Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset (17 January 1517 – 23 February 1554), was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
nobleman of the
Tudor periodThe House of Tudor was a prominent European royal house that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch Henry Tudor, descended paternally from the rulers of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth, and maternally from a legitimised branch of the English royal...
and the father of Lady Jane Grey.
The son of
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of DorsetThomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset KG KB , was an English peer, courtier, soldier and landowner, the grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, briefly Queen of England.-Early life:...
and of Margaret Wotton; through his father he was a great-grandson of
Elizabeth WoodvilleElizabeth Woodville or Wydeville was the Queen consort of Edward IV, King of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483.-Early life and first marriage:...
, the queen of Edward IV of England, by her first marriage to
Sir John Grey of GrobySir John Grey, of Groby, Leicestershire , was a Lancastrian knight, the great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England....
. Henry Grey became the 3rd
Marquess of DorsetThe title Marquess of Dorset has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was first created in 1397 for John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, but he lost the title two years later. It was then created in 1442 for Edmund Beaufort, 1st Earl of Dorset, who was created Duke of Somerset...
in 1530 after his father died. In 1533, with the permission of King
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
he married
Lady Frances BrandonFrances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk , born Lady Frances Brandon, was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, dowager Queen of France...
(1517–1559), the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister Princess
Mary TudorMary Tudor, Queen of France was the younger sister of Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France due to her marriage to Louis XII. After his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk....
and
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of King Henry VII and was slain by Richard III in person on Bosworth Field...
.
Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset (17 January 1517 – 23 February 1554), was an
EnglishEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
nobleman of the
Tudor periodThe House of Tudor was a prominent European royal house that ruled the Kingdom of England and its realms from 1485 until 1603. Its first monarch Henry Tudor, descended paternally from the rulers of the Welsh principality of Deheubarth, and maternally from a legitimised branch of the English royal...
and the father of Lady Jane Grey.
Henry VIII's reign
The son of
Thomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of DorsetThomas Grey, 2nd Marquess of Dorset KG KB , was an English peer, courtier, soldier and landowner, the grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, briefly Queen of England.-Early life:...
and of Margaret Wotton; through his father he was a great-grandson of
Elizabeth WoodvilleElizabeth Woodville or Wydeville was the Queen consort of Edward IV, King of England, from 1464 until his death in 1483.-Early life and first marriage:...
, the queen of Edward IV of England, by her first marriage to
Sir John Grey of GrobySir John Grey, of Groby, Leicestershire , was a Lancastrian knight, the great-grandfather of Lady Jane Grey, Queen of England....
. Henry Grey became the 3rd
Marquess of DorsetThe title Marquess of Dorset has been created three times in the Peerage of England. It was first created in 1397 for John Beaufort, 1st Earl of Somerset, but he lost the title two years later. It was then created in 1442 for Edmund Beaufort, 1st Earl of Dorset, who was created Duke of Somerset...
in 1530 after his father died. In 1533, with the permission of King
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
he married
Lady Frances BrandonFrances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk , born Lady Frances Brandon, was the second child and eldest daughter of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Mary Tudor, dowager Queen of France...
(1517–1559), the daughter of Henry VIII’s sister Princess
Mary TudorMary Tudor, Queen of France was the younger sister of Henry VIII of England and queen consort of France due to her marriage to Louis XII. After his death, she married Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk....
and
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of SuffolkCharles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk , was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. Through his third wife Mary Tudor he was brother-in-law to Henry VIII. His father was the standard-bearer of King Henry VII and was slain by Richard III in person on Bosworth Field...
. The couple had three children who survived infancy:
Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey was a claimant to the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland. She was de facto monarch of England for just over a week in 1553....
(1537–1554),
Lady Catherine GreyLady Catherine Grey , Countess of Hertford, was the younger sister of Lady Jane Grey and a relative of Elizabeth I of England...
(1540–1568), and
Lady Mary GreyLady Mary Grey , sometimes spelled Marie, was the third and last daughter of Henry Grey, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances Brandon.She was a younger sister of Lady Jane Grey and Lady Catherine Grey...
(1545–1578).
Before Henry VIII's death in 1547, Grey became a fixture in court circles. A knight of the Bath, he was the king's sword bearer at
Anne BoleynAnne Boleyn was Queen of England as the second wife of King Henry VIII, the mother of Queen Elizabeth I, and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the start of the...
's coronation in 1533, at
Anne of ClevesAnne of Cleves was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort...
' arrival in 1540, and at the
capture of BoulogneThere were two sieges of Boulogne during the Italian War of 1542–1546.- First siege :The Siege of Boulogne took place from 19 July to 18 September 1544, during King Henry VIII of England's second invasion of France. Henry was motivated by French aid to England's Scottish enemies...
in 1545. Twice he bore the
Cap of MaintenanceA Cap of Maintenance is a ceremonial crimson velvet cap lined with ermine. It is one of the insignia of the British sovereign, and paraded directly before the monarch during the coronation procession or on such state occasions as the State Opening of Parliament...
in parliament. He helped lead the army in France in 1545. In 1547 he joined the
Order of the GarterThe Most Noble Order of the Garter is an order of chivalry, or knighthood, originating in medieval England, and presently bestowed on recipients in the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms; it is the pinnacle of the honours system in the United Kingdom...
