Episode 1 England's Forgotten Queen: The Life and Death of Lady Jane Grey


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The Tudors are historical superstars,

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our most famous royal dynasty.

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But there is one Tudor monarch who's been all but forgotten.

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Queen Jane.

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Lady Jane Grey was a teenager thrust on to the throne,

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only to lose her crown after just nine days.

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She was the first woman to be proclaimed Queen of England,

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but few would recognise the name Queen Jane.

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I'm Helen Castor, and over three episodes,

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I'm going to take a forensic look at Jane's story.

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It's a Tudor thriller, an epic tale of family conflict...

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..ambition, and betrayal.

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The death of a king covered up...

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..and a country torn between two faiths.

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Our protagonists include the manipulative duke...

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..the wronged princess...

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..and the God-fearing 15-year-old

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who finds herself caught between them,

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and pays with her life.

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I'm going to track down original sources,

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written as the drama unfolds...

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This is the really exciting bit of the job.

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..I'll talk to expert colleagues...

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I've been in this game for 40 years, and I have to tell you,

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there is no trickier Tudor subject that Jane Grey.

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..and I'll visit the places where Jane once walked

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during the nine days that she reigned.

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In this episode, I want to explore

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just how this teenage girl became queen,

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and as a result, led England to the brink of civil war.

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Jane's journey to the throne begins

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with the sudden illness of the 15-year-old Tudor king, Edward VI...

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..the only son of Henry VIII.

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If Edward dies childless,

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his sister, Mary, will inherit the throne.

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But she's a woman, and worse,

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she's a Catholic, an abomination to Edward,

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who is fiercely Protestant.

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It's a time bomb that will throw the country into chaos.

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Catholic or Protestant,

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the future of the country depends on Edward's survival.

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As the young king lies on his sick bed at Greenwich Palace,

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secret dispatches from the Imperial ambassador, Jean Scheyfvre,

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described the Protestant king's rapid and brutal decline.

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"The king of England is still confined to his chamber,

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"and seems to be sensitive to the slightest indisposition or change.

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"He suffers a good deal when the fever is upon him,

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"especially from a difficulty in drawing his breath."

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There may be a lot of gaps in the record,

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but the king's health was a subject of intense scrutiny.

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We have every grim detail.

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"The matter he ejects from his mouth

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"is sometimes coloured a greenish yellow and black.

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"He is beginning to break out in ulcers."

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The illness seemed to take hold and progress frighteningly quickly.

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A procession of the best doctors came and went,

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but the king was not getting better.

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"They feel sure that the king has no chance of recovery,

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"unless his health improves during the next month."

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As the days pass, rumours of the king's illness

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begin to seep through the court, through the capital,

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and out into the counties beyond.

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Stories of the king's illness were played down,

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but here at Greenwich in the corridors of power,

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there was growing concern.

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People began to speculate about what the death of the king might mean.

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That feeling of just terror,

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that the entire world was going to devolve into chaos,

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must've just been enormous for them.

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The most powerful nobles in the country know that they stand to lose

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everything in a Catholic regime.

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The question of how to hold on to power and keep Mary from the throne

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preoccupies the key players at court.

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First among them is the Duke of Northumberland.

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Northumberland was a soldier, a leader in battle, a politician,

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principal adviser and confidant to the young king.

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During the dissolution of the monasteries, of course,

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Henry VIII seized all of that property

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from the Roman Catholic Church,

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and used it as a revenue-generating system, and as a reward system.

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To what extent was Northumberland personally invested in Protestantism

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by Edward's reign?

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Northumberland was one of those that enriched himself

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enormously through this system.

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In 1553, Northumberland was the power behind the throne.

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He had been Henry VIII's Lord Admiral.

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And now, as head of the Privy Council,

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he knows that if Edward dies,

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there's a big problem with the succession.

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This is the Tudor family tree.

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Henry VII had three surviving children.

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Margaret...

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..Henry...

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..and Mary.

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Henry, as the only boy, became king as Henry VIII.

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And he too had three children.

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Mary...

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..Elizabeth...

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..and Edward.

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And Edward was the only boy, so he became king when his father died,

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as Edward VI.

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But what would happen if Edward died?

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He had two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.

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But were there are other options elsewhere on the family tree?

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Margaret had married the King of Scotland, and she'd had a son,

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but he was already dead.

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Leaving a daughter, Mary Queen of Scots.

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Mary had had two daughters.

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Frances...

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..and Eleanor.

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Frances had three daughters - Jane, Katherine...

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..and Mary, and Eleanor had one, Margaret.

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So, if we look around this family tree,

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we see that our options are pretty limited.

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Eleanor was already dead, but otherwise,

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there's Mary, Mary, Elizabeth,

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Frances, Jane, Katherine, Mary, and Margaret.

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Eight women, not a man in sight.

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It was entirely understood that the heir to the throne should be male,

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full stop.

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And when you're left with the first eight heirs to the throne

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being female, the question wasn't "how do we deal with this?"

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It was "how do we avoid it?"

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So, in 1553, we're talking about a very live political question -

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can a woman rule or not?

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And you're arguing that Edward's answer is no?

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He shared his father's abhorrence of the notion

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of a woman ruling the realm.

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The issue of a woman ruler was only part of the problem.

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Although Henry VIII had made the break with Rome,

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it was his son, Edward, who made sweeping changes

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to ordinary people's experience of worship.

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He got rid of candles, images, rosaries,

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and outlawed the Latin mass,

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threatening anyone who stepped out of line with imprisonment.

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In 1549,

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religious conflict had erupted into battles

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between Catholics and Edward's men, as described in Edward's own diary.

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"The rebels besieged Exeter, where there were many pretty feats of war.

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"They gathered at Launceston,

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"where the Lord Privy Seal went and overthrew them,

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"taking their chiefs and executing them."

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But by 1553, one of the greatest champions of Catholicism was Mary,

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Henry VIII's eldest child, and the heir to Edward's throne.

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Aged 37, Mary was an unrepentant Catholic.

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Before her brother's illness,

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she had held regular illegal masses at her home.

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This act of defiance enraged Edward,

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and hardened his resolve that she should never be queen.

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The fact that the heir to the throne was Catholic

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was a frightening prospect, not only for Edward,

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but for the Duke of Northumberland.

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Next in line was Henry's 19-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

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And although she was Protestant, like Mary,

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she was technically illegitimate.

