Henry then made a blunder. He demanded that Anne state before the whole council whether she was ‘free from all contracts’. This she obediently did, finally cutting off all possibility of escape for her reluctant bridegroom. ‘Is there no other remedy, but that I must needs put my neck in the yoke?’ groaned the unhappy king. Not now there wasn’t, and on the morning of the marriage Henry took Cromwell aside and unburdened himself: ‘My lord, if it were not to satisfy the world and my realm, I would not do that I must do this day for no earthly thing’.
Hall then describes the marriage itself, the pomp and splendour, all the leading lords and ladies in gorgeous apparel, followed by banquets, masks and ‘diverse disports’ that evening. The ceremony and the bridal night over, Cromwell again called privately on the king, where a sorry sight awaited him. ‘Surely my lord’, said Henry, ‘as ye know I liked her before not well, but now I like her much worse’. Henry then went over his loveless first night with his new queen. ‘I have felt her belly and her breasts, and thereby as I can judge she should be no maid, which struck me so to the heart … that I had neither will nor courage to proceed any further’. He then left her ‘as good a maid as I found her’.
Henry would later repeat, to Sir Anthony Denny, that he ‘somewhat suspected’ Anne’s virginity. It is puzzling to hear such a claim about a piously brought up sixteenth century duchess. It also sits uneasily with stories of Anne’s supposed sexual innocence, though these are admittedly based on statements taken from gossipy ladies at court. It is tempting to somewhat suspect that Henry made this up. But this is by the by.44
Too many writers simply take it for granted that because Henry did not find Anne desirable, she must have been unattractive and unsuitable. Contemporaries saw her differently. In her native Germany, and among her own people, she was described as beautiful and elegant. One of Cromwell’s overseas contacts, Sir Michael of Grave in the Low Countries, waxed eloquently over her, calling her ‘beautiful, illustrious and noble’, with a ‘great gift from God, both of sense and wit’. Hall admired her, and his favourable view was shared by the English people. The duke of Suffolk told Cromwell how delighted Anne was at the joyous welcome she received from the mayor and people in Canterbury. Nor was this a performance stage-managed by Cromwell, or put on out of fear of the king, because Henry’s people had not been afraid to tell him that they did not love Anne Boleyn. Then at festivities and jousts a few days after the marriage, Hall describes Anne looking on dressed ‘after the English fashion, with a French hood, which so set forth her beauty and good visage that every creature rejoiced to behold her’. Marillac was slightly more reserved, though still complimentary: She is ‘tall and slim, of medium beauty, and of very assured and resolute countenance’ (de corps haute et gresle, de beaulté moyenne et de contenance fort asseurée et résolue); but if she was not quite as young and lovely as some had expected, the ‘turn of vivacity and wit supplies the place of beauty’.45
Opinions may differ between Marillac’s ‘medium beauty’ and some of the more ardent descriptions – this is largely a matter of taste – but Holbein’s portrait shows a face far from ugly, and at least as attractive as any of Henry’s other wives. As this view is borne out by so many contemporary witnesses, it is pointless to pretend that Holbein painted an unduly flattering picture designed to deceive Henry about Anne’s attractiveness. If that were true, why was no action taken against him? Why was he not summoned to court to account for himself? Why, moreover, was no action ever taken against Peter, or Wotton, or Mont, or Parnell, or Southampton, all of whom had spoken well of Anne to the king, and were liable to the king’s laws and punishments for any misleading reports or unfaithful service rendered to him?
Just as important as Anne’s appearance – for royal marriages were invariably more diplomatic than romantic, and few kings married solely for love – was her character. Anne was young without being girlish, regal but not flirtatious. There would be no royal scandals this time. She had a natural dignity, and if she was perhaps a little serious in her manner, she was also gentle, gracious and meek-spirited. She would remind Henry of his beloved Jane, not the wilful, wayward Anne Boleyn. Even Henry admitted she had a ‘queenly manner’. From accounts of her reception, the English people took her instantly to their hearts. She was willing to learn English and adapt to English life and customs. She gave Henry a connection with the Cleves duchy and the Lutheran princes that did not require him to commit himself to the Augsburg Confession – just what Henry was looking for. This marriage antagonised neither Francis nor Charles; and it would allow Henry to continue his policy of detached neutrality in European politics, playing the one off against the other as it suited him. It would bring England new allies and no new dangers. Yet on and on the story goes that Cromwell saddled his king with an unsuitable wife!
