[33760] | 1 | <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="no"?>
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| 2 | <!DOCTYPE Archive SYSTEM "http://greenstone.org/dtd/Archive/1.0/Archive.dtd">
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| 3 | <Archive>
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| 4 | <Section>
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| 5 | <Description>
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[34416] | 6 | <Metadata name="gsdlfullsourcepath">/Scratch/ak19/gs2-diffcol-26Apr2019/collect/Tudor-Basic/import/englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/seymour.html</Metadata>
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[33760] | 7 | <Metadata name="gsdlsourcefilename">import/englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/seymour.html</Metadata>
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| 11 | <Metadata name="FileSize">16478</Metadata>
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| 12 | <Metadata name="Source">seymour.html</Metadata>
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| 13 | <Metadata name="SourceFile">seymour.html</Metadata>
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| 14 | <Metadata name="Language">en</Metadata>
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| 15 | <Metadata name="Encoding">windows_1252</Metadata>
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| 16 | <Metadata name="Page_topic">Jane Seymour third wife of King Henry VIII mother of King Edward VI</Metadata>
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| 17 | <Metadata name="Content">Jane Seymour third wife of King Henry VIII mother of King Edward VI</Metadata>
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| 18 | <Metadata name="Author">Marilee Mongello</Metadata>
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| 19 | <Metadata name="Title">Jane Seymour: Biography, Portraits, Primary Sources</Metadata>
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| 20 | <Metadata name="FileFormat">HTML</Metadata>
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| 21 | <Metadata name="URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/seymour.html</Metadata>
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| 22 | <Metadata name="UTF8URL">http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/seymour.html</Metadata>
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| 23 | <Metadata name="Identifier">HASH690ae8278921151e9e29a7</Metadata>
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[34416] | 24 | <Metadata name="lastmodified">1601256683</Metadata>
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| 25 | <Metadata name="lastmodifieddate">20200928</Metadata>
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| 26 | <Metadata name="oailastmodified">1601256851</Metadata>
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| 27 | <Metadata name="oailastmodifieddate">20200928</Metadata>
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| 29 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">seymourcardinal.gif:image/gif:</Metadata>
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| 30 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">seymourhorenbout1.jpg:image/jpeg:</Metadata>
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| 31 | <Metadata name="gsdlassocfile">seymourbiography.jpg:image/jpeg:</Metadata>
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| 32 | </Description>
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| 33 | <Content>
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| 34 |
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| 35 | <table border="0" cellpadding="3" width="100%" height="607">
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| 36 | <tr>
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| 37 | <td width="25%" height="1"></td>
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| 38 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="1"><p></td>
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| 39 | <td width="25%" height="1"></td>
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| 40 | </tr>
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| 41 | <tr>
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| 42 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 43 | <td width="50%" height="3">
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| 44 | <p align="center"><font size="4">Here lies Jane, a phoenix <BR>Who
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| 45 | died in giving another phoenix birth. <BR>Let her be mourned, for
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| 46 | birds like these <BR>Are rare indeed. <BR></font><I><FONT size=-1>Jane
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| 47 | Seymour's epitaph</FONT></I> </td>
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| 48 | <td width="25%" height="3"></td>
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| 49 | </tr>
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| 50 | <tr>
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| 51 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 52 | <td valign="top" width="50%" height="610">
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| 53 | <p align="center">&nbsp;</p>
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| 54 | <p align="center">
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| 55 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/seymourcardinal.gif" alt="Jane Seymour" width="336" height="91"></p>
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| 56 | <p align="center">
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| 57 | <img border="0" src="_httpdocimg_/seymourhorenbout1.jpg" alt="miniature portrait of Jane Seymour by Lucas Horenbout" width="325" height="327"></p>
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| 58 | <p align="center">
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| 59 | <i><font size="2">miniature portrait of Jane Seymour by Lucas Horenbout</font></i></p>
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| 60 | <p align="left">
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| 61 | <B><br>Henry VIII had
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| 62 | six wives but only one gave him a son.&nbsp; Jane Seymour fulfilled her
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| 63 | most important duty as queen, but she was never crowned and died just
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| 64 | twelve days after the long and arduous birth.&nbsp; She was Henry's third
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| 65 | wife and seems never to have made much of an impression upon anyone except
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| 66 | the king.&nbsp; Her meek and circumspect manner was in distinct contrast
