Strange but True ?
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| Strange but True Scenes from the Series We have all heard about the inaccuracies in The Tudors but there are some scenes that although some believe are just another example of dramatic license were actually recorded in history! Click EasyEdit to add to this page! (Don't see the EasyEdit button above? <a href="/#signin" target="_self">Sign in</a> or <a href="/accountnew" target="_self">Sign up</a> |
| Michael Hirst, writer & one of the Tudors creators said: "I was constantly surprised by how extreme everything was! I know I am sometimes taken to task for “inventing” things, but believe me the general rule of thumb is that the more extraordinary and unbelievable a scene is, the more likely it is to be based on historical “fact”. I simply could not make up the story of Henry wrestling,virtually naked, with the King of France; or the “orgy” that followed the birth of his bastard son; or the fact that the King fell head first into the mud and nearly drowned trying to vault over a ditch. Again and again I stumbled over amazing anecdotes and stories, often in the foot-notes of very dry and learned texts, which gave me insights into an extraordinary reality." |
| Scene from the Series add season & episode | Historical Reference add quote & source |
 Season 1 Episode 2 "Field of Cloth of Gold" in France. | |
 Season 1 Episode 2 Celebration of the King's Bastard son's birth | |
 Season 1 Episode 3 Mary (age 6) is presented to her betrothed, Emperor Charles (age 22) at Greenwich in 1522. His need for a heir prompted Charles to withdraw his commitment to Mary four years later in order to marry Isabella of Portugal. | |
 Season 1 Episode 4 Henry attempts to pole vault over a mud puddle and ends up head first in it. | The King and His Court by Alison Weir |
Season 1 | At a tournament in 1517 : " Among the other contestants who distinguished themselves in the four hour contest, in which 506 spears were broken were a group of young gentlemen of the Privy Chamber of whom the King had grown increasingly fond, and who wore outfits similar to his own. One was Nicholas Carew; it was on this occasion that he performed his feat with a tree trunk. The rest included Sir William Compton, Francis Bryan, Anthony Knyvet and William Coffin. All were intelligent, articulate young men of gentle birth who were inclined to intemperate and often wild behaviour; they were known at court as "the King's minions". Wolsey resented this little clique because, although they held no political offices, they had the King's ear, shared his leisure hours and therefore much too influential for comfort" ~ Alison Weir's Henry VIII:The King and his Court |
 Season 1 Episode 5 In 1527, Anne Boleyn actually did give Henry VIII a pendant of a ship with a lady and a diamond symbolizing her acceptance of his proposal and her promise to weather the storms with him. During the Renaissance, a diamond symbolized purity of love. | |
 Season 1 Episode 10 Anne Boleyn tells Katherine of Aragon's ladies in waiting that she would rather 'see her hanged than acknowledged as my mistress' | 'Meanwhile, Anne Boleyn was showing off in London. She said she would rather see Catherine hanged than acknowledge her as Queen of England.' Dark History of The Kings and Queens of England By Brenda Ralph Lewis |
 Season 1 Episode 10 After the downfall of Cardinal Wolsey, Thomas Boleyn commissioned a play that satirized Wolsey's corrupt influence | |
 Season 2 Episode 1 A cook is bribed to poison the bishops and when it is found out, he is sentenced to be boiled alive - which was the actual sentence for such an offence | |
 Season 2 Episode 1 Katherine of Aragon continued to sew shirts for the King after their separation and this caused Anne Boleyn to fly into a jealous rage. | "Anne created one of her angry scenes when she found one of the servants of the privy chamber taking linens to the Queen, in order that the King should have his shirts made - no doubt for the good sound masculine reason that Catherine had always done so, and he wanted the shirts he knew. On this occasion the King refused to give in and confirmed the linen was sent on his instructions. Such jealousy on the part of the Lady seemed highly unreasonable to Queen Catherine's supporters and it lost nothing in the telling. At the same time, Anne Boleyn had a point: sewing the King's shirts did have a symbolic significance. Queen Catherine, in continuing to do so, was being allowed by King Henry to assert the rights of a wife." - PG 172 Antonia Fraser, The Wives of Henry VIII |
 Season 2 Episode 2 Anne Boleyn was presented to King Francis I during the winter of 1532 in Calais during an elaborate masque. Anne had served at the court of King Francis previously but was formally presented in 1532 as Henry's betrothed. | |
 Season 2 Episode 4 During a visit to Hatfield, King Henry spotted his daughter Mary on the roof. Despite Mary's refusal to recognize his supremacy over the Church of England and the dissolution of her parents' marriage, Henry, in a moment of tenderness, returns Mary's bow in acknowledgement of her as his daughter | |
 William Webbe & his mistress played by Katie McGrath Season 2 Episode 5 In the series, it shows King Henry riding in the woods and meeting a man and his beautiful wife whom he "abducts" and has an evening with. However the timing is off and it actually happened in the late 1530's after Anne had been executed, unlike as the series shows. | "In the late 1530s, a man called William Webbe complained that, while he was riding in broad daylight with his mistress near Eltham Palace, they encountered the King, who took an immediate fancy to the "pretty wench", pulled her up onto his horse, and rode off to the palace where he ravished her and kept her for some time." - PG. 337 Alison Weir, Henry VIII: The King and His Court |
