Anne of Cleves

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 18 July 2022

⏱️ 41 minutes

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Summary

Anne of Cleves was the ‘last woman standing’ of Henry VIII’s wives and the only one buried in Westminster Abbey. How did she manage it? Was she in fact a political refugee, supported by the King? Was she a role model for her step-daughters Mary and Elizabeth? Why was her marriage to Henry doomed from the start?

In this edition of Not Just the Tudors, Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by author Heather R. Darsie - editor of maidensandmanuscripts.com - whose research into Anne of Cleves casts a new light on Henry’s fourth Queen, potentially revealing a very different figure than the so-called 'Flanders Mare'.

For this episode, the Senior Producer was Elena Guthrie. It was edited by Thomas Ntinas and produced by Rob Weinberg.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Well, one thing is for certain, he never called her a flander's mare. That expression
0:08.9	was coined in the 18th century. But the sad thing is that you would know who I'm talking
0:14.2	about, even if you hadn't read the name of this podcast. What Henry VIII had to say about
0:20.3	his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, in reality was hardly less damning, and their sixth month
0:25.6	marriage was over before it even really begun. It's no doubt because of this short spell
0:31.0	on the limelight, and perhaps coupled with problematic or absent sources about Anne's early
0:36.2	life, that scholarly interest in this queen of England has never been that great. I'm a
0:42.0	massive fan of Anne of Cleves, however, so I decided to speak to someone who has written
0:47.2	her biography, Heather R. Darcy. Her book is called Anna Duchess of Cleves. For reasons
0:54.8	we'll discuss, and Heather has two new books both coming out in 2023, Children of the House
1:01.2	of Cleves, and Stuart spouses a Compendium of Consorts. She also has website, maidensandmanuscripts.com.
1:11.1	As you'll learn today, Heather Darcy brings an international perspective to the life of
1:15.6	Anne of Cleves, and also even to Henry's reaction to her. Listen on.
1:24.8	Heather Darcy, it is a great pleasure to welcome you to not just the tutors. I read your book,
1:34.9	Anna Duchess of Cleves, The King's Beloved Sister, some time ago, and it seems to me it
1:40.0	remains one of the only biographies on this woman, which is astonishing. Why do you think
1:46.3	there's been a lack of interest in this most famous of women? I think it could be if you
1:52.8	go with Henry VIII's narrative that she was unattractive, and that's why the marriage
1:57.9	ended that sounds like a rather dull life. I would assume that that's why there's also
2:03.5	a bit of a language barrier at times too, I would suspect with not just German, but also
2:08.0	the form of German that her father spoke, which is different than modern German. I think
2:13.8	that for those reasons, traditionally it might have been difficult in the past to write
	...

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