Editing Lord Guildford Dudley

{{Short description|Consort of Lady Jane Grey in 1553}}
{{redirect|Guilford Dudley|the U.S. ambassador|Guilford Dudley (ambassador)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2012}}
{{Infobox royalty    
| name                      = Lord Guildford Dudley
| image                     = Lord Guilford Dudley.jpg
| caption                   = 19th-century depiction of Guildford Dudley in the Houses of Parliament, Westminster
| alt                       = Lord Guildford Dudley, husband of Lady Jane Grey.
| succession                = [[List of English royal consorts|Consort of the English monarch]]
| moretext                  = (disputed)
| consort                   = yes
| reign                     = 10 July 1553 – 19 July 1553
| birth_name                =
| birth_date                = {{circa|1535}}
| birth_place               =
| death_date                = 12 February 1554 (age 18–19)
| death_place               = [[Tower Hill]], London, England
| burial_place              = [[Church of St Peter ad Vincula]], London
| spouse                    = {{marriage|[[Lady Jane Grey]]|25 May 1553}}
| father                    = [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland]]
| mother                    = [[Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland|Jane Guildford]]
}}

'''Lord Guildford Dudley''' (also spelt '''Guilford''') ({{circa|1535}}<ref>Richardson 2008</ref> – 12 February 1554) was an English nobleman who was married to [[Lady Jane Grey]]. She occupied the English throne from 10&nbsp;July until 19&nbsp;July 1553, having been declared the heir of [[King Edward VI]]. Guildford Dudley had a [[Renaissance humanism|humanist]] education and married Jane in a magnificent celebration about six weeks before the King's death. After Guildford's father, the [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland|Duke of Northumberland]], had engineered Jane's accession, Jane and Guildford spent her brief rule residing in the [[Tower of London]]. They were still in the Tower when their regime collapsed and remained there in different quarters as prisoners. They were condemned to death for [[high treason]] in November 1553. [[Queen Mary I]] was inclined to spare their lives, but [[Thomas Wyatt's rebellion]] against Mary's plans to marry [[Philip II of Spain|Philip of Spain]] led to the young couple's execution, a measure that was widely seen as unduly harsh.

==Family and marriage==
[[File:Arms of Dudley Family.svg|thumb|190px|Coat of arms of the Dudley family]]
Lord Guildford Dudley was the second youngest surviving son of [[John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland|John Dudley]], later [[Duke of Northumberland]] and his wife, [[Jane Dudley, Duchess of Northumberland|Jane Guildford]].<ref name="Loades p. 238">Loades 1996 p. 238</ref> The Dudley lineage goes back to a family called Sutton. In the early 14th century, they became the [[Baron Dudley|lords of Dudley Castle]],<ref>Wilson 1981 pp. 1–4</ref> from whom Guildford descended through his paternal grandfather. This was [[Edmund Dudley]], a [[Privy Councillor|councillor]] of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]], who, in 1510, after the accession of [[Henry VIII]], was executed. Through his father's mother, [[Elizabeth Grey, 6th Baroness Lisle]], Guildford descended from the [[Hundred Years War]] heroes, [[Richard Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick]], and [[John Talbot, 1st Earl of Shrewsbury]].<ref>Wilson 1981 pp. 1, 3; Adams 2002 pp. 312–313</ref>

