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| Lady Jane Grey NPG D21393 |
Why is that? She had not had a coronation, but there are other examples of monarchs who have been accepted as such despite the lack of this ceremony. Edward V is a notable example quite close to Jane's time. Little Edward is never left out of discussions of England's kings though he ruled even less than his distant cousin Jane did.
Jane was proclaimed and deposed with lightening speed, causing some to refer to her as an unsuccessful usurper rather than a legal queen. Yet she had been accepted by Edward VI's council. They called her before them on July 9, 1553, three days after Edward's death, to inform her that she was her cousin's choice of successor.
On July 10, 1553, Jane was proclaimed queen by her father-in-law, John Dudley duke of Northumberland. Thinking this family affair was neatly wrapped up, they did not count on the bold actions of Mary Tudor. It took only nine days for Mary to proclaim herself queen and defeat the poor resistance put forward by Northumberland on Jane's behalf. Jane was officially deposed on July 19th, causing her to become known throughout history as the Nine Day Queen.
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| Edward VI's Devise for the Succession |
The misunderstanding that often takes place is that Henry's will simply took supremacy over that of Edward. That is an oversimplification, however. It was not only Henry's will that created the legal line of succession, it was Parliamentary law. Had Edward acted upon his desire to name Jane as his heir earlier and had time to pass laws to counter those of his father, there is a chance that Jane may have enjoyed a long and happy reign. Simply putting his requests within his will was not enough.
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| Queen Mary I NPG 428 |
So, was Jane a queen? Again, I say yes, and technically I believe I am correct. She was proclaimed and acted as queen officially for nine days. However, history seems to have relegated her to always being simply a Lady, which I suppose is better than the title of usurper.
Read more about Mary and Jane in Queen of Martyrs.
Interesting essay, Samantha. I suppose you're right. Maybe we should start calling her Queen Jane. Imagine if she had ruled!!
ReplyDeleteJane showed every sign that she would have been a competent ruler, maybe better than any other Tudor! Certainly she was more level-headed rather than being ruled by emotion as much of her extended family is famous for.
DeleteHi, Samantha! It's interesting that Mary's and some later governments had problems with Edward's will. I discuss this in my book about John Dudley: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01BT0C016
ReplyDeleteLooks interesting! Thanks for the heads up. Send me a message if you are interested in writing a guest blog featuring the infamous Duke of Northumberland.
DeleteAnother good point was made in the Facebook discussion of this post. An important element in whether or not someone is considered a monarch is their treatment by contemporaries and immediate successors. While Henry VII had good reasons to emphasize that Edward V was a king allegedly killed by his uncle Richard, Mary and Elizabeth had no reason to regard Jane as a queen.
ReplyDeleteI don't understand why Henry VII had anything to gain from acknowledging Edward V as king. All of his followers would have seen Edward as king. His problem post Bosworth was that he had to recognise Richard as the king, so that his claim to gain the crown by conquest would be valid. That has been suggested as the reason why the epitaph he ordered for Richard's tomb was quite evenhanded.
DeleteThank you for your comment. Henry had several reasons to recognize Edward V as king. Though he made his claim by conquest, it was also in his interest to bolster the legitimacy of his wife, Elizabeth of York. The Act illegitimatizing her and her siblings was quickly reversed by Henry, recreating Elizabeth as a royal princess and her brother as a king. He was also welcomed more heartily as king if he were replacing an evil usurper, though he had to tread carefully here for the sake of instilling peace. Recognizing Edward as king cost Henry nothing as he was likely dead, but it quietly accused Richard of the killing. Henry had to walk a fine line to establish his claim, welcoming those who accepted his rule for love of his wife and her family, while also establishing that his claim was his own.
Deletehi Samantha if jane had been crowned don't you think there was some powerful people pulling her strings such as the duke of Northumberland or even her own father who plotted to put her on the throne in the first place she may have even been persuaded to make her husband Guilford king
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment, Alan. Northumberland's plan was certainly to control Jane as he had Edward with much success. However, as Edward was beginning to flex his muscles and take over some control before he fell ill, Jane was likely to be less submissive than the duke hoped. From what we know of her character, she was bold and unafraid to stand by what she believed to be right. One of Northumberland's first disappointments was that Jane refused to have Guildford named king and co-monarch. With sass that is reminiscent of her Tudor cousins, she offered him the title of Duke of Clarence instead.
DeleteIf we should call Jane queen then we should do the same for Matilda!
ReplyDeleteCan't argue with that.
DeleteYes, Jane was both outside of the natural line of succession and also a Queen, short term, though she was. Edward V had been recognised by Richard and oaths of fealty taken as King from 9th April to 22nd June 1483, before his right to rule was declared as he had then been found to be illegitimate. Regardless of how his successor came to the throne Edward V was still recognised up to that point. You don't need to be crowned to be King, one normally succeeded on the death of their father or uncle or brother in a direct line. The problem with Jane was that she was outside of the normal order and three perfectly good heirs were overlooked deliberately in her favour.
ReplyDeleteNow Edward had every right to do this as both Mary and Elizabeth had been declared illegitimate legally and were in the line of succession by another Act of Parliament 1544 and Henry Viii will. Edward deemed them unfit and excluded them. He also overlooked Lady Frances Brandon, Jane's mother and next after his sisters. Jane was of course legitimate and of child bearing age and so after four alterations the Devise said *Lady Jane and her heirs male". It was also unusual because there were only female heirs available. How disappointing😂. The problem with this change in the natural line of succession was that the Letters Patent never made it to Parliament as Edward died in July and it would not meet before September.
However, Jane acted as Queen, she made proclamations, she signed herself as Queen, she ordered the army out, called those who supported Mary rebels and made at least one independent decision as Queen, not to make her husband King. The Council accepted her, well until Mary gained the upper hand.
Mary, however, was the natural successor, she was the heir by law and will, she was the daughter of Henry Viii and Katherine of Aragon and the people wanted her. She saw herself as legitimate, as the rightful heir by blood and law, she saw her mother as the true wife of Henry Viii and the only illegitimate child as far as Mary was concerned was Elizabeth. Her mother was dead when Henry married Jane, who favoured Mary and their child was a son. Mary may accept him, as you say, but there was no way she was accepting her younger cousin.. It took her until her death to accept Elizabeth was the next in line after herself. We should still accept Jane as Queen, even if for 13 days, not nine. Mary took back the throne without blood shed but no I don't think she would have accepted her, even after a coronation. She was the daughter of the warrior Katherine of Aragon and granddaughter of the Catholic Majesties Isabella and Ferdinand. Like Matilda, she would have fought on.
Great points! Thank you!
DeleteValiant attempt to instal a Protestant Queen, but a failure. We are only talking about a few days! Mary and Elizabeth were in their father's will and had successful reigns. Jane fits into the category of Empress Matilda: great attempt, but a failure. There were genuine (though wrong) beliefs that women were not suited to rule. Mary and Elizabeth put that to rest.
ReplyDeleteToo true.
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