WEBVTT - Divorced II (From the Archive) 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:04.920 Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of iHeartRadio and Grim 0:00:04.960 --> 0:00:10.119 and Mild from Aaron Manky. Listener discretion advised, this is 0:00:10.240 --> 0:00:14.200 Dana Schwartz. While I'm on maternity leave. Noble Blood is 0:00:14.280 --> 0:00:18.800 revisiting the original series I did years ago on the 0:00:19.000 --> 0:00:23.120 Six Wives of Henry the Eighth. Today's episode is about 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:27.280 Anne of Cleaves, the German princess who is best known 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.640 for a painting that Henry the Eighth approved and then 0:00:30.800 --> 0:00:34.519 in appearance in real life that he did not. But 0:00:34.680 --> 0:00:38.199 the story might be a little more nuanced than. 0:00:38.200 --> 0:00:46.080 You might have heard. I hope you enjoy. Anne of 0:00:46.159 --> 0:00:50.599 Cleaves had traveled over three hundred miles by land and 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:54.240 by sea to come to England to meet her future 0:00:54.360 --> 0:00:59.240 husband to be, King Henry the Eighth. Neither had laid 0:00:59.240 --> 0:01:02.440 eyes on the other before the marriage arrangement was finalized, 0:01:03.000 --> 0:01:05.400 but Henry had commissioned a portrait of Anne, and he 0:01:05.560 --> 0:01:07.560 liked what he saw well enough to agree to the 0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:12.640 diplomatic match, and so arrangements were made for the twenty 0:01:12.680 --> 0:01:16.160 four year old sister of a prominent duke to become 0:01:16.280 --> 0:01:22.360 wife number four. After weeks of travel, Anne enterr entourage 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:26.119 made it to Rochester in England. On New Year's Eve, 0:01:26.520 --> 0:01:30.559 the final day of fifteen thirty nine, she was staying 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.560 there at the Bishop's Palace. In three days time she 0:01:34.600 --> 0:01:37.400 would make her way to London, where she was supposed 0:01:37.400 --> 0:01:42.040 to meet her future husband for the first time. On 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:45.640 New Year's Day, Anne found herself gazing out the window 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:49.520 of her bedchamber into the courtroom below, where a celebratory 0:01:49.600 --> 0:01:54.600 bull baiting was occurring. Anne didn't speak English, only German, 0:01:54.800 --> 0:01:57.720 and while her escorts had been nothing but polite and 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:01.360 deferential to her, she was still in an alien country 0:02:01.840 --> 0:02:06.120 where the clothings, customs, even the smiles could be sinister. 0:02:07.120 --> 0:02:09.840 They had warned her that the English court was a 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:14.600 dangerous place. Watching the men dance around the animals in 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.800 the courtyard below, the dog dodging in between the legs 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.880 of the bull, Anne wondered if she had come to 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:26.400 England to be predator or prey. She had the uneasy 0:02:26.480 --> 0:02:30.760 sense that the position of queen wasn't a spectator role, 0:02:31.360 --> 0:02:34.400 and the bull baiting never ends well for either the 0:02:34.480 --> 0:02:38.639 dog or the bull. The English seemed to enjoy their 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:43.040 sports when they end in blood. It was at that 0:02:43.240 --> 0:02:47.639 moment that her chamber door flung open, and nine men 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:54.000 wearing hooded cloaks swept into the room. Anne screamed, but 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.480 before the sound had even left her mouth, the tallest 0:02:57.600 --> 0:03:01.160 of the men had ensnared her in his arms and 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:06.200 attempted to sweep her into a kiss. Anne wriggled away, 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:11.400 disgusted and called for help In German. She begged her 0:03:11.440 --> 0:03:15.399 attendants for an explanation. The men didn't seem to mean 0:03:15.440 --> 0:03:20.440 any harm. In fact, they had begun to laugh. The 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.280 man who had tried to kiss her, she saw, who 0:03:23.320 --> 0:03:26.880 was