Speaker 1: Welcome to Noble Blood, a production of I Heart Radio
Speaker 1: and Grimm and Mild from Aaron Miinkie. Listener discretion is advised.
Speaker 1: Anne of Cleaves had traveled over three hundred miles by
Speaker 1: land and by sea to come to England to meet
Speaker 1: her future husband to be, King Henry the Eighth. Neither
Speaker 1: had laid eyes on the other before the marriage arrangement
Speaker 1: was finalized, but Henry had commissioned a portrait of Anne,
Speaker 1: and he liked what he saw well enough to agree
Speaker 1: to the diplomatic match, and so arrangements were made for
Speaker 1: the twenty four year old sister of a prominent duke
Speaker 1: to become wife number four. After weeks of travel, Anne
Speaker 1: and her entourage made it to Rochester in England on
Speaker 1: New Year's Eve, the final day of fifteen thirty nine.
Speaker 1: She was staying there at the Bishop's Palace. In three
Speaker 1: three days time, she would make her way to London,
Speaker 1: where she was supposed to meet her future husband for
Speaker 1: the first time. On New Year's Day, Anne found herself
Speaker 1: gazing out the window of her bedchamber into the courtroom below,
Speaker 1: where a celebratory bull baiting was occurring, and didn't speak English,
Speaker 1: only German, and while her escorts had been nothing but
Speaker 1: polite and deferential to her, she was still in an
Speaker 1: alien country where the clothings, customs, even the smiles could
Speaker 1: be sinister. They had warned her that the English court
Speaker 1: was a dangerous place. Watching the men danced around the
Speaker 1: animals in the courtyard below the dog dodging in between
Speaker 1: the legs of the bull, Anne wondered if she had
Speaker 1: come to England to be predator or prey. She had
Speaker 1: the uneasy sense that the position of queen wasn't a
Speaker 1: spectator role, and the bull baiting never as well for
Speaker 1: either the dog or the bull. The English seemed to
Speaker 1: enjoy their sports when they end in blood. It was
Speaker 1: at that moment that her chamber door flung open, and
Speaker 1: nine men wearing hooded cloaks swept into the room and screamed.
Speaker 1: But before the sound had even left her mouth, the
Speaker 1: tallest of the men had ensnared her in his arms
Speaker 1: and attempted to sweep her into a kiss. Anne wriggled away,
Speaker 1: disgusted and called for help. In German, she begged her
Speaker 1: attendance for an explanation. The men didn't seem to mean
Speaker 1: any harm. In fact, they had begun to laugh. The
Speaker 1: man who had tried to kiss her, she saw, who
Speaker 1: was not only the tallest but also the widest, had
Speaker 1: an uneasy gait and a glint of red hair that
Speaker 1: flashed from beneath his hood. After a few words in
Speaker 1: English that Anne couldn't comprehend, all of the men walked away.
Speaker 1: It was a game, one of her attendants explained to her,
Speaker 1: a courtly game of chivalry. The men were pretending to
Speaker 1: be robin Hood or romantic heroes. I don't understand, Anne replied,
Speaker 1: I'm going to marry the king now, why would anyone
Speaker 1: insult him by trying to compromise my honor. Anne got
Speaker 1: her answer a moment later, when the same retinue of
Speaker 1: men re entered her chamber, this time without their cloaks.
Speaker 1: Now the tall broad man wore purple and gold, His
Speaker 1: hair and beard were red, and as he stepped forward,
Speaker 1: everyone around Anne lowered into a bow. Anne bowed too.
Speaker 1: Of course, the man was King Henry the Eighth, himself,
Speaker 1: not content to wait three days to see his bride.
Speaker 1: Henry had come to surprise her early in disguise, imagining
Speaker 1: that she would fall instantly in love. That soulmates do.
