Anne of cleves history biography movies

Most famously known by the rather unflattering nickname of ‘The Flanders Mare’, Anne of Cleves has often been overlooked in the list of Henry VIII’s wives.

In fact, she remains one of the most remarkable of them all: pensioned off after less than six months of marriage with title and status in tact, Anne can be seen as perhaps the most fortunate of all Henry’s wives.

1.

Anne was a political pawn

Anne’s early life is relatively obscure, but she was born in Düsseldorf in 1515 to the Duke and Duchess of Jülich-Berg. Her family had Protestant sympathies in the Reformation, and opposed the Catholic Emperor Charles V.

As a daughter, Anne would always have been expected to marry whomever her parents chose for her.

In the turbulent religious landscape of mid-16th century Europe, political matches were even more important.

Aged 11 she was betrothed to the son of the Duke of Lorraine, but this was broken off as the two reached a marriageable age, partly becau