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This week’s post focuses on another of Henry’s alleged mistresses and although this post will be a relatively short one, we intend to explore the affair between Jane Poppincourt and the King more as to not forget or discredit here as one of Henry’s mistresses.
After all, this blog is about delving deep into the lives of the women that surrounded Henry and, even though there are more than likely a few that we cannot add to our list or that we’ve missed out, we want to try and talk about all the ones that we can in as much detail as possible.
So, without further ado, let us talk about Henry’s next mistress (also from 1514 – the same time as Bessie Blount)—Jane Poppincourt.
. . .
There is not much known about Jane Poppincourt before she became the mistress of Henry VIII (such as her birth, who her parents were, how old she might have been when the affair started etc.) but what we do know is that Henry was not the first powerful man that she became the mistress to. And considering how Henry did prefer experienced women in his early years, it wouldn’t surprise me that an experienced woman such as Jane, whose reputation was already tarnished by her being the mistress to another powerful man (which we will talk about in just one moment), appealed to Henry as his next mistress.
As a result of the lack of records concerning Jane Poppincourt’s background, there is a variation in her origins; some record her as being French whilst others argue that she was of Flemish roots but all the sources agree on one thing; that she was first mentioned on the Privy Purse expenses of Elizabeth of York (Queen of England and Henry’s beloved mother) in 1498 (the very year that Bessie Blount was born) for payment as a French tutor to Henry’s sister’s Margaret and Mary which suggests that she would have been at least seven-plus-years Henry’s suitor as he would have only been around seven years old at this time, making her at least fourteen in 1498?
In any case, Jane would have been a tutor to Margaret and Mary during Henry’s childhood, and this might have influenced Henry’s choice to later take her on as a mistress as he might have previously held an affection for her as a child since he spent most of his childhood with his sisters instead of his older brother.
Before arriving in England, she was known to have previously served as a maid-of-honor to the Queens of Louis XIII and Francis I—which made her definitely at least seven-years Henry’s senior.
As soon as Henry became King, Jane was made a lady-in-waiting to Catherine of Aragon in 1509 and just five years later, she was known as Henry’s mistress.
But this was not how she became known as such as scandalous woman.
. . .
Before Henry, there was another man whom Jane Poppincourt acted as mistress to.
His name?—Louis d'Orlèans, the Duke of Longueville.
Louis, a fellow countryman of Jane’s, had been a prisoner-of-war in England ever since the Battle of the Spurs in 1513 whilst he waited for his ransom to be paid by the King (documented to have been around 100,000 crowns) which forced him to live in England, but he took advantage of this by still functioning as an ambassador to France within the English court. At the time of Jane becoming Louis’ mistress, which caused notable damage to her reputation, Queen Anne of France had sadly died, and Louis was put in charge of negotiating the marriage of Louis XII of France and Mary, the King’s younger sister. The very next day, Louis’ ransom was paid and after finalizing the negotiations, he left happily for France. It was because of his success in negotiating the marriage that he was able to arrange for Jane to accompany Princess Mary to France as an attendant and to reunite with her lover.
Sadly, her dreams to reunite with her lover were short-lived as she was struck off the list of attendants to the Princess at the very last moment by King Louis XIII himself after learning that Jane was d'Orlèans’ mistress (whose wife was at the French court) and wanting to prevent a scandal, refused her right of passage to France.
With her lover back in France with no plans to return to be with her, heartbroken Jane’s tarnished reputation left her not very popular within the English court, it was at this point in 1514 that Henry took Jane as his official mistress, since she was unmarried (and had no plans to marry in the future) with an already tarnished reputation, he saw no issues in publicly taking her as his mistress.
Jane did not give up on her desires to return to her previous lover in France and this time, she was successful as she returned to France in 1516, abruptly ending her relationship with Henry (to which he presented her with a parting gift of £100) and reignited her affair with Louis d'Orlèans.
Although King Louis XII had died in 1515, Jane was still unwelcome in the new king’s, Francis I, court as apparently all of France had heard of Jane’s promiscuity and whilst he allowed her to return to France, she was not welcome in his court—which speaks volumes as his court was known for its promiscuity.
Her bad luck seemed to continue on because no long after returning to her lover in France in 1516, he suddenly died, leaving Jane alone once more. Nothing is known about what happened to Jane after Louis’ death, but it can be assumed that she remained unmarried and died from some unknown disease, as was the norm for most people in the Tudor era.
That’s it for this mistress, I’m sorry that there isn’t much to speak about but sadly, not all of Henry’s mistresses were considered ‘interesting’ or ‘noteworthy’ to history. But fear not, this is not the only post this week, as Elizabeth Carew’s story is right after this so go check it out!
- Have a ‘Tudor-fic’ week!
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