Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King''s ''Beloved Sister''

Anna was the last woman standing of Henry VIIIs wives and the only one buried in Westminster Abbey. How did she manage it? Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The Kings Beloved Sister looks at Anna from a new perspective, as a woman from the Holy Roman Empire and not as a woman living almost by accident in England. Starting with what Annas life as a child and young woman was like, the author describes the climate of the Cleves court, and the achievements of Annas siblings. It looks at the political issues on the Continent that transformed Annas native land of Cleves notably the court of Annas brother-in-law, and its influence on Lutheranism and Annas blighted marriage. Finally, Heather Darsie explores ways in which Anna influenced her step-daughters Elizabeth and Mary, and the evidence of their good relationships with her. Was the Duchess Anna in fact a political refugee, supported by Henry VIII? Was she a role model for Elizabeth I? Why was the marriage doomed from the outset? By returning to the primary sources and visiting archives and museums all over Europe (the author is fluent in German, and proficient in French and Spanish) a very different figure emerges to the Flanders Mare. See more