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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,
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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