not only the tallest but also the widest, had 0:03:26.919 --> 0:03:30.760 an uneasy gait and a glint of red hair that 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:34.880 flashed from beneath his hood. After a few words in 0:03:35.000 --> 0:03:41.080 English that Anne couldn't comprehend, all of the men walked away. 0:03:41.160 --> 0:03:43.840 It was a game, When of her attendants explained to 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:48.640 her a courtly game of chivalry. The men were pretending 0:03:48.720 --> 0:03:52.920 to be robin Hood or romantic heroes. I don't understand, 0:03:53.000 --> 0:03:56.960 Anne replied, I'm going to marry the king. No, why 0:03:57.000 --> 0:04:00.760 would anyone insult him by trying to compromise is my honor? 0:04:01.960 --> 0:04:05.280 Anne got her answer a moment later, when the same 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:09.520 retinue of men re entered her chamber, this time without 0:04:09.600 --> 0:04:15.600 their cloaks. Now the tall broad man wore purple and gold. 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:20.320 His hair and beard were red, and as he stepped forward, 0:04:20.720 --> 0:04:26.600 everyone around Anne lowered into a bow. Anne bowed too. 0:04:26.640 --> 0:04:30.440 Of course, the man was King Henry the Eighth himself, 0:04:31.760 --> 0:04:34.839 Not content to wait three days to see his bride. 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:40.120 Henry had come to surprise her early in disguise, imagining 0:04:40.160 --> 0:04:44.000 that she would fall instantly in love, as soulmates do. 0:04:45.240 --> 0:04:47.479 It would be like something out of the stories of 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:50.640 King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, the 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:55.280 beautiful princess recognizing her love even as he's disguised as 0:04:55.320 --> 0:05:00.719 a common knave. Henry had played masquerade games in court decades. 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:04.919 His courtiers were well practiced in both treating him with 0:05:05.080 --> 0:05:08.400 nothing but flattery when he was in his flimsy disguises, 0:05:09.160 --> 0:05:14.080 and at feigning delighted surprise when the king unmasked himself. 0:05:15.200 --> 0:05:18.800 But Anne had never seen Henry before, let alone heard 0:05:18.800 --> 0:05:23.719 of his proclivity for self indulgent theatrics. To her, here 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.640 was just a strange middle aged man attempting to assault 0:05:27.640 --> 0:05:31.479 her days before her wedding. As soon as she saw 0:05:31.560 --> 0:05:34.839 the King in his royal finery. She lowered her face 0:05:34.920 --> 0:05:39.720 to the floor to avoid the discomfort of their mutual humiliation, 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:43.520 but King Henry just laughed and raised her up and 0:05:43.600 --> 0:05:47.599 kissed her on the cheek. The two made polite conversation 0:05:48.040 --> 0:05:51.440 with an interpreter and bid each other goodbye until they 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:54.080 would see each other in London in a few days time. 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:58.719 The disaster, it seemed, had been averted by their mutual 0:05:58.760 --> 0:06:03.200 good humor, But the moment Henry left the Bishop's palace, 0:06:03.600 --> 0:06:08.760 the good humor dissolved from his face, replaced with a scowl. 0:06:09.160 --> 0:06:13.039 He turned to his minister, Thomas Cromwell, riding next to 0:06:13.080 --> 0:06:17.279 him on a horse. I like her not, Henry said. 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:24.440 It was an inauspicious start to an inauspicious marriage. Though 0:06:24.440 --> 0:06:27.640 Anne of Cleaves is now mainly remembered for being less 0:06:27.640 --> 0:06:30.800 attractive than her portrait made her out to be, her 0:06:30.800 --> 0:06:34.680 story goes much deeper than that. She spent her life 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:39.000 in England outliving all five of Henry's other wives, something 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.359 between a hostage and a casualty of Henry the Eighth's 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:46.240 narcissism and ego. She was a woman who did what 0:06:46.360 --> 0:06:52.240 it took to survive. I'm Danish Schwartz, and this is 0:06:52.320 --> 0:07:01.120 noble blood. It had been two years since Henry's third wife, 0:07:01.360 --> 0:07:05.400 Jane Seymour, died after giving birth to their son, Edward. 