The thirteen Dudley children grew up in a [[Protestant]] household and received a [[Renaissance Humanism|humanist]] education.<ref>Adams 2008; Chapman 1962 p. 65</ref> Under the young King [[Edward VI]], Guildford's father became [[Lord President of the Council]] and ''[[de facto]]'' ruled England from 1550 to 1553.<ref>Loades 1996 pp. 147, 285</ref> The [[chronicle|chronicler]] [[Richard Grafton]], who knew him,<ref name="Ives p. 275">Ives 2009 p. 275</ref> described Guildford as "a comely, virtuous and goodly gentleman".<ref name="Ives p. 185">Ives 2009 p. 185</ref> In 1552 Northumberland unsuccessfully tried to arrange a marriage between Guildford and [[Margaret Stanley, Countess of Derby|Margaret Clifford]].<ref>Loades 1996 pp. 226, 238</ref> Instead, in the spring of 1553, Guildford was engaged to the sixteen-year-old Jane Grey.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 185, 36</ref> Jane Grey and Margaret Clifford were both great-granddaughters of [[Henry VII of England|King Henry VII]], but Jane figured higher in the line of succession.<ref name="Loades p. 238"/> On 25 May 1553, three weddings were celebrated at [[Durham Place]], the Duke of Northumberland's town mansion. Guildford married Jane; his sister [[Katherine Hastings, Countess of Huntingdon|Katherine]] married [[Henry Hastings, 3rd Earl of Huntingdon|Henry Hastings]], the [[Francis Hastings, 2nd Earl of Huntingdon|Earl of Huntingdon]]'s heir; and Jane's sister [[Lady Katherine Grey|Katherine]]  married [[Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke|Lord Herbert]], the heir of the [[William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke (1551 creation)|Earl of Pembroke]].<ref>de Lisle 2008 pp. 93, 304; Ives 2009 p. 321</ref>{{#tag:ref|Traditionally these matches came to be seen as part of a conspiracy by the Duke of Northumberland to bring his family to the throne. Some historians, though, like [[David Loades]], [[Wilbur Kitchener Jordan|W.K. Jordan]] (Jordan and Gleason 1975 pp. 10–11) and [[Eric Ives]] (Ives 2009 p. 153) have interpreted them as "routine actions of dynastic politics" (Loades 1996 p. 239).|group="note"}} It was a magnificent festival, with [[joust]]s, games, and [[masque]]s. For the latter, two different companies had been booked, one male, one female. The [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] and French ambassadors were guests, and there were "large numbers of the common people ... and of the most principal of the realm".<ref name="Ives p. 185"/> Guildford and some others suffered an attack of food poisoning, because of "a mistake made by a cook, who plucked one leaf for another".<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 82</ref>

==Claimed kingship==
[[File:The Crown Offered to Lady Jane Grey after Leslie.jpg|thumb|left|380px|''The Crown Offered to Lady Jane Grey'', as imagined in the 1820s: Guildford and Jane are in the centre]]
King Edward, in his "[[Edward_VI#Devise_for_the_succession|Devise of the Succession]]", settled the Crown on Jane Grey, his first cousin once removed, bypassing his half-sisters, [[Mary I of England|Mary]] and [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth]]. After Edward's death on 6&nbsp;July 1553, the Duke of Northumberland undertook the enforcement of the King's will.<ref>Alford 2002 pp. 171–172</ref> The envoys of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and France were sure of the plan's success.<ref>Loades 1996 p. 256–257</ref> Jane was reluctant to accept the Crown: she gave in after remonstrances by an assembly of nobles, including her parents and in-laws, while Guildford chimed in with a lovelier approach, with "prayers and caresses".<ref>Ives 2009 p. 187</ref> On 10&nbsp;July Jane and Guildford made their ceremonial entry into the [[Tower of London]].<ref>Ives 2009 p. 188</ref> Residing in there, Guildford wanted to be made king; according to her own later account, Jane had a long discussion about this with Guildford, who "assented that if he were to be made king, he would be so by me, by [[Act of Parliament]]".<ref name="Ives p. 189">Ives 2009 p. 189</ref> However, Jane would agree only to make him [[Duke of Clarence]]; Guildford replied that he did not want to be a duke, but the king.<ref>Ives 2009 p. 189</ref> When the Duchess of Northumberland heard of the argument, she became furious and forbade Guildford to sleep any longer with his wife. She also commanded him to leave the Tower and go home, but Jane insisted that he remain at court at her side.<ref>Chapman 1962 pp. 117–118; Ives 2009 p. 189</ref>

