Catherine Grey, Queen of England and Spain?

Lady Catherine Grey

When Queen Elizabeth I came to the throne in 1558 she was put under immense pressure to marry and provide England with an heir to the throne.
Elizabeth was the last of Henry VIII's children, and the Tudor dynasty had an alarming lack of heirs. Elizabeth's closest relations of the royal blood were the children of Henry VIII's two sisters; Margaret and Mary. In his Will, Henry VIII had declared that should his three children die without heirs of their own, the crown was to pass to the heirs of his younger sister Mary - who was close to her brother as she had remained in England whilst Margaret had moved to Scotland when she married. Through this line, Lady Catherine Grey was the heir apparent to Queen Elizabeth. Lady Catherine was the younger sister to Lady Jane Grey, the nine days queen, and was a favourite of Queen Mary I and as such believed that Elizabeth was illegitimate.

Despite their lack of an amicable relationship, Catherine Grey was considered by many to be the rightful heir to the throne. The alternative was Mary, Queen of Scots, however this was not favourable to many English subjects due to her foreign birth and Catholic faith. Queen Elizabeth, however, for her whole life refused to ever name an heir. She was unwavering in her silence on the matter.

Her position and potential now made Catherine Grey a political pawn to be played.

King Philip II of Spain, who had been married to Queen Mary and who also had a mind to then marry Queen Elizabeth, schemed to use this situation to his advantage. A scheme came about in which Catherine Grey was to be abducted from Court and shipped to Spain, where she would then be married to a Spanish nobleman. In the eyes of Catholic Europe Elizabeth was illegitimate and therefore had no right to the throne. Philip II would then use Catherine in order to invade England and seize power. Therefore, once Catherine was Queen, Spain would have influence and control in England. It was even thought by some that Lady Catherine should be Queen in place of Elizabeth due to her illegitimacy.
It was common knowledge that Lady Catherine was unhappy at Elizabeth's court; the Spanish ambassador Count Feria even reported that a kidnap may be unnecessary as Lady Catherine may even be persuaded to leave England willingly. Whilst under Queen Mary, Catherine and her younger sister Mary Grey had retained posts in the Privy Chamber, under Elizabeth they were merely 'Ladies of the Presence'. In mid-1559 the Duke of Savoy's envoy reported that Lady Catherine had said 'very arrogant and unseemly words in the hearing of the Queen and others standing by', her exact words were not recorded.

It seems that Queen Elizabeth became aware of the Spanish plot towards Lady Catherine and she changed her treatment of her; Elizabeth suddenly began treating Catherine nicely, calling her 'daughter', restoring her to the Privy Chamber and even mentioned formally adopting her. There were discussions around this time that Catherine was to be married to a Scottish nobleman to improve Anglo-Scots relations.

However, Catherine Grey was not a woman to be used by others. Catherine had long since fallen in love with Edward Seymour and had a mind to marry him. They wanted to marry as early as March 1559. They eventually married in secret, with Edward's sister Jane as the only witness and the only person who knew and encouraged the pair. Shortly after Edward was sent abroad with Thomas Cecil for his education.
In July 1561 the whole scandal was discovered, as Catherine could no longer disguise her pregnancy and sought out Robert Dudley's help. During this time Jane Seymour had died, Catherine had lost the marriage certificate and the priest had disappeared and therefore the fact that a marriage had taken place could not be proved. Edward was recalled to England and the couple were imprisoned separately, with the Queen having the marriage declared null and void, a state in which they remained until Catherine's death in 1568. On her deathbed Catherine sent Edward a ring inscribed with the words 'while I lived, yours'. Catherine and Edward had two sons both born in the Tower; Edward born in 1561 and Thomas born in 1562. Edward was pardoned in 1570, but never stopped searching for the priest who performed the marriage ceremony. In 1606 he achieved his goal, the priest was found and the marriage was declared legal, along with the legitimacy of their sons.

Edward Seymour

Had Catherine not married Edward Seymour, her life may have been very different, perhaps as the next Queen of Spain?

It appears that this rebellious trait was a family one; Lady Catherine's grandmother Princess Mary Rose Tudor had married her second husband Charles Brandon without her brother the king's permission. Catherine's mother Frances took as her second husband her Master of the Horse Adrian Stokes. Catherine's younger sister Mary also eloped with the widower Sergeant Porter Thomas Keyes. Catherine's eldest son Edward married Honora Rogers, a girl far below him in status and therefore his father did all he could to end the marriage. Edward then threatened to commit suicide rather than return to his father's house. Edward and Honora's son William Seymour later secretly married Arbella Stuart.

