Podchaser Logo
Home
Divorced II

Divorced II

Released Tuesday, 28th April 2020
 3 people rated this episode
Divorced II

Divorced II

Divorced II

Divorced II

Tuesday, 28th April 2020
 3 people rated this episode
Rate Episode

Episode Transcript

Transcripts are displayed as originally observed. Some content, including advertisements may have changed.

Use Ctrl + F to search

0:00

Welcome to Noble Blood, a production

0:02

of I Heart Radio and Grimm and Mild

0:05

from Aaron Miinkie. Listener discretion

0:07

is advised. Anne

0:12

of Cleaves had traveled over three

0:15

hundred miles by land and

0:17

by sea to come to England

0:20

to meet her future husband to be, King

0:22

Henry the Eighth. Neither

0:25

had laid eyes on the other before the marriage

0:27

arrangement was finalized, but

0:29

Henry had commissioned a portrait of Anne,

0:31

and he liked what he saw well enough to agree

0:34

to the diplomatic match, and

0:36

so arrangements were made for the

0:39

twenty four year old sister of a prominent

0:41

duke to become wife number

0:43

four. After

0:46

weeks of travel, Anne and her

0:48

entourage made it to Rochester

0:50

in England on New Year's Eve,

0:53

the final day of fifteen thirty

0:55

nine. She was staying there at

0:57

the Bishop's Palace. In three

1:00

three days time, she would make her way

1:02

to London, where she was supposed

1:04

to meet her future husband for the first

1:06

time. On

1:08

New Year's Day, Anne found herself

1:11

gazing out the window of her bedchamber

1:13

into the courtroom below, where a celebratory

1:16

bull baiting was occurring, and

1:19

didn't speak English, only German,

1:21

and while her escorts had been nothing

1:23

but polite and deferential to her, she

1:26

was still in an alien country

1:28

where the clothings, customs,

1:30

even the smiles could be sinister.

1:33

They had warned her that the English court

1:36

was a dangerous place. Watching

1:39

the men danced around the animals

1:41

in the courtyard below the dog

1:43

dodging in between the legs of the bull,

1:46

Anne wondered if she had come to England

1:49

to be predator or prey. She

1:52

had the uneasy sense that the

1:54

position of queen wasn't a

1:56

spectator role, and the

1:58

bull baiting never as well for

2:00

either the dog or the bull. The

2:03

English seemed to enjoy their sports

2:06

when they end in blood. It

2:09

was at that moment that her chamber

2:11

door flung open, and nine

2:14

men wearing hooded cloaks swept

2:17

into the room and screamed.

2:20

But before the sound had even left her

2:22

mouth, the tallest of the men

2:25

had ensnared her in his arms

2:27

and attempted to sweep her into

2:30

a kiss. Anne

2:32

wriggled away, disgusted

2:34

and called for help. In

2:36

German, she begged her attendance

2:38

for an explanation. The

2:41

men didn't seem to mean any harm.

2:43

In fact, they had begun to laugh.

2:47

The man who had tried to kiss her, she

2:49

saw, who was not only the tallest

2:51

but also the widest, had

2:53

an uneasy gait and

2:55

a glint of red hair that flashed

2:58

from beneath his hood. After

3:00

a few words in English that Anne couldn't

3:03

comprehend, all of the men

3:05

walked away. It

3:08

was a game, one of her attendants explained

3:10

to her, a courtly game of

3:12

chivalry. The men were

3:15

pretending to be robin Hood or romantic

3:17

heroes. I don't understand,

3:19

Anne replied, I'm going to marry

3:22

the king now, why would anyone

3:24

insult him by trying to compromise

3:27

my honor. Anne

3:29

got her answer a moment later, when

3:31

the same retinue of men re

3:33

entered her chamber, this time

3:35

without their cloaks. Now

3:38

the tall broad man wore

3:41

purple and gold, His

3:43

hair and beard were red,

3:45

and as he stepped forward, everyone

3:48

around Anne lowered into

3:50

a bow. Anne

3:52

bowed too. Of course, the

3:54

man was King Henry the Eighth, himself,

3:58

not content to wait three days to

4:00

see his bride. Henry had come

4:02

to surprise her early in disguise,

4:06

imagining that she would fall instantly

4:08

in love. That soulmates

4:10

do. It would be like

4:12

something out of the stories of King Arthur

4:15

and his Knights at the round Table, the

4:17

beautiful princess recognizing her

4:19

love even as he's disguised

4:21

as a common knave. Henry

4:24

had played masquerade games in court

4:26

for decades. His courtiers

4:29

were well practiced in both treating

4:31

him with nothing but flattery when he was

4:33

in his flimsy disguises, and

4:36

at feigning delighted surprise

4:38

when the King unmasked himself.

