Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's Favourite Wife

by David Loades

Jane was Henry VIII’s third queen, and she was described by him as ‘his first true wife’, both his first two marriages having been annulled. She was twenty-seven when he married her, and came of a solid gentry family with good court connections. She had served both Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn as a Lady of the Privy Chamber, and her failure to find a suitable marriage is something of a mystery. He was forty-four and desperate for the male heir who had so far eluded him, but which Jane’s placid disposition and sexual availability seemed to promise. She was no great beauty, but came of a good breeding stock, and therein lay his hope.

They married at the end of May 1536, and she became pregnant at about the end of the year, a condition which advanced normally, but which caused the king acute anxiety as the summer of 1537 advanced. Then in October 1537 Jane performed the great miracle, and bore Henry a son, who lived and flourished. Tragically she died of puerperal fever a few days later, leaving the court in mourning and the king devastated. Her obsequies were elaborate and prolonged, and Henry stayed in mourning for many weeks.

The king’s son, Prince Edward, was carefully nurtured, and probably did not miss the mother he had never known. When the time came, his education was overseen by Henry’s sixth queen, Catherine Parr, and he seems not to have had much of the Seymour in his make-up. He was very much his father’s boy.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Tudor Period, Biography, Renaissance, Historical

192 pages, Hardcover

First published February 19, 2013

About the author

David Michael Loades was a British historian who specialised in the Tudor era. After military service in the Royal Air Force from 1953 until 1955, Loades studied at the University of Cambridge. In the 1960s and 1970s he taught at the universities of St. Andrews and Durham. From 1980 until 1996 Loades was Professor of History at the University of Wales; after taking emeritus status, Loades served as Honorary Research Professor at the University of Sheffield from 1996 until 2008.

Reviews

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was immediately struck by how slim this book was. Set side by side with books about Anne Boleyn and Catherine of Aragon, the book is about half the width of most of their biographies.

I think this speaks both to the lack of information about Jane Seymour, but, more importantly, the lack of interest Miss Plain Jane inspires in people, because, trust me, a little thing like lack of facts never stopped anyone from throwing together a 500 page biography. There are plenty of historical figures with huge volumes dedicated to them where primary sources about them are limited to only a scrap or two of parchment.

This already short book mostly talks around Jane Seymour. The beginning opens with a detailed list of her family going back for centuries, tracing her descent for generations throughout the Middle Ages. Then we get into her biography, but only very lightly, touching on known facts, but not digging in too much to what might have been going on below the surface, and not much effort to trace her life before she was Anne Boleyn’s rival.

I was very surprised the possible affair between her sister-in-law and father only gets a sentence, and almost no time spent on her childhood home of Wolf Hall besides the legalities of how that particular piece of real estate became the family’s property. Then - Spoiler Alert! - Jane dies after childbirth less than 100 pages in, and we then get a lot about what her brothers and son did after she died, but in a weird constantly doubling back timeline as each of them is detailed.

As other people have commented, this would be better titled as a book about the Seymour family, but even then, it can be light on details, more concerned with just brushing over the surface of things.

[Becky Graham · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think a more accurate title for this book would have been "The Seymour Family" - most of the book is either about Jane's father, her brothers, or her son. I would guesstimate that only a quarter of the book is actually about her. I understand that there are very few details known about her life and those are mostly limited to a 2-3 year period between the beginning of Anne's downfall and Jane's death - but then don't title your book "Jane Seymour" if she isn't really the focus of the book.
Conclusion: If you looking to learn some newly discovered or hitherto unknown facts about Jane's life, you probably won't find them here. However, if you don't know anything about Jane, this is a good book as it covers pretty much all there is to know. Also, if you are interested in her family and her legacy, this book covers those topics quite well. It's a good book - but know what you are getting before you start reading it.

[ಥ_ಥ · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess it was cool to learn about her family, and I don't mind it being there. I also understand there is not a whole lot of information about her available... However, this book isn't even 200 pages, and the only thing new I can really tell you is about her family. Honestly, (maybe I am being dramatic) I felt like there was more of Anne Bolyn and Anne of Cleves in this then Jane lol.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

The name of this book is somewhat of a misnomer. The book is not really about Jane Seymour - primarily because we know so little about her and her importance to history is really only less than a year in duration. The book really focuses on Jane and her brothers and how her death/legacy affected the people around her.

