It is interesting that so many of Katherine Parr’s portraits have become confusedly associated with Jane – something that Jane would perhaps have been rather flattered by given her admiration for Katherine. But Katherine is not the only one of Jane’s contemporaries with whom portraits have become confused. The portrait at Syon labelled as Jane, and of which at least five similar copies survive, almost certainly depicts her cousin, the future Elizabeth I, or as Edwards has argued, perhaps her sister Katherine. Many of the images associated with Jane can be discounted easily, and have only been identified as her in the centuries following her death when her reputation and the popularity of her story increased.
During her short term as queen, Jane in fact did not even reign long enough for her image to be struck on to any official currency, or even a seal. That Jane remains the queen without a face, however, does not detract from her ability to inspire fascination in her story – one that has, thus far, lasted for over 400 years.
APPENDIX 2
Jane's Debate with Dr John Feckenham
HERE IS THE full transcript of the debate that took place between Jane and Dr Feckenham in the days before her execution. The conversation was referred to by several of Jane’s contemporaries, but this version comes directly from Foxe’s Acts and Monuments.
Feckenham: Madam, I lament your heavy case; and yet I doubt not, but that you bear out this sorrow of yours with a constant and patient mind.
Jane: You are welcome unto me, sir, if your coming be to give Christian exhortation. And as for my heavy case, I thank God, I do so little lament it, that rather I account the same for a more manifest declaration of God’s favour toward me, than ever he showed me at any time before. And therefore there is no cause why either you, or others which bear me good will, should lament or be grieved with this my case, being a thing so profitable for my soul’s health.
Feckenham: I am here come to you at this present, sent from the queen and her council, to instruct you in the true doctrine of the right faith: although I have so great confidence in you, that I shall have, I trust, little need to travail with you much therein.
Jane: Forsooth, I heartily thank the queen’s Highness, which is not unmindful of her humble subject: and I hope, likewise, that you no less will do your duty therein both truly and faithfully, according to that you were sent for.
Feckenham: What is then required of a Christian man?
Jane: That he should believe in God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God.
Feckenham: What? Is there nothing else to be required or looked for in a Christian, but to believe in him?
Jane: Yes, we must love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind, and our neighbour as ourself.
Feckenham: Why? Then faith justifieth not, nor saveth not.
Jane: Yes verily, faith, as Paul saith, only justifieth.
Feckenham: Why? St Paul saith, if I have all faith without love, it is nothing.
Jane: True it is; for how can I love him whom I trust not, or how can I trust him whom I love not? Faith and love go both together, and yet love is comprehended in faith.
Feckenham: How shall we love our neighbour?
Jane: To love our neighbour is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, and to give drink to the thirsty, and to do to him as we would do to ourselves.
Feckenham: Why? Then it is necessary unto salvation to do good works also, and it is not sufficient only to believe.
Jane: I deny that, and I affirm that faith only saveth: but it is meet for a Christian, in token that he followeth his Master Christ, to do good works; yet may we not say that they profit to our salvation. For when we have done all, yet we be unprofitable servants, and faith only in Christ’s blood saveth us.
Feckenham: How many sacraments are there?
Jane: Two: the one the sacrament of baptism, and the other the sacrament of the Lord’s supper.
Feckenham: No, there are seven.
Jane: By what Scripture find you that?
Feckenham: Well, we will talk of that hereafter. But what is signified by your two sacraments?
Jane: By the sacrament of baptism I am washed with water and regenerated by the Spirit, and that washing is a token to me that I am the child of God. The sacrament of the Lord’s supper, offered unto me, is a sure seal and testimony that I am, by the blood of Christ, which he shed for me on the cross, made partaker of the everlasting kingdom.
Feckenham: Why? What do you receive in that sacrament? Do you not receive the very body and blood of Christ?
Jane: No surely, I do not so believe. I think that at the supper I neither receive flesh nor blood, but bread and wine: which bread when it is broken, and the wine when it is drunken, put me in remembrance how that for my sins the body of Christ was broken, and his blood shed on the cross; and with that bread and wine I receive the benefits that come by the breaking of his body, and shedding of his blood, for our sins on the cross.
Feckenham: Why, doth not Christ speak these words, take, eat, this is my body? Require you any plainer words? Doth he not say, it is his body?
Jane: I grant he saith so; and so he saith, I am the vine, I am the door; but he is never the more for that the door or the vine. Doth not St Paul say, He calleth things that are not, as though they were? God forbid that I should say, that I eat the very natural body and blood of Christ: for then either I should pluck away my redemption, or else there were two bodies, or two Christs. One body was tormented on the cross, and if they did eat another body, then had he two bodies: or if his body were eaten, then was it not broken upon the cross; or if it were broken upon the cross, it was not eaten of his disciples.
Feckenham: Why, is it not as possible that Christ, by his power, could make his body both to be eaten and broken, and to be born of a virgin, as to walk upon the sea, having a body, and other suchlike miracles as he wrought by his power only?