4:42

But Anne had never seen Henry before,

4:44

let alone heard of his proclivity for

4:47

self indulgent theatrics. To

4:49

her, here was just a strange middle

4:52

aged man attempting to assault her

4:54

days before her wedding. As

4:57

soon as she saw the King and his royal

4:59

fine, she lowered her face

5:01

to the floor to avoid the discomfort

5:04

of their mutual humiliation.

5:07

But King Henry just laughed and raised

5:09

her up and kissed her on the cheek. The

5:12

two made polite conversation with

5:15

an interpreter and bid each other

5:17

goodbye until they would see each other in

5:19

London in a few days time. The

5:22

disaster, it seemed, had been

5:24

averted by their mutual good humor.

5:27

But the moment Henry left the bishop's

5:29

palace, the good humor dissolved

5:32

from his face, replaced with

5:34

a scowl. He turned to

5:36

his minister, Thomas Cromwell,

5:39

riding next to him on a horse. I

5:41

like her not, Henry said.

5:45

It was an inauspicious start

5:48

to an inauspicious marriage.

5:51

Though Anne of Cleaves is now mainly remembered

5:53

for being less attractive than her portrait

5:55

made her out to be, her story

5:58

goes much deeper than that. She

6:00

spent her life in England outliving

6:02

all five of Henry's other wives,

6:05

something between a hostage and a casualty

6:08

of Henry the Eighth's narcissism and

6:10

ego. She was a woman

6:12

who did what it took to survive.

6:15

I'm Danish Schwartz and

6:18

this is noble blood. It

6:24

had been two years since Henry's

6:27

third wife, Jane Seymour, died

6:29

after giving birth to their son Edward.

6:32

Henry of course felt the immense relief

6:35

at having a male heir, a toddler

6:37

whom everyone assured him was perfectly healthy.

6:40

But two years without a wife was enough

6:42

time in mourning. Besides,

6:44

everyone knows you need a second son, just

6:47

in case, a backup. Henry

6:49

already had a tiny Prince of Wales,

6:51

and now he wanted a baby Duke of

6:54

York. Henry's first

6:56

choice of bride was the beautiful French

6:58

widow Madame de la Longville,

7:00

born Mary of Geese. Henry

7:03

sent envoys to France to try to

7:05

negotiate to try to entice

7:08

her to become the fourth Queen of England,

7:11

but Mary of Geese was already spoken

7:13

for, engaged to the young and

7:16

very handsome King James of Scotland.

7:19

Though Henry demanded some diplomatic

7:21

wheedling to try to break up their engagement,

7:24

it was a lost cause. Both

7:27

Mary of Geese and King James of Scotland

7:30

were attractive and in their twenties. Henry

7:33

was in his late forties, already

7:35

expanding with a swollen

7:37

leg that needed to be periodically

7:39

punctured to let the ooze out.

7:43

Mary politely declined his offer

7:45

and married James. A

7:48

little stung, Henry asked

7:50

the French ambassador to assemble all

7:53

of the eligible French women at

7:55

the same Mannor house in Calais so

7:57

he Henry could come by and cho

8:00

is one. The King of France,

8:02

Francis the First, was outraged

8:05

when he heard Henry's proposition. It

8:08

is not our custom, he wrote

8:10

back, to display women

8:12

of noble rank like horses

8:14

for sale. Henry would

8:17

need to look further afield to find

8:19

his next bride. In

8:23

Brussels, Henry's ambassador, Thomas

8:26

Rothsley, had finally convinced

8:28

the beautiful Christina of Denmark

8:31

to sit for a portrait so that they

8:33

could send it back to Henry and he could see

8:35

what she looked like. Christina

8:37

was tall and willowy. She

8:39

had dimples when she smiled, one

8:42

in each cheek and one that

8:44

appeared in her chin when she was laughing.