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| 67 | to Henry's second wife, the sharp-tongued Anne Boleyn.&nbsp; Jane had
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| 68 | served as lady-in-waiting to Anne and she supplanted her in much the same
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| 69 | way Anne had replaced Katharine of Aragon in Henry's affections.&nbsp; We
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| 70 | will never know if Jane sought the king's favor or was a frightened pawn
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| 71 | of her family and the king's desire.&nbsp; But we do know that she bravely
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| 72 | sought pardons for those involved in the Pilgrimage of Grace revolt in
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| 73 | 1536.&nbsp; Rebuked by the king, and mindful of the fates of his first two
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| 74 | wives, she retired into a quiet and decorous role.&nbsp; The triumphant
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| 75 | birth of her son Edward allowed her two ambitious brothers into the king's
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| 76 | inner circle; however, both would be executed during Edward's reign.</B>
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| 77 | </p>
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| 78 | <p align="left">&nbsp;</p>
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| 79 | <BLOCKQUOTE>
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| 80 | <p><A
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| 81 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fseymour.html#Biography">
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| 82 | <font size="4">Read
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| 83 | the biography of Jane Seymour.</font></A></p>
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| 84 | <p>&nbsp;</p>
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| 85 | <P><B>Primary Sources</B> <BR>Read <A
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| 86 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fletters.html">letters written by
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| 87 | Jane</A>. <BR><A
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| 88 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fed6birth.html">Jane Seymour's
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| 89 | pregnancy is announced</A>, 1537.</P></BLOCKQUOTE>
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| 90 | <BLOCKQUOTE>
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| 91 | <p>Visit <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fwww.marileecody.com%2fimages.html">Tudor England:
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| 92 | Images</a> to view portraits of Jane. <BR>Visit the <A
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| 93 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fedward6.html">King Edward
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| 94 | VI site</A> to learn more about Jane's son. </p>
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| 95 | <P>Test your knowledge of Jane Seymour's life at <A
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| 96 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2ftudor1.html">Tudor
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| 97 | Quizzes</A>.</P>
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| 98 | <P><br><font size="2"><b>Interact<br></b>Meet other Six Wives enthusiasts at
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| 99 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fladiesallfanlist.cjb.net">Ladies All: A Fanlisting for
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| 100 | the Six Wives of Henry VIII</a>.<br><a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2ftudorhistory.org%2flists%2flist.html">
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| 101 | Tudor Talk </a>&nbsp;This email discussion list is sponsored by
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| 102 | Tudorhistory.org.<br>
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| 103 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=0&amp;href=http:%2f%2fgroups.yahoo.com%2fgroup%2fReign%5fof%5fthe%5fTudors%5frpg">Reign
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| 104 | of the Tudors</a>&nbsp; This is a role-playing game set in 16th century
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| 105 | England.&nbsp; If you would like to 'play' Jane Grey or Anne Boleyn or
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| 106 | other Tudors, click the link to join.</font></P>
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| 107 | </BLOCKQUOTE></td>
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| 108 | <td width="25%" height="610"></td>
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| 109 | </tr>
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| 110 | </table>
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| 111 | <blockquote>
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| 112 | <p>&nbsp;</p>
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| 113 | <p><A name=Biography></A><B>Biography</B> <BR>Jane Seymour's
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| 114 | family was of ancient and respectable lineage.&nbsp; Her father was Sir
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| 115 | John Seymour of Wolf Hall in Wiltshire; he served in the Tournai
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| 116 | campaign of 1513 and accompanied Henry VIII to the Field of the Cloth of
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| 117 | Gold in 1520.&nbsp; He was made a knight of the body and later a
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| 118 | gentleman of the king's bedchamber.&nbsp; Both positions were very
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| 119 | desirable for they allowed personal access to the king.&nbsp; Courtiers
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| 120 | were always desperate to gain the king's ear, if even for a brief
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| 121 | moment.&nbsp; Sir John was able to secure appointments at
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| 122 | court for his family; of his eight children, three would come to
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| 123 | historical prominence - the eldest son Edward as duke of Somerset and
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| 124 | Lord Protector, another son Thomas as Lord Admiral and husband of Henry VIII's last queen, and his daughter Jane as queen of England.
