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Everyone knows that Henry VIII had six
wives, with the rhyme ‘Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced,
Beheaded, Survived’, recording their largely unenviable fates.
Henry’s second wife, Anne Boleyn, is a household name, but what of
the other Queen Anne – the fourth wife of England’s most married
king? Anne of Cleves was married for the shortest amount of time,
but survived the longest, nearly living to see Elizabeth I take the
throne.
Anne of Cleves is usually dismissed in a few pages, or a chapter,
at most, in biographies of Henry and his wives. Her impact on
English politics was as brief as her marriage, but as a person she
fascinates. Just who was the woman who has unflatteringly gone down
in history as Henry VIII’s Flanders Mare?
Anne was the second of the four children born to John, Duke of
Cleves and his wife, Maria, the heiress to the Duchy of Juliers.
She was born in Dusseldorf on 22 September 1515 and raised under
her mother’s strict tutelage with her two sisters, Sibylla and
Amelia. Duchess Maria raised her daughters to be wives, with the
curriculum focussed on needlework and other traditionally feminine
pursuits. Anne could read and write, but she knew no language other
than German. She was taught no music, but was clever. She soon
learned English when it was decided that her future lay there.
Contrary to popular belief, Anne was raised as a Catholic and
continued to follow the religion throughout her life.
Anne’s father ruled the small duchies of Cleves-Mark in the lower
Rhine valley in an area of modern Germany close to the Dutch
border. Her mother’s duchy was bigger, with the marriage of Anne’s
parents creating a strategically important state on both sides of
the Rhine. Although part of the Holy Roman Empire, Juliers-Cleves
was essentially independent. Anne was also closely related to the
Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V and the kings of France – she had an
impeccably royal lineage.
Anne’s eldest sister, Sibylla, was famed for her beauty and married
John Frederick, heir to the Duke of Saxony in 1527. John Frederick
became one of the leaders of the newly formed Schmalkaldic League
in 1531, which was a Protestant defensive league in opposition to
the Emperor. Cleves, as a Catholic duchy, was not a member but, by
1539, when Henry VIII began to look for an allies in Europe, Anne
and her younger sister, Amelia, were the best matches that the
League could offer.
Henry VIII’s third wife died in childbirth in October 1537 and the
search immediately began for a fourth wife. Anne’s name was
mentioned early, although she was dismissed since ‘there was no
great praise either of her personage or her beauty’. Henry looked
again at Cleves, however, when France and the Empire made peace,
opening negotiations early in 1539. Although the English
ambassadors initially had difficulty in gaining access to Anne, the
ambassadors provided favourable reports. Henry’s court painter,
Hans Holbein, also travelled to Cleves to paint Anne and her
sister, expressing ‘their images very lively’. Everyone agreed that
the portrait of Anne was a good likeness.
Anne set out for England in the winter of 1539, finally landing at
Dover on 27 December. She pleased those that she met on the
journey, showing a willingness to learn the English language and
customs. She even asked to be taught a card game that the king
liked, so that they could play it together. In spite of appalling
weather in England, she agreed to press on for London, rather than
waiting at Dover. She had reached Rochester by New Year’s Day when
she received a visit from an overweight and rather elderly
messenger, who brought the king’s New Year’s gift to her.
New Year’s Day 1540 saw the end of Anne’s marriage, before it had
even begun. Unable to wait for Anne’s arrival in London, Henry
donned a disguise, in accordance with romantic tradition, to visit
his bride in secret. The idea was that, due to the mutual love
between the couple, Anne would immediately recognise her fiancé,
falling into his arms for a romantic meeting. Unfortunately, no one
had told Anne of this tradition and, when the ‘messenger’ arrived,
she ignored him, instead gazing out of a window at a bull baiting
in the courtyard below.
Henry was disappointed with Anne’s lack of interest in his arrival
and tried again, kissing and embracing her as she stood by the
window. For Anne, who had been kept cloistered by her mother, this
must have been a shock, but she continued to ignore the stranger.
Finally, admitting defeat, the king stalked out of the room to
change to a coat of purple velvet – the sign that everyone present
could recognise him. As those in the room fell to their knees, Anne
suddenly realised just who her visitor was, but the damage was
done.
That evening, the couple ‘talked together lovingly’ through
interpreters, but Henry left the following day as soon as the tide
allowed. In the boat he complained ‘I see nothing in this woman as
men report of her’. While he probably never muttered that he had
been sent a Flanders mare instead of a woman, his brief meeting
with Anne was enough for him to decide ‘I like her not’.
Everyone agreed that Holbein’s portrait of Anne – which had pleased
the king – was a good likeness, so what went wrong? The portrait
shows Anne fully facing the viewer, something which may have hidden
a large nose evident when a second portrait of Anne was x-rayed.
Similarly, there were reports that she appeared older than expected
and, in her outdated German fashions, was badly dressed to English
eyes. She was certainly far from ugly, however, with reports a few
years later suggesting that she was more beautiful than Henry’s
sixth wife, Catherine Parr.
Perhaps the simplest explanation is that Henry, who was used to
choosing his own brides, simply was not attracted to Anne?
Alternatively, she is unlikely to have seen a portrait of Henry
before she arrived in England and, in 1540, he was well past his
prime. Did her look of horror when she suddenly realised just who
her visitor was, kill off Henry’s romantic hopes?
In spite of attempts to avoid the marriage, Henry was obliged to
put his ‘neck in a yoke’ on 6 January 1540, making Anne his fourth
wife. Attempts to consummate the marriage failed and, finally, with
the political situation shifting in Europe, Henry finally felt
secure enough to bring the marriage to an end. Towards the end of
June 1540 she was suddenly sent to Richmond on the pretext of
avoiding the plague in London.
No one was fooled and, on 26 June 1540 Anne summoned her brother’s
ambassador, Carl Harst, to complain of her treatment. When he
attempted to reassure her, she stated, ominously, that she knew
what had happened to Henry’s first wife, the discarded Catherine of
Aragon. There were already rumours in the city that Henry meant to
discard her for a lady in waiting, just as he had done with first
wife.
Picture Credit: Anne of Cleves by Han Holbein, the picture that
persuaded Henry to choose Anne as his fourth wife. (image
from author’s own collection)]]>
