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Posted in Famous Last Words on Monday, 28 February 2011. It was against custom to assist the condemned to find the block, lest the person offering aid be accused of having an unjust part in a death. On February 12, 1554, 18-year-old Lady Jane Grey was beheaded after a nine-day reign as Queen of England. The eyewitness accounts indicate that the scaffold for Jane’s execution was built against the wall of the central White Tower, at its northwest corner (the corner closest to the Chapel of St Peter-ad-Vincula). Jane was executed within the relatively private walls of the Tower of London rather than in the full glare of the crowds outside the walls on Tower Hill. What did Jane do upon reaching the scaffold? At the time of Jane’s execution in February 1554, Feckenham was one of Queen Mary’s personal chaplains and confessors. Such speeches were customarily written and memorized in advance with great care, as it was common practice for the witnesses present to write down the dying person’s last words. To explain why, we first have to offer an all-too-brief primer on the political background of Tudor England up to this point. To explain why this 18-year-old girl was beheaded after a 9-day reign as Queen of England, we first have to offer an all-too-brief primer on the political background of Tudor England up to this point.

The fact against the queen’s Highness was unlawful, and the consenting thereunto by me: but, touching the procurement and desire thereof by me, or on my behalf, I do wash my hands thereof in innocency before God, and the face of you, good Christian people, this day. She handed her gloves and handkerchief to one of her ladies, and she gave her small prayer-book to Thomas Bridges, the brother of the Lieutenant of the Tower. We would like your permission to use third party cookies. Many carried some type of religious text with them to the place of execution, often a Missal or Book of Hours (for Catholics) or a New Testament or copies of the Four Gospels (for Protestants). Jane’s nine-day reign as queen thus ended on July 19, 1553. (Note to historians: more sites like this, please!). ( The prayerbook, pictured below, has survived and is sometimes displayed as part of the permanent “Treasures of the Library” exhibition at the British Library in London.). Those of noble or royal status who were convicted of treason were often beheaded, whereas men of lower birth were hung, drawn, and quartered and women of lower birth were often burned at the stake (considered more “humane” for the “weaker sex” than hanging, drawing, and quartering).

Even though we do not have a reliably genuine portrait, if you had to choose one that comes closest to what she actually looked like, which would you choose? Lady Jane Grey was known as “the nine days queen” as she reigned only between the 10th and 19th of July 1553. Lady Jane Grey was known as “the nine days queen” as she reigned only between the 10th and 19th of July 1553. Small gifts to jailers, and even to executioners, were considered signs of humility and Christian forgiveness. Paul Delaroche’s famous 1833 painting has her dressed in a flowing white gown.

He had been born in the town of Feckingham in the county of Worcester, and it was customary at the time for monks to drop their family surname and to use instead only their forename and the name of the town where they had been born—thus “John de (or “of”) Feckenham.”. It is possible that if Wyatt’s Rebellion against the queen had not taken place in late January 1554, Jane and Guildford may have remained in custody indefinitely.


No Protestant preacher or pastor was allowed. Lady Jane spent her brief reign imprisoned at the Tower of London whilst the Privy Council made their decision to proclaim Mary as queen. As she began to kneel, she asked the executioner whether he would take her by surprise and strike before she was ready. She would also have had a very short walk from her quarters to the scaffold, though she would have been in full view of the many permanent residents, workers, and official visitors within the Tower that busy Monday morning. Jane Grey’s grandmother was Mary Tudor, Queen of France and younger sister of England’s King Henry VIII. Lady Jane Grey (1536/7-1554) is a daughter of the Reformation whose story of faithfulness and grace deserves to be better known. Mary entered London two weeks later, in early August. No, scaffolds were built specifically for each execution, then immediately dismantled.

I was drawn to her originally by the nature of the existing biographies and accounts of her life and times, virtually all of which were obviously tainted by legend and myth-building, even hero-worship. Even though it was painted in the 1610s, sixty or more years after Jane’s death, it was commissioned by the Seymour family, who were sons and grandsons of Jane’s sister Katherine Grey Seymour. (, , pictured below, has survived and is sometimes displayed as part of the permanent “Treasures of the Library” exhibition at the British Library in London. Tweets by @janegreyinfo !function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js";fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,"script","twitter-wjs"); News and information about the 9 days Queen, Books 2020 – on sale now – Medical Downfall of the Tudors: Sex, Reproduction & Succession by Sylvia Barbara Soberton. You can follow him on Twitter. And here is execution scene as depicted in the 1986 film, Lady Jane, starring Helena Bonham Carter: Justin Taylor is executive vice president for book publishing and publisher for books at Crossway.

Blindfolded, she was unable to find the block and began to panic, crying “What shall I do? Lady Jane Grey (c. 1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley (after her marriage) and as "the Nine Days' Queen", was an English noblewoman and de facto Queen of England and Ireland from 10 July until 19 July 1553.
And now, good people, while I am alive, I pray you assist me with your prayers.