Speaker 1: It would be like something out of the stories of
Speaker 1: King Arthur and his Knights at the round Table, the
Speaker 1: beautiful princess recognizing her love even as he's disguised as
Speaker 1: a common knave. Henry had played masquerade games in court
Speaker 1: for decades. His courtiers were well practiced in both treating
Speaker 1: him with nothing but flattery when he was in his
Speaker 1: flimsy disguises, and at feigning delighted surprise when the King
Speaker 1: unmasked himself. But Anne had never seen Henry before, let
Speaker 1: alone heard of his proclivity for self indulgent theatrics. To her,
Speaker 1: here was just a strange middle aged man attempting to
Speaker 1: assault her days before her wedding. As soon as she
Speaker 1: saw the King and his royal fine, she lowered her
Speaker 1: face to the floor to avoid the discomfort of their
Speaker 1: mutual humiliation. But King Henry just laughed and raised her
Speaker 1: up and kissed her on the cheek. The two made
Speaker 1: polite conversation with an interpreter and bid each other goodbye
Speaker 1: until they would see each other in London in a
Speaker 1: few days time. The disaster, it seemed, had been averted
Speaker 1: by their mutual good humor. But the moment Henry left
Speaker 1: the bishop's palace, the good humor dissolved from his face,
Speaker 1: replaced with a scowl. He turned to his minister, Thomas Cromwell,
Speaker 1: riding next to him on a horse. I like her not,
Speaker 1: Henry said. It was an inauspicious start to an inauspicious marriage.
Speaker 1: Though Anne of Cleaves is now mainly remembered for being
Speaker 1: less attractive than her portrait made her out to be,
Speaker 1: her story goes much deeper than that. She spent her
Speaker 1: life in England outliving all five of Henry's other wives,
Speaker 1: something between a hostage and a casualty of Henry the
Speaker 1: Eighth's narcissism and ego. She was a woman who did
Speaker 1: what it took to survive. I'm Danish Schwartz and this
Speaker 1: is noble blood. It had been two years since Henry's
Speaker 1: third wife, Jane Seymour, died after giving birth to their
Speaker 1: son Edward. Henry of course felt the immense relief at
Speaker 1: having a male heir, a toddler whom everyone assured him
Speaker 1: was perfectly healthy. But two years without a wife was
Speaker 1: enough time in mourning. Besides, everyone knows you need a
Speaker 1: second son, just in case, a backup. Henry already had
Speaker 1: a tiny Prince of Wales, and now he wanted a
Speaker 1: baby Duke of York. Henry's first choice of bride was
Speaker 1: the beautiful French widow Madame de la Longville, born Mary
Speaker 1: of Geese. Henry sent envoys to France to try to
Speaker 1: negotiate to try to entice her to become the fourth
Speaker 1: Queen of England, but Mary of Geese was already spoken for,
Speaker 1: engaged to the young and very handsome King James of Scotland.
Speaker 1: Though Henry demanded some diplomatic wheedling to try to break
Speaker 1: up their engagement, it was a lost cause. Both Mary
Speaker 1: of Geese and King James of Scotland were attractive and
Speaker 1: in their twenties. Henry was in his late forties, already
Speaker 1: expanding with a swollen leg that needed to be periodically
Speaker 1: punctured to let the ooze out. Mary politely declined his
Speaker 1: offer and married James. A little stung, Henry asked the
Speaker 1: French ambassador to assemble all of the eligible French women
Speaker 1: at the same Mannor house in Calais so he Henry
Speaker 1: could come by and cho is one. The King of France,
Speaker 1: Francis the First, was outraged when he heard Henry's proposition.
Speaker 1: It is not our custom, he wrote back, to display
Speaker 1: women of noble rank like horses for sale. Henry would
Speaker 1: need to look further afield to find his next bride.
Speaker 1: In Brussels, Henry's ambassador, Thomas Rothsley, had finally convinced the
Speaker 1: beautiful Christina of Denmark to sit for a portrait so
Speaker 1: that they could send it back to Henry and he
Speaker 1: could see what she looked like. Christina was tall and willowy.
Speaker 1: She had dimples when she smiled, one in each cheek
Speaker 1: and one that appeared in her chin when she was laughing.
Speaker 1: She was widely praised among the courts of Europe for
Speaker 1: her gentle nature. People whispered that she was also brilliant.
