The Duke of Northumberland is invariably depicted as the villain of Jane Grey’s story. Having ruled England on Edward’s behalf during the latter part of the King’s minority, Northumberland allegedly schemed to cling on to power by preventing Mary’s accession. According to the traditional interpretation, as soon as Northumberland realised that the King’s health was failing, he married his son to Lady Jane Grey and had her nominated as Edward’s successor, calculating that once his daughter-in-law was installed as puppet sovereign, he could continue to exploit the country for his own nefarious purposes. Lady Jane herself certainly blamed Northumberland for her downfall, claiming that he had brought on her the ‘most miserable calamity and misery by his exceeding ambition’.

Ives sees things differently. He depicts Northumberland as a principled patriot whose guiding tenet in life was subordinating himself to the monarch’s will, and who therefore felt morally obliged to follow Edward’s wishes in the matter of succession. Ives dismisses claims from Northumberland’s colleagues that the Duke bullied them into complying, insisting that, once Jane had been deposed, these men were desperate to pretend they had acted under duress when, in reality, they had played a willing part in the proceedings.

Ives’s views are contentious, but his mastery of his sources is unquestionable. Even if some of his conclusions are open to dispute (the Duke of Northumberland as a selfless servant of the sovereign is certainly a challenging concept) the way Ives marshals his evidence is dazzling, and his bold and innovative treatment of a supposedly familiar story is both authoritative and exhilarating.

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