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Jane Seymour

Jane Seymour (1508 – 24 October 1537) was Queen Consort of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as Queen Consort following the latter's execution in 1536.

She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of her only child, a son who briefly reigned as Edward VI. Jane Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth. Through her maternal grandfather, she was a distant descendant of King Edward III of England and also the Percy family.

Because of this, she and King Henry VIII were fifth cousins three times removed. She was a second cousin to her predecessor Anne Boleyn through their mutual great-grandmother, Elizabeth Cheney. Her exact birth date is debated; it is usually given as 1509, but it has been noted that at her funeral 29 women walked in succession.

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Anne of Cleves

Anne of Cleves (22 September 1515–16 July 1557) (German: Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg) was a German noblewoman and the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England and as such she was Queen of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540. The marriage was never consummated, and she was not crowned queen consort.

Following the annulment of their marriage, Anne was given a generous settlement by the King, and thereafter referred to as the King's Beloved Sister. She was the second longest-lived of all of Henry's wives, after Catherine of Aragon. Anne was the subject of two portraits by Hans Holbein the younger who painted her in 1539.

Anne was born in 1515 near Düsseldorf, the second daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves, Julich, Berg, Count of Mark and Ravensberg (often referred to as Duke of Cleves) who died in 1538, and his wife Maria, Duchess of Julich-Berg (1491- 1543). Her father was influenced by Erasmus and followed a moderate path within the Reformation.

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Catherine Parr

Catherine Parr (c.1512 – 5 September 1548) was the last of the six wives of Henry VIII of England. She was queen consort of England during 1543–1547, then Dowager Queen of England. She was the most-married English Queen, with four husbands.

Catherine was born at Kendal Castle in Westmorland, North West England, where her ancestors had resided since the fourteenth century. She was the eldest child of Sir Thomas Parr of Horton House, Northamptonshire, descendant of King Edward III, and Maud, Lady Parr, (6 April 1495 – 20 August 1529), daughter of Sir Thomas Green of Greens Norton, Northamptonshire.

She had a younger brother, William Parr, 1st Marquess of Northampton and a sister, Anne Parr, Lady Herbert. Sir Thomas was Sheriff of Northamptonshire, Master of the Wards and Comptroller to King Henry VIII. Her mother, Lady Parr, was an attendant of Catherine of Aragon. At the age of seventeen in 1529, she became the wife of Edward Borough, 2nd Baron Borough of Gainsborough.

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