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.960 Henry of course felt the immense relief at having a 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:13.720 male heir, a toddler whom everyone assured him was perfectly healthy. 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:17.880 But two years without a wife was enough time in mourning. Besides, 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:20.840 everyone knows you need a second son, just in case 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:24.880 a backup. Henry already had a tiny Prince of Wales, 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:29.160 and now he wanted a baby Duke of York. Henry's 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:32.840 first choice of bride was the beautiful French widow Madame 0:07:32.920 --> 0:07:37.920 de Longueville born Mary of Geese. Henry sent envoys to 0:07:37.960 --> 0:07:41.480 France to try to negotiate to try to entice her 0:07:41.640 --> 0:07:45.360 to become the fourth Queen of England, but Mary of 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.160 Geese was already spoken for, engaged to the young and 0:07:49.440 --> 0:07:54.320 very handsome King James of Scotland. Though Henry demanded some 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:58.200 diplomatic wheedling to try to break up their engagement, it 0:07:58.360 --> 0:08:02.080 was a lost cause. Both Mary of Geese and King 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:06.160 James of Scotland were attractive and in their twenties. Henry 0:08:06.280 --> 0:08:10.560 was in his late forties, already expanding with a swollen 0:08:10.680 --> 0:08:14.200 leg that needed to be periodically punctured to let the 0:08:14.320 --> 0:08:20.800 ooze out. Mary politely declined his offer and married James. 0:08:21.720 --> 0:08:25.960 A little stung, Henry asked the French ambassador to assemble 0:08:26.040 --> 0:08:29.520 all of the eligible French women at the same manor 0:08:29.560 --> 0:08:32.880 house in Calais so he Henry could come by and 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:37.760 choose one. The King of France, Francis the First, was 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:42.880 outraged when he heard Henry's proposition. It is not our custom, 0:08:43.160 --> 0:08:47.440 he wrote back, to display women of noble rank like 0:08:47.559 --> 0:08:51.679 horses for sale. Henry would need to look further afield 0:08:51.880 --> 0:09:00.160 to find his next bride. In Brussels, Henry's ambassador, Thomas Rothsley, 0:09:00.640 --> 0:09:04.680 had finally convinced the beautiful Christina of Denmark to sit 0:09:04.760 --> 0:09:07.120 for a portrait so that they could send it back 0:09:07.160 --> 0:09:09.280 to Henry and he could see what she looked like. 0:09:10.120 --> 0:09:14.920 Christina was tall and willowy. She had dimples when she smiled, 0:09:15.120 --> 0:09:18.280 one in each cheek and one that appeared in her 0:09:18.400 --> 0:09:22.839 chin when she was laughing. She was widely praised among 0:09:22.880 --> 0:09:27.040 the courts of Europe for her gentle nature. People whispered 0:09:27.080 --> 0:09:31.600 that she was also brilliant she spoke three languages. She 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:35.320 also had very little interest in King Henry the Eighth. 0:09:36.240 --> 0:09:39.080 Christina knew all about what had happened to Catherine of 0:09:39.120 --> 0:09:44.040 Aragon so cruelly disposed of, and to Anne Boleyn, and 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:47.600 the third one had died too, hadn't she No, it 0:09:47.679 --> 0:09:50.600 was much safer not to be a wife at the 0:09:50.679 --> 0:09:55.680 mercy of Henry's fickle whims and mercurial mood swings. While 0:09:55.760 --> 0:09:59.679 Christina posed for her portrait, Rosley tried to convince her 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:03.120 of he Henry's charms. He told her that Henry was 0:10:03.240 --> 0:10:07.520 gentle and kind and good. Christina couldn't help but laugh 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:10.320 at that, hard enough that the dimple in her chin appeared. 0:10:11.120 --> 0:10:14.319 I would marry King Henry, she said, if I only 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:18.640 had an extra head to spare. Another dead end and 0:10:18.720 --> 0:10:21.559 another blow to the ego of the king who had 0:10:21.600 --> 0:10:26.280 once been celebrated for his looks and charm. And now 0:10:26.400 --> 0:10:29.839 the need for Henry to make a diplomatic marriage was increasing. 