Guest Post by Heather Darsie

Today I'm delighted to hand over the blog to a fellow Amberley Books author, Heather Darsie, whose new book, Children of the House of Cleves, Anna and Her Siblings, is out today:

Religion in the House of Cleves

by Heather R. Darsie, J.D.

Ah, religion. That sticky subject at dinner parties! The subject of religion was a very tense one in 16th century Germany. Anna of Cleves’ father Johann III of Cleves-Mark and mother Maria of Jülich-Berg did what they could to uphold Catholicism within the United Duhies in the wake of Martin Luther’s 95 Theses and the reforms it spawned,

“Johann III was against the spread of Lutheranism within the United Duchies. To … stop the spread of Lutheranism, an edict was issued in March 1525. This strategy worked for the most part, and Lutheranism was put down within Jülich-Cleves-Berg. Johann followed-up with an ordinance in July 1525, demonstrating his desire for reform of the Catholic church within his lands. Although Johann wished to remain on [Holy Roman Emperor] Charles V’s good side, he did not wish to aggressively eradicate Lutheranism. This strategy might be evidence of [Desiderius] Erasmus’s influence. It was not that the Catholic church was perfect, but rather that Luther and his followers were dangerous. …

…The same year as her marriage, 1527, Sybylla’[of Cleves’]s father-in-law John the Steadfast established the Evangelical-Lutheran State Church of Saxony after the Diet of Speyer. John was extremely active in establishing the principles of Reformation within Saxony, much to the chagrin of Charles V.”

The oldest and youngest Cleves siblings, Sybylla and Amalia, wound up being devoted to Lutheranism. Amalia was reportedly so faithful to Lutheranism that it was deemed impossible to find her a husband. Anna was Catholic, although how strong her actual faith was is unknown. Wilhelm, for his part, was Catholic when it suited him.

Even more confusingly, Wilhelm’s daughters were raised as Lutherans due to the influence of their aunt Amalia. Wilhelm reportedly flew into rages more than once at Amalia over her vehement support. Despite this rift in the family, Wilhelm had his poetic revenge on Amalia.

Image from Anna's prayer book: Trogen, Kantonsbibliothek Appenzell Ausserrhoden, CM Ms. 9, f. 12r – Gebetbuch der Anna von Kleve.

If this excerpt piqued your interest, consider reading Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings, set for release in the UK on 15 June 2023 and in the US/Internationally on 12 September 2023. Can’t wait until September? The US Kindle version is released on 15 June, too! 

Amazon UK (15th June 2023):

Hardback

Kindle 

Amazon US :

Hardback (12th September 2023)

Kindle (15th June 2023)

You might also like to read Heather R. Darsie’s biography on Anna of Cleves, the first researched and written from the German perspective, Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. 

Amazon UK

Amazon US

[You can read Annie's review of Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King's beloved Sister HERE]

Heather R. Darsie works as an attorney in the US. Along with her Juris Doctorate she has a BA in German, which was of great value in her research. She completed multiple graduate-level courses in Early Modern History, with her primary focus being the Holy Roman Empire under Charles V. She runs the website MaidensAndManuscripts.com, and is a co-host of Tudors Dynasty podcast.

Sources & Suggested Reading

1. Darsie, Heather R. Children of the House of Cleves: Anna and Her Siblings. Stroud: Amberley (2023).

2. Darsie, Heather R. Anna, Duchess of Cleves: The King’s Beloved Sister. Stroud: Amberley (2019).

Catch the rest of Heather's Blog tour:

Review: The King's Only Champion, by Dominic Pearce

 One of the perks of being an author published by Amberley Books is the opportunity to receive review copies of their new books. Recently I was lucky to receive an advance review copy of The King's Only Champion: James Graham, First Marquess of Montrose by Dominic Pearce. 

I knew a little about James Graham, later Marquess of Montrose, and knew him to be a champion of Charles I, i.e. a Royalist. What I did not realise was that he started his political career as a Covenanter and was not initially especially impressed by Charles I, king of England and Scotland.

This very readable book explains how all that changed, how Montrose began to disagree with the hardline stance of his fellow Covenanters and the events that led to his (almost) changing sides, and fighting for Charles in the Civil War in Scotland. I say 'almost' because there were aspects of Montrose's beliefs and aims which never changed, and he often sought to stress that he was not wholly opposed to everything his fellow countrymen were fighting for. Nor did he always have an easy relationship with the king, who constantly failed to keep his promises to send support.

Dominic Pearce has done a sterling job of piecing together everything that is known about Montrose's life (even apologising that he couldn't bring us more detail about Montrose's wife, but she remains a shadowy figure, barely documented). 

What emerges is a portrait of a man, well-connected, rich, youthful, who follows his conscience, never behaves in an unnecessarily brutal way, attempts negotiation wherever possible, saves towns from sacking when and where he can, and remains highly principled. We also see, in great but accessible detail, how he outsmarted his enemies on the battlefield time and again.

One might argue that his last foray into battle was the result of hubris and which led to his downfall, but loyalty and a highly-refined sense of duty impelled him to return to Scotland and attempt to fight to avenge the death of his king.

Even in defeat, he seems to have kept calm, courteous, and courageous. Whichever side you root for in this most turbulent period of Scottish and English (and indeed Irish) history, you can't fail to be impressed by this man.

It was interesting to read more about the Scottish events than ever was taught in school, where modules on the Civil Wars focused almost exclusively on events in England. These are touched upon, but only when necessary to round out the narrative or provide context where events south of the border influenced what was happening further north.

I've had a couple of books on this period (One on Montrose himself, one on his ally Alasdair MacColla/Alexander Macdonald) for some years but found them both quite hard reads. This new biography of Montrose has given me greater insight and understanding and left me feeling that I have got to know this extraordinary pair of military leaders.

I was also profoundly shocked to learn of the brutality meted out by both sides on the so-called camp followers. This was not something I'd been aware of and these details were sobering. The author recounts these events in an unsensational way, nevertheless adding plenty of peripheral detail and showing how these wars affected everyone, not just the uppermost tiers of society.

We learn what happens to various other players, and though there is quite a sizeable cast, characters are introduced well, and while I struggle sometimes to make sense of the various ranks and names of the Scottish nobility, I was never left confused and knew at all times who featured in which part of the story.

There is a lot of documentary evidence for this period, there are many names to learn, and a lot of political and military action. That the author has managed to convey all this in such a readable way is a triumph. Highly recommended.