1 00:00:00,920 --> 00:00:05,280 Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grimm 2 00:00:05,320 --> 00:00:11,400 Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, this is 3 00:00:11,520 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: Danish Schwartz. I'm still on maternity leave and so today 4 00:00:15,280 --> 00:00:18,919 Speaker 1: we're going back to the archives revisiting the series I 5 00:00:19,000 --> 00:00:23,759 Speaker 1: did on Henry the Eighth's Six Wives. This episode is 6 00:00:23,800 --> 00:00:28,240 Speaker 1: about Jane Seymour, the wife who gave Henry the son 7 00:00:28,440 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: he so desperately wanted, and the wife he would ultimately 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:39,760 Speaker 1: choose to be buried with. Hope you enjoy. Henry the 9 00:00:39,840 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: Eighth died in fifteen forty seven, obese and ulcered, one 10 00:00:45,560 --> 00:00:48,600 Speaker 1: leg still rotting from a bad fall of a horse 11 00:00:48,880 --> 00:00:54,760 Speaker 1: decades earlier. After his corpse was embalmed and spiced, it 12 00:00:54,880 --> 00:00:59,040 Speaker 1: lay in state in the present Chamber of Whitehall, surrounded 13 00:00:59,080 --> 00:01:03,760 Speaker 1: by burning tape candles, and then two weeks later the 14 00:01:03,880 --> 00:01:09,120 Speaker 1: slow procession to his burial site began a carriage followed 15 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:13,959 Speaker 1: by hundreds of men on horseback. The carriage itself was massive, 16 00:01:14,440 --> 00:01:19,399 Speaker 1: elaborate and tall, pulled by eight horses, each ridden by 17 00:01:19,440 --> 00:01:23,320 Speaker 1: a child on top of the hearse in full view 18 00:01:23,400 --> 00:01:26,000 Speaker 1: of the public that had come out onto the streets 19 00:01:26,280 --> 00:01:29,760 Speaker 1: to say goodbye to their king was an effigy made 20 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,560 Speaker 1: of wax and wood, meant to resemble the king in 21 00:01:33,600 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: his more handsome days. The effigy wore satin and velvet 22 00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:44,040 Speaker 1: and jewels, with rings dotting its gloved hands. It wore 23 00:01:44,120 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: a crown. But when King Henry's procession finally reached its 24 00:01:49,240 --> 00:01:54,360 Speaker 1: destination Saint George's Chapel at Windsor Castle, his tomb wasn't 25 00:01:54,360 --> 00:01:57,920 Speaker 1: gilded or flanked by sculptures, the type of pomp you 26 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:01,280 Speaker 1: would expect for the final resting place of a man 27 00:02:01,360 --> 00:02:06,559 Speaker 1: who saw himself as a dynastic hero, the champion of England, 28 00:02:06,640 --> 00:02:09,960 Speaker 1: chosen by God to lead their church and their nation. 29 00:02:11,160 --> 00:02:14,119 Speaker 1: That was the tomb he had wanted for himself, one 30 00:02:14,160 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: he had described early in his life, a double tomb 31 00:02:17,919 --> 00:02:22,240 Speaker 1: with effigies in marble, carved angels on the wall, and 32 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:27,480 Speaker 1: prophets perched on overlooking columns. But King Henry was not 33 00:02:27,600 --> 00:02:31,000 Speaker 1: a man who wanted to acknowledge his own death to 34 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:35,080 Speaker 1: spend thousands of pounds while he lived celebrating the idea 35 00:02:35,160 --> 00:02:38,200 Speaker 1: that one day he would be gone. He never built 36 00:02:38,200 --> 00:02:42,520 Speaker 1: his own tomb, and so instead he was interred simply 37 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,400 Speaker 1: in the vault, beneath Saint George's chapel, beneath a plain 38 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: black marble slab, What was supposed to be his temporary 39 00:02:51,480 --> 00:02:55,320 Speaker 1: resting place became the place that Henry the Eighth, one 40 00:02:55,360 --> 00:03:01,040 Speaker 1: of England's most famous monarchs, remained permanently, but one of 41 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:04,440 Speaker 1: his wishes for burial was honored. Though at the time 42 00:03:04,480 --> 00:03:07,280 Speaker 1: of his death, Henry the Eighth was on his sixth 43 00:03:07,360 --> 00:03:11,800 Speaker 1: and final wife, Catherine Parr, he specified that he should 44 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:14,840 Speaker 1: be buried not next to her, but next to his 45 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:19,919 Speaker 1: third wife, Jane Seymour. He was married three times