Anne of Cleves: the only woman Henry did not personally meet before the marriage – and she would come to regret it.
Shadow of a Dead Woman
After the death of his third wife, Jane Seymour, Henry fell into a depression. He gained a significant amount of weight. A wound on his leg, which hindered him from most activities, worsened his condition. A new marriage was certainly not at the top of his wish list. However, he was still within the acceptable age range for a husband. After all, his only son could easily face an early death in an era with such high child mortality rates. Quite soon after Jane Seymour’s death, Henry’s closest advisor, Thomas Cromwell, began seeking a potential new bride.
In doing so, both the political balance between England, Spain, and France needed to be considered, as well as Henry’s past experiences, which had left their mark: Anne Boleyn’s fate was hardly an encouragement for young noblewomen to line up to become Henry’s new queen. Christina of Denmark was even quoted as saying that if she had two heads, one of them could be made available to Henry.
To counterbalance the growing powers of Spain and France, Cromwell sought alliances with the Protestant rulers of the German lands. He discovered that Duke William of Cleves had two young, unmarried sisters. Court painter Hans Holbein created a portrait of the elder sister, Anne. Together with Cromwell’s praises of the German noblewoman, the painting convinced Henry to enthusiastically agree to marry Anna. But who was Anne of Cleves?
Anne of Cleves, the Unknown German
Not much is known about the early life of Anne of Cleves. Born in 1515 near Düsseldorf, Anne, like her two sisters, received a very traditional upbringing from her conservative mother, where embroidery was valued more highly than foreign languages or music.
When marriage negotiations were finally completed and Anne left her family home for good in 1539 to travel to England, she was in no way prepared for the role she was to play in the future. She had not been trained in courtly manners and did not speak sufficient English. After her arrival in England, the Duke of Suffolk and his wife took Anne under their wing and taught her the basic customs of English society. Nevertheless, Anne continued to appear very unusual in her behavior and clothing.
Anne of Cleves eventually stayed at the Bishop of Rochester’s residence, and Henry’s patience ran out. He had waited so long to see his new bride that he could no longer wait for her official arrival in London. He rode to Rochester and presented Anne with a gift from the king while disguised. Anne did not recognize him and showed herself to be very shy. Henry was disappointed both by her reaction and by Anne herself. Right after meeting her, he reportedly said that she did not please him. Under Henry’s urging, attempts were made to prevent the wedding, but no solutions were found. Anne of Cleves and Henry were married on January 6, 1540, in Greenwich.
The Unloved Queen
The wedding night seemed to deepen Henry’s aversion to Anne even further. He reportedly found her body so repulsive that he could not consummate the marriage. A hidden motive here was certainly that an unconsummated marriage could still be annulled. Anne, on the other hand, appeared completely unaware of Henry’s dissatisfaction. To her ladies-in-waiting, she is said to have remarked that the king kissed her every evening and wished her good night—and kissed her every morning when saying goodbye—wasn’t that enough?
Henry worked towards dissolving the marriage, and his minister Thomas Cromwell, who had arranged the union and whom Henry now blamed for the whole mess, desperately tried to mitigate Henry’s wrath against him. Meanwhile, Anne was treated courteously but played little part in the proceedings since her English still wasn’t good. Henry had already set his sights on another lady at court: the young Katherine Howard.
Anne surely knew of both Anne Boleyn’s and Catherine of Aragon’s fates. Sooner or later she must have realized that the king was unhappy with her and worried about her future. The king had already disposed of two unwanted wives—what would happen to her? Additionally, she must have felt hurt when so much criticism about her appearance eventually emerged publicly. No one asked how attractive 25-year-old Anne found 49-year-old Henry, who was overweight and suffering from festering wounds on his leg.
The King’s Sister
Despite all the insult: when she was finally informed that the king planned to annul their marriage, Anne cooperated and fulfilled all demands made of her. She confirmed that their marriage had never been consummated and wrote a letter to her brother expressing her agreement with their separation so as not to anger the duke. Their marriage lasted only six months.
Henry was very pleased with her behavior, rewarding her not only with estates and income but also declaring her his “good sister.” She was thus given precedence over every English lady except for the king’s wife and daughters. Anne was not allowed to return to Cleves and allegedly did not wish to do so herself. She lived at Hever Castle as a wealthy noblewoman and regularly visited court. She even developed a friendly relationship with Henry’s new queen Katherine Howard, and their first shared New Year’s celebration was spent dancing happily together while the king had to retire early to care for his injured leg.
When Henry ultimately had Katherine Howard executed as well, Anne hoped that he might come back to her. To her disappointment, however, Henry married Catherine Parr instead—despite Anne’s own assessment that Catherine wasn’t nearly as beautiful as she herself was.
History seemed particularly unfair towards Anne of Cleves and her appearance. The statement attributed to Henry calling her a “Flemish mare” was likely invented 150 years later. Overall, it is said that Anne was neither exceptionally beautiful nor ugly. However, her foreign and unflattering attire along with her shy and inexperienced demeanor were enough to repulse Henry. In later years, as both her English skills and self-confidence improved, her relationship with Henry also grew better—at times there were even rumors of an affair between them.
The public also grew fond of Anne of Cleves over time due to her generosity with money and care for the poor. After Henry’s death, however, his son Edward VI reduced her allowances, though Mary I once again cared for her former stepmother during her reign—who was just one year older than Mary herself.
In 1557, at the age of 42, Anne developed cancer and passed away on July 16th, 1557. She was buried with full honors in Westminster Abbey. She outlived both Henry and all his wives. The portrait Hans Holbein painted of her—which initially captivated Henry—is today displayed in the Louvre in Paris.