12 February 1554 A.D. Lady Jane Grey Confronted Death with Confidence 460 Years Ago Today
12
February 1554 A.D. Lady
Jane Grey Confronted Death with Confidence 460 Years Ago Today
460 years ago, Lady Jane Grey
was executed. She was 18 years old. Justin Taylor posted an insightful interview today on his blog that helps
correct some of the myth surrounding her death.
Ligonier Teaching Fellow, Dr.
Stephen Nichols, featured Lady Jane Grey in his Reformation Profiles teaching series. He
shares how her conviction that justification is by faith alone enabled her to
face beheading with confidence that the salvation of her soul rested in the
hands of her Savior and not her own.
This message on Lady Jane Grey and the
others in the Reformation Profiles series
are free to stream for the month of February.
12 February 1554
Justin
Taylor|12:00 am
The Execution of
Lady Jane Grey: 460 Years Ago Today
To explain why this 18-year-old girl
was beheaded after a 9-day reign as Queen of England, we first have to offer an
all-too-brief primer on the political background of Tutor England up to this
point.
Jane Grey’s grandmother was Mary
Tudor, Queen of France and younger sister of England’s King Henry VIII.
Henry’s first wife, Catherine of
Aragon, did not bear him a surviving son but only a daughter, Mary, born in
1516 (the year before Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the Wittenberg Castle
door). When the Pope would not sanction an annulment of the marriage between
Henry and Catherine, Henry rejected papal jurisdiction over ecclesiastical
affairs in England and founded the Church of England.
In 1537, King Henry’s third wife,
Jane Seymour, gave birth to a son, Edward. Upon his father’s death in 1547, the
9-year-old boy became King Edward VI. His Regency Council, designed to help him
rule at a young age, was sympathetic to the emerging English Reformation.
Shortly before King Edward died on
July 6, 1553, he and the Council amended his will (a “Devise for the
Succession”) to prevent England from returning to Catholic rule under his older
half-sister, Princess Mary. Edward nominated Lady Jane (his first cousin, once
removed) to be the next Queen of England.
Mary, however, believed she was the
rightful queen and was able to garner the popular and military support of
England.
Jane’s nine-day reign as queen thus
ended on July 19, 1553. Mary entered London two weeks later, in early August.
On November 13, 1553, a legal court
determined she was guilty of high treason, sentencing her and Guildford to
death.
Queen Mary—later known by Protestant
opponents as “Bloody Mary”—actually stayed the execution in the belief that
Jane was a victim of her father-in-law, John Dudley, 1st Duke of
Northumberland, along with others. It is possible that if Wyatt’s Rebellion
against the queen had not taken place in late January 1554, Jane and Guildford
may have remained in custody indefinitely.
Mary even allowed one of her Catholic
advisers to visit Jane, who sought to persuade her of the Catholic faith in order
to save her soul (even if a conversion would not have saved her earthly life).
You can get a sense of Jane’s
theology and piety from reading a letter she wrote to her 14-year-old sister
Katherine a day or two before her death. In it she writes:
Live to die, that by death you may
enter into eternal life, and then enjoy the life that Christ has gained for you
by His death. Don’t think that just because you are now young your life will be
long, because young and old as God wills.
I am thankful for historian Dr. J.
Stephan Edwards, who though he does not share my religious beliefs, took some
time to help answer some questions on Lady Jane Grey and her execution on
February 12, 1554. Dr. Edwards’s doctoral dissertation was on “‘Jane the
Quene’: A New Consideration of Lady Jane Grey, England’s Nine-Days Queen,” and
he runs the informative Some Grey Matter website, where he
is happy to answer questions. (Note to historians: more sites like this,
please!)
What led you to do your doctoral
research and to focus so much of your professional interest on Lady Jane Grey?
I was drawn to her originally by the
nature of the existing biographies and accounts of her life and times,
virtually all of which were obviously tainted by legend and myth-building, even
hero-worship. My research focuses on recovering a historical narrative based on
original surviving evidence and freed of as much legend and myth as possible.
