MarginaliaAn. 1554. February.In þ^e meane while Sir Peter Carew hearing of that was done, fled into Fraunce, but the other were takē: and Wiat came towardes London in the beginning of February. The Queene hearing of Wiates comming, MarginaliaQ. Mary commeth into the Guild hall. MarginaliaFebruary. 1.came into the Citie to the Guild Hall, where she made a vehement Oration against Wiate: the contentes, at least the effecte wherof here followeth, as neare as out of her own mouth could be penned.

¶ The Oration of Q. Mary in the Guild Halle.  

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The version of Mary's speech in the London Guildhall on 1 February 1554, which is printed in the 1563 edition (see textual transposition 23), is different from the version printed in subsequent editions. The substance is generally similar but the version in the later editions is much smoother. The 1563 version appears to have been based on a spectator's notes; Foxe may have worked this up into a more polished version or he may have obtained a better version. (It is more likely to be the latter, and this is partially confirmed by Foxe's adding of anecdotes in the 1570 edition, together with his account of the speech, describing what happened when the speech was given [see textual variant 17]). In any case, the initial appearance of this oration in the concluding pages of the 1563 edition suggests that Foxe obtained this version of the speech only as the Actes and Monuments was going to press. Earlier, in the 1563 edition, Foxe was able only to summarise the speech (see textual variant 16).

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MarginaliaQ. Maryes Oration to the Londoners.J Am come vnto you in mine own person, to tell you that which already you see and know: that is, howe traiterously and rebelliously a number of Kentish men haue assembled them selues agaynst both vs and you. Ther pretence (as they sayd at the fyrst) was for a mariage determined for vs: to the which, and to al the articles thereof ye haue bene made priuy. But sithence we haue caused certain of our priuy Coūsail to go again vnto thē, & to demaund the cause of thys their rebellion: and it appeared then vnto our sayd Counsail, that þ^e matter of the mariage seemed to bee but as a Spanish cloke to couer their pretensed purpose against our religiō: MarginaliaDemaundes pretended to be sent from M. Wyat and hys company to Q. Mary. So that they arrogantly & trayterously demaūded to haue the gouernaunce of our person, the keeping of the Tower, and the placing of our Coūsailers. Now louing subiectes, what I am ye right well know. I am your Queene, to whō at my Coronation whē I was wedded to the Realme and lawes of the same (the spousall Ring whereof I haue on my finger, which neuer hetherto was, nor hereafter shall be left of) you promised your allegeaunce and obedience vnto me. And that I am the right and true inheritour of the Crowne of this Realme of England, I take all Christendome to wytnes. My Father, as ye all knowe, possessed the same regall state, which now rightly is descended vnto me: and to hym alwayes ye shewed your selues most faithfull and louing subiectes, and therefore I doubt not, but ye wil shew your selues likewise to me, and that ye will not suffer a vile Traytor to haue the order and gouernaunce of our person, and to occupy our estate, especially being so vile a Traitor as Wiat is. Who most certainly as he hath abused myne ignoraunt Subiectes, which be on his syde, so doth he entend and purpose the destruction of you, and MarginaliaHow he entended the spoyle of their goods, it appeareth in that he cōming to Southwarke, dyd hurt neyther man, woman, nor childe, neither in body nor in a penny of their goods. spoyle of your goodes. And this I say to you in the word of a Prince: I can not tell how naturally the Mother loueth the Childe, for I was neuer the mother of any, but certainly, if a Prince and Gouernour may as naturally & earnestly loue her Subiectes as the Mother doth the Child, then assure your selues, that I being your Lady and Maistres, doe as earnestly and as tenderly loue and fauour you. And I thus louing you, can not but thinke that ye as hartely and faythfully loue me: & then I doubt not, but we shall geue these rebells a short and speedy ouerthrow.

As conceruing the mariage, ye shall vndrestand that I enterprised not the doing thereof without aduise, and that by the aduise of all our priuy Counsail: who so considered and weyed the great commodities that might ensue therof, that they not onely thought it very honorable, but also expedient, both for the wealth of our realme, and also of all you our Subiectes. MarginaliaQ. Mary excuseth her mariage. And as touchyng my selfe, I assure you, I am not so bent to my will, neither so precise and nor affectionate, that either for myne own pleasure I would chuse where I lust, or that I am so desirous as needes I would haue one. For God I thanke hym, to whom be the prayse therefore, I haue hetherto lyued a Virgin, and doubt nothing, but wyth Gods grace am able so to liue still. But if, as my Progenitours haue done before, it might please God þ^t I might leaue some fruite of my body behinde me to be your Gouernour, I trust ye would not onely reioyce therat, but also I know it would bee to your great comfort. And certainly, if I eyther did thinke or know that this mariage were to the hurt of any of you my Commons, or to the empechment of any part or parcell of the royall state of this realme of England: I woulde neuer consent thereunto, neyther would I euer marry whyle I lyued. And in the worlde of a Queene I promise you, MarginaliaThe promise of Queene Mary touching her mariage.that if it shall not probably appeare to all the Nobility and Commons in the hygh Court of Parlament, that this mariage shalbe for þ^e high benefite and commodity of all the whole Realme, then I wyll abstayne from mariage whyle I lyue.