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.960 Thanks to the kerfuffle of divorcing Catherine of Aragon and 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:39.079 marrying Anne Boleyn, Henry was excommunicated, which meant any neighboring 0:10:39.120 --> 0:10:42.160 country could invade England and claim it was in the 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:46.320 name of the Church, and the Catholic nations around England 0:10:46.400 --> 0:10:50.480 seemed to be getting pretty cozy. King Francis the First 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.160 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Fifth looked to 0:10:54.200 --> 0:10:57.280 be forging a little friendship. The two of them were 0:10:57.360 --> 0:11:01.680 gallivanting around the Louver Palace together while the English ambassador 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:07.000 present was assigned the smallest, least hospitable rooms possible. If 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:10.480 the two of them united and attacked England, Henry had 0:11:10.640 --> 0:11:14.719 very few international allies who would help him. Henry had 0:11:14.720 --> 0:11:22.640 married for love before, and now he needed a foreign bride. 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.400 Though Henry was excommunicated, he still wasn't a Lutheran, which 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:30.920 limited his options for a bride a bit. What about 0:11:31.040 --> 0:11:36.439 Cleves Julich, Henry's adviser, Thomas Cromwell offered one day. Their 0:11:36.520 --> 0:11:39.800 new duke was a reformed Catholic, but no friend of 0:11:39.800 --> 0:11:45.439 the pope, and he had an unmarried sister. When Rothsley 0:11:45.520 --> 0:11:49.400 went to visit Cleaves, Germanic custom meant that the unmarried 0:11:49.440 --> 0:11:55.920 girl appeared wearing heavy veils. Well, Henry bellowed when Rosley returned, 0:11:56.840 --> 0:12:00.800 so much prettier than Christina of Denmark. Rothesley assured the King, 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:04.240 but Henry didn't need to take his word for it. 0:12:04.640 --> 0:12:07.320 He had commissioned a portrait of the girl, Anne of 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:11.880 Cleaves by Hans Holbein, and when the portrait came back, 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:17.360 Henry was entranced. She had a gentle, kind face and 0:12:17.440 --> 0:12:21.640 heavy lidded eyes that made her look both mysterious and wise. 0:12:22.679 --> 0:12:27.439 Henry spent hours staring at the portrait, imagining his hands 0:12:27.480 --> 0:12:31.760 around her tiny waist and his lips upon her perfect 0:12:32.080 --> 0:12:37.640 smooth cheeks. The match was set. Twenty four year old 0:12:37.760 --> 0:12:41.280 Anne of Cleaves, who had never before left the cloistered 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:45.200 confines of her family, was going to become the next 0:12:45.400 --> 0:12:55.559 Queen of England. Though Anne of Cleaves had a sterling 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.960 noble lineage on both sides of her family, she was 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:03.560 almost entirely unprepared for life in the English court. No 0:13:03.600 --> 0:13:06.040 one had ever really believed she would marry higher than 0:13:06.080 --> 0:13:11.160 being a duchess. She spoke only German, no English or French, 0:13:11.840 --> 0:13:15.720 and she was untrained in music and poetry. The only 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:18.480 dances she knew were the German ones she had grown 0:13:18.559 --> 0:13:22.320 up with. But prepared or not, the chance to become 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.240 the Queen of England was not something her family was 0:13:25.280 --> 0:13:29.480 going to refuse, especially because being unmarried at twenty four, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:32.840 Anne was beginning to become a bit of an embarrassment. 