John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick
Encyclopedia
John Dudley, 2nd Earl of Warwick, KG, KB (c. 1527 – 21 October 1554) was an English nobleman and the heir of John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
, leading minister and de facto
ruler under Edward VI of England
from 1550–1553. As his father's career progressed, John Dudley respectively assumed his father's former titles, Viscount Lisle
and Earl of Warwick
. Interested in the arts and sciences, he was the dedicatee of several books by eminent scholars of the time. His marriage to the former Protector Somerset
's eldest daughter, in the presence of the King and a magnificent setting, was a gesture of reconciliation between the young couple's fathers. However, their struggle for power flared up again and ended with the Duke of Somerset's execution. In July 1553, after King Edward's death, Dudley was one of the signatories of the letters patent
that set Lady Jane Grey
on the Throne of England
, and took arms against Mary Tudor
, alongside his father. The short campaign did not see any military engagements and ended as the Duke of Northumberland and his son were taken prisoners at Cambridge
. John Dudley the younger was condemned to death yet reprieved. He died shortly after his release from the Tower of London
.
and Jane Guildford, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford. When John was born, his father was a young knight, son of the executed Edmund Dudley
, councillor
to Henry VII
; in 1537 he became vice-admiral and later Lord Admiral. In 1542 he received his mother's title of Viscount Lisle
. The elder John Dudley was a family man and happily married, as was noted by contemporaries and is evident from letters. The Dudleys moved in evangelical
circles from the early 1530s, and their children were educated in Renaissance humanism and science
by tutors and companions such as Roger Ascham
, John Dee
, and Thomas Wilson
. Of the brothers, John in particular had scholarly and artistic leanings. He was the dedicatee of Walter Haddon
's Cantabrigienses (1552) and Thomas Wilson's (1553). As late as 1570, John Dee dedicated his to the long-deceased young man's memory, praising his use of arithmetics and "hearty love to virtuous sciences". Dudley had his own small library with books in French, Italian and Latin as well as a Greek grammar, and .
John Dudley became his father's heir after his eldest brother Henry was killed in 1544 during the siege
of Boulogne under King Henry VIII
. At the coronation
of Edward VI in 1547 he was made a Knight of the Bath. Some weeks into Edward's reign the new Privy Council awarded themselves a round of promotions based on Henry VIII's wishes, and the elder John Dudley was created Earl of Warwick, the younger assumed his father's old title of Viscount Lisle. The younger John Dudley and his brothers Ambrose
and Robert
frequently took part in tournaments and other court festivities. On 3 June 1550 he was married to Anne Seymour, eldest daughter of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
and former Lord Protector
of England. The marriage was a grand affair attended by the twelve-year-old King Edward at the palace of Sheen
. According to his diary Edward had a lot of fun; he watched mock battles, masque
s, and there was "a fair dinner made", a great banquet. The match was to express the renewed amity between the young couple's fathers, who were political rivals, but the peace would not last. After much plotting on both sides, in January 1552 Dudley's father-in-law was executed for felony
on the contrivance of his father, who since early 1550 effectively ruled England.
After King Edward, now fourteen, had raised his father to the dukedom of Northumberland in October 1551, John Dudley was styled Earl of Warwick. In January 1553 he was summoned to Parliament in his own right, so that he could attend the House of Lords
. This he did but made no impact, and it is even unclear whether the other Lords allowed him to participate in debates. In April 1552 Warwick became Master of the Horse
, a major position in the royal household
normally held by more experienced men; he was also elected a Knight of the Garter at this time. In 1551 he travelled with a diplomatic mission to France
. At one point he ran into financial difficulties, possibly due to bad company, as a knowing letter from his father to him reveals:
In February 1553 Princess Mary
visited London
and was welcomed in the outskirts by the Earl of Warwick at the head of numerous gentlemen. It was a splendid occasion, Mary being received by the Lords of the Council "as if she had been Queen of England". Still without a proper income of his own, in the next month, Warwick received the wardship
of his fourteen-year-old brother-in-law, Edward Seymour
.
ambassador Jehan de Scheyfye had been convinced of Northumberland being engaged in some "mighty plot" to settle the Crown on his own head. Always looking out for signs as to this respect, he reported talk that the Duke was contemplating the divorce of his eldest son in order to marry him to Princess Elizabeth. In fact, it was Warwick's youngest brother, Guildford Dudley, who had recently been married. His bride was Lady Jane Grey
. The potential importance of this and two simultaneous weddings escaped ambassador Jehan de Scheyfye. Lady Jane was to ascend the English throne after the King's death, according to Edward's will, headed "My Devise for the Succession", in which he bypassed his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. The Earl of Warwick was among the hundred and two personages who signed the letters patent
of 21 June, which were supposed to settle the Crown on Jane. When the Duke of Northumberland took arms against Mary Tudor on 14 July, his eldest son went with him.
