Henry VIII is most famously known for the fact he had 6 wives, two of which were executed
within the walls of the Tower of London.
As well as having the pick of women at the royal court, Henry VIII also had a number
of mistresses.
Women who were at court were encouraged to catch the eye of the King, even if they were
married.
Their husbands would sometimes even encourage this sort of behaviour, as they would be rewarded
heavily with land and wealth if their wives slept with the King.
One of the King’s most prominent mistresses, was Jane Boleyn who was the sister of his
future Second wife Anne Boleyn.
It’s rumoured that Jane could have bore the King two illegitimate children who resembled
Henry VIII with their appearance and their ginger hair.
But there were many more women who slept with the King and became his mistress.
But one woman who did this but isn’t the most well known is his French mistress, Jane
Popincourt.
But what is her story?
Jane Popincourt was a French maid of honour at the royal court of King Louis XII and then
Francis I. She was considered a skilled woman and a woman who was knowledgeable in European
courtly games and love.
But for around 12 years she came to the English court and she remained a prominent person
there during the reign of King Henry VII.
She would teach Henry VII’s children Margaret and Mary how to speak French which was considered
very important.
Henry VII wanted his children to marry powerful European princes and princesses, to ensure
that he could build alliances with different countries.
For them to learn different languages was seen as imperative, and who better to teach
them than Jane Popincourt, a woman who had been at the French royal court.
But following Henry VII’s death and the accession of Henry VIII in 1509, Jane was
appointed to become a maid of honour to his wife Catherine of Aragon.
It was within her ladies in waiting that Henry VIII would hunt for women to sleep with, and
he would find a number of his mistresses in his wives’ ladies in waiting.
It’s believed that in 1514, 5 years after becoming King that Jane had become a royal
mistress, despite the fact she was probably older and also had been a teacher to the King’s
sisters.
During the Battle of the Spurs in 1513, Henry VIII’s soldiers captured a significant number
of French nobles including Louis D’Orleans, the Duke of Longueville.
Henry would bring a number of these back home to England.
It’s not know whether the Duke had met Jane Popincourt at the French court, but as her
countryman was introduced as he came to the English court, the pair struck up a romantic
relationship.
Louis was technically a hostage ready to be ransomed, but he was used as an ambassador
to arrange the marriage of Mary Tudor and Louis XII and despite being incarcerated by
the King of England, he was treated with much respect and grandeur.
However the affair Jane had with Louis damaged her reputation, and she was around her late
20s and and was expected to have been married and have a husband.
But this was not the case, and the Duke was then sent back to France in 1514.
It’s after this that its believed that Jane had an affair with Henry VIII, and it’s
presumed he may have heard about the stories that she had slept with the Duke, and presumably
Henry VIII was enticed by this.
Jane would have slept with the King a number of times, and no doubt the Queen Catherine
of Aragon would have known about the fact one of her maids had become the King’s mistress.
But their liaisons were believed to have not lasted too long, but it’s believed that
around this time Jane wanted to return home to France.
Other accounts claim that she was not welcome any longer at the English court, and this
could have been the King casting her aside as he got bored with sleeping with her.
After the King ended his liaisons with her, this would leave her without a place at court
as Catherine of Aragon the Queen would not want the King’s old mistress in her company.
She was listed as an attendant to Henry VIII’s sister, Princess Mary who was about to become
the Queen of France after her marriage.
But when Louis XII saw her name, he allegedly said that she should have been burned at the
stake, and that the French King would not allow Jane Popincourt to attend on his wife
or the Queen of France.
He believed she was immoral, and Jane stayed in England until 1516 until she returned home
to France.
However when she got back to France it’s believed that she reignited the affair she
had with the French Duke, and that Henry VIII gave her £100 as a leaving present.
But there is much that remains a mystery about Jane Popincourt.
She was a woman who was outcasted from the English court after she slept with the King,
but she was also a woman who was not welcome at the French court.
It’s not known what happened to her following her departure, or when she died but she remains
today a mysterious and lost mistress of Henry VIII.
She was a skilled teacher who was considered reliable by Henry VII, and was trustworthy
enough to teach two princess’ French, one of whom would later become the French Queen.
But today she is remembered for her brief affair with Henry VIII, who would later go
on to have many more mistresses, and a love life which was deadly, tragic and shocking.
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