Jane Seymour: The Queen Who Gave Henry VIII His Long-Awaited Son

Jane Seymour is often remembered as the wife who finally gave Henry VIII what he had wanted for so many years: a legitimate surviving son.

Unlike Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn, Jane spent only a short time as Henry’s wife. She was queen for little more than a year and died less than two weeks after giving birth to the future Edward VI.

Her brief rise to the throne came during one of the most dramatic periods of Henry VIII’s reign. Jane had served in the households of both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn before attracting the king’s attention herself. Within months, Anne was arrested and executed, and Jane became Henry’s third wife.

Although Jane’s time as queen was short, giving birth to Henry’s long-awaited male heir secured her a unique position among his six wives.

The Birth of Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour was born around 1508, although the exact date of her birth is unknown.

She was probably born at Wulfhall in Wiltshire, England, the Seymour family home.

Jane was the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth.

The Seymours were a respected gentry family with connections to the royal court, although they were not among England’s most powerful noble families when Jane was born.

Jane was one of several children.

Two of her brothers, Edward Seymour and Thomas Seymour, would later become extremely influential because of their relationship to Jane and her son.

Edward Seymour eventually became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector during the early reign of Edward VI.

Thomas Seymour would later marry Henry VIII’s sixth wife, Catherine Parr, after Henry’s death.

But before the Seymour family rose to such extraordinary heights, Jane entered royal service.

Jane Seymour at the Tudor Court

Jane became a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon, Henry VIII’s first wife.

She later served Anne Boleyn after Anne replaced Catherine as queen.

This placed Jane remarkably close to two women whose lives had been transformed by their relationships with Henry VIII.

Jane appears to have received a more traditional education than Anne Boleyn. She was probably trained in household management, needlework, religion, and the skills expected of a woman of her social position.

Contemporary descriptions generally portrayed Jane as quiet and modest.

Her personality and public image would eventually provide a noticeable contrast to Anne Boleyn.

By the beginning of 1536, Henry VIII had started paying increasing attention to Jane.

For Anne, this was extremely dangerous.

Henry VIII Becomes Interested in Jane

Henry’s marriage to Anne Boleyn was already under considerable pressure.

Anne had given Henry a daughter, Elizabeth, in September 1533.

Henry had expected a son.

Anne experienced additional pregnancies, but none produced the surviving male heir Henry desperately wanted.

Then, in January 1536, Anne suffered a miscarriage.

Contemporary reports suggested that the child had been male.

Around the same period, Henry’s interest in Jane Seymour became increasingly obvious.

According to later accounts, Henry sent Jane gifts and money.

Jane reportedly refused to accept money from the king and attempted to protect her reputation.

Whether every detail of these stories is accurate is difficult to establish, but Jane was clearly becoming important to Henry.

Her family recognized the opportunity.

The Seymours began rising rapidly at court.

Meanwhile, Anne Boleyn’s position was collapsing.

The Fall of Anne Boleyn

In the spring of 1536, Anne Boleyn was accused of committing adultery with several men.

She was also accused of incest with her brother, George Boleyn, and of plotting Henry VIII’s death.

Anne was arrested on 2 May 1536 and imprisoned in the Tower of London.

Most modern historians view the accusations against Anne with considerable skepticism.

Nevertheless, Anne was found guilty.

Her brother and the other accused men were executed on 17 May.

Anne followed them two days later.

On 19 May 1536, Anne Boleyn was beheaded within the Tower of London.

Jane Seymour was about to become Henry’s next queen.

The transition happened with extraordinary speed.

Jane Becomes Henry VIII's Third Wife

Henry and Jane were formally betrothed on 20 May 1536.

It was the day after Anne Boleyn's execution.

They married at the Palace of Whitehall on 30 May 1536.

Only eleven days had passed since Anne's death.

Jane was now Henry VIII's third wife.

She was publicly proclaimed queen shortly afterward.

However, Jane was never formally crowned.

Various explanations have been suggested for why her coronation never occurred, including an outbreak of plague and the possibility that Henry wanted to wait until Jane had successfully produced an heir.

Whatever the reason, Jane would die before a coronation could ever take place.

Jane Seymour as Queen

Jane's approach to queenship was noticeably different from Anne Boleyn's.

Her household adopted the motto:

"Bound to Obey and Serve."

Jane cultivated an image of obedience, modesty, and traditional femininity.

She also appears to have sympathized with Princess Mary, Henry's daughter by Catherine of Aragon.

Mary's relationship with her father had deteriorated dramatically during his attempt to end his marriage to Catherine.

After Catherine's death, Jane reportedly encouraged reconciliation between Henry and Mary.

Eventually, Mary returned to court.

However, the reconciliation came at a significant price. Mary was forced to acknowledge her father as head of the Church of England and accept that her parents' marriage had been unlawful.

Jane's efforts nevertheless helped bring Henry's eldest daughter back into the royal household.

Jane Attempts to Influence Henry

Jane's reputation for obedience did not mean that she never attempted to influence her husband.

In 1536, northern England erupted in a major rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace.

The rebels opposed several of Henry's religious policies, particularly the dissolution of monasteries.

Jane reportedly attempted to speak to Henry about restoring some of the religious houses.

