Anne of Cleves Part I

>Anne of Cleves is one of the overlooked wives of Henry VIII. His marriage to her was very short, only lasting about 6 months. She was the daughter of the ruler of a German principality and was born in Dusseldorf in 1515. Christendom was beginning to split apart - with various reformers trying to fight against the abuses and problems in the Church, and in some cases splitting away from it. Anne’s father supported moderate reform which put him at odds with the Emperor Charles V.. Her sister Sybilla was married to the Elector of Saxony who was the head of the military alliance of Lutheran rulers. Anne’s brother William became a Lutheran but most of the family were still Catholics, including Anne. Her mother was a Catholic. Henry was urged by Cromwell to seek an alliance with a German princess… and negotiations began to marry him to either Anne or her sister Amalie. Henry having twice married English gentlewomen for love was by now keen to remarry and sent a painter, Hans Holbein, to produce portraits of the 2 sisters so he could choose a wife.