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Summary
Summary
"Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same." These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. Minutes later her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy axe. Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time.Jane is known to history as "the Nine Days Queen," but her reign lasted, in fact, for thirteen days. The human and emotional aspects of her story have often been ignored, although she is remembered as one of the Tudor Era's most tragic victims. While this is doubtlessly true, it is only part of the complex jigsaw of Jane's story. She was a remarkable individual with a charismatic personality who earned the admiration and affection of many of those who knew her. All were impressed by her wit, passion, intelligence, and determined spirit. Furthermore, the recent trend of trying to highlight her achievements and her religious faith has, in fact, further obscured the real Jane, a young religious radical who saw herself as an advocate of the reformed faith--Protestantism--and ultimately became a martyr for it.Crown of Blood is an important and significant retelling of an often-misunderstood tale: set at the time of Jane's downfall and following her journey through to her trial and execution, each chapter moves between the past and the "present," using a rich abundance of primary source material (some of which has never been published) in order to paint a vivid picture of Jane's short and turbulent life. This dramatic narrative traces the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which Jane became involuntarily tangled--and which ultimately led to a shocking and catastrophic conclusion.
Author Notes
Nicola Tallis achieved a first-class bachelor's degree with honors in history from Bath Spa University. She also has an MA in Public History from Royal Holloway College, University of London. Nicola has been passionate about English history all of her life, and has worked as a curator, lecturer, and historical researcher. She is currently the resident historian for Alison Weir Tours. Crown of Blood, her first book, is the result of five years of research on the Grey family.
Reviews (5)
Publisher's Weekly Review
British historian Tallis portrays nine-day queen Grey (1536/1537-1554) as a determined, devout, and clothes-loving teenager whose intellect, youth, and religious fervor perpetuate her mythologizing centuries later. During the dawn of English Protestantism, Grey vigorously discussed religious tenets with both Catholic and Protestant theologians, garnering praise for her understanding and later inspiring her inclusion in John Foxe's Book of Martyrs. Tallis humanizes Grey, showing her willfulness-she refused to corule with her husband, whose father placed her on the throne-as well as her desperation to please her remarkably unwise parents, whose ambition cost Jane her freedom and life. Popular myths and earlier historical interpretations of key events receive fresh analysis aided by diligent research (a minor complaint is an odd reference to Henry VIII's "divorce" of Anne of Cleves-it was technically annulled). Tallis's clear writing and well-paced narrative heighten the story's climactic and tragic ending. She also pays careful attention to the relationship between Mary I and Grey, noting warm, long-standing family ties and similarities in religious fervor-albeit for different denominations-and key differences in how each approached her claim to the throne. Tallis successfully champions Jane's reign as legitimate and elucidates her role as a key player in the battle for England's official church. Illus. (Dec.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Booklist Review
There are many portals into the vibrant Tudor period in English history, each marked with the name of an individual whose life contributed to the drama of the era. One such significant personage was Lady Jane Grey, who is usually thought of as a poor little creature caught up in the devious schemes of opposing court factions. Lady Jane was a great-granddaughter of Henry VIII. Inheritance of the throne, as we all know, was a central theme of the Tudor years, and Lady Jane found herself proclaimed queen upon the demise of Henry's son, Edward VI. Jane's reign lasted only nine days. Henry's eldest daughter booted Jane off the throne and had her executed for treason. The Jane whom Tallis presents is a young woman of great intelligence who received a superior education, especially for a young lady at that time. A victim easily manipulated by others who were interested only in pursuing their own selfish goals? No, Tallis asserts a heroine who stood up for the causes in which she believed.--Hooper, Brad Copyright 2016 Booklist
New York Review of Books Review
On a chilly February morning in 1554, a 17-year-old girl awaited execution on a scaffold outside the Tower of London. Lady Jane Grey's disputed, brutally foreshortened reign as Queen of England has since become a romantic footnote in the history of the Tudor dynasty. Jane wound up the somewhat hapless victim of religious entanglements during the English Reformation, her time on the throne a mere 13-day interregnum between Edward VI, the first monarch raised as a Protestant, and the sanguinary rule of his half sister, the Roman Catholic Mary. Tallis takes this thin slice of fact and serves it up as a full banquet, filling in history's faint outline, loading on the qualifiers ("it seems more likely," "it is possible," "almost certainly") and deploying every scrap of Jane's known writings. The telling is by necessity speculative, since so little primary source material exists. No physical descriptions survive. We don't know the date or place of Jane's birth, or very much about her childhood, aside from the general habits that would have been followed by the aristocracy. The 16th-century martyrologist John Foxe transcribed a supposed debate between Jane and a Catholic cleric just before her execution, but questions about its authenticity persist. Nevertheless, Tallis perseveres, presenting Jane as "a spirited girl who demonstrated character, passion, talent and strength," a serious bookworm who grew up in a household where new ideas flourished. In a typical passage, Jane "could almost forget who she was and the complexities of her situation in life when she became lost in the challenging pages of Plato, whose work she read for fun." Edward, who shared the reformist sentiments of Jane's faction, had placed her at the head of the line of succession, preceding both his half sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. "Crown of Blood" draws poignancy from the shared doom of Jane and her husband, Guildford Dudley. Whether Jane had romantic feelings for Guildford is a matter of continued debate. Whatever the attachment, the young couple's naïveté was certainly "used as an instrument in the games of older men." JEAN ZIMMERMAN'S most recent novel is "Savage Girl."