Marriage introduction agencies could tell dozens of stories similar to this one, albeit on a humbler level and without the same sort of ramifications for affairs of state. A couple read each other’s profile, correspond briefly, speak on the phone, exchange photos; everything goes swimmingly until they meet in the flesh, and then things do not work out as happily as expected. What happened to Henry was one of the attendant risks of an arranged marriage. There was nothing wrong with the choice of Anne as queen, at least on paper. Besides the diplomatic advantages to Henry, she was by all accounts a pleasant and attractive lady. Henry meant no malice towards her personally; he had genuinely looked forward to seeing her, and in the subsequent divorce settlement he made sure that she was well provided for. Without wanting to indulge in amateur psycho-analysing, however, it is worth noting that neither diplomatic nor dynastic calculations had featured in Henry’s previous two marriages, and nor would they in the two yet to come. Consequently, he seemed unable to consider marriage in purely dynastic terms. This made him unique among fellow princes of his age. Henry needed a love match, and he did not find one with Anne. Maybe his expectations were just a bit too high. Henry was now well past his physical prime, uncomfortably overweight, bothered with gout and with two failed marriages behind him; many a man in his position might feel that he had done rather well with the Lady Anne. But in all the testimonies about her, Henry’s was the only disagreeable, discordant note. Unfortunately, his was the only opinion that really mattered, so yet another royal marriage crisis was now looming.
Notes
1. Merriman 2, pp. 96–8; LP 12 (2), p. 602; SP 8, pp. 5–8.
2. Merriman 2, pp. 119–22; J. Scarisbrick, Henry VIII (London, 1968), pp. 355–61; CSP Span., 1538–42, no. 25, pp. 65, 69.
3. Kaulek, p. 50 = LP 13 (1), no. 995.
4. Merriman 2, pp. 117–20; Kaulek, p. 11 = LP 12 (2), no. 1285, p. 449; Kaulek, pp. 52–3 = LP 13 (1), no. 1101; Kaulek, p. 80 = LP 13 (2), no. 77; Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, pp. 355–61.
5. CSP Span., 1536–8, no. 225, pp. 530–31; Kaulek, pp. 65–6 = LP 13 (1), nos 145, 1320; LP 13 (2), p. 770; R. McEntegart, Henry VIII, The League of Schmalkalden and the English Reformation (Woodbridge, 2002), p. 142; Merriman 2, p. 174.
6. CSP Span., 1536–8, no. 21, p. 52; Ribier 1, p. 341 = LP 13 (2), no 1162; LP 13 (2), nos 923, 1127; LP 14 (1), no. 37, p. 18; McEntegart, Henry VIII, p. 142.
7. Merriman 2, pp. 174–5; Mont’s letters are not calendared, but referred to in Merriman 2, p. 186.
8. Merriman 2, pp. 187, 207; CSP Span., 1538–42, no. 40, p. 115; LP 14 (1), nos 433, 478, p. 190.
9. LP 14 (1), no. 489; Merriman 2, pp. 188–90.
10. Merriman 2, pp. 199–201.
11. LP 14 (1), nos 36, 62, 372, 446–7, 461; Correspondence of Reginald Pole: vol. 1: A Calendar, 1518–1546, ed. T. Mayer (Aldershot, 2002), pp. 209–13; CSP Span., 1538–42, no. 54, p. 141, no. 76, p. 174.
12. Merriman 1, p. 441; 2, pp. 167–73; CSP Ven. 5, no. 35.
13. LP 14 (1), no. 200. For fuller discussion, see Pole’s biographer: T. Mayer, Reginald Pole, Prince and Prophet (Cambridge, 2000), pp. 78–100
.
14. On the divorce and supremacy, see chaps 2, 4; on the monasteries, chap. 6; on Pole and historians’ reactions, chap. 12.
15. LP 14 (1), nos 144, 227; Merriman 2, pp. 180–83; CSP Span., 1538–42, Introduction, p. ii.
16. S. Lehmberg, The Later Parliaments of Henry VIII: 1536–1547 (Cambridge, 1977); pp. 40–41; Merriman 2, pp. 183–6, 207; LP 14 (1), no. 462.
17. LP 13 (2), nos 288, 349; Merriman 2, p. 183 = LP 14 (1), nos 307, 398–400, 529, 564, 615, 644, 652–5, 662, 682, 940–41.
18. LP 14 (1), no. 37, p. 18; Ribier 1, p. 437 = LP 14 (1), no. 770; Kaulek, pp. 87–90 = LP 14 (1), nos 669–70; Kaulek, pp. 122–3 = LP 14 (2), no. 35.
19. LP 14 (1), nos 455, 481; Merriman 2, pp. 195, 197.
20. LP 14 (1), nos 691, 714, 728, 734–5, 767; Merriman 2, p. 211.
21. LP 14 (1), nos 625, 687.
22. LP 14 (1), nos 599, 627; Merriman 2, pp. 211–13; Mayer, Correspondence of Pole, pp. 213–14, 217–19; Kaulek, p. 111 = LP 14 (1), no. 1230; CSP Span., 1538–42, no. 80.