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:37.320 Henry wanted her to travel north via Antwerp on her 0:13:37.320 --> 0:13:39.640 way to England so she wouldn't have to pass through 0:13:39.640 --> 0:13:42.600 the lands of the Holy Roman Emperor, but that would 0:13:42.760 --> 0:13:46.560 necessitate a longer sea voyage, and Anne's mother didn't want 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.280 to risk Anne's complexion being damaged by the salty sea air. 0:13:51.160 --> 0:13:54.400 After all, Henry only wanted her because he liked what 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:58.360 he saw in the portrait, so permission was asked and 0:13:58.480 --> 0:14:01.840 granted by Charles the Fifth, and Anne and her retinue 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:06.160 of nearly three hundred people traveled across Europe towards her 0:14:06.200 --> 0:14:10.480 new future in Calais, where Anne was set to board 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.160 a boat across the English Channel. Anne was delayed two 0:14:14.200 --> 0:14:19.120 weeks by foul weather. Rothsley was apologetic. He brought Anne 0:14:19.120 --> 0:14:22.560 to see the ship all ready for her departure, dripping 0:14:22.640 --> 0:14:27.560 in festive streamers and ribbons and banners. No matter, Anne said, 0:14:27.960 --> 0:14:30.080 I'll take this time to learn of my new people 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.960 and my new husband. While staying in Calais at the 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:38.520 home of Lord and Lady Lisel, Anne asked Rothsley for 0:14:38.600 --> 0:14:43.280 his help via translator. Rothsley taught Anne how to play 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:48.120 Henry's favorite card game called Scent. Anne also requested that 0:14:48.240 --> 0:14:51.720 Rothsley bring English noblemen and ladies to dine with her, 0:14:52.160 --> 0:14:55.360 so that she could learn English table manners and become 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:58.240 more accustomed to the patter of their jokes and the 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.720 pattern of their speech. She didn't understand the language, but 0:15:02.800 --> 0:15:07.160 she smiled and laughed alongside them. All the same letters 0:15:07.240 --> 0:15:11.560 arrived for Henry describing how charming and good natured his 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:19.040 bride on the way was. Henry was jittery with anticipation. 0:15:19.880 --> 0:15:22.640 He was supposed to spend Christmas with Anne, but the 0:15:22.680 --> 0:15:27.320 weather delay meant he spent it alone. He paced his palaces, 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:31.960 waiting for her to arrive, like a package to be delivered. Finally, 0:15:32.120 --> 0:15:35.200 by New Year's Eve, Anne had made it to Richmond, 0:15:35.800 --> 0:15:39.280 and Henry, not willing to wait any longer, rode out 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:42.720 to surprise her. That was when he first appeared to 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:46.400 her in his robin hood costume, imagining that she would 0:15:46.400 --> 0:15:50.440 be so taken by his handsomeness that she would succumb immediately. 0:15:50.880 --> 0:15:54.880 Imminent marriage be damned. These were the sort of courtly 0:15:54.960 --> 0:15:58.000 games that Henry was used to everyone around him indulging 0:15:58.040 --> 0:16:01.040 him in. Catherine of Erica had grown up in the 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:04.120 great courts of Europe. She would have known exactly how 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.040 to react and clever. Anne Boleyn would have also perfectly 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:11.880 matched Henry in this game. But Anne of Cleves was 0:16:11.920 --> 0:16:15.920 a complete stranger and totally unaware of both what Henry 0:16:15.960 --> 0:16:18.600 looked like and of what the game she was supposed 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:23.680 to be playing was. She left Henry humiliated, smarting from 0:16:23.720 --> 0:16:26.720 the pushed down knowledge that maybe he was no longer 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:30.320 as handsome as he once was. Well, what of it, 0:16:30.520 --> 0:16:34.400 Henry thought, She is not so pretty herself, not nearly 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:36.520 as pretty as that portrait made her out to be. 0:16:37.800 --> 0:16:41.600 His first three marriages had been love matches with women 0:16:41.640 --> 0:16:44.720 who matched him in wits and flattered him with affection. 0:16:45.640 --> 0:16:49.000 Now Henry was being roped into a diplomatic marriage with 0:16:49.040 --> 0:16:52.760 a stranger, and he did not care for it one bit. 0:16:54.160 --> 0:16:57.600 Anne of Cleaves arrived in London in a drawn chariot 0:16:57.680 --> 0:17:02.960 flanked by one hundred horsemen wearing livery embroidered with golden lions. 