Lord Guildford Dudley - Imprisonment

Imprisonment

On 10 July, the same day as Jane's proclamation, a letter from Mary Tudor arrived in London, saying that she was now queen and demanding the obedience of the Council. Mary was assembling her supporters in East Anglia; it was decided to take the field against her after some discussion over who should go, in which Queen Jane made sure that her father should not. The Duke of Northumberland marched to Cambridge with his troops and passed a week that saw no action, until he heard on 20 July that the Council in London had declared for Mary. Northumberland now proclaimed Mary Tudor himself at the market-place and was arrested the next morning. On 19 July, a few hours before Queen Mary's proclamation in London, the baptism of one of the Gentlemen Pensioners' children took place. Queen Jane had agreed to be the godmother and wished the child's name to be Guildford. The Bishop of Winchester, Stephen Gardiner, who had been imprisoned in the Tower for five years, took great offence at this fact as he heard of it.

A majority of the Privy Council moved out of the Tower before switching their allegiance. Becoming aware of his colleagues' change of mind, Jane's father, the Duke of Suffolk, abandoned his command over the fortress and proclaimed Mary on nearby Tower Hill. After he had left his Duchess was told she could also go home, while Jane, Guildford, and the Duchess of Northumberland were not allowed to. Later Jane was moved from the Royal apartments to the Gentleman Gaoler's lodgings and Guildford was imprisoned in the Bell Tower. There he was soon joined by his brother, Robert. His remaining brothers were imprisoned in other towers, as was his father, who was for the moment the only prominent person to go to the scaffold; Queen Mary was prepared to spare Jane's and Guildford's lives.

Jane and Guildford were indicted on 12 August, and Jane submitted a letter of explanation to Queen Mary, "asking forgiveness ... for the sin she was accused of, informing her majesty about the truth of events." In this account she spoke of herself as "a wife who loves her husband". On 13 November 1553 Jane and Guildford were tried at Guildhall, together with Archbishop Cranmer and Guildford's brothers Ambrose and Henry. They were all convicted of high treason after pleading guilty. Guildford was convicted of compassing to depose Queen Mary by sending troops to the Duke of Northumberland and by proclaiming and honouring Jane as queen.

In December Jane was allowed to walk freely in the Queen's Garden. "Lord Robert and Lord Guildford" had to be content with taking the air on the leads of the Bell Tower. Jane and Guildford may have had some contact with each other, and at some point Guildford wrote a message to his father-in-law in Jane's prayer book:

Your loving and obedient son wishes unto your grace long life in this world with as much joy and comfort as ever I wish to myself, and in the world to come joy everlasting. Your humble son to his death, G. Dudley