thanks to Rocket money for sponsoring today's video this painting catfished a king this king who chose to marry this woman because of this portrait but when they met in person he was disappointed to say the least so what did the king see in this painting that he didn't see in real life and most importantly how did he get such impressive calves it's a Tale As Old As Time picture a man we'll call him Henry Henry finally decides to put himself out there after years of being single he starts browsing potential matches until one really catches his eye it's love at first sight and he insists on meeting her but when he does she's not what he expected Henry's in a tough spot but he knows what he has to do marry her immediately wait what what this piece is called an of cleaves by Hans Hine the younger she's best known as the ugly one out of King Henry VII's Six Wives but what if I told you that's exactly what made her the lucky one an stands before a regal blue background she's dressed in a rich red velvet gown embroidered with gold Fabric and decorated with pearls and gemstones the square neckline of her dress frames her necklaces including a large black and gold cross and two gold chains and reveals a sheer high neck lace garment underneath she faces in our Direction letting us letting Henry see her clearly her hands are clasped in front of her showing off her many expensive gold rings her hair is concealed beneath an ornate golden headdress dripping in pearls and gemstones with a sheer linen cap that frames her face her heavy eyelids hang over her Amber eyes which look slightly down and off to the side her straight on pose paired with her averted gaze and calm expression makes her seem present yet passive at the same time and it looks like she might be smiling ever so slightly this painting was recently restored by the L in Paris allowing us to see Anne with the same vibrancy and detail that Henry first saw her nearly 500 years ago this painting convinced him to marry her a decision he'd soon regret the royalty is piping hot too hot to sip just yet so while we wait for it to cool I'd like to thank the sponsor of today's video rocket money as I mentioned in my last video I've been upgrading my setup this is actually my first video using the new mic so let me know how it sounds I love to invest in things to hopefully improve your experience watching these videos because you all are amazing but well you know it ain't cheap today's sponsor rocket money is here to help rocket money is an easy to ous app that helps you save more and manage your money better rocket money can help you set a budget and save for the things that are truly important to you whether it's a new microphone or a vacation with your family with rocket money you can create a customized budget in seconds the app shows you where your money is going at all times and identifies top spending categories with insights on how you can stay within your budget better rocket money will notify you 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third wife Jane Seymour has just died from postnatal complications only days after giving birth to a baby boy by all accounts Henry was heartbroken he called Jane his true wife his most beloved wife High Praise from a guy who would end up with Six Wives total over his nearly 40-year Reign Henry VII had a habit of obsessing over women but when they inevitably fell short of his unrealistic expectations he didn't hesitate to get rid of them his first wife Katherine of Aragon held on the longest but after years without a male Heir and with Henry's infatuation with one of her ladies in waiting and Bolin he decided he needed out Henry and an secretly married before the analment was even finalized but the same sharp wit and confidence that Drew him to an in the first place wor on him over time and in Henry's mind since she wasn't giving him a son she might as well be dead so he killed her an was accused of adultery incest and treason and despite no solid evidence she was found guilty and beheaded not even 2 weeks later Henry married wife number three Jane Seymour at 46 years old Henry had lost lost his third wife but gained the male Heir he'd always dreamed of eventually the King was ready to find his next Queen but by this point he wasn't much of a catch he was reportedly eating around 5,000 calories a day which caused his waistline to balloon he had leg ulcers erectile dysfunction she's lying off with a head I forgot that's a sensitive one on top of that he likely had type 2 diabetes chronic digestive issues and bad constipation he did have some pretty incredible calves though Henry had looked better but his Queen needed to be in Tip-Top shape she had to be intelligent but not too opinionated like wife number two she needed to be cultured Henry played the recorder after all she needed to be calm and patient to balance the king's erratic temper and of course she needed to give him another male Heir Henry only became king after the death of his older brother Arthur which left him obsessed with securing the tutor Dynasty but above all Henry's 4th Queen had to be smoking hot at first Henry had the idea to gather all of the eligible women in one place and judge them in a giant Beauty parade but the court was scandalized by such an idea so instead Henry sent his ambassadors across the courts of Europe to scope out