All photos courtesy of Unsplash
Lady Jane Grey was a remarkable character from the history of our country. She was known as the ‘Nine Day Queen of England’ and she died at the age of 16. She was highly educated, very intelligent and was a descendent Henry VII the first monarch of the House of Tudor that ruled through most of the sixteenth century. Jane was born in 1537 and died in 1554. She had a personal tutor and was able to speak a number of languages and could converse in Greek and even correspond with intellectuals in that language.
She studied not only languages but also the Word of God, the Bible and came to a settled conviction which led her to faith in Christ. She believed the Gospel and knew that the only way to Heaven was through faith alone in Christ alone. She grew up with two sisters named Katherine who was very beautiful but not an intellectual like Jane and Mary who had some kind of physical deformity. Her parents were deeply ambitious and carried the hope that Jane would one day inherit the throne and become Queen of England.
At the time Henry VIII had difficulty in acquiring a male heir to the throne and had two daughters. Mary the eldest who was the daughter of Katherine of Aragon whom Henry divorced and so disinherited his daughter. The second was Elizabeth by Anne Boleyn who had been executed and again that daughter was disinherited. The third child was born to huge rejoicing throughout the kingdom and was named Edward the son of Jane Seymour who sadly died soon after giving birth. Edward was well educated, very intelligent and knew the truth of the Gospel and was committed in faith to Jesus Christ.
When Henry VIII died he was succeeded by Edward who became Edward VI. Edward was only nine years of age when he came to the throne and so a Protector was there to advise him and run the kingdom on his behalf. The Lord Protector was Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset. As time went on there were all sorts of intrigues and eventually Seymour lost his position and was usurped by John Dudley, Earl of Warwick, who later became the Duke of Northumberland. Sadly when Edward died at the age of 16 it left a vacuum as to who would inherit the throne.
John Dudley who had virtually forced his son into marriage to Jane, hurriedly installed Jane as the Queen because it could be argued that she was next in the line of succession (though essentially Mary and Elizabeth were in line before her). Jane refused at first to take the throne but as a sixteen year old she was browbeaten into the role and Dudley thought he had achieved his aim of having a son as consort to the Queen. It was not to be.
All photos courtesy of Unsplash
Princess Mary rode to London with an increasing army of enthusiastic supporters and Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London as Mary triumphantly took the throne. Eventually Jane was executed by beheading having been offered the chance to live if she gave up her faith in Christ’s work on the cross. She refused and seemed to face death with a quiet confidence knowing that she would soon be with the Saviour.
The night before her execution she wrote a long letter to her sister Katherine where she said, “Defy the world, deny the devil, and despise the flesh, and delight yourself only in the Lord.” She concluded by saying, “Fare you well, good sister, and put your only trust in God, who only must help you.”. These are remarkable words from a sixteen year old who had only a few hours to live before a violent death. May God also give to us the same wonderful assurance of eternal life through faith in Christ.
DAILY MESSAGES WITH MEANING (22/07/24)
Written by PAUL YOUNG
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