Crown of Blood

by Nicola Tallis

  CHAPTER 3

  Anyone More Deserving

  of Respect

  FIVE MILES TO the north-west of the city of Leicester lies Charnwood Forest. Within the seclusion of the forest, surrounded by acres of peaceful and beautiful parkland, the magnificent Bradgate Park dominated the scenery. Built of fashionable and expensive red brick, the house was two storeys high, structured around three sides of a central courtyard, and was around two hundred feet in length. Visitors to Bradgate were greeted by the sight of an imposing gatehouse, typical of Tudor architecture, flanked by two ornamental towers and decorative chimneys.1 At the beginning of 1538 this splendid house, one of the first stately homes in England, became the main seat of Jane’s parents, and it was here, in the heart of the countryside, that Jane was raised. She was a Tudor who, though distant from the court in London, knew what it was to be royal.

  The land at Bradgate had been acquired in 1490 by Jane’s great grandfather, the 1st Marquess, and he began to build a new and sumptuous residence that would shortly supersede Astley Castle as the family’s main home.2 Most of the building work, however, was the enthusiastic endeavour of Jane’s grandfather, and it was one of the first houses in England that was built as a family residence rather than as a fortress for defensive purposes. The family also had other assets on the estate, which included slate quarries and a lake, beyond which lay the forest of Chartley.

  At the beginning of 1538 Jane’s father turned twenty-one. It was a highly significant moment, for he had at last reached his majority, and he was now legally entitled to take control of all of his estates and the financial responsibilities that came with them. This was doubtless a great relief to both Henry and his wife, who for the first time in their marriage now had financial independence. Along with their young daughter Jane, they were finally able to move into Bradgate Park, and they wasted no time in doing so, forcing Henry’s mother to leave. Unsurprisingly, this caused a great deal of friction in the relationship between mother and son, and Margaret, in great distress, wrote to Cromwell: ‘in the honour of Our Lord’s passion, my lord, I beseech you to be my good lord and consider me, a poor widow, how unkindly and extremely I am handled by my son Marquess’.3 She claimed that Henry would not even permit her to take her personal belongings from her former home, and begged for Cromwell’s intercession. She also pleaded ill health, writing pitifully that her ‘sickness and continual aches and pains’ meant that her days were numbered, and that it would not be long before all she owned became Henry’s in any case.4 It seems unlikely that Margaret’s petition to Cromwell did her much good; she had no option but to leave, and from then on spent much of her time as the guest of Sir Richard Clement at Ightham Mote.5 Though the relationship between Margaret and her son did later improve, such harmony was not destined to last. As usual, financial issues were at the root of the problem, and by the time that Margaret died in 1541, it seems improbable that the rift between the two was fully healed.6 This evident discord between mother and son certainly paints Henry in a bad light, though how far Frances was responsible for influencing his behaviour is impossible to say. After several years of being in a marriage which brought her no financial independence or home of her own, Frances was understandably elated to now have both of these things, and must have been eager to establish her authority as mistress of her own household at the splendid Bradgate.

  The exterior of Bradgate was an impressive sight, but the interior was equally striking. It boasted a fine hall, eighty feet long with large bay windows, with a musician’s gallery at one end and a dais at the other, which formed the central point for the bustling household. There was also a chapel, which, as Jane grew, she attended daily with her parents to hear the family chaplain, James Haddon, speak from the pulpit of ‘the demolition and overthrow of the idols, and the weakening and downfall of idolatry’.7 The rooms used by Jane and her family were located in the east wing of the house, and included a fashionable gallery used for indoor exercise and games, while behind the closed doors of their apartments Jane’s parents were known to enjoy gambling at cards and dice. This drew the disapproval of their chaplain who disdainfully observed: ‘In the houses of our men of rank there are practiced not only such recreations as refresh both the body and mind after a moderate and godly manner, but such also as occasion sloth, and beget idleness and ungodliness: of this kind are games of cards and dice.’8 Throughout the house, which was decorated with the finest expensive tapestries, Jane’s family motto, A Ma Puissance (According To My Power), supported by two ermined unicorns, armed, crested and hooped with gold, proudly proclaimed Bradgate’s ownership. There were also impressive kitchens and a bakery, rendering the household entirely self-sufficient, and quarters for the servants, of which there were many. In 1530 Bradgate housed around three hundred servants, a number that would have been at least equalled if not increased by the time that Jane took up residence with her parents.9

