Eustace Chapuys

The Other Lady: Jane Seymour

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Written by Rebecca Larson While this should not be considered an in-depth research of the time period (as that would take the time to write another book), this should be seen as a way to follow Jane Seymour’s rise as the other lady in Henry VIII’s life, just before the execution of Anne Boleyn. In this article I follow the trail of gossip through Imperial ambassador, Eustace Chapuys as well as a letter from Henry to Jane, up to December 1536, when it is suspected that Jane [More]

Notes on Anne Boleyn’s Trial (Guest Post)

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Notes on Anne Boleyn's Trial Guest post by Pat Deegan Anne Boleyn's fall took part in the first half of 1536. About two hundred years earlier, in 1314, the French King had imprisoned, in severe conditions, two wives of his sons. These women had definitely committed adultery and their lovers were cruelly killed but the women were not. In England, as far as I could find, Queen Isabella, wife of Edward II in the 14th century, had openly taken a lover (Mortimer) and was [More]

Anne Boleyn’s Last Pregnancy: The Beginning of the End?

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When Anne Boleyn miscarried what her midwife called a boy it was also reported by the midwife that the child was malformed*. In Tudor England, at the time, a malformed* baby meant that the mother had gravely sinned, whether it be witchcraft, adultery or incest. Are these the events that began the downfall of Anne Boleyn? Henry was an extremely religious man and this miscarriage caused him to question everything. What had he done wrong to not be given a healthy, [More]

The Last Days of Katherine of Aragon (Guest Post)

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Guest Post by Sarah Clement In 1531 Henry VIII formally separated from his wife of over twenty years, Katherine of Aragon. For some time, he had been bringing pressure upon her to accept a divorce or take holy orders so that he may marry someone else. In this case, Anne Boleyn. Katherine’s refusal to do so and her insistence that they were man and wife even after their marriage had been annulled and Henry had married Anne Boleyn would cause her no end of problems. The [More]

The Life of Jane Seymour – Third Wife of Henry VIII

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Described by Polydore Vergil as "A woman of the utmost charm both in appearance and character" and Sir John Russell as, "the fairest of all his wives". Eustace Chapuys described Jane as "of middle stature and no great beauty". Jane was of a natural sweet-nature, unlike her predecessor Anne Boleyn and had also been considered virtuous. Before you continue reading, if you’d prefer, you can listen to a supplemental podcast I made about Jane with the help of Matthew [More]

Who was responsible for the downfall of Anne Boleyn? (Guest Post)

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Today we take a look at one fan of the Tudor dynasty's take on the downfall of Anne Boleyn. The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily of the owner of this site. There were no sources included. We post these articles to draw discussion on topics such as the downfall of Anne Boleyn. -- Some believe that Henry VIII was solely responsible for the death of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. Was he really, and did he really want her dead? Long before [More]