Jane Seymour (1508 – 24 October 1537) was Queen Consort of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as Queen Consort following the latter's execution in 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, a son who briefly reigned as Edward VI.
Early life
Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth. Through her maternal grandfather, she was a distant descendant of King Edward III of England and also the Percy family. Because of this, she and King Henry VIII were fifth cousins three times removed.citation needed She was a second cousin to her predecessor Anne Boleyn through their mutual great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney.1 Her exact birth date is debated; it is usually given as 1509, but it has been noted that at her funeral 29 women walked in succession.2 Since it was customary for the attendant company to mark every year of the deceased's life in numbers, this implies she was born in 1508 or 1507.
She was not educated as highly as King Henry's previous wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She could read and write a little but was much better at needlework and household management, which were considered much more necessary for women. Jane's needlework was reported to be beautiful and elaborate; some of her work survived up to 1652, where it is recorded to have been given to the Seymour family. After her death, it was noted that Henry was an "enthusiastic embroiderer".3
She became a maid-of-honour in 1532 to Queen Catherine and went on to serve Queen Anne Boleyn. The first report of Henry VIII's interest in Jane Seymour was in February 1536. Jane Seymour was noted to be pale and blond, the opposite of Anne Boleyn's dark hair and olive skin.
Marriage
King Henry VIII was betrothed to Jane on the 20 May 1536, the day after Anne Boleyn's execution, and married her ten days later. She was publicly proclaimed as Queen Consort on 4 June. She was never crowned, due to a plague in London where the coronation was to take place. Henry was also reluctant to crown Jane before she had fulfilled her duty as a Queen Consort by bearing him a son and a male heir.citation needed
As Queen Consort, Seymour was said to be strict and formal. She was close to her female relations, Anne Stanhope (her brother's wife) and her sister, Elizabeth. Jane was also close to the Lady Lisle and the Lady Beaucamp. Jane considered Lisle's daughters as ladies-in-waiting and she left many of her possessions to Beaucamp. Jane would form a very close relationship with Mary Tudor. The glittering social life and extravagance of the Queen's Household, which had reached its peak during the time of Anne Boleyn, was replaced by a strict enforcement of decorum. For example, the dress requirements for ladies of the court were detailed down to the number of pearls that were to be sewn onto each lady's skirt. The French fashions introduced by Anne Boleyn were banned. Politically, Seymour appears to have been conservative. Her only reported involvement in national affairs, in 1536, was when she asked for pardons for participants in the Pilgrimage of Grace rebellion. Henry is said to have rejected this, reminding her of the fate her predecessor met with when she "meddled in his affairs".4
Jane was of the Roman Catholic faith, known as the "old faith".dubious – discuss It is believed, because of this and her loyalty to her former mistress, Catherine of Aragon, Jane put forth much effort to restore Henry's first child, Mary Tudor, to court and heir to the throne behind any children that Jane would have with Henry. Jane brought up the issue of Mary's restoration both before and after she became Queen. While Jane was unable restore Mary to the line of succession, Jane was able to reconcile Henry with his daughter Mary. Chapuys wrote to Charles V of Jane's compassion and strive for Mary's return to favour. A letter from Mary to Jane shows that Mary was grateful to Jane. While it was Jane who first pushed for the restoration it would not be until Henry's sixth wife convinced him to reinstate Mary and Elizabeth. 5
In early 1537, Jane became pregnant. During her pregnancy, she developed a craving for quail, which Henry ordered for her from Calais and Flanders. She went into confinement in September 1537 and in October she gave birth to the coveted male heir, the future King Edward VI of England on 12 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace.
Jane Seymour's arms as queen consort
6
Death
Custom asked that the Queen did not participate in her children's christening (She still had to lay in bed to rest and children had to be christened fast so they did not end up in Limbo). So the son was christened without his mother on 15 October 1537 and it then became clear that Queen Jane was seriously ill. Her labour had been difficult, lasting two days and three nights, and rumours circulated that she died following an emergency Caesarean section, after Henry ordered the baby to be cut from her to prevent more stillbirths. In reality, according to Edward's biographer Jennifer Loach, her death was probably due to an infection from a retained placenta. Queen Jane died on 24 October 1537 at Hampton Court. She was buried in St. George's Chapel at Windsor Castle after a funeral in which her stepdaughter, Lady Mary (later Queen Mary I), acted as chief mourner. Jane Seymour was the only one of Henry's wives to receive a Queen's funeral.
The following inscription was above her grave for a time:
- Here lieth a Phoenix, by whose death
- Another Phoenix life gave breath:
- It is to be lamented much
- The world at once ne'er knew two such.
After her death, Henry wore black for the next three months and did not remarry for three years, although marriage negotiations were tentatively started soon after her death. She was Henry's favourite wife because, historians have speculated, she gave birth to a male heir. When he died in 1547, Henry was buried beside her.