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But as Edward's illness progresses,

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a secret document is hastily produced in his sick room.

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What was Edward planning, and why?

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This is Edward's device for the succession.

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It's in his own handwriting,

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which was never the most beautiful handwriting in the world,

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but it's looking scrappier than it had been,

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perhaps because he was already becoming ill.

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It's clearly a document written by a teenage boy.

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The handwriting isn't very sophisticated,

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and neither actually is the language.

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"My device for the succession," it says at the top.

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And the essence of Edward's plan is clear in the first paragraph,

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where one word gets repeated over and over again.

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"Male, male, male, male, heirs male."

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The problem Edward has is that there aren't any.

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He's having to talk about possible heirs male

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who might be born in the future.

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Obviously, he hopes he'll have a son of his own,

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but just in case,

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he's decided on a particular female line

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through which the crown should pass,

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and that's where we come to Jane Grey.

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She isn't the first name on the list - that's her mother, Frances.

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"For lack of issue with my body, to the Lady Frances's heirs male."

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But Lady Frances Grey only had daughters.

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So, then after her,

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"for lack of such issue before my death

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"to the Lady Jane's heirs male,"

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and then, on to her sisters, to the Lady Katherine's heirs male,

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to the Lady Mary's heirs male.

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Edward then goes on to an elaborate plan

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about what should happen if those baby boys

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haven't been born by the time he dies.

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But the basic principle is clear,

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Edward wants a Protestant king to rule after his death.

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There are still questions - it's Edward's handwriting,

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but we don't know if it was Edward's idea.

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Whether he was under pressure,

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or whether this was exactly what he wanted.

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As leader of the Privy Council,

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the Duke of Northumberland was Edward's closest adviser.

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There's a possibility that he had a hand in this document

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for his own very personal reasons.

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The Grey family has now become the focus of Edward's plans

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for the succession.

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The device names Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey,

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and their mother, Frances.

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Until one of them produces a son, Frances would be a caretaker,

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and the throne of England would remain empty.

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So, if he died, the throne was going to be empty.

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Frances was going to be Governor, working with the Privy Council.

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Big problem, terrifying.

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You've got out there, you've got the sharks out there, of Charles V,

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you know, the King of France...

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They might want to put their own candidates on the throne.

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So, what's the solution to the difficulty of that empty chair?

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Well, I think their immediate solution is to have

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a round of marriages,

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in the hopes that someone will produce a son before Edward dies.

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Basically, everyone of royal blood is married off.

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Katherine, who's only 12,

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who's going to be married to the son of the Earl of Pembroke,

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his son, who's only, I think, 15,

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is taken from his sick bed to be married,

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sort of bright green in the face.

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And you have little Mary Grey, who's eight years old and undersized,

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and she is betrothed to a middle-aged man,

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Lord Grey of Wilton, who's one of the great warriors of the time.

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Hideously disfigured by a sort of pike

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that had been thrust through his face.

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Of all the royal descendants,

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the greatest prize is the eldest of the Grey sisters, 15-year-old Jane.

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Growing up in Leicestershire,

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Jane Grey's early life gave no indication of what was to come.

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Aged around 11, she moved to London,

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to live under the wardship of the king's uncle, Thomas Seymour.

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It was here that she advanced her education

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with the best Protestant tutors the country had to offer.

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Jane's education is special.

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She's educated to a greater degree even than someone like Princess Mary

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or Princess Elizabeth, largely because she has no brothers.

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So she becomes the sole recipient, I suppose, of the family resources,

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as well as the family ambition.

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She is receiving a humanist education.

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So she knows Latin, Greek, Hebrew, she's also learning Italian.

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She's really, in some ways,

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being seen as the future of the Protestant Reformation in England.

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Jane's education was facilitated by her father, Henry Grey,

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who was a senior nobleman and a member of the Privy Council.

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He was close to Northumberland, and together,

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they agreed to plan for the marriage of Jane to Northumberland's son,

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Guildford, who was also about 15 years old.

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For Northumberland, Jane was his route to the power of the crown,

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through his son.

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He arranged their wedding at one of his lavish London residences,

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Durham House on the banks of the Thames.

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It was just over there.

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Today, it's Victoria Embankment Gardens,

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just across from the South Bank.

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But in the 16th century,

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this was one of the most upmarket addresses in London.

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Edward was confined to his sick bed, and unable to attend the marriage.

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But a royal warrant was issued,

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providing extravagant clothes for the wedding party.

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Jane was really quite reluctant to enter this marriage, I think.

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I think you can document that in the sources.

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She agreed to do it because her parents sort of pushed her into it.

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In Richard Davey's 1909 book, The Nine Days' Queen,

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we have the following passage...

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"Her parents ordered her to marry the young gentleman,

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"and according to an Italian chronicler,

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"she at first stoutly refused.

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"The Duke harshly reiterated his command,

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"and according to the chronicler,

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"even struck his daughter several hard blows."

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Whether or not there was violence,

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Jane was certainly put under pressure to be married,

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and with good reason. The king's health was failing.

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As the weeks tick past, and Jane embarks on married life,

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Edward shows no sign of recovery.

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The realisation dawns that there's no prospect

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of any male heirs being born in time.

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We don't know the date or the precise details,

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but some time in the weeks before his death,

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a final and critical change is made to the device.

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It's a change that will have a devastating impact

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on the life of Lady Jane Grey.

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Two small words have been added in Edward's own handwriting.

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Two words that would change the course of England's history.

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"And her."

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Before, it said, the Lady Jane's heirs male.

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Now after this change, it says the Lady Jane and her heirs male.

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They were suddenly faced with the fact that a woman

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simply was going to have to inherit the throne,

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whether any of them liked it or not.

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And the only woman available for that, at that moment, was Jane Grey.

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You also have to remember, I'm really sorry to have to say this

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in the 21st century, but she's a woman, and she's a young woman.

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And in the 16th century, there were no equal opportunities.

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Women were considered to be creatures of emotion,

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rather than of reason.

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It was considered that a woman couldn't hold the throne of England.

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So, this decision to make Jane queen was absolutely transformational.

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It was about to propel her from being a minor member

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of the royal family, to the English throne.

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And she knew nothing about it.

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The device is an incendiary document.

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Northumberland knows that once Edward's sister, Mary,

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discovers that she's been cut out of the succession,

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it could start a civil war.

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For now, he needs to keep the device under wraps.

