Leanda De-Lisle

Friend of Elizabethan exiles: the colourful life of Jane Dormer

Mary Tudor’s maid of honour left England for Spain after Elizabeth I’s accession, where she aided the Catholic cause while apparently keeping on good terms with the Queen

Portrait of Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria by Alonso Sánchez Coello, c.1563. [Alamy] 
issue 07 May 2022

Thomas Cromwell’s biographer Diarmaid MacCulloch once told me that my father’s family, the Dormers, had been servants of the great enforcer of Henry VIII’s Reformation. This may have been a tease. It is a matter of family pride that Jane Dormer’s great- uncle, the Carthusian monk Sebastian Newdigate, was executed for refusing to accept the Royal Supremacy.

GIF Image

Disagree with half of it, enjoy reading all of it

TRY 3 MONTHS FOR $5
Our magazine articles are for subscribers only. Start your 3-month trial today for just $5 and subscribe to more than one view

Comments

Join the debate for just £1 a month

Be part of the conversation with other Spectator readers by getting your first three months for £3.

Already a subscriber? Log in