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| 125 | </p>
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| 126 | <P>The Seymour rise to prominence at Henry's court mirrored that of the
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| 127 | Boleyns; it was the path sought by all English families with a minor
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| 128 | pedigree or clever son.&nbsp; But gaining the king's favor was rather
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| 129 | different than maintaining it and the Seymours proved far more adept at
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| 130 | the latter.
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| 131 | <P>Jane's birthdate is unknown; various accounts use anywhere from 1504
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| 132 | to 1509.&nbsp; She first came to court as a lady-in-waiting to <A
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| 133 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2faragon.html">Katharine of
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| 134 | Aragon</A>, Henry VIII's first wife.&nbsp; But soon enough <A
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| 135 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fboleyn.html">Anne
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| 136 | Boleyn</A> was queen and Jane attended her.&nbsp; She witnessed
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| 137 | first-hand the tempestuous relationship between Anne and Henry.&nbsp;
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| 138 | Jane herself was known for her quiet and soothing manner.&nbsp;
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| 139 | Certainly Henry knew of her but there is no evidence that he took
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| 140 | particular notice until September 1535 when his royal progress stopped
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| 141 | at Wolf Hall.&nbsp; Such a visit was a great honor for the Seymour
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| 142 | family.&nbsp; And it brought Jane, away from court and its flirtatious
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| 143 | young beauties, immediately to the king's attention.&nbsp;
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| 144 | <P>Many historians have argued this was the beginning of Henry's
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| 145 | infatuation, but it was unlikely.&nbsp; Anne Boleyn was not completely
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| 146 | out of favor just yet; she was pregnant again,<img border="2" src="_httpdocimg_/seymourbiography.jpg" alt="portrait of Jane Seymour by an unknown artist" align="right" width="275" height="423"> though she would suffer a
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| 147 | miscarriage in January.&nbsp; And Henry's flirtations were confined to
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| 148 | Anne's cousin, Madge Shelton.&nbsp; Jane Seymour was perhaps in the
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| 149 | king's thoughts but he did nothing for several months.
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| 150 | <P>
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| 151 | In February 1536, however, foreign ambassadors began to report rumors
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| 152 | of the king's romance with Jane.&nbsp; They speculated upon her chances
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| 153 | of becoming queen.&nbsp; Henry made his affection clear to Jane; she
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| 154 | received costly gifts (which she prudently returned) and her brothers
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| 155 | were promoted at court.&nbsp; In April 1536, Edward Seymour and his wife
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| 156 | moved to rooms which connected through a hidden passage with the king's
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| 157 | apartments.&nbsp; Henry could thus continue his courtship of Jane in
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| 158 | relative privacy.
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| 159 | <P>But the king was also mindful of the vicious rumors and public
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| 160 | outrage which had accompanied his open courtship of Anne Boleyn while
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| 161 | still wed to Katharine of Aragon.&nbsp; He was far more discreet with
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| 162 | Jane, and this undoubtedly suited her character.&nbsp; She was content
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| 163 | to remain unknown.&nbsp; There were rumors that she would not dine alone
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| 164 | with the king, insisting always upon a chaperone, and that she responded
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| 165 | to a particularly bold flirtation by reminding the king of his marriage.