Legacy
Two of Jane's brothers, Thomas and Edward, used her memory to improve their own fortunes.citation needed Thomas was rumoured to have been pursuing Princess Elizabeth, but married Catherine Parr instead after King Henry died. In the reign of the young King Edward VI, Edward Seymour set himself up as protector and de facto ruler of the Kingdom. Both brothers eventually fell from power, and were executed.
Jane Seymour first portrayed in film in the 1920 German film Anne Boleyn by Aud Edege Nissen.
- In 1933, Wendy Barrie played Seymour opposite Charles Laughton's Henry VIII in Alexander Korda's highly-acclaimed film The Private Life of Henry VIII.
- Seymour is a minor character in Hal B. Wallis' 1969 Oscar-winning Anne of the Thousand Days. She was played by Lesley Paterson, opposite Richard Burton as Henry VIII.
- As part of the 1970 BBC series The Six Wives of Henry VIII, the episode entitled "Jane Seymour" presented her as a shy but honest introvert, devoted to her husband. Henry was played by Keith Michell, and Seymour by Anne Stallybrass. The previous episode "Anne Boleyn" displayed Jane as fully knowing the damage her relationship with King Henry was doing.
- In 1973, this interpretation was repeated in Henry VIII and his Six Wives, in which Keith Michell reprised his role from the BBC drama; on this occasion Seymour was played by Jane Asher.
- Seymour was played by Charlotte Roach in David Starkey's documentary series on Henry's Queens in 2001.
- Seymour is a supporting character in the BBC television drama The Other Boleyn Girl, played by Naomi Benson opposite Jared Harris as Henry VIII and Jodhi May as Anne Boleyn.
- In October 2003, in the two-part ITV drama Henry VIII, Ray Winstone starred as the King. Jane Seymour was played by Emilia Fox.
- Anita Briem portrays Seymour as lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn in the second season of the British television series The Tudors. In the third season of the same series, when Jane Seymour becomes Queen and later dies, the part is played by Annabelle Wallis.
- Seymour was played by actress Corinne Galloway in the 2008 film The Other Boleyn Girl.
In books
- Jane appears in a background role in The Dark Rose, Volume 2 of The Morland Dynasty, a series of historical novels by author Cynthia Harrod-Eagles, where, seen through the eyes of Anne Boleyn, she is given a less than sympathetic portrayal.
- Jane is a minor character in Philippa Gregory's popular novel The Other Boleyn Girl. Jane is a devout girl seen by the Boleyns as their rival family at court.
- Jane also appears in Alison Weir's debut novel Innocent Traitor and her second The Lady Elizabeth
In song
- The English ballad "The Death of Queen Jane" (Child #170) is about the death of Jane Seymour following the birth of Prince Edward. The story as related in the ballad is historically inaccurate, but apparently reflects the popular view at the time of the events surrounding her death. The historical fact is that Prince Edward was born naturally, and that his mother succumbed to infection and died 12 days later.
Most versions of the song end with the contrast between the joy of the birth of the Prince and the grief of the death of the Queen.
From version 170A:
- The baby was christened with joy and much mirth,
- Whilst poor Queen Jane's body lay cold under earth:
- There was ringing and singing and mourning all day,
- The Princess Elizabeth went weeping away
- The song Lady Jane by The Rolling Stones is rumoured to be about Jane Seymour and her relationship with Henry VIII.
- The song Jane Seymour featured on Rick Wakeman's album The Six Wives of Henry VIII is devoted to the homonymous queen.
Historiography
Books solely on Jane Seymour are scarce, but two biographies of the queen have recently been published. The first, a scholarly biography, is by Pamela Gross, while the second by Elizabeth Norton is more accessible to the average reader. . A third book, William Seymour's Ordeal by Ambition, is in part a biography of Jane.
Jane was widely praised as "the fairest, the most discreet, and the most meritous of all Henry VIII's wives" in the centuries after her passing away. One historian, however, took serious umbrage to this view in the 19th century. Victorian author Agnes Strickland, who wrote multi-volume anthologies of French, Scottish, and English royal women, said that the story of Anne Boleyn's last agonised hours and Henry VIII's swift remarriage to Jane Seymour "is repulsive enough, but it becomes tenfold more abhorrent when the woman who caused the whole tragedy is loaded with panegyric." Hester W. Chapman and Eric Ives resurrected Strickland's view of Jane Seymour, and believe she played a crucial and conscious role in the cold-blooded plot to bring Anne Boleyn to the executioner's block. Joanna Denny, Marie Louise Bruce and Carolly Erickson have also refrained from giving overly sympathetic accounts of Jane's life and career. It should be noted that Ives, Bruce, and Denny are biographers of Anne Boleyn.