after her, 46 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: but it was her memory that Henry clung to, the 47 00:03:24,000 --> 00:03:26,320 Speaker 1: memory of the wife who had done what all of 48 00:03:26,400 --> 00:03:31,320 Speaker 1: the others hadn't, given him a living son, The two 49 00:03:31,400 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: of them side by side for history, for eternity, the 50 00:03:36,760 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: man who had six wives, choosing to be entwined forever 51 00:03:41,200 --> 00:03:46,120 Speaker 1: with the one he idealized and romanticized and missed until 52 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,920 Speaker 1: finally he joined her in death. I'm Danish Schwartz and 53 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:58,200 Speaker 1: this is noble blood. Jane Seymour was never going to 54 00:03:58,280 --> 00:04:02,040 Speaker 1: make a very advantageous man marriage. That's what she knew 55 00:04:02,200 --> 00:04:06,800 Speaker 1: growing up in the Wiltshire countryside. Her mother's seventh child, 56 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:11,160 Speaker 1: with three surviving older brothers. She was still unmarried in 57 00:04:11,160 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: her twenties, largely because her father wasn't wealthy enough to 58 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:18,039 Speaker 1: put up an attractive dowry, and so the family used 59 00:04:18,040 --> 00:04:20,920 Speaker 1: what connections they had to send her to court, where 60 00:04:21,000 --> 00:04:23,720 Speaker 1: she would be a lady to Catherine of Aragon, the 61 00:04:23,839 --> 00:04:27,960 Speaker 1: Queen of England. Jane was blonde and fair, and while 62 00:04:28,000 --> 00:04:31,279 Speaker 1: she wasn't unattractive, no one would ever call her a 63 00:04:31,320 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: great beauty. The hope was that she would meet a 64 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,560 Speaker 1: nice man at court, maybe a knight Banneret or the like, 65 00:04:38,040 --> 00:04:41,600 Speaker 1: and that she would get married. Jane was raised Catholic 66 00:04:41,720 --> 00:04:44,559 Speaker 1: and raised to be a dutiful wife above all else. 67 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,960 Speaker 1: She was only barely literate, but she was an expert 68 00:04:48,000 --> 00:04:51,880 Speaker 1: at embroidery and housekeeping. And one day she would bear 69 00:04:51,960 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: a brood of children like her mother. Everyone knew it. 70 00:04:55,400 --> 00:04:59,040 Speaker 1: Her mother had given her father three living sons. There's 71 00:04:59,080 --> 00:05:03,359 Speaker 1: no greater success than that. Good sweet Jane went to 72 00:05:03,440 --> 00:05:08,000 Speaker 1: court and watched as Catherine of Aragun was humiliated and 73 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:14,440 Speaker 1: banished and betrayed by her husband. Catherine was a devout 74 00:05:14,480 --> 00:05:19,040 Speaker 1: Catholic too, She prayed every day. She was a princess, 75 00:05:19,520 --> 00:05:22,240 Speaker 1: daughter of a king and a queen, and she had 76 00:05:22,320 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: loved her husband with her whole heart. Catherine never complained, 77 00:05:27,120 --> 00:05:30,400 Speaker 1: never became angry when her husband flirted with other women, 78 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:35,479 Speaker 1: danced with other women, slept with other women. Catherine hadn't 79 00:05:35,480 --> 00:05:38,000 Speaker 1: been able to give Henry a son, though, just the 80 00:05:38,040 --> 00:05:41,400 Speaker 1: little Princess Mary, the girl with red blonde hair like 81 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:44,960 Speaker 1: her father and a dutiful Catholic heart like her mother. 82 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,000 Speaker 1: Princess Mary was only a few years younger than Jane herself, 83 00:05:50,560 --> 00:05:53,600 Speaker 1: and Jane had watched Mary's life play out like some 84 00:05:53,640 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: sort of Greek tragedy. The girl had been the pearl 85 00:05:57,200 --> 00:06:01,520 Speaker 1: of court, beloved and doated on by her father until 86 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,080 Speaker 1: Catherine fell out of favor, until Henry fell in love 87 00:06:05,120 --> 00:06:10,239 Speaker 1: with Anne Boleyn and declared Mary illegitimate. Mary was stripped 88 00:06:10,279 --> 00:06:13,920 Speaker 1: of her title, no longer a princess, just a lady now, 89 00:06:14,440 --> 00:06:19,000 Speaker 1: and banished from court, doomed to teenage years of anguish 90 00:06:19,320 --> 