Про милых дам - себе и всем

[kinme]

А еще конкретнее - про одну, но одну из милейших, что бы про нее ни писали. А пишут про нее крайне мало, несправделиво(

Anne of Cleves, сиречь Анна Клевская, четвертая жена Генри VIII

Анна Клевская (22 сентября 1515г. - 16 июля 1557г.)

В супружестве с Генри VIII - с 6.01. 1540г. по 9.07.1540г.



Anne was born at Düsseldorf, Germany, the daughter of John III, ruler of the Duchy of Cleves, who died in 1538. After John's death, her brother William became Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, bearing the promising epithet "The Rich." In 1526, her elder sister Sybille was married to John Frederick, Elector of Saxony, head of the Protestant Confederation of Germany and considered the "Champion of the Reformation." In the mid-1530s, she was briefly betrothed to Francis, son and heir of the Duke of Lorraine. While her brother William was a Catholic, the family's politics made them suitable allies for England's King Henry VIII in the aftermath of the Reformation, and a match with Anne was urged on the king by his chancellor, Thomas Cromwell. (Anne and Henry were seventh cousins twice removed.)



The artist Hans Holbein the Younger was dispatched to paint a portrait of Anne, and Henry was pleased with the result. As it was usual for court painters to be flattering in their portrayal of important people, it is likely that Holbein covered up the evidence of Anne's smallpox scars. The portrait is currently displayed in The Louvre in Paris.



Negotiations with the Cleves court were in full swing by March 1539. Cromwell oversaw the talks and a marriage treaty was signed on 4 October of the same year. While Henry valued education and cultural sophistication in women, Anne lacked these in her upbringing; she received no formal education as a child, and instead of being taught to sing or play an instrument, she was skilled in needlework. She had learned to read and write, but in German only. Nevertheless, Anne was considered gentle, virtuous, and docile, qualities that made her a realistic candidate for Henry.



Henry, impatient to finally see his future bride, journeyed to Rochester on New Year’s Day 1540 and walked in on Anne unannounced. The king took an immediate dislike to Anne, reporting back to Cromwell that she was nothing like the glowing reports he had received of her. Henry urged Cromwell to find a legal way to avoid the marriage. By this point, however, evading the marriage was impossible without offending the Germans.





The two were married on 6 January 1540 at the royal Palace of Placentia in Greenwich, London by Archbishop Thomas Cranmer, despite Henry's misgivings. The phrase “God send me well to keep” was engraved around Anne’s wedding ring.



Anne was commanded to leave the court on June 24 and on July 6 she was informed of her husband's decision to reconsider the marriage. In a short time, Anne was asked for her consent to an annulment, to which she agreed. The marriage was annulled on July 9, 1540, on the grounds that it had never been consummated -- Henry claimed that he had found his bride so unattractive that he could not bear to sleep with her. She received a generous settlement, including Hever Castle, home of Henry's former in-laws, the Boleyns. Anne of Cleves House, in Lewes, Sussex, is just one of many properties she owned; she never lived there. Made a Princess of England and called "sister" by her former husband, Anne remained in England for the rest of her life.



There is evidence that during the reign of Henry's son, King Edward VI, Anne suffered some financial reverses due to Edward not paying her allowance. She gave up Richmond Castle and Hever and moved to a small country house at Dartford. Her lot improved with the accession of Henry's daughter Mary Tudor to the English throne, and for the short remainder of her life, Anne occupied an honoured place at court. She was the last of Henry's six wives to die, in London, on 16 July 1557, and was buried in Westminster Abbey after a royal funeral. By that time, she had converted to Roman Catholicism and remained on good terms with Queen Mary, her former stepdaughter.

(с)Wikipedia

Пока я в раздумьях, стоит это переводить или нет...ибо леень)