I really wanted to highlight that Jane was a real person who existed on more than the pages of books.
One thing that struck me whilst I was researching was that over the years so many myths have attached themselves to Jane, that the real her has become somewhat obscure. What does your book add to existing works about Lady Jane?
I’m glad that I did as it’s been a fascinating experience, and she has been an intriguing subject for a first book. It was only when I started delving around in various archives that I realised that there was more to say about Jane, and that she deserved a fresh appraisal. Initially I actually spent some time researching and writing about Jane’s mother, Lady Frances Brandon. This dramatic narrative traces the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which Jane became involuntarily tangled-and which ultimately led to a shocking and catastrophic conclusion.Why did you choose this subject for your book? Furthermore, the recent trend of trying to highlight her achievements and her religious faith has, in fact, further obscured the real Jane, a young religious radical who saw herself as an advocate of the reformed faith-Protestantism-and ultimately became a martyr for it.Ĭrown of Blood is an important and significant retelling of an often-misunderstood tale: set at the time of Jane's downfall and following her journey through to her trial and execution, each chapter moves between the past and the present, using a rich abundance of primary source material (some of which has never been published) in order to paint a vivid picture of Jane's short and turbulent life. All were impressed by her wit, passion, intelligence, and determined spirit. She was a remarkable individual with a charismatic personality who earned the admiration and affection of many of those who knew her. While this is doubtlessly true, it is only part of the complex jigsaw of Jane's story. The human and emotional aspects of her story have often been ignored, although she is remembered as one of the Tudor Era's most tragic victims. Jane is known to history as the Nine Days Queen, but her reign lasted, in fact, for thirteen days.
Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time. Minutes later her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy axe. These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554. Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same.
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