Anna of Cleves

ANNA OF CLEVES ~ The lucky one? Or the one who used her head, instead of losing it

.

Anna of Cleves was Henry VIII’s wife for just six months. making her the shortest reigning of all his queens.

Queen from 6th January to 9th July 1540, Anna's was the shortest reign of all his queens.

Often called The Flanders Mare, a dismayed Henry cried " i like her not!"

So who was the real Anna of Cleves......

Anne was born in 1515, on either 22 September, or 28 June, the exact date is unknown.

Born in Dusseldorf, she was the second daughter of John III Duke of Cleves, and his wife Maria, Duchess of Julich-Berg.

After her Fathers death in 1538, Anna's brother William, took on the title of Duke.

Anna's elder sister Sibylle, was married off to John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, leaving Anna and her younger sister Amalia, with their domineering, egocentric Brother.

When Anna was 11 in 1527, she was pre-contacted to marry Francis, the 9 year old son and heir of the Duke of Lorraine.

The betrothal was cancelled in 1535, possibly because of Anna's brothers strong Lutheran ties, however, Anna's mother was a strict Catholic and had bought her children up as such.

Anna's late father's ongoing dispute with Charles V, made Anna's family suitable allies for England's King Henry VIII, in the wake of the Truce of Nice.

Thomas Cromwell urged King Henry to agree to a match with Anna.

Henry sent Hans Holbein the Younger to Cleves, to paint Anna and her younger sister Amalia's, portrait.

He would then consider them both, based upon their portraits.

The king was delighted with the result of Anna's portrait.

Holbein had painted a pretty young woman, with fair hair, delicate hooded eyes, and pointed chin, with a maidenly expression.

The match was confirmed and a treaty was signed on 4 October 1539.

A few weeks later, Anna embarked upon her journey to England, and her new life as Queen of England.

On New Year’s Eve, Anna arrived at Rochester Castle in Kent.

The next day, Henry and some of his courtiers, went disguised into the room where Anna was staying.

Eustace Chapuys writes-

"The King so went up into the chamber where the said Lady Anna was looking out of a window to see the bull-baiting which was going on in the courtyard, and suddenly he embraced and kissed her, and showed her a token which the king had sent her for New Year’s gift, and she being abashed and not knowing who it was thanked him, and so he spoke with her.

But she regarded him little, but always looked out the window .... and when the king saw that she took so little notice of his coming he went into another chamber and took off his cloak and came in again in a coat of purple velvet.

And when the lords and knights saw his grace they did him reverence"

After Henry revealed his true identity to Anna, he is said to have been put off the marriage from then on.

According to the testimony of Henry's companions, he was disappointed with Anna, feeling that she was not as described.

Henry said Anna had been rather flattered by her portrait,

exclaiming she was tall, big-boned and strong-featured.

Her face dominated by a large nose, and her skin was pitted with the marks of smallpox.

"She is nothing so fair as she hath been reported", he complained.

Until Henry expressed such a strong aversion towards her, there had been no other unsatisfactory accounts of her appearance.

The famous nickname of ‘Flanders Mare’ was only coined by Bishop Gilbert Burnet in the late 17th century.

Most of the descriptions of her before her marriage, had been nothing but complimentary.

Nevertheless, Anna repelled Henry, and Anne would henceforth be known as the ‘ugly wife’.

Cromwell received some of the blame, and Henry urged Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage.

By this point, it was impossible to do, without endangering the vital alliance with the Germans.

In his anger and frustration, the King turned on Cromwell, to his subsequent regret, that would stay with Henry for the rest of his life.

On 6 January 1540 at the royal Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, Henry took Anna, grudgingly, as his wife.

The couple's first night as husband and wife was not a successful one.

A detailed account of the wedding night exists among the records of Henry’s reign.

The king had run his hands all over his new wife’s body, which had so repelled him that he had found himself incapable of raising his manhood, and doing anything more.

Henry told Cromwell that he found Anna even more abhorrent than when he had first beheld her, bemoaning:

“She is nothing fair, and have very evil smells about her.”

He went on to claim that there had been certain “tokens” to suggest that she was no maid, not least “the looseness of her breasts”, which he had apparently examined closely.

As a result, he confided to a manservant, his bride was “indisposed to excite and provoke any lust” in him and he “could never be stirred to know her carnally”.

He had therefore “left her as good a maid as I found her”.

Henry shouted at Cromwell that he had not consummated the marriage, saying,

"I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse."

Outwardly, Anna gave every appearance of delight in her husband.

She was clearly a virgin and had no idea what was involved in consummation.

In February 1540, Anne confided to the Countess of Rutland -

"When he comes to bed he kisseth me, and he taketh me by the hand, and biddeth me 'Good night, sweetheart'; and in the morning kisseth me and biddeth 'Farewell, darling.'

The Countess replied -

"Madam, there must be more than this, or it will be long ere we have a duke of York, which all this realm most desireth."

On 24 June, Anna was commanded to leave court, and go to Richmond Palace.

On 6 July she was informed of her husband's decision to reconsider the marriage.

Henry claimed he was concerned about her prior betrothal to the Duke of Lorraine, and had therefore refrained from consummating the union.

But, there was another reason why Henry was desperate to be rid of his fourth wife......

By the spring of 1540, he had fallen for Katherine Howard - a pretty young lady-in-waiting in his wife’s household.

Shortly afterwards, Anna was asked for her consent to an annulment, perhaps fearing a similar fate to Anne Boleyn, she agreed.

Anna wrote a letter of submission to the king, referring to “your majesty’s clean and pure living with me”, and offering herself up as his “most humble servant”.

Cromwell, the moving force behind the marriage, was arrested for treason, and would be executed on 28 July 1540.

The marriage was duly declared illegal on 9 July, and the annulment was confirmed by parliament three days later.

Anna was to be richly rewarded for her good behaviour in agreeing to annul the marriage.

She was given Richmond Palace, Hever Castle and Bletchingly Manor, together with a considerable annual income.

Anna was to keep all of her royal jewels, plate and goods in order to furnish her new properties.

She was also given special status as the king’s ‘sister’, taking precedence over all of his subjects, with the exception of his children, and any future wife that he might take.

When Henry's fifth wife, Katherine Howard, went to the block in 1542, for adultery with Thomas Culpeper - speculation over who would be the Kings next wife, was rife.

Among the potential candidates was, again, Anna of Cleves.

She had remained on good terms with Henry after their annulment, and had shown no signs of resentment at being rejected by Henry.

Although Anna had been a regular visitor at court, and had a very good relationship with the King, Henry made no indication of wishing to revive their former union.

Henry would then go on to marry his sixth, and final wife Katherine Parr.

Anna stayed at Hever Castle, comfortable and treated like the Queen she once was.

Soon after Mary I's accession, Anna resolved to leave court and live out her days quietly at Hever and Chelsea – another manor left to her by Henry.

It was while staying at Chelsea, that Anna died on 16 July 1557.

The most likely cause of her death was Cancer.

Although she was only 41 years of age, when she died, she had outlived each of Henry VIII’s five other wives.

Henry's last wife Katherine Parr had died nine years earlier.

She was buried in Westminster Abbey, on 3 August, on the opposite side of Edward the Confessor's shrine, and slightly above eye level.

Anne's epitaph reads simply:

ANNA OF CLEVES

QUEEN OF ENGLAND.

BORN 1515 * DIED 1557

.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_of_Cleves

.

https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

.

Portrait by Hans Holbein the Younger, 1539