  In addition to the interior comforts, Bradgate enjoyed beautiful scented gardens, laid out in the modern, formal style of a parterre that was so popular at the time. Surrounded by a magnificent park that stretched for six miles, it provided excellent hunting, another hobby of which Jane’s parents were particularly fond, and in which Jane herself may have participated on occasion. It was an idyllic spot, and though she was yet to reach her second birthday at the time she took up residence, Bradgate provided the ideal backdrop for Jane’s development.

  AT NEW YEAR 1540, Jane’s mother presented the King with a gift of ‘a linen and two collars, the turrets gilt’, while Henry offered a brace of greyhounds.10 In return Henry received a gilt glass with a gold cover, while Frances was given a gold cup with a gold cover, a lavish gift which highlighted her status as the King’s niece.11 She appears to have shared a good relationship with her uncle, and when that same month Henry VIII married the German Princess, Anne of Cleves, Jane’s parents were prominent among the wedding guests at Greenwich Palace. So repelled was the King by Anne’s person, however, that by the beginning of July he had divorced her, and on 28 July he married one of her ladies, Katherine Howard.12 In true courtier style, it was in honour of the King’s fifth wife that Jane’s sister, probably born in August, was named.13 Five years later in 1545 another daughter named Mary, perhaps as a compliment to Jane’s grandmother and her royal cousin, completed the Grey family.14 The sisters were all raised at Bradgate, and here Jane could play, learn and enjoy the company of her two siblings, though they were both strikingly different from Jane; or Jane, perhaps, was different from them.

  As the Grey sisters grew, the variances in their characters became increasingly apparent, with their interests branching out in contrasting directions. Katherine was the beauty of the family, with golden hair, blue eyes and delicate features. She adored animals, and at Bradgate could indulge her love for them with an array of pets that she enjoyed playing with.15 Their father also owned a tamed bear and licensed theatricals that Katherine probably took great delight in watching.16 Jane, though, appears to have had little time for such frivolities, and therefore Katherine was forced to look to their youngest sister, Mary, for a playmate. There was something slightly unusual about Mary, for as she grew, it became clear that she had a spinal deformity that made her appear hunchbacked. She was also small, and in later years was cruelly described by the Spanish ambassador as ‘little, crooked-backed and very ugly’.17 However, the later suggestion that ‘Mary’s birth amounted to a disaster’ is a gross exaggeration, for besides the unkind comments of the ambassador, Mary’s condition drew no other comment from her contemporaries.18 Mary was not hidden away by her parents as she might have been had her condition been severe, but instead benefited from the same education that her sisters were receiving, and travelled with her family. That her parents also later arranged for her betrothal confirms that whatever condition she may have suffered from was not considered serious enough to exclude her from the marital market. But Mary was no great beauty like her sister Katherine; neither was she a scholar like
Jane. Sadly, as the three sisters grew, Mary appeared almost to fade into the background.

  The lack of a son was probably a source of great disappointment to Jane’s parents. Frances and Henry had three daughters, and at this point it is interesting to consider that there were gaps of four and five years between each of their births. This may simply have been by chance, but it is equally possible that Frances may have experienced miscarriages and even stillbirths of which no record survives. However, it may also be indicative of several other things. It may highlight a rift in the Dorsets’ marriage, although there is no contemporary evidence that points towards any marital discord between them. Indeed, it may be no reflection on their marriage, and could be attributed to the possibility that the couple spent large periods of time away from one another, although this too is unlikely given what we know of their recorded movements. There are other possibilities: the couple may have experienced difficulties when it came to conception; perhaps on Frances’s side, or Henry could have experienced problems when it came to sexual performance. It could even have been that Henry had a low sex drive. He was never noted as being promiscuous in an age when many of his contemporaries were, and certainly had no known mistresses. This may be a reflection of the fact that he was happily married, but it is possible that it points to something more. It is notable that Mary was the couple’s last child, despite a further nine years of marriage following her birth, and that, following Frances’s second marriage, it took her but a few months to conceive.19

