Zachariah
Banned
What if Lady Jane Grey had kept the throne, and the Dudleys had succeeded the Tudors as the new royal lineage of England? Let's say that, after Edward I’s death, everything had gone according to plan for the de-facto Regent John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. On the 25th of May 1553, his second youngest son, Guildford Dudley, had been married to Lady Jane Grey in a wedding at Durham Pace, the Duke of Northumberland's town mansion. And King Edward, in his "Device of the Succession", settled the Crown on his cousin once removed, Jane Grey, bypassing his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, upon his death on 6 July 1553.
The Duke of Northumberland undertook the enforcement of the King's will, and just before Edward VI's death, he'd issued a summons for Mary Tudor to travel to London to visit her dying brother. However, Mary was forewarned that the summons was a pretext on which to capture her and thereby facilitate Lady Jane's accession to the throne. Therefore, instead of heading to London from her residence at Hunsdon, Mary fled into East Anglia, where she owned extensive estates and Dudley had ruthlessly put down Kett's Rebellion.
Jane was reluctant to accept the Crown, but she agreed after being convinced by an assembly of nobles, including her parents and in-laws (as well as by Guildford's approach of "prayers and caresses"). On 10 July, Jane and Guildford made their ceremonial entry into the Tower of London. Residing in there, Guildford wanted to be made king- according to her own later account, Jane had a long discussion about this with Guildford, who "assented that if he were to be made king, he would be so by me, by Act of Parliament". According to later remarks by the Imperial ambassadors, the daily Council meetings were presided over by Guildford, who allegedly also dined in state alone and had himself addressed in regal style. Antoine de Noailles, the French ambassador, described Guildford Dudley as "the new King", and the Holy Roman Imperial court in Brussels also believed in the existence of King Guildford.
So then, what if Mary Tudor hadn't gotten that warning, and had been captured in London instead, with Queen Jane the First of England's proclamation going uncontested, her husband Guildford Dudley named as King Consort, and with their children (which they'd almost certainly have had a fair few of, considering that Jane and Guildford had two and twelve siblings respectively) becoming the heirs to the throne? With the Dudleys replacing the Tudors as the royal lineage of England in this TL, how much might this have altered the course of history, not just for England, but for Europe and the World?
The Duke of Northumberland undertook the enforcement of the King's will, and just before Edward VI's death, he'd issued a summons for Mary Tudor to travel to London to visit her dying brother. However, Mary was forewarned that the summons was a pretext on which to capture her and thereby facilitate Lady Jane's accession to the throne. Therefore, instead of heading to London from her residence at Hunsdon, Mary fled into East Anglia, where she owned extensive estates and Dudley had ruthlessly put down Kett's Rebellion.
Jane was reluctant to accept the Crown, but she agreed after being convinced by an assembly of nobles, including her parents and in-laws (as well as by Guildford's approach of "prayers and caresses"). On 10 July, Jane and Guildford made their ceremonial entry into the Tower of London. Residing in there, Guildford wanted to be made king- according to her own later account, Jane had a long discussion about this with Guildford, who "assented that if he were to be made king, he would be so by me, by Act of Parliament". According to later remarks by the Imperial ambassadors, the daily Council meetings were presided over by Guildford, who allegedly also dined in state alone and had himself addressed in regal style. Antoine de Noailles, the French ambassador, described Guildford Dudley as "the new King", and the Holy Roman Imperial court in Brussels also believed in the existence of King Guildford.
So then, what if Mary Tudor hadn't gotten that warning, and had been captured in London instead, with Queen Jane the First of England's proclamation going uncontested, her husband Guildford Dudley named as King Consort, and with their children (which they'd almost certainly have had a fair few of, considering that Jane and Guildford had two and twelve siblings respectively) becoming the heirs to the throne? With the Dudleys replacing the Tudors as the royal lineage of England in this TL, how much might this have altered the course of history, not just for England, but for Europe and the World?