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| 166 |
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| 167 | <P>Henry did not need to be reminded of his second marriage; it had
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| 168 | become a bitter disappointment for him.&nbsp; He was determined to rid
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| 169 | himself of Anne Boleyn.&nbsp; Jane's presence was merely another impetus
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| 170 | for action.
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| 171 | <P>Another impetus was the death of Katharine of Aragon on 7 January
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| 172 | 1536.&nbsp; All of Europe, and most Englishmen, had regarded her as the
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| 173 | king's rightful wife and Anne as merely his concubine.&nbsp; On 29
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| 174 | January, Anne miscarried a son; the king ominously declared that he
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| 175 | would have no more children by her.&nbsp; For Henry, it was suddenly
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| 176 | clear that if he could rid himself of Anne and marry Jane, then he would
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| 177 | have a legitimate marriage recognized by all and another possibility for
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| 178 | a son.
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| 179 | <P>The king began to mention publicly that he had been bewitched into
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| 180 | marriage with Anne; he knew his words would reach her.&nbsp; Anne was
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| 181 | terrified but could do little.&nbsp; She had few friends at court,
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| 182 | and even those were prepared to desert her for the king's favor.&nbsp;
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| 183 | On 2 May, she was arrested and taken to the Tower of London.&nbsp; On
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| 184 | 15 May, she was condemned to death; Henry sent a personal message to
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| 185 | Jane with the news.&nbsp; Four days later Anne was executed; the day
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| 186 | after, 20 May, the king was formally betrothed to Jane.&nbsp; They
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| 187 | married ten days later on 30 May and Jane was publicly declared queen on
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| 188 | 4 June.&nbsp; She chose an apt motto, 'Bound to Obey and Serve'.
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| 189 | <P>She was never granted the lavish coronation which Anne had
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| 190 | enjoyed.&nbsp; It was summertime and the minor plagues were sweeping
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| 191 | through London; the king said she must wait until the spring to be
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| 192 | crowned.&nbsp; It is also possible, and was rumored, that Henry had no
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| 193 | intention of crowning Jane until she had proved her worth and provided a
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| 194 | son.&nbsp; If she proved barren, he could annul their marriage with
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| 195 | hopefully little fanfare.
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| 196 | <P>Almost a decade had passed since the 'King's Great Matter' first
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| 197 | began and still Henry did not have a legitimate heir.&nbsp; And on 20
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| 198 | July 1536, he received the devastating news that his only illegitimate
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| 199 | son, Henry Fitzroy, duke of Richmond, had died at the age of 17.&nbsp;
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| 200 | There had always been the possibility that Fitzroy could have succeeded
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| 201 | him, but now Henry VIII was left with only two daughters, both declared
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| 202 | illegitimate.&nbsp; It is certain that if Jane had not provided a son,
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| 203 | she would have been quickly discarded.&nbsp; Personal affection could
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| 204 | not overcome political necessity.
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| 205 | <P>But Jane was able to provide the king with his fondest wish.&nbsp;
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| 206 | And indeed the whole country wished for an heir; they had no desire to
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| 207 | return to ruinous civil war.&nbsp;
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| 208 | <P>Rumors of her pregnancy began almost immediately after her
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| 209 | marriage.&nbsp; But it wasn't early 1537 that rumors could finally be
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| 210 | confirmed as fact.&nbsp; The London chronicler Edward Hall recorded
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| 211 | public rejoicing at news of Jane's quickening:&nbsp; 'On 27 May
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| 212 | 1537, Trinity Sunday, there was a Te Deum sung in St Paul's cathedral
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| 213 | for joy at the queen's quickening of her child, my lord chancellor, lord
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| 214 | privy seal and various other lords and bishops being then present; the
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| 215 | mayor and aldermen with the best guilds of the city being there in their
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| 216 | liveries, all giving laud and praise to God for joy about it.'
