Tudor History with Claire Ridgway24 Okt 2025

Jane Seymour’s Death - A Deep Dive into the causes

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!

When Jane Seymour gave birth to Henry VIII’s long-awaited son, England rejoiced. Bells rang, bonfires blazed, and Henry finally had his male heir.
But just twelve days later, the joy turned to sorrow, Queen Jane Seymour was dead.

For centuries, her death has been shrouded in confusion and myth.
Some say she died after a Caesarean section. Others, childbed fever. Alison Weir believes food poisoning and an embolism were to blame.

In this episode, I take a closer look at the evidence, exploring eyewitness reports, Tudor medicine, and modern medical insight, to uncover what really killed Henry VIII’s third wife.

Discover:

Why the “food poisoning” theory doesn’t fit the timeline
How a thirty-hour labour made infection likely
Why the phrase “taking cold” may describe septic shock
And how the choice of a royal physician over a midwife may have cost Jane her life

This is the tragic and very human story behind the death of Henry VIII’s so-called “perfect queen.”

Sources & Further Reading:

https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/evidence
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/more-than-one-pregnancy
https://tudortimes.co.uk/guest-articles/why-did-jane-seymour-die-in-childbed/final-stages
https://elizabethnortonhistorian.blogspot.com/2014/10/the-death-of-queen-jane.html
The Seymour Family, history and romance by Amy Audrey Locke - https://archive.org/details/seymourfamilyhis00lockuoft/page/18/mode/2up?q=cold
'Henry VIII: October 1537, 21-25', in Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 12 Part 2, June-December 1537, ed. James Gairdner (London, 1891), British History Online https://www.british-history.ac.uk/letters-papers-hen8/vol12/no2/pp335-345
Hall’s Chronicle - https://archive.org/details/hallschronicleco00hall/page/824/mode/2up
Wriothesley’s Chronicle - https://archive.org/details/chronicleofengla01wriouoft/page/68/mode/2up
24 October 1537 – The Death of Queen Jane Seymour - https://www.theanneboleynfiles.com/24-october-1537-death-queen-jane-seymour/
How to spot maternal sepsis, NCT - https://www.nct.org.uk/information/pregnancy/body-pregnancy/how-spot-maternal-sepsis
Signs of Infection After Birth: Postpartum Infection & Sepsis - https://www.emmasdiary.co.uk/pregnancy-and-birth/labour/signs-of-infection-after-birth

#JaneSeymour #TudorHistory #HenryVIII #OnThisDay #TudorWomen #ClaireRidgway #AnneBoleynFiles #MedicalHistory #TudorTragedy #HistoryMystery #TudorEngland #ChildbedFever #Sepsis #TudorMedicine

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(1012)

How Well Do You REALLY Know Tudor History? - Our 80K Subscriber Challenge!

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!To celebrate 80,000 subscribers, Tim takes on my Tudor History Challenge! Play along with five r...

14 Okt 39min

What REALLY Happened to Henry VIII's Legs?

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!What was wrong with Henry VIII's legs? Was it a jousting injury, chronic ulcers, an infection, o...

12 Okt 18min

Can You Steal History? Plagiarism, Research and the Tudors

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!Can you steal someone else's historical research? And does publishing something first mean you o...

3 Okt 13min

A Viewer Told Me to Cover Up - Anne Boleyn Had the PERFECT Response

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!A viewer recently emailed me with some well-meaning professional advice: she found my bare arms,...

22 Sep 12min

Did Catherine Howard REALLY Confess? I Went Back to the Evidence

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!Did Catherine Howard really confess that she intended to have sex with Thomas Culpeper? I've see...

17 Sep 2min

Actually, Henry VIII DID Divorce His Wives...

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!You've probably heard the famous rhyme about Henry VIII's six wives:"Divorced, beheaded, died; d...

7 Sep 4min

Anne Boleyn Was Queen for 3 Years - What Did She Actually Do?

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!We spend so much time talking about Anne Boleyn's extraordinary rise and her dramatic fall that ...

24 Aug 34min

Who Would Marry Henry VIII? The Search for Wife No. 4

Got something to say to this podcast? Send a voicemail, and you might hear yourself on the next episode!Who would agree to become Henry VIII's fourth wife?By late 1537, Henry VIII was back on the marr...

14 Aug 18min