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| Jul 30 2009, 10:02 AM EDT | MadameDeMerteuil | 33 words added |
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 FACT OR FICTION? History buffs! Have you sniffed out a few historical inaccuracies within The Tudors drama? Whether minuscule or huge, catalogue them here to see how the show sizes up against British history. Season 3 |
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| According to The Tudors | According to History | |
| Henry introduces Ambassador Chapuys to his new queen Jane as if it's the first time she has ever met him. Episode 3:01 | Jane Seymour had been a lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon and Queen Anne Boleyn which means she had already come in contact with the Ambassador. In fact, when Henry had become enamoured of her while Anne was still queen, the Ambassador had coached Jane and as Alison Weir says : "The ambassador advised her to drop heavy hints about Anne's heretical leanings in Henry's ear, and to say that the people of England would never accept her as their true Queen. She must say these things in the presence of her supporters, who would all then swear, on their allegiance to the King, that she spoke the truth. Jane certainly acted upon this advice, and it had the desired effect upon the King, who was now receptive to criticism of his wife." | |
| Person or Event | Jane Boleyn (Lady Rochford) is appointed principal lady-in-waiting in the household of Queen Jane Seymour. This is done partially out of sympathy for what Lady Rochford had suffered from in the aftermath of her husband, George Boleyn's, execution and disgrace. Episode: 3.01 | Jane Seymour's principal lady-in-waiting was actually her sister, Elizabeth Seymour. Jane Boleyn did continue to serve in the queen's household under Queen Jane, but not as principal lady-in-waiting. It is not known exactly when Jane returned to court after the execution of her husband or for how long she served before the queen's death in October, 1537. |
| Jane Boleyn makes negative comments about the Pilgrims' uprising saying they want to take the country back to the dark ages as a criticism of the "old" Catholic religion. | Lady Rochford (Jane Boleyn) was herself a Catholic from a strong Catholic background which was possibly the reason she and her husband George Boleyn who was a reformer had an unhappy marriage. She would have been a supporter of the Pilgrims. | |
| Robert Aske is portrayed by Gerard McSorley who is 59 years old. | Robert Aske was in his mid to late thirties, as his birthdate is generally accepted as being circa 1500. | |
| Sir Francis Bryan threatens Princess Mary Tudor saying if she was his daughter he would "smash your head against the wall until it was as soft as a boiled apple, you understand?" | Similar words were actually spoken by either Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk or the Earl of Shrewsbury, but the timing was before Queen Katherine of Aragon had even died. | |
| Lady Ursula Misseldon is the mistress of Sir Francis Bryan & King Henry VIII | This character is fictional and there is no definitive evidence that Henry had a mistress during the time he was married to Jane Seymour. There was some speculation that he may have had a dalliance with Anne Basset, one of her ladies in waiting, but even that was said to have happened after Jane's death. | |
| Sir John Constable is tortured with a hot poker by Edward Seymour | The historical character's name was Robert Constable and the torture incident is complete dramatic license, since he would not have survived to then have been beheaded as shown in the series. | |
| Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk was responsible for putting down the Yorkshire Rebellion | In reality, the Duke of Suffolk put down the Lincolnshire rebellion and Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk put down the lengthier Northern rebellion. Technically, only the Northern rising is considered part of the "Pilgrimage of Grace" whose main objective was to take back 'the Cross of Christ'. | |
| Francis Bryan has an affair with the wife of Edward Seymour, Anne Stanhope | It is true that Edward Seymour repudiated his first wife, Catherine Fillol for adultery, but he was married to Anne Stanhope by 1534. Rumors had it that Catherine Fillol's affair was with Edward's dad John Seymour. There is no proof that Anne Stanhope was ever unfaithful to her husband | |
| Reginald Pole meets with Cardinal von Waldburg. The Cardinal tells Pole that the Holy Father has asked him to write a pamphlet denouncing the king and plans to elevate Pole to the title of Cardinal. | In reality, Henry asked Pole to write down his thoughts on his supposed unlawful marriage to Queen Katherine of Aragon. With reluctance, Pole agreed and came back with an unexpected diatribe titled Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione | |
| Francis Bryan is not seen at court until Season 3 at the wedding of Henry VIII and Jane Seymour. | Although he had been removed from the Privy Chamber in 1519 and again in 1526, Sir Francis Bryan replaced Sir William Carey in the Privy Chamber in 1528 thanks to the influence of his cousin Anne Boleyn. He remained an influential companion to the king, even during Anne Boleyn's downfall (he earned his nickname,"The Vicar of Hell," due to his cruel abandonment of Anne), and worked closely with Cromwell to bring about her demise. | |
| Cardinal Von Waldburg is played by the great actor Max Von Sydow, who is 80 years old. | The historical character was in his early 20s in the 1530s, as he was born in 1514. | |
| Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Sir Francis Bryan bring Katherine Howard to court. Sir Francis Bryan discovers Katherine Howard in Lambeth Palace, which is run as a whore house of "aristocratic bastards" by Agnes Tilney, Dowager Duchess of Norfolk. Episode 6 | Katherine Howard's uncle, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk secured her a position as lady-in-waiting to Anne of Cleves. We do not know exactly when she caught the king’s eye. Katherine Howard was recommended to the King by her uncle Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Agnes Tilney. Historians have described the antics of the young women living with Agnes Tilney to have been LIKE a whore house, but the Dowager Duchess either ignored or was unaware of the extent of the indecentices occuring under her own roof. | |
| Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Edward Seymour head up the faction to take down Cromwell | Cromwell had several enemies at court but the two biggest were Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk and Bishop Stephen Gardiner. | |
| Margaret Pole, Lady Salisbury, is shown has having been executed with the rest of her family in 1538. | In fact she remained jailed until 1541, when she was sent to the scaffold. | |
