jane's mother and her daughters, before he named his Protestant cousin "Lady Jane and her heirs male" as his successors, probably in June 1553. Aware of his impending death and still with
23153-410: Was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizure of the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death in 1509. He was the first monarch of the House of Tudor . Henry's mother, Margaret Beaufort , was a descendant of John of Gaunt , son of King Edward III , and founder of the House of Lancaster , a cadet branch of the House of Plantagenet . Henry's father, Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond ,
23322-525: Was Sir John Gates , Northumberland's friend and intimate, and one of the instigators of the plan for Edward VI to modify his will to facilitate Jane's succession. The day before their executions, Northumberland and Gates were escorted to the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula , in the Tower grounds, where they both attended a Catholic Mass , took the communion and returned to that faith, abjuring Protestantism. Northumberland's religious retraction outraged Jane, who
23491-430: Was archery , and Sir Humphrey "would at term times bring down from London both bows and shafts and go with them himself to see them shoot". Hence Ascham's earliest English work, the Toxophilus , the importance which he attributed to archery in educational establishments, and probably the reason for archery in the statutes of St Albans, Harrow and other Elizabethan schools. Through Toxophilus , Ascham sought to teach
23660-399: Was Catholic and therefore unacceptable to the monarch. The Plantagenet men were also unacceptable: Edward Courtenay descendant of Catherine of York , great-aunt of Edward VI, not only was he Catholic, but he had also spent many years imprisoned in the Tower . Reginald Pole and his relatives were also Catholics and political emigrants. Having excluded from consideration the descendants of
23829-411: Was Edmund, Henry's father. Edmund was created Earl of Richmond in 1452, and "formally declared legitimate by Parliament". The descent of Henry's mother, Margaret, through the legitimised House of Beaufort bolstered Henry's claim to the English throne. She was a great-granddaughter of John of Gaunt, 1st Duke of Lancaster (fourth son of Edward III ), and his third wife Katherine Swynford . Swynford
23998-413: Was Gaunt's mistress for about 25 years. When they married in 1396 they already had four children, including Henry's great-grandfather John Beaufort . Gaunt's nephew Richard II legitimised Gaunt's children by Swynford by letters patent in 1397. In 1407, Henry IV , Gaunt's son by his first wife, issued new letters patent confirming the legitimacy of his half-siblings but also declaring them ineligible for
24167-422: Was a fervent Protestant. In September, the first Parliament of Mary's reign revoked the provisions of Edward's will that favoured Jane Grey's succession, declaring Mary her brother's rightful heir, and denounced and revoked Jane's proclamation as a usurper. For centuries, the attempt to alter the succession was mostly seen as a one-man plot by Northumberland. Since the 1970s, however, many historians have attributed
24336-537: Was a half-brother of King Henry VI of England (also a Lancastrian) and a member of the Welsh Tudors of Penmynydd . Edmund died three months before his son was born. Henry was then raised by his uncle Jasper Tudor , a Lancastrian, and William Herbert , a supporter of the Yorkist branch of the House of Plantagenet. During Henry's early years, his uncles and the Lancastrians fought a series of civil wars against
24505-459: Was a scarce commodity and therefore especially valuable to its landholder, the Pope. With the English economy heavily invested in wool production, Henry VII became involved in the alum trade in 1486. With the assistance of the Italian merchant banker Lodovico della Fava and the Italian banker Girolamo Frescobaldi , Henry VII became deeply involved in the trade by licensing ships, obtaining alum from
24674-659: Was able to receive educational opportunities available in court circles. Jane lived with the couple at Sudeley Castle in Gloucestershire as an attendant to Katherine, until Katherine died in childbirth in September 1548. About eleven years old at the time, Jane was chief mourner at Katherine's funeral. After Thomas Seymour's arrest for treason, Jane returned to Bradgate and continued her studies. Lady Jane acted as chief mourner at Katherine Parr 's funeral; Thomas Seymour showed continued interest to keep her in his household, and she returned there for about two months before he
24843-550: Was allowed to walk freely in the Queen's Garden. Lord Robert and Lord Guildford had to be content with taking the air on the leads of the Bell Tower. Jane and Guildford may have had some contact with each other, and at some point Guildford wrote a message to his father-in-law in Jane's prayer book: Your loving and obedient son wishes unto your grace long life in this world with as much joy and comfort as ever I wish to myself, and in
