Friday, March 06, 2009

Question from salmonpuff - Henry VIII mistress during Seymour marriage

Hi everyone
Just a quick question from me, mainly as I've been reading a lot on the new series of the tudors coming up. The latest photographs show an unknown woman who is said to be a mistress named 'Ursula' at the time he was married to Jane Seymour. The cynic in me knows that this probably isn't the case,but I was just wondering if anyone knew if Henry had any mistresses when he was married to Jane?

Thanks all!

6 comments:

Elizabeth M. said...

Henry usually had a roving eye, it seems in particular, when his wives were pregnant. But I do not recall any one in particular mentioned as a diversion while Jane was pregnant, or the whole time he was married to her. That is not to say he didn't cast about and admire the scenery, but I don't remember anyone in particular other than Jane herself exercising the springs of the royal bed during her brief time as queen.

Luv said...

Henry did cast his eye on another women,but he commented that it was to bad that he was now married.

Anonymous said...

I think it might have been possible that he did cheat on her at some point, especially considering his history of infidelity during his wives' lying-in. Also, since Henry was pretty secretive about his affairs, it might not have been known or recorded. Also, if he did stray, it probably was fleeting and insignificant, not serious at all.

Anonymous said...

Just a thought,, but Ursula is a Germanic name, and not one that would likely be used by the English.

Of course, Henry met many people of all nationalities, so there might have been an "Ursula" as the wife of an ambassador, a sea captain, a mercenary, etc.

The only time that I do know of for sure when he was dealing with Germanic nationals was when he was setting up and during the marriage to Anne of Cleves.

Just some thoughts.

Gareth Russell said...

In the series, Ursula is linked to the artist Hans Holbein. Historically, Henry did comment that after seeing several of Jane's ladies, he wished he had known them before he took the decision to marry Jane (i.e. that they were prettier than she was), but there is no record that he ever actually slept with them. Or, at the very least, none that he got caught.

SFMobileMechanics said...

Lady Ursula Musseldon was a fictional character in The Tudors.