Anne of Cleves

Anna of Cleves and Catherine Parr (Guest Post)

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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]

What was the Frauenzimmer? (Guest Post)

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By Heather R. Darsie ?In the 15th century, the word “vrouwenzimmer” slowly entered the German lexicon, becoming a fully-fledged concept by the late 15th to early 16th century. Literally meaning “woman’s room,” the word applied to the secondary court which developed around the women of a noble household. The word “Frau,” now simply meaning a woman or a married woman (for example, Mrs. Jones would be Frau Jones), the word “Frau” used to apply explicitly to a married [More]

Get Out of Jail Free Cards: The Many Annulments of Henry VIII (Guest Post)

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By Jillianne Hamilton Everyone knows Henry VIII was unlucky in love. Not nearly as unlucky as many of his wives, of course, but Henry would certainly have considered himself the most unfortunate man in England when it came to his married life. The excuses he used to get out of his marriage varied from wife to wife. But he and his advisors were able to come up with excuses that never put the king at fault. Ever. His first marriage was the most complicated to end [More]

Katheryn Howard: Part One

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The story of Katheryn Howard intertwines with many other notable figures of the time but none more than Anne of Cleves and Thomas Cromwell. We’ll start with Katheryn’s childhood and attempt to chronologically move through time until her execution in 1542. After writing Part One, I realized her story deserves multiple parts. Part One, will start from Katheryn’s childhood up to her marriage to King Henry VIII. Part Two will cover her downfall. That part of her life definit [More]

Mary Howard: Too Wise for a Woman

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In this article I will be discussing one of my favorite women at Tudor court - the fearless Mary Howard, Duchess of Richmond and Somerset. Mary had the bravery that wasn't often shown by a woman during this time period. She wasn't afraid to stand up for what she thought was right. It was her father who was quoted as saying that Mary was, "too wise for a woman" - one of the reasons I love her so much. This post was originally a podcast that was transcribed into an [More]

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Three)

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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 [More]

The Life of Anne of Cleves (Part Two)

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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)

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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 n [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 siblin [More]

Understanding Young Elizabeth Tudor

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Through my constant research of Thomas Seymour I've been led on an unexpected journey to discovering the young Elizabeth Tudor. From those who read my blog often you know that I tend to write mostly about the reign of Henry VIII because, well, that's where I started and there is so much to tell! This is why I've decided to write this piece about my current understanding of Elizabeth Tudor - undoubtedly a monarch I still have a lot to learn about. Born on the 7th of [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]