TL *Humaning the Best She Can*’s Reviews > George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier & Diplomat > Status Update
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
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A note in the margin of this letter says "Millor de Rochesfort et millord de Guillaume", which has been used to back up the idea that George's wife was one of the ringleaders who was sent to the Tower. Jane's alleged banishment from court had taken place the previous autumn, and the demonstration took place during the royal summer progress at which George was present, so her participation
— Jun 20, 2025 08:39AM
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TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 74% done
Jane Seymour's brothers came to an equally sticky end. Thomas Seymour was executed for treason on 20 March 1549 and Edward Seymour on 22 January 1552. A number of Jane's other supporters also suffered unpleasant deaths, including Nicholas Carew, who had coached Jane on how to capture the King's heart. He was beheaded for treason in 1539, just three years after the executions of Anne and George.
— Jun 23, 2025 01:09PM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
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By involving George Boleyn in Anne's downfall, Cromwell had destroyed his principal noble supporter on the council. The irony is not lost on historian Rory McEntegart, who suggests that George was "the man best placed to offset the anti-Cromwellian feelings of conservative noblemen such as the Duke of Norfolk."2 In the long term, the deaths of Anne and George had considerably weakened Cromwell's position.
— Jun 23, 2025 01:08PM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
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Henry's illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond, died on 23 July 1536, probably of consumption. He was just 17 years old. Of Henry's four children, not one of them had children of their own to carry on the Tudor dynasty.
So much brutality had been carried out, and so many innocent people had died, to ensure that the King had a legitimate son, and in the end it was all for nothing.
— Jun 23, 2025 11:06AM
So much brutality had been carried out, and so many innocent people had died, to ensure that the King had a legitimate son, and in the end it was all for nothing.
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 73% done
It is difficult for us today to understand why people who are so obviously innocent do not reaffirm their innocence on the scaffold. Sixteenth century values and conventions are poles apart from our own. George's speech reiterated what he had said at his trial:that the verdict proved he deserved death.
He explained that he died under the law,because it was the law that had condemned him. The law was the word of God,
— Jun 23, 2025 11:02AM
He explained that he died under the law,because it was the law that had condemned him. The law was the word of God,
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 72% done
George Boleyn had many faults, but treason had never been one of them, and Henry must have known that. None of the men's heads were put on display on spikes, as was usual with convicted traitors; this would surely have been the case if Henry seriously thought they were guilty, just as Thomas Culpeper's would be five years later.
— Jun 23, 2025 02:22AM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 71% done
George had gone from palace to prison to execution within 15 days, and it is a testament to his courage and strength of character that he was able to defend himself so well at his trial and give such an impassioned speech on the scaffold, when lesser men would still have been in shock.
— Jun 23, 2025 02:21AM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 71% done
It is easy to use Jane as a scapegoat, but just as the Boleyn siblings should be given the benefit of the doubt due to the lack of evidence for the charges against them, so the same courtesy should be extended to Jane.
— Jun 22, 2025 10:04AM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
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The statement Jane gave to the court did not in itself condemn her husband, or the Queen. Both were already prejudged. There was never a chance that either would be spared, regardless of the evidence laid before the court - or more accurately, the lack of evidence. When George was initially arrested, it is probable that there was a vague intention of charging him as an accessory to his sister's misdemeanours
— Jun 22, 2025 09:52AM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
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Following her husband's arrest, Jane may also have been in the position of either providing the Crown with a useful statement, or potentially facing charges herself as an accomplice, seeing as she too had discussed the King's problems. It may even be that she provided the statement regarding Henry's impotence without appreciating that it would be specifically used against her husband;
— Jun 22, 2025 09:50AM
TL *Humaning the Best She Can*
is 68% done
You don’t realize how messed up and outrageous thre trial for Anne, George, and the others were until read the full accounting of it...
:(
— Jun 21, 2025 03:17PM
:(
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Jun 20, 2025 08:39AM
may have been out of frustration and anger at her continued estrangement.
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However, the usually vigilant Chapuys did not pick up this story, and likewise there is no record of Jane Rochford being incarcerated in the Tower prior to the fall of Catherine Howard in 1541. If true, her actions would have caused irreparable damage to the Rochfords' marriage and by taking such action, Lady Rochford would have been putting herself in open opposition and conflict, not only with Anne, but also with her own husband and the King, whose command it was that Mary should not be treated as Princess.
In addition to anger, George would also have felt embarrassment and humiliation at his own wife being imprisoned for openly defying him, his family and the King.Jane's good relationship with Mary following the deaths of George and Anne confirms the loyalty and affection she had for the princess despite the fact that her husband had been one of Mary's bitterest enemies. Jane must have maintained this loyalty and affection for Mary throughout her marriage to George; yet it is very difficult to imagine her taking such drastic action, which would have been completely against her own best interests.
Jane was as much of a self-serving survivor as her in-laws, and putting her liberty, marriage and career on the line for her moral beliefs seems an unlikely thing for her to do. Besides, she became Jane Seymour's lady-in-waiting after the Boleyns' deaths. Henry was highly unlikely to have allowed her to resume such a prestigious position if she had previously spent time in the Tower for openly defying him. Weighing up the evidence, her involvement in the demonstration is improbable.
