Jane Boleyn

The True Story of the Infamous Lady Rochford

De: Julia Fox

Narrado por: Rosalyn Landor

In a life of extraordinary drama, Jane Boleyn was catapulted from relative obscurity to the inner circle of King Henry VIII. As powerful men and women around her became victims of Henry’s ruthless and absolute power, including her own husband and sister-in-law, Queen Anne Boleyn, Jane’s allegiance to the volatile monarchy was sustained and rewarded. But the price for her loyalty would eventually be her undoing and the ruination of her name. For centuries, little beyond rumor and scandal has been associated with “the infamous Lady Rochford.” But now historian Julia Fox sets the record straight and restores dignity to this much-maligned figure whose life and reputation were taken from her.

Drawing upon her own deep knowledge and years of original research, Julia Fox brings us into the inner sanctum of court life, laced with intrigue and encumbered by disgrace. Through the eyes and ears of Jane Boleyn, we witness the myriad players of the stormy Tudor period. Jane emerges as a courageous spirit, a modern woman forced by circumstances to fend for herself in a privileged but vicious world.

©2007 Books on Tape (P)2007 Julia Fox

Reseñas de la Crítica

“A riveting story - expertly written and based on an impressive body of research. Julia Fox’s book re-creates the inner life of one of the great scapegoats of history and vividly depicts the fervid, extravagant, interbred world of the Tudor court.” (Sarah Gristwood, author of Elizabeth & Leicester)

“This electric account of the life of Jane Boleyn brings us face-to-face with the glittering but brutal world of Henry VIII’s court. For centuries the infamous Lady Rochford was accused of betraying her husband to his death on charges of incest with Anne Boleyn. Julia Fox’s immaculate detective work and vivid storytelling bring to life one woman’s struggle to survive at the apex of a society where success brought untold riches and a king’s anger cost you your life.” (Leanda de Lisle, author of After Elizabeth)

“Jane Boleyn’s true history was obscured by lies and propaganda. Now, in an outstanding debut by Julia Fox, the full tragedy of her thwarted life has come to light. A fascinating and moving read, Jane Boleyn exposes the harsh reality of Henry VIII’s court, where cleverness and ambition often led to the block.” (Amanda Foreman, author of Georgiana: Duchess of Devonshire)

interesting but hardly anything about Jane

I am very interested in the Tudor history and all of the side stories involved. In my past readings, I was able to deduce very little about Jane and thought that I could get a good idea of her with this book. However, only about 15% of the book was about Jane, and it was the stuff I already knew. I was disappointed with that.

Comprehensive!

Reads like a novel! A great summation of the events and explanations of her posthumous negative reputation. Certainly gave a great perspective.

Anne, Henry, Katherine....oh and Jane.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I love Tudor history, and have since I was a child. I was very excited to find a book about the mysterious Jane Boleyn. After listening, I realized that I still haven't found that book. This book covers the lives and circumstances of the main players well, and Jane is an occasional side note. Nothing new on her marriage, motivations, heck even what she is accused of doing is not fully explored.

Jane boleyn

the narration for this book I really enjoyed. in fact this book really surprised me, the first half it seemed to me was more Henry and Ann with just a little of Jane here and there. but the rest of the book wow. what was this women thinking? and of course Henry marrying a teenager talk about a dirty old man.and Jane, oh my God. talk about using very bad judgment, well she got what she deserved in the end. in some ways I feel sorry for Catherine but she isn't totally innocent either. over all it is a good book and I did learn a few things.don't believe what you see on TV about the Tudor history, read the book first, the TV is just entertainment.

A Rehabilitation of a Tudor Cruelle Deville

This biography is a whitewash. It is certainly historical revisionism, which usually tries to say that some historical personage we thought we knew was far more lurid, with feet deeply clay-bound, like the modern bios saying Lincoln was homosexual or Thomas Jefferson had a child by a slave woman. But this historical revision of Jane Boleyn, Lady Rochford, sister-in-law to Anne Boleyn, attempts to make a nice lady out of one of the most villainous women of Tudor times. In a time when noblemen killed each other with abandon, the women were nearly as wicked as the men and Jane has some competition in villainy, such as Anne Boleyn, who repeatedly threatened or begged that Queen Katherine and her daughter Mary be put to death, or Anne Stanhope, who is twice documented to have buffeted Henry's widow Catherine Parr out of a doorway like a linebacker, so Katherine couldn't take precedence over Anne herself.

