Lady Jane Grey has been an answer to many obscure pub quizzes since she seized power for a mere nine days in 1553. However, beyond pub quiz success, there are many reasons for this being amazing school history.
Lady Jane fills the short gap between the death of Edward VI (the son Henry VIII tried so hard to get) and (Bloody) Mary I. She was never really destined for power but in a last minute change of heart, Edward named her as heir to his throne: though that story deserves another blog post entirely. In short, the Protestant Jane seized power for a mere 9 days but was swiftly removed by Catholic Mary after little over a week. Indeed, this is such a short period of time, that you won't find her on many kings and queens diagrams in school.
Jane was tried and sentenced to death in 1554. At the tender age of 16 or 17 she was duly beheaded for her attempt to steal the crown. This anecdote of teenage treason makes interesting study on its own but I think that the most interesting aspect of Lady Jane is the way that people have differed in their interpretations of her.
This cartoon below gives another positive but altogether different account. This time, Jane is shown as a brave and confident young woman who takes the whole thing far more coolly than her cowardly husband (I...I don't want to die...). Again, the views in this cartoon owe more to it's teenage audience in the 1960s than the course of events.
Finally and most outrageously, one blogger for The Daily Telegraph describes Jane in the following way: "Gentle Jane, my foot: she could have given the Taliban lessons in bigotry." He notes her thoughts on religion showing her own passionate Protestant beliefs. This Jane is certainly unrecognisable from the first two interpretations and leaves me rather confused about History. Indeed, the final account is certainly influenced by the writer's own views on religion. So, should we despair at this lack of clarity?
It's important to notice that some aspects of the past are more a matter of opinion than fact. I think that there are problems with each of these viewpoints but I don't think that it's always impossible to find out the truth. Like some of the best literature, History is most interesting when there is mystery involved. It's hard to tell what the "nine day queen" was really like but for me that makes her all the more intriguing.
More on Jane can be found here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/grey_lady_jane.shtml
P.s. These ideas were a part of a session which we had at university as part of my PGCE; the best ideas are often borrowed!