Kirkus Review
A new biography of the Nine Day Queen, a young lady sacrificed through the actions of powerful and ambitious manipulators in the complex world of sixteenth-century politics.After the death of Protestant Edward VI in 1553, his Catholic sister, Mary, was heir to the English throne. Preferring a Protestant, the dying Edward proclaimed his 17-year-old cousin, Lady Jane Grey, as his successor. Most lords were too law-abiding to tolerate this action, so she was quickly deposed and executed. Many scholars of the period mention this in passing, but in her first book, Tallis, resident historian for Alison Weir Tours, makes an energetic case that Grey deserves more attention. Almost all existing documents cover only her final months, but Tallis does an admirable job turning up sources on her subjects early life which concentrate on her high-ranking parents and Janes intense religious education; she was very pious. As is usual for biographies where evidence is lacking, the author concentrates on the great events of those years that are turbulent enough to satisfy readers. Henry VIIII, despite breaking with the pope, had little interest in radical religious reform. This was not the case after his son, Edward VI, succeeded in 1547. With approval of the new king, Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury, pushed through changes that created a visibly Protestant Church of England. Most Englishmen remained Catholic, and even sympathetic nobles felt that Marys legal claim to the throne overrode religious considerations, so Edwards deathbed decree was brushed aside. Jane was never crowned, but neither were Edward V or Edward VIII, so the author maintains that she was queen of England, if only for slightly less than a fortnight. Readers will share Tallis sympathy with the devout, passive Jane but also approve of her emphasis on the more powerful, ambitious, and unpleasant men and women that surrounded her. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Library Journal Review
The tragic life and short (nine-day) reign of English monarch Lady Jane Grey (1537-54) is eloquently explored in debut author Tallis's biography of the precocious 17-year-old who dared to wear the crown between the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I. Ably guiding readers through the complex maze of familial connections and Tudor politics, the author presents an engaging portrait of a young woman whose sole crime was having had the misfortune to be born the great-niece of Henry VIII. Undoubtedly an innocent victim of the ambitions and machinations of those around her, Jane experienced a devastating downfall, an aspect of her life on which this study doesn't dwell. This account is particularly noteworthy for its exploration of Jane's accomplishments, foremost among them her intellectual attainments and correspondence with leading Protestant figures. Tallis illustrates how Jane's steadfast devotion to Protestantism, even in the face of imminent death, makes her more than a mere pawn in a power struggle but an important historical figure in her own right and fully worthy of being studied alongside the rest of England's queens. VERDICT Highly recommended for readers interested in British history or the Tudor era.-Sara Shreve, Newton, KS © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Table of Contents
| List of Illustrations | p. ix |
| Genealogical Tables | p. xi |
| Timeline | p. xiv |
| Author's Note | p. xvi |
| Introduction | p. xvii |
| Prologue | p. xxiii |
| Chapter 1 A Time to be Born and a Time to Die | p. 1 |
| Chapter 2 Rejoiced All True Hearts | p. 19 |
| Chapter 3 Anyone More Deserving of Respect | p. 36 |
| Chapter 4 The Imperial Crown | p. 51 |
| Chapter 5 A Loving and Kind Father | p. 60 |
| Chapter 6 A Second Court of Right | p. 69 |
| Chapter 7 Ruled and Framed Towards Virtue | p. 77 |
| Chapter 8 She Did Never Love Her After | p. 88 |
| Chapter 9 I Think Myself in Hell | p. 98 |
| Chapter 10 Godly Instruction | p. 118 |
| Chapter 11 A Comely, Virtuous and Goodly Gentleman | p. 126 |
| Chapter 12 The First Act of a Tragedy | p. 135 |
| Chapter 13 Long Live the Queen! | p. 154 |
| Chapter 14 Falsely Styled Queen | p. 169 |
| Chapter 15 Jana Non Regina | p. 181 |
| Chapter 16 Shut Up in the Tower | p. 190 |
| Chapter 17 Jane of Suffolk Deserved Death | p. 200 |
| Chapter 18 Justice is an Excellent Virtue | p. 215 |
| Chapter 19 Fear Not for Any Pain | p. 230 |
| Chapter 20 Liberty of the Tower | p. 237 |
| Chapter 21 The Permanent Ruin of the Ancient House of Grey | p. 248 |
| Chapter 22 Bound by Indissoluble Ties | p. 259 |
| Chapter 23 I am Come Hither to Die | p. 270 |
| Chapter 24 God and Posterity Will Show Me Favour | p. 280 |
| Epilogue | p. 291 |
| Appendix 1 The Queen Without a Face: Portraits of Lady Jane Grey | p. 296 |
| Appendix 2 Jane's Debate with Dr John Feckenham | p. 299 |
| Appendix 3 Following in Jane's Footsteps: Places to Visit | p. 304 |
| Notes and References | p. 308 |
| Bibliography | p. 352 |
| Acknowledgements | p. 363 |
| Index | p. 365 |