Speaker 1: She spoke three languages. She also had very little interest
Speaker 1: in King Henry the Eighth. Christina knew all about what
Speaker 1: had happened to Catherine of Arragon so cruelly disposed of,
Speaker 1: and to Anne Boleyn, and the third one had died too,
Speaker 1: hadn't she No, it was much safer not to be
Speaker 1: a wife at the mercy of Henry's fickle whims and
Speaker 1: mercurial mood swings. While Christina posed for her portrait. Rothley
Speaker 1: tried to convince her of Henry's charms. He told her
Speaker 1: that Henry was gentle and kind and good. Christina couldn't
Speaker 1: help but laugh at that hard enough that the dimple
Speaker 1: in her chin appeared. I would marry King Henry, she said,
Speaker 1: if I only had an extra head to spare. Another
Speaker 1: dead end and another blow to the ego of the king,
Speaker 1: who had once been celebrated for his looks and charm.
Speaker 1: And now the need for Henry to make a diplomatic
Speaker 1: marriage was increasing. Thanks to the kerfuffle of divorcing Catherine
Speaker 1: of Aragon and marrying Anne Boleyn. Henry was excommunicated, which
Speaker 1: meant any neighboring country could invade England and claim it
Speaker 1: was in the name of the Church, and the Catholic
Speaker 1: nations around England seemed to be getting pretty cozy. King
Speaker 1: Francis the First and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles the
Speaker 1: Five looked to be forging a little friendship. The two
Speaker 1: of them were gallivanting around the Louver Palace together while
Speaker 1: the English ambassador present was assigned the smallest, least hospitable
Speaker 1: rooms possible. If the two of them united and attacked England,
Speaker 1: Henry had very few international allies who would help him.
Speaker 1: Henry had married for love before, and now he needed
Speaker 1: a foreign bride. Though Henry was excommunicated, he still wasn't
Speaker 1: a Lutheran, which limited his options for a bride a bit.
Speaker 1: What about Cleave's Juelich Henry's adviser, Thomas Cromwell offered one day.
Speaker 1: Their new duke was a reformed Catholic but no friend
Speaker 1: of the pope, and he had an unmarried sister. When
Speaker 1: Rothsley went to visit Cleaves, Germanic custom meant that the
Speaker 1: unmarried girl appeared wearing heavy veils. Well, Henry bellowed when
Speaker 1: Rothsley returned, so much prettier than Christina of Denmark. Rothsley
Speaker 1: assured the king, but Henry didn't need to take his
Speaker 1: word for it. He had commissioned a portrait of the
Speaker 1: girl and of Cleaves by Hans Holbein, and when the
Speaker 1: portrait came back, Henry was entranced. She had a gentle,
Speaker 1: kind face and heavy lidded eyes that made her look
Speaker 1: both mysterious and wise. Henry spent hours staring at the portrait,
Speaker 1: imagining his hands around her tiny waist and his lips
Speaker 1: upon her perfect smooth cheek x. The match was set.
Speaker 1: Twenty four year old Anne of Cleves, who had never
Speaker 1: before left the cloistered confines of her family, was going
Speaker 1: to become the next Queen of England. Though Anne of
Speaker 1: Cleves had a sterling noble lineage on both sides of
Speaker 1: her family, she was almost entirely unprepared for life in
Speaker 1: the English court. No one had ever really believed she
Speaker 1: would marry higher than being a duchess. She spoke only German,
Speaker 1: no English or French, and she was untrained in music
Speaker 1: and poetry. The only dances she knew were the German
Speaker 1: ones she had grown up with. But prepared or not,
Speaker 1: the chance to become the Queen of England was not
Speaker 1: something her family was going to refuse, especially because being
Speaker 1: unmarried at twenty four, Anne was beginning to become a
Speaker 1: bit of an embarrassment. Henry wanted her to travel north
Speaker 1: via Antwerp on her way to England so she wouldn't
Speaker 1: have to pass through the lands of the Holy Roman Emperor,
Speaker 1: but that would necessitate a longer sea voyage, and Ann's
Speaker 1: mother didn't want to risk and complexion being damaged by
Speaker 1: the salty sea air. After all, Henry only wanted her
Speaker 1: because he liked what he saw in the portrait, so
Speaker 1: permission was asked and granted by Charles the fifth, and
Speaker 1: Anne and her retinue of nearly three hundred people traveled
Speaker 1: across Europe towards her new future in Calais, where Anne
Speaker 1: was set to board a boat across the English Channel
Speaker 1: and was delayed two weeks by foul weather. Rothsley was apologetic.
Speaker 1: He brought Anne to see the ship all ready for
Speaker 1: her departure, dripping in festive streamers and ribbons and banners.
