But suddenly in May there was a fierce new determination to annul the marriage; the king was no longer content to complain.

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.
For once, his decision to end a marriage was legally valid and acceptable to all. After a strained few months, Anne had been removed from … Cleves and the Holy Roman Empire were arguing and war seemed likely. Another 1539 portrait, by the school of Barthel Bruyn the Elder, is in the collection of Trinity College, Cambridge.[11]. The investigation into her precontract with Lorraine had been hastily done in January and February but for two months afterwards, the king merely lamented his fate.
In the mid-1530s, Anne had briefly been engaged to Francis, duke of Lorraine. He was increasingly obese and subject to its attendant problems. This impediment of affinity was a nice way to avoid the king of England. She was granted lands in April and the next month received rich gifts of fabric and jewelry. Henry did not wish to be involved in this war. The ambassadors from Cleves were not unaware of Henry’s intent. She was shocked at first by the news; the king’s representatives visited her at Richmond Palace, where she had gone to escape the threat of plague.

‘When he [Henry] comes to bed, he kisses me and taketh me by the hand, and biddeth me ‘Goodnight, sweetheart,’ and in the morning, kisses me, and biddeth me, ‘Farewell, darling.’ Is this not enough?’ asked Anne. She was not an heiress but still honored as a royal. This picture of family harmony didn’t last, however. Change ), You are commenting using your Facebook account.

"[6], Anne was commanded to leave the Court on 24 June, and on 6 July she was informed of her husband's decision to reconsider the marriage.

Henry gave Anne a large income and Hever Castle, where Anne Boleyn had once lived. She had been used to a quiet and serious life at her brother’s court in Cleves.

After King Henry’s third wife, Jane Seymour, died, he decided to marry again.

The novel follows her throughout her life, first in Germany then Tudor England.

as ever her Mother bare her.’ This contradiction – she was not a virgin, yet was – was never mentioned.

But it now seemed as if those two enemies might join forces against him in defense of the papal supremacy. It was not her fault, nor that of Henry VIII, but she was raised in a different country and, as things turned out, was not given time to acclimatize herself before the king rejected her. A proxy marriage occurred and Anne left her home in late November. The pair were married for just six months and according to Anne, never consummated the marriage.

After all, he was not merely a man but a monarch; he was not supposed to marry for himself alone. What is the hink-pink for blue green moray? Despite the Henrician ‘reformation’, England and its monarch remained a Catholic nation, albeit one in which supreme authority resided within the king rather than the pope. […] this? Holbein’s betrothal portrait of Anne of Cleves. Henry infamously referred to his bride as a Flanders mare and told courtiers and ambassadors that he could not perform his husbandly duties because of Annes appearance. [35] Anne also took part in Mary I's coronation procession,[36][37] and may have been present at her coronation at Westminster Abbey. Raised to be a churchman until his brother’s untimely death and deeply interested in theological debate, Henry VIII didn’t appreciate the Pandora’s Box of change he had opened. Why should she return home in ignominy, dependent upon her brother’s generosity, when she could remain in England and live a comfortable, independent life? Anne of Cleves (German: Anna von Kleve; 1515 – 16 July 1557)[1] was queen consort of England from 6 January to 9 July 1540 as the fourth wife of King Henry VIII. There were also political reasons why Henry wanted to end his marriage.

– History Chatter, The Fascinating Elizabethan Women You’ve Never Heard Of – History Chatter, Jane Boleyn: The Curse of Henry VIII’s Queens? How long will the footprints on the moon last? And it didn’t happen with Anne and Henry; in fact, quite the opposite occurred and the king was repulsed by her. She lived in England after the divorce as Henry's "good sister".

Almost five hundred years later, we still don’t understand why certain people are physically attracted to each other; it simply happens. Anne arrived in England on January 1, 1540. Read all about Anne of Cleves here – the other queen who survived Henry […], […] Anne of Cleves: What Happened to the Other Queen Who Survived? The year of 1538 passed with no alliance. Too young and ill-educated to be aware of how others used her as a pawn, she happily danced before the king and accepted his gifts. Anne’s behaviour showed in stark contrast to Catherine Howard’s: within the year Catherine would be arrested for having an affair with a handsome courtier Thomas Culpepper and in February 1542, the young queen was beheaded. In March 1539, negotiations for Anne's marriage to Henry began, as Henry believed that he needed to form a political alliance with her brother, William, who was a leader of the Protestants of western Germany, to strengthen his position against potential attacks from Catholic France and the Holy Roman Empire. Romantics believe the king waited such a long while to marry again because he loved Jane so much. In The Fifth Queen (1906) by Ford Madox Ford she is portrayed as a sensible, practical woman who happily settles for an annulment in return for the material benefits it brings. Likewise, the Catholics encouraged the flirtations of young Catherine Howard, also a Catholic and the duke of Norfolk’s niece. During all of these negotiations, one must not forget the king’s own views regarding his future wife. [21][22], Henry urged Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage but, by this point, doing so was impossible without endangering the vital alliance with the Germans. Anne of Cleves was Henry VIII’s fourth wife. According to Simon Renard, the imperial ambassador, Anne's close association with Elizabeth had convinced the Queen that "the Lady [Anne] of Cleves was of the plot and intrigued with the Duke of Cleves to obtain help for Elizabeth: matters in which the king of France was the prime mover". Anne of Cleves was now a very wealthy woman. But this fourth marriage was necessarily a more diplomatic endeavor. [15] Henry and some of his courtiers, following a courtly-love tradition, went disguised into the room where Anne was staying. In the rhyme, she’s down as “divorced”, but what did she do once the paperwork was finalised and the payment came through? When Henry saw the painting of Anne he decided to marry her.

Take a minute to check out all the enhancements! The very day of the ceremony, he told Cromwell, ‘My Lord, if it were not to satisfy the world, and my Realm, I would not do that I must do this day for none earthly thing.’ These were ominous words.

But Henry’s influential advisor, Thomas Cromwell, wanted England to ally herself with a Protestant nation that also rejected papal authority. Retha Warnicke has written an academic study on Anne's marriage called The Marrying of Anne of Cleves.