According to later remarks by the Imperial ambassadors, the daily Council meetings were presided over by Guildford, who allegedly also dined in state alone and had himself addressed in regal style.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 189, 241</ref> [[Antoine de Noailles]], the French ambassador, described Guildford as "the new King".<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 121</ref> The Imperial court in [[Brussels]] also believed in the existence of King Guildford.<ref name="Ives p. 189"/>

==Imprisonment==
On 10&nbsp;July, the same day as Jane's [[proclamation]], a letter from Mary Tudor arrived in London, saying that she was now queen and demanding the obedience of the Council.<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 122</ref> Mary was assembling her supporters in [[East Anglia]]; it was decided to take the field against her after some discussion over who should go, in which Jane made sure that her father should not.<ref>Ives 2009 p. 198</ref> The Duke of Northumberland marched to [[Cambridge]] with his troops and passed a week that saw no action until he heard on 20&nbsp;July that the Council in London had declared for Mary. Northumberland proclaimed Mary Tudor himself at the marketplace and was arrested the next morning.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 246, 241–242, 243–244</ref> On 19&nbsp;July, a few hours before Queen Mary I's proclamation in London, the baptism of one of the [[Gentlemen Pensioners|Gentlemen Pensioner]]s' children took place. Jane had agreed to be the [[godparent|godmother]] and wished the child's name to be Guildford.<ref name="Ives p. 215">Ives 2009 p. 215</ref> The Bishop of Winchester, [[Stephen Gardiner]], who had been imprisoned in the Tower for five years, took great offence at this fact as he heard of it.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 184, 241</ref>

A majority of the Privy Council moved out of the Tower before switching their allegiance.<ref>Ives 2009 p. 214</ref> Becoming aware of his colleagues' change of mind, Jane's father, the [[Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk|Duke of Suffolk]], abandoned his command of the fortress and proclaimed Mary I on nearby [[Tower Hill]]. After he had left, his wife was told she could also go home,<ref name="Ives p. 215"/> while Jane, Guildford, and the Duchess of Northumberland were not allowed to.<ref name="Ives p. 241">Ives 2009 p. 241</ref> Jane was later moved from the royal apartments to the Gentleman Gaoler's lodgings and Guildford was imprisoned in the Bell Tower. There he was soon joined by his brother, [[Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester|Robert]].<ref>Ives 2009 p. 249; Wilson 1981 p. 59</ref> His remaining brothers were imprisoned in other towers, as was his father, who was for the moment the only prominent person to go to the [[Decapitation|scaffold]]; Mary was prepared to spare Jane's and Guildford's lives, concluding that they were mere pawns in Northumberland's scheme.<ref>Wilson 1981 pp. 59, 62, 63</ref>

Jane and Guildford were [[Indictment|indicted]] on 12&nbsp;August,<ref>Ives 2009 p. 247</ref> and Jane submitted a letter of explanation to the Queen, "asking forgiveness ... for the sin she was accused of, informing her majesty about the truth of events."<ref>Ives 2009 p. 18</ref> In this account, she spoke of herself as "a wife who loves her husband".<ref>Ives 2009 p. 186</ref> On 13 November 1553, Jane and Guildford were tried at [[Guildhall, London|Guildhall]], together with [[Archbishop of Canterbury|Archbishop]] [[Thomas Cranmer|Cranmer]] and Guildford's brothers [[Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick|Ambrose]] and Henry. They were all convicted of [[high treason]] after pleading guilty.<ref>Nichols 1850 p. 32; Ives 2009 pp. 251–252</ref> Guildford was convicted of compassing to depose Queen Mary I by sending troops to the Duke of Northumberland and by proclaiming and honouring Jane as queen.<ref>Bellamy 1979 p. 54</ref>

In December, Jane was allowed to walk freely in the Queen's Garden.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 252, 355</ref> Lord Robert and Lord Guildford had to be content with taking the air on the leads of the Bell Tower.<ref>Nichols 1850 p. 33</ref> Jane and Guildford may have had some contact with each other,<ref>Ives 2009 p. 252; Wilson 1981 p. 59</ref> and at some point Guildford wrote a message to his father-in-law in Jane's prayer book: <blockquote>
Your loving and obedient son wishes unto your grace long life in this world with as much joy and comfort as ever I wish to myself, and in the world to come joy everlasting. Your humble son to his death, G. Dudley<ref name="Ives p. 185"/>
</blockquote>

