Jane Seymour

After his second wife, Anne Boleyn was beheaded at his direction, Henry the VIII swiftly married Jane Seymour, one of her ladies in waiting. They were married a year and a half.

1. Jane Seymour is the only one of Henry the VIII’s wives to give him a son, a legitimate heir. They named him Edward the VI and Jane died 12 days later. (https://www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/history-and-stories/jane-seymour/0)

2. Not only was Jane Seymour a lady in waiting to Anne Boleyn, she was also in service to Henry the VIII’s first wife, Katherine of Aragon. 

3. In March 1536, the King made a romantic overture to Jane Seymour, a letter and a purse of gold. This would be two months before he had his second wife beheaded. However, Jane left the letter unopened and returned the gold saying “there was no treasure in the world she valued as much as her honour” She said she might accept a gift in another time such as an offer of marriage. Whether this was truly out of concern for her honour or a strategic move (Anne Boleyn had done the same thing) isn’t clear. Either way Henry the VIII was “impressed by  her modesty”

   
   

4. According to historians Jane’s family was known for fertility. This might have been another factor that made her so appealing to the king.

   
   

5. Fun fact: “Jane’s coronation was delayed by the plague. Unlike Anne Boleyn and Katherine of Aragon she was never crowned"

   
   

6. After witnessing the headstrong Anne Boleyn and her quarrels with the King, Jane chose a different approach to being queen, deciding instead to be meek and pious and distancing herself from politics…at least at first.

   
   

7. Henry, who had long ago parted ways with the Catholic Church was now closing religious houses and taking religious lands, keeping the wealth. Jane Seymour allegedly spoke out asking him to “restore the abbeys” which made Henry bristle. He even told her to remember what happened to “his last Queen”

   
   

8. Jane was stepmother to Mary (daughter of Katherine of Aragon) and Elizabeth (the daughter of Anne Boleyn). Jane formed a bond with Mary and encouraged Henry to forge a relationship with the child (whose mother had been exiled), but again she was only chastised for meddling. In 1536, the King passed an Act of Succession declaring Mary and Elizabeth to both be illegitimate. However, both women would go on to serve as Queens of England. 

   
   

9. Traditionally in pregnancy women were only attended to by other women especially midwives but in this case Sir William Butts, Henry’s trusted doctor, was also allowed in the chambers. Jane’s labor lasted TWO DAYS AND THREE NIGHTS! Her attendants believed she would survive but she died about 12 days after giving  birth to the heir. Some people believed it was caused by “childbed fever” (caused by poor hygiene during labor) but others suspect post-birth complications or even food poisoning. 

   
   

   10. When Henry the VIII himself died, he chose to be buried next to Jane. She also continued to appear in family portraits even after her death.