his options unfortunately for him there weren't many most women were either too young or already married or just not excited about the idea of marrying a wife killer there was Marie of guys who declined there was Christina of Denmark a 16-year-old Widow who everyone said was tall beautiful with an endearing gisp and a really nice pair of Hands Henry was intrigued but before making a decision he needed to see her for himself so he sent his trusted court painter Hans Hine the younger to capture a realistic portrait of her this is what he came back with Henry was sold she was perfect Christina on the other hand rejected him saying if I had two heads one should be at the king of England's disposal things weren't looking great for Henry but there was another option the king's Ambassador John Hutton casually mentioned to Henry's Chief adviser Thomas Cromwell that the Duke of cleaves had a daughter but he also added quote there is no great praise for her personage or beauty Thomas Cromwell decided to overlook this little detail a decision he would sorely regret but as Henry's default Matchmaker kroa wasn't just thinking about looks he was also thinking about strategy years earlier Henry had cut ties with the Catholic Church to anull his marriage to Catherine of Aragon leaving England isolated in Europe cromwell's solution to this problem was to stren Len ties with Protestant leaders in Germany specifically Ann's brother William Duke of cleaves and besides some reports did say Anne was quite lovely despite the mixed reviews on her looks Cromwell assured the king of Ann's Beauty saying every man praiseth the beauty of the same lady as well for the face as for the whole body so once again Henry sent tonle bind the younger out to paint a portrait of an and her sister Amalia for good measure he instructed Hine to be as accurate as possible and not to flatter the sisters and what he came back with was absolutely stunning the Vivid colors the intricate details he captured each individual eyebrow hair the slight asymmetry of her face even the beauty mark beside her mouth who could say no to a portrait like this not Henry VII Anne arrived in England on New Year's Day 1540 and Henry decided to make their first meeting extra cringe by disguising himself as a peasant because in Henry's mind if their love was truly meant to be Ann would be instantly drawn to him even without knowing he was the king an interesting idea but in practice it was a total disaster chronicler Charles Risley describes the scene the king so went up into the chamber where the sad lady Anne was looking out of a window to see the bull baiting which was going on in the courtyard and suddenly he embraced and kissed her and showed her a token which the king had sent her for a New Year's gift and she being abashed and not knowing who it was thanked him and so he spoke with her but she regarded him little apparently it didn't cross Henry's mind that a young woman might not like a 6ft tall 300b stranger barging into her Chambers unannounced and attacking her with his lips nevertheless the king's ego was badly bruised and after their meeting he reportedly grumbled I like her not I like her not Henry found an dull awkward and in his own words nothing so fair as she hath been reported he even called her a flanders's mayor comparing her to a horse the delicate demure woman he anticipated was in the words of historian Tracy Borman tall big boned and strong featured the king immediately blamed his chief adviser Thomas Cromwell for exaggerating an's Beauty Henry dressed Cromwell to find a way out of the marriage but calling it off at this point would have risked England's alliance with the Germans Henry and Anne were married on January 6th 1540 after their wedding night Henry reported I liked her before not well but now I like her much worse he claimed that Anne's body was so disordered that he couldn't consummate the marriage and that she had breasts so slack and other parts of her body in such sort that he questioned if she was really a virgin what's even more heartbreaking is that despite Henry's cruel and degrading comments Anne only had nice things to say about her new husband she told one of her ladies in waiting when he comes to bed he kisseth me and he taketh me by the hand and bth me good night sweetheart and in the morning kisseth me and bth farewell darling to which her lady and waiting replied Madame there must be more than this or it will be long air we have a Duke of York which all this realm most desireth so yeah they weren't doing it but I think now is a good time to mention that this wasn't because of Henry of course because Henry was really good at all things Buffet I mean bedroom related just a few months into the marriage Henry was already plotting his escape plan this time for one of an's ladies in Waiting Catherine Howard and throughout the final months of his marriage to an the 49-year-old king could frequently be seen visiting the 17-year-old's chambers an's marriage to Henry only lasted around 6 months the shortest of all of his Six Wives by this point England no longer needed an alliance with Cleaves and Henry saw the opening he needed to cut ties Henry claimed their Union wasn't legitimate because they never consummated the marriage he also pointed to Ann's previous informal betral to Francis Duke of Lorraine even though that