lady jane grey watching her husband being led to execution 1554 Queen England claimant Kingdom de facto monarch Executed
Lady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Queen Jane of England, was a claimant to the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland, who was de facto monarch of England for just over a week in 1553. Executed on 12 February 1554, Lady Jane Grey's claimed rule of less than two weeks in July 1553 is the shortest rule of England in its history. Popular history sometimes refers to Lady Jane as "The Nine Days' Queen" or, less commonly, as "The Thirteen Days' Queen" owing to disagreements about the beginning of her claimed rule. Historians have taken either the day of her official proclamation as Queen (10 July) or that of her predecessor's death (6 July) as the beginning. Lady Jane had a reputation as one of the most learned women of her day[citation needed], and the historical writer Alison Weir describes her as one of "the finest female minds of the century". She is sometimes reckoned the first Queen regnant of England. Jane and Lord Guilford Dudley were both charged with high treason, together with two of Dudley's brothers. Their trial, by a special commission, took place on 13 November 1553, at the Guildhall in the City of London. The commission was chaired by Sir Thomas White, Lord Mayor of London, and included Edward Stanley, 3rd Earl of Derby and John Bourchier, 2nd Earl of Bath. Both defendants were found guilty and sentenced to death. Jane's sentence was that she "be burned alive [the traditional English punishment for treason committed by women] on Tower Hill or beheaded as the Queen pleases." However, the imperial ambassador reported to Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, that her life was to be spared.
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