Unveiling the Enigma: FAQs About Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s Elusive Queen

Only Henry’s first three queens gave him heirs and therefore they are more important in my eyes at least, than the other three, I agree Jane Seymour is elusive, Katherine from Aragon and Anne Boleyn were both very vocal in what they felt their desires and religious beliefs, but Jane is a mystery because she was very much a yes queen, only once did she dare speak in favour of the monasteries which drew a very sharp reprimand from irate husband, rather spitefully he reminded her of the fate which had befallen his second queen, Jane must have fled his presence her heart hammering beneath her tightly corseted bodice, from then on she uttered no more words on that, but we can see she had a good heart, it was said she bore the lady Mary great love which was the only thing in her favour, according to Chapyus, Jane was the eldest daughter of country landed gentry, the Seymour’s whose name derived from St Maur a Norman knight who had come to England with the Conqueror, although not as nobly born as her two predecessors she descended from the powerful Percy family and could claim Edward 1st as an ancestor, she was about twenty seven when she married Henry V111 and it is believed he chose her because her family had produced healthy sons, it is said she did not contribute much during her time as queen but she did give the king and the realm the future Edward V1, who had he lived to adulthood, could have become an iconic and much feared king like his father, it is true we don’t know Janes political beliefs but like so many of the landed families of England and of the lower classes to, she most likely was a Catholic, strange as we have seen that she produced a son known for his hatred for idolatry and love for the Protestant faith, he did love his half sister Mary as his mother had, but their differing religious beliefs cast a shadow between them, Jane was known for her needlework and like many ladies was educated according to her status, she was taught to read and write and how to ride a horse, how to dance the latest court dances, and how to run a large household, which included keeping accounts and distilling herbs, she was not as highly educated as Queen Katherine and Queen Anne who had both been gifted with an exceptional education learning several languages and Anne had the advantage of being reared in two Renaissance courts, but Jane was revered by Henry V111 because after thirty years of trying for a son, she had gifted him with a healthy prince, something which for all their wit and learning and possible more attractive attributes both Katherine and Anne had failed to do, also she is an enigma because we do not know her innermost thoughts on her previous mistress, did she believe the charges against her? And how was it some ask, that she readily accepted the kings offer of marriage? How did she feel about taking Anne Boleyn’s place knowing that in doing so she stood nearer to the scaffold? The plain answers are we do not know and will never know but any woman who had lived at court for as long as Jane had, would know that it was impossible for a queen to commit adultery, one lover was risky enough, but with five men, so I believe that Jane just told herself that Anne’s day was done, and although she may have wept for the baby Elizabeth, she probably reminded herself that Anne was a wicked woman who had ruined the kings first marriage, and had caused untold havoc in the land, how could she rebuff her sovereign when he showed an interest in her, so she accepted his proposal and became engaged on the day after her former mistress died, and married to that same mistresses husband two weeks later, one cannot condemn Jane for that, it was Henry V111 who decreed when things should happen, her death was tragic for the king and the realm, she was mere twenty nine years of age and had suffered a dreadful experience in childbirth, she must have been exhausted and was well enough for her sons christening but went downhill following the lavish event, like so many women of her age she died due to lack of post natal care and ignorance, the usual theory is that part of the placenta retained in her womb which became infected and led to sepsis, highly dangerous for the mother and led to her critical condition, she began to ail and suffered from loose bowel movements, first it was believed she had partaken of too much rich foods which her servants were blamed for, then as the septicaemia took hold she became feverish and delirious, she was hours from death, up and down the country prayed, and so did the king, but the almighty turned his face from him and took his Jane, the phoenix had died just like the falcon, Henry was bereft, though I do not believe he ever loved Jane he kept the memory of her in his heart till his dying day, and in 1547 when he himself met his maker, his huge coffin was slowly lowered into the vault at St George’s Chapel Windsor to lie beside her, proof of the reverence he held her in, Jane has never been a queen Iv really liked possibly because she took Anne Boleyn’s place, but she is important because briefly, her enigmatic and unusual son reigned as King of England albeit and most tragically quite briefly.