On 12th October 1537, when Jane Seymour gave birth to Henry VIII’s long-awaited son, England rejoiced. Bells rang and bonfires blazed.
Sadly, just twelve days later, that joy turned to sorrow when the queen died.
But what did Jane Seymour died of?
For centuries, her death has been shrouded in confusion and myth, with some claiming that she’d even been given a c-section, others that it was childbed fever that finished her off. More recently, Alison Weir has put forward the idea that her death could have been down to food poisoning and an embolism.
In my latest video, I take a closer look at the evidence, exploring contemporary accounts, Tudor medicine, and modern medical insight, to uncover what really killed Henry VIII’s third wife.
Sources and Further Reading
- Guest articles written by Alison Weir on the Tudor Times website – https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed,
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/evidence,
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/more-than-one-pregnancy, and
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/final-stages - The death of Queen Jane, article by Elizabeth Norton – https://elizabethnortonhistorian.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-death-of-queen-jane.html
- The Seymour Family, history and romance by Amy Audrey Locke – https://archive.org/details/seymourfamilyhis00lockuoft/page/18/mode/2up?
- ‘Henry VIII: October 1537, 21-25’, in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 12 Part 2, June-December 1537, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1891), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol12/no2/pp335-345
- Hall’s Chronicle – https://archive.org/details/hallschronicleco00hall/page/824/mode/2up
- Wriothesley’s Chronicle – https://archive.org/details/chronicleofengla01wriouoft/page/68/mode/2up
- 24 October 1537 – The Death of Queen Jane Seymour – https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/24-october-1537-death-queen-jane-seymour/
- How to spot maternal sepsis, NCT – https://www.nct.org.uk/information/pregnancy/body-pregnancy/how-spot-maternal-sepsis
- Signs of Infection After Birth: Postpartum Infection & Sepsis – https://www.emmasdiary.co.uk/pregnancy-and-birth/labour/signs-of-infection-after-birth
Yes Weirs theory does not quite ring true about Queens Jane’s death, her labour was long and arduous, her weary womb could not expel all the placenta, only a tiny part would have triggered infection which would have led to sepsis, Henry although understandably worried about his Queen, made a fatal error in dismissing the midwives and sending in his physician’s,who were untrained in childbirth, the midwife would have reached in and taken out the placenta, and she might have lived! These women were delivering babies every day, and had knowledge which the physician’s did not, they must have stood around her bed shaking their heads, and fearing the kings wrath if she died, thousands of women died thus,and Jane was not alone in her fellow queens, the kings own mother , Elizabeth of York died in childbirth so did Katherine Parr, and Parr ‘s symptoms resembled Jane’s, it was noted towards the end she also became delirious, Weirs theory of an embolism is interesting but it was not the cause of her death, sepsis was the cause and whether that caused an embolism is something we can only speculate on.