Today in 1553 Lady Jane Grey’s trial started at London’s Guildhall, along with her husband Guilford Dudley. She was, of course, being tried for having claimed the throne during the short period after Edward VI’s death, before the Catholic Mary I was able to take back control of the throne. Archbishop Thomas Cranmer was also charged with treason for having proclaimed Jane as Queen. A procession led them from the Tower to the Guildhall, led by a man carrying an ax pointed away from them, to show that they had not yet been convicted of treason. At first Cranmer pleaded not guilty, but after he was confronted with the evidence, he changed his plea to guilty. They were all found guilty, and Jane was sentenced to be either burned, or beheaded.
Jane would be executed in February 1554.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested link:
Episode 16: Lady Jane Grey
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, the original Tudor history podcast, started in 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. In 2019 she created Tudorcon, which is now a yearly event, in addition to writing books, and running TudorFair.com - a whimsical Tudor Merch shop. She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.