Historic Royal Signatures
Jane Seymour was Queen of England from 1536 to 1537 as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution in May 1536.
Jane was not as highly educated, she could read & write a little, but was much better at needlework & household management. Her needlework was reported to be beautiful & elaborate; some of her work survived as late as 1652, when it is recorded to have been given to the Seymour family.
Jane became a maid-of-honour in 1532 to Queen Katharine, & went on to serve Queen Anne. The first report of Henry VIII's interest in Jane was in February 1536, about three months before Anne's execution!
Jane was highly praised for her gentle, peaceful nature, being referred to as "gentle a lady as ever I knew" by John Russell & being named as "the Pacific" by the Imperial Ambassador Eustace Chapuys for her peacemaking efforts at court. According to Chapuys, she was of middling stature & very pale; he also commented that she was not of much beauty. However, John Russell stated that she was "the fairest of all the King's wives." Polydore Vergil commented that she was "a woman of the utmost charm in both character & appearance."
Henry VIII was betrothed to Jane on 20 May 1536, just one day after Anne Boleyn's execution. They were married at the Palace of Whitehall, on 30 May 1536. As a wedding gift he made her a grant of 104 manors in four counties as well as a number of forests & hunting chases.
She was publicly proclaimed queen on 4 June 1536. Her well-publicised sympathy for the late Queen Katharine & her daughter Mary showed her to be compassionate & made her a popular figure with the common people & most of the courtiers.
She was never crowned because of PLAGUE in London.
As queen, Jane was said to be strict & formal. Her motto as a queen was "Bound to obey & serve."
She gave birth to the future King Edward VI, on 12 October 1537.
Jane's labour had been difficult, lasting two days & three nights, probably because the baby was not well positioned. After the christening, it became clear that she was seriously ill. She died on 24 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace.
When Henry VIII died in 1547, he was buried beside her, on his request, in the grave he had made for her.
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INTERESTING FACT - Through her maternal grandfather, she was a descendant of King Edward III's son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence. Because of this, she & King Henry VIII were fifth cousins. She shared a great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney, with his second & fifth wives, Anne Boleyn & Catherine Howard!
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