You have done extensive research on the portraits
that claim to represent Lady Jane. Even though we do not have a reliably
genuine portrait, if you had to choose one that comes closest to what she
actually looked like, which would you choose?
I am of the opinion that the Syon House
Portrait [pictured at the top of this post] is quite probably the
closest we can presently come to an authentic depiction of Jane Grey. Even
though it was painted in the 1610s, sixty or more years after Jane’s death, it
was commissioned by the Seymour family, who were sons and grandsons of Jane’s
sister Katherine Grey Seymour. At least one senior member of that family had
known Jane personally and was still living when the portrait was created.
Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford (son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
and Lord Protector to King Edward VI) had known Jane quite well, and was even
considered (before 1551) as a possible future husband for her. He lived until
1621, and may well have advised the artist on Jane’s appearance. Alternatively,
the Syon Portrait may have been copied from a miniature (now lost) already in
the possession of the Seymours, much like the large portrait at Syon of Jane’s sister
Katherine.
Let’s focus here on her final days.
Was beheading with an axe the usual punishment for treason?
Those of noble or royal status who
were convicted of treason were often beheaded, whereas men of lower birth were
hung, drawn, and quartered and women of lower birth were often burned at the
stake (considered more “humane” for the “weaker sex” than hanging, drawing, and
quartering). The monarch’s consent was required for beheading, but it was
seldom withheld. Thus Mary consented to Jane being executed by beheading with
an axe.
What would she have worn to her
execution? Paul Delaroche’s
famous 1833 painting has her dressed in a flowing white gown.
Is that accurate?
No, the angelically virginal white
gown depicted in that painting is unhistorical. She would have dressed
appropriately in a simple gown of somber color, usually gray or black.
Could those who were to be executed
bring anything with them?
Many carried some type of religious
text with them to the place of execution, often a Missal or Book of Hours (for
Catholics) or a New Testament or copies of the Four Gospels (for Protestants).
Do we know what Jane carried?
She carried a book of prayers copied
from the works of Jerome, Ambrose, and Augustine, each a fourth-century church
father. Tudor-era Protestants recognized the value of the writings of these men
though they denied their status as saints and intercessors in heaven.
What did she do with the book once
she got there?
That morning, she carefully inscribed
the book to her jailer in preparation for presenting it to him in her last
moments. Small gifts to jailers, and even to executioners, were considered
signs of humility and Christian forgiveness.
Jane was executed within the
relatively private walls of the Tower of London rather than in the full glare
of the crowds outside the walls on Tower Hill. Executions were large public
spectacles that often drew huge audiences, so a private execution was
considered a great favor to the condemned.
Did the Tower of London contain a
permanent execution scaffold?
No, scaffolds were built specifically
for each execution, then immediately dismantled. The eyewitness accounts
indicate that the scaffold for Jane’s execution was built against the wall of
the central White Tower, at its northwest corner (the corner closest to the
Chapel of St Peter-ad-Vincula).
Since Jane was housed in the upper
story of the Gentleman
Gaoler’s (Jailer’s) quarters, which still stands today, she would
have seen the scaffold being built just a few yards across Tower Green. She
would also have had a very short walk from her quarters to the scaffold, though
she would have been in full view of the many permanent residents, workers, and
official visitors within the Tower that busy Monday morning. She is said by
eyewitnesses to have made the walk with great dignity and without any outward
signs of distress.
Did anyone accompany her to the
scaffold?
Jane was accompanied by at least two
of her ladies-in-waiting and by John de Feckenham.
Who was Feckenham?
Feckenham was John Howman (c.
1515-1584), a member of the Benedictine Order of Roman Catholic monks. He had
been born in the town of Feckingham in the county of Worcester, and it was
customary at the time for monks to drop their family surname and to use instead
only their forename and the name of the town where they had been born—thus
“John de (or “of”) Feckenham.”
At the time of Jane’s execution in
February 1554, Feckenham was one of Queen Mary’s personal chaplains and
confessors. He was, in effect, one of the Queen’s personal spiritual advisers.
He famously convinced Mary to allow him to attempt to convert Jane to Roman
Catholicism over the course of three days before the execution, and to have
engaged in a semi-public debate with Jane on theological issues. Their debate
was witnessed and transcribed and published shortly after Jane’s death,
becoming known as the Feckenham
Debate.
