On this day in history, 13th January 1613, Jane Dormer, Duchess of Feria, died in Spain. She was buried in the monastery of Santa Clara at Zafra.
Jane had a fascinating life, going from being one queen's close confidante to fleeing another queen's reign, and leading Catholic exiles abroad. Let me tell you more about her.
Jane was born on 6th January 1538, in the reign of King Henry VIII, at Eythrope in Buckinghamshire. She was the daughter of Sir William Dormer and his first wife, Mary Sidney. Following her mother’s death in 1542, Jane was brought up by her paternal grandmother, Jane, Lady Dormer, and was given a Catholic upbringing, and in 1547, when she was just nine years old, she was admitted into the household of Princess Mary.
After Mary successfully deposed Lady Jane Grey in 1553, she chose Jane as one of her ladies, and she became one of the queen’s closest friends and confidantes. In 1554, Philip of Spain came to England in preparation for his marriage to Queen Mary, and in his entourage was his close advisor, nobleman and diplomat, Gómez Suárez de Figueroa y Córdoba, 1st Duke of Feria. Jane, who was known for her beauty with one poet writing “Dormer is a darling and of such lively hue that who so feeds his eyes on her may soon her beauty view”, was noticed by the duke and despite opposition from his family, he made Jane his wife on 29th December 1558, not long after Elizabeth I had come to the throne.
In 1559, the couple left England to go into exile, and Jane gave birth to their first child, a son, Lorenzo, in September 1559 in the Low Countries. After Jane had recovered, they made their way to Spain, travelling through France, where they met Mary, Queen of Scots. Settled in Spain, Jane and her husband opened their home to Catholic exiles from England, Ireland and Scotland, and they supported the Jesuits.
Jane's husband, the Duke of Feria
Sadly, in September 1571, Jane lost her husband, the Duke of Feria, and her grandmother, Lady Dormer, who had helped exiles in Louvain. Jane became a leader of exiles and some English exiles put pressure on Philip of Spain to send Jane to the Low Countries to help neutralise opposition to Spain there. Philip didn’t send her, but he did support her financially in her support of exiles. On the duke’s death, Jane’s son Lorenzo inherited his dukedom.
In 1579, Jane’s role with Catholic exiles was reduced when Sir Francis Englefield, her friend and fellow patron of exiles, settled in Spain and took over. And in the 1590s, Jane’s relationship with her son, Lorenzo, soured for a time due to him opposing renewed plans for her to go and lead the exile community in the Low Countries. Jane, however, continued to support exiles and to try and influence Philip of Spain’s policy towards England. Jane even presented the king with documents signed by herself, Englefield, and Jesuits Robert Persons and Joseph Cresswell asking Philip to proclaim his daughter Isabel as Queen of England and pushing for him to establish a council in the Low Countries which would focus on English affairs. Philip denied both requests.
In 1600, Jane wrote to King James VI of Scotland, encouraging him to embrace Catholicism, and when he came to the English throne in 1603, there were plans to send Jane back to England as a lady-in-waiting for his queen consort, Anne of Denmark. However, Lorenzo opposed the plan.
Lorenzo died in 1607, but even though his opposition was now gone, Jane did not travel to England due to ill-health. She died on this day in Tudor history, 13th January 1613, and was laid to rest in Spain, in the monastery of Santa Clara in Zafra.
Leave a Reply