==Execution==	

Queen Mary I's plan to marry [[Philip II of Spain|King Philip of Naples and Sicily]] (the future Philip II of Spain) was greeted with widespread opposition, not just among the populace but also among [[Member of Parliament|Members of Parliament]] and privy councillors. [[Thomas Wyatt's rebellion]] in early 1554, in which the Duke of Suffolk took part, resulted from this dislike.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 261–262</ref> It was not the intention of the conspirators to bring Jane Grey to the throne again. Nevertheless, at the height of the military crisis around 7&nbsp;February, the government decided to execute Jane and her husband for high treason, of which they had both been found guilty. It was also an opportunity to remove possible inspirations for future unrest and unwelcome reminders of the past.<ref>Ives 2009 pp. 265–268</ref> It troubled Mary to let her cousin die, but she accepted the Privy Council's advice.<ref>Porter 2007 p. 302</ref> Bishop Gardiner pressed for the young couple's execution in a court sermon,<ref name="Ives p. 268">Ives 2009 p. 268</ref> and the Imperial ambassador [[Simon Renard]] was happy to report that "Jane of Suffolk and her husband are to lose their heads."<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 190</ref>

The day before their executions, Guildford asked Jane for a last meeting, which she refused, explaining it "would only ... increase their misery and pain, it was better to put it off ... as they would meet shortly elsewhere, and live bound by indissoluble ties."<ref>Ives 2009 p. 274</ref> Around ten o'clock in the morning of 12 February, Guildford was led towards Tower Hill, where "many ... gentlemen" waited to shake hands with him.<ref>Nichols 1850 p. 55; Ives 2009 p. 274–275</ref> Guildford made a short speech to the assembled crowd, as was customary.<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 204</ref> "Having no ghostly father with him",<ref name="Nichols p. 55">Nichols 1850 p. 55</ref>{{#tag:ref|Guildford had probably refused to be attended by a [[Catholic Church|Catholic]] priest and been denied a [[Protestant]] divine (Nichols p. 55).|group="note"}} he knelt, prayed, and asked the people to pray for him, "holding up his eyes and hands to God many times".<ref name="Ives p. 275"/> He was killed with one stroke of the axe, after which his body was conveyed on a cart to the Tower chapel of [[Church of St Peter ad Vincula|St Peter ad Vincula]]. Watching the scene from her window, Jane exclaimed: "Oh, Guildford, Guildford!"<ref name="Ives p. 275"/> He was buried in the chapel with Jane, who was dead within the hour.<ref>Chapman 1962 p. 203</ref>

The executions did not contribute to Mary's or the government's popularity.<ref name="Ives p. 275"/> Five months after the couple's death, [[John Knox]], the famous Scottish [[Protestant Reformation|reformer]], wrote of them as "innocents ... such as by just laws and faithful witnesses can never be proved to have offended by themselves."<ref name="Ives p. 268"/> Of Guildford, the chronicler Grafton wrote ten years later: "even those that never before the time of his execution saw him, did with lamentable tears bewail his death."<ref name="Ives p. 275"/>