25012-483: Was also accused of high treason and sentenced to death, but thanks to his wife's close friendship with Mary, he was temporarily saved from being executed, although he remained under house arrest. Jane's guilt, of having treacherously assumed the title and the power of the monarch, was evidenced by a number of documents she had signed as "Jane the Quene [sic]". Her sentence was to "be burned alive on Tower Hill or beheaded as
25181-464: Was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his promotion of the vernacular, and his theories of education. He served in the administrations of Edward VI , Mary I , and Elizabeth I , having earlier acted as Elizabeth's tutor in Greek and Latin between 1548 and 1550. Ascham was born at Kirby Wiske , a village in the North Riding of Yorkshire , near Northallerton ,
25350-497: Was arrested at the end of 1548. Seymour's brother, the Lord Protector , Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset , felt threatened by Thomas' popularity with the young King Edward. Among other things, Thomas Seymour was charged with proposing Jane as a bride for the king. In the course of Thomas Seymour's following attainder and execution, Jane's father was lucky to stay largely out of trouble. After his fourth interrogation by
25519-468: Was born on 28 January 1457 at Pembroke Castle , in the English-speaking portion of Pembrokeshire known as Little England beyond Wales . He was the only child of Lady Margaret Beaufort , who was 13 years old at the time, and Edmund Tudor, 1st Earl of Richmond who, at 26, died three months before his birth. He was probably baptised at St Mary's Church, Pembroke , though no documentation of
25688-420: Was contemporary: it was being practised and preached at that time by Christopher Jonson ( c. 1536 –1597) at Winchester College ; and had been repeatedly urged by Erasmus and others. Along with its suggestions for educational practice, Ascham's book includes a famous warning against the dangers of Italy, which he calls "inchantementes of Circes". The Scholemaster was reprinted in 1571 and 1589. It
25857-419: Was conveyed on a cart to the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula for burial. Watching the scene from her window, Jane exclaimed: "Oh, Guildford, Guildford!" She was then taken out to Tower Green , inside the Tower, to be beheaded. According to the account of her execution given in the anonymous Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary , which formed the basis for Raphael Holinshed 's depiction, Jane gave
26026-614: Was customary in the case of noblemen convicted of treason. She managed to plead with the queen to show mercy, which meant at least she and her daughters had the chance of rehabilitation. Mary forgave Frances; apparently the Queen did not want to send her first cousin, goddaughter and childhood playmate to the scaffold. The queen's forgiveness meant some of Suffolk's property would remain with his family, or at least could be granted back at some later time. Frances maintained good relations with Mary, who allowed her to reside in Richmond, although at
26195-622: Was edited by James Upton in 1711 and in 1743, by John Eyton Bickersteth Mayor 1863, by Edward Arber in 1870 (reprints in 1888, 1895, 1903, 1910, 1927), by J. Holzamer (Vienna, 1881), and by Henry Morley in 1888 (Cassell's National Library, no. 137; and reprints). In the twentieth century, it was included in series of English classics, in editions for use in schools: Methuen's English Classics (1934, ed. D. C. Whimster), Dent University Paperbacks (1966, ed. R.J. Shoeck), Folger Shakespeare Library (1967, ed. L.V. Ryan). Ascham's letters were collected and published in 1576, and went through several editions,
26364-477: Was friendly with Anthony Denny , who was brother-in-law to Kat Ashley , governess to the Lady Elizabeth. His guide and friend was Robert Pember , "a man of the greatest learning and with an admirable ability in the Greek tongue". He became B.A. in 1533–34, and was nominated to a fellowship at St John's. Nicholas Metcalfe was then master of the college, "a papist, indeed, and if any young man given to
26533-463: Was greeted with widespread opposition, not just among the populace but also among Members of Parliament and some of the privy councillors, and the Rebellion, which was joined by the Duke of Suffolk and Guildford's brothers, Robert and Henry Dudley, resulted from this dislike. It was not the intention of the conspirators to bring Jane to the throne again. Nevertheless, at the height of the crisis,
26702-432: Was imprisoned in the Bell Tower. There he was soon joined by his brother, Robert . His remaining brothers were imprisoned in other towers, as was Northumberland, who was for the moment the only prominent person to go to the scaffold . Despite the Duchess of Northumberland's desperate pleas to the Queen not to execute him, nothing changed the final sentence and Dudley was beheaded on 22 August 1553. Also executed that same day
