Anne of Cleves (Anna Kliwijska) była żoną Henryka VIII może przez krótki czas, ale to właśnie ona miała chyba najlepsze życie po rozwodzie. Choć często się o niej zapomina, zdobyła majątek, niezależność i przeżyła wszystkie inne żony króla. O tej ciekawej postaci przeczytamy w kolejnym artykule w serii autorstwa Nidy Tasarz (klasa 3a), który ukazał się we wiosennym numerze naszej anglojęzycznej gazetki szkolnej AimHigh Magazine. Zapraszamy do lektury!
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Divorced – Anna von Kleve
Anne of Cleves – the fourth wife of Henry VIII. Originally, I planned to write the parts about her and the fifth wife, Catherine Howard, together, but I think that it simply wouldn’t do them justice. They often get put to the side, and I think that it’s simply not fair, which is why this is about Anne of Cleves. Anne often gets skipped over or ignored because she was Henry’s wife for a very short time, and she wasn’t as noticeable as Catherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn. Still, it’s literally the woman who got a divorce, got a castle, a palace, and other properties, got the title of “the King’s Beloved Sister” and outlived all the other wives. Notably, she wasn’t crowned Queen consort, but was buried as a Queen. All while not receiving a formal education.
Before starting, let’s clarify something. Anne was German, so I used the German form of her name in the title, while the more commonly used English version will be used for the rest of this text.
Let’s begin. Anne was born on either 28 June or 22 September 1515 in Düsseldorf. Her parents were John III and his wife, Maria. She had an older sister, as well as a younger one and a brother. An interesting fact about her family was that they weren’t really siding with one religion (Catholics or Lutherans); her mother was, for example, a Catholic, while her brother was a Lutheran. Anne also changed her confession due to where she lived, so religion didn’t seem to be a big problem in the family, despite the differences that surely existed. When Anne was eleven years old, she was betrothed to a nine-year-old, but that betrothal wasn’t official and canceled, but only eight years later, so they really took their time with that. Apart from that, Anne’s childhood was uneventful. She and her sisters were raised in the Frauenzimmer, which are chambers that men over the age of twelve weren’t allowed inside. The sisters also didn’t receive an education like their brother; what they were taught was limited to reading and writing, but only in German, as well as embroidery, sewing and other things deemed appropriate for women. What is interesting, they weren’t taught dancing or playing instruments.
That time of living with the family was brought to an end when Henry VIII started looking for another wife, and the negotiations for the wedding were very serious by march 1539. Just as a little reminder/information, Jane (the previous wife) died at the end of 1537. This is, considering it’s Henry VIII we’re speaking of, a remarkable period of time. Henry considered both Anne and Amalia, her younger sister, as candidates, but in the end, due to the portraits sent to him and maybe political aspects, he decided to marry Anne. Amalia never got married, because as much as there were plans to marry her to one of the sons of the Margraviate of Baden, the older son was immoral, while the younger was almost twelve years younger than Amalia, so her brother said she wouldn’t marry either of them. She helped him raise his daughters, though, which was nice. Allegedly, he also once almost killed her because he got angry at her. Which is less nice. Going back to Anne.
She came to England without any family members, because her father had just died, which didn’t allow her brother or mother to accompany her. Anne never left England after that. After she came to England, Henry decided to surprise her on New Year’s Day 1540 by coming to her room disguised. Which means he hugged her and kissed her, before giving her a gift from the king. Anne had no idea who he was, so she spoke to him, but kept looking out of the window. Henry felt put off by that. Looking at it from Anne’s perspective: she’s supposed to marry the king, and then a fat, probably badly smelling man, almost twice her age, kisses her. And then she finds out that’s the king. Maybe reconsider who should be put off by whom… Basically, Henry wanted to put off the wedding, and then complained and complained, but still married Anne. He also complained that she was less pretty than in the portrait. Almost like fake photos on dating profiles nowadays. Looks like people don’t change that much, after all. They didn’t consummate the marriage, but she always spoke well of him.
In June, she was told to leave the Court. In July, her husband reconsidered the marriage, and then she was asked whether or not she wanted a divorce. She agreed to a divorce and got away quite well. Unlike Cromwell, who arranged the marriage. He got beheaded the same year for a few reasons, the failed marriage being one of them. Anne got the title of “the King’s Beloved Sister”, which is certainly an interesting development, as well as many properties, including Richmond Palace, which was, for example, mentioned in the musical “Six”. She stayed in a friendly relationship with Henry, was invited to Court often, and after Catherine Howard was beheaded, there was the idea that Anne could remarry Henry. Henry didn’t like the idea, which was probably the better ending for Anne. Interestingly, Anne seemingly disliked Catherine Parr, Henry’s final wife.
After Henry’s death, Anne stayed in touch with his children and had a pretty good relationship with them, which also shows in the fact that Mary had her buried as a Queen of England. She had been present at Mary’s coronation, although their relationship got slightly worse because she sided with Elizabeth when she probably shouldn’t have. She lived in England until she died, but stayed in touch with her own siblings, with her brother even complaining about her staff, which showed they were still pretty close to know that kind of things. When her health started getting worse, Mary moved her to where Catherine Parr had lived after her remarriage, where Anne died, leaving a will, in which she mentioned her siblings, her sister-in-law, but also Elizabeth and a few other people. She also asked Mary and Elizabeth to take her servants into their households, which strengthens the opinion that she was a good person to those around her. She died on 16 July 1557, probably due to cancer. She was the last one of Henry’s wives to die.
Anne is, in my opinion, a very interesting person. I think her story shows that you can be good to those around you, even if life isn’t always nice to you, but it also shows that in the end, you may get that kindness back somehow. My personal opinion is that she’s very pretty, according to the portraits, very mature, though that was exactly what wasn’t liked in England back then. Overall, I think a person can’t just be ignored because she didn’t make a big drama around herself, and I think that because of the lack of drama, she outlived Henry. She also showed that sometimes, just playing along is better than arguing. Of course, all of Henry’s wives deserved better, no doubt. They were people, not just his wives, although it’s important to note that without him, we wouldn’t really know about them. But, because finishing with a positive accent is important, let’s do it with lyrics from the musical “Six”.
“You, you said that I tricked ya
‘Cause I, I didn’t look like m profile picture
Too, too bad I don’t agree
So I’m gonna hang it up for everyone to see
And you can’t stop me ‘cause
I’m the Queen of the castle
Get down you dirty rascal”
Nida Tasarz (3a)
