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Lady Jane Grey: nine-day Queen of England

Honour her

LADY JANE GREY
NINE-DAY QUEEN OF ENGLAND
By Faith Cook
Evangelical Press. 249 pages. £13.95
ISBN 0 85234 579 9

The story of Lady Jane Grey’s life and her death by execution at the age of 16 is one of tragedy and triumph which deserves to be better known.

Her tragedy sprang from being too close in line of succession to the throne. As a result, she was used as a pawn by unscrupulous and self-serving nobles, including her own parents. She was set up as queen on the death of the Protestant King Edward VI in place of the rightful successor, the Roman Catholic Mary Tudor. When Mary secured the throne, Jane was executed for her unwilling part in the usurpation and because she represented a potential danger to the queen.

During her unhappy childhood, Jane found consolation in her studies and, helped by Protestant tutors, became a convinced Christian. She corresponded (in Latin) with Continental Reformers, such as Henry Bullinger of Zurich. When she had to face death, she did so trusting in Christ’s work for sinners and in God’s good purposes for her. Articulate and passionate, she ably demolished attempts to make her repudiate her convictions. Her last written messages to family and friends, urging them to faith, are moving and inspiring.

Jane’s story needs to be retold to a new generation of readers. While past biographers have sometimes sentimentalised and dehumanised her, and the present approach is to depict her as an ideological fanatic, Faith Cook writes with sympathy and understanding. She paints an attractive picture of a lovely, lively and gifted child, while not overlooking some of Jane’s faults. The book could have been enriched by a wider use of primary sources, and deserves better sub-editing. It would also be interesting to know the evidence for the assertion that Jane shared with Prince Edward in his lessons.

A final sentence, written by Jane in her day-book, expressed the hope that ‘God and posterity will show me more favour’. Jane deserved more favour than she received in her day, and this book will help contemporary Christians to honour her.

Joy Horn,
Cranleigh Baptist Church