On this day in Tudor history, 25th May 1553, Lady Jane Grey got married to Lord Guildford Dudley, son of John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.
They weren't the only couple to get married in the ceremony at Durham House, Jane's sister, Katherine, and Guildford's sister, Catherine, also got married.
In today's video, I give more details and consider who was behind this triple Tudor wedding.
Book recommendation: "The Sisters Who Would be Queen" by Leanda de Lisle.
Article recommendation: Christine Hartweg's "John Dudley: The Family Man" - https://allthingsrobertdudley.wordpress.com/2012/09/07/john-dudley-the-family-man/
Also on this day in history:
- 1524 – Death of Sir Thomas Lovell, administrator and Speaker of the House of Commons, at Elsings in Enfield.
- 1537 – Hanging of John Pickering, Dominican friar, at Tyburn. Pickering had been found guilty of treason for his part in the Pilgrimage of Grace uprising.
- 1551 – Croydon (London) and its neighbouring villages experienced a shock from an earthquake.
- 1554 – Edward Courtenay, Earl of Devon, was moved from the Tower of London to Fotheringhay Castle. He had been implicated in Wyatt’s Rebellion.
- 1607 – Funeral of John Rainolds (Reynolds), theologian and President of Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was buried in the college chapel.
- 1625 – Death of William Barlow, philosopher and Church of England clergyman. He was buried in the chancel of Easton church, the church where he was rector.
- 1632 – Death of William Knollys, 1st Earl of Banbury and courtier. He was the son of Sir Francis Knollys and Catherine Carey, and grandson of Mary Boleyn. He was buried at Rotherfield Greys.
The Dudley family were upstarts, the Grey family were upstarts, descended from the upstart Woodville mob and they had no right to marry themselves to the default heirs to the throne, so yes, it was Dynastic political manoeuvres by the most powerful man in England and Henry Grey and the Duchess of Suffolk. The King was unfortunately only fifteen, just a year or so from his majority and he knew he didn’t want either of his illegitimate sisters on the throne, although his father and Parliament named them next as heirs, Mary for obvious reasons and Elizabeth because she too was legally illegitimate. He was also dying. Now I am not quite going with the traditional view of Edward as a sick and vulnerable young boy who was controlled by evil Duke of Northumberland, forcing him to sign the Devise for the Succession, but this guy definitely took full advantage of the whole thing. He has one of his daughters married to Lord Herbert, another influential noble and two Grey girls married into his family. He is doing some networking political unifying here, building up a triple alliance on the Council. He can then control the Council and gain acceptance for the plan of himself and the Duke of Suffolk to put Jane on the throne. Very clever.