On the other hand, historical writers like Alison Weir and Antonia Fraser paint a favourable portrait of a woman of discretion and good sense - "a strong-minded matriarch in the making," says Weir. David Starkey and Karen Lindsey are relatively dismissive of Jane's importance in comparison to that of Henry's other major queens (Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Parr), though they refrain from claiming that she was the cause of the unfair trial. They further state that it was unlikely Jane could accomplish as much as her predecessors or her successors because her reign had been relatively short and spent mainly pregnant or unwell. Another consideration is that in this period of history, most queen consorts had little say in decision making and as such Henry may logically be seen as the decision maker in Anne Boleyn's downfall. While it is believed that the Seymour brothers, Edward and Thomas, had coached Jane on how to gain the king's favor, historians consider it unlikely that Henry allowed himself to be led.
Lineage
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Ancestors of Jane Seymour |
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16. John Seymour (1402-c.1464)8 |
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8. John Seymour (before 1434-c. 1463)7 |
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17. Isabel William (?-1486)8 |
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4. John Seymour (c. 1450-1491)7 |
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18. Sir Robert Coker9 |
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9. Elizabeth Coker7 |
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2. Sir John Seymour (1474–1536) |
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10. Sir George Darell (?-c. 1474)7 |
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5. Elizabeth Darell (before 1458-?)7 |
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22. John Stourton, 1st Baron Stourton (1400-1462) |
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11. Margaret Stourton (before 1442-?)7 |
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23. Marjory Wadham |
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1. Jane Seymour (1507/1508-1537) |
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24. Sir Roger Wentworth (?-1452)11 |
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12. Sir Philip Wentworth (?-1464)10 |
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25. Margaret Despenser (c. 1400-1478)11 |
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6. Sir Henry Wentworth (before 1448-?)10 |
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26. Sir John de Clifford, 7th Lord Clifford (c. 1388-1421/22)12 |
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13. Mary Clifford (1422-?)10 |
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27. Lady Elizabeth Percy (before 1393-1437)12 |
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3. Margaret Wentworth (before 1490-?)10 |
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28. John Say (before 1445-?)13 |
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14. Sir John Say (before 1461-c. 1478)13 |
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29. Maud N.13 |
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7. Anne Say (?-before 1494)10 |
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30. Sir Lawrence Cheney (c. 1396-1461)13 |
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15. Elizabeth Cheney13 |
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31. Elizabeth Cokayn13 |
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Notes
- ^ Ancestors of Jane Seymour(see bottom of page)
- ^ Alison Weir, The Six Wives of Henry VIII.
- ^ "Henry VIII - the Embroiderer King". Royal School of Needlework. http://www.royal-needlework.co.uk/Henry_VIII_-_the_Embroiderer_King_.html. Retrieved 2009-10-19.
- ^ The Six Wives of Henry VIII
- ^ Farquhar, Michael (2001). A Treasure of Royal Scandals, p.72. Penguin Books, New York. ISBN 0739420259.
- ^ Boutell, Charles (1863), A Manual of Heraldry, Historical and Popular, London: Winsor & Newton, pp. 278
- ^ a b c d e f Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p10151.htm#i101505, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p333.htm#i3330, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p334.htm#i3331, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ a b c d e Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p10151.htm#i101506, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p334.htm#i3338, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ a b Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p334.htm#i3339, retrieved 2007-10-27
- ^ a b c d e f Lundy, Darryl, thePeerage, http://www.thepeerage.com/p334.htm#i3337, retrieved 2007-10-27
References
External links
| Persondata |
| NAME |
Seymour, Jane |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES |
|
| SHORT DESCRIPTION |
Queen Consort of Henry VIII |
| DATE OF BIRTH |
ca. 1507–1508 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH |
|
| DATE OF DEATH |
24 October 1537 |
| PLACE OF DEATH |
London, England |
YouTube=YouTube&summary=Jane seymour's biography&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/oqSYqPzq8N0&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://1.gvt0.com/vi/oqSYqPzq8N0/default.jpg&celebrity=Jane Seymour&videoType=YouTube)
YouTube=YouTube&summary='The View' 27 February 07 Jane Seymour talking about her children, art and acting...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/emJ5n4cfPxs&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://3.gvt0.com/vi/emJ5n4cfPxs/default.jpg&celebrity=Jane Seymour&videoType=YouTube)
![video Actress and eons.com member Jane Seymour talks about what it means to be a baby boomer living a full life and what it means to "BOOM Your ... Picture](../viewVideo.html?title=Jane Seymour shares secrets for living a full life!YouTube=YouTube&summary=Actress and eons.com member Jane Seymour talks about what it means to be a baby boomer living a full life and what it means to "BOOM Your ...&link=http://www.youtube.com/v/bkEmU8DVSt4&fs=1&source=uds&autoplay=1&thumb=http://2.gvt0.com/vi/bkEmU8DVSt4/default.jpg&celebrity=Jane Seymour&videoType=YouTube)