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| 217 | <P>Bonfires were lit and celebrations held throughout England; prayers
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| 218 | were offered for a safe delivery.&nbsp; In early October, Jane went to
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| 219 | Hampton Court Palace for her lying-in and on 12 October, after a long
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| 220 | and difficult labor, she gave birth to the wished-for son.&nbsp; It was
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| 221 | the eve of St Edward's day and so he was baptized by that name on 15
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| 222 | October.&nbsp; His two half-sisters, Mary and Elizabeth, attended the
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| 223 | splendid christening ceremony.&nbsp; Mary stood as godmother; Elizabeth
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| 224 | was carried in the arms of Thomas Seymour, Jane's brother who would
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| 225 | later plan to marry her.&nbsp; Her grandfather, Thomas Boleyn, also
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| 226 | attended the ceremony.
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| 227 | <P>After 29 years as king of England, Henry VIII finally had a
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| 228 | legitimate male heir.&nbsp; Past grievances could be forgotten at this
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| 229 | grand moment.
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| 230 | <P>Jane did not savor her success for long.&nbsp; The christening
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| 231 | ceremony had begun in her bedchamber; she was wrapped in robes and
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| 232 | carried on a litter to the king's chapel.&nbsp; She was able to
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| 233 | participate but the long ordeal proved too much.&nbsp; She was already
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| 234 | weak and exhausted; she needed quiet and rest and received
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| 235 | neither.&nbsp; Only a day later, it was reported that the queen was very
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| 236 | ill.&nbsp; Her condition quickly worsened.&nbsp; She was delirious and
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| 237 | had a&nbsp; high fever; doctors bled her and attendants hastened to
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| 238 | fulfill her craving for sweets and wine.&nbsp; The king's chief minister
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| 239 | Cromwell would later blame the sweets for her death but they did little
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| 240 | to harm Jane.&nbsp; Modern historians believe she had puerperal sepsis,
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| 241 | or 'childbed fever'.&nbsp; It was all too common in the 16th century.
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| 242 | <P>It was later rumored that she died from complications of a Cesarean
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| 243 | section, that Henry VIII had ordered the child ripped from her womb, but this was unlikely.&nbsp; There were no reports that she was
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| 244 | bleeding excessively and she was able to attend the christening and
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| 245 | greet visitors.&nbsp; Sadly, Jane was a victim of her times.&nbsp; Poor
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| 246 | hygiene and medical knowledge could not stop the fever which finally
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| 247 | killed her near midnight on 24 October.
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| 248 | <P>Jane's early death, at the moment of her great triumph, and her
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| 249 | gentle character had an enduring hold on Henry VIII's memory.&nbsp; She
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| 250 | was given a solemn state funeral; Princess Mary acted as her chief
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| 251 | mourner.&nbsp; In her short time as queen, Jane had attempted to
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| 252 | reconcile Henry and his stubborn daughter.&nbsp; Her body was embalmed
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| 253 | and laid to rest in the tomb at Windsor Castle which Henry was building
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| 254 | for himself.&nbsp; Years after her death, even while he was married to
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| 255 | other women, Jane continued to appear in royal portraits as queen
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| 256 | consort.&nbsp; Her special status as mother to the heir was never
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| 257 | forgotten.
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| 258 | <P>The king wore black until well into 1538 and waited more than two
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| 259 | years to marry again.&nbsp; This was the longest interval between
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| 260 | marriages during his reign.&nbsp; <BR>&nbsp; <BR>&nbsp; <BR>
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| 261 | <CENTER>
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| 262 | <P><FONT size=-1><A
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| 263 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fmonarchs%2fwives.html">to the Six
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| 264 | Wives main page</A></FONT> <BR><FONT size=-1><A
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| 265 | href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor.html">to Tudor
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| 266 | England</A></FONT><P><font size="-1">
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| 267 | <a href="_httpextlink_&amp;rl=1&amp;href=http:%2f%2fenglishhistory.net%2ftudor%2fprimary.html">to Primary
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| 268 | Sources</a></font></CENTER>
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| 269 | </blockquote>
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| 270 |
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| 271 |
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| 272 |
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| 275 | </Content>
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| 276 | </Section>
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| 277 | </Archive>
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