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In November last year, Dr Stephan Edwards announced on his website, Some Grey Matter<\/b><\/a>, his discovery of two letters that mention Jane. Edwards writes that, \u2018To my knowledge, neither of these letters has ever been published in English, and no historian writing on the subject of Jane Grey or the succession dispute of 1553 has ever cited them. They are presented here for what I believe is the first time in the modern era.\u2019 (1)<\/p>\n The letters appear in the third volume of \u2018Lettere di Principi\u2019 a series of \u2018a collection of letters to, from, or about a wide variety of early-sixteenth-century European rulers, noblemen, and princes of the Roman Catholic Church\u2019 (2), which was published, in 1577 by Giordano Ziletti. <\/p>\n According to Edwards, the author and recipient of the letters are unknown but he thinks that they were written by a member of the Venetian diplomatic embassy. It is not clear if the author actually witnessed the events of the 10th of July or if he received the details from an eye witness.<\/p>\n I thought that today would be a good time to look at what, if anything these new letters add to our knowledge of Jane\u2019s arrival at the Tower.<\/p>\n I have used sources that are available to me, so if I have missed any, please let me know.<\/p>\n This is the translation of a section of the first letter, dated or written on 24th July 1553.<\/p>\n \u2018Came this Lady Jane on the 10th of July from Syon to the Tower of London by water, accompanied by great Lords, men and women. Entering into the Tower with the men ahead, the ladies proceeded. The most near to her among the Lords was Northumberland, and among the ladies the mother, who as greatest in precedence held the train of the gown. Now you say to me that this seems to you a monstrosity. To see a child Queen, [who] by certain reason came from the mother, father and mother living, and neither [one of them] King nor Queen. To speak with her and to serve her on bended knee. Not only all the others, but the father and the mother! To have a good husband without gifts other than beauty, his father living, and fourth born. The husband stood with hat in hand, not only in front of the Queen, but in front of father and mother, all the other Lords making a show of themselves putting the knee on the ground.\u2019 <\/i> (3)<\/p>\n This letter tells us the following about 10 July:<\/p>\n \u2022\tJane arrived by water from Syon to take possession of the Tower of London It has been over four years since Leanda de Lisle announced that the famous description of Jane arriving at the Tower of London by Baptisa Spinola was a fake, created by Richard Davey. Stephan Edwards has also conducted his own research into the Baptisa letter and concurs with de Lisle. (4)<\/p>\n However, there are other contemporary accounts of Jane\u2019s arrival at the Tower. These were by the Spanish Ambassadors, in an anonymous report included in the Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553\u2019, the writers of \u2018The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary\u2019, the \u2018Chronicle of the Grey Friars\u2019 and the \u2018Wriothesley\u2019 Chronicle, as well as the diarist Henry Machyn and Jane herself.<\/p>\n All of these accounts (apart from those by the Spanish Ambassadors, who do not mention how Jane arrived at the Tower) agree that Jane and her party arrived at the Tower of London by water, although there are differences in the starting point of her journey. This new letter has her arriving from Syon, which is also implied by the report of 20th July, \u2018Advices from England\u2019 (the unknown author of which, wrote that, \u2018I was yesterday at the (Imperial) ambassadors\u2019) (5) <\/p>\n \u2018On Saturday the Duke\u2014and when I say \u201cDuke\u201d you are to understand \u201cNorthumberland\u201d\u2014went to Sion House, whither all the other members of the Council repaired on Sunday to a great banquet attended by the two Duchesses and the Lady Jane, daughter of the Duke of Suffolk, who was afterwards proclaimed Queen. The Council fixed upon their plan of action, and on Monday, at two o’clock in the afternoon, there came in the royal barges the Duke of Suffolk; my Lord Guilford, son of the Duke and husband of the Lady Jane; the Lady Jane herself, the two Duchesses and other ladies attended by a great following, and landed at the Tower\u2026\u2019<\/i> (6)<\/p>\n Jane, in the letter she wrote to Mary in August 1553, states that she was at Syon on 9th July and \u2018\u2026 as everybody knows, the following day I was brought to the Tower.\u2019 (7) Jane does not mention going anywhere else before the Tower but this level of detail could have been considered insignificant by Jane in what, Ives calls \u2018the one written appeal\u2026 that would have been allowed .\u2019 (8)<\/p>\n The author of the \u2018Chronicle of the Grey Friars\u2019 however, writes that Jane \u2018was browte that same afternone from Richemond un-to Westmyster, and soo unto the tower of London by watter.\u2019 (9) The \u2018Wriothesley\u2019 chronicle has Jane being \u2018brought by water from Grenewich to the Tower of London.\u2019 (10)<\/p>\n The new letter also mentions that Frances, Duchess of Suffolk carried her daughter\u2019s train in procession to the Tower.