Boleyn Vs seymour

The rival who replaced Anne Boleyn

In around 1529 Jane Seymour made her first appearance at court, where – like Anne Boleyn before her – she joined the household of Catherine of Aragon. She later transferred to Anne’s service, while two of her brothers, Edward and Thomas, were rising stars at court. The children of a Wiltshire knight, Sir John Seymour, it was these brothers – ambitious for power and preferment – who were responsible for actively encouraging Henry VIII’S pursuit of their sister when he began to tire of his Boleyn wife. Described as being “of middle stature and no great beauty”, it was doubtless with the connivance of her brothers that Jane made a great show of her modesty. Though she was not believed to be “a woman of great wit”, she understood her situation only too well. Chapuys had been told that Jane had been “well tutored” and warned not to give in to the king’s advances “unless he makes her his queen, upon which the damsel is quite resolved.” By January 1536 she was receiving “great presents” from the king. However, she refused a gift of money, declaring to Henry that “there was no treasure in this world that she valued as much as her honour.” Predictably, his ardour for Jane “marvellously increased”, and in order to prove his love to her he insisted on using her brother Edward as a chaperone. He even moved the apartments of Edward and his wife closer to his own to facilitate easier access. Anne’s execution paved the way for Henry and Jane’s marriage, but tragically Jane died just 12 days after her son’s birth in 1537. In time her brothers attempted to seize control and influence their nephew,

Edward VI, but in a similar manner as the Boleyns, both Edward and Thomas ended their lives on the executioner’s block on Edward’s orders.