23. Merriman 2, pp. 202–7; McEntegart, Henry VIII, p. 149–52.
24. Merriman 2, pp. 216, 219–22. Some nuns who made their vows while very young, probably not entirely freely, were allowed to marry: LP 14 (1), no. 1321.
25. Merriman 1, pp. 272–3; Lehmberg, Later Parliaments, pp. 55–7; McEntegart, Henry VIII, p. 155–6.
26. LP 14 (1), nos 920, 1193.
27. Quoted and discussed in Lehmberg, Later Parliaments, pp. 60–61.
28. LP 14 (1), nos 955–8, 981; Lehmberg, Later Parliaments, pp. 65, 68–74; McEntegart, Henry VIII, pp. 157–62.
29. For a fuller analysis of the Six Articles, and Henry’s policy behind the act, see J. Schofield, Philip Melanchthon and the English Reformation (Ashgate, 2006), chapter 8.
30. Foxe 5, p. 502.
31. SP 1, p. 849; A. Chester, Hugh Latimer: Apostle to the English (New York, 1978), pp. 149–50.
32. Elton, Policy, pp. 105–7.
33. D. MacCulloch, Thomas Cranmer: A Life (New haven and London, 1996), p. 251; Cranmer, Misc Writings, pp. 393–4.
34. Foxe 5, p. 398; 8, p. 14; Burnet 1, p. 425; Elton, Studies 1, p. 213; LP 14 (1), nos 693, 764; Merriman 2, p. 215.
35. R. McEntegart, ‘England and the League of Schmalkalden, 1531–1547: Faction, Foreign Policy and the English Reformation’ (London School of Economics Ph.D., 1992), pp. 372–3, 377–8, 399–400; Elton, Policy, pp. 98–9; LP 14 (2), no. 301.
36. Ellis 2, pp. 121–2.
37. I was gratified to read that Prof. Scarisbrick also rejects the idea that Cromwell tried to trick or push Henry into an unwanted marriage: Scarisbrick, Henry VIII, pp. 373–5.
38. Kaulek, p. 125 = LP 14 (2), no. 117.
39. McEntegart, Henry VIII, pp. 180–83; LP 14 (2), nos 220–21, 285–6.
40. Kaulek, pp. 137–8 = LP 14 (2), no. 388.
41. TRP 1, no. 192, pp. 286–7; J.F. Mozley, Coverdale and his Bibles (London, 1953), pp. 217–18; Misc Writings, pp. 118–27, 395–6; Merriman 2, pp. 144–7; Elton, Policy pp. 260–61.
42. Hall, pp. 832–3; McEntegart, Henry VIII, pp. 179–81, 187–8; LP 14 (2), nos 638, 718; LP 15, nos 14, 850 (5); SP 8, pp. 208–13; J. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials under Henry VIII (Oxford, 1822) 1 (2), pp. 454–5.
43. Hall, pp. 833–7; Merriman 2, pp. 268–71. A generation later, Hall’s account was accepted and followed by the Elizabethan historian, Holinshed – see Holinshed 3, pp. 810–14.
44. Strype, Ecclesiastical Memorials, pp. 459, 462–3.
45. Merriman 1, p. 262; LP 14 (2), nos 258 (p. 97), 500, 754, 881–2 (pp. 509, 587); Hall, p. 837; Kaulek, p. 151 = LP 15, no. 22–3. We can discount the description of Cardinal Farnese to Pope Paul III that Anne was ‘old and ugly’ (LP 15, no. 179). He had not seen her, and like many historians, he assumed she was unattractive simply because Henry did not like her. Besides, Anne was not old – she was only 25.
