The marriage of lady Jane Grey, which may be regarded as the principal cause of her sufferings, was brought about by the ambitious Earl of Northumberland, a nobleman, the most powerful and wealthy at that period, in the kingdom.  By the marriage of Lord Guilford Dudley with the Lady Jane, he formed the daring project of placing the crown of England on the head of his son, in order to consolidate that preeminence, which, during the reign of the youthful Edward, he had so craftily attained to, and which he foresaw, would, on the accession of Mary, from whom he had little to expect, either on the side of friendship or protection, be wrested from him.  By the will of Henry VIII., as well also as by an Act of Parliament, the ladies Mary and Elizabeth had been pronounced as heirs to the crown; this claim, however, he hoped to overrule, as the statutes passed by Henry, in the twenty-eighth year of his reign, declaring their illegitimacy, had never been repealed.  By the will of Henry, the lady Jane had also been placed next in succession after the Princess Elizabeth, in total exclusion of the Scottish line, the offspring of his sister Margaret, who had married James IV. of Scotland.

The day on which this important event took place is not exactly known; but it is generally supposed to have been towards the close of the month of May, in the year 1553, before the lady Jane had attained her seventeenth year.  The nuptials were solemnized with great magnificence at Durham House, the then princely residence of the Earl of Northumberland, who appears to have been particularly earnest in their conclusion, as they were celebrated but two months previous to the death of Edward VI., who at that time “lay dangerously sicke,"[2] and being unable to attend, sent costly presents as marks of his approval.  Three other marriages, also, appear to have taken place at the same time, as recorded by the chronicler Stow.[3]

[Footnote 2:  Stow’s Summarie of the Chronicles of England, p. 245.]

[Footnote 3:  Lord Gilford, the Duke of Northumberland’s fourth son, married Lady Jane, the Duke of Suffolk’s daughter, whose mother being then alive, was daughter to Mary, King Henrie’s sister, which was then married to the French king, and after to Charles, Duke of Suffolke.  Also the Earle of Pembroke’s eldest son married Lady Katharine, the said duke’s second daughter.  And Martin Keie’s gentleman porter married Mary, the third daughter of the Duke of Suffolke.  And the Earle of Huntington’s son, called Lord Hastings, married Katharine, youngest daughter to the Duke of Northumberland.—­Stow’s Chronicle, p. 1029, edit. 1600.]