Henry reacted harshly.

According to an account of the incident, he reminded Jane of what had happened to the previous queen when she interfered in political affairs.

The warning was unmistakable.

Anne Boleyn had been executed only months earlier.

Jane appears to have avoided similar political intervention afterward.

Her most important responsibility was now producing an heir.

Jane Becomes Pregnant

In early 1537, Jane became pregnant.

The pregnancy was enormously important.

Henry had spent decades attempting to secure the Tudor dynasty with a legitimate male heir.

Catherine of Aragon had given birth to sons, but none survived infancy.

Anne Boleyn had failed to produce a surviving son.

Jane now carried Henry's hopes for the future of his dynasty.

Throughout the pregnancy, enormous care was taken with the queen.

By the autumn of 1537, Jane withdrew into confinement at Hampton Court Palace in preparation for childbirth.

Labor began in October.

It would be long and difficult.

The Birth of Edward VI

On 12 October 1537, Jane Seymour gave birth to a son.

The baby was named Edward.

Henry finally had his legitimate male heir.

After years of miscarriages, infant deaths, political upheaval, two broken marriages, and the execution of Anne Boleyn, Henry had the prince he had wanted for so long.

The birth was celebrated throughout England.

Edward was christened on 15 October in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court Palace.

His half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, participated in the ceremonies surrounding the christening.

Jane had accomplished what neither Catherine of Aragon nor Anne Boleyn had been able to do.

She had given Henry a surviving legitimate son.

But Jane's health was already beginning to deteriorate.

Jane Seymour Becomes Seriously Ill

Shortly after Edward's birth, Jane became ill.

Childbirth during the Tudor period was extremely dangerous, even for wealthy women with access to the best care available at the time.

Jane's condition worsened during the days following the christening.

The exact nature of her illness cannot be established with complete certainty from the surviving evidence.

She is traditionally believed to have suffered complications related to childbirth, possibly including puerperal infection, sometimes historically called childbed fever.

Whatever the precise medical cause, Jane did not recover.

Henry's long-awaited son would survive.

His mother would not.

The Death of Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour died at Hampton Court Palace on 24 October 1537.

Only twelve days had passed since the birth of Edward.

Jane was probably around twenty-nine years old.

Her death transformed what should have been one of the greatest celebrations of Henry VIII's reign into a period of royal mourning.

Jane received an elaborate royal funeral.

Her stepdaughter Mary played an important role in the mourning ceremonies.

Jane was eventually buried at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

She was the only one of Henry VIII's six wives to receive a queen's funeral.

Henry did not marry again for more than two years.

Was Jane Henry VIII's Favorite Wife?

Jane Seymour is frequently described as Henry VIII's favorite wife.

There are reasons for this interpretation.

She gave Henry the son he had spent much of his reign desperately trying to obtain.

She also died before their marriage had the opportunity to deteriorate.

Unlike Catherine of Aragon, Jane never fought Henry over the validity of their marriage.

Unlike Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, she was never accused of betraying him.

Unlike Anne of Cleves, her marriage was never annulled.

And unlike Catherine Parr, she did not survive him.

Jane's early death preserved her in Henry's memory as the woman who had given him his heir.

Years later, Henry made his feelings about his burial clear.

When Henry VIII died in 1547, he was buried beside Jane Seymour at St George's Chapel, Windsor Castle.

Of all six of his wives, Jane was the woman beside whom Henry chose to spend eternity.

What Happened to Jane's Son?

The son Jane died giving birth to eventually became king.

Henry VIII died on 28 January 1547.

Nine-year-old Edward inherited the throne as Edward VI.

Because Edward was still a child, powerful men governed in his name.

One of the most powerful was Jane's own brother, Edward Seymour, who became Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector.

Jane's family had risen from the English gentry to the highest levels of political power largely because she had become queen and given birth to the king's only legitimate son.

But Edward VI's life would be tragically short.

He became seriously ill and died on 6 July 1553.

He was only fifteen years old.

Jane Seymour had died believing she had secured the Tudor dynasty by producing Henry's male heir.

But her son ruled for only six years and died without children.

Jane Seymour's Legacy

Jane Seymour was Queen of England for only a short period, but her place in Tudor history was secured by the birth of Edward VI.

She entered the Tudor court as a lady-in-waiting.

She served Catherine of Aragon.

She served Anne Boleyn.

Then she replaced Anne as Henry VIII's wife only days after Anne's execution.

Within little more than a year of marrying Henry, Jane accomplished the task that had shaped so much of his personal and political life.

She gave him a son.

But she paid the ultimate price.

Jane never watched Edward grow up.

She never saw him become Prince of Wales.

She never witnessed him inherit his father's throne.

And she never saw the enormous political power her own brothers would gain because they were the maternal uncles of a king.

Jane Seymour died on 24 October 1537, less than two weeks after giving birth to the future Edward VI.

Her queenship had been brief, but Henry never forgot what she had given him.

When Henry VIII died nearly ten years later, he was laid to rest beside Jane at Windsor.

In a life dominated by six marriages and an obsessive search for a male heir, Jane Seymour became the wife who finally gave Henry VIII the son he believed would secure the Tudor dynasty.