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So, he bides his time,

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and gathers a tight-knit group of counsellors around him.

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Mary, Jane's rival for the throne,

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had been growing increasingly suspicious

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that all was not well at court.

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Just a few days before Edward's death,

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Northumberland had tried to lure her to London.

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She gets a tip-off from someone at court,

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a warning that Edward is dying,

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and that the summons to court that she's received

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shouldn't be followed,

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that she shouldn't go back to court, she shouldn't respond to it,

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because there is a plan to capture her when she comes to court

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on the pretence of coming to see her dying brother.

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Fearing that Northumberland will try to capture or even kill her,

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Mary goes into hiding.

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She's got to get ahead,

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she's got to get some miles between her and Northumberland.

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Because of course, she's been summoned to court,

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and she hasn't gone to court.

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You know, the assumption is therefore that Northumberland

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or someone will come out and get her.

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HE COUGHS

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On the 6th of July, at about 8pm,

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the 15-year-old king says he feels faint.

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A few minutes later, he dies.

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For Northumberland, the game is on.

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He needs to consolidate his position, and place Jane,

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now his daughter-in-law, on the throne before Mary finds out.

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Immediately, the Council sprung into action

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to do what needed to be done to effect a new reign.

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Just rapid, furious movement, I'm sure,

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as people began to consolidate and solidify positions,

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and get everyone into place.

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That night, there's no announcement that the king is dead.

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Nor the next day.

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The public don't know.

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Not even Jane is aware of her new role as Queen of England.

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At first light, Northumberland sends his son, Robert,

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and 300 soldiers to catch Mary

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before she has time to gather support.

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Mary's been in hiding with Catholic supporters, and that same day,

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word reaches her that her brother is dead.

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Robert Raynes, a London goldsmith who'd worked for Mary,

0:22:080:22:11

heard the story that the king was dead and immediately fled the city,

0:22:110:22:15

riding 80 miles at breakneck speed to Mary in Norfolk.

0:22:150:22:20

He did so to make sure she'd heard the news.

0:22:210:22:24

With Mary in hiding,

0:22:260:22:27

Northumberland and his supporters in the Privy Council

0:22:270:22:31

turned their attention to securing the greatest fortress in England,

0:22:310:22:36

the Tower of London.

0:22:360:22:37

Like the rest of the court,

0:22:410:22:42

the Privy Council have been here in Greenwich for the last few weeks,

0:22:420:22:46

at the bedside of the dying king.

0:22:460:22:48

Suddenly, they're packing their things and clambering

0:22:530:22:56

into the royal barges over there at the water's edge.

0:22:560:22:59

They disappear that way, upriver to London.

0:22:590:23:03

It takes 45 minutes to get from Greenwich to the Tower

0:23:080:23:11

by royal boat, if you're rowing with the tide.

0:23:110:23:14

In the 16th century, to hold the Tower was to hold power.

0:23:180:23:23

The Council came to occupy the Tower, and just as importantly,

0:23:230:23:27

to ensure that Mary could not.

0:23:270:23:29

The Tower of London was founded in 1066 following the Norman Conquest.

0:23:310:23:36

It was one of the strongest, most imposing castles of the Middle Ages.

0:23:380:23:43

It was a royal residence, a jail for the most prized prisoners,

0:23:430:23:47

and the state armoury,

0:23:470:23:50

containing huge stores of munitions and gunpowder.

0:23:500:23:53

The Tower was feared and looked on with awe.

0:23:550:23:58

People believed that whoever controlled the Tower

0:23:590:24:02

controlled the country.

0:24:020:24:03

Northumberland knew it was vital to strengthen the battlements

0:24:030:24:07

to defend the tower from attack.

0:24:070:24:09

Great guns were to be placed in the White Tower,

0:24:090:24:12

and additional troops drafted in to man the perimeter walls.

0:24:120:24:15

They were preparing to put their candidate, Lady Jane Grey,

0:24:150:24:19

on the throne, and bracing themselves

0:24:190:24:21

against a potential counterattack from Mary.

0:24:210:24:24

Throughout the 8th of July,

0:24:280:24:29

Northumberland quietly moves reinforcements loyal to his cause

0:24:290:24:34

across the country.

0:24:340:24:36

Key officers of state are hastily secured for his allies.

0:24:360:24:41

Behind the scenes...

0:24:410:24:42

..ships were sent north to protect the coast,

0:24:430:24:46

to prevent Mary from fleeing overseas.

0:24:460:24:49

There were changes in many of the fortresses in and around London,

0:24:490:24:53

where people who had been in office in those fortresses were removed,

0:24:530:24:58

because they were known not to support the plan.

0:24:580:25:01

And new people were installed that had vested financial interest

0:25:010:25:05

in supporting this plan.

0:25:050:25:07

In the 48 hours since Edward's death,

0:25:090:25:12

Northumberland has succeeded in carrying out the first phase

0:25:120:25:16

of the Protestant plan.

0:25:160:25:17

He holds the Tower, the weapons, and crucially,

0:25:190:25:24

he has the dead king's device for the succession,

0:25:240:25:27

naming his daughter-in-law as queen.

0:25:270:25:30

But the frenzied activity and movement of guards

0:25:300:25:33

has not gone unnoticed.

0:25:330:25:36

By the time the sun set on Saturday the 8th of July, 1553,

0:25:360:25:40

almost all the key political players in London and beyond

0:25:400:25:44

knew that Edward was dead, and that Jane would be queen,

0:25:440:25:47

though no public statement had been made.

0:25:470:25:50

The one person of note who didn't yet know was Jane.

0:25:510:25:54

And I believe that that action in and of itself

0:25:560:26:00

is a clear indication of how Northumberland

0:26:000:26:03

and the Privy Council viewed Jane.

0:26:030:26:06

She was effectively a cipher.

0:26:060:26:09

They intended to control her in some manner from the get-go.

0:26:090:26:15

She was to be a figurehead, and she was, as a woman, inconsequential.

0:26:150:26:19

By the 9th of July, Edward has been dead for three days.

0:26:270:26:31

Northumberland is ready for phase two of his plan.

0:26:310:26:34

It's time for the Privy Council to seize the moment,

0:26:370:26:41

and their new queen...

0:26:410:26:42

..Jane Grey.

0:26:430:26:45

Publicly, nobody considers Jane to be particularly important.

0:26:490:26:53

Publicly, nobody knows that the order of succession

0:26:530:26:56

has been changed. And that includes Jane.

