Discussion: Beheading of lady Jane Grey.

"I was always under the impression that Mary didn't want to have Jane killed because she originally spared her but had no choice but to execute her when there was another rebellion in her name, and that Elizabeth did want Mary of Scots killed but she was just frightened of what would happen if she did because she was a legitimate queen and all the Catholic nations would come against her. Am i misinformed about Elizabeth?"

"I always felt bad for Jane, too. She didn't want the throne, knew she was being forced to usurp it from the lawful successor, but had no recourse against her parents and the Dudleys. It is a shame she could not have been sent out of the country and spared her horrendous death. I'm happy we live in more civilized times. Unfortunately in those times, a child could be hanged for stealing a piece of bread, and it happened to children even younger than poor Jane. I understand your sympathy for a girl so close to your own age and blameless, really."

"Elizabeth signed the death warrant, but others carried it out without her knowledge. She did try to stop it - she was simply furious when she found out. At least that was the 'spit' put on it at the time - which tended to take some of the blame away from her. She seemed to be in a state of denial about the prospect - the execution of an anointed Queen was considered a big step to take, a sin in fact. It would also have reminded her of her own mother and her execution. She didn't want it to happen, but probably eventually realised that for the safety of the realm it had to happen sometime. Her ministers realised this, and acted.
SR"

"Yes, to set such a precedent. Who knows, it might even have paved the way for Charles I.
SR"

"

I suppose that Mary had her beheaded for some revenge on the way she and her mother were treated .And to try and bring England back to being Catholic."

"Jane Grey was completely in the power of her parents and the Dudleys who were the parents of her husband. Jane's mother, Frances Grey, was a cruel abusive parent and beat her often to 'harden' her. Her father-in-law, the Duke of Northumberland either coerced or persuaded Edward on his deathbed to bypass the succession arranged by Henry VIII naming his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth in turn to succeed if Edward died without issue, and name Jane, his daughter-in-law, the granddaughter of Henry's sister Mary, as Queen. Although Jane was unwilling, she had no choice. When it became obvious that Mary had popular support and would claim her throne, her parents left Jane to her fate. I haven't read about Jane for years, but I remember reading that she was beaten by her mother and forced to accept the marriage to Guildford Dudley. Northumberland, Jane, her father Suffolk, and Guildford all went to the scaffold.
That poor child had a bad situation all around. Her mother escaped the consequences and married her chamberlain a short time after her husband, Suffolk, was executed. "