0:17:03.680 --> 0:17:07.680 Anne was escorted to a massive pavilion with lit fires 0:17:07.720 --> 0:17:11.159 inside where she was dressed in a gold gown with 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:14.600 a round skirt in the Dutch fashion, and given a 0:17:14.720 --> 0:17:19.640 round pearl bonnet to set atop her head. As for Henry, 0:17:19.720 --> 0:17:22.760 when she arrived, he played the part of the loving groom, 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:27.159 perfectly smiling and extending his arms and kissing her in 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:31.280 welcome But as soon as the pageant was over he 0:17:31.440 --> 0:17:35.720 turned to Cromwell, Get me out of this marriage, he said, 0:17:40.000 --> 0:17:43.320 But it was too late. The wheels of diplomacy had 0:17:43.359 --> 0:17:47.080 already been set into motion. If Henry were to reject 0:17:47.080 --> 0:17:49.920 Anne at this point, he would anger not only Anne 0:17:49.960 --> 0:17:54.320 in her powerful family, but all of their allies across Germany, 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:59.280 especially if he was rejecting her for no good reason. Cromwell, 0:17:59.359 --> 0:18:02.600 for his part, tried his best back. When Anne had 0:18:02.640 --> 0:18:05.560 been ten, she had been temporarily engaged to the Duke 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.159 of Lorraine. If she was pre contracted, that would avoid 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:13.640 the marriage arrangement with Henry. The ambassador from Cleaves was 0:18:13.960 --> 0:18:17.399 confused when Cromwell brought it up to him. She was 0:18:17.440 --> 0:18:19.840 a child, then, he said, it was before the age 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.520 of consent. No one actually believes it was a legitimate engagement. 0:18:24.000 --> 0:18:28.159 Cromwell knew that well enough but still Cromwell had the 0:18:28.280 --> 0:18:32.800 confused and scrambling ambassador from Cleaves agreed to send for 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:35.800 the proper paperwork back in Germany that would prove that 0:18:35.840 --> 0:18:39.640 Anne was completely free and clear to marry Henry as 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:47.800 everyone knew. The two were married. On January sixth, fifteen forty. 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:51.160 The forty eight year old King Henry the eighth got 0:18:51.200 --> 0:18:55.560 married for the fourth time to Anne of Cleaves. She 0:18:55.640 --> 0:18:59.920 wore her long blonde hair loose beneath a golden cornet 0:19:00.440 --> 0:19:05.720 set with jewels and fresh sprigs of rosemary. That evening, 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:09.200 they were ceremonially put to bed so that the pair 0:19:09.359 --> 0:19:13.160 might conceive another son for Henry, a little Duke of York. 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:19.879 They didn't Henry, how do I put this, couldn't sail 0:19:20.040 --> 0:19:25.639 his boat without a stiff breeze. Young virginal Anne, who 0:19:25.720 --> 0:19:29.919 had only been instructed with the vaguest possible descriptions of 0:19:29.960 --> 0:19:33.359 what was expected of her, to spend the night asleep 0:19:33.640 --> 0:19:39.040 next to her new husband. The next morning, Henry confronted Cromwell. 0:19:39.640 --> 0:19:42.320 I like her not before, but now I like her 0:19:42.440 --> 0:19:46.919 much less. He consulted his doctors about his sexual problems, 0:19:47.160 --> 0:19:49.720 while making it very clear to anyone who would listen 0:19:49.880 --> 0:19:53.000 that it was not his fault. I mean I saw 0:19:53.040 --> 0:19:56.680 the way her breasts and her belly sagged. Henry said, 0:19:57.280 --> 0:19:59.600 she probably wasn't even a virgin. 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:03.359 Henry made sure that the doctors wrote down that it 0:20:03.440 --> 0:20:08.480 wasn't his fault. He wasn't impotent. He had two missions 0:20:08.680 --> 0:20:12.760 in the night in his sleep. Doctors advised that he 0:20:12.880 --> 0:20:15.879 take a night off from trying, and so on the 0:20:15.920 --> 0:20:19.359 third night, he once again went to Anne's bed, where 0:20:19.359 --> 0:20:28.960 he once again failed to consummate the union. No virgin 0:20:29.119 --> 0:20:32.439 has breasts like that, Henry said, that has to be 0:20:32.440 --> 0:20:34.800 a good enough reason to get this marriage in alled right. 0:20:35.320 --> 0:20:39.320 What more proof could I possibly need? Also, she smells. 0:20:40.320 --> 0:20:44.320 To make matters worse, the Franco imperial threat that Cromwell 0:20:44.320 --> 0:20:48.520 had warned about never actually materialized, which meant that this 0:20:48.640 --> 0:20:54.679 diplomatic marriage, which had seemed so important, was now basically worthless. 