Jane Seymour

Jane, the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth, was most likely born at Wulfhall, Wiltshire,[1] although West Bower Manor in Somerset has also been suggested.[2] Her birth date is not recorded; various accounts use anywhere from 1504 to 1509,[3] but it is generally estimated at between 1508 and 1509.[1] Through her maternal grandfather, she was a descendant of King Edward III’s son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence.[4] Because of this, she and King Henry VIII were fifth cousins. She also shared a great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney, Lady Say, with his second and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard.[5]

Jane was not as highly educated as Henry’s first and second wives, Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. She could read and write a little but was much better at needlework and household management, which were considered much more necessary for women.[6] Her needlework was reportedly beautiful and elaborate; some of it survived as late as 1652, when it is recorded to have been given to the Seymour family. After her death, it was noted that Henry was an “enthusiastic embroiderer”.[7]

Jane was praised for her gentle, peaceful nature, being called as “gentle a lady as ever I knew” by John Russell[8] and “the Pacific” by the Imperial Ambassador Eustace Chapuys (who referred to her as Jane Semel in his letters[9]), for her peacemaking efforts at court.[8] According to Chapuys, she was of middling stature and very pale; he also said that she was not of much beauty, but Russell said she was “the fairest of all the King’s wives”.[10] Polydore Vergil commented that she was “a woman of the utmost charm in both character and appearance”.[11] She was regarded as meek, gentle, simple, and chaste,[8] with her large family making her thought to be suitable to have many children.