0:26:560:26:59

Early on the 9th, Northumberland sends for Jane.

0:27:010:27:05

But she has no idea why.

0:27:050:27:07

He instructs that she should be brought immediately, by river,

0:27:080:27:12

to his house at Syon.

0:27:120:27:14

If necessary, by force.

0:27:140:27:16

Today's professional rivermen move quicker than their Tudor forebears.

0:27:230:27:28

-Hello!

-Hiya.

-Hello.

-Hi, I'm Helen.

-Hello, Helen.

0:27:290:27:32

London VTS, city swim safety run.

0:27:320:27:35

But the idea is the same.

0:27:360:27:38

We live in an age of instant information

0:27:400:27:43

and instant communication.

0:27:430:27:45

It's a blessing and a curse.

0:27:450:27:48

Not so, Jane.

0:27:480:27:49

With a team of oarsmen,

0:27:490:27:51

Jane's journey to Syon took more than an hour and a half.

0:27:510:27:54

She was completely in the dark about why she'd been summoned,

0:27:590:28:04

and could never have imagined what lay in store.

0:28:040:28:07

This is where Jane arrives, Syon House.

0:28:110:28:14

Today, the front of the house is on the other side,

0:28:140:28:17

but in the 16th century, it was here,

0:28:170:28:19

the side accessible from the river.

0:28:190:28:21

Syon House in 1553 was home to the Duke of Northumberland,

0:28:270:28:31

and remains so to this day.

0:28:310:28:34

It's still recognisable as the house where Jane arrived

0:28:350:28:38

on the 9th of July.

0:28:380:28:40

The story goes that this is the room, the Long Gallery,

0:28:420:28:45

where Jane heard that she was to be queen.

0:28:450:28:48

So on the 9th, Jane is sent for, and in fact,

0:28:520:28:56

she is brought here into this very place, at Syon.

0:28:560:29:01

She is told that now she is going to be queen.

0:29:010:29:04

And the French ambassador reports what she said.

0:29:180:29:21

"This is not for me. The rightful heir is Mary."

0:29:220:29:26

The traditional story has it that she burst into tears

0:29:290:29:33

and didn't want to be queen, she expressed a desire not to be queen.

0:29:330:29:37

But if you look at her own account that she conveyed to Queen Mary

0:29:370:29:41

some weeks after the event,

0:29:410:29:43

she does describe bursting into tears.

0:29:430:29:46

But it's very clear, if you read it closely,

0:29:460:29:48

that those tears were for the death of Edward VI,

0:29:480:29:52

they weren't for the circumstance she was in.

0:29:520:29:54

Northumberland gave her a lecture on the illegitimacy of Mary,

0:29:540:29:58

and the illegitimacy of Elizabeth.

0:29:580:30:00

And then, Jane's parents arrived.

0:30:000:30:02

Parental pressure that pushed her, that pushed her over.

0:30:020:30:06

She prayed to God to give her the strength to do the job

0:30:060:30:10

that had been given to her.

0:30:100:30:12

Which indicates to me that she was somewhat accepting,

0:30:130:30:16

albeit reluctantly,

0:30:160:30:18

that this was the role God had chosen for her,

0:30:180:30:21

so she had to make the best of it.

0:30:210:30:23

Bolstered by her faith, Jane accepts the crown that afternoon.

0:30:240:30:28

The die is cast.

0:30:320:30:34

That evening, Northumberland throws an opulent banquet.

0:30:350:30:39

It's a celebration of Jane's accession as queen.

0:30:390:30:43

But he's also demonstrating to his supporters

0:30:440:30:46

that they're right to be backing him.

0:30:460:30:49

This was a grand alliance they should be proud to be part of.

0:30:500:30:54

For Jane, the 9th of July marks the day she prepares

0:31:010:31:05

to become the first Queen of England.

0:31:050:31:07

For Mary, the 9th of July marks the beginning

0:31:110:31:14

of her fight for the throne.

0:31:140:31:16

Having outrun Northumberland's men for the moment,

0:31:180:31:21

she's now arrived at her seat in Kenninghall.

0:31:210:31:24

Initially, the pen is mightier than the sword.

0:31:260:31:30

She writes to harness support around the country.

0:31:300:31:33

We came here to the Inner Temple Library

0:31:350:31:38

to see Edward VI's device for the succession.

0:31:380:31:42

But the archivist has brought me something else to look at,

0:31:420:31:45

which I haven't seen before, and it's absolutely fascinating!

0:31:450:31:48

It's written on the 9th of July,

0:31:480:31:51

at her manor of Kenninghall in Norfolk.

0:31:510:31:54

Now the 9th of July is the day when Jane was taken to Syon House

0:31:540:31:59

to be told that she would be the next queen.

0:31:590:32:02

But that's clearly a course of events

0:32:020:32:05

that Mary was not prepared to accept,

0:32:050:32:07

because Mary has signed this letter, Mary the Queen.

0:32:070:32:11

"By the Queen," it says at the top.

0:32:110:32:14

The 9th of July is Sunday,

0:32:140:32:16

Edward had died on the night of Thursday the 6th.

0:32:160:32:19

So, Mary has moved into action with enormous courage,

0:32:190:32:24

and enormous speed.

0:32:240:32:26

She asserts that she is the queen, "by Act of Parliament,

0:32:260:32:31

"and the Testament and Last Will

0:32:310:32:33

"of our late dearest father, King Henry VIII."

0:32:330:32:37

There can be no question in Mary's mind

0:32:370:32:39

that she is the lawful sovereign.

0:32:390:32:42

The letter is addressed to Sir Edward Hastings,

0:32:430:32:46

an influential landowner.

0:32:460:32:48

She's asking Hastings to protect her and her realm by raising forces

0:32:490:32:56

within the county of Middlesex.

0:32:560:32:59

And the particularly interesting thing, looking at this letter,

0:32:590:33:02

is that it looks to me very much as though a gap has been left,

0:33:020:33:06

and Middlesex added later.

0:33:060:33:09

In other words, that this was a form document.

0:33:090:33:11

Clerks were writing out the same letter again and again

0:33:110:33:15

to be sent to different places,

0:33:150:33:17

and this one happened to go to Sir Edward Hastings.

0:33:170:33:20

Mary's machinery of support is moving into action.

0:33:200:33:24

But would Mary have any chance against Northumberland

0:33:270:33:30

and the power of the state?

