Another ‘on this day in history’ post today. Several years
ago, I wrote a book about Jane Seymour, Henry VIII’s third wife. Jane is an
interesting character and I wish that there were more sources available on her.
She could have been an important political figure, if only she had lived.
12 October 1537 was the happiest day of Jane Seymour’s life.
She had taken to her chamber at Hampton Court on 16 September, in order to
await the birth of her son. Finally, on 9 October, she went into labour. Things
did not progress as they should and, on 11 October, a procession was ordered
through London to pray for the queen’s safe delivery. It was this prolonged labour
that soon led to rumours circulating that Jane gave birth by caesarean section.
This was, of course, false, since a sixteenth century caesarean would always
result in the rapid death of the mother and such an operation was only carried
out after a woman died in labour as a desperate attempt to save the child.
Instead, Jane finally gave birth naturally to a healthy son on 12 October, to
great rejoicing.
After two days and three nights in labour, Jane must have
been exhausted, but she was also jubilant. She had succeeded where her two
predecessors as queen had failed – provided, of course, that her son survived
infancy. Jane seemed to recover well from the birth and, on 15 October,
attended the celebrations for her son’s christening. The following day,
however, she began to feel unwell…
You can read more about Jane Seymour in my book, ‘Jane
Seymour, Henry VIII’s True Love’, which was published by Amberley in 2009.
There is also a section on her in ‘England’s Queens: The Biography’ (Amberley,
2011). I will do a few more posts on her in the coming days to mark the
anniversary of her death. Happy birthday Edward VI!
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