House Of Dudley -- Henry VIII --> Elizabeth 1 -- Joanne Paul, c. 2023

Before getting started on the House of Dudley, this background:

Wow, what a great day. 

So much blogging accomplished with regard to technology over the past two days, but I was also able to complete the scaffolding of the 2023 book of British history by Joanne Paul who provided the definitive biography of the House of Dudley, important during the reigns of the three step-children of King Henry VIII. 

I assume in the big scheme of things, this is not a very important story but it connects a lot of dots and fills in a lot of empty spaces in this period of time.  

This is the framework / timeline of the period in question:

Three periods:

• the Wars of the Roses, which culminated in the House of Tudor (first, Henry VII, and then Henry VIII)
• preceded by the House of Plantagenet; divided into two rival branches
• the House of Lancaster
• the House of York 
• Henry VIII and the transition following Henry VIII's death -- the House of Dudley -- the period of time covered by Joanne Paul in her 2023 biography / history.
• "Queen" Jane Grey (9 days), 
• King Edward VI (6 years), 
• Queen Mary 1 (five years), 
• Queen Elizabeth 1 (44 years -- the Golden Age of Britain -- 1558 - 1603).
• the era of Elizabeth 1 -- the Elizabethan / Shakespeare age)  (her namesake Elizabeth II, 70 years, 1952 - 2022)

• On a completely different note but because Elizabeth II was mentioned, let's remind ourselves of the Indian Raj: 1858 - 1947
• Queen Victoria: 1858 - 1901
• Edward VII: 1901 - 1910
• George V: 1910 - 1936 -- WWI
• Edward VIII: small part of 1936
• George VI: 1936 - 1947 -- WWII 

Back to Henry VIII and his three kids:

• Henry VIII: 1491 - 1547 (55 y/o)
• Edward VI: 1537 - 1553 (reigned 9 - 15 y/o) (died at 15 years of age, mostly likely tuberculosis)
• Mary I: 1516 - 1558 (reigned 37 - 42 years old) (death, possibly uterine cancer; died during epidemic of influenza)
• Elizabeth 1: 1533 - 1603 (69 years of age when she died; reigned for 45 years -- Golden Age
• James VI / James I: son of Mary, Queen of Scots; a great-great-grandson of Henry VII. Mary Queen of Scots, 1542 - 1587 (44 years of age); reigned 1542 - 1567 

So, pretty much an exact contemporary of her "cousin" Queen Elizabeth I who was alive and reigning to the south at the same time as Mary, Queen of Scots.

Queen Elizabeth I and her cousin Mary, Queen of Scots had a tense, rivalrous, and ultimately fatal relationship. They never met in person, and their conflict was driven by religious differences and a competing claim to the English throne, which ended with Elizabeth ordering Mary's execution 

Queen Elizabeth I's legal justification for executing her cousin, Mary, Queen of Scots, was treason

. Though Mary was a foreign sovereign, she had become subject to English law after seeking refuge in England and was implicated in several plots to assassinate Elizabeth.

 

 

 

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House Of Dudley -- Henry VIII --> Elizabeth 1 -- Joanne Paul, c. 2023.

So this is pretty cool. Three periods:

• the Wars of the Roses, which culminated in the House of Tudor (first, Henry VII, and then Henry VIII)
• preceded by the House of Plantagenet; divided into two rival branches
• the House of Lancaster
• the House of York 
• Henry VIII and the transition following Henry VIII's death: "Queen" Jane Grey (9 days), King Edward VI (6 years), Queen Mary 1 (five years), Queen Elizabeth 1 (44 years -- a Golden Age of Britain -- 1558 - 1603)
• the era of Elizabeth 1 -- the Elizabethan / Shakespeare age)  (her namesake Elizabeth II, 70 years, 1952 - 2022)

 

This huge book connects a lot of dots, fills in a lot of gaps.

Period covered: from Henry VIII to Elizabeth 1. 

The quick story:

Henry VIII has three stepchildren -- the youngest, a son Edward, the oldest a daughter Mary and the middle a daughter, Elizabeth. All three step-children had their opportunity to reign.

A more distant family member, nephew or cousin was Jane Grey, a granddaughter of another May, Henry VIII's younger sister. Upon his death, Henry VIII chose Jane Grey to be his successor, afraid that Mary would un-do Henry VIII's anti-Catholic policies. 

But immediately after Henry VIII's death, the support for Jane Grey shifted and Edward (Edward VI, age 9) becomes king after Jane Grey (Nine Day's Queen; the Disputed Grey) is removed as Queen after just nine days. She and her husband were executed.

Edward VI is crowned king. He dies early, and is succeeded by his older stepsister, Mary 1 (Mary Tudor / Bloody Mary) and she in turn was succeeded by Elizabeth 1.

So, this book covers that period just before Henry VIII dies, Jane Grey is queen for nine days, executed, and Edward VI becomes king. In official history, most show Edward VI succeeded Henry VIII (ignoring Jane Grey).

So, how did Jane Grey become Lady Dudley and from where did the Dudley family come, in the period between Henry VIII and Elizabeth 1? 

Making this even more confusing, the "Dudley" family was in fact the "Sutton" family, but deep in past history the Sutton family inherited the Dudley Castle and adopted the Dudley name.

My initial notes: