01x05 - John Dudley: The Wicked Duke

[bunniefuu]

Today has been set,

for the execution of John Dudley...

Duke of Northumberland.

A month ago, he was
the most powerful man in England.

Now, he's led from the Tower
of London to Tower Hill...

to face his fate.

Charged with launching a failed plot

to put his own daughter-in-law,
Lady Jane Grey, on the English throne.

Good people. I pray
you judge the best in God's works.

A traitor,

despised throughout the land
as the "wicked" duke.

And in front of an awe-struck crowd,
he delivers his final words.

As for me, I am a wretched sinner
and I've deserved to die.

Was Dudley responsible
for his own demise?

Or was he a victim of the fickle
and dangerous Tudor court?

I'm Dan Snow.

And I'm Professor Suzannah Lipscomb.

And together we're investigating
the world of the Tudors

in a whole new way,

by starting at the grizzly end.

In this turbulent time
of shifting allegiances,

volatile politics,
and a clash of religions,

many of the key players end up
with their heads on the block.

Now, we'll uncover
the critical moments

that led them to the executioner...

We'll discover fresh insights
and examine new evidence.

As far as the people around her
were concerned, she was innocent.

...and challenge
how we see these individuals

and this pivotal point
in Europe's history.

-So Cecil was doctoring the evidence?
-Oh, absolutely.

Because understanding why these people
were convicted and k*lled,

is to understand the Tudors.

The Tower of London,

the scene of so many bloody
Tudor executions,

including John Dudley's.

We're starting our investigation here
in its chapel, St Peter ad Vincula,

where his remains now lie.

Look, there he is, John Dudley,
Duke of Northumberland, 1553.

Look at that company that he's in.

Great big list of people
ex*cuted at the Tower.

Anne Boleyn, Katherine Howard.

You've got Thomas Cromwell
of Wolf Hall fame.

It's almost like a who's who
of the Tudor world.

This is the top tier.

He's the most important Tudor
you've never heard of.

He starts without a title,
he becomes the Duke of Northumberland,

and then he's ex*cuted for treason.

He's accused of trying to change
the royal succession.

So Henry VIII's son, Edward,
who was king, Edward VI,

when he died at the age of 15,

arguably his elder sister, Mary,
should have inherited the throne.

But Dudley is accused
of trying to manipulate Edward

to put his own daughter-in-law,
Lady Jane Grey, on the throne instead.

So it's as if he's trying to create

a new royal dynasty,
a House of Dudley.

But it wasn't to be.

Dudley and his allies

face the executioner's block
while Mary takes the throne.

So looking at this story,
where do we start?

Yes I suppose we need to think
about what sort of man Dudley was.

I mean, was he wildly ambitious?

And did he make powerful enemies
along the way, and powerful friends?

It's so tantalizing.

It really is. This whole situation,
just a proper Game of Thrones.

So, was Dudley a victim
of brutal Tudor politics,

or out to steal the crown for himself?

I need to explore
Dudley's life at court.

While I'm going back to the start,

because what makes Dudley's rise
to power so impressive

is that he couldn't have started out
on a worse footing.

John Dudley's father, Edmund Dudley,

was a widely hated minister
and debt collector for King Henry VII.

When John was around five, a new king,
Henry VIII, came to the throne.

He imprisoned
and later ex*cuted Edmund

to boost his own popularity.

As a child,
John Dudley's future looked bleak.

So how did Dudley rise
to such greatness?

That's what I need to find out first.

Soon after his father's death,

Dudley was taken in by courtier
and family friend, Edward Guildford.

He secured John a pardon
from the King. And that's not all.

Dudley marries Guildford's daughter.

He goes to France
and fights alongside Guildford

and he's actually knighted
on the b*ttlefield at age 19.

Not bad for the son of a traitor.

When Guildford died, Dudley also
inherited much of his wealth.

Now well-off, perhaps Dudley
could have settled for an easy life,

but he didn't.

To understand what drove him

and to search
for the seeds of his demise,

I've come to Central England

to the place that bears
his family name, Dudley Castle.

What a castle,
big set of buildings there.

These walls running around

and just look at this Keep
on that hilltop.

This is a real stronghold.

Dudley Castle's Keep
was built by the Normans

following their conquest in 1066.

Nearly five centuries later,
and still a major power base,

the castle became John Dudley's,
but it was not his by birth.

Looking at this, it's clear that
Dudley's done very well,

particularly given his shaky start.

It does make you wonder
how this castle became his.

To find out,
I'm meeting historian Matt Lewis.

So Dudley's sitting pretty here.
What a pad.

-How does he get it?
-Isn't this incredible?

It's owned
by a cousin named John Sutton.

He's in money trouble.

So he goes to his cousin
who's doing quite well

and says, "John Dudley,
can you lend me some money?"

And John's like,
"I can lend you some money".

He gives him 2,000 pounds,

which is maybe three-quarters
of a million pounds today.

John Sutton says,

"I'll pay back 400 pounds a year
in five years."

Except that he doesn't have


Then John Dudley says,
'If you can't pay me back.

"I'll have this castle."

And all of a sudden,
he's living in a castle.

What an operator,
he does over his cousin.

Question is
how much more ruthless is he

than everybody else around him.

John Dudley is existing in this world
where there's opportunity

if you're willing and ruthless enough
to go out and grab it.

For Dudley,
this castle gave him prestige,

power, and a place
in England's nobility.

But he wanted more.

He built a lavish palace
in the grounds.

Somewhere to host the great and good,
to aid his rise.

I think I'm starting
to get the measure of this man.

Dudley was clearly
ambitious and ruthless,

willing to cheat others
to get what he wanted.

I wonder if that's just him
or is that what everyone's got to be

if they want to make it
in this difficult Tudor world?

Either way, he's playing
a very dangerous game.

Despite his lowly start,

Dudley quickly rose
through the ranks of the royal court,

but it wasn't all smooth sailing.

Henry's court was divided.

On one side was Dudley

with religious reformers
like his friend, Edward Seymour,

and the King's Chief Minister,
Thomas Cromwell.

On the other
were the Catholic nobility

like Thomas Howard, Duke of Norfolk.

When Henry married his fifth wife
Katherine Howard, Norfolk's niece,

the Duke became
the King's new favorite.

Cromwell was ex*cuted.

And Dudley was
in a dangerous position.

Everything that Dudley
had worked so hard to build

now seemed at risk of collapse.

He faced a choice.

Retreat to the safety of his castle,
or fight for a future at court.

What Dudley did next would be crucial.

On the trail
of John Dudley's next move,

I've come to one of England's
finest Tudor palaces,

Hampton Court.

Dudley had been ousted
from King Henry VIII's inner circle

by the Howards.

But in November 1541,
he saw a chance to get back in favor.

After being married to
Katherine Howard for just over a year,

Henry VIII was
in the palace's chapel royal,

when he learned
of shocking accusations.

I'm always struck by how calm
and serene this place is.

The perfect place
to tell Henry VIII the expl*sive news.

Henry was up there in his private pew

when he opened a letter

from England's most senior archbishop,
Thomas Cranmer.

It alleged that the Queen had been
in sexual relationships

before her marriage to the King,

including with a man
called Francis Dereham.

Enraged, Henry ordered
an immediate investigation.

When its findings were ready,
it wasn't Cranmer

who delivered the bad news,
it was John Dudley.

I have here a report given to Dudley
for him to give it to the King.

In fact, it actually even says here,
"This bearer, Sir John Dudley."

And Cranmer's report says
Katherine has "talked of marriage

with her accused lover,
Frances Dereham

and it is sufficient
to prove a contract."

Under church law at the time,

if you said "I marry you"
and then had sex,

you were legally married.

So if Katherine is married to Dereham,

she can't be
legally married to the king.

Delivering such intelligence
to Henry VIII was a dangerous task.

So did Dudley volunteer for the job?

To find out, I'm
talking to historian Gareth Russell.

It's interesting because Dudley
always appears at the crucial moments.

There's a really interesting phrase
in the letter

where Cranmer says,
"I don't have time,

to write everything in this report.

The bearer of the letter
will bring you a verbal message."

It means that Dudley has been told
the most confidential information

about Katherine's downfall

and the Archbishop trusts him
to bring it to Henry VIII.

Wow, I mean, that means
that he knows very intimate details.

Can you imagine having to relay those
to Henry VIII about his wife?

No, not at all. I mean, it's a spine
made of steel, I would imagine.

Why do you think Dudley was involved?

Do you think he was
nominated for this role

or did he volunteer?

I think he steps forward.

He's someone who wants to succeed
and he knows that in this regime,

you do that by proving yourself
to be useful.

Whether Dudley did this
because of his loyalty to the King

or for his own benefit,
he had gambled, and it paid off.

Katherine Howard pleaded

that Francis Dereham
had forced himself on her,

but to no avail.

She was beheaded,

while Dudley was promoted,
becoming Henry's Lord Admiral.

Again, Dudley had got
what he wanted at another's cost.

But he'd turned
Katherine's powerful uncle,

the Duke of Norfolk, into an enemy.

There's much a sense

that this scandal
was an opportunity for Dudley,

but eventually it would come back
to bite him.

At the Tudor court,
you played your best hand

but you never knew
quite how it would turn out.

To discover
how this clash of rivals evolved,

I've come here, to central London.

Dudley was back in the King's favor.

But over the five years
since Katherine Howard's death,

he grew increasingly aware

that the Duke of Norfolk was plotting
against him and his allies.

Luckily the Duke's son, Henry Howard

gave Dudley the chance
to take Norfolk down.

Henry Howard rather foolishly boasted

that if Henry VIII died
before his son Edward was of age,

the Duke of Norfolk,
would make an ideal Regent.

Well, it didn't take much for Dudley
to be able to twist this and suggest

that Norfolk had his eyes
on the throne himself.

The paranoid king ordered
a full investigation.

And I've come to the College of Arms.

Because it was the alleged changes
to Henry Howard's coat of arms

that got him and his father
in so much trouble.

This is his official coat of arms.

Now look at the top right.

You've got the three lions of England.
Still on the football shirt today.

And those are associated
with the son of the King.

But the Howards have had that
in their coats of arms for centuries

because they were
originally descended from a king.

The investigators discovered

Henry Howard
was making a new coat of arms,

moving these lions from the top right
to the top left quarter.

And that's significant.

Only the King's eldest son and heir
was allowed to display them there.

What's more,

he was said to be looking
to incorporate the arms

of Edward the Confessor,

one of the earliest
and most revered kings of England.

If true, Henry Howard was
really stressing his royal heritage.

So much so that the suggestion was

that he was staking his claim
to be king himself.

Henry Howard and the Duke of Norfolk,
were arrested, found guilty of treason

and locked up awaiting execution.

Rumors swirled
that Dudley had planted evidence.

And while we can't know for sure,
it did play right into his hands.

He was now closer than ever
to the King.

It was at an important time,

because in early 1547,
Henry VIII was growing weak,

and Dudley was at his bedside,
his closest confidant,

they would play cards together,
which is pretty impressive,

given that he was the son of a man
Henry VIII had ex*cuted for treason.

Dudley's rivals
were seemingly defeated,

Henry Howard was beheaded.

But in an incredible twist of fate,

a few hours before Norfolk was due
to be k*lled, the King died.

To avoid bloodshed,
Dudley and his allies spared Norfolk,

keeping him locked up
in the Tower instead.

Would this be a decision
Dudley would live to regret?

With the death of Henry VIII,

his nine-year-old son
became the new king, Edward VI.

So what would this mean
for John Dudley?

Up until now
Dudley has played his hand so well,

he's stayed in the monarch's
good books,

he's made the right friends at court,

seen off his enemies, amassed power
and prestige and property.

But I want to see how Dudley copes
with the greatest challenge

that Tudor courtiers can face,
a change of king.

Art historian Dr. Charlotte Bolland
is showing me a later Tudor painting

which captures this transitional time.

So what we have here
is a presentation of the moment

that Edward VI becomes king.

We have Henry VIII on the left,
on his deathbed,

-but still very conscious, in control.
-Yes.

-He points to his son.
-This is my son, the next in line.

Exactly, and he's also pointing across
to this group of men,

this kind of council.
And among them, we have Dudley.

Henry VIII wanted to prevent
any one person gaining power

over the young King.

So he had created a council of 16 men
to guide his son

until he was old enough to rule alone.

Dudley was made the Lord Chamberlain,
one of its most important positions.

He's right in the center, isn't he?
He's arrived.

Yes, he's seated at the head of
the table and between two key figures.

We have Edward Seymour,

and then Thomas Cranmer,
the archbishop of Canterbury.

Dudley and his old allies were now
running the country

for the young King.

They'd triumphed
over their Catholic rivals,

and were steering England
towards a new Protestant faith.

But was it really such a united front?

The reality of that Tudor court,
as we know by now,

it was filled
with jealousy and competition,

huge egos, people playing
for the highest stakes.

I reckon things
wouldn't be quite as harmonious

as they're portrayed in that painting.

Sure enough, it wasn't long
before rivalries began to surface.

Edward Seymour,
who was the new King's uncle,

assumed the position
of Lord Protector,

and was now living with Edward here
at Hampton Court.

For some time, Dudley had been
concerned about the effect

that Seymour had
on the impressionable King.

Perhaps Dudley thought
that he was being sidelined.

But in that year,

there were other reasons
to be concerned about Seymour.

The council were meant
to rule by majority,

but Seymour took control and pushed
through his own controversial policies

on religion and agriculture.

Riots sprang up all over the country
and Dudley brutally crushed

a major uprising
in England's second city, Norwich.

For him,
Seymour was to blame for the mess.

What happened next is a fine example

of the twists and turns
of the Tudor court.

To curb Seymour's power, Dudley allied
with his Catholic rivals,

including
the powerful Earl of Arundel.

But when they moved
to execute Seymour,

it was too much for Dudley.

He insisted his old friend be spared.

Now both Dudley's rivals and Seymour
felt that he had betrayed them

and they all began plotting
their revenge.

Dudley decides
to take the nuclear option.

The conservatives must be dealt with,
and his old friend Seymour must die.

To explore what happened next,

I've come to the heart of London
to Westminster Hall.

The original seat
of the English parliament,

it once hosted coronation
banquets and major trials.

Extraordinary space.

Isn't it immense?

I'm here to meet Dr. Joanne Paul

because it was
in this magnificent hall,

in December 1551
that Seymour faced justice.

So what happens in the trial?

Seymour is accused of a variety
of different treasons and felonies.

These include gathering forces
in the North,

gathering forces to attack London,

trying to overthrow
members of the council,

and this very detailed plot

whereby he was going
to invite John Dudley

to dinner and cut off his head.

Goodness me.

That one was almost
certainly an invention,

probably from Dudley himself.

The others had some truth
to them though.

He was gathering his forces,
probably defensively,

but it didn't look good.

And his intention of overthrowing
members of the council,

well, certainly that was true.

Seymour's thirst for power
had got the better of him.

And while he defended himself well,

he was found guilty
of the plot to k*ll Dudley

and was sentenced to death.

What's astonishing is the brutality
of just taking out your best friend.

It really was a question
of him or me for John.

He had no other options.

If he hadn't taken Seymour out,

Seymour would have taken him out
in almost exactly the same way.

Dudley also had
the Earl of Arundel locked up

claiming he'd been party to the plot.

Whether Dudley was driven
only by his own ambition,

or was trying to do the best
for the country,

he was now "the most powerful man"
in England, after the King.

He was made Duke of Northumberland
and President of the council.

But all of this came at a cost.

What I don't think Dudley appreciates
is Seymour's popularity

and the effect on his own.

He is exposed as manipulative
and deceitful.

Dudley was rapidly losing
public support.

So, was this the moment
that sealed his fate

or could he turn things around
once more?

In early 1552, John Dudley
was the most powerful man in England.

With Seymour out of the way,

he'd assumed his rival's position
close to the young King Edward VI.

And he'd commandeered this place,
Seymour's grand residence, Syon House.

After Seymour's execution,
all this became Dudley's.

Doesn't it sound familiar?

Just like Dudley Castle,

another beautiful estate
acquired by dubious means.

Dudley now had more wealth
and influence than ever before,

to share with his wife

and growing brood
of at least seven children.

But his reputation
was at an all-time low.

There were rumors that he might even
want the throne for himself.

Behind closed doors,
I wonder how Dudley was feeling.

I'm meeting historian,
Professor Steven Gunn,

who has access to some of Dudley's
private correspondence.

We've got two letters
from autumn 1552.

Dudley is writing to his close ally
on the privy council,

chief secretary, Sir William Cecil,

and he's opening his heart
about the stresses of being in charge.

He's talking about disputes
on the King's council,

the export of English lead.

He says "it maketh me sorry that ever
it was my hap to be a meddler in it".

Yeah, so he's finding
it's tough at the top?

It's tough, you could think of this
as executive stress.

He tends to be ill
quite a lot at this time.

I think the burden of holding office
was even heavier for Dudley

due to what had happened to his father
as a leading minister of Henry VII.

He says, "Though my poor father,
who after his master was gone,

suffered death for doing
his master's commandment."

-It opens up wounds about his father.
-It seems to be.

This is really revealing.

It sounds like Dudley felt the walls
were closing in,

and maybe, at this point,
he could have stepped back.

But the letters show
he would do no such thing.

"With all earnestness and duty,

I will serve without fear,
seeking nothing

but the true glory of God
and His Highness' surety".

In other words,
Dudley was not giving up anytime soon.

And what happens next,

suggests he would cling onto power
by any means necessary.

In the spring of 1553,
a shadow hung over England.

The 15-year-old King,
Edward VI, was gravely ill

and seemed unlikely to recover.

Without children of his own,

his half-sister Mary looked set
to inherit the throne.

Then, in the last months of his life,
Edward prepared an expl*sive document,

now kept here
at Inner Temple Library in London.

It sets out his dying wishes.

Says, scrap of paper is
one of the most important documents

of the Tudor century.

And it is astonishingly rare.

It was written by a king,
not just any king,

a 15-year-old King in his own hand,
Edward VI.

He calls it
"My devise for the succession",

which means my plan
for who will follow me

to the throne after my death.

And it's extraordinary

because it rules out,
by not mentioning them,

his half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth.

Mary in part because she's Catholic

but also he considers both her
and Elizabeth to be illegitimate.

But he has another concern as well.

He repeatedly says
that it should go to "an heir male".

He wants it to be a man
on the throne after him

because of course there has been
no ruling queen before.

So he says, the throne should go
to the Lady Frances' heirs' male.

The Lady Frances is his cousin

but she hasn't had a child
for 10 years

so he doesn't expect
a son coming from her any time soon.

Failing that, to the Lady Jane's
heirs male, her daughter Jane,

but not to Jane herself,
her heirs male.

But what's really interesting
is that the document gets changed.

Maybe this happens as Edward
is close to dying,

he makes an absolutely vital change.

He crosses out the S at the end
of Lady Jane and adds in "and her",

which changes the whole meaning.

Suddenly he's not nominating a boy
because Jane doesn't have sons.

He's nominating Lady Jane
and her heirs' male

putting Lady Jane Grey
in the line of succession.

This choice was shocking.

Some thought King Edward had been
manipulated into this alteration.

His close advisor,
John Dudley was their prime suspect.

To discover why,
I'm being joined again

by Dr. Joanne Paul.

Hello. Just the person
I wanted to see.

So this becomes public knowledge
in June,

a month before Lady Jane Grey
becomes Lady Jane Dudley.

She marries one of the sons
of John Dudley,

and so to everyone seeing this,
they're realizing

that this document puts
John Dudley's son on the throne,

so of course they'll assume
he had something to do with it.

It's tempting to think that through
his daughter-in-law Lady Jane Grey,

Dudley was trying
to create his own royal dynasty,

but that may not be the case.

It was the dying King himself

who presented this document
to his chief justices,

threatening to charge anyone
who refused it with treason.

And while the device
benefitted Dudley,

it ultimately put him
in the firing line.

It's a bit of a poison chalice

because he's now defending
this new succession

that goes against Henry VIII's will.

Shows him to perhaps be
a manipulator in this,

to be the one
who's setting all of this up,

and he really doesn't have a legal leg
to stand on other than it being

the will of the King.

Within a few days,
the device was signed by the council

and awaited final approval
by parliament.

With suspicion surrounding him,

the King's right-hand man
was losing friends fast.

Was everything about to come
crashing down for Dudley?

On the 6th July 1553,
King Edward VI died.

And whether or not
Dudley had masterminded

the succession plan himself,

three days later,

he summoned his daughter-in-law
Lady Jane Grey here,

to Syon House.

Jane was led
into this very room by Dudley,

and what she found there
shocked her to the core.

The court was assembled.

The courtiers dropped to their knees,
and she was told

that she would be queen.

She was overwhelmed at the news,
some sources say she even fainted.

When she came to, she said defiantly,
"The crown is not mine by right.

It pleases me not.
Mary is the rightful heir".

But Jane had no choice,

and Dudley moved fast
to make the succession happen.

The idea was to keep the King's death
and Jane's succession a secret

until Mary could be captured.

But things didn't go
according to plan.

Mary fled to her house in Norfolk.
She clearly knew something was afoot.

And I want to explore
what happened next

and why Dudley fell so quickly
and so dramatically.

I've got a copy of a letter
sent by Mary to the Privy Council.

This is sent on the very day
that Dudley tells Jane

that she is queen.

And it starts with expressing
her great grief and heaviness of heart

at the news

that "The King, our dearest brother

and late sovereign lord is departed
to God upon Thursday last at night".

Though Dudley and the council tried to
hold back this information from her,

she's evidently learnt
that this has happened.

And then it goes on the defensive,
it becomes very powerful.

She sets out her right to the crown,

"of this realm of England,

is justly come unto us
by God's new providence".

And it's signed "Mary the Queen".

Mary then orders the council
to defend her, their rightful queen,

at any cost.

If anyone dares
"violently and by force

to try and take away
their allegiance from her,

they are commanded
to stand their ground."

This is Mary blindsiding
Dudley and the council.

But Dudley was not prepared
to roll over.

Five days later, and seemingly
with the support of the council,

he left London with 1,500 men
to capture Mary.

Dudley was heading here,
Framlingham Castle.

Once owned by the Duke of Norfolk,
it had been given to Mary

when he was imprisoned.

And here, she was mustering her troops
to try and seize the crown.

This is just such an imposing site.
Look how high these walls are.

You can control
the surrounding countryside.

You can see why Mary moves here,

a real statement
that she meant business.

It just make you wonder

how Dudley thought
he was gonna deal with this threat.

To find out what happened next,

I'm meeting
historian Dr. Nicola Tallis.

Mary's come
to this powerful stronghold,

she builds up forces,
does Dudley still rule or falter?

This is the million dollar question
because really, to begin with,

all of the odds seem
to be very much stacked

in Jane and Dudley's favor.

He has got London at his command,

he has got arms and ammunition,

but he hasn't banked on the fact
that Mary is gonna come here.

She's actually incredibly popular here
in East Anglia

and men really do flock
to her banner day by day

as many as apparently,


-That's a huge army.
-Yeah, exactly.

She's popular, she's well loved,
she is Henry VIII's daughter,

everyone wants to see her
restored to her birthright.

By contrast, Dudley was loathed
in this part of England,

having put down riots here.

And as Dudley drew
nearer to Framlingham,

even his own men began to desert him.

Worse still, back in London,

Dudley's enemies were turning
the whole council

against him and Jane...

Time was running out.

About the showdown,
what happens when Dudley arrives here?

He doesn't, there's no showdown.

It all ends

before any swords have clashed
or any g*ns have been shot.

On the 19th of July 1553,
before Dudley could reach Framlingham,

the council in London proclaimed
Mary the new Queen.

Dudley tried to swear
his allegiance to her,

but it was too late.

The new authorities issued a reward
for his capture.

One thousand pounds

to the first nobleman
who could bring him in.

The man who claimed that prize

was one of many Dudley had trampled
in his rise to power,

the Earl of Arundel.

Now freed from his own imprisonment,

Arundel arrested Dudley
and dragged him back to London.

Dudley had enraged his enemies
and betrayed his friends.

Now, it was coming back to bite him.

On the 18th of August 1553,

John Dudley,
now dubbed the Wicked Duke,

was brought here to Westminster Hall
to face trial.

I can only imagine what this moment
must have felt like for John Dudley.

It had been
only a year and a half earlier

in which he had condemned his friend,
Edward Seymour in this very room.

Worse still, heading the proceedings
was Dudley's old nemesis,

whom Mary had released from jail,
the Duke of Norfolk.

Dudley was accused
of raising troops against Mary,

and declaring Jane queen in her place.

All true. But in Dudley's mind
this wasn't an open and shut case.

This is a contemporary record
of the trial, and it is fascinating.

Unsurprisingly, Dudley wasn't
going down without a fight.

He doesn't deny the charges,

but he says,
"whether any man doing this

by the authority of the council

and by warrant of England's great seal
could be charged with treason".

His point is,
if he had done otherwise,

that would've been treason,

and he also points out,
many of the people

who were judging him at this point
were equally culpable.

They too had been in on the succession
of Jane and committed to it.

These, to me, seem to be fair points,
this is a legitimate argument.

I have some sympathy with him here,
because to be honest, it wasn't fair.

Dudley's pleas were ignored.

His treatment of others had left him
with no allies.

He was condemned to death.

After everything we discovered,
it's time to meet up

back at the Tower.

And where better than the place
Dudley is thought to have stayed

before his execution.

So this is it, this is likely to be
the room where he was held.

This is the Bell Tower, where they put
the highest status prisoners.

Just spine-tingling.

Being here, knowing
his father's gone to the block,

what is he thinking
in the last few days of his life?

Well, it's hard to know.
He doesn't plead innocence.

He does ask for forgiveness and a
pardon, even converts to Catholicism.

So he thinks there's still a chance?

Maybe. But I don't really know
if he was hoping to save himself

or just hoping to save his family.

I suppose that humanizes him a bit,

although I haven't got
much of sympathy for him.

How he treats his old friend Seymour,
he was a ruthless man.

That's true, but Seymour
would have done the same to him.

I mean, it's just a brutal place,
the Tudor Court.

Do you think he had
monarchical ambitions?

His eye on the throne?

I don't think so.

I think that the devise
for the succession was Edward's idea

and you have to remember

that everyone of importance signs up
to Edward's devise for the succession.

It's not just Dudley.

But I suppose
what his life and death tells us

is exactly the price that's paid

if you want to rise
at the Tudor Court,

you have to be prepared to fall.

Now, armed with all we've learnt,

it's time to look again
at Dudley's final moments.

On the morning
of the 22nd of August 1553,

John Dudley was led out of
the Tower of London to Tower Hill.

A huge crowd had gathered,
rich and poor alike,

united in their desire
to see him meet his fate.

Good people. I pray
you judge the best in God's works.

With new found Catholic penitence,

Dudley warned against
the dangerous protestant faith...

Beware of these seditious preachers.

...and publicly confessed his sins.

And as for me, I am a wretched sinner,
and I've deserved to die.

Dudley had gone from an outcast,
to the very top of society.

He'd been loyal to three monarchs,

but ultimately he overplayed his hand.

And now his time was up.

The Duke of Norfolk, at Mary's behest,
would soon see to it

that Lady Jane Grey
suffered the same fate as Dudley.

Just a few years later,

the pendulum would swing once more
to a Protestant ruler, Elizabeth I.

Though she may never even
have become queen

if Lady Jane Grey
had been allowed to rule,

under the watchful eye of John Dudley.