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Anne of Cleves must have been pretty ugly for Henry to be like "Yeah...no". lol
I remember reading somewhere that upon meeting her face-to-face for the first time, Henry is reported to have said "I am not well. Pray, bring me a glass of wine."
I remember reading somewhere that upon meeting her face-to-face for the first time, Henry is reported to have said "I am not well. Pray, bring me a glass of wine."
Don't know about the wine part, but whatever Henry VIII said, there was much more to things.
Remember the era these people lived in; unlike each of his previous wives and mistresses Henry had never clapped eyes on Anne of Cleves in person; just her painted portrait. When they did finally meet it probably was like a blind date, or a personal advert in newspaper, what one though was getting didn't match what was in person.
Worse Anne was German, then like often today she was like other woman of her country; "healthy" or "big boned" comes to mind. Not fat, just shall we say "stout". Even more bad news would be the marks left on her face from a bout of smallpox.
In the marriage bed instead of the young, svelte and nubile young females with small perky breasts Henry had bedded previously; Anne of Cleves had "slack" breasts and the rest of her didn't stir Henry to do his duty either.
In any event we do not know what Anne of Cleves thought about Henry, but if anyone had something to complain about it would have been the princess.
Henry was hugely obese, stank, and a open gangrenous wound on one leg, with a fat face balanced with beady eyes. Every charge the king was lobbing at Anne of Cleves regarding her appearance and manner, she could certainly have thrown back at him with far more cause.
She knew what the risks were of keeping up a sexual relationship with her bf while being married to the king, although, admittedly, she was a pawn used by the men in her family to begin with.
And Anne Bolelyn was not some innocent young woman. She was calculating and knew she could oust Catherine by playing her cards right. She strung Henry along for 7 years till she got her way.
Historically Katherine Howard did not want to have a sexual relationship with Thomas. And she DID know the risks but like again Thomas forced her too.
My impression is that Anne of Cleves made out very well in the annulment and lived happily eating bon-bons in her palace, outliving them all. She was described as a good housekeeper.
Catherine of Aragon was treated badly but at least wasn't beheaded. A tragic figure, indeed, and no real fault of her own. Far be it from me to rub it in but Catherine of Aragon had a profound influence on history -- because of her bad luck. Catherine had no problem getting pregnant --- she did it six times -- but the infants were not healthy or were stillborn except for a girl, Mary. There was likely a RH negative blood problem between Catherine and Henry. Had Catherine produced a healthy adult male heir, England would have remained Catholic, Elizabeth I would not have been Queen, there would be no Spanish Armada, perhaps there would never have been the Stuart English kings, no King James bible, probably no Mayflower or Plymouth Rock, maybe no Puritans and no English Civil War, maybe no English House of Hanover, no George III, no Queen Victoria. Catherine's daughter, who married Phillip II of Spain, became Queen Mary I, but also had no heirs. Elizabeth I came next.
It's fascinating to think about how different history would have been if Henry would have been faithful to Catherine of Aragon and had just accepted the fact that he had one heir to the thrown and it was Mary. The history of not just Europe but the world was altered simply because Henry wanted a divorce.
Catherine of Aragon was treated worse than badly for who she was. She was disgraced and died with little more than her self dignity left to her. She was the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, then the most powerful monarchy in Europe. Catherine was very popular with the English people and loved by many. Never could she have imagined she would end up in the situation she did and die isolated from her family, friends and most of all her daughter through no fault of her own.
I find it amusing that Henry was also a devote Catholic and had no problem putting people to death for crimes against the Catholic Church until he wanted a divorce and didn't get one.
The Pope at the time had a very difficult choice to make. Giving Henry his divorce would have infuriated Spain and resulted in perhaps bigger repercussions for the church than losing England as a Catholic country.
Last edited by marino760; 12-05-2020 at 09:06 PM..
Here's a little bit more about Catherine and how she was viewed even in her time and her contributions taken from Wikipedia
The controversial book "The Education of Christian Women" by Juan Luis Vives, which claimed women have the right to an education, was dedicated to and commissioned by her. Such was Catherine's impression on people, that even her enemy, Thomas Cromwell, said of her "If not for her sex, she could have defied all the heroes of History."[5] She successfully appealed for the lives of the rebels involved in the Evil May Day for the sake of their families.[6] Furthermore, Catherine won widespread admiration by starting an extensive programme for the relief of the poor.[6] She was also a patron of Renaissance humanism, and a friend of the great scholars Erasmus of Rotterdam and Saint Thomas More. Some saw her as a martyr.[86][87]
To this day, there are still people working to make her a saint within the Catholic Church.
Also few people seem to know that Catherine and Henry did have a son together, Henry Duke of Cornwall. He died as an infant just before the age of 2 months. He was Baptized with great fanfare and celebration and was the heir apparent to the throne. His cause of death is unknown but at that time, many children died in infancy.
Last edited by marino760; 12-06-2020 at 08:17 AM..
Anne of Cleves certainly had it the best, I'd say. It's kind of funny how things really never change that much, with the advent of online dating sites, it's been determined that something like one in three relationships first begins online. The same could be said of Henry VIII, only portraits took the place of the internet. And after Anne arrived, Henry thought the portrait did not represent what she really looked like, the marriage was never consummated, and six months later it was annulled. Anne then received a generous financial settlement and lived out her life as the "King's sister".
For anyone who has tried online dating, we've all met people in person who didn't look like their pictures online.
Anne of Cleves certainly had it the best, I'd say. It's kind of funny how things really never change that much, with the advent of online dating sites, it's been determined that something like one in three relationships first begins online. The same could be said of Henry VIII, only portraits took the place of the internet. And after Anne arrived, Henry thought the portrait did not represent what she really looked like, the marriage was never consummated, and six months later it was annulled. Anne then received a generous financial settlement and lived out her life as the "King's sister".
For anyone who has tried online dating, we've all met people in person who didn't look like their pictures online.
Yes, I always thought she played that well by not fighting the annulment. She was given a nice set-up with a couple of homes and plenty of servants and was invited to court.
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