==In popular culture==

Lord Guildford Dudley was portrayed by [[John Mills]] in the 1936 film ''[[Tudor Rose (film)|Tudor Rose]]'',<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20190505123601/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b6b91d711 Tudor Rose (1936)] ''BFI''</ref> [[Cary Elwes]] in the 1986 film ''[[Lady Jane (1986 film)|Lady Jane]],''<ref>[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1986-02-07-ca-5489-story.html Movie Review: The Passion and the Romance of 'Lady Jane'] ''Los Angeles Times''</ref> Jacob Avery in the 2022 drama series ''[[Becoming Elizabeth]]'',<ref>[https://www.newsweek.com/becoming-elizabeth-cast-characters-real-people-tudors-starz-1713782 Meet the 'Becoming Elizabeth' Cast and Their Real-Life Characters] ''Newsweek'',</ref> and [[Edward Bluemel]] in the 2024 television series ''[[My Lady Jane]]''.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/arts-and-culture/g61427331/my-lady-jane-prime-video-set-photos-edward-bluemel/ |title=Go Behind the Scenes of ''My Lady Jane'' with Edward Bluemel |last=Rathe |first=Adam |date=28 June 2024 |work=Town & Country |access-date=29 June 2024 |language=en-US}}</ref> He is also a character in [[Alison Weir]]'s ''Innocent Traitor: A Novel of Lady Jane Grey'' (2007).

==See also==
*[[Cultural depictions of Lady Jane Grey]]

==Footnotes==
{{reflist|group="note"}}

==Citations==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==References==
*Adams, Simon (2002): ''Leicester and the Court: Essays in Elizabethan Politics'' Manchester University Press {{ISBN|0-7190-5325-0}}
*Adams, Simon (2008): [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8160 "Dudley, Robert, earl of Leicester (1532/3–1588)"] ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' online edn. May 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-04-03
*Alford, Stephen (2002): ''Kingship and Politics in the Reign of Edward VI'' Cambridge University Press {{ISBN|978-0-521-03971-0}}
*Bellamy, John (1979): ''The Tudor Law of Treason: An Introduction'' Routledge & Kegan Paul {{ISBN|0-8020-2266-9}}
*Chapman, Hester (1962): ''Lady Jane Grey'' Jonathan Cape
*de Lisle, Leanda (2008): ''The Sisters Who Would Be Queen: Mary, Katherine and Lady Jane Grey. A Tudor Tragedy'' Ballantine Books {{ISBN|978-0-345-49135-0}}
*[[Eric Ives|Ives, Eric]] (2009): ''Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery'' Wiley-Blackwell {{ISBN|978-1-4051-9413-6}}
*[[Wilbur Kitchener Jordan|Jordan, W.K.]] and M.R. Gleason (1975): ''The Saying of John Late Duke of Northumberland Upon the Scaffold, 1553'' Harvard Library {{LCCN|75015032}}
*[[David Loades|Loades, David]] (1996): ''John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553'' Clarendon Press {{ISBN|0-19-820193-1}}
*[[John Gough Nichols|Nichols, J. G.]] (ed.) (1850): [https://archive.org/details/chronicleofqueen00nichuoft ''The Chronicle of Queen Jane''] Camden Society
*[[Linda Porter (historian)|Porter, Linda]] (2007): ''The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary"'' St. Martin's Press {{ISBN|9780312368371}}
*Richardson, G. J. (2008): [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/8149 "Dudley, Lord Guildford (c.1535–1554)"] ''[[Oxford Dictionary of National Biography]]'' online ed. Oct 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-05-19
*[[Patrick Fraser Tytler|Tytler, P. F.]] (1839): [https://archive.org/details/englandunderreig02tytluoft ''England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary''] Vol.&nbsp;II Richard Bentley
*Wilson, Derek (1981): ''Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533–1588'' Hamish Hamilton {{ISBN|0-241-10149-2}}

==External links==
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Dudley, Guildford}}
[[Category:Lord Guildford Dudley| ]]
[[Category:1530s births]]
[[Category:1554 deaths]]
[[Category:Year of birth uncertain]]
[[Category:English royal consorts]]
[[Category:Prisoners in the Tower of London]]
[[Category:16th-century English nobility]]
[[Category:Dudley family|Guildford]]
[[Category:Lady Jane Grey]]
[[Category:People executed by Tudor England by decapitation]]
[[Category:People executed under Mary I of England]]
[[Category:Burials at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula]]
[[Category:Executions at the Tower of London]]
[[Category:Younger sons of dukes]]
[[Category:Executed English nobility]]
[[Category:People executed under the Tudors for treason against England]]
[[Category:Children of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland]]