Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1505-13 February 1542) was a sister-in-law of King Henry VIII of England as the wife of George Boleyn, the brother of Queen Anne Boleyn. In 1542, she was sentenced to death for abetting and encouraging Catherine Howard's affair with Thomas Culpeper, and the two of them were executed together.
Biography[]
Rochford's execution
Jane Boleyn was born in Norfolk, England in 1505, the daughter of Henry Parker, 10th Baron Morley. She was a member of the household of King Henry VIII's first wife, Queen Catherine of Aragon, and she was married to George Boleyn in 1525. In 1529, she gained the courtesy title of Viscountess Rochford from her husband. However, she disliked her husband, who raped her on their wedding night. In 1536, she assisted in the trial of her husband and her sister-in-law, Anne Boleyn, both of whom were beheaded. Jane then served as a lady-in-waiting to Jane Seymour, Anne of Cleves, and Catherine Howard, and she encouraged Howard's affair with Thomas Culpeper, with whom she slept. Rochford was sentenced to death for abetting their affair (despite being found insane; King Henry had amended the law to allow for insane people to be executed), and she was beheaded on 13 February 1542, the same day as Howard.