THE LADY JANE GREY'S PRAYER BOOK. BRITISH LIBRARY HARLEY MANUSCRIPT 2342, FULLY ILLUSTRATED AND TRANSCRIBED - Tecno-Libro

As the Lady Jane Grey Dudley walked solemnly across the frozen ground of the Tower of London and toward the scaffold on which she was to be executed, she read silently from a tiny hand-written book of reformist prayers that she carried with her. The prayers contained within the book were already very familiar to the seventeen-year-old Lady Jane, but she drew strength from reading them again, allowing her to remain remarkably composed as she approached the block and the executioner s axe. The Lady Jane s exceptional dignity in the face of death would earn for her the title of religious martyr. She was but the first of many such Protestant martyrs during the brief reign of Queen Mary Tudor, known today as Bloody Mary. The Lady Jane s prayer book has survived the centuries and is now held by the British Library, where it is occasionally displayed as part of the Treasures of the British Library permanent exhibition. Access to it is otherwise strictly limited, so