Elizabeth Seymour, Lady Cromwell


Elizabeth Seymour was the daughter of Sir John Seymour of Wulfhall, Wiltshire and Margery Wentworth. Elizabeth and her sister Jane Seymour served in the household of Anne Boleyn, the second wife of Henry VIII. In his quest for a male heir, the king had divorced his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, whose only surviving child was a daughter, Mary. His marriage to Anne Boleyn had also resulted in a single daughter, Elizabeth. The queens miscarriage of a son in January 1536 sealed her fate. The king, convinced that Anne could never give him male children, increasingly infatuated with Jane Seymour, and encouraged by the queens enemies, was determined to replace her. The Seymours rose to prominence after the kings attention turned to Jane.

Sir John Seymour was born in 1474. He succeeded his father in 1492, was knighted by Henry VII for his services against the Cornish rebels at Blackheath in 1497, and was sheriff of Wiltshire in 1508. He was present at the sieges of Throuanne and Tournay in 1513, at the two interviews between Henry VIII and Francis I in 1520 and 1532, and died onDecember 1536.

Source: Wikipedia