Speaker 1: No matter, Anne said, I'll take this time to learn
Speaker 1: of my new people and my new husband. While staying
Speaker 1: in Calais at the home of Lord and Lady Liesel
Speaker 1: And asked Rothsley for his help via translator. Rothsley taught
Speaker 1: Anne how to play Henry's favorite card game called Scent,
Speaker 1: and also requested that Rothsley bring English noblemen and ladies
Speaker 1: to dine with her, that she could learn English table
Speaker 1: manners and become more accustomed to the pattern of their
Speaker 1: jokes in the pattern of their speech. She didn't understand
Speaker 1: the language, but she smiled and laughed alongside them. All
Speaker 1: the same letters arrived for Henry, describing how charming and
Speaker 1: good natured his bride on the way was. Henry was
Speaker 1: jittery with anticipation. He was supposed to spend Christmas with Anne,
Speaker 1: but the weather delay meant he spent it alone. He
Speaker 1: paced his palaces, waiting for her to arrive, like a
Speaker 1: package to be delivered. Finally, by New Year's the Anne
Speaker 1: had made it to Richmond, and Henry, not willing to
Speaker 1: wait any longer, rode out to surprise her. That was
Speaker 1: when he first appeared to her in his robin hood costume,
Speaker 1: imagining that she would be so taken by his handsomeness
Speaker 1: that she would succumb immediately. Imminent marriage be damned. These
Speaker 1: were the sort of courtly games that Henry was used
Speaker 1: to everyone around him indulging him in. Catherine of Aragon
Speaker 1: had grown up in the great courts of Europe, she
Speaker 1: would have known exactly how to react and clever Anne
Speaker 1: Boleyn would have also perfectly matched Henry in this game.
Speaker 1: But Anne of Cleves was a complete stranger and totally
Speaker 1: unaware of both what Henry looked like and of what
Speaker 1: the game she was supposed to be playing was. She
Speaker 1: left Henry humiliated, smarting from the pushed down knowledge that
Speaker 1: maybe he was no longer as handsome as he once was. Well,
Speaker 1: what of it, Henry thought, She's not so pretty herself,
Speaker 1: not nearly as pretty as that portrait made her out
Speaker 1: to be. His first three marriages had been love matches
Speaker 1: with women who matched him in wits and flattered him
Speaker 1: with affection. Now Henry was being roped into a diplomatic
Speaker 1: marriage with a stranger, and he did not care for
Speaker 1: it one bit. Anne of Cleaves arrived in London in
Speaker 1: a drawn chariot flanked by one hundred horsemen, wearing livery
Speaker 1: embroidered with golden lions. Anne was escorted to a massive
Speaker 1: pavilion with lit fires inside, where she was dressed in
Speaker 1: a gold gown with a round skirt in the Dutch fashion,
Speaker 1: and given a round pearl bonnet to set it up
Speaker 1: her head. As for Henry, when she arrived, he played
Speaker 1: the part of the loving groom, perfectly, smiling and extending
Speaker 1: his arms and kissing her and welcome. But as soon
Speaker 1: as the pageant was over he turned to Cromwell, get
Speaker 1: me out of this marriage, he said, But it was
Speaker 1: too late. The wheels of diplomacy had already been set
Speaker 1: into motion. If Henry were to reject Anne at this point,
Speaker 1: he would anger not only Anne and her powerful family,
Speaker 1: but all of their allies across Germany, especially if he
Speaker 1: was rejecting her for no good reason. Cromwell, for his part,
Speaker 1: tried his best back. When Anne had been tent, she
Speaker 1: had been temporarily engaged to the Duke of Lorraine. If
Speaker 1: she was pre contracted, that would avoid the marriage arrangement
Speaker 1: with Henry. The ambassador from Cleaves was confused when Cromwell
Speaker 1: brought it up to him. She was a child. Then
Speaker 1: he said it was before the age of consent. No
Speaker 1: one actually believes it was a legitimate engagement. Cromwell knew
Speaker 1: that well enough, but still Cromwell had the confused and
Speaker 1: scrambling ambassador from Cleaves agreed to send for the for
Speaker 1: paperwork back in Germany that would prove that Anne was
Speaker 1: completely free and clear to marry Henry, as everyone knew.
