Lord Guildford Dudley

Lord Guildford Dudley (also spelt Guilford) (Template:Circa<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 July until 19 July 1553, having been declared the heir of King Edward VI. Guildford Dudley had a humanist education and married Jane in a magnificent celebration about six weeks before the King's death. After Guildford's father, the 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 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

Coat of arms of the Dudley family

Lord Guildford Dudley was the second youngest surviving son of John Dudley, later Duke of Northumberland and his wife, 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 lords of Dudley Castle,<ref>Wilson 1981 pp. 1–4</ref> from whom Guildford descended through his paternal grandfather. This was Edmund Dudley, a councillor of 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 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 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 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 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 married Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon's heir; and Jane's sister Katherine married Lord Herbert, the heir of the Earl of Pembroke.<ref>de Lisle 2008 pp. 93, 304; Ives 2009 p. 321</ref><ref group="note">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, 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).</ref> It was a magnificent festival, with jousts, games, and masques. For the latter, two different companies had been booked, one male, one female. The 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

The Crown Offered to Lady Jane Grey, as imagined in the 1820s: Guildford and Jane are in the centre

King Edward, in his "Devise of the Succession", settled the Crown on Jane Grey, his first cousin once removed, bypassing his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth. After Edward's death on 6 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 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 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 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 July, a few hours before Queen Mary I's proclamation in London, the baptism of one of the Gentlemen Pensioners' children took place. Jane had agreed to be the 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 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.<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 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 indicted on 12 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, together with Archbishop Cranmer and Guildford's brothers 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:

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"/>

Execution

Queen Mary I's plan to marry 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 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 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><ref group="note">Guildford had probably refused to be attended by a Catholic priest and been denied a Protestant divine (Nichols p. 55).</ref> 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 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 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,<ref>Tudor Rose (1936) BFI</ref> Cary Elwes in the 1986 film Lady Jane,<ref>Movie Review: The Passion and the Romance of 'Lady Jane' Los Angeles Times</ref> Jacob Avery in the 2022 drama series Becoming Elizabeth,<ref>Meet the 'Becoming Elizabeth' Cast and Their Real-Life Characters Newsweek,</ref> and Edward Bluemel in the 2024 television series My Lady Jane.<ref>Template:Cite news</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

References

• Adams, Simon (2002): Leicester and the Court: Essays in Elizabethan Politics Manchester University Press Template:ISBN
• Adams, Simon (2008): "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 Template:ISBN
• Bellamy, John (1979): The Tudor Law of Treason: An Introduction Routledge & Kegan Paul Template:ISBN
• 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 Template:ISBN
• Ives, Eric (2009): Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Mystery Wiley-Blackwell Template:ISBN
• Jordan, W.K. and M.R. Gleason (1975): The Saying of John Late Duke of Northumberland Upon the Scaffold, 1553 Harvard Library Template:LCCN
• Loades, David (1996): John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland 1504–1553 Clarendon Press Template:ISBN
• Nichols, J. G. (ed.) (1850): The Chronicle of Queen Jane Camden Society
• Porter, Linda (2007): The First Queen of England: The Myth of "Bloody Mary" St. Martin's Press Template:ISBN
• Richardson, G. J. (2008): "Dudley, Lord Guildford (c.1535–1554)" Oxford Dictionary of National Biography online ed. Oct 2008 (subscription required) Retrieved 2010-05-19
• Tytler, P. F. (1839): England under the Reigns of Edward VI. and Mary Vol. II Richard Bentley
• Wilson, Derek (1981): Sweet Robin: A Biography of Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester 1533–1588 Hamish Hamilton Template:ISBN

External links

• Template:NPG name