8:47

She was widely praised among

8:49

the courts of Europe for her gentle

8:51

nature. People whispered that

8:54

she was also brilliant. She spoke

8:56

three languages. She also

8:59

had very little interest in King

9:01

Henry the Eighth. Christina

9:03

knew all about what had happened to Catherine

9:05

of Arragon so cruelly disposed

9:08

of, and to Anne Boleyn, and

9:10

the third one had died too, hadn't she

9:14

No, it was much safer not to

9:16

be a wife at the mercy of Henry's

9:18

fickle whims and mercurial mood

9:20

swings. While Christina

9:23

posed for her portrait. Rothley

9:25

tried to convince her of Henry's charms.

9:28

He told her that Henry was gentle

9:30

and kind and good. Christina

9:33

couldn't help but laugh at that hard enough

9:35

that the dimple in her chin appeared. I

9:38

would marry King Henry, she said, if

9:40

I only had an extra head to spare.

9:43

Another dead end and another

9:46

blow to the ego of the king, who

9:48

had once been celebrated for

9:50

his looks and charm.

9:52

And now the need for Henry to make a

9:54

diplomatic marriage was increasing.

9:57

Thanks to the kerfuffle of divorcing

9:59

Catherine of Aragon and marrying Anne

10:01

Boleyn. Henry was excommunicated,

10:04

which meant any neighboring country could

10:06

invade England and claim it was in

10:08

the name of the Church, and

10:11

the Catholic nations around England

10:13

seemed to be getting pretty cozy.

10:15

King Francis the First and the

10:18

Holy Roman Emperor Charles the Five

10:20

looked to be forging a little friendship. The

10:23

two of them were gallivanting around the Louver

10:25

Palace together while the English

10:27

ambassador present was assigned the smallest,

10:30

least hospitable rooms possible. If

10:33

the two of them united and attacked England,

10:36

Henry had very few international

10:39

allies who would help him. Henry

10:41

had married for love before, and now

10:43

he needed a foreign bride. Though

10:50

Henry was excommunicated, he still

10:52

wasn't a Lutheran, which limited

10:54

his options for a bride a bit. What

10:57

about Cleave's Juelich Henry's

10:59

adviser, Thomas Cromwell offered

11:01

one day. Their new duke was

11:04

a reformed Catholic but no friend

11:06

of the pope, and he

11:08

had an unmarried sister. When

11:11

Rothsley went to visit Cleaves, Germanic

11:14

custom meant that the unmarried girl

11:17

appeared wearing heavy veils. Well,

11:20

Henry bellowed when Rothsley returned,

11:23

so much prettier than Christina of Denmark.

11:26

Rothsley assured the king, but

11:28

Henry didn't need to take his word for it.

11:31

He had commissioned a portrait of the girl

11:33

and of Cleaves by Hans

11:35

Holbein, and when the portrait

11:38

came back, Henry was entranced.

11:41

She had a gentle, kind face

11:44

and heavy lidded eyes that made her look

11:46

both mysterious and wise.

11:49

Henry spent hours staring

11:51

at the portrait, imagining his

11:53

hands around her tiny waist and

11:56

his lips upon her perfect

11:58

smooth cheek x. The

12:01

match was set. Twenty

12:03

four year old Anne of Cleves,

12:05

who had never before left the cloistered

12:08

confines of her family, was

12:10

going to become the next Queen

12:12

of England. Though

12:20

Anne of Cleves had a sterling noble

12:22

lineage on both sides of her family,

12:25

she was almost entirely unprepared

12:27

for life in the English court. No

12:30

one had ever really believed she would marry higher

12:32

than being a duchess. She

12:34

spoke only German, no English

12:37

or French, and she was untrained

12:39

in music and poetry. The

12:42

only dances she knew were the German

12:44

ones she had grown up with. But

12:47

prepared or not, the chance to become

12:49

the Queen of England was not something her

12:51

family was going to refuse, especially

12:54

because being unmarried at twenty four,

12:56

Anne was beginning to become a bit of an

12:58

embarrassment. Henry

13:01

wanted her to travel north via Antwerp

13:03

on her way to England so she wouldn't have to pass

13:06

through the lands of the Holy Roman Emperor,

13:08

but that would necessitate a longer sea voyage,

13:11

and Ann's mother didn't want to risk and

13:14

complexion being damaged by the salty

13:16

sea air. After all,

13:19

Henry only wanted her because he liked what

13:21

he saw in the portrait, so

13:23

permission was asked and granted

13:25

by Charles the fifth, and Anne

13:27

and her retinue of nearly three hundred

13:30

people traveled across Europe towards

13:32

her new future in

13:35

Calais, where Anne was set to board a

13:37

boat across the English Channel and

13:40

was delayed two weeks by foul

13:42

weather. Rothsley was

13:44

apologetic. He brought Anne to see

13:46

the ship all ready for her departure,

13:48

dripping in festive streamers and ribbons

13:51

and banners. No matter,

13:53

Anne said, I'll take this time to

13:55

learn of my new people and my new husband.

