Crown of Blood

‘Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same’.

These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold on a cold February morning in 1554. Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to the Crown that the axe could fall at any time.

While the story of ‘the Nine Days Queen’ has been told, the human and emotional aspects are often ignored. 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 Protestantism, and who ultimately became a martyr for her faith.

This is an important and significant retelling of an often misread tale, examining evidence that has never before been published. Following Lady Jane Grey’s journey from the deadly intrigues of her childhood that led inexorably through to her trial and execution, historian Nicola Tallis unravels the grim tapestry of her life along the way.