Children of the house of Cleves: Anna and her siblings
by Heather R. Darsie
The four children who are at the heart of this book are Sybylla, Anna, Wilhelm and Amalia, whose parents were Johann III Duke of Cleves and Maria of Julich-Berg. Through their aristocratic parents, the four siblings were descended from the kings of England and France and – as any Tudor enthusiast will know – Anna became the fourth wife of Henry VIII of England.
This was a family at the heart of the religious fervour that gripped Europe in the 16th century and each of their lives would be affected by the turmoil of the Reformation. There are of course, many names, dates and events covered in this sweeping history and I found it very helpful that the