I read recently somewhere that Henry VIII called out Jane Seymour's name on his deathbed and I was wondering A) was this true and B) who was the source of this news?
The story is apocryphal, one of the many tales about various Tudor figures that, though based in part on actual circumstances, are in themselves untrue. The story that Henry called out Jane Seymour's name in the days or hours before he died is a romantic embellishment probably based on Henry's instructions in his will that he be buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor, and that Jane Seymour's bones be placed there as well. J.J. Scarisbrick, who wrote what is perhaps the most influential biography of Henry VIII, makes no mention of the alleged episode, though he does state that Jane was the only one of Henry's wives to remain secure in his affection.
The story is apocryphal, one of the many tales about various Tudor figures that, though based in part on actual circumstances, are in themselves untrue. The story that Henry called out Jane Seymour's name in the days or hours before he died is a romantic embellishment probably based on Henry's instructions in his will that he be buried in St George's Chapel, Windsor, and that Jane Seymour's bones be placed there as well. J.J. Scarisbrick, who wrote what is perhaps the most influential biography of Henry VIII, makes no mention of the alleged episode, though he does state that Jane was the only one of Henry's wives to remain secure in his affection.
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