Faces of history
January 2020
Faith
that Sustains
I am a compelling
Christian woman because of my family and childhood, my quick rise and
decline from power, and the faith that sustained me while in prison awaiting my
execution.
My
family and childhood paved the way for what was to come. I was born at Bradgate
park in England in October of 1537. [1] Henry the VII
who was ambitious was
my great grandfather, and my cousin was Edward the VI, who became king when I
was a child. My father was a rich nobleman named Harry and my mother was Lady
Francis Brandon. Part of my childhood I resided in the home of Thomas
Seymore.
This was
significant because
Thomas was the king’s uncle. His wife was Kathrine Parr. [3] Patently she taught
me the Bible. Several factures lead me to become an extreme protestant as a
young person. Tutors provided most of my education
as a child. I was
very intelligent and knew a number of languages including Greek, Latin, French,
Hebrew, and, Italian. Excitingly, [2] In 1551 my father became the Duke of
Suffolk. In 1553, when I was only 16, my parents married me of to Guilford
Dudley. My family and childhood prepared me for being queen.
The story of my rise and
decline from power is a
short on.
I never
truly wanted to
be queen. [1] King Edward the VI was a protestant, but Mary,
who was
also my cousin, was Catholic and was next in line for the throne. [5] Because
he desired the next ruler to be protestant, King Edward changed his will to
make ne the next ruler. [2] On July 6, 1553 Edward died. [3] Slyly, my
father-in-law schemed behind the scenes to make me queen.
When I heard I
was to be queen, I
fainted and asked God for help. I became queen on the
tenth of July 1553. The people were confused
because they had expected
Mary Tudor to be the next queen. Mary had the support of the soldiers as well
as the affection of the people. [4] Seeing the situation, my father in-law,
who
brashly and brutally betrayed me, sided with Mary.
I was forced to step down from the throne on July 19 since I could things
weren’t going well. In only nine days I had risen to power and stepped down
from the throne.
The
rest of my life I was sustained by my faith while imprisoned. [3] Unfortunately,
I was sent to prison in the tower of London for treason. [4] Worrying about the
situation for the Christians in England, I prayed that God would help ne not to
forsake my faith for love of life. I wanted to die confident in the Lord.
Before I died, I wrote to my trustworthy sister and told her, “I will lose
my mortal life and gain an immortal life.” Before I was to be executed Mary, who now queen, sent a monk to
change my mind but I replied, “I ground my faith on God not on the church.”
[5] While I somberly walked to be executed while reading my prayer book.
[2] At the execution I proclaimed to the on lookers, “I die a
true Christian woman and look to be saved only by the mercy of God and by the
merits of the blood if his Son, Jesus Christ.” I then read Psalm 51 before
being beheaded.
Because of my family and childhood, my
quick rise and decline from power, and my faith which kept me strong in the
final days of my life while in prison, my life’s legacy remains even today.
Who
am I?
Lady
Jane Grey