0:33:300:33:32

The prospects of Mary winning were so slim.

0:33:340:33:36

She's a woman with a household in East Anglia

0:33:360:33:39

that's full of local yokel Catholic gentry men, you know,

0:33:390:33:43

nobody who's got any political experience.

0:33:430:33:45

As you know, everything is under the control

0:33:450:33:48

of the Duke of Northumberland,

0:33:480:33:49

so no-one rates Mary's chances whatsoever.

0:33:490:33:52

10th of July.

0:33:560:33:58

As the day dawns, the Tower is now secure for the Protestant cause.

0:33:580:34:02

Northumberland's plan is going well,

0:34:040:34:06

and he decides it's time to break the news to the people.

0:34:060:34:09

It's time for Jane to make her first public appearance

0:34:120:34:16

as England's queen.

0:34:160:34:17

And the very next day, after being told that she was the new queen,

0:34:200:34:23

Jane was heading for the Tower.

0:34:230:34:25

We're still well outside the city of London, the city walls proper,

0:34:360:34:40

as they were in the 16th century.

0:34:400:34:42

So, on Jane's journey, there were fields still to north and south.

0:34:430:34:48

Now, it's surrounded by buildings of glass and steel.

0:34:500:34:54

But in the 16th century,

0:34:550:34:57

it was the most imposing building for miles around.

0:34:570:35:00

From further down the river, it looks a bit as though the Tower

0:35:040:35:06

might be dwarfed by office blocks.

0:35:060:35:08

But actually, when you get up close, it still has an authority.

0:35:080:35:12

It's a strange idea, a young woman making this exact journey,

0:35:140:35:18

with one life left behind her in Chelsea, and another up ahead.

0:35:180:35:23

And though she doesn't realise it yet,

0:35:230:35:25

there's no going back down this river.

0:35:250:35:28

No going back to her old home, her old title, her old friends,

0:35:280:35:33

her old life.

0:35:330:35:34

For Jane, everything changes at the end of this river journey.

0:35:340:35:38

Jane's entrance to the Tower is full of pomp and ceremony.

0:35:460:35:50

It's a moment of pure propaganda.

0:35:510:35:53

But almost immediately,

0:35:590:36:00

the first stirrings of disquiet begin to spread

0:36:000:36:04

among the assembled crowd.

0:36:040:36:06

We know this thanks to two letters that came to light in 2013,

0:36:070:36:12

believed to be written by a Venetian diplomat.

0:36:120:36:14

They were written by someone who was present in London,

0:36:160:36:19

who was seeing these events going on, was writing home, saying,

0:36:190:36:23

"This is what's happening here, here's the news."

0:36:230:36:25

The letters describe Queen Jane being accompanied into the Tower

0:36:260:36:30

by her mother, Frances Grey.

0:36:300:36:32

"And among the ladies, the mother, who as greatest in precedence,

0:36:330:36:36

"held the train of the gown.

0:36:360:36:38

"Now you say to me that this seems to you a monstrosity,

0:36:390:36:42

"to see a child queen and mother living,

0:36:420:36:45

"to speak with her and to serve her on bended knee."

0:36:450:36:48

Frances Grey had a better claim to the throne than her daughter.

0:36:500:36:54

But of course, she wasn't married to Northumberland's son.

0:36:540:36:57

The reason people were shocked, of course,

0:36:580:37:00

was because that she was the mother,

0:37:000:37:01

she was superior in line of succession.

0:37:010:37:03

So why is she carrying her daughter's train?

0:37:030:37:06

And this was incredibly shocking to people at the time,

0:37:060:37:10

because of the whole way they saw their world,

0:37:100:37:13

and indeed the universe.

0:37:130:37:15

Because they believed that God had created the universe from chaos,

0:37:150:37:20

he had created a harmonious universe, in which everything,

0:37:200:37:24

everything had its place in a sort of great chain of being.

0:37:240:37:27

Everyone is a part of this chain, and who rebels against it?

0:37:270:37:32

Satan rebels against it, Satan rebels against it.

0:37:320:37:36

He wants to bring chaos, civil war, horror back to the earth.

0:37:360:37:41

And for the whole universe to return to darkness and chaos.

0:37:410:37:46

So, this small business of Frances carrying her daughter's train is,

0:37:460:37:52

in a sense, opening the gates to hell.

0:37:520:37:54

And unease was further stirred by the unusual prominence

0:37:570:38:01

in the procession of Northumberland's son,

0:38:010:38:04

Jane's new husband.

0:38:040:38:06

A teenage boy with no claim to the throne at all.

0:38:060:38:10

"The husband stood with hat in hand, not only in front of the queen,

0:38:130:38:16

"but in front of father and mother.

0:38:160:38:18

"All the other lords making a show of themselves,

0:38:180:38:21

"putting the knee on the ground."

0:38:210:38:22

We see Guildford in a whole different light in these letters.

0:38:280:38:31

He assumes a position of prominence, even physically,

0:38:310:38:36

to the extent that he's at the front of the procession,

0:38:360:38:39

in front of his parents, and in front of Jane.

0:38:390:38:42

Which tells us that he was intended from the get-go

0:38:420:38:46

to be king through her.

0:38:460:38:49

And that idea was spreading fast.

0:38:490:38:51

After receiving news of Edward's death,

0:38:510:38:54

the French Ambassador wrote home, referring to "le nouveau roi",

0:38:540:38:57

the new king.

0:38:570:38:59

Do you think part of the plan for this marriage was that,

0:39:010:39:06

if Jane becomes queen, then Guildford Dudley becomes king?

0:39:060:39:10

Oh, absolutely.

0:39:100:39:11

There had never, ever been a king come to the throne

0:39:110:39:15

in right of his wife.

0:39:150:39:17

We speak quite often of people taking titles,

0:39:170:39:20

lower titles of nobility, in right of their wife.

0:39:200:39:24

But not the crown, that is the ultimate title.

0:39:240:39:28

And I think the ultimate goal was to make Guildford king.

0:39:280:39:33

The recently discovered letters say the people whispered

0:39:330:39:37

against Northumberland, that that one had poisoned the king.

0:39:370:39:41

And because the Duke saw it was not possible

0:39:420:39:44

to seize the crown of England himself, for that reason,

0:39:440:39:48

he designed to seize it by surprise, by means of a relative.

0:39:480:39:51

Northumberland had so much to gain from pulling off this coup.