13:59

While staying in Calais at the home

14:01

of Lord and Lady Liesel And

14:03

asked Rothsley for his help

14:06

via translator. Rothsley taught

14:09

Anne how to play Henry's favorite card

14:11

game called Scent, and

14:13

also requested that Rothsley bring

14:15

English noblemen and ladies to dine

14:18

with her, that she could learn English

14:20

table manners and become more accustomed

14:23

to the pattern of their jokes in the

14:25

pattern of their speech. She

14:27

didn't understand the language, but

14:29

she smiled and laughed alongside

14:31

them. All the same letters

14:34

arrived for Henry, describing

14:36

how charming and good natured his

14:38

bride on the way was. Henry

14:44

was jittery with anticipation. He

14:46

was supposed to spend Christmas with Anne,

14:49

but the weather delay meant he spent it alone.

14:52

He paced his palaces, waiting for

14:54

her to arrive, like a package to be delivered.

14:58

Finally, by New Year's the Anne

15:00

had made it to Richmond, and Henry,

15:03

not willing to wait any longer, rode

15:05

out to surprise her. That

15:08

was when he first appeared to her in his robin

15:10

hood costume, imagining

15:12

that she would be so taken by his handsomeness

15:15

that she would succumb immediately. Imminent

15:18

marriage be damned. These

15:20

were the sort of courtly games that

15:22

Henry was used to everyone around him indulging

15:24

him in. Catherine of Aragon

15:27

had grown up in the great courts of Europe, she

15:29

would have known exactly how to react

15:32

and clever Anne Boleyn would have also

15:34

perfectly matched Henry in this game.

15:37

But Anne of Cleves was a complete

15:39

stranger and totally unaware

15:41

of both what Henry looked like and

15:44

of what the game she was supposed to be playing

15:46

was. She left Henry

15:48

humiliated, smarting from

15:50

the pushed down knowledge that maybe

15:52

he was no longer as handsome as

15:54

he once was. Well, what

15:56

of it, Henry thought, She's

15:58

not so pretty herself, not nearly

16:01

as pretty as that portrait made her out to be.

16:04

His first three marriages had been

16:06

love matches with women who matched

16:09

him in wits and flattered him with affection.

16:12

Now Henry was being roped into

16:14

a diplomatic marriage with a stranger,

16:17

and he did not care for it one bit.

16:20

Anne of Cleaves arrived in London in

16:23

a drawn chariot flanked by one

16:25

hundred horsemen, wearing livery

16:27

embroidered with golden lions. Anne

16:30

was escorted to a massive pavilion

16:33

with lit fires inside, where

16:35

she was dressed in a gold gown

16:37

with a round skirt in the Dutch fashion,

16:40

and given a round pearl bonnet

16:43

to set it up her head. As

16:45

for Henry, when she arrived, he played

16:48

the part of the loving groom, perfectly,

16:51

smiling and extending his arms

16:53

and kissing her and welcome. But

16:55

as soon as the pageant was over

16:58

he turned to Cromwell, get

17:00

me out of this marriage, he said,

17:06

But it was too late. The wheels

17:09

of diplomacy had already been set

17:11

into motion. If Henry were

17:13

to reject Anne at this point, he would

17:15

anger not only Anne and her powerful

17:17

family, but all of their allies

17:20

across Germany, especially

17:22

if he was rejecting her for no good reason.

17:25

Cromwell, for his part, tried his best

17:28

back. When Anne had been tent, she had been temporarily

17:31

engaged to the Duke of Lorraine. If

17:33

she was pre contracted, that would avoid

17:36

the marriage arrangement with Henry. The

17:38

ambassador from Cleaves was confused

17:41

when Cromwell brought it up to him.

17:43

She was a child. Then he said it was

17:45

before the age of consent. No one actually

17:48

believes it was a legitimate engagement.

