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XV.—The “Remonstrance” of Anne of Cleves
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 January 2012
Extract
When, in words which were prompted by others, Queen Anne of Cleves had declared, upon receiving the report of Convocation against the validity of her marriage with Henry VIII. that she at once accepted and approved their sentence, although she also declared that her case was a very hard and sorrowful one from the great love which she bore to the king; and when, further, she had written (under similar dictation) to her brother to announce this her acquiescence, and to assure him that the divorce need not cause any cessation of friendship between him and the sovereign who now called her “sister” instead of “wife;” it was no wonder that the separation appeared to excite little attention or sympathy either at home or abroad. The happy temper of equanimity which enabled Anne to bear her lot so calmly, with such fortunate results of peace and comfort for herself to the end of her days, prevented the arousing of any such interest as might have been wakened had she made some passionate appeal to her countrymen and friends, or refused to lay down at the king's bidding the rank to which he had called her. Only once (as it was supposed) when, in a short year and a half after the divorce, her successor was in the Tower awaiting her own condemnation, was there any step taken to urge the claims of Anne; and we may well believe that the then abortive negociation of her brother's ambassador, who in December 1541 sought to enlist the sympathies of Cranmer and of the Earl of Southampton in her behalf, was one which had hardly been undertaken with her knowledge and approval at a time when the perils of royal wifehood were being so evidently demonstrated.
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- Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1883
References
page 250 note a State Papers, Hen. VIII. part v. p. 660.
page 252 note a Notes to Froude's edition of Thomas' Pilgrim, 8vo. Lond. 1861, pp. 154, 155.
page 252 note b Brunet (Manuel du Libraire), who speaks of the book as being very rare, supposes that it was printed about 1545, because a Troyes book bears the name of Nicolas Paris as its printer in that city in 1544. But the monastery of “la Rivou” and the city were near enough to have admitted of his superintending presses at the two places simultaneously.
page 253 note a The name is found indeed in the second volume, or supplement, of Dr. Cotton's Typographical, Gazetteer, but the learned archdeacon was ignorant of the real locality. In two, at least, of the great English monasteries., St. Alban's and Tavistock, the art of printing was early practised; but such instances were rare, and to find it established in so obscure a house as was La Rivour is no small proof of the Abbot's love for learning and the arts. It is duly entered in P[ierre] D[eschamps]’ Dictionnaire de Géographie à l'usage du libraire; supplement au Manuel du Libraire, 1870, under its Latin form of “Ripatorium” but the title of our book is incorrectly given as Oraison funebre de Marie de Clèves.
page 257 note a The writer here appears to confound Hermione, or Harmonia, wife of Cadmus, with her later namesake.
page 260 note a This version of the apocryphal story of Prince Edward and Eleanor is interesting, as removing it still further into the region of mythical tradition. I have not been able to trace the source from which the writer derived the name of Robert; the story does not appear among the legends told of Robert le Diable of Normandy, neither was he the sort of personage likely to have inspired such tender affection. It seems probable, however, that, in some form or other, the narration (based upon some real occurrence) may have obtained currency through the medium of romance, and have been told of different heroines. As connected with Edward it first appears (as is well known) in the History of Spain by RodericusSantius, Bishop of Palencia in the latter half of the fifteenth century, who relates it (“ut vera perhibent annalia”) in the fourth chapter of his first book, where he is speaking of the virtues of Spanish women. It was from this source that Camden first introduced it into English history. Sanuto, the Venetian historian of the Crusades, who returned from a fifth visit to the Holy Land in 1306, only thirty-five years Sifter Edward's attempted assassination, merely remarks about it that he was cured “with difficulty;” and the French chronicle ascribed to Baudoin d'Avesnes, who died in 1289, says that he was cured by the help of God and by a certain stone, efficacious against poison, which was given him by the Hospitallers (Rec. des Hist. de France, xxi. 178Google Scholar).
page 261 note a There would seem to be reference here to a condition which may hare given rise to the subsequent report of the Queen's having been delivered of a son after the divorce, by which report the King was greatly troubled. See State Papers, vol. i. pp. 697, 706Google Scholar. Can it have been the case that there was really a miscarriage?