Under the Rainbow Wiki

 

Jane Seymour

Page history last edited by Midalah 1 yr ago

Jane Seymour's history below is coming directly from her wiki page. Despite that I gave all her historical information, I am bringing her in just shortly after Henry asked her to marry him. This is in keeping time with the show The Tudors, however I am not playing the TV show version of her. I am using the person who was almost her TV series actress, Joss Stone. Jane is played by Midalah and her journal is motheroftheheir.

 

Early Life

Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth, and was King Henry VIII's fifth cousin three times removed. 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. 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.

 

She was not educated as highly as Henry's previous wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She could only read and write her name, and she was not of royalty like Henry VIII's first wife Catherine of Aragon. Instead, she was taught in needlework and household management, which was popular at that time for women. She became a maid-of-honour in 1532, in the last year of Catherine's reign. After Catherine's marriage to Henry was annulled and Anne Boleyn became queen, Seymour served Boleyn instead. The first report of Henry VIII's interest in Jane Seymour was in February 1536. Jane Seymour was noted to be pale, blonde and had a mousy little chin, the opposite of Anne Boleyn's dark hair and olive skin.

 

Marriage 

Henry VIII was betrothed to Jane Seymour on 20 May 1536, the day after Boleyn's execution, and married her 10 days later. She was publicly proclaimed as Queen on 4 June. She was never crowned, due to a plague in London where the coronation was to take place. It has also been suggested that Henry was reluctant to crown Jane before she had fulfilled her duty as a Queen by bearing him a son and a male heir.

 

As Queen Consort, Seymour was said to be strict and formal. She was close only to her female relations, Anne Stanhop (her brother's wife) and her sister, Elizabeth. 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, and 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".

 

 

In early 1537, Seymour became pregnant. During her pregnancy, she developed a craving for quail, which Henry ordered for her from Calais and Flanders. She went into seclusion in September 1537 and gave birth to a male heir, the future King Edward VI of England on 12 October at Hampton Court Palace.

 

Death

After Seymour participated in the Prince's christening on 15 October, it became clear that she was seriously ill. Rumours circulated that she died following an emergency caesarean, after Henry ordered the baby to be cut from her to prevent more stillbirths. In reality, it was puerperal fever. She died on 24 October 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.

 

Above her grave, there was for a time the following inscription:

 

 

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. Historians have speculated that it was Seymour's "achievement" of securing Henry a male heir that made her so fondly remembered by him. When he died in 1547, Henry was buried beside her.

 

Legacy

Jane's two brothers, Thomas and Edward, used her memory to improve their own fortunes. After Henry's death, Thomas married Henry's widow, Catherine Parr and was also rumoured to have been pursuing Princess Elizabeth. In the reign of the young King Edward VI, Edward Seymour set himself up as protector and effective ruler of the Kingdom. Both brothers eventually fell from power, and were executed.

 

Under the Rainbow

Jane was pulled into the game literally from Henry's arms as they embraced after she agreed to marry him. She is quite confused as to where she is and where Henry has gone.

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