Bonjour Crispe

Henry Crispe was a firm Parliamentarian during the years of the English Civil War and this led to him being kidnapped from his own home in order to further the Royalist cause.

In August 1657 Henry was kidnapped from his home of Quekes by Royalist supporters, bundled into his own carriage without a servant to attend him - which he found most rude - and taken to coast where he was then put onto a boat which set sail to Bruges in Flanders where he would remain as a prisoner. At this time Flanders had been in Spanish possession, a country which had been at war with England for two years. Once in Bruges, Henry sent for his nephew Thomas who lived near to Quekes to come to him, and once he arrived the two men discussed the situation and tried to find a solution. Thomas was sent back to England and joined forces with Henry's son Nicholas to raise the ransom money. The ransom that was demanded was a sum of 3000l, which was expected to be paid by Cromwell's government. Cromwell saw this for what it was, a way to raise money for the Royalist side of King Charles II, and so refused to pay the money for the return of Henry Crispe. Cromwell made an order to the council that Mr Crispe was not to be ransomed, and therefore his family had to petition for a licence to allow them to pay the ransom themselves. Henry's son Nicholas died at this time, while his father was still kept prisoner, at which time the fight was taken up by Thomas who managed to obtain the licence. However this ransom was high and meant that Henry had to give permission for Thomas and his son-in-law Robert Darell to sell off some of the Crispe lands in order to raise the funds. It was still another eight months before the ransom was paid and Henry Crispe was released and sent back home to England.

Henry had in fact had previous warning that this kidnapping was to take place, and in an attempt to stop it he fortified his home with loopholes for musket fire and paid his neighbours to come and stay in his home with him for protection in case of attack, however neither of these actions appear to have had any effect on the kidnappers at all.

The kidnapping plot had been thought up and carried out by Captain Golding of Ramsgate who was a staunch Royalist and had previously taken refuge with Charles II.

While being held in Flanders, where the official language was French, Henry Crispe learnt only two words; "Bonjour Crispe". He would use only these words, probably incorrectly, during his eight months stay there, earning him the nickname of 'Bonjour Crispe'.

Quekes House

Henry Crispe was born around 1581 as the son of Henry Crispe (b.1545) and Anne Colepeper (1548-94). He inherited Quekes Manor in Kent in 1650 from his cousin, another Henry Crispe. Henry Crispe also shortly after became the Sheriff for this county, however due to his age it was his son Nicholas who undertook most of the duties.

Henry firstly married Mary Colepeper (b.1584), the daughter of Anthony Colepeper and Anne Martin, in about 1602, but they had no children and she died in about 1609. Secondly he married Frances Hooper (nee Roberts) (1590-1646) in about 1611, who was the daughter of Thomas Roberts and Frances James. Frances had a daughter, Frances Hooper, from her first marriage. With Frances he had a daughter Christiana, who married Robert Darell, and a son Nicholas (1615-57) who predeceased his father. Nicholas had married Thomasine Denne (d.1679) with whom he had a daughter Ann (d.1707), who married Richard Powle and had one son John Powle (d.1740).

Henry Crisp died on the 25th July 1663 and his estate was inherited by his nephew Thomas Crispe, due to his own lack of male heirs.

The last will and testament of Henry Crispe;

" I, Henry Crispe, late of Queakes, in the Parish of Birchington, within the Isle of Thanett, in the County of Kent: ' to be interred in the Parish Church of Birchington, neare the Tombe by me erected for my wife and Children now departed.' 'Unto my grand-child, Mrs. Anna Crispe .£100 and such Jewells and Dimons as were my wife's in her life time.' And to my daughter, Thomasiue Lady Crispe, her mother, I doe give my watch with ye silver case, and that small dimond ring which I had of ye gift of ' Sir Henry Crispe, Knight, deceased.' Unto my beloved nephew, Lieutenant Thomas Crispe, eldest sonne of my loving brother, Mr. Thomas Crispe, of Cant, my houses, etc., in Birehington, knowne by the name of Queckes, late in mine own occupation before I was Carried away Prisiner into Flanders. Also lands at St. Nicholas, at Wade, neare Brookseud, etc., one other small tenement and windmill in Birchington, and my manor of Stoner; leases at Sandwich, and houses at Create Chart and Ashford. My manor of Haselton, also Haiston. The same to my said nephew (Thomas Crispe) and he sole owner and executor. Will proved, Oct. 23rd, 1667, by Thomas Crispe."