They passed a week that saw no action in Cambridge
and Bury St Edmunds, hearing on 20 July that the Council in London had declared for Mary. Staying at Cambridge, Northumberland himself proclaimed Mary Tudor as queen at the market place. Warwick was with him as he threw up his cap and "so laughed that the tears ran down his cheeks for grief." The city that had welcomed the Duke splendidly was nervous to please the new queen. A large group of townsmen and university scholars surrounded King's College
to arrest the Duke, who was with his son lodged on the premises. In contrast to his father, Warwick resisted arrest. A letter from the Council arrived that everyman could go his way, so the Duke asked to be set free, "and so continued they all night [at liberty]". At dawn the Earl of Warwick "was booted ready to have ridden in the morning", and escape. It was too late, however, as the Earl of Arundel arrived to again arrest the Duke and his entourage. The prisoners returned riding side by side through London, the guards having difficulties protecting them against the hostile populace.
After a few days, almost all the Dudley family were imprisoned in the Tower. All the men were eventually attainted and condemned to death. Warwick was tried on 18 August 1553 in Westminster Hall, alongside his father and the Marquess of Northampton
. Warwick's turn was last and he, unlike the other defendants, pleaded guilty immediately. After sentence was passed Northumberland asked: "that her Majesty may be gracious to my children ... considering they went by my commandment who am their father, and not of their own free wills". His execution was planned for 21 August at eight in the morning, however, it was suddenly cancelled; Northumberland was instead escorted to St Peter ad Vincula, where he publicly took the Catholic communion
, forswearing his hitherto Protestant faith, in what was a great propaganda coup for the new, Catholic, government. Any hopes of a pardon were in vain for the Duke who, after short notice, was now to be beheaded the next day. An hour before his father's execution the Earl of Warwick was likewise led to St Peter ad Vincula to receive the sacrament; he then returned to his prison cell.
From mid-September Warwick was allowed visits by his wife. The rebellion of Thomas Wyatt
in February 1554 led to the executions of Jane Grey and her husband, Guildford Dudley. John, Ambrose, Robert, and Henry Dudley remained imprisoned in a room of the Beauchamp Tower. They made carvings in the walls, John carving their heraldic devices with his name "IOHN DVDLI". He was allowed to perambulate on the leads, "being crazed for want of air". During 1554 Jane Dudley, John's mother, and his brother-in-law, Henry Sidney
, were busy befriending the Spanish nobles around the new king consort, Prince Philip of Spain
, as well in England as in Spain. In October, John Dudley and his brothers Robert and Henry were released due to their efforts, but John Dudley died immediately afterwards at Henry Sidney's house Penshurst
in Kent
.
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
, leading minister and de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
ruler under Edward VI of England
Edward VI of England
Edward VI was the King of England and Ireland from 28 January 1547 until his death. He was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine. The son of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour, Edward was the third monarch of the Tudor dynasty and England's first monarch who was raised as a Protestant...
from 1550–1553. As his father's career progressed, John Dudley respectively assumed his father's former titles, Viscount Lisle
Viscount Lisle
The title of Viscount Lisle has been created six times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, on 30 October 1451, was for John Talbot, 1st Baron Lisle. Upon the death of his son Thomas at the Battle of Nibley Green in 1470, the viscountcy became extinct and the barony abeyant.In 1475, the...
and Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick
Earl of Warwick is a title that has been created four times in British history and is one of the most prestigious titles in the peerages of the British Isles.-1088 creation:...
. Interested in the arts and sciences, he was the dedicatee of several books by eminent scholars of the time. His marriage to the former Protector Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
's eldest daughter, in the presence of the King and a magnificent setting, was a gesture of reconciliation between the young couple's fathers. However, their struggle for power flared up again and ended with the Duke of Somerset's execution. In July 1553, after King Edward's death, Dudley was one of the signatories of the letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
that set Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
on the Throne of England
Throne of England
The Throne of England is the English term used to identify the throne of the King of England. The term can refer to very specific seating, as in King Edward's Chair, which has been used in the coronations of British kings for eight centuries...
