On the 1st April 1536, Chapuys reported to his master, Emperor Charles V, that King Henry VIII had sent Jane Seymour “a purse full of sovereigns.” He also reported Jane’s reaction, writing that on receiving the purse, Jane had kissed the letter and begged the messenger to tell the King that she could not take the purse because “she was a gentlewoman of good and honorable parents, without reproach, and that she had no greater riches in the world than her honor, which she would not injure for a thousand deaths, and that if he wished to make her some present in money she begged it might be when God enabled her to make some honorable match.”
According to Chapuys, Jane was being coached by Sir Nicholas Carew and the Catholic faction in how to appeal to the King and also to tell him how much the people of England “detested” his marriage to Anne Boleyn.
Also, on the 1st April 1536, Chapuys reported that he had heard that Anne Boleyn and Thomas Cromwell were “on bad terms.”
Posted originally on the interactive timeline of the events of Spring 1536 at www.thefallofanneboleyn.com.
Notes and Sources
- Calendar of State Papers, Spain, Volume 5 Part 2: 1536-1538, note 43
She definetely had learned how to play. ( In a very,veeeryy good way)
Anne was her great teacher and she could not deny this…
Clair,
Do you have any sources about people opinions over Jane’s behaviour? I find completely stranger that the people could accept this with a kind of “joy”. Especially because they got married one day after Anne’s death. I know Anne was not so popular as Katherine but well… she was imprisioned and fastly replaced by Jane. I am sooo curious about the gossips around England.
I am continually surprised at how much ire I bear toward Jane Seymour. I think she, as much as her brothers, was a knowing and willing participant in Cromwell’s plot against Anne.
Jane Seymour what can we say? At least Chaupuys got that right ,being coached on how to play ” Henry V111″as we all know he hated the word know.To send the purse back to the King,was a denial in” Henrys” mind and he did not like denial,let the chase begin! At least it only took a month.
Correction,Henry hated the word NO.
I know this blog is dedicated to Anne Boylen, and this is where Jane Seymour is bashed and vilified and insulted. To be honest Jane is another favorite of mine behind Katherine of Aragon.
Pardon? Where have I bashed and vilified Jane Seymour?
Not you but others.
ds 370,I really don’t think anyone is bashing Jane Seymour,all the Queens of Henry V111, were all different know, two the same and they all had there reasons ,for what they did in there lives.I love all of them,however there are things that some of them did,even Anne I did not like.Yes you will read things on this site you may diagree with.Claire would never permit anyone being bashed,including all the AB Friends aswell. Kind Regards Baroness X
Totally agree Baroness, not one of the Queen’s were perfect.
Some may have a stronger opinion of one Queen or another, it all adds to discussion, brings in a wider prospective and some valid view points that may have not been seen before. These different opinions shouldn’t be taken at a personal level, or be seen as a berating.
I personally don’t think Jane was as meek and mild as she has been made out to have been over the centuries. To me she was a well proportioned mix of K of A and Anne, a clever Lady who had her own agenda, helped and encouraged/coached by her family. I actually think she has been done a dis-favour, and under estimated in the ‘smarts’ department…
Jane Seymour was no saint, she was more of a low key
Personality than Anne but she and her family
were very ambitious so she doesn’t deserve sainthood.
i think its really quite hard to even imagine what people were like ,ie henrys wives 500 yrs ago but im sure they all had their good traits and bad traits ,and i definitely think they all thought they were “the one”(the love of henrys life) but they were just baby making machines for the tudor dynasty ,none of them had any power whatsoever ,only what henry allowed ,and we know what happened when anyone crossed that line,i think it was a very materialistic time and you walked over whoever you could to get to the top and the crown ,so all henrys wives knew the game and how to play it to their advantage ,it was their way of life .
A correction, I meant to say there were things that Anne had done, I did not like and the same with all of the King,Queens.Lets face it we all do things in life sometime or another,that maybe should’nt have done,know one is perfect even Kings and Queens.
I wanted to add somethings, I left unsaid to this post.This post was infact about ,Jane Seymour,we had a post on her last year or the year before? I infact felt sorry for her,having just given birth and a year later she died also, I really think Henry loved her and grieved her death.Yes this site is dedicated to ,Queen Anne and all the people that were there, for with out them we most likely would not have this wonderful site! All of the Queens sufferd in one way or another,Queen Katherine being strip and banished,Queen Anne murderd,Queen Jane’s,untimely death,Queen Katherine Howard beheaded,Anne of Cleve’s was replused by the King.Katherine Parr really did not even want to be Queen,she loved another as, Queen Anne did,forced to live at court by the KING!None of this was fair,but who was hated the most,Queen Anne!WHY? She hated the King for six years she held out ,thats a long time! The only crime she comitted ,was not giving Henry a son.But without all these souls who lived ,loved and died,just take a minute and think ,what all of us would be missing out on.
I stand corrected on the time line of,Queen Jane’s, death12 day’s after the birth of Edward ,So much to remember!!So untimely.
Baroness,
You brought up a point I’ve rarely seen or heard discussed. Anne hated Henry. I’ve suspected that myself for a very long time, though others either dispute this or can’t see the writing on the wall. Have any of you ever come across any primary sources to support this? I know the selection of sources is limited to not-so-reliable people, but did Thomas Wyatt or anyone close to her ever write of it?
Many years ago, I thought I read something that lead me to believe Anne was instrumental in architecture and was maybe a philanthropist? Because of all the slander and unreliable sources, her accomplishments are almost always overlooked. Are you aware of any significant accomplishments? Had she lived, I think she still would have made history.
PrincessinAZ,It was a known fact that Anne was to marry Percy of Northlumberland,but the King refused to let them do so.Anne was orderd to the King’s court by ,Henry as she refused him,she love Percy and he was also forced to marry another,thats were it all began,as far as I know.Yes the greatest, accomplishment of all was,Elizabeth 1. I think that says it all,of croase she would have still made history,she gave birth to the “GREATEST QUEEN ” that ever ruled! But ‘HATE” is a disease, for which there is know cure. Kind Regards Baroness x
I think the real villain in the whole story is not Anne Boleyn, Jane Seymour or their families and all. It was Henry himself, who gave others the chances to do whatever they want certainly he was not a kid but a man above his forties when he married both these queens. He was a selfish man who was obsessed with women and with the idea of having a male heir thus saving his tudor dynasty. All his life he treated his daughters like shit, he even brought English reformation for just his own selfish reasons. It’s an irony indeed that he never got what he wanted, his son died even before reaching his adolescence. The successful reign of the greatest queen Elizabeth 1 is a great slap on his poor mentality that only a man can rule. If only he would have known how capable his daughter is to rule, who can rule much much better than his own self, Queen Anne Boleyn might not have been murdered, and thus Jane seymour and Katherine Howard might have had seen the greys in their hairs.
We can’t blame Jane Seymour for the death of Anne Boleyn. Henry wanted to be rid of her of her as soon as she had her first miscarriage and after two further miscarriages of the boys he couldn’t stand it any longer and he had had no hopes of having any other child from anne. The only way of clearing the path is to take Anne’s life, whose only existence put henry’s desire for a third marriage in jeopardy. As for Jane Seymour, she couldn’t have said NO to the King of England and her family. At that time women belonging to the noble families were the puppets of the families who were sold as wives to rich and influential men to improve their family standards.