I am not minded myself to see Jane Seymour as either important or influential but then I am an Anne Boleyn supporter. Jane Seymour is somewhat insipid in comparison. However, I think Loades touches on the fact that Jane is not quite the nice little wifey everyone thinks her to have been - she had an ambitious streak herself. Generally a woman who is celebrating her upcoming marriage as the ex wife is losing her head is perhaps not the nicest person in the world.

I am no fan of Jane Seymour and this book did nothing to change my view. She was - relatively unimportant to history in my view and her only impact upon the Tudor dynasty was a sickly little boy who died young.

The book is well researched and well written but there is just not enough material available on Jane to make a biography worthwhile.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay read. Not as interesting as his biography of the Boelyn family.

Probably should have been titled the Seymour family, as Jane, of course, dies, but the book doesn't end with her death.

Worth a read.

[Saturday's Child · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a well-researched and insightful look at the brief life of Jane Seymour.

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I own a copy of this book, which may be the third biography of Jane Seymour I have read. Overall, I felt that this was a good biography of the Seymour family as a whole, rather than one focused on Jane alone. This makes sense as there does not appear to be a great deal of evidence of Jane's life, which is fascinating and tragic that Jane rose to the role of Queen Consort of England.

I do think that Loads fills in the gaps of her early life well and it starts to paint a picture of the woman who many argue was Henry's true love. It was interesting to read about the evidence of Jane's impact on the maintenance of traditional Catholic beliefs, particularly the information about the monasteries that Henry helped to fund/develop shortly before her death.

It is a good introduction for Tudor fans interested in learning more about the third Queen Consort of a notorious King.

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Infidelity, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Pandemic/Epidemic

Minor: Child death, Infertility, Murder, and War

[Bel · Rating 3 out of 5]

For a book about Jane Seymour, the first three chapters are about her and the rest is her son and brothers. I understand we do not have much historical evidence on Jane which shows, this book is full of maybes. A piece of information is mentioned but followed by ‘well it was said by this guy who isn’t fully accurate so could be false lol’ or ‘we don’t have any surviving letters so could be bullshit’

[Rachel McNeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is well researched, but there is so little on Jane Seymour that Loades looks at the people/court around her to ultimately flesh out the book. I think there were about 5 direct facts on Jane Seymour. Whilst I understand that there are little remaining sources on Jane, it just doesn’t make sense to try an aim this book solely on Jane because it doesn’t quite hit the mark.

[Jillianne Hamilton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Short and sweet. Maybe a little too short? Jane was dead by the halfway point of the book.

[Helene Harrison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review - Although this says it is a biography of Jane Seymour, there isn't really enough surviving evidence to write a full book on her, she left such a small imprint on the world. She gave the king a son, his greatest desire, and that is all she is remembered for. Jane dies around halfway through this so-called biography, and the remainder discusses her family - her son, Edward VI, and her brothers Edward and Thomas. Edward was Duke of Somerset and Lord Protector, and Thomas Seymour was the Lord Admiral and Baron Seymour. Both were eventually executed.

Subject/s - History / Biography

Recommend - Yes

Rating - 15/20

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

Calling this book "Jane Seymour" is a bit of a misnomer. Not much is known about Jane, and she is only alive for a very small portion of this short book. Really, what this book does is outline her effect on her brother, Henry, and her son and it traces their lives after her death. The book was short and fairly neutral in its portrayal of characters, but I can't give it more than three stars because there was far less about Jane discussion of Jane than I had hoped.

[Selkie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very little of this book has to do with Jane Seymour herself ( a common occurrence for Loades). A great part of the book has to do with her brothers and their legal entanglements and land disputes, and is rather dry reading. If you are wanting more a more personal insight into Jane Seymour's life you should read Elizabeth Norton's "Jane Seymour: Henry VIIIs True Love"

[George Foord · Rating 2 out of 5]

this book has hardly any info on jane and more of a brief history of the tudors