0:39:530:39:57

As Edward's chief minister, he had been close to royal power,

0:39:580:40:02

but this was his chance to take the crown for his own family.

0:40:020:40:06

Was Northumberland behind the change to Edward's device?

0:40:100:40:14

We'll never know for sure.

0:40:140:40:16

But what's certain is that he was a hated figure.

0:40:160:40:19

Northumberland, remember, is very unpopular in the country.

0:40:210:40:24

Why? Because he's the guy who put down the popular revolts of 1549,

0:40:240:40:28

using German and Genoese mercenaries.

0:40:280:40:31

Yes, he put down the rebellion, and he did so rather savagely.

0:40:340:40:38

And that earned him a great deal of hatred from the people.

0:40:380:40:42

On the 10th of July, Northumberland knew he had to convince the people

0:40:470:40:51

that Jane was the right and true queen.

0:40:510:40:54

So, his council does something unprecedented in English history.

0:40:550:41:00

They order multiple copies of her proclamation to the throne

0:41:000:41:03

to be printed and distributed.

0:41:030:41:06

It was the first time that a new monarch was announced in print.

0:41:060:41:10

And it exists to this day, here at the Society of Antiquaries.

0:41:110:41:16

This is a volume of royal proclamations.

0:41:190:41:21

And what I've got here is the proclamation of the accession

0:41:230:41:26

of King Edward VI, back in 1547.

0:41:260:41:30

It's a straightforward example of its kind.

0:41:310:41:34

It's hand-written, it's short,

0:41:340:41:36

it's the text of what the Herald said on the streets of London

0:41:360:41:39

when they explained that Edward was now king.

0:41:390:41:42

Henry VIII has died, Edward, his son, has inherited,

0:41:420:41:46

and Edward promises to rule well.

0:41:460:41:48

Everyone must be loyal to him.

0:41:480:41:50

Job done.

0:41:500:41:51

But this isn't what I've come to see.

0:41:510:41:53

Further on in the volume,

0:41:540:41:56

there is a copy of the proclamation of the accession of Queen Jane Grey.

0:41:560:42:01

Here it is.

0:42:010:42:03

And what I can see straightaway is that it's something very different.

0:42:030:42:06

It goes on for three pages.

0:42:060:42:08

There's a lot to explain, there's nothing straightforward about this.

0:42:090:42:13

Jane is now, it says, by the grace of God, Queen of England.

0:42:130:42:17

But the first thing you has to do is explain what the arrangements

0:42:180:42:21

for the succession were, that means going back to Henry's will,

0:42:210:42:25

to explaining that he left the throne to Mary and Elizabeth.

0:42:250:42:29

But then the proclamation goes on to show that they were illegitimate,

0:42:290:42:32

and Edward had made different arrangements.

0:42:320:42:35

By this stage, we're over the page.

0:42:360:42:38

The proclamation explains the whole of Edward's device

0:42:380:42:41

for the succession.

0:42:410:42:43

It's a complicated business.

0:42:430:42:44

And it's not until

0:42:460:42:47

the bottom of page two, the beginning of page three,

0:42:470:42:50

that we learn that Jane will rule, and all her subjects must obey her.

0:42:500:42:55

This took a long time for the heralds to read out,

0:42:560:43:00

on streets that were silent,

0:43:000:43:02

full of puzzled people, trying to work out what was going on.

0:43:020:43:06

And the other difference is that this proclamation is printed,

0:43:070:43:11

and that's because the presses had to work overnight

0:43:110:43:15

to get multiple copies of all this information out,

0:43:150:43:18

so that they could be pasted up around the streets of the city.

0:43:180:43:22

A new regime was in place, and it was a shock.

0:43:220:43:25

Seeing an original copy of that proclamation was amazing.

0:43:300:43:33

It looked like it could have been printed yesterday.

0:43:330:43:36

And the sheer size of it gives a real sense

0:43:360:43:40

of how big a problem Jane was facing.

0:43:400:43:42

It was against the right order of things,

0:43:430:43:45

it was against the natural order.

0:43:450:43:46

And if it was against right order and the natural order,

0:43:460:43:49

then what lay beyond that? Chaos. Anarchy, violence, horror.

0:43:490:43:53

Just as she enters the Tower,

0:43:580:43:59

and that sort of terrible image one has of the doors

0:43:590:44:02

of the Tower closing, and they will never open again for Jane.

0:44:020:44:06

An account by an Italian resident in London

0:44:130:44:15

said that when the proclamation was read,

0:44:150:44:18

not one showed any expression of joy,

0:44:180:44:21

rather than the celebrations that usually greeted a new monarch.

0:44:210:44:24

Dissent came at a price.

0:44:260:44:29

One person spoke out against Queen Jane.

0:44:290:44:33

His name was Gilbert Pot.

0:44:330:44:35

And he was promptly arrested, he was put on the pillory,

0:44:360:44:40

his ears were nailed to the pillory, and to be released from the pillory,

0:44:400:44:43

he had to suffer to have his ears cut off.

0:44:430:44:46

This first-hand account comes from the diary of the merchant

0:44:470:44:49

Henry Machyn.

0:44:490:44:51

That's the sort of thing that could happen to you,

0:44:520:44:55

if you just so much as said, "Jane doesn't have the rightful claim."

0:44:550:44:59

-Much better to keep quiet?

-Much better! Much safer.

0:44:590:45:03

Northumberland believes his plan is working.

0:45:040:45:07

The capital is under his control,

0:45:070:45:09

and Jane is in full command of the Tower of London.

0:45:090:45:12

She's surrounded by the Privy Council.

0:45:120:45:15

They have authority over the realm,

0:45:150:45:17

they have control of the country's finances,

0:45:170:45:20

and an arsenal of weapons at their disposal.

0:45:200:45:22

But then, some time on the 10th, Jane's first day as queen,

0:45:280:45:32

a dispatch arrives at the Tower from Princess Mary.

0:45:320:45:36

Mary's letter calls upon the council to display their loyalty

0:45:370:45:41

to her just and right cause.

0:45:410:45:44

It declares her ready to pardon them, but if they didn't surrender,

0:45:440:45:48

they would face bloodshed and civil war.

0:45:480:45:52

And of course, this is a sense that this is the moment

0:45:550:45:57

that I've been waiting for, this is what my life has been all about.