Speaker 1: The two were married on January sixty eight. Year old
Speaker 1: King Henry the Eighth got married for the fourth time
Speaker 1: to Anne of Cleaves. She wore her long blonde hair
Speaker 1: loose beneath a golden cornet set with jewels and fresh
Speaker 1: sprigs of rosemary. That evening, they were ceremonially put to
Speaker 1: bed so that the pair might conceive another son for Henry,
Speaker 1: a little duke of York. They didn't Henry, how do
Speaker 1: I put this, couldn't sail his boat without a stiff breeze.
Speaker 1: Young virginal Anne, who had only been instructed with the
Speaker 1: vaguest possible descriptions of what was expected of her, just
Speaker 1: spent the night a s ape next to her new husband.
Speaker 1: The next morning, Henry confronted Cromwell, I like her not before,
Speaker 1: but now I like her much less. He consulted his
Speaker 1: doctors about his sexual problems, while making it very clear
Speaker 1: to anyone who would listen that it was not his fault.
Speaker 1: I mean, I saw the way her breasts and her
Speaker 1: belly sagged. Henry said, she probably wasn't even a virgin.
Speaker 1: Henry made sure that the doctors wrote down that it
Speaker 1: wasn't his fault. He wasn't impotent. He had two missions
Speaker 1: in the night in his sleep. Doctors advised that he
Speaker 1: take a night off from trying, and so on the
Speaker 1: third night, he once again went to Anne's bed, where
Speaker 1: he once again failed to consummate the union. No virgin
Speaker 1: has breasts like that, Henry set that has to be
Speaker 1: good enough, free and to get this marriage, And all right,
Speaker 1: what more proof could I possibly need? Also she smells,
Speaker 1: to make matters worse. The Franco imperial threat that Cromwell
Speaker 1: had warned about never actually materialized, which meant that this
Speaker 1: diplomatic marriage, which had seemed so important, was now basically worthless.
Speaker 1: Though Anne was still in the slow process of learning English,
Speaker 1: it was abundantly clear that Henry wasn't pleased with her.
Speaker 1: He kissed her good morning and good night, and came
Speaker 1: to her bedroom, but his increasing chill was obvious in
Speaker 1: any language. Anne began wearing a French hood, like the
Speaker 1: kind that Anne Boleyn used to wear, one that showed
Speaker 1: off her beautiful blonde hair, but Henry paid her no attention.
Speaker 1: He much preferred flirting with the very young Katherine Howard,
Speaker 1: a very pretty teenager who, like the late Anne Boleyn,
Speaker 1: was a niece of the powerful Duke of Norfolk. When
Speaker 1: it was time for Anne of Cleaves to establish her
Speaker 1: own household at Greenwich, all of her ladies in waiting
Speaker 1: were Henry's choice. Anne requested that one of the ladies
Speaker 1: be Catherine Beset, the daughter of Lord Leesel, who had
Speaker 1: been so warm and hospitable to her during her two
Speaker 1: weeks stay in Calais. But Henry rejected the proposition not
Speaker 1: attractive enough. If he was going to have to be
Speaker 1: married to an ugly wife, he at least wanted to
Speaker 1: be surrounded by attractive ladies in waiting. Of course, Catherine
Speaker 1: Howard was given a position outside the bedroom. Anne of
Speaker 1: Cleaves was finding that she was good at being queen,
Speaker 1: and she was, for the most part, enjoying it. Though
Speaker 1: she had been Catholic, of course, she converted to Anglicanism
Speaker 1: when she married Henry. The Reformers loved her, and the
Speaker 1: people loved her, mostly because she wasn't that social climbing
Speaker 1: little nobody Catherine Howard, who seemed to be monopolizing all
Speaker 1: of the King's attention. Everyone seemed to find Anne of
Speaker 1: Cleave's charming, everyone except her husband. Even after three wives.
Speaker 1: One thing remained consistent about Henry the Eighth. When he
Speaker 1: was done with a woman, he wanted her out of
Speaker 1: sight so he didn't have to deal with her himself.
Speaker 1: Late in the spring, just months after their wedding, Anne
Speaker 1: got word that Henry wanted her household moved to Richmond,
Speaker 1: far from the plague in London. She was told it
Speaker 1: was a thin excuse. I'm going the way of Catherine
Speaker 1: of Arragan, she told one of her ladies. He is
Speaker 1: disposing of me. What power did she have to stop him.
