On 4th April 2024, Dr Stephan Edwards will give 2 talks about Lady Jane Grey at the Society of Antiquaries of London. You can attend the talks in person or listen online.
Searching for a Portrait of Jane Grey Dudley, England’s ‘Nine-Days Queen’ of 1553
13:00-14:00
Burlington House and Online
‘Jane Grey Dudley, known to history as ‘the nine-days queen’ of 1553, is unique among English monarchs of the past 550 years in that no authentic portrait of her is known to have survived. We do nonetheless know that such a likeness was painted and was documented in 1560 in the collection of Jane’s friend Bess of Hardwick at Hardwick Hall, where it remained until at least the end of the eighteenth century. That portrait is now presumed lost, however. Seeking to fill the visual gap, dozens of other images from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries have been put forward at various times as likenesses of Jane. This extensively illustrated lecture examines some of the better-known ersatz images and uncovers the likely or actual identity of many of the sitters depicted.’
From Society of Antiquaries of London
For further details and to buy tickets – Society of Antiquaries.
Queen Jane’s Proclamation of Accession of 1553 and Gendering of the English Monarchy
17:00-18:00
Burlington House and Online
‘This lecture will analyze the text of the Proclamation of Accession of Queen Jane (Grey Dudley) through the lens of gender and relative to specific gender role expectations prevalent in England during the Tudor period. The document is effectively unique among English and British proclamations of accession in that it presents an argument for altering the line of succession in contravention of feudal custom related to the royal succession and of the Third Act for the Succession of 1543/4. The lecture will argue that the proclamation is a heavily gendered document that attempts, albeit cryptically, to persuade the populace of a necessity to preserve the English monarchy as gendered exclusively male.’
From Society of Antiquaries of London
For further details and to buy tickets – Society of Antiquaries.
