ANST - FW: Musing on July 9 -- Janey Short and Sweet

[j'lynn yeates]

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- -----Original Message-----
From: Ellsworth Weaver [mailto:astroweaver at yahoo.com]
Sent: Sunday, July 09, 2000 12:24
To: 2thpix at surfari.net
Subject: Musing on July 9 -- Janey Short and Sweet


Dear Folks,

Today on July 9, 1553 a sixteen year old girl learned her childhood
sweetheart had died three days before and that by his will she was
queen. She promptly fainted. She was reputed to be the most
intelligent
woman in her country second only to her half-sister. She was Lady
Jane
Grey: the nine day queen.

Lady Jane was born in October, bet she was a Libra, 1537. Her mom,
Frances, was the daughter of Hank VIII’s younger sister, Mary (no,
not
Bloody Mary nor Mary Queen of Scots. Mary was a grand old name.) Jane
had two sisters, Katherine and Mary (see, another Mary) who was BTW a
dwarf. Janey was quite a catch, too. I mean she was petite (made
Vanna
White look like Arnold) with long dark auburn hair, very innocent,
strongly Protestant, and pretty darned rich after a bit. Most of the
contemporary portraits I have seen of her may have been of Catherine
Parr. They all show a heart-shaped face with a strong chin and large
eyes.

Janey was not very loved by her parents and spent most of her early
life studying, and playing with her sisters. That all changed when
she
was ten. In 1547 she moved to the household of Catherine Parr (the
last
wife and widow to Henry VIII). Hank was ailing big time. He was
grotesquely overweight, crazy, consumptive, and mean. Kate Parr was
Hank’s only widow. None of his other wives survived him. Pretty
indicative of that old Tudor charm. Things had been looking up for
Janey. She was at court and really liked young king Eddie VI. They
even
had the exact same birthday. Maybe there was romance. Eddie was
betrothed to Mary Queen of Scots but Scotland was acting up so that
marriage was not going to be. Did Eddie think Janey was a bundle? You
bet! But Fate had other things in store. Eddie had consumption,
tuberculosis, the same disease that took off his dear daddy.

Eddie was only nine when he took the throne and so was ruled by
others
more than he ruled. The most obnoxious of the "advisors" was a guy
named John Dudley the Earl of Warwick. This Dudley-Do-Wrong weaseled
his way into getting himself named Duke of Northumberland. He ran the
country even though he had no official title to do so and was
acquiring
real estate like Ted Turner. Lots of the land he was taking was from
the Catholic Church. Remember that they were no longer the Church of
State. When Eddie was diagnosed with that inevitably fatal disease
(in
those days) Northumberland got Eddie to see things his way. He
convinced Eddie that his Sis Mary, a Catholic from a dissolved
marriage, and Sis Elizabeth (Lizzie I), from an adulterous witch,
were
both illegitimate.

Dudley had his candidate in the wings, Janey. Janey’s mom, Frances,
had
just become rich since she inherited becoming the Duchess of Suffolk
as
the "sweating sickness"  (probably influenza) had taken off all the
other heirs. Dudley and Janey’s parents "persuaded" (read: beaten)
Janey to marry Guilford Dudley – the name says it all, doesn’t it? --
on May 21st of 1553. June 21st Eddie named her his next in line. What
an unexpected wedding gift for a childhood sweetheart. Janey did not
know anything about this. I think she would have been horrified. We
do
know that less than a month later, July 9th she was astounded to the
extent of fainting.

Janey was supposed to be queen. Guess that Dudley thought then his
son
would be king. Funny how that works out. When Janey was persuaded to
put on the Crown, she made it clear that Guilford was not king. So
there! Well, nine days laterJaney yielded up the Crown to Mary. Mary
felt she had to put Janey in the Tower. It did seem like Mary
intended
to set Jane free. Mary realized that Jane was a pawn, however her
execution was necessary because as long as she was alive she would be
threat to Mary. She could be used as a pawn by those wishing to see
Protestantism regain power. Janey had admitted she was wrong in
accepting the Crown, but denied that she was innocent of any
wrongdoing. John Dudley, Northumberland, was found guilty of treason
on
August 20, and executed on August 22. Lady Jane and her husband were
tried and convicted of high treason on November 14, "to be burnt
alive
or beheaded, as the queen shall please" and beheaded on February 12,
1554; Janey’s abusive dad was beheaded on February 23.

Mom Frances was very good friends with Mary I and avoided the
headsman.
She quickly married a man half her age and settled down out of the
political arena. Elizabeth, after she succeeded Bloody Mary, kept
Sister Katherine Grey at court just for security purposes. Kate Grey
was married to Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, in a secret ceremony
and soon had a child. They were ordered separated in the Tower, yet
she
became pregnant once more and had two sons in total. She died when
she
was 27. Her husband lived to be 83.

Janey, you were wonderful and I mourn your death.

What have we learned from this unfortunate story? Kids should not be
allowed to rule? Real estate agents are wont to hang out with kings
(sorry, Ms. Bening)? Some people just lose their heads trying to get
ahead? I think I like kings may say but biology rules the day. I just
made that up. *G*

Well, go out and make someone a king yourself. Careful what you
create
out there. Remember Dr. Frankenstein.

Forward these to whomever but keep my name and email address intact.

Love and laughter,
Ells




=====
"That proves you are unusual," returned the Scarecrow; "and I am
convinced that the only people worthy of consideration in this world
are the unusual ones. For the common folks are like the leaves of a
tree, and live and die unnoticed." -- L. Frank Baum in _The Land of
Oz_

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