Today in 1515 Anne of Cleves was born. She is most famous for being Henry VIII’s fourth wife, the one he deemed too ugly for him. The marriage was annulled on the grounds of nonconsummation, and so she was never crowned Queen Consort. When it became clear that Henry was going to end the marriage, she agreed to his demands, and became known as the King’s Sister. She wound up with a great deal of land and money, and was the second highest ranking woman in court, just after the Queen. Many people say that Anne was the lucky one, but it has to be said that she was bitterly disappointed in the way things went. After Henry disposed of Catherine Howard, his fifth wife, Anne hoped that Henry would take her back, and when he married Katherine Parr she commented that she (Anne) was much prettier than Katherine in a bit of a catty moment.
Anne was unable to go home, effectively being held hostage in England, but she was a hostage who had a great deal of money and comfort. And she lived for another decade after Henry had died, outliving all of his wives. She was close with Henry’s children, though she fell out of favor with Mary after she was implicated in Wyatt’s rebellion in 1554. She died, likely of cancer, 8 weeks before her 42nd birthday.
That’s your Tudor Minute for today. Remember you can dive deeper into life in 16th century England through the Renaissance English History Podcast at englandcast.com.
Suggested links:
Spring 2019 Tudor Summit: Heather Darsie on Anna of Cleves
Episode 121: Alison Weir on Anne of Cleves
Episode 061: Anne of Cleves
From the shop:
Anne of Cleves collection
Featuring: “‘She’s too ugly’, he said. I got all the castles.” Anne of Cleves Thug Life Shirt
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Heather Teysko is the creator, writer, and producer of The Renaissance English History Podcast, one of the longest running indie history podcasts, going since 2009. She's been writing about history online for over 25 years, since her first site on Colonial American history became number one in history on Yahoo in 1998. She writes books, created the original Tudor Planner (a yearly diary filled with Tudor history) and in 2019 created the world's first Tudorcon (you can "attend" online this year!). She has been passionate about Tudor England since she first read Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII 20 years ago, and subsequently moved to London after college to spend her time immersed in Tudor history.