0:45:570:46:01

You know, I'm ready to claim the throne,

0:46:010:46:03

this is the moment where I'm going to restore England back to Rome,

0:46:030:46:06

which of course is what God wants.

0:46:060:46:08

So, you know, it couldn't be a bigger moment for Mary.

0:46:080:46:12

For Northumberland and the council, the stakes had just been raised.

0:46:120:46:16

They'd been offered a pardon if they abandoned Jane,

0:46:160:46:19

or the threat of civil war if they didn't.

0:46:190:46:21

And the personal consequences of that warning

0:46:210:46:24

for each of them were clear.

0:46:240:46:25

The loss of titles and wealth, imprisonment, perhaps execution.

0:46:270:46:31

By the evening of the 10th, it's do or die for Jane's supporters.

0:46:350:46:40

If they're having doubts, now is the moment to turn back.

0:46:400:46:44

But they don't.

0:46:450:46:47

Instead, they draft a letter in response to Mary's challenge

0:46:510:46:55

for Jane to sign,

0:46:550:46:57

the first that will carry her signature as Jane the Queen.

0:46:570:47:01

A signature that, in a few days' time,

0:47:030:47:06

would be held as evidence of treason.

0:47:060:47:09

When was this letter written, and who was it written to?

0:47:110:47:14

So, it's written on the 10th of July, 1553,

0:47:140:47:18

on the day that Jane entered the Tower of London as Queen of England.

0:47:180:47:23

And at the top of the letter, we can see it's been signed by Jane

0:47:230:47:26

as Jane the Queen.

0:47:260:47:28

-And we know this is her handwriting?

-This is definitely her hand, yes.

0:47:280:47:32

And it was one of a number of letters that...

0:47:320:47:35

..were sent out to the Lords Lieutenant of the country.

0:47:360:47:40

This one in particular was sent to William Parr,

0:47:400:47:43

who was the Marquess of Northampton.

0:47:430:47:45

So the letter announces that Jane has entered

0:47:450:47:49

"into our rightful possession of this kingdom."

0:47:490:47:53

And then the local officers, or the Lords Lieutenant,

0:47:540:47:57

were called upon "to defend our just title."

0:47:570:48:02

But also, "to assist us in our rightful possession of this kingdom,

0:48:020:48:08

"and to disturb, repel,

0:48:080:48:11

"and resist the famed and untrue claim of the Lady Mary,

0:48:110:48:16

"bastard daughter to our great-uncle,

0:48:160:48:19

"Henry VIII of famous memory."

0:48:190:48:22

So, this isn't a normal part of an accession?

0:48:220:48:25

A normal king or queen would expect the machinery of government

0:48:250:48:29

to fall into place, but Jane's having to protest

0:48:290:48:31

a little bit too much,

0:48:310:48:32

because she's facing a challenge from her rival, Mary?

0:48:320:48:35

Yes. By this stage, they would have been very aware

0:48:350:48:38

that Mary was gathering forces, and preparing to fight back.

0:48:380:48:43

And there's a note that's been added here, to the letter that says,

0:48:430:48:49

in Latin,

0:48:490:48:50

-"Jane not queen"?

-Mm.

0:48:510:48:54

Do we know where that came from?

0:48:540:48:57

Well, it's in a later hand,

0:48:570:48:59

so it's almost as if somebody's wanted to correct the record,

0:48:590:49:03

and point out that Jane wasn't actually queen.

0:49:030:49:07

Despite having signed the letter with such confidence...

0:49:070:49:10

-Yes.

-At the top, "Jane the Queen"?

0:49:100:49:13

-The correction here says history says otherwise.

-Yep.

0:49:130:49:18

These letters stand as proof of the enormous tensions

0:49:190:49:22

of day one of Jane's reign.

0:49:220:49:25

They are a clear response to Mary's threat.

0:49:250:49:28

Jane's first day as the first Queen of England

0:49:320:49:35

is coming to a close,

0:49:350:49:38

and there's been a dramatic change in her.

0:49:380:49:40

Just one day earlier, when told that she was to be queen,

0:49:450:49:49

Jane was very reluctant to accept the role.

0:49:490:49:52

Now she's asking for reinforcements,

0:49:550:49:57

for military might to defend her claim.

0:49:570:50:01

Now, Jane is prepared to go to war.

0:50:010:50:04

If Mary believes she has a right to the throne,

0:50:050:50:08

she'll have to take it by force.

0:50:080:50:11

As day breaks on the 11th,

0:50:180:50:20

Northumberland sends recruiting parties out on to the streets,

0:50:200:50:24

to build up a force to suppress Mary's rebellion.

0:50:240:50:27

They didn't have standing armies,

0:50:290:50:31

they didn't have any of the security mechanisms

0:50:310:50:35

that we like to think we have today.

0:50:350:50:37

So that if an unexpected event came up, it was chaos,

0:50:370:50:42

you never knew which way things were going to go.

0:50:420:50:45

They relied on the nobility, the gentry, and ultimately,

0:50:450:50:50

ordinary people to support them.

0:50:500:50:51

They were just one man, or in the case of Jane, one woman,

0:50:510:50:55

and you needed people to want to back you and support you,

0:50:550:50:59

and fight for you.

0:50:590:51:01

You couldn't sort of force them to.

0:51:010:51:02

It's telling that Northumberland has to offer almost twice

0:51:030:51:07

the usual daily rate to recruit an army.

0:51:070:51:11

Well, even then, to muster an army within London,

0:51:110:51:14

he had to offer an outrageously high pay rate, that was so outrageous

0:51:140:51:19

that everyone felt the need to record it.

0:51:190:51:22

"Oh, my God, he's paying this much per day,

0:51:220:51:25

"that's so out of the ordinary."

0:51:250:51:26

So, it's clear that the only thing that was getting people to muster

0:51:260:51:30

to Northumberland was money.

0:51:300:51:32

Mary has also put out a call to arms.

0:51:330:51:36

She's mobilising an army, ready to fight,

0:51:390:51:41

and I think that's really important.

0:51:410:51:43

I mean, she's not cowering away here,

0:51:430:51:45

she is ready to assert her claim to the throne.

0:51:450:51:47

But this is dangerous at this point, you know,

0:51:470:51:49

she cannot be sure who to trust.

0:51:490:51:52

And she doesn't quite know, of course, either,

0:51:520:51:54

where the Duke of Northumberland or any of his henchmen are.

0:51:540:51:58

And that's the great fear at this moment.