Speaker 1: She was in a foreign country where she didn't speak
Speaker 1: the language and had no power. Her brother seemed very
Speaker 1: far away, and anyway, she believed it was her fault.
Speaker 1: If she had been able to consummate the marriage with Henry,
Speaker 1: none of this would be happening. In the middle of
Speaker 1: the night on June twenty fourth, messenger arrived and an
Speaker 1: interpreter delivered the news to Anne that the King was
Speaker 1: beginning an investigation to determine whether or not their marriage
Speaker 1: was valid with extraordinary composure and signed the request. Anna,
Speaker 1: daughter of Cleaves, thanked the man and went about her business.
Speaker 1: Her confusion, her shame, her hurt, her fear. All of
Speaker 1: that was dealt with privately. Cromwell knew he was hanging
Speaker 1: on by a thin rope. After all, the marriage to
Speaker 1: Anne of Cleaves had been his idea all along, and
Speaker 1: now it was a disaster. He needs to figure out
Speaker 1: a way to give the King the divorce he wanted
Speaker 1: and fast. During the investigation, two of AND's ladies testified
Speaker 1: they had talked with the brand new queen a few
Speaker 1: weeks after her wedding and inquired as to whether a
Speaker 1: little prince might be on the way. According to them,
Speaker 1: Anne said that the King kissed her good night and
Speaker 1: fell asleep, and then in the morning bid her farewell.
Speaker 1: Anne had looked at the ladies with wide doe eyes.
Speaker 1: That's enough, right, she asked. That story became the gossip
Speaker 1: of court, repeated endlessly until ultimately it became an anecdote
Speaker 1: of history to prove that Anne of Cleaves was not
Speaker 1: only a virgin, but so innocent that she didn't even
Speaker 1: know what the act of sex was. The truth of
Speaker 1: it was those two ladies were trying to tell Henry's
Speaker 1: commission what they wanted to hear, proof that the marriage
Speaker 1: was never consummated. Anyway, Anne wasn't nearly fluent in English
Speaker 1: at that point. If that private conversation had taken place,
Speaker 1: it would have been a comedy of confusion on both sides.
Speaker 1: Henry's Assembly of clergymen examined the charges first that Anne
Speaker 1: of Cleaves had already been betrothed. Second that the wedding
Speaker 1: was never consummated, but of course not because Henry was impotent.
Speaker 1: And third that Henry had never consented to the marriage.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, they said, he consented in his manner
Speaker 1: and fashion of behavior, but inside, inside he was troubled.
Speaker 1: On July seven, the marriage was deemed invalid. Anne received
Speaker 1: the news with genuine grace after the trouble Catherine of
Speaker 1: Arragon had given him. Henry was so relieved that Anne
Speaker 1: wasn't going to put up a fight that he granted
Speaker 1: her an extremely generous settlement, two palaces, a large annual income,
Speaker 1: furniture lands, a household. Anne had only one request, that
Speaker 1: her former step daughter Elizabeth might be allowed to visit
Speaker 1: her every once in a while, and Henry gladly accepted.
Speaker 1: Of course, he wrote, I know how this annulment pains her,
Speaker 1: considering the great love and affection which she seems to
Speaker 1: have for my person. Henry did require one thing of
Speaker 1: Anne that caused her to struggle to write a letter
Speaker 1: to her brother telling him of the new arrangement, so
Speaker 1: that he wouldn't be angry at Henry. Anne swallowed the
Speaker 1: humiliation and wrote that her body remained in the same
Speaker 1: integrity with which she brought it to England, and that
Speaker 1: the King had quote kindly adopted her as his beloved sister.
Speaker 1: She asked her brother to treat Henry with kindness and
Speaker 1: told him that she would be staying in England as
Speaker 1: required by the terms of their settlement. Anne's family privately
Speaker 1: was of course outraged. Her sister always continued to refer
Speaker 1: to her as the Queen of England, and they never
Speaker 1: blamed her. Every one knew what a nightmare Henry was
Speaker 1: when it came to women, and from the people of England.