00:06:22,800 Speaker 1: of begging her father for mercy, for a shred of 91 00:06:22,880 --> 00:06:26,839 Speaker 1: love or even acknowledgment, all while being forbidden to see 92 00:06:26,920 --> 00:06:31,800 Speaker 1: her mother ever again. When Anne Boleyn became queen and 93 00:06:31,920 --> 00:06:36,560 Speaker 1: adopted the most happy as her motto, Anne pushed Henry 94 00:06:36,640 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: to continue to ignore Mary and let Catherine suffer the 95 00:06:40,160 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: misery of her own making. Jane didn't mind being Queen 96 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,799 Speaker 1: Anne's new lady, although of course she would never admit 97 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:49,360 Speaker 1: out loud. How she still had sympathy for the former 98 00:06:49,440 --> 00:06:53,880 Speaker 1: Queen and for the once princess Mary, still banished from court, 99 00:06:54,440 --> 00:07:01,599 Speaker 1: even after Catherine of Aragon eventually Diedane dutiful and disciplined, 100 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,080 Speaker 1: and Queen Anne liked her plenty, mostly because Jane seemed 101 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:09,480 Speaker 1: to fade into the wallpaper, that is, until she didn't. 102 00:07:10,240 --> 00:07:14,600 Speaker 1: As King Henry began to prickle against his impetuous, wilful, 103 00:07:14,960 --> 00:07:18,560 Speaker 1: stubborn new wife, and as the son she had promised him, 104 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,600 Speaker 1: continued to elude her, his eye began to wander. In 105 00:07:23,640 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: the fall, Henry and Queen Anne had taken a hunting 106 00:07:26,480 --> 00:07:29,400 Speaker 1: trip and they had stopped at wolf Hall, where Jane 107 00:07:29,440 --> 00:07:33,200 Speaker 1: Seymour's family lived. Of course, Jane wasn't there, she was 108 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,840 Speaker 1: back at court, but Henry had seen the domestic scene, 109 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:41,960 Speaker 1: the subservient wife, the proud father, and the many, many 110 00:07:42,280 --> 00:07:46,840 Speaker 1: healthy living children, and Henry had remembered the shy smile 111 00:07:47,000 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: of that blonde girl at court who came from such 112 00:07:50,360 --> 00:07:54,720 Speaker 1: a fertile line. Anne had had another miscarriage earlier in 113 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,600 Speaker 1: the summer. She and Henry were polite but distant for 114 00:07:58,720 --> 00:08:03,480 Speaker 1: most of their ride the next day. By winter, Henry's 115 00:08:03,480 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: infatuation with the girl everyone else had seemed to ignore 116 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:12,800 Speaker 1: became the buzz of court. He gave Jane gifts, flirted 117 00:08:12,840 --> 00:08:16,280 Speaker 1: with her in public, and of course, Anne Boleyn's enemies 118 00:08:16,520 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: made sure to put Jane front and center in Henry's 119 00:08:19,520 --> 00:08:23,440 Speaker 1: eye line whenever they could. One queen had already been 120 00:08:23,480 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: dislodged because the king had fallen in love with one 121 00:08:26,160 --> 00:08:29,360 Speaker 1: of her ladies in waiting, the same thing could happen 122 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:33,720 Speaker 1: to the next queen. Jane was everything Henry realized he 123 00:08:33,800 --> 00:08:39,840 Speaker 1: wanted a wife to be docile, sweet, humble, virtuous. There 124 00:08:39,920 --> 00:08:42,040 Speaker 1: was no chance that once he got her to bed, 125 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:45,160 Speaker 1: she would be more experienced than he was, that she 126 00:08:45,200 --> 00:08:48,760 Speaker 1: would be a seductress who exposed his own inadequacies by 127 00:08:48,800 --> 00:08:53,760 Speaker 1: contrast the way his current Queen Anne did. Henry wanted 128 00:08:53,800 --> 00:08:57,240 Speaker 1: to feel like a man again. His wife, who insisted 129 00:08:57,280 --> 00:09:02,400 Speaker 1: on arguing with him, having conversation, debating politics and winning 130 00:09:02,480 --> 00:09:05,720 Speaker 1: those debates while she did not make him feel like 131 00:09:05,760 --> 00:09:09,760 Speaker 1: a man. Anne had gotten her reward. She was queen 132 00:09:09,880 --> 00:09:14,240 Speaker 1: for God's sake? Where was his reward? Henry thought? Where 133 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:19,880 Speaker 1: was his son? In the spring, Henry propositioned