Portrait of Anne of Denmark by Paul van Somer. Image courtesy of the Royal Collection (UK).

Anne of Denmark (or Anna, as she referred to herself and signed her correspondence) was the wife of King James VI and I. She was also, and significantly so with respect to assessing the depth of her political networks, the sister of a king (Christian IV), the daughter of a king (Frederick II), the sister of women who all married high-ranking rulers and administrators within the Holy Roman Empire, and the mother of a king and of a queen (Charles I and Elizabeth of Bohemia, respectively). Anne’s prominent familial connections were significant, and her brothers later visited her in England (Ulric, Bishop of Schwerin and Schleswig, in 1604-1605, and Christian IV, King of Denmark, in 1606 and again in 1612).While visiting their sister, both Ulric and Christian engaged their sister and her spouse with respect to political matters. For example, Ulric staged a masque with political undertones and also urged renewal of the war with Spain (see Lemon and Green). Anne was an important cultural patron at both the Scottish and English courts, employing talents like Ben Jonson and Inigo Jones to stage court masques and other entertainments as well as serving as a patron of the arts and establishing a circle of like-minded individuals around her. As queen consort she was also active in politics. Many earlier studies of her life, biographies of her husband, and political histories of the period tend to perpetuate an image of Anne as frivolous and peripheral to Jacobean politics. As Leeds Barroll puts it, there has been a strongly-entrenched scholarly tradition of Anne as shallow, vain, and addicted to ludicrously frivolous activities (Barroll 178-179). This view has been importantly re-evaluated in recent years and Anne’s political contributions have come to be better assessed.See Barroll.

Anne was born 12 December 1574 at Skanderborg Castle. She was the second daughter (of six children) of King Frederick II of Denmark and his wife Sophia. Her younger brother later reigned as Christian IV and her sisters all married other Northern European rulers. Anne spent her formative years with her grandparents and was taught to write in an elegant italic hand in both Danish and German. Later she learned French, Scots, and English (and also employed an Italian tutor). As a child, Anne was exposed to the pageantry of the powerful and sophisticated early modern Danish court, the beginning of a life-long appreciation of the arts. Many members of her immediate family earned reputations for cultural sophistication. When Anne is viewed alongside them, Mara Wade argues, her artistic leanings take on a new significance (Wade 49-80).

In the 1580s, negotiations for a Danish-Scots marriage began. Anne and James were married by proxy in 1589. When Anne’s journey to Scotland was delayed after severe storms forced her to land in Norway, James travelled to collect his bride and the pair arrived in Scotland on 1 May 1590. During their sojourn in Denmark (from 1589 to 1590), the pair engaged in various intellectual and politically significant activities, including visiting Tycho Brahe’s observatory and celebrating the marriage of Anne’s sister Elizabeth to Heinrich Julius, Duke of Branuscweig-Wolfenbüttel and a prominent servant of Emperor Rudolf II. The marriage of Anne and James was not the failure that some have alleged. Some scholars have regarded James, with his penchant for male favourites, as driven by homoerotic desires.See, for example, Bergeron, Goldberg, Goldberg, Lewalski, and Stone, esp. 89. The manner in which James’ alleged sexual preferences intersect with the political history of the period and notions of masculinity, effeminacy, and deviance have been addressed by Young and Shephard. This perspective has led some of those scholars, such as Lewalski, to postulate that James’ sexual preferences resulted in Anne’s marginalization in both public and private as her husband lavished favour and accorded influence to a series of male favourites (Lewalski 4). J.W. Williamson alleged that Anne was little more than the indignant and frequently hysterical victim of the King’s anti-female policy (Williamson 15). James certainly preferred the company of his male friends and may well have engaged in sexual liaisons with some of them (although this did not prevent him from fathering children with Anne and being rumoured to have kept Lady Anne Murray as a mistress between 1593-1595) (Rhodes, Richards, and Marshall 129-131). However, the relationship between Anne and James was certainly successful in terms of the production of heirs and was not necessarily an emotionally unsatisfying one either. Their correspondence suggests a certain intimacy and companionate bond; James also involved Anne in his relationships with his male companions by asking for her approval before any of them were elevated to positions of influence within his service (Cuddy 195).For examples of the couple’s letters, see edited collections by Akrigg and Walker and MacDonald.

Engraving of Anne of Denmark, Charles I (in boyhood), and James VI and I by Simon van de Passe. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery (UK).

Portrait of Anne of Denmark in mourning attire by Marcus Gheeraerts the Younger. Image courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery (UK).

Anne was involved in the factional politics of the Scottish court, engaging in several attempts to undermine several political rivals. It was also at the Scottish court that she first displayed the enthusiasm for state theatre and court ritual that would come to be seen as the defining feature of her career as a queen consort. While in Scotland, Anne bore several children: Henry (b. 1594, d. 1612), Elizabeth (b. 1596, d. 1662), Margaret (b. 1598, d. 1600), Charles (b. 1600, d. 1649), and Robert (b. 1602, d. 1602). Later, in England, she bore two more: Mary (b. 1605, d. 1607) and Sophia (born and died in 1606). Only Henry, Elizabeth, and Charles survived infancy (Henry died in 1612, to Anne’s great devastation, while Charles succeeded his father, and Elizabeth married Frederick V, Elector Palatinate).On the elaborate celebrations of this union, see Nichols 536-553. While in Scotland, Anne likely converted to Catholicism and it is probable that James knew of it and allowed her to quietly practice her faith.