26871-493: Was in charge of roasting meats on a spit. In 1490, a young Fleming , Perkin Warbeck , appeared and claimed to be Richard of Shrewsbury , the younger of the "Princes in the Tower". Warbeck won the support of Edward IV's sister Margaret, Duchess of Burgundy . He led attempted invasions of Ireland in 1491 and England in 1495, and persuaded James IV of Scotland to invade England in 1496. In 1497 Warbeck landed in Cornwall with
27040-479: Was initially not pleased about this. Though she would not give in to his efforts "to save her soul", she became friends with him and allowed him to accompany her to the scaffold. The day before their executions, Lord Guildford asked Jane to have one last meeting, which she refused, explaining it "would only ... increase their misery and pain, it was better to put it off ... as they would meet shortly elsewhere, and live bound by indissoluble ties." Around ten o'clock in
27209-465: Was obliged to relinquish control of a nervous Council in London to pursue Mary into East Anglia. That same day, Northumberland, accompanied by his sons John, Earl of Warwick , the Duke's heir apparent, and Lord Ambrose , left London and headed to Cambridge with 1,500 troops and some artillery , having reminded his colleagues of the gravity of the cause, "what chance of variance soever might grow amongst you in my absence". After marching to East Anglia,
27378-607: Was officially proclaimed Queen of England, France and Ireland and that same day, she and her husband Guildford made their ceremonial entry into the Tower of London, where English monarchs customarily resided from the time of accession until coronation. After the young couple's arrival at the Tower, Guildford began demanding to be made King Consort. Jane had a long discussion about this with Guildford, who "assented that if he were to be made king, he would be so by me, by Act of Parliament ". However, Jane would agree only to make him Duke of Clarence ; Guildford replied that he did not want to be
27547-559: Was on his way to join Morrison that he paid visit to Lady Jane Grey at Bradgate , where he found her reading Plato 's Phaedo while every one else was out hunting. This final meeting between the two has been a cause of inspiration among many painters and writers as a grandiose romantic moment. Ascham served in this position for several years, travelling widely on the European continent. The embassy went to Louvain , where he found
27716-678: Was shattered by the loss of Elizabeth, and her death affected him severely. Henry wanted to maintain the Spanish alliance. Accordingly, he arranged a papal dispensation from Pope Julius II for Prince Henry to marry his brother's widow Catherine, a relationship that would have otherwise precluded marriage in the Church. After obtaining the dispensation, Henry had second thoughts about the marriage of his son and Catherine. Catherine's mother Isabella I of Castile had died and Catherine's sister Joanna had succeeded her; Catherine was, therefore, daughter of only one reigning monarch and so less desirable as
27885-543: Was succeeded by his second son, Henry VIII (reigned 1509–47), who would initiate the Protestant Reformation in England. His mother died two months later on 29 June 1509. Amiable and high-spirited, Henry was friendly if dignified in manner, and it was clear that he was extremely intelligent. His biographer, Professor Stanley Chrimes, credits him – even before he had become king – with "a high degree of personal magnetism, ability to inspire confidence, and
28054-569: Was the Court of Star Chamber . This revived an earlier practice of using a small (and trusted) group of the Privy Council as a personal or Prerogative Court, able to cut through the cumbersome legal system and act swiftly. Serious disputes involving the use of personal power, or threats to royal authority, were thus dealt with. Henry VII used justices of the peace on a large, nationwide scale. They were appointed for every shire and served for
28223-457: Was thus handed over to English envoys and escorted to the Breton port of Saint-Malo . While there, he feigned stomach cramps and delayed his departure long enough to miss the tides. An ally of Henry's, Viscount Jean du Quélennec [ fr ] , soon arrived, bringing news that Francis had recovered, and in the confusion Henry was able to flee to a monastery. There he claimed sanctuary until
28392-419: Was typical of the time, as harsh. To the visiting scholar Roger Ascham , who found her reading Plato , she is said to have complained: For when I am in the presence either of father or mother, whether I speak, keep silence, sit, stand or go, eat, drink, be merry or sad, be sewing, playing, dancing, or doing anything else, I must do it as it were in such weight, measure and number, even so perfectly as God made
28561-407: Was widely known and there is evidence that his outwardly austere personality belied a devotion to his family. Letters to relatives have an affectionate tone not captured by official state business, as evidenced by many written to his mother Margaret. Many of the entries show a man who loosened his purse strings generously for his wife and children – and not just for necessities. After Elizabeth's death,
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