17:50

Cromwell knew that well enough, but

17:53

still Cromwell had the confused

17:55

and scrambling ambassador from Cleaves

17:58

agreed to send for the for paperwork

18:00

back in Germany that would prove that Anne

18:03

was completely free and clear to marry

18:05

Henry, as everyone knew. The

18:09

two were married on

18:11

January sixty

18:15

eight. Year old King Henry the Eighth got

18:18

married for the fourth time to Anne

18:20

of Cleaves. She wore

18:22

her long blonde hair loose beneath

18:25

a golden cornet set with

18:27

jewels and fresh sprigs

18:29

of rosemary. That

18:32

evening, they were ceremonially put

18:34

to bed so that the pair might conceive

18:37

another son for Henry, a little

18:39

duke of York. They

18:41

didn't Henry,

18:44

how do I put this, couldn't

18:46

sail his boat without a stiff

18:48

breeze. Young

18:51

virginal Anne, who had only been instructed

18:53

with the vaguest possible descriptions

18:56

of what was expected of her, just

18:58

spent the night a s ape next to

19:00

her new husband. The

19:03

next morning, Henry confronted

19:05

Cromwell, I like her not before,

19:08

but now I like her much less. He

19:10

consulted his doctors about his sexual

19:13

problems, while making it very clear

19:15

to anyone who would listen that it was not his

19:17

fault. I mean, I saw

19:19

the way her breasts and her belly sagged.

19:22

Henry said, she probably

19:25

wasn't even a virgin. Henry

19:27

made sure that the doctors wrote down that

19:30

it wasn't his fault. He wasn't

19:32

impotent. He had two missions

19:35

in the night in his sleep. Doctors

19:38

advised that he take a night off from

19:40

trying, and so on the third

19:43

night, he once again went to Anne's

19:45

bed, where he once again

19:47

failed to consummate the union. No

19:55

virgin has breasts like that, Henry

19:57

set that has to be good enough, free

20:00

and to get this marriage, And all right, what

20:02

more proof could I possibly need? Also

20:05

she smells, to make

20:07

matters worse. The Franco imperial

20:10

threat that Cromwell had warned about never

20:12

actually materialized, which

20:14

meant that this diplomatic marriage, which

20:16

had seemed so important, was

20:19

now basically worthless. Though

20:22

Anne was still in the slow process of learning

20:25

English, it was abundantly clear

20:27

that Henry wasn't pleased with her. He

20:29

kissed her good morning and good night, and came

20:32

to her bedroom, but his increasing

20:34

chill was obvious in any language.

20:37

Anne began wearing a French hood, like

20:39

the kind that Anne Boleyn used to wear, one

20:42

that showed off her beautiful blonde hair,

20:45

but Henry paid her no attention. He

20:47

much preferred flirting with the very

20:49

young Katherine Howard, a

20:52

very pretty teenager who, like

20:54

the late Anne Boleyn, was a

20:56

niece of the powerful Duke of Norfolk.

21:02

When it was time for Anne of Cleaves to establish

21:05

her own household at Greenwich, all

21:07

of her ladies in waiting were Henry's

21:09

choice. Anne requested

21:11

that one of the ladies be Catherine Beset,

21:14

the daughter of Lord Leesel, who

21:16

had been so warm and hospitable to

21:18

her during her two weeks stay in Calais.

21:21

But Henry rejected the proposition not

21:24

attractive enough. If he was

21:26

going to have to be married to an ugly wife,

21:28

he at least wanted to be surrounded by attractive

21:31

ladies in waiting. Of course,

21:33

Catherine Howard was given a position outside

21:37

the bedroom. Anne of Cleaves was finding

21:39

that she was good at being queen, and she

21:41

was, for the most part, enjoying it. Though

21:44

she had been Catholic, of course, she converted

21:46

to Anglicanism when she married Henry. The

21:49

Reformers loved her, and

21:51

the people loved her, mostly because

21:53

she wasn't that social climbing little nobody

21:56

Catherine Howard, who seemed to be monopolizing

21:58

all of the King's attention. Everyone

22:01

seemed to find Anne of Cleave's charming,

22:03

everyone except her husband. Even

22:06

after three wives. One thing

22:08

remained consistent about Henry

22:11

the Eighth. When he was done with

22:13

a woman, he wanted her out of sight

22:15

so he didn't have to deal with her himself.

