Jane Grey (Lady Jane Grey) (1537-1554) is best known as the queen of England who reigned for only nine days.

Jane was the fourth in line of succession to the English throne because she was the daughter of Lady Frances Brandon, herself being the daughter of Princess Mary Tudor, sister of King Henry VIII. The will of Henry VIII in fact stipulated that the succession would be due to his sons in this order: Edward VI (son of Henry VIII and his third wife, the sweet Jane Seymour who died soon after childbirth); Mary I (daughter of Henry VIII and the inflexible Catherine of Aragon who never wanted to grant him a divorce). Mary was nicknamed Bloody Mary for her bloody repression of non-Catholics. And finally, third in the succession, Elizabeth I (daughter of Henry VIII and his second wife Anne Boleyn). Elizabeth would become the great queen of the golden age of Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser, Sydney. The will of Henry VIII also provided that the throne of England should not fall into foreign hands.

In the year 1553 Jane’s parents gave her hand in marriage to Guilford Dudley, son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. John Dudley, then advisor to the young Edward VI, ignoring the will of Henry VIII tried to convince Edward to appoint his cousin Jane as queen. So he did. She refused at first, knowing that the designated heir was Mary I, but in the end she was forced to accept. She entered London as queen, acclaimed by the people and supported by Parliament, and was housed in the royal apartments awaiting her coronation. But the Privy Council of England suddenly changed its course, proclaiming Queen Mary I. So Jane became a prisoner in the Tower where she was lodged as the future queen. In vain she hoped for the mercy of Mary. Accused of high treason, she was beheaded on 12 February 1554 at the age of seventeen. On the same day her husband, Guilford Dudley, was beheaded.