Helen Castor’s article ‘ Elizabeth I: Exception to Rule ‘ in the October issue of History Today, featured ‘a woodcut illustration from a 17th tract’ that is used to depict the execution of Lady Jane Grey.
I hadn’t seen this engraving before. The woman is shown as being executed with a sword and there is also a crown at the bottom right of the picture. As Jane was executed by the axe and was never crowned Queen, I wondered if the engraving was originally that of Anne Boleyn?
Sheila Corr (Picture Editor at History Today Magazine) informs me that it is from a tract from 1688 entitled ‘A Conference between Lady Jane Grey and F. Fecknam, a Romish Priest concerning the Blessed Sacrament; whilst she was prisoner in the Tower…………………’
