Traitors of the Tower by Alison Weir

Author:Alison Weir [Weir, Alison]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Non Fiction

Chapter Five

Jane Parker, Lady Rochford (1542) - The ‘Wicked Wife’

The claim that incest had taken place between Anne Boleyn and her brother, Lord Rochford, was said to have been made by his own wife, Jane, Lady Rochford. She helped bring to ruin not only her husband and his sister, but also Katherine Howard. Hers is one of the darker tales of the traitors of the Tower.

Jane Parker was the daughter of Henry, Lord Morley; her mother was a distant cousin of the King. She had been ‘brought up in the court’ from a young age, and was a maid of honour to Katherine of Aragon. In 1520, she had gone with Queen Katherine to ‘the Field of Cloth of Gold’, the famous meeting between Henry VIII and the King of France. Jane had become one of the court’s young stars, and in 1522 she danced the role of ‘Constancy’ in a display with Anne Boleyn and others.

By the end of 1524, Jane had married George Boleyn. As a wedding gift, the King gave the couple a manor in Norfolk. The Boleyn family went up in the world after Henry VIII began courting George’s sister, Anne Boleyn. George Boleyn became one of the most powerful men at court, loaded with offices and wealth, and in 1529 he became Lord Rochford.

Lady Rochford was for years a member of Anne Boleyn’s circle, and from 1533 she served her as a lady-in-waiting. At Anne’s crowning that year, Jane was given a special place with many great ladies.

An usher of the court, George Cavendish, who knew Jane but had no love for the Boleyns, took a poor view of her. He wrote that she had been brought up without a bridle, and left to follow her lust and filthy pleasure, wasting her youth. She had no respect for her marriage vows, and did not fear God.

Lady Rochford had a talent for plotting. She was to prove that over and over again. In October 1534, when Henry VIII was unfaithful to Anne Boleyn, Anne asked Jane to help her get rid of the King’s mistress. The plan was to replace his mistress with Madge Shelton, the Queen’s cousin, who would not be so much of a threat to Anne. But Henry found out, and Lady Rochford was dismissed from her post of lady-in- waiting and sent away from court. We do not know when, or if, she returned.

In October 1535, while the King and Queen were away on a tour of the kingdom, Mary, Henry VIII’s daughter by his first wife, was seen in public. She was popular, and many felt sorry for the way she had been treated.

To show their support, ‘a vast crowd of women, unknown to their husbands, came before her, weeping and crying that she was their true princess’. It was treason to say this, and their leaders were put in prison in the Tower. One of them was Lady Rochford. She does not appear to have been in prison there for long.

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