Shades of Grey

While happily perambulating through the history section of the library one day, I came across The Sisters Who Would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Grey: A Tudor Tragedy by Leandra de Lisle. Given that my hands and bag were already filled with books, I reluctantly passed it by, but made a note of the book for future reference. The future is now, my friends, and I was fortunate enough to find this book the next time I was at the library. (Although I'm not sure that anyone else but me reads historical non-fiction - at least at my library branch. The section is always empty, but, sadly, not quiet given its proximity to the children's book and play area.)

The Sisters Who Would be Queen is about a little known branch of the Tudor family; Jane, Katherine and Mary Grey, the grand-nieces of Henry VIII and purported heirs to the throne. This unfortunate blood relationship led to imprisonment and even death for one of the sisters. Lady Jane Grey is probably best known as the Nine-Days Queen shortly after Edward VI and prior to Mary I, but her sisters Katherine and Mary also occupied important spots in the Tudor succession plan. This book tells the story of all of them.

The grandmother of Jane, Katherine, and Mary was the famous Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII. Ravishingly lovely, the beautiful and spoilt young princess was married to Louis XII, the old French King. Mary was willing enough to trade happiness for a crown, but reportedly exhorted a promise from her brother that she could chose her next marriage for love alone. The marriage lasted three months; the aged French King supposedly driven to his death from the exertions in the marriage bed. Mary was now a widow, and free to choose her own husband, as she thought. Her choice was the handsome and virile Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and Henry's close friend. He knew he shouldn't marry the lovely widow - especially since there was a chance that she could be pregnant with the heir to France. But he succumbed to Mary's tears, and married her in secret in France. Henry VIII was furious when he found out, but eventually came around.

(It is interesting to note that all of Henry VII's adult children had multiple marriages except for his eldest son Arthur, who married only once - Catherine of Aragon. Mary Tudor married twice, and Margaret Tudor married three times. And, of course we all know about Henry VIII's six wives! However, multiple marriages were common in those days - whether through divorce or death. Charles Brandon too had a very chequered marital career - marrying for inheritance and having marriages set aside while keeping the inheritance. I believe that Mary was his third wife, and he would marry once more before he was done.)

At any rate, this marriage was a happy one, and Mary and Charles had three children; Henry, Frances, and Eleanor. Both Frances and Eleanor made good marriages into the English nobility. Frances married Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and had three daughters: Jane, Katherine, and Mary. This is where de Lisle's story begins.

Who were the Grey sisters? Why were three noble's daughters with a dash of royal blood so important? When Henry VIII lay dying, he made a will. And in this will, he left the crown to the heirs of his sister Mary, after the extinction of his own heirs: Edward, Mary and Elizabeth. He ignored the usual rules of primogeniture which would see the crown pass to the Scottish descendants of his sister Margaret and picked the line of his younger sister Mary instead - meaning that Frances Brandon Grey was now the heiress to the throne after Elizabeth.

Edward came to the throne as Edward VI and began a very Protestant reign. The next heir was the Catholic Mary, and this did not suit the Protestant nobles at all. The Protestant faction instead focused on young Lady Jane Grey and her devoutly Protestant upbringing. Edward was forced to make a change to his father's will - the crown now going to Frances' heirs instead of Mary or Elizabeth. After Edward, all the heirs were female. After his two sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, there were his cousins, the Grey sisters and their mother Frances, and Frances' sister Eleanor Clifford and her daughter Margaret. And if one looks to the line of Margaret Tudor, there was also an heiress in place in the person of Mary, Queen of Scots!

When Edward died young, the nobles seized their chance and placed the Protestant Jane on the throne. Given her dash of Royal blood, and position close to the throne, Jane had been given an excellent education. She also seems to have been a very scholarly and intelligent woman as well, surpassing even Elizabeth I, whom she lived and studied with for awhile in the house of Henry VIII's last Queen, Catherine Parr. Jane matched her intellectual brilliance with a very strong will as well. She was devoutly Protestant and determined to uphold the new religion. Although thrust onto the throne by the machinations of her father and other nobles, she did not hesitate. Her upbringing gave her the training to be Queen and she would exercise the royal power.