Jane and 134 00:09:20,000 --> 00:09:24,360 Speaker 1: asked her to be his mistress. She responded, I have 135 00:09:24,520 --> 00:09:27,640 Speaker 1: no greater treasure in all the world than my honor, 136 00:09:28,280 --> 00:09:31,320 Speaker 1: and I would rather die a thousand times than tarnish it. 137 00:09:32,240 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: Jane dutifully returned the letters and expensive gifts that Henry 138 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:39,760 Speaker 1: had sent her. There was no game, no malice, no 139 00:09:39,880 --> 00:09:44,520 Speaker 1: intrigue in her behavior. She asked nothing of him, and 140 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:49,160 Speaker 1: so Henry wanted her all the more desperately. Jane was 141 00:09:49,160 --> 00:09:53,760 Speaker 1: Anne's opposite in temperament and personality and looks, but ironically 142 00:09:53,800 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: she used the same tact distance to make Henry fall 143 00:09:57,520 --> 00:10:01,440 Speaker 1: in love with her. Here was the Henry should have married. 144 00:10:01,480 --> 00:10:05,000 Speaker 1: He thought Anne was a witch. She had bewitched him. 145 00:10:05,280 --> 00:10:08,719 Speaker 1: She was sinful and evil, and she had led him astray. 146 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: The day after Anne Boleyn was beheaded, King Henry announced 147 00:10:13,760 --> 00:10:17,200 Speaker 1: his engagement to her twenty eight year old former lady, 148 00:10:17,640 --> 00:10:22,880 Speaker 1: Jane Seymour. Ten days after that, on May thirtieth, fifteen 149 00:10:22,920 --> 00:10:31,480 Speaker 1: thirty six, the two were wed. Catherine of Aragon had 150 00:10:31,520 --> 00:10:34,760 Speaker 1: been raised as a princess, born and bred to be 151 00:10:34,880 --> 00:10:38,760 Speaker 1: married to a king. Anne Boleyn had been cunning and 152 00:10:38,800 --> 00:10:41,640 Speaker 1: spent her entire life at court. She knew how to 153 00:10:41,679 --> 00:10:45,480 Speaker 1: play the game better than anyone. Jane Seymour was a 154 00:10:45,520 --> 00:10:49,280 Speaker 1: twenty eight year old virgin, completely new to the attention 155 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,960 Speaker 1: and the spectacle of which she was now at the center. 156 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,920 Speaker 1: She informally banned the French fashions that Anne Boleyn had 157 00:10:57,920 --> 00:11:02,800 Speaker 1: popularized at court. As her motto, she adopted the phrase 158 00:11:03,280 --> 00:11:07,520 Speaker 1: bound to obey and serve, And as for her symbol, 159 00:11:07,760 --> 00:11:11,280 Speaker 1: it would be a phoenix. The Tudor dynasty would be 160 00:11:11,360 --> 00:11:17,760 Speaker 1: born anew after the disaster of Anne Boleyn, Henry was besotted. 161 00:11:18,360 --> 00:11:21,440 Speaker 1: Jane was everything he wanted in a wife. He even 162 00:11:21,480 --> 00:11:25,480 Speaker 1: took up embroidery poorly, just to spend time next to her, 163 00:11:25,920 --> 00:11:29,240 Speaker 1: to watch her deft fingers maneuver their way between string 164 00:11:29,320 --> 00:11:34,160 Speaker 1: and cotton, building something intricate and beautiful onto a fabric 165 00:11:34,200 --> 00:11:38,520 Speaker 1: that would find its place somewhere in their home. Their home. 166 00:11:39,280 --> 00:11:42,680 Speaker 1: Henry had a wife, and soon he would have a son. 167 00:11:43,480 --> 00:11:48,240 Speaker 1: He had to the summer after Jane and Henry got married, 168 00:11:48,679 --> 00:11:53,240 Speaker 1: Henry received terrible news. Back when he had been married 169 00:11:53,280 --> 00:11:56,080 Speaker 1: to Catherine, he had had a son out of wedlock 170 00:11:56,120 --> 00:12:00,840 Speaker 1: with a mistress, a bastard named Henry Fitzroy, now a teenager. 171 00:12:01,480 --> 00:12:05,720 Speaker 1: In July of fifteen thirty six, Henry Fitzroy, the Duke 172 00:12:05,800 --> 00:12:10,559 Speaker 1: of Richmond and Somerset, had died only seventeen years old. 173 00:12:11,480 --> 00:12:14,640 Speaker 1: They say it was consumption, something that had taken hold 174 00:12:14,679 --> 00:12:18,280 Speaker 1: of his lungs. Yes, he had been illegitimate, but he 175 00:12:18,360 --> 00:12:21,800 Speaker 1: was still Henry's son, and before his death Henry had 176 00:12:21,840 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: even been contemplating legitimizing him. Henry Fitzroy could have been 177 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:29,280 Speaker 1: his heir. Now that he was dead in the ground, 178 00:12:29,880 --> 00:12:37,480 Speaker 1: it was all up to Jane Seymour. Though a magnificent 179 00:12:37,640 --> 00:12:41,040 Speaker 1: coronation for Jane to introduce her to the people as 180 00:12:41,080 --> 00:12:45,559 Speaker 1: their official queen had been scheduled in October, uprisings all 181 00:12:45,600 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: over England put those plans aside for the time being. 