Jane: Yes verily, if God would have done at his supper any miracle, he might have done so: but I say, that then he minded no work nor miracle, but only to break his body and shed his blood on the cross for our sins. But I pray you to answer me to this one question: Where was Christ when he said, Take, eat, this is my body? Was he not at the table, when he said so? He was at that time alive, and suffered not till the next day. What took he, but bread? What brake he, but bread? And what gave he, but bread? Look, what he took, he brake: and look, what he brake, he gave: and look, what he gave, they did eat: and yet all this while he himself was alive, and at supper before his disciples, or else they were deceived.
Feckenham: You ground your faith upon such authors as say and unsay both in a breath; and not upon the church, to whom ye ought to give credit.
Jane: No, I ground my faith on God’s word, and not upon the church. For if the church be a good church, the faith of the church must be tried by God’s word; and not God’s word by the church, neither yet my faith. Shall I believe the church because of antiquity, or shall I give credit to the church that taketh away from me the half part of the Lord’s Supper, and will not let any man receive it in both kinds? Which things, if they deny to us, then deny they to us part of our salvation. And I say, that it is an evil church, and not the spouse of Christ, but the spouse of the devil, that altereth the Lord’s supper, and both taketh from it, and addeth to it. To that church, say I, God will add plagues; and from that church will he take their part out of the book of life. Do they learn that of St Paul, when he ministered to the Corinthians in both kinds? Shall I believe this church? God forbid!
Feckenham: That was done for a good intent of the church, to avoid a heresy that sprang on it.
Jane: Why, shall the church alter God’s will and ordinance, for good intent? How did King Saul? The Lord God defend!
With these and such-like persuasions he would have had her lean to the church, but it would not be. There were many more things whereof they reasoned, but these were the chiefest.
After this, Feckenham took his leave, saying, th
at he was sorry for her: ‘For I am sure,’ quoth he, ‘that we two shall never meet.’
Jane: True it is that we shall never meet, except God turn your heart; for I am assured, unless you repent and turn to God, you are in an evil case. And I pray God, in the bowels of his mercy, to send you his Holy Spirit; for he hath given you his great gift of utterance, if it pleased him also to open the eyes of your heart.
APPENDIX 3
Following in Jane's Footsteps:
Places to Visit
MANY OF THE places that Jane would have been familiar with have sadly vanished, or are much changed. However, the settings for some of the most dramatic scenes of her life still exist. As you stand amid the beautiful ruins of Bradgate Park, or in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London, to name but two, it is possible to get a real sense of Jane, and to imagine her at some of the happiest moments of her life, and some of the most tragic.
Bradgate Park, Leicestershire
The magnificent remains of Jane’s childhood home still stand among the largely unchanged spectacular landscape of the parkland at Bradgate. The outline of the elegant gardens can still be seen, as can parts of the brickwork of the Great Hall. The only part of the building to survive partially intact, though much altered since Jane’s day, is the Chapel. It still houses the tomb of one of Jane’s cousins – Sir Henry Grey – the son of her uncle John Grey and his wife, Anne Windsor.
Excavations by the University of Leicester are currently taking place in order to try to unearth some of Bradgate’s secrets, so that we may in the future discover more about its splendid past. Nearby, the little church of All Saints in which Jane and her family may have worshipped can still be visited. It features a stained-glass window donated in 1915 with a figure that is thought to be Jane, portrayed as a saint (though Jane was never made a saint).
Astley Castle, Warwickshire
It is unlikely that Jane spent much time at Astley Castle, but nevertheless it has a claim to be listed among the places associated with her. It was in the park at Astley that Jane’s father and uncle were discovered hiding following their disastrous involvement in the Wyatt Rebellion. The ruined castle has now been turned into modern holiday accommodation, but the imprint of the gardens can still be seen. Next to the castle stands the church of St Mary the Virgin, in which several of Jane’s ancestors lie buried, including her paternal great-grandparents, and her paternal grandfather.
Chelsea Old Church, London
It is possible that Jane visited Chelsea Old Church during her visits to Katherine Parr at the palace that once stood nearby. A modern plaque now marks the spot that the palace occupied. Even if Jane did not visit the church, it remains of interest to those in search of Jane. The tomb of her mother-in-law, Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland, can still be seen. Although much damaged, the tomb bears the brass plaque that lists the names of her sons, and the cavity that once held their effigies. On the opposite side of the tomb, the brass bearing the names and images of the Duchess and her daughters still survives.
Sudeley Castle, Gloucestershire
Much of Sudeley Castle was destroyed following a siege by the Parliamentarian forces during the Civil War in the seventeenth century, and the castle as it stands today is largely the work of the Victorian restoration. However, fragments survive that Jane would have been familiar with during her brief stay at Sudeley in the summer of 1548. Most of the apartments once occupied by Katherine Parr have vanished, save for an outer chamber that Jane perhaps entered en route to Katherine’s inner rooms. There are also several items of interest relating to Katherine Parr on display in the castle, and portraits of many of Jane’s contemporaries.