 Season 2 Episode 6 After spotting Henry with an attractive woman Anne starts hysterically laughing | An excerpt of a letter from Chapuys: "Began to laugh most immoderately, at which the Admiral was much annoyed, and knitting his eyebrows said, "How is that madam; are you mocking me?" Upon which, the lady after somewhat restraining her laughter made excuses, saying, "I could not help laughing at the king's proposition of introducing your secretary to me, for whilst he was looking for him he happened to met a lady, who was the cause of him forgetting everything". ~ Elizabeth Norton, Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love PG.50 . |
 Season 2 Episode 8 Henry did have a jousting accident on January 24, 1536. He was knocked unconscious for several hours and many feared he would die | |
 Season 2 Episode 8 Jane returns the gift of a purse of sovereigns and a letter from the king in a gesture that preserves her chastity and her desire wait for marriage before she comes to the king's bed | |
 Season 2 Episode 9 Anne holding her daughter , Princess Elizabeth Tudor pleads with an angry King Henry VIII. | In 1559, Alexander Ales, a Scottish Lutheran, sent an account of this to Queen Elizabeth I. He said he had been at court seeking the payment of a gift the King had promised him from Thomas Cromwell. "Never shall I forget the sorrow which I felt when I saw the most serene queen, your most religious mother, carrying you, still a little baby, in her arms and entreating the most serene king your father, in Greenwich Palace, from the open window of which he was looking into the courtyard, when she brought you to him. I did not perfectly understand what had been going on, but the faces and gestures of the speakers plainly showed that the king was angry, although he could conceal his anger wonderfully well. Yet from the protracted conference of the council (for whom the crowd was waiting until it was quite dark, expecting that they would return to London), it was most obvious to everyone that some deep and difficult question was being discussed." ~ Eric Ives' Life and Death of Anne Boleyn |
 Season 2 Episode 10 Anne's last moments of life before she is beheaded for treason. | "Good Christian people, I am come hither to die, for according to the law, and by the law I am judged to die, and therefore I will speak nothing against it. I am come hither to accuse no man, nor to speak anything of that whereof I am accused and condemned to die. But I pray God save the king and send him long to reign over you, for a gentler nor a more merciful prince was there never: and to me he was ever a good, a gentle and sovereign lord. And if any person will meddle of my cause, I require them to judge the best. And thus I take my leave of the world and of you all, and I heartily desire you all to pray for me. O Lord have mercy on me. To God I commend my soul." |
 Season 3 Episode 2 Mary faints after Henry says "Some of you here were eager for me to put this perfect jewel to death". | "Mary, who must have turned pale on hearing Henry's words, fainted at his feet. This shocked even Henry and both he and Jane bent down to revive her. Henry then reassured Mary that she was entirely safe." ~ Elizabeth Norton, Jane Seymour: Henry VIII's True Love PG.99. |
 Henry with his model ship Season 3 episode 3 | Henry planned to build a barge similar to the "Becentaur" built by the Doge of Venice for the coronation of his Queen Jane. The state galley of the Doges of Venice It was used every year on Ascension day from 1311 up to 1798 to take the doge out to the Adriatic Sea to perform the ceremony of wedding Venice to the sea. ~ Wikipedia |
 Prince Edward Tudor has his mother's thimble as a keepsake. Season 4 Episode 3 |  Jane Seymour was very talented at needlework and embroidery, her work was often described as beautiful and elaborate. After her death much of her work remained within the royal palaces. In 1652, Jane's needlework would be given to the Seymour family. ~Pamela Gross Jane the Quene |
 At the christmas celebrations of 1540 Henry retires to his chambers and his wife Katherine Howard and ex-wife/Honourary sister Anne of Cleves dance together and act like the best of friends. | |
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 | 'When he [the King] entered into Yorkshire, he was met with 200 gentlemen of the same shire in coats of velvet and 4000 tall yeomen and serving men well hosed, which on their knees made a submission... and gave to the king 900 pounds.' Unfortunately, James of Scotland was not among the number of those who rushed to acknowledge Henry's sovereignty. He failed to turn up for the appointed rendezvous at York. He later claimed that he had been advised that it was too dangerous for him to venture south of the border but the reality was that the pro-French king fully intended to snub his overweening uncle. Henry waited 8 days in mounting impatience. The still fuming and vowing revenge, he set out to make for home as fast as he could.... He was greeted with the news that Prince Edward was seriously ill with a fever". ~ Derek Wilson pg 309 A brief History of Henry VIII |
 Katherine practises laying her head on the block. Season 4 Episode5 | Katherine Howard spent the evening prior to her execution practising laying her head on the block |
 Henry hosts a banquet with 26 lovely ladies Season 4 episode 5 | "By the end of January, the King was said to have cheered up a little, although his health remained poor and his weight in consequence increased. But he did at least enjoy 'a great supper' with twenty-six ladies at his table and another thirty-five at a table nearby. Among those singled out by his attentions were Sir Anthony Browne's niece, Lord Cobham's sister and Mistress Anne Bassett. Of the Latter Marillac commented sourly that she was 'a pretty young creature with wit enough to do as badly as the other if she were to try'." ~ Antonia Fraser The Six Wives of Henry VIII |
