While Anne of Cleves’ marriage to Henry VIII lasted only a few months, she’s considered lucky since her fate did not include untimely death. Instead, following the marriage’s annulment, she was known as “the King’s Beloved Sister” and lived out her life in comfort, surviving all of Henry VIII’s other wives—and Henry VIII himself.
If you’re watching Wolf Hall: The Mirror and the Light on “Great Performances” on PBS (or enjoyed it last year on the BBC), you may be curious about Anne of Cleves, Henry VIII, and Thomas Cromwell, the royal “fixer” whose role in arranging their marriage led to his downfall and beheading. Curator of Manuscripts Heather Wolfe has highlighted Folger collection materials related to The Mirror and the Light in a blog post for the Collation. Several of the items can be seen in the exhibition, How to Be a Power Player: Tudor Edition, including a unique prayer book that Anne of Cleves gave to Henry VIII.
“When You Look on This Remember Me”
This uniquely inscribed Book of Hours was presented to Henry VIII by his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, an amiable but—in Henry’s view—utterly unattractive woman whom he rejected within four months of their arranged marriage in 1540. Anne readily granted him a divorce and lived in comfort on the settlement in England until her death in 1557. Given the tragic history of Henry’s other marriages, she is often considered the luckiest of his six wives.
Anne of Cleves gifted her husband, King Henry VIII, this illustrated prayer book
View in our Digital Collections
The prayer book includes an undated personal inscription from Anne of Cleves
View in our Digital Collections
Partly obscured when the book was rebound, the inscription in Anne’s hand reads (in modernized English):
I beseech Your Grace humbly when you look on this remember me, your Grace’s assured Anne, the daughter of Cleves.
Anne’s signature, one of only three surviving examples, is undated, but the title “daughter of Cleves” has suggested to at least one researcher that the gift must have come after the couple divorced, a period during which they remained on friendly terms.
Printed in vellum in Paris in about 1533—seven years before the short-lived marriage—the volume was then beautifully decorated and illuminated by hand, making it indeed a gift fit for a king. In the heavily gilded image above, Mary, pregnant with Jesus, is greeted by her cousin Elizabeth, herself soon to be the mother of John the Baptist. Mary’s reply to Elizabeth’s greeting is the canticle of praise known as the Magnificat.
Keep exploring
Two versions of Thomas Cromwell's very urgent letter conveying Henry VIII's impatience over his impending marriage to Anne of Cleves
A suggested solution to May’s Folger Mystery about two almost identical letters regarding Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves in the Folger’s Collection.
The Women Who Served the Queens of Henry VIII
Who were the ladies-in-waiting to each of Henry VIII’s six wives and what were their lives like? An excerpt from Nicola Clark’s The Waiting Game looks at these overlooked but influential figures.
The education of Henry VIII
How did Henry VIII’s childhood and education help shape him into the king he would become? This excerpt from Hunting the Falcon offers some intriguing insights.
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