Similarly, the church of St Mary that stands in the grounds was largely destroyed during the Civil War, but the Victorian tomb of Katherine Parr can still be seen. There is also a Victorian stained-glass window representing Jane – rather fitting given that she once played the role of Chief Mourner at Katherine’s funeral in the church.
Tilty, Essex
Tilty Abbey has sadly long since vanished. However, next to the church car park the remaining stonework of the house in which Jane once spent a Christmas full of revelry and merriment can still be seen.
The beautiful church of St Mary the Virgin is well worth a visit. The medieval beams are still visible, and the brass commemorating the resting place of Jane’s half-uncle, George Medley, and his wife Mary Danet lies on the floor of the chancel, north of the altar. It bears the following inscription:
Here under lyeth buried with his wife Mary, George Medley of Tilty in the county of Essex, Esquire. Which deceased the one and twentieth day of May in the year of our Lord God one thousand five hundredth threescore and two and in the four and fiftieth year of his age.
Syon Park, Greater London
Robert Adam remodelled much of the Syon with which Jane would have been familiar in the eighteenth century. However, the exterior of the house remains largely Tudor, and the structure of the Long Gallery in which, traditionally, Jane was offered the crown still survives. Syon also houses a wonderful collection of portraits of some of the people who feature in Jane’s story, notably her sister Katherine holding her son, the nephew that Jane never met. There is also a portrait labelled as Jane, but in fact it depicts her cousin, the Lady Elizabeth.
Guildhall, London
The impressive fifteenth-century façade of the building in which Jane was tried confronts visitors to Guildhall today. The Great Hall, the scene of the trial, has altered since Jane’s day. This is due to damage to the hall during the Great Fire of London. Nevertheless, it is still possible to get a sense of the terror that Jane must have felt while standing in the imposingly large space, listening to the charges against her, and her ultimately devastating sentence.
The Tower of London
The Tower needs no introduction, and is undoubtedly the most notorious of the surviving buildings associated with Jane. The Royal Apartments no longer survive, but many of the buildings in which Jane and her family were imprisoned remain. Notably, the Beauchamp Tower, with its many inscriptions, can be visited, including the beautiful memorial to Guildford and his brothers and the two famous ‘Jane’ carvings.
Many visitors are oblivious to the fact that as they walk behind the White Tower, they are crossing the same spot on which Jane died.
Finally, the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula in which Jane is buried can still be visited. The Victorian slab that commemorated Jane was replaced in the 1970s.
NOTES AND REFERENCES
The following abbreviations are used in the Notes and References:
CSPD Calendar of State Papers Domestic
CSPS Calendar of State Papers Spanish
CSPV Calendar of State Papers Venetian
L&P Letters & Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII
SP State Papers
TNA The National Archives
Introduction
1 J. Foxe, Acts and Monuments, ed. Rev. S. Reed, VI (London, 1838), p. 1605.
2 Ibid.
3 As Leanda de Lisle has highlighted, Spinola’s ‘description’ was an invention of the nineteenth-century antiquarian, Richard Davey. Battista Spinola was, however, a real person.
4 Eric Ives has suggested that ‘Rowland’ was actually a mistake, and that the author’s real name was Richard.
5 R. Wingfield, Vita Mariae Angliae Reginae, trans. D. MacCulloch, Camden Miscellany XXVIII, 4th series, XXIX (London, 1984), p. 245.
6 E. Baldwin, Life of Lady Jane Grey and her Husband (London, 1824), p. 3.
Chapter 1: A Time to be Born and a Time to Die
1 Harley MS 2342.
2 H. Robinson (ed.), Original Letters Relative to the English Reformation (Cambridge, 1846), p. 7.
3 L&P, XII (890).
4 As it transpired, Frances, her husband and her mother-in-law were all banned from attending the christening, as the King was alarmed by reports that they had been residing at Croydon Palace, where
‘three or four persons a day are dying of the plague there, and two persons are sick in my Lady’s house’. Despite their protestations that this was not the case, the King was taking no chances with the health of his precious male heir, and they were ordered to stay away. It was also observed that at that time Frances had been in the company of her friend Dorothy Howard, Lady Derby, and although it is unclear how long the two women had been together, if Frances had given birth to her first child that autumn she would have spent several weeks in seclusion prior to and after the birth. Lady Derby was the half-sister of the Duke of Norfolk and the wife of Edward Stanley, Earl of Derby. She was about four years older than Frances, and this is the only reference to a possible friendship between the two women. They may have been in residence at Lady Derby’s London home, Derby House, close to St Paul’s Cathedral.
5 If this was the case it is still difficult to pinpoint with precision exactly when Jane was born. At the funeral of Katherine of Aragon in January 1536, the role of Chief Mourner was played by Jane’s maternal aunt, Eleanor Brandon. Jane’s mother was not present, and had she been so, the role of Chief Mourner would have naturally been assigned to her, as the elder of the two sisters. It is possible that her absence could be explained by the fact that she was pregnant with Jane and unable to travel to fulfil the role. However, the fact that Jane was named as a compliment to Jane Seymour suggests that the very earliest that she could have been born was at the end of May, when Jane Seymour became queen.
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