30th May 1536 – Henry VIII Marries Jane Seymour

I don’t think we can say with any certainty whether Jane Seymore was “meek and mild” or “sly and calculating”. There simply is not the written record to back either description. There is even less written about her than about Anne Boleyn. If we apply the same standards to Jane that we hold for Anne, we should bristle at either dogmatic expression of Jane’s character.
What we do know is that she supplanted Anne’s affections in Henry’s heart and for that we automatically dislike her because we are members of an Anne Boleyn fan club! However, it cheapens our affection for Anne and weakens our defense of her when we snipe at Jane. Anne was all that Jane was not and for that we love her. But Jane was all that Anne was not and for that Henry was drawn to her.
We know from her existing portraits that she was fair to the point of pale. That she tended toward plumpness. That she favored a more traditional English style of dress. She reminds me of the American First Ladies of the 20th century, appropriately conservative, appropriately feminine, slightly dowdy (sorry to be unkind, but more Mamie Eisenhower than Jackie Kennedy).
That being said, it would take a willfully blind person to miss that she was the total opposite of Anne. More interesting, there is a definite resemblance to Katherine of Aragon and even back to Elizabeth of York in her fair English-ness. Henry is tired of being pushed and pulled between Spain and France at this point…good old English meat and pudding for him now. No more sparkling repartee, no more being pushed to realize the limits of his kingship; now just to enjoy his expanded kingship with a womanly woman, a motherly, matronly woman who would not get his ire up.
I think it is unfair to accuse Jane of being cowardly or spineless simply because she obeyed her husband’s demand to be quiet regarding the Pilgrimage of Grace. The fact that she spoke up at all shows commitment and a modicum of self-assurance. The fact that she obeyed the man who was her husband and her king merely shows that she was a product of her times. Women who did not submit to the will of their husbands could be beaten or locked away indefinitely. Henry, being a king with an increasingly dangerous track record had even more frightening options than did most husbands. At the very least she simply knew when to shut up and lay low. No more, no less.
Also to her credit, she did bring about the reconciliation of Henry to Princess Mary. If a woman knows her man at all she knows how to ask for favors that are a “sure thing”. I think she was shrewd enough to realize that Henry must still love his daughter, and that to ask for her return to the family circle would enable Henry to give her a favour that he could himself enjoy. Henry had an almost child-like love of presents and gifts and he wanted Mary to come back but needed someone to help him save face, considering all the years of bad blood between them. In speaking up for Mary, Jane increases her image of motherly kindness in his eyes and makes him feel magnanimous at the same time. A win-win situation all the way round.
We do know that she had reached the age of 28-ish and was still unmarried. This could be due to the fact that her philandering father and social-climbing brothers were too preoccupied to arrange a proper marriage for her. It could indicate that she was indeed so plain and self-effacing that there had thus far been no takers for her hand. Perhaps she was so damaged from the loss of her mother and her father’s scandalous behavior, that she just wanted to be left alone.
Whatever the reason I feel quite sure, given Jane’s tenure at court as maid to both Katherine and Anne she did not expect to be noticed at this point. After all she had been under Henry’s nose for the better part of ten years and he had not paid her any attention. He had flirted with and courted other ladies-in-waiting, overlooking her for so long, that I am sure she was surprised when he began to pay court to her. To single her out for his attention. To bestow smiles and gifts.
A woman, so plain that she was still unspoken for after so long at court, would naturally be flustered and bewildered when the King, who was arguably the best catch around, noticed her. Now, what she did with that attention is what determines her character. And we simply do not know. It is unfair to either elevate her to saint or impugn her as sinner when she was trying to do what everyone at Henry’s court was trying to do. Survive.

This may sound strange coming from an Anne Boleyn fan, but I have come to respect and admire Jane. By observing Katherine and Anne, she learned what NOT to do to survive. She used her plain English looks to her advantage, and she used her matronly skills to solve conflicts in the royal family.

Well, at least Anne didn’t step to the throne through Katherine’s blood, the way Jane did through Anne’s. That said, however, I don’t think that Jane had much choice in the matter. Henry was the one controlling Anne’s ultimate fate, not Jane. And as we know so little of Jane’s inner thoughts and feelings, it seems unfair to try to judge her. As a result, I tend to give her the benefit of the doubt.

Ok that video really did Jane a disservice. “Then she did something really clever…she died.” Seriously? That’s the biggest achievement she can find? I’m sorry but in my book, “survival” shouldn’t be ranked among the highest virtues, even in the reign of Henry VIII.

I love that image and agree with you both. She was willing to let a living , breathing woman of high intelligence go to her death so she could be queen (how much choice she had, is, of course, disputable). I know Anne stepped over Katherine of Aragon, but she wasn’t dead, and Henry had inquired as early as 1517 about divorcing her, long before Anne appeared.

Jane’s potition as henry’s favourite wife is based on circumstances and the fact that she died just days after giving henry his longed for son, imagine if it had been a daughter or if jane had lived and was unable to provide more children and Edward had died at an younger age. Henry could easily have tired of jane in the same way that he had two earlier wives. However I do believe that Jane was an intelligent woman who knew exactly what she was doing and that she at first hand as a lady in waiting would have seen how Anne annoyed Henry so she knew how not to behave and her brothers and others who would benefit from her rise to the throne would have been advising her to be meek and mild but once her son was born healthy her potition would have been more secure and no doubt she would have gained more confidence.