9 Day Queen: Lady Jane Grey

 

There are many historical figures that would be worthy of discussion. Especially in terms of the Reformation, we have many towering individuals who stand out for their love of Scripture and the true worship of God in the reformation of churches. One person you’ve probably not heard much about, if at all, is Lady Jane Grey (1537-1554). She is significant for various reasons, but I’d like to briefly go over who she was, how she became Queen of England for only 9 days, and her martyrdom.

Early Life and Education

Jane was born into the powerful high-status Grey family. She was the great-granddaughter of Henry VII, the grandniece of Henry VIII, and the first cousin once removed of the eventual monarchs (who were the children of Henry VIII) Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I. Given this fact, she was technically within the monarchical line of succession. 

From a young age, she was immersed in humanist learning, becoming one of the most educated women of her time. And that is not an overstatement, she was brilliant. It is reported that at age 13 she was able to read the philosopher Plato in the original Greek. She studied Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and was deeply influenced by Reformed theology. To just put her knowledge on display, she was in correspondence with continental Reformers like the Swiss Reformer Heinrich Bullinger. She was only 13-15 years at the time of correspondence and Bullinger, a man of great knowledge, considered her an equal. She even spoke of the influence Martin Bucer had on her as well. In a letter she wrote to Bullinger she says:

“O happy me, who am favoured with such a friend, and so wise a counsellor! for as Solomon says ‘in the multitude of counsellors there is safety’, and who am connected by the ties of friendship and intimacy, with so pious a divine, and so intrepid a champion of true religion. On many accounts I consider myself indebted to God, the greatest and best of beings, but especially for having, after I was bereaved of the pious Bucer, that most learned man and holy father, who night and day, and to the utmost of his ability, supplied me with all necessary instructions and directions, and by his advice promoted and encouraged my progress in probity, piety, and learning…”

Again, she was not lightly educated, the girl was a genius. She rejected Roman Catholic teachings such as transubstantiation, and held firmly to justification by faith alone. She was a lady whose upbringing was full of lively faith and a deep love for studying. 

Becoming Queen

Lady Jane Grey was around 10 years old when her cousin Edward VI became king at 9 years old. One thing to remember is that Edward had two older half-sisters (Mary and Elizabeth) that technically were in line to become monarchs first but because he was Henry VIII’s first son, he assumed the throne before them. Mary is the half-sister we’ll bring up again in Jane’s story. King Edward brought much reform to the Church of England with the help of men like Edward Seymour, Duke of Somerset, and Thomas Cranmer, the Archbishop of Canterbury. Even with all the reforms in place, the hard work was halted. The young king Edward VI, who was a committed Protestant, lay dying at the age of only 15.

With Edward knowing who was next in line to take the English crown, his half-sister Mary the firstborn daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon, he decided to take action while he was dying. He sought to prevent the devout Roman Catholic Mary by altering the succession line to name Jane Grey as his heir. Jane did not seek the crown at all. She didn’t care to be queen or want the responsibility. In fact, she resisted it. But under immense political pressure, especially from her father-in-law, John Dudley the Duke of Northumberland, she reluctantly accepted.

So now Jane was Queen of England. She never even had an official coronation. Her reign would only last an astonishing nine days. The people of England, though they certainly didn’t want to return to Rome, started to recognize that they would rather a legit monarch rather than one just placed on the throne because of ulterior motives. Mary quickly gathered support, raised an army, entered London triumphantly, and Jane was deposed and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Imprisonment and Theological Witness

During her imprisonment, Jane demonstrated remarkable theological clarity and courage. She engaged in disputations with Catholic interlocutors, including John Feckenham, the future Abbot of Westminster. In one exchange with Feckenham on the Lord’s Supper, she boldly declared:

I ground my faith upon God’s word, and not upon the church: for if the church be a good church, the faith of the church must be tried by God’s word, and not God’s word by the  church: neither yet my faith: shall I believe the church because of antiquity? Or shall I give credit to that church which taketh away from me a full half part of the Lord’s Supper, and will not layman receive it in both kinds, but the priests only themselves, which thing if they deny to us part, they deny us part of our salvation? And I say, that it is an evil and no good church, and not the spouse of Christ, but the spouse of the devil, which altereth the Lord’s Supper, and both taketh from it, and addeth to it: to that church I say God will add plagues, and from that church will he take their part out of the Book of Life: you may learn of St. Paul, how he did administer it to the Corinthians in both kinds, which since your church refuseth, shall I believe it? God forbid!

This clearly reflects a deeply Protestant commitment to sola Scriptura—a conviction shared by the broader Reformation, including figures like John Calvin, her friend Heinrich Bullinger and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer.

Martyrdom (February 12, 1554)

Queen Mary I, who infamously became known as “Bloody Mary” due to her wicked murders of English reformers and other Protestants, deemed Jane too dangerous to live. Mary sentenced her to death for treason. On the day of her execution, Jane walked calmly to the scaffold within the Tower of London. Eyewitnesses record her composure, humility, and unwavering faith in Christ.

Shortly before her execution, she composed a prayer which included: 

Only, in the meantime, arm me, I beseech thee, with thy armour, that I may stand fast, my loins being girded about with verity, having on the breast-plate of righteousness, and shod with the shoes prepared by the gospel of peace; above all things, taking to me the shield of faith, wherewith I may be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; and taking the helmet of salvation, and the sword of thy spirit, which is thy most holy word; praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication, that I may refer myself wholly to thy will…

Her final speech on the scaffold included these words:

I beseech you all to bear me witness that I here die a true christian woman, professing and avouching from my soul that I trust to be saved by the blood, passion, and merits of Jesus Christ my Saviour only, and by none other means; casting far behind me all the works and merits of mine own actions, as things so far short of the true duty I owe, that I quake to think how much they may stand up against me. And now, I pray you all pray for me, and with me.

Her final words, spoken as she felt for the execution block where she would be beheaded were:

“Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit.”

She was just 17 years old.

Theological Significance 

Lady Jane Grey stands firmly in the line of English Protestant martyrs, alongside figures like Thomas Cranmer, Hugh Latimer, Nicholas Ridley, and John Rogers. Her death was not merely political, it was confessional. She died for the same truths that animated the Reformation, that being justification by faith alone, the authority of Scripture, and a rejection of Roman sacramentalism. In many ways, she represents the fruit of the Edwardian Reformation, a layperson (and a young woman, at that) deeply grounded in Scripture and willing to die for it. May we all learn from her example of faith and courage in the midst of death.