On a dreary Sunday I headed to the city of Düsseldorf in search the grave of Amalia of Cleves, yes – the sister of Anne of Cleves. Amalia was also considered as a bride for Henry VIII, but after seeing both their portraits he settled upon Anne. Amalia was then part of the negotiations with [read more]
The Stifskirche or the Collegiate Church of St. Mary in Cleves is the place of burial for three royal women. There has been a church at this site since 1170, but the current church is a reconstruction from the 1950s as it was completely destroyed by allied bombs in the Second World War. The first [read more]
Essen Minster was founded in 845 by the Bishop of Hildesheim. The present building, although reconstructed after the Second World War, was built after 1275. The abbey was ruled by an abbess, who was often of noble or royal descent. Gerswid I (about 850; relative of Saint Altfrid) Gerswid II (about 880) Adalwi (d. 895) [read more]
Just across the border into Germany is the city of Bentheim, which has its very own castle, Bentheim Castle. There was probably a castle on the site as early as 1050, but that is completely destroyed in 1116. A new castle is built on the site and it was inherited by Sophie of Salm-Rheineck, who [read more]
With my copy of “In the Footsteps of the Six Wives of Henry VIII” in hand I visited Castle Burg (an der Wupper) in Solingen, Germany, where Anne of Cleves spent much of her childhood. The Castle suffered much over the years of war and is largely a reconstruction of what Anne would have known. [read more]
Born a princess of Saxe-Weimar-Eisenach in 1811, Augusta was married at the age of seventeen to Prince William of Prussia, the future King and first German Emperor. A woman of progressive opinions and artistic tastes, married to a man with whom she had almost nothing in common, she soon found herself out of place at [read more]
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