0:20:55.640 --> 0:20:59.040 Though Anne was still in the slow process of learning English, 0:20:59.200 --> 0:21:02.160 it was abundantly clear that Henry wasn't pleased with her. 0:21:02.920 --> 0:21:05.240 He kissed her good morning and good night, and came 0:21:05.280 --> 0:21:08.800 to her bedroom, but his increasing chill was obvious in 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:12.960 any language. Anne began wearing a French hood, like the 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.960 kind that Anne Boleyn used to wear, one that showed 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:19.800 off her beautiful blonde hair, but Henry paid her no attention. 0:21:20.600 --> 0:21:24.720 He much preferred flirting with the very young Katherine Howard, 0:21:25.200 --> 0:21:29.200 a very pretty teenager who, like the late Anne Boleyn, 0:21:29.800 --> 0:21:35.800 was a niece of the powerful Duke of Norfolk. When 0:21:35.800 --> 0:21:38.360 it was time for Anne of Cleaves to establish her 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.760 own household at Greenwich, all of her ladies in waiting 0:21:41.960 --> 0:21:46.040 were Henry's choice. Anne requested that one of the ladies 0:21:46.080 --> 0:21:49.800 be Catherine Beset, the daughter of Lord Liesl, who had 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:52.640 been so warm and hospitable to her during her two 0:21:52.720 --> 0:21:57.280 weeks stay in Calais, but Henry rejected the proposition, not 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.199 attractive enough. If he was going to have to be 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:02.760 married to an ugly wife, he at least wanted to 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:07.040 be surrounded by attractive ladies in waiting. Of course, Catherine 0:22:07.080 --> 0:22:11.440 Howard was given a position outside the bedroom. Anne of 0:22:11.520 --> 0:22:14.119 Cleaves was finding that she was good at being queen, 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:17.320 and she was, for the most part enjoying it. Though 0:22:17.320 --> 0:22:20.480 she had been Catholic, of course, she converted to Anglicanism 0:22:20.520 --> 0:22:24.639 when she married Henry. The Reformers loved her, and the 0:22:24.680 --> 0:22:28.360 people loved her, mostly because she wasn't that social climbing 0:22:28.400 --> 0:22:31.840 little nobody Catherine Howard, who seemed to be monopolizing all 0:22:31.840 --> 0:22:35.399 of the King's attention. Everyone seemed to find Anne of 0:22:35.440 --> 0:22:41.200 Cleaves charming, everyone except her husband. Even after three wives. 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:45.560 One thing remained consistent about Henry the Eighth. When he 0:22:45.680 --> 0:22:48.000 was done with a woman, he wanted her out of 0:22:48.119 --> 0:22:50.600 sight so he didn't have to deal with her himself. 0:22:51.960 --> 0:22:55.879 Late in the spring, just months after their wedding, Anne 0:22:55.880 --> 0:22:59.720 got word that Henry wanted her household moved to Richmond, 0:23:00.600 --> 0:23:04.119 far from the plague in London. She was told it 0:23:04.160 --> 0:23:07.560 was a thin excuse. I'm going the way of Catherine 0:23:07.600 --> 0:23:11.520 of Arragon, She told one of her ladies. He's disposing 0:23:11.600 --> 0:23:14.560 of me. What power did she have to stop him. 0:23:15.160 --> 0:23:17.560 She was in a foreign country where she didn't speak 0:23:17.560 --> 0:23:21.200 the language and had no power. Her brother seemed very 0:23:21.240 --> 0:23:24.679 far away, and anyway, she believed it was her fault. 0:23:25.440 --> 0:23:28.040 If she had been able to consummate the marriage with Henry, 0:23:28.200 --> 0:23:31.359 none of this would be happening. In the middle of 0:23:31.359 --> 0:23:35.040 the night on June twenty fourth, a messenger arrived and 0:23:35.119 --> 0:23:38.360 an interpreter delivered the news to Anne. That the King 0:23:38.560 --> 0:23:42.440 was beginning an investigation to determine whether or not their 0:23:42.480 --> 0:23:48.879 marriage was valid. With extraordinary composure, Anne signed the request. Anna, 0:23:49.200 --> 0:23:54.040 daughter of Cleaves, thanked the man and went about her business. 