Basic Info:
Born- October of 1537
Died- February 12, 1554

Early Life:
Jane Grey was the eldest child of Lord Henry and Lady Frances Grey (the duke and duchess of Suffolk). She was born in October of 1537 and had a good upbringing. She knew Greek, Latin, Italian, French, and Hebrew. She was a quick learner. Shortly after she turned nine, she went to live with Catherine Parr and after Catherine's death, she was made a ward to Thomas Seymour(Pate's husband). Thomas Seymour planned to have Jane married to his nephew and her cousin, Edward VI (disgusting. What were they thinking? Marrying her cousin would've been weird. Thankfully she got out of it). This marriage plan ended when Thomas Seymour was beheaded for treason in 1549. Jane returned to Bradgate to study for a while before returning home to her cold and unwelcoming (and possibly abusive) parents.
She was known to speak her mind and be very critical of her parents and their lavish lifestyle. She reportedly even went as far as telling visitors how obnoxious and irritating her parents were (sounds like a normal teenager to me).

Rise to the throne:
Being the granddaughter of Princess Mary (sister of Henry VIII), Jane had royal blood. This means that she was in line for the throne after Edward, Mary, and Elizabeth (children of Henry VIII).
After six years of ruling, Edward died. However, before his death, his advisor (John Dudley), convinced him to name Jane Grey next in line before his half siblings.
Jane was only fifteen at the time and had grown up as a Protestant, just like Edward, which helped to persuade him to name her his heir. Mary was next in line but she was Catholic and Edward didn't want that. So Jane was married to Dudley's son, Guildford and became queen in July of 1553. It is said that she was against the marriage at first, despite Guilford being handsome and wealthy (which was unusual for a girl to reject those things in that time). However they married at his house in London.

Time as Queen:
Edward had written a "Device for the Succession" in which he stated that his siblings, Mary and Elizabeth, were "illegitimate and not lawfully begotten." This left the throne to Jane.
However, this technically wasn't even legal because Henry VIII had an Act Of Succession that was acknowledged by parliament. Dudley spent June of 1553 trying to gain support from the council, churchmen, and judiciary to enact Edward's device. The device was finally made legal on June 21. Edward died shortly after that.

After being crowned queen, the crown was brought to Jane so it could be fitted but she refused to try it on. She insisted that she never asked for the crown.
She knew that the Dudley's wanted Guildford to be king, for their family's own benefit, and she refused to crown him king. Instead, Guildford was made a duke.

Jane's main rival for the crown now was Mary Tudor, daughter of Henry VIII and Jane's cousin. Mary was 37, ill, and had no money or support. However, she managed to get support from Emperor Charles V and many others who believed she was the true heir.

Jane spent very little time with her lords discussing politics and doing her duty as queen. She ordered a lot of cloth, linens, jewels, velvets, and other dress materials and even fish shaped toothpicks and Henry VII's shaving tools. She had very little interest in actually ruling her country.

Tragic fall:
Dudley spent days trying to keep their high position and capture Mary Tudor, who was off gathering more support. He assembled an army and headed for Cambridge. Norwich, Devon, Oxfordshire, and Buckinghamshire and declared Mary the real queen and refused to acknowledge Jane Grey. He sent six ships to Framlingham to try and capture Mary in case she tried to escape, however he was betrayed the ships' crews and people in nearby towns began taking Mary's side.

The counselors attempted to save themselves and escape the Tower of London where they'd been stationed, but the gates were closed and locked and the keys sent to Jane. She's suspected the lords of the council would leave her and she'd been correct.

She tried desperately to get people to her side, sending out letters signed 'Jane the Queen,' urging people to leave May and join her side instead.

On July 18th her counselors left the Tower to visit a French ambassador, when they really were going to visit the Imperial embassy and receive help from Charles V. They all declared Mary as queen. July 19th was filled with celebrations.

Jane was terrified and Dudley came to tell he that she'd been overthrown. She was taken to the Tower and left alone. Her belongings were searched and money taken. She was accused of stealing jewels and other valuables. Dudley agreed that Mary was the true queen. Now fully accepted, Mary was on her way back to London.

Dudley was eventually arrested and he and his family were paraded through the town and taken to the Tower. Dudley's wife was released and convinced queen Mary to release her other family members, but Dudley and his oldest son remained in prison. Dudley was executed on August 22.

Pleading for her life, Jane wrote to Mary and tried to explain her situation. She admitted that her becoming queen was a mistake and begged for forgiveness. She was not immediately sentenced to death and began to have hope that she might not be executed after all.

However, Mary was being pressured to have the remaining Dudley sons and Jane executed. She eventually gave in and they were out on trial before being taken to Guildhall, where they would be executed.

Jane wore all black for her execution on February 12, 1554. A prayer book was attached to her girdle. She held a prayer book open as she walked. She was attended by two of her ladies, who were crying, but Jane remained calm. Only a few people had been invited to view the execution. She made a brief speech and read a Psalm. The executioner repeated her in Latin. It was custom that her outer garments would become properly of the executioner, so her gloves and gown were removed.

She was blindfolded and beheaded.

Cool facts:
• Jane didn't have a good relationship with her in-laws. At one point she visited them and fell ill, then accused the Dudley's of poisoning her
• it is said that Guildford tried to see Jane before their deaths and Mary granted the request, but Jane denied, stating that she would see him in a better place soon. This story was never proven.
• she watched Guildford's execution from her window in the Tower and she reportedly whispered his name as his body was being carried away
• she only ruled for nine days, giving her the nickname, The Nine Days Queen
• she was buried between Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard

In the Media:
There is a movie called Lady Jane Grey, starting Helena Bonham Carter.
There's also a great book that's (loosely) based off her life called My Lady Jane.