T
H
IS
M
O
N
T
H
I
N
H
IS
T
O
R
Y
A
N
N
IV
ER
S
A
R
IE
S
20 JANUARY 1356
After a struggle for the Scottish throne lasting
almost a quarter of a century, Edward Balliol
renounces his claim in return for an English
pension of £2,000 a year. He retires to Yorkshire,
and never returns to his native Scotland.Edward Balliol, claimant
to the Scottish throne,
depicted in an engravingILLUSTRATION BY IAN MORRIS
A
s the winter sun dipped towards the
horizon on New Year’s Day 1540, Anne
of Cleves stood at the window of the
Bishop’s Palace in Rochester. She had been
on the road for weeks, having pledged to
become the fourth wife of King Henry VIII.
Suddenly, footsteps sounded on the stairs
and a man appeared in the doorway: Sir
Anthony Browne, master of the king’s horse,
who had left Greenwich earlier that day.
Bored of waiting for his bride, Henry had
decided to welcome her with what he
considered a hilarious prank. He and a
group of friends rode to Rochester in match-
ing hoods and capes, like Robin Hood and
his Merry Men. Out of politeness, though, he
sent Browne ahead to warn her.As Anne stared at Browne in bewilder-
ment, he knew she was wrong for Henry.
He had, he later recalled, never been “more
dismayed in all his life”.
Then the door burst open and men in
multicoloured hoods leapt into the room,
roaring with laughter. Anne said nothing, but
gave a nervous half-smile. The largest new-
comer bowed low and held out a gift – from
VJGMKPIJKOUGNHJGUCKFITCPFN[$CGF
Anne took it. Then she turned away.
There was a dreadful silence. The large
OCPUVQQFVJGTGʚWOOQZGFVJGPUVTQFGQWV
of the room. A few moments later he returned
without his hood. Only then did Anne realise
he was her future husband.
She tried to smile, but it was too late. On
the barge back to Greenwich, Henry sulked
in silence before calling for Browne. “I see
nothing in this woman as men report of her,”
he said bitterly. “And I marvel that wise men
would make such report as they have done.”
Browne said nothing. He knew the
marriage was doomed.1 JANUARY 1540Henry VIII meets his bride-to-be,
Anne of Cleves
The rambunctious king discovers a fatal incompatibility