<\/p>\n \u2018The most near to her among the Lords was Northumberland, and among the ladies the mother, who as greatest in precedence held the train of the gown.\u2019<\/i> (11)<\/p>\n This was noted in other accounts but is not mentioned by the Grey Friars Chronicle or in \u2018The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary.\u2019 The Spanish Ambassadors wrote to Emperor Charles V on 10th July that,<\/p>\n At about four o’clock this afternoon the ceremony of the state entry was performed at the Tower of London with the accustomed pomp. The new Queen’s train was carried by her mother, the Duchess of Suffolk; and there were not many people present to witness the act.\u2019<\/i> (12)<\/p>\n In the previously mentioned anonymous despatch (dated 20th July), it was written that,<\/p>\n \u2018\u2026on Monday, at two o’clock in the afternoon, there came in the royal barges the Duke of Suffolk; my Lord Guilford, son of the Duke and husband of the Lady Jane; the Lady Jane herself, the two Duchesses and other ladies attended by a great following, and landed at the Tower where the Duke and the other Councillors were waiting to bid the Lady Jane, whose train was carried by her mother, welcome to the Tower.\u2019<\/i> (13)<\/p>\n The London merchant taylor, Henry Machyn noted in his diary that,<\/p>\n \u2018The x day of July was reseyvyd in to the Towre [the Queen Jane] with a grett compeny of lords and nobulls of . . . . . after the qwen, and the duches of Suffoke her mother, bering her trayn, with mony lades\u2026\u2019 <\/i> (14)<\/p>\n As Leanda de Lisle writes in \u2018The Sisters Who Would Be Queen,\u2019 this was \u2018a striking visual reminder of how the correct order of things had been overthrown.\u2019 (15) The writer of the letter also comments on this and the level of deferential treatment displayed to Jane by her own father and mother.<\/p>\n \u2018Now you say to me that this seems to you a monstrosity. To see a child Queen, [who] by certain reason came from the mother, father and mother living, and neither [one of them] King nor Queen. To speak with her and to serve her on bended knee. Not only all the others, but the father and the mother!\u2019 <\/i>(16)<\/p>\n Other sources only imply this level of treatment with the Spanish Ambassadors reporting that \u2018the ceremony of the state entry was performed at the Tower of London with the accustomed pomp\u2019 (17) and Francisco de Vargas wrote to Prince Philip that Northumberland made Jane, \u2018take possession of the Tower and go through the usual ceremonies\u2019 (18). The \u2018Wriothesley\u2019 Chronicle, the Spanish Ambassadors writing to Prince Philip, and the \u2018Chronicle of Queen Jane etc\u2019 all state that Jane was received as Queen. (19)<\/p>\n Jane herself had described in her letter to Mary how \u2018all the Lords of the Council\u2019 (20) had knelt to her as Queen at Syon House on 9th July but does not go into detail about her arrival at the Tower the following day.<\/p>\n The new letter also adds to our knowledge of Guildford Dudley\u2019s behaviour on 10th July. Out of the other contemporary sources, only the anonymous report \u2018Advices from England\u2019 mentions Guildford\u2019s presence, \u2018my Lord Guildford, son of the Duke and husband of the Lady Jane.\u2019 (21) The \u2018Wriothseley Chronicle\u2019 identifies Jane in terms of being \u2018wyfe to the Lord Gilford Dudley\u2019 (22) but does not comment on his presence. The \u2018Diary of Henry Machyn\u2019 only described \u2018a grett company of lords and nobulls\u2026with mony lades.\u2019 (23)<\/p>\n The writer of the letter tells us that, \u2018The husband stood with hat in hand, not only in front of the Queen, but in front of her father and mother, all the other Lords making a show of themselves putting the knee in the ground.\u2019 (24) Guildford\u2019s appearance is also commented on, with the implication that he was handsome, as he is described as \u2018without gifts other than beauty.\u2019 (25)<\/p>\n Edwards\u2019 newly discovered letter (dated or written on 24th July 1553) gives us another view of Queen Jane\u2019s arrival at the Tower of London on 10th July 1553. It supports the details given in anonymous report from 20th July, which implies that Jane came from Syon to the Tower (although both writers might not have been in a position to know the exact journey taken by the new Queen). This letter also reinforces three other accounts that state that the train of Jane\u2019s gown was carried by her own mother. The writer emphasises how this went against what de Lisle calls \u2018the correct order of things\u2019 (26) and adds a detailed account of the Duke and Duchess of Suffolk\u2019s deferential behaviour towards their daughter. The letter also gives us new details of Guildford Dudley as he arrived at the Tower with his wife and adds an opinion to our knowledge of his physical appearance.<\/p>\n Sources<\/u><\/p>\n 1.\tEdwards, S.< a href= http:\/\/www.somegreymatter.com\/lettereintro.htm>Some Grey Matter – Lettere di Principi, le quali si scrivono o da principi, o ragionano di principi. Libro Terzo \u2013 An Introduction to this Source<\/a> Date accessed: 5 July 2014<\/p>\n 2.\tIbid<\/p>\n 3.