A Funeral Fit for a Tudor Queen - Jane Seymour's burial
- Amber Rose
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
Jane Seymour © Hans Holbein the Younger – The National Portrait Gallery
Jane Seymour was Henry VIII’s third wife. His previous two wives were banished to the country, Katherine of Aragon and beheaded on falsified charges of treason, Anne Boleyn. Henry had been married to Katherine for over twenty years before annulling their marriage. He already had two children from his first two wives, but unfortunately for him they were daughters.
Some historians dismiss Jane as a passive, submissive, obedient wife. Some recount her as the “boring” one. Much in contrast to the stubborn Katherine of Aragon and the outspoken Anne Boleyn. She rose quite quickly from lady-in-waiting to the king’s third wife. Jane and Henry married only ten days after Anne Boleyn’s execution. It is difficult to say how Jane felt about marrying Henry or becoming queen.
Jane was likely under an immense amount of pressure to give birth to a son, which neither of Henry’s first two wives were able to do. She also witnessed both of their downfalls largely because of it. Henry was hopeful she would give him many children as she came from a large family herself.
Henry introduced an Act of Succession declaring his daughters illegitimate. This Act accounted for children produced by a future queen. This surely added to the pressure Jane likely was already experiencing. Good news: In March of 1537 Jane Seymour was pregnant with what would hopefully be a son.
Most of Jane’s pregnancy went smoothly and as expected. On September 16th she entered confinement to prepare for the birth as was customary for a woman of her status. Edward VI was born on October 12th, 1537 after Jane Seymour endured an intense, strenuous two-day and three-night labour. Henry finally had his long-awaited son and heir to the Tudor dynasty.
After Edward’s christening bread and sweet wine were served. He was carried to the Queen’s apartments so that his parents could bless him. It was routine for the parents of the newborn to not attend the christening.
At first Jane seemed to have been recovering well from her traumatic childbirth. Plans were being made to allow her to exit sanctuary and enter back into public life. Suddenly Jane’s health took a dive. She unfortunately did not enjoy motherhood for long. Jane passed away in the same bedchamber she had given birth to Edward twelve days after the birth.
Present day historians believe she had contracted child-bed fever. This was an infection caused by poor hygiene during labour. A midwife had much more experience in childbirth delivery than a physician. Other theories on her cause of death are post-birth complications or food poisoning. Jane passed away on October 24th, 1537 at Hampton Court Palace, she was twenty-nine.
After Jane’s death her body laid in state in the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court. Her coffin was then taken to St. George’s Chapel at Windsor Castle. Jane was laid to rest on November 12th, 1537. The chief mourner was her step-daughter Mary. A procession of twenty-nine mourners followed Mary, one for each year of Jane’s life. Jane was also the only one of Henry’s six wives to receive a queen’s funeral.
King Henry VIII’s coffin (centre), Jane Seymour (right) in a vault St. George’s Chapel.
Henry genuinely grieved the death of Jane. He wrote to Francis I in 1537 “Divine Providence has mingled my joy with bitterness of the death of her who brought me to this happiness.” The court had been plunged into mourning. Henry retreated to Westminster where he mourned in secret for a while. He continued to include Jane in family portraits, even after remarrying. Following Henry’s death in 1547 he was buried beside Jane in St. George’s Chapel.
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