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'Anne of Cleves' (22 September 1515 – 16 July 1557) was the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England from 6 January 1540 to 9 July 1540.

Contents

Biography

In film

In fiction

Historiography

External links

Biography

Anne was born at Düsseldorf, Germany, the daughter of John III, ruler of the Duchy of Cleves, who died in 1538. After John's death, her brother William became Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, bearing the promising epithet "The Rich." In 1526, her elder sister Sybille was married to John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, head of the Protestant Confederation of Germany and considered the "Champion of the Reformation." In the mid-1530s, she was briefly betrothed to Francis, son and heir of the Duke of Lorraine. While her brother William was a Catholic, the family's politics made them suitable allies for England's King Henry VIII in the aftermath of the Reformation, and a match with Anne was urged on the king by his chancellor, Thomas Cromwell. (Anne and Henry were seventh cousins twice removed.)
The artist Hans Holbein the Younger was dispatched to paint portraits of Anne and a selection of other women Henry was considering for the role of his fourth wife. While it was usual for court painters to be flattering in their portrayal of important people, the only truly important person here was the king: Henry hired the artist to be as accurate as possible, not to flatter these sitters. Holbein was a superb portraiture artist and there's every reason to believe his attractive portrayal of Anne was true, since Holbein remained at court and continued to win royal commissions. The portrait is currently displayed in The Louvre in Paris.
Negotiations with the Cleves court were in full swing by March 1539. Cromwell oversaw the talks and a marriage treaty was signed on 4 October of the same year. While Henry valued education and cultural sophistication in women, Anne lacked these in her upbringing; she received no formal education as a child, and instead of being taught to sing or play an instrument, she was skilled in needlework. She had learned to read and write, but in German only. Nevertheless, Anne was considered gentle, virtuous, and docile, qualities that made her a realistic candidate for Henry.
Henry, impatient to finally see his future bride, journeyed to Rochester on New Year’s Day 1540 and walked in on Anne unannounced. Without the benefit of an advance portrait to prepare her for Henry's appearance, Anne's reaction may well have been one of shock or dismay. Whatever transpired between them, the king took an immediate dislike to Anne, reporting back to Cromwell that she was nothing like the glowing reports he had received of her. Henry urged Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage. By this point, however, evading the marriage was impossible without offending the Germans.
The two were married on 6 January 1540 at the royal Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, despite Henry's very vocal misgivings. If his bride had objections, she kept them to herself. The phrase “God send me well to keep” was engraved around Anne’s wedding ring.
Anne was commanded to leave the court on June 24 and on July 6 she was informed of her husband's decision to reconsider the marriage. In a short time, Anne was asked for her consent to an annulment, to which she agreed. The marriage was annulled on July 9 1540, on the grounds that it had never been consummated -- Henry claimed that he had found his bride so unattractive that he could not bear to sleep with her. She received a generous settlement, including Hever Castle, home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. Anne of Cleves House, in Lewes, Sussex, is just one of many properties she owned; she never lived there. Made a Princess of England and called "sister" by her former husband, Anne remained in England for the rest of her life.
There is evidence that during the reign of Henry's son, King Edward VI, Anne suffered some financial reverses due to Edward not paying her allowance. She gave up Richmond Castle and Hever and moved to a small country house at Dartford. Her lot improved with the accession of Henry's daughter Mary Tudor to the English throne, and for the short remainder of her life, Anne occupied an honoured place at court. She was the last of Henry's six wives to die, in London, on 16 July 1557, and was buried in Westminster Abbey after a royal funeral. By that time, she had converted to Roman Catholicism and remained on good terms with Queen Mary, her former stepdaughter.

In film

Elsa Lanchester appeared as Queen Anne in the 1933 film ''The Private Life of Henry VIII'' opposite Charles Laughton as Henry VIII. In this fanciful comedy of manners, Anne deliberately portrays herself as unattractive and naïve in order to persuade Henry to divorce her, thus enabling her to find love elsewhere.
In 1970, as part of the series ''The Six Wives of Henry VIII'', actress Elvi Hale played the title role in the 90-minute BBC television drama "Anne of Cleves" opposite Keith Michell's Henry VIII. Mollie Sugden played Anne's German lady-in-waiting. In this relatively accurate portrayal, Anne comes to England full of youthful naïveté and joyous hope, only to be horrified upon meeting her future husband (who was, by this time, morbidly obese). She quickly befriends her young stepdaughter, the Princess Elizabeth. Jenny Bos played Anne in the 1972 film ''Henry VIII and his Six Wives''. Catherine Siggins portrayed Anne in David Starkey's documentary on the wives in 2001. In 2003, Pia Girard played Anne of Cleves in the mini-series ''Henry VIII'' but appears only once in bed awaiting Henry, and once at the king's funeral seven years later.

In fiction

Philippa Gregory has written a novel, The Boleyn Inheritance, told from the viewpoint of three prominent women at the Tudor court of Henry VIII: Anne of Cleves, Catherine Howard and Jane Boleyn.
A book written by Margaret Campbell Barnes called "My Lady of Cleves" gives the story of how Anne's life might have been like between the time when her portrait was painted by Hans Holbein and when King Henry VIII died.

Historiography

It was Sir Horace Walpole, writing in the 18th century, who resurrected the myth which described Anne as "The Flanders Mare" — a monument to ugliness. This view persisted, and it is still a popular stereotype. Most modern historians, however, disagree with it, and the Holbein portrait certainly contradicts Walpole. Recent viewpoints suggest that it is more likely she found Henry to be the ugly one due to his obesity, and therefore purposely made him dislike her.
Another theory suggests that they agreed that they simply did not get along well with each other — Anne had been raised in the small provincial court at Düsseldorf and shared none of the musical and humanistic literary tastes of Henry's court. Another theory suggests that shifts in a threatened Catholic French-Spanish alliance removed any diplomatic motivations for their union. Henry and Anne split on amicable terms. This theory is supported by the fact that she received a good settlement.

External links

★ A quick overview of Anne's life, including a very good portrait gallery

★ A more in-depth examination of Anne's political career

★ More information on Anne's life after her annulment

★ A Google Earth biography tour of the Six Wives of Henry VIII on the Google Earth Community