Jane Boleyn definitely needs her own biography, as the events she was involved in were repeatedly scandalous and extremely important. It's amazing that this has not been done before, and unfortunate that the thrust of her only biography is to say Jane was a nice lady who made some mistakes of judgment. This is an dramatic understatement, given all the heads that Lady Jane Rochford left rolling like bowling balls as she proceeded through life.

The reader, Rosalyn Landor, is expressionless and very clear, which seems to be a new style of reading nonfiction; I would have gotten the other version of this book had it been available when I bought this one.

Here are the bad things Jane Boleyn did: She started her career of infamy through the centuries, it has long been said, by testifying to the king's interrogators that her husband, the queen's brother George, had committed incest with Anne. He gasped in amazement and disgust when told of this charge and no one has ever believed it, then or since. But he was beheaded. The author says there is no real proof that Jane did this, it could have been someone else. She did tell him that Anne said Henry was impotent, and George read that note out loudly in open court after having been told to read it silently, apparently on the principle that he might as well be hanged for a sheep as a goat. But any wife might tell a husband something that juicy. The author is very vague about the pressures of interrogation, twice, and what Jane may or may not have told Cranmer about her husband. It is notable that no one ever married Jane again.

Next, she became Cromwell's spy on Jane Seymour; next, she testified in court that Anne of Cleves was so naive that she thought kissing was intercourse and so her marriage with the king had never been consummated, so it could be annulled. Then as a mature woman in the lead among young Katherine Howard's ladies-in-waiting, she allowed Katherine to hire an old lover as her secretary and also arranged many private meetings between the 17-year-old queen and Thomas Culpepper, a very handsome young man of the court. Why did she do this crazy thing? They were bound to be discovered quickly, and they were. Was she a voyeuse? Was she an adrenaline junkie? Author Julia Fox does not mention the obvious reason that everyone has thought of then and now: Henry VIII probably was impotent, at least sometimes, and given the really bad state of his health then, could not be expected to beget the "spare" prince everyone wanted. Culpepper, however, probably could. If Jane Boleyn could help Katherine get pregnant, perhaps they hoped they both would be secure forever. It could have worked, except all that banging around in small offices, back stairs, and toilet rooms was a little obvious. The author simply says that Jane Boleyn "had" to do what the queen said, that's why she arranged all the trysts. No one else did any of that, however, and Katherine and Jane were the only two ladies beheaded for it. It's just not good enough. There is a lot of information in this book, but some of it feels wrong. We need another biography of Jane Boleyn.

Well Worth Listening To

I have been fascinated with Tudor England for most of my life. This book about Jane Boleyn was enlightening about a side of Tudor history - the cruel side - that generally is underplayed. Jane Boleyn was most likely not a model wife of George or sister-in-law to Anne, but it is also unlikely that she deserved to become as vilified as as history has shown her. I was completely fascinated with this book - and when it ended - I still was waiting for more. I think that the book, could possibly have gone further to trace what ramification Jane's death had to to the familial heirs - but all in all I can recommend this book without qualification

Jane Boleyn

Sister in-law to Anne & Mary. Married to Brother George. Good story. This woman just couldn't stay out of trouble. She was jealous of Anne and had both Anne and her husband George beheaded. She was allowed to stay at court and serve as lady in waitting to Queen Cathrine she would play as a go between with the young Queen and Culpepper until they too were beheaded.

Very Enjoyable

This is the second book I have listened to about the Tudor age. I recommend it.

If you don’t have facts, don’t write the biography. Or make it a novel.

This is mostly setting, embellished with conjecture, and just a bit of direct fact. I realize that there’s not a lot of available information on many women of this era, but if you can’t back up most of your claims then you shouldn’t be writing a biography.

This book was largely the much-told story of Henry VIII and his marital history. It’s presented to frame Jane Boleyn’s story, but there’s since there’s little evidence directly about Jane, it’s just a lot of supposition. I came away knowing very little more about Jane and what I did learn provided no insight into the most interesting parts of her life — her marriage to George Boleyn, her involvement in Anne Boleyn’s end, and her part in Catherine Howard’s downfall.

beautiful narration, riveting from beginning to end.

I enjoyed getting to know Jane Boleyn from a fresh perspective. she was presented positively versus the usual, where she's simply jealous and can't stand George. I believe it that she tried to save George. oh George 😢