The Head of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk?
This article examines the evidence related to a mummified head said to be that of Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk and father of Lady Jane Grey Dudley.
England’s ‘Nine Days Queen’ of July 1553
Some Grey Matter
A Historian’s Analysis of Jane Grey Dudley
This site deals primarily with Jane Grey Dudley, who reigned as uncrowned Queen of England for less than two weeks in July 1553 before being overthrown by Mary Tudor. Jane Grey Dudley was the subject of my doctoral dissertation when I earned my Ph.D. in British History in 2007. It is a subject to which I have devoted myself as an independent research historian for over twenty five years.
This site also contains a slowly but constantly growing amount of material born of my own ‘grey matter’ and relating to other topics, including objects believed by their owners to have once belonged to Jane Grey Dudley, one man’s amusing theory that Jane’s execution was staged and that she was secretly pardoned and went on to write the works now attributed to William Shakespeare, my take on what it is to be a historian, my rant on one of my pet peeves (the modern misuse of the word “professional”), my published analysis of a set of ancient Latin poems said to have been the origin of the modern acrostic puzzle, plus other topics.
Resources
Guides for finding both primary and secondary source materials on the subject of Jane Grey Dudley with an essay on how to tell the difference between a primary source and a secondary source. The secondary source list is annotated to assist the user in determining whether or not that source may be useful. Select primary source items are also presented in their entirety.
Publications
A helpful list of articles and books I have published on the subject of Jane Grey Dudley, as well as scholarly articles on other topics in history and art history, some of which are presented in full.
Miscellaneous
Articles on subjects unrelated to Jane Grey Dudley, including essays on what it means to be an ‘historian’ and on the widespread modern use and mis-use of the terms ‘profession’ and ‘professional,’ and the content of a presentation I gave at a scholarly conference on cultural history.
Latest Articles
Another ‘New’ Portrait Said to Depict Jane Grey Dudley
Analysis of a ‘new’ portrait said to depict Jane Grey Dudley that appeared at auction in July 2024.
Lady Jane Grey’s Pendant?
A pendant supposedly associated with Lady Jane Grey Dudley is evaluated on Antiques Roadshow.
Plagiarism: What It Is, and How To Avoid It
This article asks, ‘What is plagiarism?’ and explains how to avoid committing it or even being accused of it.
J. Stephan Edwards, PhD
J. Stephan Edwards holds a PhD in Tudor-Stuart British History (University of Colorado-Boulder, 2007) and has spent almost a quarter century conducting research on Jane Grey Dudley, her portraiture, and the English succession crisis of 1553.
He has published numerous articles in scholarly journals and in a collection of essays in book form, in addition to his two books thus far on the subject of Jane Grey Dudley. He has also appeared as an on-screen or on-air expert on Jane Grey Dudley in several media presentations broadcast to international audiences.
He is currently retired and living in Palm Springs, California.
THE LATEST NEWS
17 November 2024 – Forthcoming Article on the Final Resting Place of Lady Jane Grey Dudley
I am pleased to announce that Notes & Queries, a peer-reviewed academic journal, has accepted for publication my article on the final resting place of Lady Jane Grey Dudley. The article challenges the traditional belief that Jane was buried in the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London and proposes an alternate location nearby. The article will be posted here under Publications after it appears in print.
25 July 2024 – Elected Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London
I am pleased to announce that I have been greatly honored by election as a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London (SAL) at the ballot of 25 July 2024 in specific recognition of my research on Jane Grey Dudley.
The SAL was founded in 1707 as a learned society of historians and archaeologists and received a Royal Charter in 1757. The number of Fellows is limited, and candidates for election must be nominated by an existing Fellow and supported by four additional Fellows before going to a ballot of the general membership.
8 April 2024 – Lectures at Bradgate House and Park, Leicestershire, and at the Society of Antiquaries of London
On Tuesday, 2 April 2024, I was privileged to offer a lecture to a large group of volunteer tour guides at Bradgate House and Park near Newtown Linford in Leicestershire. That lecture was entitled Lady Jane Grey Dudley: Fact or Fiction? and examined the extent to which several modern understandings related to Jane’s life narrative are based in fictional myth or historical reality. The lecture was recorded on video and posted on Bradgate’s YouTube channel. It can be accessed through the new Media page of this site.
On Thursday, 4 April 2024, I was honored to be invited to present two lectures to the Fellows of the Society of Antiquaries of London, one of the UK’s prestigious learned societies.
The first lecture, Searching for a Portrait of Jane Grey Dudley, England’s ‘Nine Days Queen’ of 1553, presented an overview of the results of my research to date on the iconography of Queen Jane, with particular emphasis on the four portraits of the Berry Hill Type.
The title of the second lecture was Queen Jane’s Proclamation of Accession and Gendering of the English Monarchy. In that lecture, I examined the unusual character and content of the proclamation through the lens of gender role expectations in the Tudor period. I argued that the goal of the alteration of the succession in 1553 was not limited simply to making Jane Grey Dudley Queen of England. The ultimate goal was instead to preserve the English monarchy as a male-gendered institution through the elevation of Guildford Dudley to the crown matrimonial in right of his wife.
15 February 2024 – Announcing the publication of Portraits of Lady Jane Grey Dudley, England’s Nine Days Queen: Revised Edition
The re-emergence in November 2021 of the Berry Hill Portrait and the sale in June 2023 of the Jersey Portrait required revision and update of the 2015 version of my study of the portraiture of Jane Grey Dudley. The revised edition contains, in particular, new evidence and analysis of the Berry Hill Portrait itself, as well as a revised analysis of the three other portraits of the Berry Hill Type. Two portraits not included in the previous edition are also added. I also gave the book a new and shorter title with a new cover design, as well as a slightly different interior layout design.
On sale now worldwide via Amazon and most other online retailers, as is Lady Jane Grey’s Prayer Book.
Get In Touch
If you have questions about Lady Jane Grey Dudley, Tudor history, portraiture of the Tudor period, or in regard to some other subject, please click the contact button.
Copyright Notice
Copyright is hereby expressly and explicitly claimed by John Stephan Edwards under US and international copyright law over any and all material presented herein that is not already under copyright to another author and clearly identified as such in a footnote.
Additionally, John Stephan Edwards asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of all material presented herein that is his original work.
Any attempt to infringe upon this copyright will be aggressively pursued. Internet plagiarists be warned!