, and took arms against Mary Tudor
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
, alongside his father. The short campaign did not see any military engagements and ended as the Duke of Northumberland and his son were taken prisoners at Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. John Dudley the younger was condemned to death yet reprieved. He died shortly after his release from the Tower of London
Tower of London
Her Majesty's Royal Palace and Fortress, more commonly known as the Tower of London, is a historic castle on the north bank of the River Thames in central London, England. It lies within the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, separated from the eastern edge of the City of London by the open space...
.
Education and court life
John Dudley was the third of thirteen children born to Sir John DudleyJohn Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland
John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland, KG was an English general, admiral, and politician, who led the government of the young King Edward VI from 1550 until 1553, and unsuccessfully tried to install Lady Jane Grey on the English throne after the King's death...
and Jane Guildford, daughter of Sir Edward Guildford. When John was born, his father was a young knight, son of the executed Edmund Dudley
Edmund Dudley
Edmund Dudley was an English administrator and a financial agent of King Henry VII. He served as Speaker of the House of Commons and President of the King's Council. After the accession of Henry VIII, he was imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed the next year on a treason charge...
, councillor
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
to Henry VII
Henry VII of England
Henry VII was King of England and Lord of Ireland from his seizing the crown on 22 August 1485 until his death on 21 April 1509, as the first monarch of the House of Tudor....
; in 1537 he became vice-admiral and later Lord Admiral. In 1542 he received his mother's title of Viscount Lisle
Viscount Lisle
The title of Viscount Lisle has been created six times in the Peerage of England. The first creation, on 30 October 1451, was for John Talbot, 1st Baron Lisle. Upon the death of his son Thomas at the Battle of Nibley Green in 1470, the viscountcy became extinct and the barony abeyant.In 1475, the...
. The elder John Dudley was a family man and happily married, as was noted by contemporaries and is evident from letters. The Dudleys moved in evangelical
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
circles from the early 1530s, and their children were educated in Renaissance humanism and science
Renaissance humanism
Renaissance humanism was an activity of cultural and educational reform engaged by scholars, writers, and civic leaders who are today known as Renaissance humanists. It developed during the fourteenth and the beginning of the fifteenth centuries, and was a response to the challenge of Mediæval...
by tutors and companions such as Roger Ascham
Roger Ascham
Roger Ascham was an English scholar and didactic writer, famous for his prose style, his promotion of the vernacular, and his theories of education...
, John Dee
John Dee
John Dee was a Welsh mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, occultist, navigator, imperialist, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I.John Dee may also refer to:* John Dee , Basketball coach...
, and Thomas Wilson
Thomas Wilson (rhetorician)
Thomas Wilson was an English diplomat, judge, and privy councillor in the government of Elizabeth I. He is now remembered for his Logique and The Arte of Rhetorique , an influential text...
. Of the brothers, John in particular had scholarly and artistic leanings. He was the dedicatee of Walter Haddon
Walter Haddon
Walter Haddon LL.D. was an English civil lawyer, much involved in church and university affairs under Edward VI, Queen Mary, and Elizabeth I...
's Cantabrigienses (1552) and Thomas Wilson's (1553). As late as 1570, John Dee dedicated his to the long-deceased young man's memory, praising his use of arithmetics and "hearty love to virtuous sciences". Dudley had his own small library with books in French, Italian and Latin as well as a Greek grammar, and .
John Dudley became his father's heir after his eldest brother Henry was killed in 1544 during the siege
Siege
A siege is a military blockade of a city or fortress with the intent of conquering by attrition or assault. The term derives from sedere, Latin for "to sit". Generally speaking, siege warfare is a form of constant, low intensity conflict characterized by one party holding a strong, static...
of Boulogne under King Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
. At the coronation
Coronation
A coronation is a ceremony marking the formal investiture of a monarch and/or their consort with regal power, usually involving the placement of a crown upon their head and the presentation of other items of regalia...
of Edward VI in 1547 he was made a Knight of the Bath. Some weeks into Edward's reign the new Privy Council awarded themselves a round of promotions based on Henry VIII's wishes, and the elder John Dudley was created Earl of Warwick, the younger assumed his father's old title of Viscount Lisle. The younger John Dudley and his brothers Ambrose
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick
Ambrose Dudley, 3rd Earl of Warwick, KG was an English nobleman and general, and an elder brother of Queen Elizabeth I's favourite, Robert Dudley, Earl of Leicester...