What purpose did Feckenham serve at
the execution?
He was there for two reasons.
First, he was available should Jane
wish to convert to Roman Catholicism in her final moments, and to offer
whatever spiritual comfort he could should she chose not to convert. No
Protestant preacher or pastor was allowed.
Second, Feckenham served as the
personal representative of Queen Mary, ready to witness the proceedings and to
recount them to her.
What did Jane do upon reaching the
scaffold?
Jane, like all those condemned to
die, was allowed to make a final speech. Such speeches were customarily written
and memorized in advance with great care, as it was common practice for the
witnesses present to write down the dying person’s last words. Scaffold
speeches were often published within days of the execution and circulated
widely, sometimes as political propaganda, sometimes as educational tools or
warnings to others, and sometimes simply as “news of the day.” Jane would have
been well aware of this practice, and her final speech, as it was published barely
more than a month later, reflects a careful choice of words.
What did she say in her final speech?
Here are her words:
Good people, I am come hither to die,
and by a law I am condemned to the same. The fact 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.
In other words, she stated that she
was guilty of having broken the law by accepting the crown, but that she
was innocent of having sought it. She acknowledged the justice of her
execution, as all condemned were expected to do. Protestations of innocence at
the moment of execution were paradoxically considered signs of guilt, of lack
of humility, and transgressions of God’s will.
Did she ask for prayer as well?
Yes, she asked those there:
I pray you all, good Christian
people, to bear me witness that I die a true Christian woman, and that I do look
to be saved by no other mean, but only by the mercy of God, in the blood of his
only Son Jesus Christ: and I confess, that when I did know the word of God, I
neglected the same, loved myself and the world; and therefore this plague and
punishment is happily and worthily happened unto me for my sins; and yet I
thank God, that of his goodness he hath thus given me a time and respite to
repent. And now, good people, while I am alive, I pray you assist me with your
prayers.
When she asked the small audience to
pray for her soul “while yet I live,” her choice of words reflected her
disagreement with the Catholic practice of saying masses for the dead.
She then knelt and asked the audience
to recite along with her as she spoke the words of Psalm 51, the Miserere, which begins,
“Have mercy upon me, O God.”
What did she do next?
Following her recitation of Psalm 51,
Jane stood again to make final preparations to meet the axe.
She handed her gloves and
handkerchief to one of her ladies, and she gave her small prayer-book to Thomas
Bridges, the brother of the Lieutenant of the Tower. ( The prayerbook, pictured below,
has survived and is sometimes displayed as part of the permanent “Treasures of
the Library” exhibition at the British Library in London.)
After her attendants assisted her to
loosen the neck of her gown, the executioner knelt in the customary request for
forgiveness from the condemned. The executioner then asked her to stand upon
the straw spread around the block to soak up the blood.
As she began to kneel, she asked the
executioner whether he would take her by surprise and strike before she was
ready. Assured that he would not, she tied a cloth around her head to block her
eyesight.
Is it true that she couldn’t find the
block where she was to lay her head for the executioner’s axe?
Yes. She felt blindly for the block,
and not finding it because of the cloth over her eyes, she asked, “What shall I
do? Where is it?”
It was against custom to assist the
condemned to find the block, lest the person offering aid be accused of having
an unjust part in a death. However, someone—usually reported as
Feckenham—apparently did reach down and guide her hands to the block.
Finally finding the block, she laid
her neck upon it.
What were her final words?
She repeated Jesus’s words on the
cross, “Lord, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The executioner swung his
axe, and she was dead.
* * *
Here are a few biographies at
different levels and from different perspectives that you may want to explore:
·
Leanda de Lisle, The Sisters Who
Would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy(Ballantine Books,
2009)
·
Simonetta Carr, Lady Jane Grey; Christian
Biographies for Young Readers (Reformation Heritage Books, 2012); illustrations
by Matt Abraxas
For audio talks delivered to churches
on Lady Jane Grey, see these by Michael Haykin and Paul Martin (+ PDF).
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