22:18

Late in the spring, just months

22:20

after their wedding, Anne got

22:22

word that Henry wanted her household

22:25

moved to Richmond, far

22:27

from the plague in London. She was told

22:30

it was a thin excuse. I'm

22:33

going the way of Catherine of Arragan, she

22:35

told one of her ladies. He

22:37

is disposing of me. What

22:39

power did she have to stop him. She

22:42

was in a foreign country where she didn't speak

22:44

the language and had no power. Her

22:46

brother seemed very far away, and

22:49

anyway, she believed it was her fault.

22:52

If she had been able to consummate the marriage

22:54

with Henry, none of this would be happening.

22:57

In the middle of the night on June twenty fourth,

23:00

messenger arrived and an

23:02

interpreter delivered the news to Anne

23:04

that the King was beginning an investigation

23:07

to determine whether or not their marriage

23:09

was valid with extraordinary

23:12

composure and signed the request.

23:15

Anna, daughter of Cleaves,

23:17

thanked the man and went about

23:19

her business. Her confusion,

23:22

her shame, her hurt, her fear.

23:25

All of that was dealt with privately.

23:28

Cromwell knew he was hanging on by a thin

23:30

rope. After all, the marriage

23:33

to Anne of Cleaves had been his idea all

23:35

along, and now it was a disaster. He

23:38

needs to figure out a way to give the King the

23:40

divorce he wanted and fast. During

23:43

the investigation, two of AND's ladies

23:46

testified they had talked with

23:48

the brand new queen a few weeks after her

23:50

wedding and inquired as to

23:52

whether a little prince might be on the way.

23:55

According to them, Anne said

23:57

that the King kissed her good night and fell asleep,

24:00

and then in the morning bid her farewell. Anne

24:03

had looked at the ladies with wide doe eyes.

24:06

That's enough, right, she asked. That

24:09

story became the gossip of court, repeated

24:12

endlessly until ultimately it

24:14

became an anecdote of history to

24:16

prove that Anne of Cleaves was not only

24:18

a virgin, but so innocent

24:21

that she didn't even know what the act

24:23

of sex was. The

24:25

truth of it was those two ladies were

24:28

trying to tell Henry's commission what they wanted

24:30

to hear, proof that the marriage

24:32

was never consummated. Anyway,

24:34

Anne wasn't nearly fluent in English

24:37

at that point. If that private

24:39

conversation had taken place, it

24:41

would have been a comedy of confusion

24:43

on both sides. Henry's

24:50

Assembly of clergymen examined

24:53

the charges first that Anne

24:55

of Cleaves had already been betrothed. Second

24:58

that the wedding was never consummated, but

25:00

of course not because Henry was impotent.

25:03

And third that Henry had never consented

25:05

to the marriage. I mean, yes,

25:08

they said, he consented in his manner

25:10

and fashion of behavior, but

25:12

inside, inside he was troubled.

25:16

On July seven, the marriage

25:18

was deemed invalid. Anne

25:21

received the news with genuine

25:23

grace after the trouble

25:25

Catherine of Arragon had given him.

25:27

Henry was so relieved that Anne wasn't

25:29

going to put up a fight that he granted

25:32

her an extremely generous settlement,

25:34

two palaces, a large annual

25:37

income, furniture lands,

25:39

a household. Anne had

25:41

only one request, that her former

25:43

step daughter Elizabeth might be allowed

25:45

to visit her every once in a while, and

25:48

Henry gladly accepted. Of

25:50

course, he wrote, I know how this

25:52

annulment pains her, considering

25:55

the great love and affection which

25:57

she seems to have for my person. Henry

26:00

did require one thing of Anne that caused

26:03

her to struggle to write a

26:05

letter to her brother telling him

26:07

of the new arrangement, so that he wouldn't

26:10

be angry at Henry. Anne

26:12

swallowed the humiliation and

26:14

wrote that her body remained in

26:16

the same integrity with which she

26:18

brought it to England, and that the King

26:20

had quote kindly adopted

26:23

her as his beloved sister. She

26:26

asked her brother to treat Henry with kindness

26:29

and told him that she would be staying in England

26:31

as required by the terms of their settlement.