Speaker 1: There came a massive outpouring of public sympathy towards the
Speaker 1: woman jilted for a teenage would be mistress. With marriage
Speaker 1: behind them and the pressures of the wedding bed gone,
Speaker 1: Henry and Anne's relationship vastly improved, especially once Anne became
Speaker 1: fluent enough in English for the pair to talk and
Speaker 1: realized they actually had a lot in common. Anne lived
Speaker 1: happily enough, making a mini Germany of her household, and,
Speaker 1: according to one observer, wearing new dresses every day. About
Speaker 1: a year after Little Katherine Howard, former Lady in waiting,
Speaker 1: became Queen, Anne of Cleave's came to Hampton Court for
Speaker 1: New Year's Katherine was terrified and insecure, unsure what the
Speaker 1: protocol was for a former queen to come and greet her,
Speaker 1: but Anne of Cleave's was grace itself. She brought a
Speaker 1: New Year's gift of horses for the couple and greeted
Speaker 1: Katherine with a deep bow. Henry came in, kissed Anne,
Speaker 1: and the three of them had what was, by all accounts,
Speaker 1: the least awkward dinner among exes in history. Still gracious
Speaker 1: as she was, Anne was still a little secretly pleased
Speaker 1: to hear about Catherine's fall, and even thought that maybe
Speaker 1: she would get a second chance of being queen now
Speaker 1: that he had gotten his fling out of the way.
Speaker 1: Maybe Henry would want to remarry her, But unfortunately that
Speaker 1: hope was dashed. Anne's former stepdaughter, Mary Tudor, came to
Speaker 1: visit Anne at Richmond, but had to leave suddenly and
Speaker 1: found out why two weeks later, when Henry came by
Speaker 1: to tell her that he had gotten married to a
Speaker 1: woman named Catherine Parr. Anne never married again. In her mind,
Speaker 1: she was always still married to Henry the Eighth after
Speaker 1: his death, she even briefly tried to overturn the annulment
Speaker 1: ruling to make her settlement more generous, but the counsel
Speaker 1: of the brand new young King Edward didn't bite. With
Speaker 1: Henry's death, and status was reduced from that of the
Speaker 1: king's sister to the king's aunt. So although she lived comfortably,
Speaker 1: her position was still limited, especially when her brother lost
Speaker 1: his lands to the Holy Roman Emperor, which meant that
Speaker 1: even if she wanted to give up her English property,
Speaker 1: she wouldn't be able to return home. Now. For the
Speaker 1: last decades of her life, An's real family was the
Speaker 1: household she maintained. They became her friends and confidants, and
Speaker 1: when Anne finally died, aged forty one, she left generous
Speaker 1: gifts to the poor surrounding her properties and to her
Speaker 1: entire household staff. In her will, she referred to them
Speaker 1: all by name, an extraordinary gesture of the charm and
Speaker 1: kindness that hadn't won over a king but managed to
Speaker 1: win over everyone else. That's the story of Anne of
Speaker 1: Cleave's brief marriage to hen the Eight, but stick around
Speaker 1: after a sponsor break for a little bit more about
Speaker 1: the marriage's consequences. Anne managed to get out of her
Speaker 1: marriage to King Henry the Eighth with her head, but
Speaker 1: the same wasn't true for Thomas Cromwell, Henry's former chief minister.
Speaker 1: Cromwell had been the one who pushed Henry into the
Speaker 1: marriage with Anne, who told him that France and the
Speaker 1: Holy Roman Emperor were going to forage an alliance, and
Speaker 1: Cromwell had maybe overplayed Anne's beauty to make sure that
Speaker 1: Henry accepted the match. While the Council was examining the
Speaker 1: validity of Henry's marriage to Anne of Cleaves in the
Speaker 1: summer of Cromwell was thrown into the Tower of London.
Speaker 1: Cromwell was beheaded without a trial on charges of treason,
Speaker 1: to the delight of his political enemies. There's always a
Speaker 1: cost for a bad marriage with Henry the eight. Noble
Speaker 1: Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and Grimm
Speaker 1: and Mild from Aaron Manky. The show is written and
Speaker 1: hosted by Dana Schwartz and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick,
Speaker 1: Alex Williams, and Trevor Young. Noble Blood is on social
Speaker 1: media at Noble Blood Tales, and you can learn more
Speaker 1: about the show over at Noble Blood tales dot com.
Speaker 1: For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i
Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to
Speaker 1: your favorite shows.