  ROYAL AND NOBLE children had a daily routine that was strictly adhered to, and Jane and her sisters would have been no different. After rising early, at around seven o’clock, they would begin the day with prayers. This was followed by breakfast at eight o’clock, which consisted mainly of bread, meat and weak ale – the water in sixteenth-century England not being considered safe to drink. The main meal of the day was dinner, which the family conducted within their private apartments. As the century progressed, there was an increasing desire for privacy, and the family would only have dined publicly in great state on special occasions. Dinner was usually held between ten and eleven in the morning and sometimes lasted for several hours. Many dishes were served over several courses, primarily made up of various types of meat, the main constituent in the Tudor diet. Beef, lamb, chicken, swan, pigeon, pork, rabbit, goose and capon were popular choices, all served in a variety of sauces. During Lent, when meat was banned, various fish dishes, such as herring, salt cod, salmon and carp, were served instead. In addition, there was freshly baked bread from the Bradgate bakehouse, and a few vegetables. These dishes were followed by the sweet course, which consisted of a whole array of delightful treats including fruit pies and elaborate constructions made of marchpane.

  Following dinner, the Grey children spent the greater part of their day engaged in lessons, leaving them with little time for play. Supper was usually held at around five o’clock, and was lighter and more informal than dinner. More prayers before bed followed, and Jane and her sisters probably retired for the evening at around nine o’clock. When her parents were at home, Jane received a daily blessing from them, and this is likely to have been one of the few times she saw her parents on any one day.

  As was usual in the case of noble families, the Grey girls would have seen very little of their parents, who were often engaged in other activities. The daily routine they followed was a strict one, but they were treated with all of the deference and respect due to children of the royal blood. Their parents were very conscious of their status, and were determined that they ought to be brought up in as virtuous a manner as possible. On a later occasion Henry thanked the theologian Heinrich Bullinger, to whom Jane had been writing, for exhorting her ‘to a true faith in Christ, the study of the scriptures, purity of manners, and innocence of life; and I earnestly request you to continue these exhortations as frequently as possible’, demonstrating the importance that these qualities in his daughters held for him.20

  From the start the girls were raised as evangelicals, as were their cousins, the Lady Elizabeth and Prince Edward. Though Jane’s parents had both been born Catholics, they too were in favour of religious reform, with Henry being the more zealous of the pair. As the Grey sisters grew, this was a faith that Jane would become increasingly fanatical about. The family were, for the moment, in the minority. In June 1539 Parliament had passed the Act of Six Articles, which effectively undid many of the reforms that been previously passed, in essence returning the country to Catholicism in all save papal supremacy. The King had realized that the country was not yet ready for radical religious change, and the Act was therefore an attempt to find a middle ground between Catholicism and reform. It was a balancing act, and one that would remain Henry’s policy until the end of his reign.

  LIFE AT BRADGATE Park was conducted in a similar way to life at the royal court. Jane’s parents were nothing if not sociable, and there were often visitors. In the summer of 1550 Lady Frances wrote to the Earl of Shrewsbury with a request that he might send her a stag, for ‘divers of my friends’ whom ‘I have cause to gratify with venison this summer’.21 Frances could be generous to her friends, and doubtless played the role of hostess to perfection. Henry’s brothers, Thomas and John, frequently visited Bradgate, and her aunt Anne Willoughby and her family, who resided at Middleton Hall in Warwickshire and Wollaton in Nottinghamshire, also visited. Frances’s stepmother, Katherine Willoughby, though only recorded as staying on one occasion, was almost certainly a regular visitor, as was Elizabeth Brooke, who later married Henry’s childhood friend, William Parr.22 Presumably Jane would have come to know her uncles well. Later they were both to become dangerously entangled in her story. Similarly, Katherine Willoughby shared Jane’s religious enthusiasm for reform, and appears to have taken an interest in Jane and her sisters, while Elizabeth Brooke was subsequently believed to have been the instigator of Jane’s marriage.23

