On this day in history, 13th November 1553, in the reign of Queen Mary I, Lady Jane Grey, her husband Guildford Dudley, his brothers Ambrose and Henry, and Archbishop Thomas Cranmer were tried for treason at a public trial at London’s Guildhall.

They were all found guilty as charged, with the men being sentenced to being hanged, drawn and quartered, and Jane to be burned alive, or beheaded. Lady Jane Grey and Guildford Dudley were executed on 12th February 1554. The others escaped death, although Cranmer was burned at the stake for heresy in March 1556.

You can read more about the trial in my article The Trial of Lady Jane Grey.

Also on this day in history…

1536 – Murder of Robert Packington, mercer and member of Parliament, at Cheapside, while making his way to mass at St Thomas of Acre Chapel. He was shot dead by an unknown assailant. Historian Derek Wilson points out that “poor Robert Packington probably holds the dubious distinction of being the first person in England to be killed with a handgun”. Packington was a keen reformer.

Categories: Lady Jane Grey, Mary I