And now good Subiectes, plucke vp your harts, and like true mē, stand fast against these rebels, both our enemies and yours, and feare them not: for I assure you, I feare them nothing at all, and I wyll leaue wyth you

my Lord Haward & my Lord Treasourer, who shalbe assistentes with the Maior for your defence.

¶ Here is to be noted, that at the cōming of Q. Mary to the Guild Hall, being bruted before that she was cōming with harneßed men: such a feare came among thē, that a number of the Londoners fearing lest they should bee there entrapped and put to death, made out of the gate before her entring in. Furthermore, note that when she had ended her Oration (which she seemed to haue perfectly conned without booke) Winchester standing by her, when the Oration was done, with great admiration cried to the people: O how happy are we, to whō God hath geuē such a wise & learned Prince? &c.

MarginaliaFebru. 3.Two dayes after, which was þ^e iij. of February, the Lord Cobham was cōmitted to the Tower, & M. Wiat entred into Southwarke.MarginaliaM. Wyat in Southwarke. Who, for somuch as he could not enter that way into London, returning an other way by Kingstone with his army, came vp through the streetes to Ludgate, MarginaliaM. Wyat came to Ludgate. & returning thēce, he was resisted at Temple barre, & there yelded hym selfe to Syr Clement Parson, MarginaliaM. Wyat apprehended at Temple barre. and so was brought by hym to þ^e Court, & with hym the residue of hys armie (for before, Syr George Harpar & almost halfe of his men ranne away frō hym at Kingstone bridge) where also taken, & about an hūdreth killed, and they that were taken were had to prison, & a great many of thē were hāged: & he hym self afterward executed at þ^e Tower hill,MarginaliaM. Wyat executed. & then quartered. Whose head after being set vpō Hayhill, was there stollen away, & great search made for þ^e same. Of which story ye shall heare more (the Lorde willing) hereafter.  

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Although Foxe promises an account of the theft of Wyatt's head (1563, p. 917; 1570, p. 1580; 1576, p. 1348; 1583, p. 1419), such an account does not appear in the Actes and Monuments. This is because the passage is taken, word for word, from Crowley (cf. Crowley, Epitome, sig. Ffff4r), who did not give this account himself.

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From 'The Communication' to 'A Monition'

The glosses here help to fashion Jane as a martyr or pseudo-martyr. As a sufferer for the truth and a letter-writer, her efforts are characterised in ways which ally them with those of later martyrs; thus ('Lady Iane comfortably taketh her trouble'), and feels bold enough to offer reproof to a priest who has fallen from the faith ('A sharpe letter or exhortation of the Lady Iane to M. Harding') as well as spiritual encouragement to her father and sister ('This Parenthesis includeth with a praier, a priuy admonition to her father that he fall not from his religion' and 'So liue to dye, that by death you may liue'). The glosses also support her spirited defence of faith against Fecknam, mainly by simply pointing to the matters affirmed ('Faith onely iustifieth', 'Good workes necessary in a christian, yet do they not profite to saluation', etc.), but on one occasion Foxe does offer a more logically focussed summary of what she says than is directly warranted by the content ('Christ had power to turne the bread into his body, is no argumēt to proue that he did so'). Also relevant is a gloss which points to her steady and devout conduct in the face of death ('The wordes and behauiour of the Lady Iane vppon the Scaffold'). The gloss 'A wonderfull example vpon Morgan the Iudge who gaue sentence agaynst the Lady Iane' adds to the implicit sense of injustice by highlighting the providential visitation of a judge who convicted Jane.

