Editing Anne of Bohemia (section)

==Queen of England==
[[File:Schatzkammer Residenz Muenchen crown of an english queen 1370.jpg|thumb|left|[[Crown of Princess Blanche]], perhaps made for Anne]]

[[Richard II of England|Richard II]] married Anne of Bohemia (1382) as a result of the [[Western Schism]] (1378–1417) in the Papacy that had resulted in two rival popes. According to Eduard Perroy, [[Pope Urban VI]] sanctioned the marriage between Richard and Anne in an attempt to create an alliance on his behalf, particularly so that he might be stronger against the French and their preferred pope, [[Antipope Clement VII|Clement]].{{citation needed|date=June 2021}} Anne's father was the most powerful monarch in Europe at the time, ruling over about half of Europe's population and territory.<ref>[http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/burials/richard-ii-and-anne-of-bohemia Westminster Abbey]</ref>

The marriage was contracted against the wishes of many members of his nobility and members of parliament, and occurred primarily at the instigation of Richard's advisor [[Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk|Michael de la Pole]]. Richard had been offered [[Caterina Visconti]], one of the daughters of [[Bernabò Visconti]], the Lord of [[Milan]], who would have brought a great deal of money with her as a dowry. However, instead, Anne was chosen. She brought with her no dowry,<ref name=":0" /> and in return for her hand in marriage, Richard gave 20,000 florins (around £4,000,000 in today's value) in payments to her brother King [[Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia]], who had written to Richard to stress their joint duty to reunite Christendom.<ref name="Hilton">{{cite book |last=Hilton|first=Lisa|date=2008|title=Queens Consort:England's Medieval Queens|location=London|publisher=Phoenix|pages=319–338|isbn=9780753826119}}</ref> He also gave grants to those in her train.<ref name=":0" /> There were few diplomatic benefits to the marriage – although English merchants were now allowed to trade freely within both the [[Lands of the Bohemian Crown|Bohemian lands]] and the lands of the [[Holy Roman Empire]], this was not much when compared to the usual diplomatic benefits from marriages made as a result of the war with France.

Negotiations could not be completed until 1380 because Richard's negotiating team were held for ransom while returning from Prague. The marriage treaty was signed in May 1381.<ref name="Hilton"/>

[[File:Richard2 Anna.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Anne and Richard's coronation in the ''[[Liber Regalis]]'']]

On her arrival in England in December 1381, having been delayed by storms,<ref name="Hilton"/> Anne was severely criticised by contemporary chroniclers, probably as a result of the financial arrangements of the marriage, although it was quite typical for queens to be viewed in critical terms. The Westminster Chronicler called her "a tiny scrap of humanity",<ref>''Westminster Chronicle 1381–1394'', edited by L.C. Hector and B.F. Harvey (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982), 25.</ref> and [[Thomas Walsingham]] related a disastrous omen upon her arrival; her ships smashed to pieces as soon as she had disembarked.<ref>Thomas Walsingham, ''The St Albans Chronicle: The Chronica Maiora of Thomas Walsingham'', Vol I: 1376–1394, ed. and trans. by John Taylor, Wendy R. Childs, and Leslie Watkiss (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 2003), 572–575.</ref> Nevertheless, Anne and King [[Richard II of England|Richard II]] were married in [[Westminster Abbey]] on 20 January 1382. Still, the reception from Londoners was hostile at times.<ref name="Hilton"/> Tournaments were held for several days after the ceremony in celebration. They then made a tour of the realm, staying at many major abbeys along the way. In 1383, Anne visited the city of [[Norwich]], where at the Great Hospital a ceiling comprising 252 black eagles was made in her honour.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.greathospital.org.uk/history.shtml |title=The Great Hospital – Bishopgate, Norwich |access-date=2011-01-04 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101115211621/http://www.greathospital.org.uk/history.shtml |archive-date=15 November 2010 |df=dmy-all }}. and Carole Rawcliffe, ''Medicine for the Soul: The Life, Death and Resurrection of an English Medieval Hospital St. Giles’s, Norwich, c.1249–1550'' (Stroud: Sutton Publishing, 1999), 118 and notes to plate 7</ref> Anne and Richard were only 15 years old when they first met and married. Yet these "two wispy teenagers" soon fell into a loving relationship and "over the years the king proved truly devoted to his new wife".<ref>Jones, Dan, ''The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens who made England'', (Viking Press: New York, 2012), 456.</ref> Walsingham later wrote that Richard rarely allowed Anne to leave his side.<ref name=":0" />

[[File:Anne of Bohemia, Queen of Richard II, 14th century.jpg|left|thumb|upright=0.8|14th century Queen of Richard II – Anne of Bohemia – illustration by [[Percy Anderson (designer)|Percy Anderson]] for Costume Fanciful, Historical and Theatrical, 1906]]

The court of Charles IV, Anne's father, based in [[Prague]], was a centre of the [[International Gothic]] style, then at its height, and her arrival seems to have coincided with, and probably caused, new influences on English art.  The [[Crown of Princess Blanche]], now in [[Munich]], may have been made for Anne, either in Prague or Paris.<ref>Cherry, John, in: Jonathan Alexander & Paul Binski (eds), ''Age of Chivalry, Art in Plantagenet England, 1200–1400'', Catalogue number 16, Royal Academy/Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London 1987</ref>

In 1393, [[Violant of Bar]] wrote to Anne and she was drawn into a long-standing dispute between England and Aragon, which involved hostages.<ref name=":0" />
 
Anne and Richard were married for 12 years,<ref name=":0" /> but had no children. Anne's death from plague in 1394 at [[Richmond Palace|Sheen Manor]] was a devastating blow to Richard. He was so grief-stricken that he demolished Sheen Manor, where she had died.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/richard-ii-and-anne-of-bohemia |title=Westminster Abbey » Richard II and Anne of Bohemia |access-date=22 September 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140828013027/http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/royals/richard-ii-and-anne-of-bohemia |archive-date=28 August 2014 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Historians have speculated that her counsel had a moderating effect on Richard during her lifetime.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Last Plantagenets|last=Costain|first=Thomas|publisher=Doubleday|year=1962|isbn=978-1568493732|location=Garden City, NY|pages=148, 149, 153}}</ref> This is supported by his unwise conduct in the years after Anne's death that lost him his throne.<ref>Strickland, 323–324.</ref>

Richard married his second wife, the six-year-old [[Isabella of Valois]], on 4 November 1396.