and Robert
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester
Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, KG was an English nobleman and the favourite and close friend of Elizabeth I from her first year on the throne until his death...
frequently took part in tournaments and other court festivities. On 3 June 1550 he was married to Anne Seymour, eldest daughter of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset
Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, 1st Earl of Hertford, 1st Viscount Beauchamp of Hache, KG, Earl Marshal was Lord Protector of England in the period between the death of Henry VIII in 1547 and his own indictment in 1549....
and former Lord Protector
Lord Protector
Lord Protector is a title used in British constitutional law for certain heads of state at different periods of history. It is also a particular title for the British Heads of State in respect to the established church...
of England. The marriage was a grand affair attended by the twelve-year-old King Edward at the palace of Sheen
Palace of Placentia
The Palace of Placentia was an English Royal Palace built by Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester in 1447, in Greenwich, on the banks of the River Thames, downstream from London...
. According to his diary Edward had a lot of fun; he watched mock battles, masque
Masque
The masque was a form of festive courtly entertainment which flourished in 16th and early 17th century Europe, though it was developed earlier in Italy, in forms including the intermedio...
s, and there was "a fair dinner made", a great banquet. The match was to express the renewed amity between the young couple's fathers, who were political rivals, but the peace would not last. After much plotting on both sides, in January 1552 Dudley's father-in-law was executed for felony
Felony
A felony is a serious crime in the common law countries. The term originates from English common law where felonies were originally crimes which involved the confiscation of a convicted person's land and goods; other crimes were called misdemeanors...
on the contrivance of his father, who since early 1550 effectively ruled England.
After King Edward, now fourteen, had raised his father to the dukedom of Northumberland in October 1551, John Dudley was styled Earl of Warwick. In January 1553 he was summoned to Parliament in his own right, so that he could attend the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
. This he did but made no impact, and it is even unclear whether the other Lords allowed him to participate in debates. In April 1552 Warwick became Master of the Horse
Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...
, a major position in the royal household
Royal Households of the United Kingdom
The Royal Households of the United Kingdom are the organised offices and support systems for the British Royal Family, along with their immediate families...
normally held by more experienced men; he was also elected a Knight of the Garter at this time. In 1551 he travelled with a diplomatic mission to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. At one point he ran into financial difficulties, possibly due to bad company, as a knowing letter from his father to him reveals:
I had thought you had had more discretion than to hurt yourself through fantasies or care, specially for such things as may be remedied and holpen. ... And therefore you should not hide from me your debts whatsoever it be ... send me word in any wise of the whole sum of your debts, for I and your mother will see them forthwith paid and whatsoever you do spend in the honest service of our master and for his honour, so you do not let wild and wanton men consume it, as I have been served in my days, you must think all is spent as it should be, and all that I have must be yours ... Your loving Father. Northumberland.
In February 1553 Princess Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
visited London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and was welcomed in the outskirts by the Earl of Warwick at the head of numerous gentlemen. It was a splendid occasion, Mary being received by the Lords of the Council "as if she had been Queen of England". Still without a proper income of his own, in the next month, Warwick received the wardship
Ward (law)
In law, a ward is someone placed under the protection of a legal guardian. A court may take responsibility for the legal protection of an individual, usually either a child or incapacitated person, in which case the ward is known as a ward of the court, or a ward of the state, in the United States,...
of his fourteen-year-old brother-in-law, Edward Seymour
Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford
Sir Edward Seymour, 1st Baron Beauchamp of Hache and 1st Earl of Hertford, KG was the son of Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset, by his second wife Anne Stanhope....
.
Downfall
In January 1553 the King became ill and by the beginning of June his condition was hopeless. For more than a year, the ImperialHoly Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
ambassador Jehan de Scheyfye had been convinced of Northumberland being engaged in some "mighty plot" to settle the Crown on his own head. Always looking out for signs as to this respect, he reported talk that the Duke was contemplating the divorce of his eldest son in order to marry him to Princess Elizabeth. In fact, it was Warwick's youngest brother, Guildford Dudley, who had recently been married. His bride was Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey , also known as The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman who was de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553 and was subsequently executed...
