This is an introspective start that is great for those not familiar with the topic but it does seem that Jane is instantly bypassed when she is supposed to be the star of the text. Tallis kicks off “Crown of Blood” by exploring the Tudor blood lines and environment surrounding the birth and childhood of Jane Grey.

Nicola Tallis, the resident historian of the Alison Weir Tours (which should hint at Tallis’s writing style) brings Jane’s life to the limelight in, “Crown of Blood: The Deadly Inheritance of Jane Grey”. This tragic young lady, beheaded for her role at age 17, was more than just a martyr: she had poise, intelligence, decorum, and religious fortitude. Jane Grey will forever be immortalized as the “Nine Days Queen” (it was actually 13) having ‘usurped’ the crown from Mary Tudor before Mary decided she had enough of that and snatched it off Jane’s head (figuratively).

This dramatic narrative traces the dangerous plots and web of deadly intrigue in which Jane became involuntarily tangled-and which ultimately led to a shocking and catastrophic conclusion. Furthermore, the recent trend of trying to highlight her achievements and her religious faith has, in fact, further obscured the real Jane, a young religious radical who saw herself as an advocate of the reformed faith-Protestantism-and ultimately became a martyr for it.Ĭrown of Blood is an important and significant retelling of an often-misunderstood tale: set at the time of Jane’s downfall and following her journey through to her trial and execution, each chapter moves between the past and the “present,” using a rich abundance of primary source material (some of which has never been published) in order to paint a vivid picture of Jane’s short and turbulent life. All were impressed by her wit, passion, intelligence, and determined spirit. She was a remarkable individual with a charismatic personality who earned the admiration and affection of many of those who knew her. While this is doubtlessly true, it is only part of the complex jigsaw of Jane’s story. The human and emotional aspects of her story have often been ignored, although she is remembered as one of the Tudor Era’s most tragic victims.

Jane is known to history as 'the Nine Days Queen,' but her reign lasted, in fact, for thirteen days. Her death for high treason sent shockwaves through the Tudor world, and served as a gruesome reminder to all who aspired to a crown that the axe could fall at any time. Minutes later her head was struck from her body with a single stroke of a heavy axe. 'Good people, I am come hither to die, and by a law I am condemned to the same.” These were the heartbreaking words of a seventeen-year-old girl, Lady Jane Grey, as she stood on the scaffold awaiting death on a cold February morning in 1554.

Crown of blood by nicola tallis