Portrait of a woman tentatively identified as Frances, c. 1560.
On this date in 1559, Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, who is best known as the mother of Lady Jane Grey, the nine-day Queen of England, and the daughter of Mary Tudor, Queen of France and younger sister of Henry VIII.
Frances Grey was born on 16th July 1517 in Hatfield in Herefordshire into the noble family of Brandon. She was the daughter of Charles Brandon, a close childhood friend to the King, and Mary Tudor, formerly (although she was still referred to) Queen of France and the younger (and favourite) sister of the King—who married without their King’s official permission, naughty. Not only did this make her the daughter of a Queen (technically) but it made her a possible heir to the throne, though a distant one as she was a member of the royal family as a niece to the King.
And she would noy only be an heir to the throne but the mother of a Queen as her daughter, the famous Lady Jane Grey or ‘the Nine Days Queen’ as she is remembered, would one day sit on the Tudor throne—before sadly being dethroned and executed by the true heir, her cousin; another Mary Tudor. Lady Jane Grey had ascended to the throne following her cousin Edward VI’s decision to block his catholic sister Mary from her rightful inheritance and place the protestant Jane on the throne instead. This did not end well for Jane, sadly. However, all three of Frances’ daughters; Jane, Katherine and Mary would be important to Tudor history as both Katherine and Mary were considered potential successors to both Mary and Elizabeth when they both died without an heir. This was because of the royal (and Tudor) blood flowing through their veins, even if their religious beliefs made Mary and Elizabeth wary of officially naming them as contenders.
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There is a debate about the exact date of her death as a postmortem given on 7th May 1560 states that Frances died on 21st November 1559 which made her forty-two at the time of her death. Frances’ funeral took place in Westminster Abbey on 5th December 1559.
Frances had been married to Henry Grey, 3rd Marquess of Dorset, and had three daughters with him; Jane was the eldest and was born when Frances was nineteen, followed by Katherine and Mary. There are reports that Frances had two pregnancies prior to Jane, however, both resulted in either miscarriages or the child dying within hours or days.
Hester Chapman writes how both Frances and Henry were disappointed at not having a son and this is where claims that Frances was cruel mother towards her daughters occur. According to historian Mary Luke, Frances was disappointed in herself for not bearing her husband a male child. However, there are no sources to back up these claims. It could be argued that this is just expected as it was seen as important for a woman to bear male children to ensure smooth inheritance. Furthermore, it could be argued that Frances, knowing that Edward VI’s health was not the best, wished to produce a son in the hopes that he would ascend as a future King of England, should the line of succession be changed or eradicated completely.
Many believe that Frances held great hopes for her daughters’ futures based on her decision to agree to a wardship of her daughter Jane to Thomas Seymour, the uncle to the new King following Henry VIII’s death, and Katherine Parr, the King’s widow and now Thomas’ wife. Some believe that this was in the hope that it would lead to Jane being named as successor to Edward or even marrying him. This has been criticised as it could show how desperate the Greys were in ensuring their family gained power and potentially did not consider what Jane wanted. Consequently, Jane’s succession as Queen would be the cause of her death as Mary Tudor would not watch her inheritance be taken without a fight.
Frances’ relationship with her daughters, particularly Jane, has been the topics of historical debates. She is often depicted as a cruel mother, particularly towards Jane. However, this stems from reports made by Robert Ascham with no real evidence. This occurred in August 1550 when Frances left Jane behind to greet Roger and it was here that Jane supposedly complained about her parents. She talked about how she had to remain silent in the presence of her parents and do what they told her to. She may have spoken about being physically and emotionally abused. In the TV show, My Lady Jane, she is seen as a mother who controls Jane to make sure she marries Guildford Dudley and makes sure she becomes Queen of England. However, she also educated her daughters in the humanist trends at the time.
So, when Edward died on 6th July 1553, Jane inherited the throne before being deposed by Mary on 19th July. Jane did not blame her parents during her captivity in the tower so this is to be considered but also should be taken lightly as she may have wished to protect her parents’ reputation. Following Mary’s ascension, Frances’ husband was executed following a failed rebellion. This left Frances and her family in poverty. Frances worked to increase her status during Mary’s reign and appealed for mercy for her daughters. However, there are doubts as to whether she asked for Jane’s life to be spared but I think it is likely that she did but was refused. There is no surviving letter between Jane and Frances written before Jane’s execution.
Sadly, only two of Frances’ daughters were in attendance at her funeral as Lady Jane Grey had sadly been executed on 12th February 1554 at the age of either sixteen or seventeen. Her daughter Katherine is believed to have been her chief mourner as her first husband, Henry Grey, had also been executed after trying to reinstate Jane onto the throne. Frances herself had acted as chief mourner at her own mother’s funeral, many years before.
Following her husband’s death, Frances had remarried to Adrian Stokes, an esquire, and consequently, people thought she had married below her social status. In her will, she left her fortune to her husband and, as she had died during the reign of Elizabeth I who was a distant relative, the Queen was also mentioned. But many, including the Queen, questioned why Frances chose to marry a man below her station when she could have still obtained a politically advantageous marriage within the Tudor Court, perhaps another Lord or even a Duke?
So why did Frances do this?
It could be argued that she remarried for love as she was often the case for noblemen who married below their status. This was similar to Mary Boleyn who also married below her status and was cut off from her family. However, Frances had less family than Mary and therefore, she may not have been worried about the consequences as much. On the other hand, Frances had remarried shortly after the deaths of her husband and daughter, and this has led to vicious recounts about her nature. Consequently, it could be argued that she wished to distract people away from her children who were still potential claimants to the throne. In terms of hobbies and interests, Frances loved hunting trips, and this enabled different views about herself to be formed.
A monument erected by Frances’ husband, Adrian, still stands today. It honours Frances as the daughter of Mary and Charles and the first wife of Henry, Duke of Suffolk and later, Adrian Stokes. Interestingly, the monument does not mention her two surviving daughters. This may be because at the time it was erected, Katherine was a prisoner in the Tower for marrying Edward Seymour, Earl of Hertford, without royal permission. Katherine was a potential successor to the throne and therefore needed royal approval to marry. Frances’ effigy on her tomb is the only surviving depiction of her. She is not seen as a figure who was openly disliked, and she was entrusted with the care of her husband’s niece, Margaret Willoughby, which does signify that she could be trusted, and she remained influential.
Overall, Frances is often hated in Tudor history but why is this the case?
Certainly, people’s opinions about her mistreating Jane have added fuel to the fire but we must remember that there are no sources to prove these claims. Therefore, we must consider that Frances struggled in a predominantly man’s world. Indeed, people tend to remember her daughter more than her and she has been overshadowed in Tudor history.
In terms of representation, Frances has been portrayed by Sara Kestelman in the 1986 film, Lady Jane, and by Anna Chancellor in My Lady Jane. In My Lady Jane, she is portrayed as cunning and strategic who wishes to advance Jane. Here we can see how she has only been portrayed in films about Jane and not the Tudors in general, which links to the point made about her being overshadowed in Tudor history. Frances is portrayed in the subconscious of Jane.
However, she was arguably ambitious, but her strong noble connections would have enhanced that and in the Tudor era, power was everything.
She will certainly be remembered.
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