Anne of Cleves

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part One)

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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 not that of a [More]

Tudor Power Couple: Edward and Anne Seymour

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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 siblings in all [More]

The Differences in the Wives of Henry VIII

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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

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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

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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

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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]