26:35

Anne's family privately was of course

26:37

outraged. Her sister always

26:40

continued to refer to her as the Queen of

26:42

England, and they never blamed

26:44

her. Every one knew what a nightmare

26:46

Henry was when it came to women, and

26:49

from the people of England. There came a massive

26:52

outpouring of public sympathy towards

26:54

the woman jilted for a teenage

26:56

would be mistress. With

27:04

marriage behind them and the pressures

27:07

of the wedding bed gone, Henry

27:09

and Anne's relationship vastly improved,

27:12

especially once Anne became fluent enough

27:14

in English for the pair to talk and realized

27:16

they actually had a lot in common. Anne

27:19

lived happily enough, making a mini

27:21

Germany of her household, and,

27:23

according to one observer, wearing new

27:26

dresses every day. About

27:29

a year after Little Katherine Howard,

27:31

former Lady in waiting, became Queen,

27:34

Anne of Cleave's came to Hampton Court

27:36

for New Year's Katherine

27:39

was terrified and insecure, unsure

27:41

what the protocol was for a former queen

27:43

to come and greet her, but Anne

27:45

of Cleave's was grace itself. She

27:48

brought a New Year's gift of horses

27:51

for the couple and greeted Katherine

27:53

with a deep bow. Henry

27:56

came in, kissed Anne, and the three

27:58

of them had what was, by all

28:00

accounts, the least awkward

28:02

dinner among exes in history. Still

28:05

gracious as she was, Anne

28:07

was still a little secretly pleased

28:10

to hear about Catherine's fall, and

28:13

even thought that maybe she would get a second chance

28:15

of being queen now that he had

28:17

gotten his fling out of the way. Maybe Henry

28:19

would want to remarry her, But

28:22

unfortunately that hope was dashed.

28:25

Anne's former stepdaughter, Mary Tudor,

28:27

came to visit Anne at Richmond, but had

28:29

to leave suddenly and found

28:32

out why two weeks later, when

28:34

Henry came by to tell her that he had

28:36

gotten married to a woman named

28:38

Catherine Parr. Anne

28:41

never married again. In her mind, she

28:43

was always still married to Henry the Eighth

28:46

after his death, she even briefly tried

28:48

to overturn the annulment ruling to make

28:50

her settlement more generous,

28:53

but the counsel of the brand new young

28:55

King Edward didn't bite. With

28:57

Henry's death, and status was

28:59

reduced from that of the king's sister

29:01

to the king's aunt. So

29:04

although she lived comfortably, her position

29:06

was still limited, especially when her brother

29:08

lost his lands to the Holy Roman Emperor,

29:11

which meant that even if she wanted to give up her

29:13

English property, she wouldn't be able

29:15

to return home. Now. For

29:18

the last decades of her life, An's

29:20

real family was the household she maintained.

29:23

They became her friends and confidants,

29:26

and when Anne finally died, aged

29:28

forty one, she left generous

29:31

gifts to the poor surrounding her

29:33

properties and to her entire

29:35

household staff. In her

29:37

will, she referred to them all

29:40

by name, an extraordinary

29:42

gesture of the charm and kindness

29:45

that hadn't won over a king but

29:47

managed to win over everyone else.

29:56

That's the story of Anne of Cleave's

29:58

brief marriage to hen the Eight, but

30:01

stick around after a sponsor break for a

30:03

little bit more about the marriage's consequences.

30:15

Anne managed to get out of her marriage

30:17

to King Henry the Eighth with her head, but

30:20

the same wasn't true for Thomas

30:22

Cromwell, Henry's former

30:24

chief minister. Cromwell

30:27

had been the one who pushed Henry into

30:29

the marriage with Anne, who told

30:31

him that France and the Holy Roman Emperor

30:33

were going to forage an alliance, and

30:36

Cromwell had maybe overplayed

30:38

Anne's beauty to make sure that Henry accepted

30:40

the match. While the Council

30:43

was examining the validity of Henry's

30:45

marriage to Anne of Cleaves in the summer

30:47

of Cromwell

30:50

was thrown into the Tower of London.

30:53

Cromwell was beheaded without

30:55

a trial on charges of treason,

30:58

to the delight of his political enemies.

31:02

There's always a cost for a bad

31:04

marriage with Henry the eight. Noble

31:13

Blood is a production of I Heart Radio and

31:15

Grimm and Mild from Aaron Manky. The

31:18

show is written and hosted by Dana Schwartz

31:20

and produced by Aaron Mankey, Matt Frederick,

31:23

Alex Williams, and Trevor Young.

31:25

Noble Blood is on social media at Noble

31:28

Blood Tales, and you can learn more about

31:30

the show over at Noble Blood tales dot com.

31:32

For more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit

31:35

the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

31:37

or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.

Unlock more with Podchaser Pro

  • Audience Insights
  • Contact Information
  • Demographics
  • Charts
  • Sponsor History
  • and More!
Pro Features