Jane Seymour and Katherine Parr
Two of Henry VIII’s less well-known Queens
I have written about these two together because we don’t know much about Jane — she was only Queen for 17 months. Also there are surprising links between them.
Jane Seymour
What most people know about Jane is that she gave Henry VIII the son he wanted, then she died. There is sadly little to add.
Jane was born in either Wolf Hall, Wiltshire or West Bower Manor, Somerset, some time between 1504 and 1509, but we have no more definite birth details.
She was fourth of nine children of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth. Her great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney, was also great-grandmother of Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.
Jane was Lady-in-Waiting to both Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, and remained friendly with Katherine and her daughter Mary. Unlike these two previous Queens, Jane was not well-educated; some sources describe her as “barely literate.” Her main talents were sewing and embroidery.
She was a gentle, passive, woman, which was doubtless one reason why Henry found her attractive. His two previous wives were intelligent, strong and confident. But neither produced a son. Maybe the fact Jane was from a large family also impressed him.
Katherine, after six pregnancies, had one surviving child, Mary. Anne had only Elizabeth, born in 1533, then had a miscarriage in 1534, and a stillborn boy in 1536. By this time, Henry was already interested in Jane.
Tired of Anne after only three years of marriage, he accused her (almost certainly falsely) of adultery and witchcraft, and had her executed on 19 May 1536. The following day, he announced his engagement to Jane. They were married on 30 May 1536.
Jane was never crowned, due to plague in London that year. She worked hard at being a serious, dutiful wife, as unlike the lively Anne as possible. It’s hard to know if she was dull and serious, or just scared.
Jane gave birth to a son on 12 October 1537. The baby, who would become King Edward VI, was fine, but Jane was not.
She grew increasingly weak and developed a high fever, the most likely cause being puerperal fever. This post-partum infection was common until the 19th century, when people attending births discovered the importance of washing their hands.
Henry made a great fuss about losing Jane, but her main achievement was one she did not control. If her baby had been a girl, or dead, or if she had miscarried, he would probably have tired of her.
She was buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Katherine Parr
Katherine was the last of Henry VIII’s six wives, the one who survived him. What is less commonly-known is how brief her survival was.
She was born in 1512, the eldest daughter of Thomas Parr and Maud Green. In 1529, when she was 17, Katherine married the first of her four husbands, Lord Edward Borough, who died in the spring of 1533.
In the summer of 1534, she married John Neville, third Baron Latimer, of Snape, Yorkshire. He was Catholic and strongly opposed to Henry’s divorce, as were Katherine’s own family. Katherine’s mother had been an Attendant to Katherine of Aragon and named her daughter after her; this Queen was the child’s godmother.
There were protests against the separation of the Church of England from Rome, and Dissolution of the Monasteries. These included the Lincolnshire Rising in 1536.
In 1536–37, the Pilgrimage of Grace, another protest, was led by the lawyer, Robert Aske. Katherine and her two stepdaughters were taken hostage by rebels in the North. Fortunately, her husband returned from London and rescued them. Aske was executed on 12 July 1537.
John Neville died in 1543, and Katherine spent time at the house of Mary (Katherine of Aragon’s daughter), where she became romantically involved with Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron of Sudeley and brother of Jane Seymour.
But Henry VIII had also noticed this glamorous widow, and she dutifully accepted his proposal. Thomas Seymour was given a post in Brussels; far enough away, when transport was slow and arduous.
On 12 July 1543, Katherine and Henry were married at Hampton Court.
She got on well with all Henry’s children. Others had tried, but it was Katherine who finally convinced Henry to restore Mary and Elizabeth to the succession. This was as well; Edward VI only ruled for six years.
Katherine Parr was well-educated and loved learning. She was fluent in French, Latin and Italian, and later learned Spanish. She was also a published writer:
- “Psalms or Prayers taken out of Holy Scriptures” was printed in 1544, and was popular as Henry was preparing for war with France and Scotland. It includes a Prayer for those going into Battle, and a Prayer for the King. During the campaign, Katherine ruled as regent, handling provisions, finances and musters.
- “Prayers or Meditations” was printed in June 1545, and was also successful. Princess Elizabeth translated it into Latin, Italian and French as a New Year gift for Henry.
- Brought up Catholic, Katherine had strong Protestant sympathies. In 1547, this showed when she published “Lamentations of a Sinner,” which infuriated the anti-Protestant Bishop Stephen Gardiner. He drew up an arrest warrant for her, but she reconciled herself with the King by saying she argued about religion to help him ignore the pains in his leg.
Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547. Edward VI, aged 9, was crowned King on 20 February 1547 and Katherine retired from Court. Four months later she secretly married Thomas Seymour. This was considered scandalous, so soon after the King’s death.
Katherine had no children from three previous marriages. Now, aged 35, she became pregnant. By this time, her ambitious and fickle husband was taking more interest in the 15 year-old Lady Elizabeth. In 1548, Elizabeth was sent to stay at Anthony Denny’s house in Cheshunt. She would never see Katherine again.
On 30 August 1548, Katherine gave birth to a daughter she named Mary. On 5 September, she died of “complications,” most likely the same puerperal fever that killed Jane Seymour and so many other mothers.
She was buried at Sudeley Castle. Her grave, destroyed during the Civil War in 1643, was rediscovered in 1782.
Pursuing Elizabeth did Thomas Seymour no good. He was executed for treason by his brother Edward, Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, on 20 March 1549.
Katherine’s daughter, Mary, was sent to live with the Dowager Duchess of Suffolk. There is no recorded mention of her after the age of two.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catherine_Parr
https://tudortimes.co.uk/military-warfare/the-pilgrimage-of-grace/lincolnshire-rising
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Seymour#Marriage_and_birth_of_heir
