Coat of Arms, Badge and Signature of the Six Tudor Queens
Katherine of Aragon Anne Boleyn Jane Seymour Anne of Cleves Katheryn Howard Kateryn [More]
Anne of Cleves
Anna of Cleves and Catherine Parr (Guest Post)
Guest post by Heather R. Darsie Anna of Cleves' marriage to Henry VIII ended in July 1540, scarcely six months after their official wedding took place. Swiftly after that, Henry married the very young Katheryn Howard. During Katheryn's fall from grace, there was strong speculation that Henry would take back Anna. Dignitaries from Cleves actively tried to convince Henry to remarry Anna in early 1542. Henry refused, and Parliament would not support the idea. Even still in [More]
The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Three)
She has gone down in history as the lucky fourth wife of Henry VIII...but as we?ve discovered in the first two parts of this series, Anne of Cleves was anything but ?lucky?, she was patient, intelligent and kind. She was human, like you and me. Unlike her predecessors Anne was able to maneuver through a failed marriage to become the longest surviving of all of Henry?s wives. READ PART ONE - CLICK HERE READ PART TWO - CLICK HERE At the end of Anne of Cleves, Part Two [More]
The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Two)
At the end of The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part One) we had covered Anne’s lineage, her education and the negotiations for her marriage with Henry VIII. We also covered the wedding, as well as the wedding night, and how Henry VIII was unhappy with their union - he had claimed he could not consummate the marriage but felt he definitely could perform the task with other women. And then there was Anne of Cleves who was still completely unaware of the gravity of the situation bu [More]
The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part One)
Listen to the Tudors Dynasty Podcast about Anne of Cleves here: Born on the 22nd of September 1515 in Dusseldorf, Anne of Cleves was the daughter of John III, Duke of Cleves and Maria of Julich Berg. Like Katherine of Aragon, Anne of Cleves had the grandest lineage of any of his other wives. She was descended from Edward I of England and on her father's idea was closely related to Louis XII of France as well as the dukes of Burgundy. Anne’s education was n [More]
Tudor Power Couple: Edward and Anne Seymour
The consummate “power couple from hell” Edward Seymour and his wife Anne Stanhope were portrayed in Showtime’s “The Tudors” as selfish, greedy and uncompromising. In real life you could say the same...or is there more to the story? Edward Seymour Born in 1500, Edward Seymour was the second son of John Seymour and Margery Wentworth and grew up at Wolf Hall. The eldest son of the couple, John most likely died in infancy - so Edward was now the oldest. He had nine siblin [More]
The Differences in the Wives of Henry VIII
Raised as the second son, or "spare", Henry Tudor, Duke of York was never intended to be King of England. When his older brother Arthur, Prince of Wales died unexpectedly in 1502 Henry was thrust into the spotlight as heir to the throne of England. His training began immediately and Henry despised the fact that his father controlled everything around him. He went from being raised with his sisters to being separated from the world. When there were discussions by Henry VII [More]
The Ladies Who Served: Anne of Cleves
When Anne of Cleves came to England she had brought along a group of her own ladies to serve her as queen. The French ambassador at the time is quoted as saying: She brings in her suite twelve or fifteen damsels as maids of honor, all dressed in the same fashion and with same vestments which she herself wears - a thing which has seemed rather strange in this place. The ladies that Anne of Cleve brought with her were less attractive than Anne herself and dressed in what was [More]
The Fall of a Queen: Anne of Cleves
After the death of his third wife, Henry VIII was in mourning for at least a couple of months. Once he came out of his very brief period of mourning it was time to consider a fourth bride - a foreign bride this time. Thomas Cromwell understood that is was important for Henry to have an alliance with a European nation. There were several attempts made for the king to consider a French wife and then there was the niece of Charles V, Christina of Denmark, dowager Duchess of [More]
Tudor Queens Come to Life with Portraits, Wax Figures and Descriptions of Appearance
All six of Henry VIII's queens were beautiful in their own way. Whether it was their physical beauty or their nature, there was something about each of them that the King was attracted to. Here we take a look at some wax figures of his wives and descriptions of their appearance - we are attempting to bring the Tudor queens to life. -- Katherine of Aragon Just after her marriage to Henry in 1509, Katharine was described, perhaps somewhat partially, by her Confessor, [More]
Evidence Against the Marriage of Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves
Here we look at all the King's men and their given depositions regarding the validity of the marriage between Henry VIII and Anne of Cleves. It gives us an interesting insight into each of their statements. We recently looked at Thomas Cromwell: Downfall and Execution and the events of his decline - now we look at what happened after his execution. How Henry VIII wished to rid himself of his fourth wife with the help of his closest courtiers: Suffolk, Wriothesley, Audle [More]
Portraits of a Queen: Anne of Cleves
Anne of Cleves was the fourth wife of King Henry VIII and many say the most lucky of his six wives. Anne was born in 1515 to John III, Duke of Cleves and Maria of Jülich-Berg in Düsseldorf, Germany. She and her sister Amelia were both considered as a future wife to Henry VIII - Anne was the lucky one. Lucky in the sense that it got her out of Germany and into a more free life in England. After her marriage with Henry was annulled Anne stayed in England for the res [More]
The Letter that Saved Anne of Cleves’ Life
Anne of Cleves is likely the most fortunate of all of Henry VIII's wives; She was only married to him for six months before their marriage was annulled and declared void and she never consummated their marriage with him - that alone would have been worth avoiding. Just imagine what Henry smelled like with that festering ulcer on his leg. Like rotting flesh. Eww. After reading this letter I believe it's what saved her from a worse fate. The more I think about it, I'm not so [More]
Children of Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII
Chapter 1 In mid 16th century England there were rumors of the epic proportion that had spread throughout the kingdom and beyond. These said rumors are what will be examined in this article. Rumor: Anne of Cleves had one, maybe two children by Henry VIII after they were separated from marriage. At this time in England, Henry VIII’s fifth wife, Katherine Howard was in the midst of being exposed for her past indiscretions along with her adulterous relationship wit [More]
Anne of Cleves and Henry VIII: The Short Life of a Marriage
This guest article is the sequel to - Anne of Cleves: Betrothal to Henry VIII Guest Article Written By: Samia Chebbah Anne of Cleves was a German princess. She arrived from Dusseldorf to England, two months after being betrothed to Henry VIII, on December 11th,1539.[1] She would become his fourth wife. What was different with this marriage was that the king waited two years before marrying again. Actually, his last queen, Jane Seymour died o [More]