.
Edward VI's reign
After Henry VIII's death in 1547, Grey fell out of favour with the leader of
King Edward VI'sEdward VI became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestant ruler. During Edward’s reign, the realm was governed by a...
government,
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of SomersetEdward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549.-Background:...
and Protector of England. Returning to his home in
BradgateBradgate Park is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, just northwest of Leicester. It covers 850 acres ....
,
LeicestershireLeicestershire or , abbreviation Leics.is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire...
, Grey concentrated on raising his family to greater heights. Thus, with the Protector's brother
Thomas Lord SeymourThomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley , was a British politician.-Early years:Seymour was a son of Sir John Seymour and the former Margery Wentworth. Sir John and Lady Seymour had eight surviving children; the eldest was Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, the second, Thomas...
, Grey conspired to have his daughter Jane married to the King. This plot failed, ending in Seymour's execution, but Grey emerged unscathed.
In 1549,
John Dudley, Earl of WarwickJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland was a Tudor general, admiral and politician, who de facto ruled England in the latter half of King Edward VI's reign...
, overthrew the Protectorship and secured power by appointing loyal friends to the Privy Council. Grey joined the Council as a part of this group. As a reward, he was created
Duke of SuffolkDuke of Suffolk is a title that has been created three times in British history, all three times in the Peerage of England.The third creation of the dukedom of Suffolk was for Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, in 1551. The Duke also held the title Baron Ferrers of Groby...
on 11 October 1551, in the same ceremony that elevated John Dudley to the Duchy of
NorthumberlandNorthumberland is a ceremonial county and unitary district in the North East of England. It borders Cumbria to the west, County Durham to the south and Tyne and Wear to the south east, as well as having a border with the Scottish Borders council area to the north, and nearly eighty miles of North...
.
Protestantism
Henry Grey was best known for his zeal for the Protestant faith. The Swiss reformer Henry Bullinger dedicated a book to him in 1551 and frequently corresponded with the family. In Parliament and on the Privy Council, Grey pushed for further Protestant reforms. He is credited for making Leicestershire one of the most reliably Protestant counties in early modern England.
Queen Jane
Seriously ill, and fearing his own death,
King Edward VIEdward VI became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first Protestant ruler. During Edward’s reign, the realm was governed by a...
granted Northumberland's request for the marriage of Suffolk's daughter Jane to Northumberland's son, Lord Guildford Dudley, on 21 May 1553. Edward later altered his will to make Jane his designated successor. Edward died on 6 July 1553, and three days later Suffolk, Northumberland, and other members of the Privy Council proclaimed Jane queen. This proclamation failed, with a large-scale rallying of forces in the country to Henry VIII's eldest daughter,
Mary IMary I , was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death. She was the oldest daughter of Henry VIII and Catherine of Aragon. The fourth crowned monarch of the Tudor dynasty, she is remembered for restoring England to Roman Catholicism after succeeding her short-lived...
.
By his wife's friendship with the new Queen Mary, Grey and his daughter and son-in-law temporarily avoided execution. However, Mary had Henry Grey beheaded on 23 February 1554, after his conviction for
high treasonHigh treason is criminal disloyalty to one's country. Participating in a war against one's country, attempting to overthrow its government, spying on its military, its diplomats, or its secret services for a hostile and foreign power, or attempting to kill its head of state are perhaps the...
for his part in Sir
Thomas WyattSir Thomas Wyatt the younger was a rebel leader during the reign of Queen Mary I of England; his rising is traditionally called "Wyatt's rebellion".-Birth and career:...
's attempt (January – February 1554) to overthrow her after she announced her intention to marry
Philip II of SpainPhilip II was King of Spain and Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, during his wife Mary Tudor's reign, King of England and Ireland...
.
Trivia
According to the archives of Ripley's Believe It or Not the severed head of the Duke was discovered in a vault in London's Holy Trinity church perfectly preserved by oak sawdust from the scaffold on which he had been executed, 297 years earlier.
In Fiction
- Henry Grey is featured in the 2007 historical fiction novel Innocent Traitor
Innocent Traitor is a historical novel by Alison Weir, published in 2007. It is the story of Lady Jane Grey, who was Queen of England for 9 days in 1553.-Summary:...
by author Alison WeirAlison Weir is a British writer of history books, mostly in the form of biographies about British royalty.-Family and early life:...
, which is a fictionalized story about his daughter, Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey was a claimant to the Kingdom of England and Kingdom of Ireland. She was de facto monarch of England for just over a week in 1553....
.