0:51:580:52:00

Meanwhile in the Tower of London, Jane continues to send out letters,

0:52:020:52:07

rallying key supporters throughout the realm.

0:52:070:52:10

She's growing in confidence as the days pass.

0:52:110:52:14

She's always cast as the very innocent, very pious,

0:52:170:52:22

sort of demure...

0:52:220:52:24

..submissive puppet of the men around her.

0:52:250:52:29

Jane was a much more interesting individual than that.

0:52:290:52:32

She had strong views.

0:52:320:52:33

As a child, she was surrounded by influential figures who were tough,

0:52:330:52:38

uncompromising, and not afraid to voice their own opinion.

0:52:380:52:42

What might be surprising is how many of them were women.

0:52:430:52:46

She was exposed not only to Catherine Parr,

0:52:460:52:49

who was a very assertive woman,

0:52:490:52:51

and would argue religion with her husband, the king.

0:52:510:52:55

And very nearly lost her own life for doing so.

0:52:550:52:58

But at the same time, she was exposed to other very strong-willed,

0:52:580:53:02

highly educated women like Mildred Cecil,

0:53:020:53:05

the wife of William Cecil,

0:53:050:53:07

who would go on to become Elizabeth's Chief Minister.

0:53:070:53:10

She was exposed to Catherine Willoughby,

0:53:100:53:13

the last wife of Charles Brandon,

0:53:130:53:15

who was herself a very assertive, competent, educated woman.

0:53:150:53:20

Jane witnessed all this growing up, she absorbed it,

0:53:200:53:23

and she was able to project that back out

0:53:230:53:25

once she was in a position to assert her own authority.

0:53:250:53:28

Perhaps she wasn't the puppet history paints her as.

0:53:320:53:35

So, the idea that she would simply roll over

0:53:370:53:40

and do whatever her husband and her father-in-law,

0:53:400:53:42

and her father told her...

0:53:420:53:44

..seems to have been a miscalculation from the beginning?

0:53:450:53:48

Mary was a strong and assertive woman,

0:53:480:53:50

Elizabeth was a strong and assertive woman.

0:53:500:53:53

And we're asked to believe that their cousin, Jane,

0:53:530:53:57

would somehow suddenly be submissive?

0:53:570:53:59

No, she was part of that Tudor dynamic,

0:53:590:54:01

and she knew how to put herself forward,

0:54:010:54:03

she knew how to violate norms,

0:54:030:54:05

and she knew how to do that in a relatively acceptable way.

0:54:050:54:09

And she did it with the crown.

0:54:090:54:10

Jane does something that Northumberland

0:54:160:54:18

could never have predicted.

0:54:180:54:20

Jane was alone when the crown was brought to her.

0:54:250:54:28

According to Girolamo Pollini, an Italian friar,

0:54:310:54:35

the Lord Treasurer said he just wanted her to put it on

0:54:350:54:39

to see how it suited her.

0:54:390:54:40

Then the Lord Treasurer said a new one would be made for Guildford.

0:54:450:54:49

A king, after all, needed a crown.

0:54:490:54:51

Jane thought for a moment.

0:54:520:54:54

Then she said, no, she would make her husband a duke, but not a king.

0:54:540:54:59

Given Northumberland's plans,

0:55:020:55:04

this was an extraordinary act of independence.

0:55:040:55:07

When Guildford heard her decision, he tried to argue,

0:55:100:55:13

but there was no changing her mind.

0:55:130:55:16

Jane was queen, and she would rule alone.

0:55:160:55:19

She says, "Well, you can forget that for a game of soldiers.

0:55:190:55:22

"The most I'm going to do for you is make you a Duke,"

0:55:220:55:24

to which Guildford Dudley replies,

0:55:240:55:26

"If that's the case, you know, no king, no sex." No sex, no successor.

0:55:260:55:31

And he has to be sort of appeased and sort of carted off

0:55:320:55:34

by the Earls of Arundel and Pembroke.

0:55:340:55:36

This is the moment we see Jane take control.

0:55:400:55:43

If the plan was to install a king by default, Jane wasn't having it.

0:55:430:55:48

The men had made their plans, they tried to control the crown,

0:55:480:55:52

the country, Mary, and Jane.

0:55:520:55:54

And she said no.

0:55:560:55:58

This was her moment.

0:55:580:55:59

I think that was absolutely the critical turning point

0:56:020:56:05

in the entire succession crisis.

0:56:050:56:08

I think had she agreed to make him king outright,

0:56:080:56:11

had she acquiesced and been the submissive,

0:56:110:56:13

docile puppet that they wanted,

0:56:130:56:15

things might have gone a little differently.

0:56:150:56:17

She was the sort of person we might recognise today.

0:56:170:56:20

She's a sort of teenage religious ideologue

0:56:200:56:23

who's prepared to die for her religious cause.

0:56:230:56:27

For Jane, everything has changed.

0:56:300:56:33

The carefree life of a privileged young girl from Leicestershire

0:56:340:56:38

has been swept aside by a plot to make her queen.

0:56:380:56:41

In two days, Jane has occupied the throne and the role entirely.

0:56:440:56:49

Her transformation is complete.

0:56:520:56:54

Her rule has begun.

0:56:550:56:57

But Northumberland and the Privy Council's plans are unravelling.

0:56:590:57:03

Their assumption that Jane would bend to their bidding was mistaken.

0:57:050:57:09

Their belief that Guildford would become king was wrong.

0:57:120:57:16

And their certainty that Mary would simply go quietly

0:57:170:57:21

was the biggest miscalculation of all.

0:57:210:57:24

In a country that had never had a ruling queen,

0:57:260:57:29

this was now a battle between two women,

0:57:290:57:32

both determined to fight for the throne,

0:57:320:57:35

both believing that this was their time.

0:57:350:57:37

Next time, Northumberland's iron grip on power begins to slip.

0:57:470:57:51

He wasn't expecting Mary to go to battle,

0:57:520:57:55

and that was Northumberland's biggest mistake.

0:57:550:58:00

Against the odds, Mary's support is growing.

0:58:000:58:03

We see that the impossible gradually becomes possible.

0:58:030:58:07

And Jane finds herself under threat from the rebels.

0:58:070:58:10

With that artillery, she could've blown a hole

0:58:100:58:13

in the side of the Tower.

0:58:130:58:14

Those that end up on the losing side will pay with their lives.

0:58:140:58:18

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