182 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: The people were still protesting Henry's break from the Catholic Church, 183 00:12:54,120 --> 00:12:58,000 Speaker 1: his dissolution of the monasteries and seizing their property to 184 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:01,920 Speaker 1: add to his own wealth. The largest protest, called the 185 00:13:01,960 --> 00:13:07,040 Speaker 1: Pilgrimage of Grace, took months to quell entirely. Jane, who 186 00:13:07,040 --> 00:13:10,560 Speaker 1: had been raised a devout Catholic, of course, quietly asked 187 00:13:10,600 --> 00:13:13,679 Speaker 1: Henry if he might show mercy to the men involved, 188 00:13:14,520 --> 00:13:17,200 Speaker 1: after all, they had only been attempting to be true 189 00:13:17,240 --> 00:13:21,240 Speaker 1: to their faith. Henry spun his head around and snapped 190 00:13:21,240 --> 00:13:23,520 Speaker 1: at his young wife, to whom he had been married 191 00:13:23,559 --> 00:13:27,319 Speaker 1: for months, and yet who still wasn't pregnant. You should 192 00:13:27,360 --> 00:13:30,160 Speaker 1: hold your tongue when it comes to matters of the king, 193 00:13:30,600 --> 00:13:35,120 Speaker 1: he spat. After all, you remember well the fate of 194 00:13:35,160 --> 00:13:41,760 Speaker 1: your predecessors. Jane was left alone shaking. She never contradicted 195 00:13:41,880 --> 00:13:45,480 Speaker 1: or challenged Henry again. She learned quickly the way to 196 00:13:45,559 --> 00:13:49,880 Speaker 1: persuade him of anything, to achieve any change, merely mention it. 197 00:13:50,200 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: Allude to it once casually. It seems such a shame. 198 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:57,040 Speaker 1: Your daughter Mary isn't here to enjoy the feast, Jane 199 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:01,520 Speaker 1: might say sweetly. Henry might murmur response, or he might not. 200 00:14:02,520 --> 00:14:06,480 Speaker 1: Did your daughter Mary enjoy riding? She'd ask? How is 201 00:14:06,520 --> 00:14:10,480 Speaker 1: Mary's embroidery? I heard her embroidery was beautiful and delicate, 202 00:14:10,840 --> 00:14:15,360 Speaker 1: she might say. And so then when weeks later Henry 203 00:14:15,400 --> 00:14:18,959 Speaker 1: had the magnificent idea to finally allow Mary his daughter 204 00:14:19,120 --> 00:14:22,680 Speaker 1: back to court. Jane just had to smile and clap 205 00:14:22,720 --> 00:14:26,880 Speaker 1: her hands and praise his wisdom. Mary, now twenty one, 206 00:14:27,440 --> 00:14:31,320 Speaker 1: with a world weary darkness in her eyes, bowed deeply 207 00:14:31,440 --> 00:14:34,680 Speaker 1: to her father and his new wife. Jane would become 208 00:14:34,760 --> 00:14:37,520 Speaker 1: something of a big sister to her, a figure of 209 00:14:37,640 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: kindness who shepherded her back into the fold. Jane's coronation 210 00:14:43,400 --> 00:14:46,760 Speaker 1: was delayed again for good enough reasons. There was a 211 00:14:46,760 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: plague in London, they said, there were still after shocks 212 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:53,440 Speaker 1: of rebellions about the monasteries around the country. But in 213 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:56,200 Speaker 1: the back of Jane's mind, she couldn't help but think 214 00:14:56,240 --> 00:14:59,320 Speaker 1: that the true reason, the true reason she wasn't being 215 00:14:59,360 --> 00:15:01,840 Speaker 1: celebrated out in the streets with the crown on her 216 00:15:01,880 --> 00:15:05,120 Speaker 1: head and a king by her side, was because she 217 00:15:05,200 --> 00:15:09,680 Speaker 1: hadn't done her duty yet, she wasn't pregnant. Why waste 218 00:15:09,720 --> 00:15:13,400 Speaker 1: a parade on a woman who was still as disposable 219 00:15:13,560 --> 00:15:22,120 Speaker 1: as all the rest. Finally it came her miracle, her savior. 220 00:15:23,320 --> 00:15:28,200 Speaker 1: In February of fifteen thirty seven, Jane's period stopped. Her 221 00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:33,280 Speaker 1: appetite changed. She had done it all, the soothsayers said, 222 00:15:33,360 --> 00:15:36,560 Speaker 1: it would be a boy. Henry would stroke her belly, 223 00:15:36,880 --> 00:15:42,520 Speaker 1: putting his face against her skin and cooing into her flesh. Edward, Edward, 224 00:15:42,720 --> 00:15:47,160 Speaker 1: he whispered. When Jane first felt the baby kick. In May, 225 00:15:47,400 --> 00:15:51,280 Speaker 1: there was a massive celebration, with Jane wearing a gown 226 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:55,120 Speaker 1: open at the belly and lined with lace beneath the 227 00:15:55,200 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: quickening they believed was the infant's soul entering its body. 228 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:02,760 Speaker 1: Where was the prince who would secure the Tudor dynasty. 