  Given what we know of later family occasions, it seems likely that Jane spent time with other relations on her father’s side too, for the Grey family appear to have been close. Certainly on occasion Jane visited family members with her parents. During the Christmas celebrations of 1549, the family took the opportunity to visit Jane’s paternal aunt Elizabeth, Lady Audley, at her home of Audley House in Saffron Walden.24 Lord Audley died in 1544, and shortly before the visit Lady Audley had remarried, taking as her second husband Sir George Norton. Also living at Audley House was Lady Audley’s only surviving child by her first husband, Margaret, who was of an age with Jane’s sister Katherine, and the two girls appear to have shared a bond.25

  Whether the closeness of Jane’s paternal family also extended to her mother’s family is uncertain; they were, for the most part, fond of one another, but there is no evidence that this led to physical visits.26 Even without visitors the family would not have lacked for company, for both of Jane’s parents had a vast retinue of attendants with whom Jane would have been familiar. In 1545, Lady Frances welcomed a new addition to her household at Bradgate in the form of Elizabeth Hardwick, better known to history as the formidable Bess of Hardwick. During the reign of Elizabeth I, through four increasingly prestigious marriages Bess would become one of the richest women in England and the builder of some of the great Elizabethan prodigy houses.27 Bess’s first husband, Robert Barlow, had died at the end of 1544, and the following year Bess joined Frances’s household as a waiting gentlewoman. The two women quickly became close, Bess also becoming fond of Jane and her sisters.28 It was almost certainly through her place in the Grey household that Bess met her second husband, Sir William Cavendish, and at two o’clock in the morning of 20 August 1547, the Dorsets hosted the couple’s wedding at Bradgate.29 The celebrations lasted for a further two days, and though Jane’s parents were hardly in a position to afford such lavish hospitality, that they did so is further evidence of their generosity. Bess then left Frances’s service, but they remained on good terms. When Bess gave birth to her first child, a daughter, the
following year, she was named Frances as a compliment to Bess’s former employer, who was also asked to play the part of senior godmother to the child together with Katherine Willoughby.30

  AT BRADGATE, THE Dorsets hunted regularly in the park, which was well stocked with deer, enjoyed hawking and indulged their passion for gambling, while their daughters were left under the supervision of their household staff. Occasionally they also visited the royal court, but as Henry held no office under the King his presence was by no means a necessity, and for the most part they remained in the country. However, the luxurious lifestyle the family led came at a price, and Henry and Frances, unable to get a grip on their financial affairs, were constantly living beyond their means, resulting in large debts.31

  Outside of their estate, as the highest-ranking peers in the neighbourhood, the couple were admired in Leicestershire, and paid occasional visits to the city of Leicester. Here they were often presented with gifts, primarily consisting of fruit and wine, such as the time recorded in the town books of Leicester when a payment of two shillings and sixpence (£40) was made ‘for strawberries and wine, for my lady’s grace’, a gift from the mayoress and her sisters.32 On another occasion, four shillings (£60) was paid to the apothecary ‘for making a gallon of hippocras [a sweet, spiced wine], that was given to my lady’s grace, by mistress mayoress and her sisters, the wives of the aldermen of Leicester, who gave, besides wafers, apples, pears, and walnuts at the same time’.33 Food was expensive, and as such it was therefore a highly respectable choice of gift. As she grew older, Jane may well have accompanied her parents on occasion – she is known to have paid a visit to Leicester in 1548.