On 24 March 1603, the unmarried Elizabeth I died. In the absence of a direct heir, James was proclaimed king by virtue of his blood ties to the Tudor dynasty through his mother Mary Queen of Scots and his father Henry Darnley. Anne and James were crowned together on 25 July 1603 at Westminster Abbey. The ceremony had been postponed due to an outbreak of plague raging in London. When it did occur, the coronation lacked the customary brilliance because of the ravages of the plague.For a full account of the English coronation, see Nichols 228-234. See also Williams 84-85. Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the crowning of the new King and Queen was Anne’s refusal during the service to accept the Anglican communion offered to her by the Archbishop of Canterbury.John Whitgift, Archbishop of Canterbury, 1583-1604. The somewhat lacklustre spectacle of James and Anne’s joint coronation was countered the following year with the City of London’s staging of the official opening of Parliament accompanied by a grand civic pageant.See Bergeron.

Once in England, Anne continued her pursuit of cultural display. She developed an extensive art collection, patronized Inigo Jones, and had him design the Queen’s House at Greenwich and refurbish Oatlands Palace for her use. She befriended other prominent cultural patrons such as Lucy Russell, Countess of Bedford. She established herself at London’s Somerset House, which she renamed Denmark House, and immersed herself in a cosmopolitan lifestyle. Anne set the tone for court fashion, insisting, for example, that the wheel-shaped farthingale be worn at court long after it had gone out of fashion elsewhere (Reynolds 42).See also Fields. In Scotland she had appointed the Edinburgh jeweller George Heriot as her goldsmith for life. He followed her to England in 1603, establishing himself in a town house on the Strand. She was a great patron of artists, and it is estimated that there are more oil paintings of Anne of Denmark than of any previous English queen consort. Queen Anne was the first great royal patroness of art in England (Pugh 173). She was, likewise, a notable book collector.

Photograph of the Queen’s House at Greenwich. Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Anne firmly established herself as a key source of cultural patronage through her high-profile involvement with court masques. Masquing was an underdeveloped theatrical form in England in 1603. Masques (disguisings) had been popular at the English court during the early years of the reign of Henry VIII, but had not evolved to the same degree as in other European courts. Influenced by Italian tastes, they were a complex artistic form, danced rather than acted, featuring lavish costumes and set designs, and incorporating mythological themes. Anne elevated the English masque to an equal footing with the glittering performances enacted on the Continent. Some masques, such as the (Jonson) and (Daniel), drew criticism for their risqué costuming and stage direction. Dudley Carleton, for example, described the costuming used in the as too light and courtesan like (Carleton 55). Yet many of the productions won Anne great acclaim. Zorzi Guistinian, a Venetian ambassador at James’ court, described in a dispatch the splendour of the spectacle, which was worthy of her Majesty’s greatness. So well composed and ordered was it all that it is evident the mind of her Majesty, the authoress of the whole, is gifted no less highly than her person. She reaped universal applause (Giustinian 86). While some historians have looked at Anne’s masquing derisively as extravagant and vacuous, many contemporaries saw masques as an important facet of court display that showcased the sophistication of the English court to foreign observers and domestic notables.See Parry, and Parry, . Masques also resulted in unique artistic pfroducts that harnessed the talents of individuals such as Jonson and Jones.

Costume design by Inigo Jones for . Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

While many of the masques staged by Anne offered political commentaries, she was also directly involved with politics (although many earlier scholars mistakenly regarded her political influence as negligible). She intervened with her husband on behalf of many people including Sir Walter Raleigh and Lady Anne Clifford and was seen as a valuable ally.Examples of this can be found in the diaries of Anne Clifford (Clifford) as well as in letters from Raleigh to Anne (Lemon and Green). Anne likewise served on the Council of Regency established by James in 1617 to govern England while he visited Scotland. While James was away, courtiers flocked to Anne and the political centre of England shifted to Anne’s palace at Greenwich (Roper 51). She also expressed her political preferences in less overt ways, such as snubbing ambassadors and negotiating marriages for her children that reflected her allegiances. Anne was involved in factional politics. James was powerfully influenced by favourites and early in his English reign he became attached to Robert Carr, whom he made Earl of Somerset and entrusted with political responsibilities (including the post of Secretary in 1612) to which he was quite unsuited. Carr’s influence over James inspired a good deal of animosity, as favourites typically did in the period. Carr’s alignment with the Howard faction through a marriage to Frances Howard caused a scandal because she was married to the Earl of EssexI.e., Robert Devereux, third earl of Essex. when she began her liaison with Carr and dubiously accused her husband of impotency in order to secure an annulment, which James commanded the clerics to grant. When Carr began delegating his responsibilities to his more competent friend, Thomas Overbury, Anne was mobilized into action and became a vocal opponent. She felt that Carr and Overbury were overly proud, and she opposed the political aims of the Howard faction. She allied herself with other enemies of Carr and eventually replaced him with George Villiers and convinced James to commit Overbury to the Tower of London for his perceived insolence. As a later commentator noted (and the assertion is supported in other, more contemporary sources), Carr was not very acceptable to the Queen, and she became the head of a great Faction against him (Wilson sig. L4r).

Anne died on 2 March 1619 and was buried in Westminster Abbey. As a woman, Anne was denied access to the official channels of political power. However, like other queens consort, she wielded influence on an informal level. Using mechanisms such as the language of cultural display (an until recently undervalued aspect of her career as queen consort) and patronage, alongside more direct political involvement, she pursued her agenda and played an important role in the factional politics that were so prominent a part of the early modern court. She likewise played a key role in the artistic and cultural development of fashionable London society.