229 00:16:03,320 --> 00:16:07,200 Speaker 1: He was on his way throughout the country. There were 230 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:12,240 Speaker 1: bonfires and parties where wine flowed and singing filled the air. 231 00:16:13,200 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: With Jane's belly expanding, she mentioned that she had a 232 00:16:16,560 --> 00:16:21,880 Speaker 1: craving for quail. Bring my wife Quail, Henry bellowed, though 233 00:16:21,960 --> 00:16:24,920 Speaker 1: quail was out of season in England. He ordered that 234 00:16:25,000 --> 00:16:28,640 Speaker 1: it be brought specially from Calais, with orders to expand 235 00:16:28,760 --> 00:16:31,520 Speaker 1: the search and go even further afield. If enough quail 236 00:16:31,520 --> 00:16:35,640 Speaker 1: couldn't be found, Jane would have everything she wanted while 237 00:16:35,680 --> 00:16:38,440 Speaker 1: she was carrying all of Henry's hopes in her belly. 238 00:16:39,560 --> 00:16:42,680 Speaker 1: In September, she was put on bed rest, confined to 239 00:16:42,720 --> 00:16:45,720 Speaker 1: her chamber and not permitted to leave, to prevent any 240 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:50,240 Speaker 1: trouble with the pregnancy. Henry could not lose another son, 241 00:16:51,000 --> 00:16:56,680 Speaker 1: and this was going to be a son. Everyone knew it. Finally, 242 00:16:57,200 --> 00:17:00,880 Speaker 1: it had been long enough, enough waiting and enough maneuvering, 243 00:17:01,280 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 1: enough plotting and marrying and beheading. Henry finally had a wife, 244 00:17:06,400 --> 00:17:10,600 Speaker 1: and Henry was about to have a legitimate son. A 245 00:17:10,640 --> 00:17:18,680 Speaker 1: month later, the labor began. Henry took as many precautions 246 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,040 Speaker 1: as physically possible to ensure the survival of his child. 247 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:25,360 Speaker 1: Most berths at the time would be attended to by 248 00:17:25,400 --> 00:17:29,200 Speaker 1: a midwife. Henry insisted instead on a team of all 249 00:17:29,280 --> 00:17:33,880 Speaker 1: male doctors. When the labor began, it quickly became apparent 250 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:37,440 Speaker 1: that the infant was in a breach position. For two 251 00:17:37,640 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: days and three nights, Jane did her best to follow 252 00:17:41,680 --> 00:17:45,359 Speaker 1: her doctor's instructions to shut out the pain and to 253 00:17:45,400 --> 00:17:48,640 Speaker 1: think of nothing but how happy Henry would be when 254 00:17:48,640 --> 00:17:53,479 Speaker 1: he finally met his son. And then, finally, with a 255 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,320 Speaker 1: final scream of pain and a whimper, it was over. 256 00:17:58,320 --> 00:18:02,920 Speaker 1: She had done it the day before Saint Edward's Day. 257 00:18:03,400 --> 00:18:09,199 Speaker 1: On October twelfth, Prince Edward was born, a healthy, living, 258 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:16,160 Speaker 1: legitimate male child. Jane wept with relief, a few days 259 00:18:16,200 --> 00:18:19,320 Speaker 1: after the birth, the baby was made Duke of Cornwall 260 00:18:19,400 --> 00:18:23,160 Speaker 1: and Earl of Chester. Jane's brother got promoted to Earle, 261 00:18:24,040 --> 00:18:26,639 Speaker 1: and Jane was well enough to dress and sit in 262 00:18:26,720 --> 00:18:31,000 Speaker 1: the receiving room for Edward's christening, greeting the well wishers 263 00:18:31,040 --> 00:18:34,560 Speaker 1: who congratulated her on achieving what the two women before 264 00:18:34,600 --> 00:18:39,439 Speaker 1: her had been unable to do. Mary, the boy's half sister, 265 00:18:40,040 --> 00:18:45,520 Speaker 1: was the godmother. But a week later, Jane felt woozy 266 00:18:45,800 --> 00:18:50,560 Speaker 1: and light headed. Within the hour, her fever spiked. She 267 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,439 Speaker 1: was delirious and sweating. By the time she awoke early 268 00:18:55,520 --> 00:18:58,600 Speaker 1: the next morning. It was obvious that a priest would 269 00:18:58,680 --> 00:19:02,960 Speaker 1: need to be summoned. Jane Seymour died at noon that 270 00:19:03,160 --> 00:19:07,800 Speaker 1: day in a rush of fever and blood, just after 271 00:19:07,880 --> 00:19:12,119 Speaker 1: she had given Henry everything he wanted, after she had 272 00:19:12,160 --> 00:19:20,360 Speaker 1: just ensured that her position as queen was secure. It's 273 00:19:20,400 --> 00:19:24,760 Speaker 1: difficult to know exactly why Jane died twelve days after childbirth, 274 00:19:25,400 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: whether it was child bed fever, a pulmonary embolism, hemorrhaging. 