Hey, this is Heather from the Renaissance English History Podcast, and this is your Tudor Minute for February 23.
Today in 1554 Henry Grey, Duke of Suffolk, was executed on Tower Hill, 11 days after his daughter, Lady Jane Grey. He had joined Wyatt’s Rebellion, which had protested against Mary I’s marrying Phillip of Spain, and when he realized that he had been discovered, he tried to flee the country in disguise. He was arrested before he could escape, and sentenced to death at a trial in Westminster Hall. On the scaffold he said,
“Masters, I have offended the queen and her laws, and thereby am justly condemned to die, and am willing to die, desiring all men to be obedient. And I pray God that this my death may be an en-sample to all men, beseeching you all to bear me witness, that I die in the faith of Christ, trusting to be saved by his blood only, and by no other trumpery, the which died for me, and for all them that truly repent, and stedfastly trust in him. And I do repent, desiring you all to pray to God for me; and that when you see my breath depart from me, you will pray to God that he may receive my soul.”
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.