16
A Treacherous Place
According to the traditional popular story, Henry’s acute disappointment when he met Anne sounded the fateful knell for Thomas Cromwell, whose demise was now inevitable. Not for the first time in the life of Cromwell, however, the traditional story, even on the surface, is wrong. Henry first set eyes on Anne on New Year’s Day, 1540, but Cromwell was not arrested until June six months later, and on the lengthy indictment against him not a word can be found about Anne of Cleves. After this his fourth wedding, Henry treated Cromwell as a confidant, not a scapegoat, and Cromwell acted his part dutifully and patiently. Vengeance was not on Henry’s mind. He was not happy, but there were no royal tantrums or rages, and no accusing fingers pointed at Cromwell or any other minister. Neither in January nor in June was he blamed or held accountable. Nevertheless, ‘treacherous is the first place with kings’, as Bishop Tunstall of Durham was quoted as saying around this time, and sooner or later Cromwell was the man who would be expected to sort out the latest royal marriage fiasco. Well aware of Henry’s unpredictability, Cromwell would have to be discreet, circumspect and more than usually astute in the coming weeks and months. With all this on his mind he told the visiting Germans that although he was with them in the faith, ‘the world standing as it now does, whatever his lord the king holds, so too will he hold’.1
Fortunately for Cromwell, his lord the king was still in a pro-German mood. Henry urged the delegation from the Schmalkaldic League to carry on talking theology with him, with a view to settling their differences and concluding a religious and political alliance. Confident of Henry’s support, Cromwell also appealed to the Germans to send another embassy before parliament convened, this time headed by Melanchthon. But the Germans were stiff and correct as ever; they could make no promises until they had consulted with their authorities back home.2
On the diplomatic front Henry’s relations with Charles remained chilly, and the king turned his attention to wooing the Scots and the French. In January 1540 Henry sent Ralph Sadler, Cromwell’s assistant, to Scotland with gifts and discreet suggestions that James might care to fill up his coffers with revenues from the Scottish monasteries, just as Henry was doing in England. Henry proposed an end for ever to the ancient enmity between the two kingdoms, and hinted that James might one day be included in the line of succession to the English crown. The result was encouraging. James assured Sadler that he never intended to be part of any continental invasion of England, and promised he would not break his friendship with Henry. The influence of Cromwell, who had consistently argued for an Anglo-Scottish accord, is easily discernable in all of this. He heard from Sir William Eyre, one of his contacts north of the Border, that James and his council were ‘greatly given to the reformation of the misdemeanours’ of the clergy, a reformation that might yet follow the English model. Sadler also advised that many Scots were inclined to the Reformation, and wished their king had a Cromwell beside him.3
Relations with France were a little more difficult, partly because Edmund Bonner, the new English ambassador in Paris, had offended King Francis with his abrasive manner. To try and placate Francis, and also to wean him away from his friendship with Charles, Henry sent Norfolk to France with the not too subtle suggestion that Charles had gained more than Francis from the recent Franco-Imperial treaty. Henry told Francis that a private conversation between them had come to Charles’ attention – Charles had reported it to Ambassador Wyatt, and Henry suspected someone in the French council was responsible for the leak. Henry also hinted that pensions owed by France might be reduced, and that Francis might consider joining an alliance with England, the duke of Cleves and the German Lutherans against Charles and Rome.4
Norfolk did manage to sow a few seeds of doubt in Francis’ mind about Charles’s good faith. Norfolk also spoke with the queen of Navarre, who sent good wishes to Henry. In a separate letter to Cromwell, Norfolk did not believe that the French wanted war against England, and he suggested that Francis secretly held
more goodwill towards Henry than to Charles. The queen remained favourable to England, Norfolk added, but the Constable of France ‘is too much Papist to do good to us’.5
Henry ordered Norfolk to keep up the good work. He repeated his invitation to Francis to join England, Cleves and the Schmalkaldic League and thereby ‘redubbe all things past’. It was a bit rich from Henry, still not a member of the League himself, and it was too unsubtle for Francis. Norfolk’s next letter to Cromwell, dated 21 February, doubted whether Francis would break his pact with Charles, a prediction Francis quickly confirmed. Nevertheless, Henry and Cromwell instructed Ambassador Wallop in France to maintain contacts with the queen of Navarre, in the hope that Francis might yet be enticed away from the emperor.6
Two interesting points emerge from these dealings. The first is Norfolk’s habit of sending candid and almost friendly reports to Cromwell as well as more official ones to Henry. The second is that Henry still saw useful diplomatic mileage in his marriage to Anne. There is no hint that Henry was thinking of a divorce, no sign that Cromwell was in danger, no sign either that, in the first weeks of 1540, Norfolk had begun plotting the destruction of Cromwell. Relations between Henry and Cromwell and Cromwell and Norfolk were, so far, carrying on much the same as before.
Meanwhile, the Schmalkaldic League had heard from their envoys that the ‘beginning of the marriage’ between Henry and Anne was ‘joyful and prosperous’. Cromwell received two puzzling letters from Stephen Vaughan (15 January) and Nicholas Wotton (22 February), both on the continent. Vaughan’s deals mainly with miscellaneous diplomatic affairs, but at the end he added this: ‘I read your lordship’s letter signifying the king’s majesty’s marriage, and became exceedingly glad that your lordship found my judgement true of the queen’s grace’. Then Wotton, sent by Henry to Germany on a diplomatic mission, told John Ghogreve, Cleves’s chancellor, how well Henry and Anne liked each other; he also passed on Ghogreve’s gratitude to Cromwell for writing to him.7
The Rise and Fall of Thomas Cromwell Page 42
