Contracts For Marriage
Jane acted as chief mourner at Catherine Parr's funeral, and Thomas Seymour showed continued interest in her, and she was again in his household for about two months when he was arrested at the end of 1548. Seymour's brother, the Lord Protector, Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, felt threatened by Thomas' popularity with the young King Edward. Among other things, Thomas Seymour was charged with proposing Jane as a royal bride.
In the course of Thomas Seymour's following attainder and execution, Jane's father was lucky to stay largely out of trouble. After his fourth interrogation by the Privy Council, he proposed his daughter Jane as a bride for the Protector's eldest son, Lord Hertford. Nothing came of this, however, and Jane's next engagement, in the spring of 1553, was to Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland. Her prospective father-in-law was then the most powerful man in the country. On 21 May 1553, the couple were married at Durham House in a triple wedding, in which Jane's sister Catherine was matched with the heir of the Earl of Pembroke, Lord Herbert; and another Katherine, Lord Guildford's sister, with Henry Hastings, the Earl of Huntingdon's heir.
Read more about this topic: Lady Jane Grey
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