Unfortunately for Jane, Mary I was backed by the people and the rebellion failed. Jane was imprisoned and eventually executed. Mary I took the throne and tried to revert England back to Catholicism. Katherine and Mary Grey did not want to suffer the fate of their sister, and kept quiet. Protestantism came back with the reign of Elizabeth I. Her nearest Protestant heirs were the Grey sisters - Katherine and Mary. Elizabeth refused to name a successor, and was fearful that she may be cast from the throne in favour of Katherine or Mary. She did not want them to marry and beget more Protestant heirs who would be a threat to her position.

But Katherine was lovely, romantic, and impetuous. She secretly married a Seymour descendant, Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford. When Elizabeth found out, she was furious and cast the pregnant Katherine and her husband Edward in the Tower. Katherine's son, another Edward, was born in the Tower. At last, there was a Protestant male heir! Elizabeth refused to release the couple. However, Katherine and Edward had a sympathetic jailer who allowed them to meet. Sure enough, Katherine was pregnant again. Elizabeth's fury knew no bounds. The family was separated and Katherine never saw her husband or eldest son again. She eventually died in captivity.

And what of Mary Grey? She too made a secret marriage with a trusted palace servant, Thomas Keyes. While he was not at the same station in life she was at, this seems to have been a love match. Mary was also not as physically robust as her sisters, and may have been a hunchback or had some sort of other deformity. She may have also thought that such an unimportant marriage dynastically would be beneath Elizabeth's notice. Sadly, she was wrong. Mary and Thomas were immediately separated and jailed apart until Thomas died. Mary was then released, to live out the rest of her days as a widow.

De Lisle really focuses on the life and times of the three sisters and discusses in detail their upbringing and the events that surrounded their tumultuous lives. I really got the sense of the family dynamics involved in Jane's elevation to the throne and the various factions and how they tried to seize power. The enmity and jockeying for position between the Catholics and Protestants is very clearly outlined also. But de Lisle does not forget her main subjects and you empathize with the brilliant Jane, beautiful Katherine, and strong-willed Mary. De Lisle overturns many of the common myths about Jane and her sisters, and the book is an excellent marriage of good scholarship with superior storytelling skills.

The reader really gets drawn into the lives of the sisters, especially Jane. De Lisle explodes many of the common myths about Jane and looks past the Victorian victim archetype she had become to show the intelligent and strong-willed woman underneath. She was not a purely unwilling victim of the plots of her family. When the throne was given to her, she took it intending to rule and not be a mere figurehead for her family and the Protestant faction. She was a victim in the sense that she was not the mastermind behind the plots, but she was still willing to make the most of her chance to exercise royal power. When Jane is eventually executed on the Tower block where so many other traitors came to die, it will an extremely hard-hearted reader that will not shed a tear or two for this brave young woman. She was only 17 at the time of her death.

I know much less about Katherine and Mary and this book really helped bring them out from under Jane's shadow. While Katherine was not the equal of Jane scholastically, she was just as strong-willed in matters of the heart, and her story with her love Edward Seymour would make a lovely novel - except for the sad ending. Again, Mary seemed to be overshadowed by both Jane and Katherine, and while the author tries her best, Mary still remains something of an enigma. And that, however, seems to be the way she was regarded by the people of the day - certainly not as important as Jane or even Katherine, she was somewhat relegated to a supporting position. But, sadly, it was not enough for Mary to escape the wrath of Elizabeth for Mary's own secret marriage.

This is an excellent book for anyone who wants to know more about the Tudor time period and is tired of reading about the usual subjects: Henry and his numerous wives, or the glorious reign of Elizabeth. There were other Tudors who were just as interesting as Henry and Elizabeth. These Tudors are Jane, Katherine, and Mary Grey, and you will be moved and drawn into their sad and tragic lives in The Sisters Who Would be Queen. It is that most lovely of books - a non-fiction that reads like a novel. A truly excellent read.