Did Anne of Cleeves Have a Deep Secret?
Anne of Cleeves. Fourth wife of King Henry VIII. The Flanders Mare.
In school I learned the classic narrative of Anne. Henry agreed to marry her sight unseen, but when she showed up he found her profoundly unattractive, was unable to consummate the marriage, and quickly divorced her.
With much snickering about other reasons for inability to consummate the marriage.
Later I learned about him trying to get to know her in disguise…and experiencing something rare for a king who was, in his youth, known to be handsome and who also had that female aphrodisiac: Wealth. (No doubt some of the women who were willing to be with him as he aged were sugar babies. Just saying).
He married her anyway, but the marriage was never consummated. Anne was given the title of Beloved Sister, lands, and independent wealth.
It took until today, reading another article about her, that something occurred to me.
Why didn’t Henry find Anne of Cleeves a husband?
She was young and by all accounts other than Henry’s, quite attractive. He might not have wanted to send her back to her parents (for all we know they were abusive).
But he could easily have found her a good husband at court.