0:23:54.640 --> 0:23:58.800 Her confusion, her shame, her hurt, her fear. All of 0:23:58.880 --> 0:24:03.359 that was dealt with. Cromwell knew he was hanging on 0:24:03.480 --> 0:24:06.720 by a thin rope. After all, the marriage to Anne 0:24:06.760 --> 0:24:09.360 of Cleaves had been his idea all along, and now 0:24:09.400 --> 0:24:12.320 it was a disaster. He needs to figure out a 0:24:12.359 --> 0:24:15.320 way to give the King the divorce he wanted and fast. 0:24:16.520 --> 0:24:20.920 During the investigation, two of Anne's ladies testified they had 0:24:20.960 --> 0:24:23.400 talked with the brand new queen a few weeks after 0:24:23.400 --> 0:24:26.760 her wedding and inquired as to whether a little prince 0:24:26.880 --> 0:24:30.600 might be on the way. According to them, Anne said 0:24:30.680 --> 0:24:33.040 that the King kissed her good night and fell asleep, 0:24:33.200 --> 0:24:36.680 and then in the morning bid her farewell. Anne had 0:24:36.680 --> 0:24:40.360 looked at the ladies with wide doe eyes. That's enough, right, 0:24:40.680 --> 0:24:45.119 she asked. That story became the gossip of court, repeated 0:24:45.359 --> 0:24:49.679 endlessly until ultimately it became an anecdote of history to 0:24:49.800 --> 0:24:52.520 prove that Anne of Cleaves was not only a virgin, 0:24:53.119 --> 0:24:56.160 but so innocent that she didn't even know what the 0:24:56.240 --> 0:25:00.320 act of sex was. The truth of it was those 0:25:00.359 --> 0:25:03.160 two ladies were trying to tell Henry's commission what they 0:25:03.200 --> 0:25:08.040 wanted to hear, proof that the marriage was never consummated. Anyway, 0:25:08.080 --> 0:25:11.920 Anne wasn't nearly fluent in English at that point. If 0:25:11.960 --> 0:25:15.200 that private conversation had taken place, it would have been 0:25:15.280 --> 0:25:24.639 a comedy of confusion on both sides. Henry's assembly of 0:25:24.760 --> 0:25:28.959 clergymen examined the charges, first that Anne of Cleaves had 0:25:29.000 --> 0:25:33.200 already been betrothed, second that the wedding was never consummated, 0:25:33.320 --> 0:25:37.040 but of course not because Henry was impotent, And third 0:25:37.359 --> 0:25:41.320 that Henry had never consented to the marriage. I mean, yes, 0:25:41.400 --> 0:25:45.359 they said, he consented in his manner and fashion of behavior, 0:25:45.720 --> 0:25:50.960 but inside, inside he was troubled. On July seventh, the 0:25:51.080 --> 0:25:56.560 marriage was deemed invalid. Anne received the news with genuine 0:25:56.560 --> 0:26:00.360 grace after the trouble Catherine of Aragon had given him. 0:26:00.840 --> 0:26:03.400 Henry was so relieved that Anne wasn't going to put 0:26:03.440 --> 0:26:07.360 up a fight that he granted her an extremely generous settlement, 0:26:08.119 --> 0:26:13.359 two palaces, a large annual income, furniture land, a household. 0:26:14.160 --> 0:26:18.280 Anne had only one request that her former stepdaughter Elizabeth 0:26:18.400 --> 0:26:20.720 might be allowed to visit her every once in a while, 0:26:21.359 --> 0:26:25.639 and Henry gladly accepted. Of course, he wrote, I know 0:26:25.760 --> 0:26:29.600 how this annulment pains her, considering the great love and 0:26:29.680 --> 0:26:33.960 affection which she seems to have for my person. Henry 0:26:34.000 --> 0:26:36.760 did require one thing of Anne that caused her to 0:26:36.800 --> 0:26:40.840 struggle to write a letter to her brother telling him 0:26:41.000 --> 0:26:43.720 of the new arrangement, so that he wouldn't be angry 0:26:43.800 --> 0:26:48.679 at Henry. Anne swallowed the humiliation and wrote that her 0:26:48.720 --> 0:26:52.080 body remained in the same integrity with which she brought 0:26:52.160 --> 0:26:55.880 it to England, and that the King had quote kindly 0:26:55.920 --> 0:27:00.000 adopted her as his beloved sister. She asked her brother 0:27:00.280 --> 0:27:03.320 to treat Henry with kindness and told him that she 0:27:03.359 --> 0:27:06.560 would be staying in England as required by the terms 0:27:06.560 --> 0:27:11.520 of their settlement. Anne's family privately was of course outraged. 0:27:12.200 --> 0:27:14.760 Her sister always continued to refer to her as the 0:27:14.840 --> 0:27:18.840 Queen of England, and they never blamed her. Everyone knew 0:27:18.880 --> 0:27:21.480 what a nightmare Henry was when it came to women, 0:27:22.440 --> 0:27:25.160 and from the people of England. There came a massive 0:27:25.200 --> 0:27:29.240 outpouring of public sympathy towards the woman jilted for a 0:27:29.359 --> 0:27:39.679 teenage would be mistress. With marriage behind them and the 0:27:39.680 --> 0:27:43.680 pressures of the wedding bed gone, Henry and Anne's relationship 0:27:43.840 --> 0:27:48.240 vastly improved, especially once Anne became fluent enough in English 0:27:48.280 --> 0:27:50.560 for the pair to talk and realize they actually had 0:27:50.560 --> 0:27:54.439