. The potential importance of this and two simultaneous weddings escaped ambassador Jehan de Scheyfye. Lady Jane was to ascend the English throne after the King's death, according to Edward's will, headed "My Devise for the Succession", in which he bypassed his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth. The Earl of Warwick was among the hundred and two personages who signed the letters patent
Letters patent
Letters patent are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch or president, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, title, or status to a person or corporation...
of 21 June, which were supposed to settle the Crown on Jane. When the Duke of Northumberland took arms against Mary Tudor on 14 July, his eldest son went with him.
They passed a week that saw no action in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
and Bury St Edmunds, hearing on 20 July that the Council in London had declared for Mary. Staying at Cambridge, Northumberland himself proclaimed Mary Tudor as queen at the market place. Warwick was with him as he threw up his cap and "so laughed that the tears ran down his cheeks for grief." The city that had welcomed the Duke splendidly was nervous to please the new queen. A large group of townsmen and university scholars surrounded King's College
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
to arrest the Duke, who was with his son lodged on the premises. In contrast to his father, Warwick resisted arrest. A letter from the Council arrived that everyman could go his way, so the Duke asked to be set free, "and so continued they all night [at liberty]". At dawn the Earl of Warwick "was booted ready to have ridden in the morning", and escape. It was too late, however, as the Earl of Arundel arrived to again arrest the Duke and his entourage. The prisoners returned riding side by side through London, the guards having difficulties protecting them against the hostile populace.
After a few days, almost all the Dudley family were imprisoned in the Tower. All the men were eventually attainted and condemned to death. Warwick was tried on 18 August 1553 in Westminster Hall, alongside his father and the Marquess of Northampton
William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton
William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton, 1st Earl of Essex and 1st Baron Parr, KG was the son of Sir Thomas Parr and his wife, Maud Green, daughter of Sir Thomas Green, of Broughton and Greens Norton...
. Warwick's turn was last and he, unlike the other defendants, pleaded guilty immediately. After sentence was passed Northumberland asked: "that her Majesty may be gracious to my children ... considering they went by my commandment who am their father, and not of their own free wills". His execution was planned for 21 August at eight in the morning, however, it was suddenly cancelled; Northumberland was instead escorted to St Peter ad Vincula, where he publicly took the Catholic communion
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
, forswearing his hitherto Protestant faith, in what was a great propaganda coup for the new, Catholic, government. Any hopes of a pardon were in vain for the Duke who, after short notice, was now to be beheaded the next day. An hour before his father's execution the Earl of Warwick was likewise led to St Peter ad Vincula to receive the sacrament; he then returned to his prison cell.
From mid-September Warwick was allowed visits by his wife. The rebellion of Thomas Wyatt
Thomas Wyatt the younger
Sir Thomas Wyatt the younger was a rebel leader during the reign of Queen Mary I of England; his rising is traditionally called "Wyatt's rebellion".-Birth and career:...
in February 1554 led to the executions of Jane Grey and her husband, Guildford Dudley. John, Ambrose, Robert, and Henry Dudley remained imprisoned in a room of the Beauchamp Tower. They made carvings in the walls, John carving their heraldic devices with his name "IOHN DVDLI". He was allowed to perambulate on the leads, "being crazed for want of air". During 1554 Jane Dudley, John's mother, and his brother-in-law, Henry Sidney
Henry Sidney
Sir Henry Sidney , Lord Deputy of Ireland was the eldest son of Sir William Sidney of Penshurst, a prominent politician and courtier during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, from both of whom he received extensive grants of land, including the manor of Penshurst in Kent, which became the...
, were busy befriending the Spanish nobles around the new king consort, Prince Philip of Spain
Philip II of Spain
Philip II was King of Spain, Portugal, Naples, Sicily, and, while married to Mary I, King of England and Ireland. He was lord of the Seventeen Provinces from 1556 until 1581, holding various titles for the individual territories such as duke or count....
, as well in England as in Spain. In October, John Dudley and his brothers Robert and Henry were released due to their efforts, but John Dudley died immediately afterwards at Henry Sidney's house Penshurst
Penshurst Place
Penshurst Place is a historic building near Tonbridge, Kent, south east of London, England. It is the ancestral home of the Sidney family, and was the birthplace of the great Elizabethan poet, courtier and soldier, Sir Philip Sidney. The original medieval house is one of the most complete examples...
in Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
.