Leicester adopted the cognizance of the Richard Nevill, earl of Warwick, to show he was the proper heir to the earldom. His father, John Dudley, had held the earldom during the reign of Henry VIII. As Duke of Northumberland, John Dudley tried to make Lady Jane Grey Queen (the nine days’s Queen who was married to Northumberland’s son Guildford). Mary Tudor put paid to that notion and eventually had Northumberland, his son, and Lady Jane executed upon Tower Green. Robert Dudley was lucky to escape with his life; that he rose to become the earl of Leicester was close to miraculous—especially after his wife Amy Robsart’s untimely death. Queen Elizabeth gave Kenilworth to Leicester.