Oh to be Queen - Anne of Cleves, 4th wife of Henry VIII and GIVEAWAY!!!

Be sure to read on down to find out about the HUGE giveaway!

We left off in October with wife three, Henry VIII's favorite wife. Jane Seymour died of complications of childbirth after giving Henry a son. Though Henry is heartbroken over the loss of Jane, he knows that one male heir does not secure the throne for him. Jane passed in 1537 and by 1539 Henry was on the search for his next wife.

                           By After Hans Holbein the Younger - eAHC0d0WiemXSA — Google Arts & Culture, Public Domain,                                                                    https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21878559
Henry felt he needed an alliance to protect himself from the Holy Roman Empire and a Catholic France. To do this, he determined an alliance with William, the leader of the Protestants of West Germany, was in his best interest. To secure that alliance, he decided to marry one of William's sisters. Henry sent his artist over and told him to paint accurate pictures of the two sisters, Anne of Cleves and Amalia. 

Amalia of Cleves (younger sister)
By Hans Holbein the Younger - https://www.rct.uk/collection/912190/an-unidentified-woman, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=8019456

Anne of Cleves

By Hans Holbein the Younger - Unknown source, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5390734

His chief minister, Thomas Cromwell encouraged the marriage to Anne, and Henry ended up choosing the older sister.

When Anne was brought to England, Henry dressed up, not as king, but as someone bringing a message to Anne. She acted uninterested and hurt Henry's feelings. 

Here is an account of what transpired :

Henry met her privately on New Year's Day 1540 at Rochester Abbey in Rochester on her journey from Dover. Henry and some of his courtiers, following a courtly-love tradition, went disguised into the room where Anne was staying. Eustace Chapuys reported:

(The King) so went up into the chamber where the said Lady Anne was looking out of a window to see the bull-baiting which was going on in the courtyard, and suddenly he embraced and kissed her, and showed her a token which the king had sent her for New Year’s gift, and she being abashed and not knowing who it was thanked him, and so he spoke with her. But she regarded him little, but always looked out the window .... and when the king saw that she took so little notice of his coming he went into another chamber and took off his cloak and came in again in a coat of purple velvet. And when the lords and knights saw his grace they did him reverence. (Wikipediea)

At this point Henry had fairly well made up his mind that Anne was not the woman for him. Besides the rebuff he had felt, Anne fell short in education and cultural skills, both of which Henry admired in woman. Poor Anne's marriage was doomed before it began. Henry didn't want to marry her, yet to cancel the wedding would jeopardize his relationship with the Germans. 

Henry marries Anne of Cleves on January 6, 1540. But Henry never consummates the marriage.  He continues to feel he was misled by her picture and is disappointed in the lack of beauty of his wife. Soon after their marriage, the alliance between the Catholic powers didn't materialize and Henry wanted out of the marriage. Henry, still claiming the marriage was never consummated, requested an annulment. Anne, being a wise woman and knowing the fate of his some of his previous wives, agreed to the annulment. 

Picture By Barthel Bruyn the Younger - www.tudorplace.com.ar/aboutAnneofCleves.htm, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1905755

Henry was good to her and they became very good friends. She was known as his sister and went to many royal functions. Anne outlived Henry and all of his wives and lived to see his daughter, Mary, become queen. 

HUGE GIVEAWAY: 

CLICK ON PICTURE TO ENTER!

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Debbie Lynne Costello is the author of Sword of Forgiveness, Amazon's #1 seller for Historical Christian Romance. She has enjoyed writing stories since she was eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina with their 4 horses, 3 dogs, a miniature donkey, and 6 peking ducks.