\tEdwards, S. Some Grey Matter \u2013 Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July 0f 1553<\/a> Date accessed: 5th July 2014<\/p>\n 4.\tEdwards, S. Some Grey Matter \u2013 The Spinola Letter<\/a> Date accessed: 5th July 2014<\/p>\n 5.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 16-20’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 90-109. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88485<\/a> Date accessed: 05 July 2014<\/p>\n 6.\tIbid<\/p>\n 7.\tMalfatti, C.V (translator) (1956), The Accession Coronation and Marriage of Mary Tudor as related in four manuscripts of the Escorial, Barcelona, p.48.<\/p>\n 8.\tIves, E. (2009) Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery, Wiley-Blackwell, p.19<\/p>\n 9.\t‘The Chronicle of the Grey Friars: Jane’, Chronicle of the Grey Friars of London: Camden Society old series, volume 53 (1852), pp. 78-80. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=51589<\/a> Date accessed: 05 July 2014.<\/p>\n 10.\tWriothesley, C. (1877), A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, Vol II, p.85. URL:http:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/chronicleofengla02camduoft\/chronicleofengla02camduoft_djvu.txt<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 11.\tEdwards, S. Some Grey Matter \u2013 Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July 0f 1553<\/a> Date accessed: 5th July 2014<\/p>\n 12.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 1-10’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 69-80. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88483<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 13.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 16-20’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 90-109. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88485<\/a> Date accessed: 05 July 2014<\/p>\n 14.\t‘Diary: 1553 (Jul – Dec)’, The Diary of Henry Machyn: Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London (1550-1563) (1848), pp. 34-50. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=45512<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 15.\tDe Lisle, L. (2010) The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey, HarperPress, p.113.<\/p>\n 16.\tEdwards, S. Some Grey Matter \u2013 Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July 0f 1553<\/a> Date accessed: 5th July 2014<\/p>\n 17.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 1-10’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 69-80. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88483<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 18.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 21-31’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 109-127. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88486<\/a> Date accessed: 10 July 2014<\/p>\n 19.\tWriothesley, C. (1877), A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, Vol II, p.85. URL:http:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/chronicleofengla02camduoft\/chronicleofengla02camduoft_djvu.txt<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n ‘Spain: July 1553, 16-20’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 90-109. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88485<\/a> Date accessed: 05 July 2014<\/p>\n Nichols, J. G (ed) (1850) The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of Two Years of Queen Mary and Especially of the Rebellion of Sir Thomas Wyatt, Written by a Resident in the Tower of London, Llanerch Publishers, p.3.<\/p>\n 20.\tMalfatti, C.V (translator) (1956), The Accession Coronation and Marriage of Mary Tudor as related in four manuscripts of the Escorial, Barcelona, p.46.<\/p>\n 21.\t‘Spain: July 1553, 16-20’, Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 11: 1553 (1916), pp. 90-109. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=88485<\/a> Date accessed: 05 July 2014<\/p>\n 22.\tWriothesley, C. (1877), A Chronicle of England During the Reigns of the Tudors, Vol II, p.85. URL:http:\/\/archive.org\/stream\/chronicleofengla02camduoft\/chronicleofengla02camduoft_djvu.txt<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 23.\t‘Diary: 1553 (Jul – Dec)’, The Diary of Henry Machyn: Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London (1550-1563) (1848), pp. 34-50. URL: http:\/\/www.british-history.ac.uk\/report.aspx?compid=45512<\/a> Date accessed: 08 July 2014<\/p>\n 24.\tEdwards, S. Some Grey Matter \u2013 Two Letters Concerning Lady Jane Grey of England, written in London in July 0f 1553<\/a> Date accessed: 5th July 2014<\/p>\n 25.\tIbid.<\/p>\n 26.\tDe Lisle, L. (2010) The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: The Tragedy of Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey, HarperPress, p.113.<\/p>\n Today is the 461st anniversary of Queen Jane\u2019s arrival at the Tower of London. In November last year, Dr Stephan Edwards announced on his website, Some Grey Matter, his discovery of two letters that mention Jane. Edwards writes that, \u2018To … Continue reading
\n\u2022\tJane\u2019s mother, Frances, Duchess of Suffolk, carried the train of her gown in the procession.
\n\u2022\tJane\u2019s parents were amongst those who were deferential in their behaviour towards her.
\n\u2022\tGuildford Dudley\u2019s behaviour is mentioned in detail.<\/p>\n
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