275 00:19:30,560 --> 00:19:34,520 Speaker 1: It also seemed possible, even likely, that Jane hadn't fully 276 00:19:34,560 --> 00:19:38,480 Speaker 1: expelled the placenta after giving birth, left in her body. 277 00:19:38,840 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 1: The placenta became infected. Ironically, male doctors at the time 278 00:19:44,040 --> 00:19:48,680 Speaker 1: had far less experience when it came to childbirth than midwives. 279 00:19:49,160 --> 00:19:51,960 Speaker 1: If Jane had been attended to by a midwife who 280 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: had been through hundreds of births, the midwife would have 281 00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,480 Speaker 1: known exactly what to do and could have solved the problem. 282 00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:03,600 Speaker 1: After Jane's death, King Henry was so depressed that he 283 00:20:03,600 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: could barely speak. He left the funeral arrangements to two 284 00:20:07,760 --> 00:20:11,240 Speaker 1: of his advisers and went off to mourn in isolation. 285 00:20:12,520 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: Jane Seymour's body was brought to a wax chandler, who 286 00:20:16,080 --> 00:20:20,159 Speaker 1: removed her entrails and embalmed her body with spices before 287 00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: she was passed off to a lead plumber, who soldered 288 00:20:23,320 --> 00:20:27,440 Speaker 1: her into place. She lay in state, then at Hampton Court, 289 00:20:27,960 --> 00:20:32,320 Speaker 1: surrounded by candles, with a nightly watch to prevent any 290 00:20:32,359 --> 00:20:36,679 Speaker 1: more harm from coming to her. Jane is the only 291 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,160 Speaker 1: one of Henry's six wives who received an official queen's funeral. 292 00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:44,640 Speaker 1: The route for her casket to get to Windsor, where 293 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:48,120 Speaker 1: she would be buried, was hung with black cloth out 294 00:20:48,160 --> 00:20:53,440 Speaker 1: nearly every window. Her wax effigy atop the casket rested 295 00:20:53,520 --> 00:20:58,160 Speaker 1: on a golden pillow. It wore golden shoes and rings 296 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:04,399 Speaker 1: on its finger, and it was dressed in beautifully embroidered stockings. 297 00:21:05,320 --> 00:21:10,120 Speaker 1: The carriage was trailed by twenty nine wailing mourners, one 298 00:21:10,200 --> 00:21:14,840 Speaker 1: for each year of Jane's life. Young Mary was Jane's 299 00:21:14,920 --> 00:21:23,800 Speaker 1: chief mourner. Stories would come out later, ballads martyring Jane 300 00:21:24,119 --> 00:21:26,800 Speaker 1: saying that she had chosen to get a cesarean section, 301 00:21:27,520 --> 00:21:29,600 Speaker 1: or that she was given the option to either save 302 00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:32,840 Speaker 1: her own life or save the life of her child, 303 00:21:33,040 --> 00:21:36,720 Speaker 1: and she had chosen the latter. It's pleasant to imagine 304 00:21:36,800 --> 00:21:39,879 Speaker 1: her heroic, to give agency to the woman who was 305 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:43,680 Speaker 1: most often characterized in history books as just the opposite 306 00:21:43,680 --> 00:21:47,280 Speaker 1: of Anne. A pendulum swing from raven haired and whitty 307 00:21:47,359 --> 00:21:51,520 Speaker 1: to blonde and docile. A phoenix dies to bring new 308 00:21:51,560 --> 00:21:56,119 Speaker 1: life that was Jane Seal the phoenix death turns to 309 00:21:56,240 --> 00:22:00,520 Speaker 1: new life. Henry finally got his son, but he would 310 00:22:00,520 --> 00:22:03,879 Speaker 1: spend the rest of his life mourning and yearning for 311 00:22:03,960 --> 00:22:07,040 Speaker 1: the wife he lost too soon, because now that she 312 00:22:07,200 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: was gone, in her memory, she would always be perfect. 