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Block 9: The Martyrdom of Jane Grey

To paraphrase Voltaire, if Jane Grey had not existed, Foxe would have invented her. Her constancy and articulate championing of her evangelical convictions did a great deal to counteract the recantation of her father-in-law and some of his closest adherents. And, unlike her father and Wyatt, who also died 'good deaths', she was regarded as being innocent of treason. Yet at the same time, Foxe's account of her is more than merely the narrative of a martyrdom. Jane Grey's conference with Feckenham and her letter to Harding also form an important part of the arguments against the mass and the eucharist which are the overriding themes of Book 10. Moreover, her connections with the Marian exiles (particularly James Haddon and John Aylmer, who had been her tutor), and continental reformers with whom she had corresponded (notably Bullinger), ensured that Foxe had ample information about her even when he was in exile.

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In fact, most of the material Foxe printed regarding Jane Grey had already been printed in the Rerum and this material was largely unchanged in the Actes and Monuments. The items in the Rerum include the dialogue with Feckenham (pp. 234-36), Jane's letter to Catherine Grey (pp. 236-38) and Jane's speech at her execution (pp. 237-38). Jane's prayer 'in time of trouble' and her letter to Harding are not in the Rerum, but appear in the 1563 and all subsequent editions. These items were rearranged in the 1570 edition (see textual transpositions 1 to 4 inclusive), apparently to bring them into chronological order. (Jane's letter to Catherine Grey was reprinted from the 1563 edition in Bull's LM, pp. 662-63). Also reprinted from the Rerum are Latin verses by Foxe, Laurence Humphrey and John Parkhurst, praising Jane Grey for her learning, emphasising the pathos of her death and acclaiming her as a martyr.

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There are, however, some passages about Jane Grey in the Rerum which were never reprinted in the Actes and Monuments. One set of passages states that Jane Grey was no more than seventeen when she died but that she was very gifted, especially in her mastery of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and that she died through no fault of her own, but for the sins of her parents and of the family into which she had married (Rerum, p. 238). The last comments explain why this passage was not reprinted. Not only did it attack the very powerful Dudley family, but it also attacked the Duke of Suffolk, whom Foxe would portray as very nearly a martyr in the Actes and Monuments.

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Another set of passages which only appeared in the Rerum described 'D. Ioanne Brugius' (i.e., Sir John Brydges, the Lieutenant of the Tower), asking Jane Grey to write some verses in a book of his. These verses are printed in the Rerum and form a conventionally pious exhortation which ends with a rather lugubrious but apt quote from Ecclesiastes: 'Tempus est nascendi, tempus moriendi: meliorque est dies mortis dies nativitatis' (Rerum, p. 238.) (A prayer book, now BL Harley MS 2342, is traditionally supposed to have been the book Jane Grey gave to Brydges, [J. G. Nichols, (ed.), The Chronicle of Queen Jane and of two years of Queen Mary, Camden Society Original Series 48, (London, 1850) pp. 57-58]. The verses printed in the Rerum match the verses printed in Harley 2342).

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MarginaliaTalke betwene the Lady Iane and Fecknam.FEcknam. Madame, I lament your heauy case, and yet I doubt not, but that you beare out this sorowe of yours wyth a constant and pacient mynde.

Iane. You are welcome vnto me Syr, if your cōming be to geue Christian exhortation. And as for my heauy case (I thanke God) I do so litle lament it, that rather MarginaliaLady Iane comfortably taketh her trouble.I accompt the same for a more manifest declaration of gods fauour toward me, thē euer he shewed me at any tyme before: And therefore there is no cause why either you, or other which beare me good wyll, should lament or be greeued wyth this my case, being a thing so profitable for my soule health.

Feck. I am here come to you at this present sent from the Queene and her Counsayle, to enstruct you in the true doctrine of the right fayth: although I haue so great confidence in you, that I shall haue (I trust) litle neede to trauail wyth you much therein.

Iane. Forsooth I hartely thāke the Queenes highnes, which is not vnmindfull of her hūble subiect: & I hope likewise that you no lesse will do your dutie therin both truly & faithfully, according to that you were sent for.

Feck. What is then required of a Christian?

Iane. That he should beleue in God, the father, the sonne, and the holy Ghost, three persons and one God.

Feck. What? is there nothing els to bee required or looked for in a Christian, but to beleue in hym?

Iane. Yes, we must also loue hym with all our hart, with all our soule, and wyth all our mynd, and our neyghbour as our selfe.

Feck. Why? then fayth iustifieth not, nor saueth not.

Iane. Yes verely, MarginaliaFayth onely iustifieth.fayth (as Paul sayth) only iustifieth.

Feck. Why? saynt Paule sayth: If I haue all faith without loue, it is nothing.

Iane. True it is: for how can I loue hym, whom I trust not? or how can I trust him whom I loue not? Fayth and loue goeth both together, and yet loue is cōprehended in fayth.