Arrangement had been called off long before the wedding Anne found out about the annulment just days before it was finalized she accepted the news calmly and without protest but behind closed doors she was terrified because well she knew what happened to ambolin luckily for her she didn't share the same fate when she stepped down as Queen the king's Ambassador remarked it is a matter of great regret to these people who loved and esteemed her as the sweetest most gracious and kindest queen that they had ever known or desired for a long time Henry's marriage to an was officially annuled on July 9th 1540 and before August came around he was already married to Catherine Howard but what's really going on here was Anne actually as unattractive as Henry claimed did hine's portrait really misrepresent her it seems pretty unlikely that Hine would have intentionally misled the king though there's a chance he may have embellished a bit maybe her extravagant clothing helped draw attention from her face or perhaps he kep captured her at a flattering angle Hine was known for his incredibly lifelike portraits but he also had a way of subtly infusing personality into his depictions take his portrait of Sir Richard southwell for example with his cold and calculating expression orasmus with his sharp features and focused gaze emphasizing his intelligence and wit Hine definitely painted Anne with a gentle hand which may have been a reflection of her kind and generous nature she was well liked by everyone Hine probably liked her too what goes against this though is that the king's ambassadors said that hine's portrait was a good likeness of Anne so maybe the analment had less to do with her appearance than Henry let on when Henry and Anne met they didn't even speak the same language Henry wanted a wife who was educated and cultured but Anne was brought up in a completely different world than Henry and never received a formal education what's more the king thought that the way she dressed was foreign and weird and did her best to adapt she picked up some English and learned a few Court Customs but she wasn't really around long enough to fully adjust both Hine and Ann of cleaves made it out of the volatile tutor Court without losing their heads which I think speaks to how clever and diplomatic they both were with the king in hine's case though it also shows just how indispensable he really was in an era before photography being a skilled portrait was basically a superpower and Hine was one of the greatest of his time his talent didn't just bring him into the circles of the most powerful people of the 16th century it helped him survive while he was there but not everyone was so lucky Thomas Cromwell the man who arranged Henry's marriage to an took the fall for its failure he was beheaded the same exact day the King married his next wife Katherine Howard it's hard not to feel bad for an of cleaves a young woman sent to a foreign country to marry a man twice her age only to be rejected and humiliated so humiliated that she never even returned home to Cleaves ever again somehow saying all of that out loud makes it sound even worse but was an really the ugly one of Henry's wives I don't know it's pretty much impossible to know I guess mostly because it's so subjective but I do know that she was the lucky one an handled her marriage and annulment like a queen Henry didn't take kindly to people disagreeing with with him and Anne was smart enough to keep her mouth shut because of this she walked away a very wealthy woman receiving a huge annual allowance and several Estates making her one of the richest women in England and only a few months after the inment she was thriving the French Ambassador reported Madame of cleaves has a more joyous countenance than ever she wears a great variety of dresses and passes all of her time in sports and Recreations an remained close with Henry and his daughters for the rest of the King's life she was referred to as the king's beloved sister and Henry occasionally sought her advice on important matters of course not everything was rainbows and butterflies an had been cast aside and demeaned and despite her reserved nature she wasn't above throwing a few Jabs of her own she was offended by the king's next wife Katherine Howard and didn't hesitate to claim that she was the more attractive of the two after Catherine was beheaded for cheating on Henry with her cousin e there was talk of Anne reclaiming her title as Queen but Henry shut that down immediately an wasn't shy about her opinion on his next wife Katherine par reportedly saying Madame par is taking a great burden on herself and honestly she wasn't wrong as Henry only grew more angry and paranoid with age Anne's Financial arrangement with Henry was never truly secure and always subject to change which is probably why she never remarried she lived out her life in England and died of cancer at 41 outliving Henry and his five other wives Christina of Denmark is often referred to as the one that got away but I think Ann should have this title too she was intelligent kind poised and I think she looks great unlike hm I seemed to have forgotten what I was going to say plus she never had to consummate the marriage which only adds to her lore but if she missed anything about being Queen it had to be waking up every morning to those beautiful calves