313 00:22:12,520 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: Eight years after losing Jane, Henry the Eighth commissioned a 314 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 1: family portrait. By this time he had already gone through 315 00:22:20,640 --> 00:22:23,960 Speaker 1: two more wives and had finally landed on his sixth 316 00:22:24,040 --> 00:22:28,240 Speaker 1: and final wife, Katherine Parr. In the family portrait, Henry 317 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:31,760 Speaker 1: sits the center, with his son Edward directly to his right. 318 00:22:32,640 --> 00:22:36,119 Speaker 1: On either far side of the frame stand Princess Mary 319 00:22:36,240 --> 00:22:41,359 Speaker 1: and Princess Elizabeth, daughters respectively of Katherine of Ragun and 320 00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:46,720 Speaker 1: Anne Boleyn. And to King Henry's left standing is his queen, 321 00:22:47,760 --> 00:22:50,360 Speaker 1: not the woman he was married to at the time. No. 322 00:22:51,520 --> 00:22:55,840 Speaker 1: Nearly a decade after her death, Henry insisted that the 323 00:22:55,840 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: family portrait be painted to feature his queen as Jane Seymour. 324 00:23:08,760 --> 00:23:12,399 Speaker 1: That's the short life of Jane Seymour, but stick around 325 00:23:12,440 --> 00:23:15,200 Speaker 1: after a brief sponsor break to hear a bit more 326 00:23:15,320 --> 00:23:29,720 Speaker 1: about Little Baby Edward. Little Baby Edward was given his 327 00:23:29,760 --> 00:23:33,960 Speaker 1: own household at Hampton Court, where King Henry forbid both 328 00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:38,720 Speaker 1: dogs and serving boys too clumsy. No one was allowed 329 00:23:38,720 --> 00:23:41,880 Speaker 1: to leave for London in the summer when illnesses ran rampant, 330 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:45,520 Speaker 1: No food or dirty utensils could be left within sight 331 00:23:45,600 --> 00:23:49,600 Speaker 1: of the infant. The floors, walls, and ceilings of his 332 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:54,639 Speaker 1: chamber were scrubbed down daily. Guests would need written permission 333 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:58,760 Speaker 1: to be allowed to approach Edward's cradle. A brand new 334 00:23:58,880 --> 00:24:02,840 Speaker 1: kitchen and washout were built at Hampton Court just for 335 00:24:03,040 --> 00:24:07,040 Speaker 1: Edward to prevent any possible contamination by the rest of court. 336 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,000 Speaker 1: Before a single article of clothing was put on the 337 00:24:11,040 --> 00:24:16,440 Speaker 1: young prince, it needed to be washed, brushed, tested for poison, perfumed, 338 00:24:16,800 --> 00:24:21,439 Speaker 1: and then dried fully by the fire. Henry's protections worked 339 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:26,120 Speaker 1: sort of. Edward survived in infancy. He lived long enough 340 00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:30,399 Speaker 1: to become king after Henry's eventual death when he Edward 341 00:24:30,520 --> 00:24:34,440 Speaker 1: was just nine years old. He lasted until he was fifteen. 342 00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:39,520 Speaker 1: King Henry's daughters, then, who he thought of as his failures, 343 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,240 Speaker 1: took the throne, next Mary, who tried to restore Catholicism 344 00:24:44,280 --> 00:24:50,360 Speaker 1: to England, and then finally the last Tudor ruler, Elizabeth 345 00:24:50,359 --> 00:24:54,440 Speaker 1: the First. She was the daughter of Anne Boleyn and Henry, 346 00:24:54,600 --> 00:24:57,640 Speaker 1: who had tried so hard to produce a male heir, 347 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:00,600 Speaker 1: who would have thought that it would be a all 348 00:25:00,640 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: along who would usher in a golden period of art 349 00:25:04,200 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: and stability for England. Noble Blood is a production of 350 00:25:13,280 --> 00:25:17,480 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio and Grim and Mild from Aaron Mankey. Noble 351 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,439 Speaker 1: Blood is hosted by me Dana Schwartz, with additional writing 352 00:25:21,520 --> 00:25:25,800 Speaker 1: and research by Hannah Johnston, hannah's Wick, Courtney Sender, Amy 353 00:25:25,880 --> 00:25:30,000 Speaker 1: Hit and Julia Milaney. The show is edited and produced 354 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:35,239 Speaker 1: by Jesse Funk, with supervising producer Rima il KLi and 355 00:25:35,359 --> 00:25:39,840 Speaker 1: executive producers Aaron Manke, Trevor Young, and Matt Frederick. For 356 00:25:39,960 --> 00:25:45,360 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 357 00:25:45,600 --> 00:25:49,480 Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.