[Anne of Cleves] Dorothea of Denmark

1 page (28.5 x 32.5cm), written in brown ink in a secretary's hand, in which Dorothea of Denmark, wife of Elector Frederick II of the Palatinate, appeals to the future queen of England to ask her new husband, Henry VIII, to assist with her father's release from prison

Newemarck [Neumarkt in der Oberpfalz], 29 December 1539, address panel ("...frawen Annen Konigin zu Ingellant gebornen hertzogin zu Cleve..."), papered seal, in collector's cloth box, some damp-staining on verso (lighter on recto), repair to left-hand margin



...von land und leut verjagt und In ein erbarmliches gefencknus bracht numehr in das siebendt Jar erhalten, Das uns als das kindt zum hochsten beschwerdt und betrubt derhalben auch unser freuntlicher lieber gemahel bey s.l. hern und gemahel kurtzlich gewesst und ytzundt zu seiner Koⁿ[ig] wirden Dieselb umb hilff und rath In den fal anzuruffen schickt. Ist an s.l. unser freuntlichs herzichs bitten und flehen, sie wollen bey seine Koⁿ[ig] wirden hier In das best thun und hochgemelten unsern betrubten verlassen von yederman hern und vatter bevolhen lassen sein. Damit sein lieb solcher gefencknus erledigt warden und dabey gedenken was seiner Koⁿ[ig] wirden....

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This is a large and striking letter, written only a few days before Anne and Henry VIII's wedding in Greenwich on 6 January 1540. Dorothea's father, Christian II of Denmark, was deposed by his uncle, the future King Frederick I, in 1523. By the time the letter was written, Christian II had already spent seven years in prison, eventually dying there in 1559, despite Dorothea's attempt to obtain Henry VIII's assistance in ensuring her father's release.