born Sept. 22, 1515
died July 16, 1557, London, Eng.
Fourth wife of Henry VIII of England.
Henry married Anne, whom he found homely, to form an alliance with her brother William, duke of Cleves, a leader of the Protestants of western Germany. The alliance, arranged by Thomas Cromwell , seemed necessary because it appeared that the major Roman Catholic powers, France and the Holy Roman Empire, intended to attack Protestant England. When that threat dissipated, the marriage became a political embarrassment and was annulled by an Anglican convocation in 1540.