Inside the Tower of London during the Tudor Period, two Queens of England lost their heads
on the executioner’s scaffold. Anne Boleyn lost her head by sword, and Catherine Howard
lost her head by the commoner’s axe. But shortly after the death of Catherine Howard,
another woman who was linked to royalty was dragged to the beheading block in the Tower,
and she knelt in the blood of the former fifth wife of Henry VIII, and Queen. Jane Boleyn
was the wife of Anne Boleyn’s brother, and she was also a lady in waiting to many of
the King’s wives, but she had been implicated in a shocking scandal that saw the King’s
young wife allegedly sleep with another man, the King’s closest friend and advisor. Join
us today as we look at the execution of Jane Boleyn, and as always to support our channel,
please make sure to subscribe.
Jane Boleyn was born Jane Parker, and was the daughter of Henry Parker the 10th Baron
Morley. Through her great grandmother, Jane was a distant relative of King Henry VIII,
and the King was her half second cousin. She was born around 1505 in Norfolk and her family
were wealthy and were powerful members of the English upper class. But her father was
a man who wanted Jane to become involved in the royal courts, and at 14 she joined the
household of King Henry VIII’s first wife Catherine of Aragon. She was part of the royal
party that attended the Field of the Cloth of Gold summit with the French King. Jane
was considered an attractive woman, and she took part in different court masquerades and
entertainment. But around 1525 she was married to George Boleyn the brother of Anne Boleyn,
who later became the second Queen of Henry VIII. Anne at this time was not romantically
linked to the King, but she was a powerful woman at court. When the couple married, the
King gave Jane and George a mansion, Grimston Manor in Norfolk and Jane was then made the
Viscountess Rochford following George becoming known as Viscount Rochford.
As the Boleyn family grew in wealth and power following Anne’s courting of Henry VIII,
Jane and George benefitted greatly and they were given more palaces, and also were able
to furnish these out with huge renovations and luxurious items. They spent huge sums
of money on this, however the marriage has been portrayed as being unhappy. One historian
claimed that George was not interesting in Jane, and that according to George Cavendish
he lived a wild lifestyle. Cavendish said, ‘he ran wild, deflowering women, and forced
windows,’ and it’s believed he had many extra marital affairs behind his wife’s
back. But when Anne Boleyn became Queen, Jane was now a royal sister in law, and she would
also become the aunt of Princess Elizabeth, the future Elizabeth I. But it’s believed
that Anne Boleyn and Jane Boleyn did not get on, and that Jane may have been very jealous
of the Queen of England. She would unite with the Queen to banish one of the King’s mistresses,
but when Henry VIII found out he was furious, and he banished Jane Boleyn from court for
a number of months.
However after being married for 11 years, George Boleyn, Jane’s husband would spectacularly
fall from grace. Henry VIII wanted rid of his second Queen, however Cromwell implicated
George in the affair. Jane’s husband was accused of treason, incest and adultery, sleeping
and plotting with his sister to bring the death of Henry VIII. Elizabeth Somerset, the
Countess of Worcester is believed to have given evidence against Anne and her brother,
but there was no truth to this. But regardless George would be sentenced to death and would
be executed. There were rumours that Jane Boleyn even testified against her own husband
to seek revenge upon him. She was a bitter woman, and there have been suggestions that
this was truth, but its not categorically confirmed whether she did this or not. Jane’s
perception in History is that she was a wicked woman who turned against her husband, but
recently her reputation has gone through some kind of transformation. It was written, ‘Jane
Rochford found herself dragged into a maelstrom of intrigue, innuendo and speculation. For
when Cromwell sent for Jane, he already had much of what he needed, not only to bring
down Anne and her circle, but to make possible the King's marriage to Jane Seymour ...
Faced with such relentless, incessant questions, which she had no choice but to answer, Jane
would have searched her memory for every tiny incident that occurred to her ... Jane had
not been quick to tell tales, but she had buckled under the pressure of relentless questioning ...
And it was her weakness under interrogation that gave her future detractors—happy to
find a scapegoat to exonerate the King from the heinous charge of callously killing his
innocent wife—the ammunition to maintain that it was her evidence that had fooled Henry
and destroyed Anne and George.’
George Boleyn was executed on Tower Hill on the 17th May 1536 in front of a large crowd.
He spoke to the crowd and talked about his beliefs, but there were four other men who
were executed alongside him. Anne Boleyn was executed two days later inside the Tower of
London. It’s not known whether Jane witnessed the executions of her husband or sister in
law, but following the execution the Boleyn’s fell heavily from grace. The lands owned by
them were given up, and Jane Boleyn was absent from court for a number of months. She tried
to secure her finances, and negotiated with Sir Thomas Boleyn and also with Thomas Cromwell.
She was given a decent pension, and she later became a lady in waiting to Jane Seymour the
King’s third wife. She was allowed a number of servants and a room inside of the royal
palaces, and she also had a number of expensive meals each day. But after Jane Seymour’s
death, Jane Boleyn was a lady who helped the King out testifying that the King’s fourth
wife Anne of Cleves and the King did not consummate their marriage. With this the King then married
Catherine Howard, his teenage mistress.
Because of her help to he King, she became a senior lady in waiting to the new Queen
Catherine Howard, Henry VIII’s fifth wife. But Catherine it’s believed had been with
men before, and at the time this was considered unacceptable for a woman who married the King.
But Catherine had gone further. She was allegedly having liaisons with Thomas Culpepper, the
King’s close friend and favourite courtier whilst the court was on progress. In different
castles, the pair would meet up and these liaisons were facilitated by Jane Boleyn.
Jane was the one who organised the meetings, and Catherine would later be arrested when
the information about this came to light, but Jane Boleyn was also arrested too.
Inside of the Tower of London, Jane Boleyn was imprisoned and she was also interrogated
heavily by the King’s officials. She had a complete nervous breakdown in the Tower
and at the start of 1542 she was declared insane. She would have ‘fits of frenzy,’
but because of this it meant that the king could not legally allow Jane to be placed
on trial for her involvement in facilitating the Queen’s adultery. But to allow this
to happen, he even changed the laws of the country to allow high treason charges to be
used against even the insane. But Jane was then sentenced to death through an act of
attainder, and her execution date was scheduled for the 13th February 1542.
Inside of the Tower, the place of her imprisonment, first Catherine Howard the King’s fifth
wife was executed by an axeman. The blood of the Queen was littered all on the scaffold
which had been covered in hay, and shortly after this Jane Boleyn was brought out to
her death. Despite being declared insane, Jane was said to have been calm and dignified
when she approached the executioner, and one witness said, ‘their souls must be with
God, for they made the most godly and Christian end.’ The French ambassador said that Jane
made a long speech and she apologised for many sins. The executioner then asked for
Jane’s forgiveness and she knelt on the scaffold and rested her head on the block,
before in own swift blow of the axe she was beheaded. She was then buried inside of the
Tower of London’s chapel close to the remains of her husband.
Jane Boleyn’s reputation throughout history is one which is rather divisive, as some historians
believe she has been unfairly treated throughout the centuries. However she was a woman who
helped the Queen cheat on the King, the dangerous Henry VIII who was responsible for thousands
of executions, and he was a man who had a violent and brutal side and he could turn
on his close friends. But Jane lost her head inside the Tower of London, like her sister
in law, and her friend Catherine Howard.
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