Jane Seymour (/ˈsiːmɔːr/; c. 1508 – 24 October 1537) was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII from their marriage on 30 May 1536 until her death the next year.

Jane, however, died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, the future King Edward VI.

Jane, the daughter of Sir John Seymour and Margery Wentworth, was most likely born at Wulfhall, Wiltshire,[1] although West Bower Manor in Somerset has also been suggested.

[1] Through her maternal grandfather, she was a descendant of King Edward III's son Lionel of Antwerp, 1st Duke of Clarence.

[12] She was regarded as meek, gentle, simple, and chaste, with her large family making her thought to be suitable to have many children.

As a wedding gift he granted her 104 manors in four counties as well as a number of forests and hunting chases for her jointure, the income to support her during their marriage.

Her well-publicised sympathy for the late Queen Catherine and her daughter Mary showed her to be compassionate and made her a popular figure with the common people and most of the courtiers.

The lavish entertainments, gaiety, and extravagance of the queen's household, which had reached their peak during Anne Boleyn's time, were replaced by strict decorum.

[18][better source needed] Her only reported involvement in national affairs, in 1536, was when she asked for pardons for participants in the Pilgrimage of Grace.

[20] While it was she who first pushed for the restoration, Mary and Elizabeth were not reinstated to the succession until Henry's sixth wife, Catherine Parr, convinced him to do so.

[citation needed] During the summer, she took no public engagements and led a relatively quiet life, attended by the royal physicians and the best midwives in the kingdom.

[23] She went into confinement in September 1537 and gave birth to the coveted male heir, the future King Edward VI, at two o'clock in the morning[24] on 12 October 1537 at Hampton Court Palace.

[citation needed] Jane was buried on 12 November 1537 in St. George's Chapel, Windsor Castle after the funeral in which her stepdaughter Mary acted as chief mourner.

[18] Jane gave the King the son he so desperately desired, helped to restore Mary to the succession and her father's affections, and used her influence to bring about the advancement of her family.

[18] An inventory of Henry VIII includes costume belonging to Jane Seymour, which was stored in 1542 in the Old Jewel House of Whitehall Palace.