Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII in ‘The Tudors (2007-2010).
Episode 1 “In Cold Blood”
Assassination of the Duke of Urbino – Henry VIII had no uncle at this time, and so the scene that was included was completely made up.
Charles Brandon and the daughter of the Duke of Buckingham – there is no evidence of Brandon having an affair with any daughter of Buckingham.
Richard Pace – Pace was never accused of spying and was never imprisoned in the Tower of London.
Thomas Tallis – there is no record of Tallis being at court until 1543, not as early as is portrayed in ‘The Tudors’.
Katherine of Aragon’s first son – in the television show, Katherine of Aragon says that he lived for four weeks, but it was actually seven and a half weeks.
Marriage of Bessie Blount – in the television show, Bessie Blount is already married during her affair with the king, but in reality she didn’t marry until 1522.
Thomas Boleyn’s family – Buckingham refers to Boleyn’s family as “old” but in reality his grandfather was Mayor of London, and before that the family was rather obscure. Boleyn only had noble connections because his wife was the sister of the Duke of Norfolk. Continue reading “Historical Inaccuracies in ‘The Tudors’ Season 1”→
Foreign alliances were the backbone of the Tudor dynasty (1485-1603). They were a way to demonstrate support for a new dynasty, and cement its credentials. The claim of Henry VII to the English throne wasn’t that strong on its own, but was strengthened by political marriages, like that of Katherine of Aragon to Prince Arthur in 1501. However, wars also demonstrated that the dynasty had a right to the throne – Henry VII claimed that since he beat Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, Richard wasn’t the rightful ruler and Henry was. Foreign alliances were also used to neutralise threats from enemy countries, like Scotland. Several of these instances will be examined in the following essay.
Katherine of Aragon by Lucas Hornebolte
The most important foreign alliance in the sixteenth century was the marriage of Prince Arthur, heir to Henry VII, to Katherine of Aragon, daughter of Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon in 1501.This marriage demonstrated that the Spanish monarchy recognised the claim of the Tudors to the English throne. Refusing the marriage would show that the Spanish didn’t believe Henry VII to be the rightful King of England. Continue reading “How important were Foreign Alliances in Promoting Support of the Tudor Dynasty?”→
The Tudor dynasty was unique in several ways, not least that two of our most remembered monarchs were Tudors – Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Furthermore, the dynasty was unique in issues of marriage, succession, political unity, religion, and love. Read on to find out more.
Henry VIII is the only reigning monarch to have married more than twice. He was also only the second to have a wife who had already been married (the first was Edward IV whose Queen, Elizabeth Woodville, already had two sons when they married). He is also only the second King to have married a commoner (Edward IV was, again, the first). He is also the only monarch to have had one of his wives (let alone two!) executed. Even more shocking that the two executed were in fact cousins.[1]
Edward VI was the third reigning English monarch not to marry, the first two being William II and Edward V, the second of whom was too young to be married when he died, and the former appeared to have been too busy with wars and dissenters to think about a family. Continue reading “What Made the Tudor Dynasty Unique?”→
Henry VII was the son of Margaret Beaufort and Edmund Tudor, and he died in 1509. He was raised largely by his uncle, Jasper Tudor, his mother having not been allowed to raise him. He won the English crown at the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485. He killed Richard III in the battle and began the Tudor dynasty. He united the warring Houses of York and Lancaster by marrying Elizabeth of York, ending the Wars of the Roses.
Elizabeth of York c.1500.
Elizabeth of York was the daughter of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. There were rumours that she had indulged in an affair with her uncle, Richard III before his death. She died in childbed in 1503 and the child died. She had spent some of her childhood in sanctuary and many historians now believe that her brothers – the Princes in the Tower – were murdered. Continue reading “A Potted History of the Tudor Dynasty: the Royal Family”→
French form of ‘Anna’. ‘Anna’ is a form of Channah used in Greek and Latin. In Hebrew it means ‘favour’ or ‘grace’. It was a popular name in the Byzantine Empire, and was later used to honour Saint Anna, mother of the Virgin Mary.In Anne Boleyn’s coronation procession, there was a pageant showing her as the mother of the Virgin Mary, but it boded ill, as Mary only gave birth to a girl, and not the son Anne Boleyn desperately wanted and needed to give Henry VIII. In the end, Anne only gave birth to a girl. Anne of Cleves was shown favour after she accepted the end of her marriage to Henry VIII – instead of execution as Anne Boleyn had, Anne of Cleves was accepted as the king’s sister, and outlived him. Partly this was because of her having a standing similar to that of Katherine of Aragon – she had powerful relatives who would probably have avenged her death.Continue reading “Meaning of Tudor Names”→
Edited Image of Henry VIII, Edward VI & Henry VII.
* Henry VII was born in 1457 and was the first monarch of the House of Tudor. He had 4 children – Arthur, Henry, Margaret and Mary.
* Henry VIII died in 1547. He is known for marrying six times, and beheading two of them, and breaking with Rome in order to get a divorce.
* Edward VI succeeded his father Henry VIII in 1547. He would only reign for 6 years and cut his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth out of the succession.
Mary was born on 18th March 1496 to Henry VII and his wife, Elizabeth of York. She was the youngest of her surviving siblings: Arthur, Henry and Margaret. She was betrothed in 1507 to the future Charles V, the son of Philip I and Juana, the sister of Katherine of Aragon. However, the treaty fell through and she was instead betrothed to Louis XII of France who was thirty-four years her senior. They married on 9th October 1514, but Louis died on 1st January 1515, less than three months after their marriage. They had no children.
Mary was almost certainly in love with Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, at this time. Brandon was a close friend of Mary’s brother, Henry VIII. Suffolk was sent to bring Mary back from France. There is debate over whether or not Henry knew of his sister’s feelings for his closest friend, but he wanted Mary’s second marriage to be to his advantage. However, they married in secret on 3rd March 1515, which was technically treason (marrying into the royal family without the monarch’s consent). Because of the intervention of Thomas Wolsey, Henry’s first minister, the couple were let off with a fine once Henry had gotten over his outrage. Continue reading “Mary, Dowager Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk”→
Tudor Blogger 