ANNE OF CLEVES (1515-1557), fourth wife of Henry VIII., king of England, daughter of John, duke of Cleves, and Mary, only daughter of William, duke of Juliers, was born on Sept. 22, 1515. Her father was the leader of the German Prot estants, and the princess, after the death of Jane Seymour, was regarded by Cromwell as a suitable wife for Henry VIII. She had been brought up in a narrow retirement, could speak no language but her own, had no looks, no accomplishments and no dowry, her only recommendations being her proficiency in needlework and her meek and gentle temper. The marriage treaty was signed on Sept. The princess landed at Deal on Dec. 27; Henry met her at Rochester on Jan. 1, 1540. The next day he expressed openly his dissatisfaction at her looks; "she was no better than a Flanders mare." The attempt to prove a pre-contract with the son of the duke of Lorraine broke down. On the wedding morning, however, Jan. 6, 1540, he declared that no earthly thing would have induced him to marry her but the fear of driving the duke of Cleves into the arms of the emperor. Shortly afterwards Henry had reason to regret the policy which had identified him so closely with the German Protestantism and denied reconciliation with the emperor. Henry then declared the marriage had not been and could not be consummated, and did not scruple to cast doubts on his wife's honour. On July 9 the marriage was declared null and void by convocation and, subsequently, by an act of parliament. Anne spent the rest of her life happily in England at Richmond or Bletchingley, occasionally visiting the court, and being de scribed as joyous as ever and wearing new dresses every day. She died on July 28, at Chelsea, and was buried in West minster Abbey.
See A. Strickland, Lives of the Queens of England, iii. (1851) Four Original Documents relating to the Marriage of Henry VIII. to Anne of Cleves, ed. by E. and G. Goldsmid (1884) ; M. Hume, The Wives of Henry VIII. (1905) ; A. F. Pollard, Henry VIII. (19o5) ; for the pseudo Anne of Cleves see Allgemeine deutsche Biographie, i. 467. A miniature by Holbein is in South Kensington Museum.