Lesson 5: My Sister, My Wife. Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves.
Anne of Cleves - or a close shave with Henry.
This segments aims to introduce students to Anne of Cleves.
1539
This year on St John's Day, 27 December, Lady Anne, daughter of the duke of Cleves in Germany, landed at Dover at 5 o'clock at night, and there was honorably received by the duke of Suffolk and other great lords, and so lodged in the castle. And on the following Monday she rode to Canterbury where she was honorably received by the archbishop of Canterbury and other great men, and lodged at the king's palace at St Austin's, and there highly feasted. On Tuesday she came to Sittingbourne.
1540
On New Year's Eve the duke of Norfolk with other knights and the barons of the exchequer received her grace on the heath, two miles beyond Rochester, and so brought her to the abbey of Rochester where she stayed that night and all New Years Day. And on New Years Day in the afternoon the king's grace with five of his privy chamber, being disguised with mottled cloaks with hoods so that they should not be recognized, came secretly to Rochester, and so went up into the chamber where the said Lady Anne was looking out of a window to see the bull-baiting which was going on in the courtyard, and suddenly he embraced and kissed her, and showed her a token which the king had sent her for New Year's gift, and she being abashed and not knowing who it was thanked him, and so he spoke with her. But she regarded him little, but always looked out the window.... 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. And when the lords and knights saw his grace they did him reverence.... and then her grace humbled herself lowly to the king's majesty, and his grace saluted her again, and they talked together lovingly, and afterwards he took her by the hand and led her to another chamber where their graces amused themselves that night and on Friday until the afternoon.
Anne of Cleves first days in England (Primary material recorded by Eustace Chapuys.
In the last days of 1539, a twenty-four year-old princess crossed the English Channel to become Henry VIII’s wife. Her time as Henry Tudor’s consort would last the shortest period of his six Queens, but, considering the fate of his next bride, Anne of Cleves, at the end of her ‘single’ life, she probably considered herself a very fortunate princess.
The oldest daughter of one of the German ruling families, her union with Henry VIII had culminated after months of careful diplomacy between England and Cleves. When Henry VIII viewed her portrait, painted by Holbein, Henry VIII’s own court painter, it appears he must have liked it enough; Henry VIII went forward with sending for his ‘mail order’ bride. (1) Looking today at this same portrait, Henry’s contentment is understandable. The portrait shows a young, pretty, gently smiling woman with ‘come hither’ eyes – there is nothing in this portrait – except for a slight bulge to the nose – that hints at reasons for Henry’s future disappointment with her.
Yet – just before and after the wedding to Anne – Henry bellowed his displeasure to all his ministers – especially to Thomas Cromwell. With Henry’s habit of finding some one, other than himself, to blame for his misfortunes, his anger now directed itself towards the one minister willing to do all the King’s dirty work, assisting the King to gain his desires.
Cromwell– in a time of one of life’s great just deserts – must have spent the time of Henry’s marriage fiasco to Anne of Cleves walking about the court in a cloud of dark fear. For it had been Cromwell who had shifted his King’s piece into an alliance with the German Lutheran Princes – an alliance more to Cromwell’s own liking as it took England away from the sphere of Charles V (2) but not to the liking of his monarch, who still saw himself as a good catholic prince.
But let me return to Anne’s arrival in England and a bit of Tudor comedy.
Anne’s journey to her new country took months – while, back in England, her bridegroom exhibited the usual Tudor impatience. Within days of Anne setting foot in England, Henry decided to see his bride incognita. In faint echoes of a much earlier time, when Henry VII and his son Arthur unexpectedly visited Catherine of Aragon before the official wedding, Henry VIII went to feast his eyes on his new Queen.
Alas, for Henry, their meeting did not have the same happy ending for him as it had for his father and older brother. Rather, it seems the meeting ended up with Henry gaining a new experience: his ego was hurt. The King – in his liking for disguises – decided that this was how Anne would first meet him. But no one told Anne. Probably, with her lack of English, they were unable to warn her. Confronted by a strange man bearing gifts and wanting to her embrace her in the name of the King, Anne acted bored. After taking the gifts, Anne returned to watching events unfold from her window.
Of course, when he returned royally garbed in robes of purple she knew what to do, acting the part of a princess welcoming her King. But the damage was done. “I like her not,” said Henry.
(1) Antonia Fraser, The Six wives of Henry VIII, page 301.
(2) Antonia Fraser, Work cited, page 300.
References:
Antonia Fraser; The Six Wives of Henry VIII;
The wives of Henry VIII, by Antonia Fraser. Although more than just one book will be referred to during this course, The wives of Henry VIII is the main reference 'text.' Written in a very readable manner, this book is a very sensitive account of the six women who became the consorts of Bluff King Hal. Antonia Fraser's research is always excellent.
Question:
Do you think it was a matter of hurt pride that Henry didn't like Anne of Cleves?
