Many people have heard of King Henry VIII of England, one of the biggest blowhards of history. His many, um, adventures, include starting a whole religion because the Pope wouldn’t let him end one marriage and start another, and (once he was in charge of his own church) getting married six times back when that really wasn’t something one did. But this is not about Henry. It’s about one of his wives, Anne of Cleves, who was born September 22, 1515 in Düsseldorf. Or, well, it might have been June 28, but since today is September 22, we’ll go with that. Also she wasn’t born in Cleves, which was a real place. But her father was the Duke of Cleves, among other things, so that’s where her designation came from.
Getting married to Henry VIII was a risky thing; he had a couple of his wives beheaded and another died in childbirth. But Anne of Cleves probably had the most unique experience of anyone who married the guy. She was his fourth wife, in between Jane Seymour (died in childbirth) and Catherine Howard (beheaded). It was a political marriage; Henry needed allies in case the Holy Roman Empire attacked him (because of the new religion thing), and Anne’s brother William was the leader of a lot of what is now Germany.
Arrangements were made, and Anne arrived in England in 1539, and the marriage took place a month later. But for some reason — probably also political — it didn’t work out, and Henry (not just king but head of a whole church, remember) annulled it. But apparently didn’t bear her any ill will at all; instead of throwing her into the Tower of London or beheading her, he paid her a small fortune and bestowed on her the (odd) title of “The King’s Beloved Sister.” She stayed in England (not sure why; she only spoke German), lived in luxury (for the 1500s at least) and outlived all the other wives. She outlived Henry, too; and saw the next two English rulers: Edward VI and Mary I. As far as I can tell, her biggest accomplishment was surviving being married to Henry VIII — which was actually pretty impressive, given his record.
