Top 10 Things The Tudors Gets Factually Right & Wrong

#5: Not Accurate: Hair & Costume

Granted, costumes in “The Tudors” have the grace of being sumptuous and eye-pleasing. Even so, the series has a bad habit of excessively modernizing its costumes for sex appeal. These noble ladies go around with their hair loose and showing their shoulders, a scandal that would have eclipsed anything Henry VIII had done. The little headgear the show did portray was inaccurate for the time period. The series also plays fast and loose with sumptuary laws, which prohibited lower classes from wearing fabrics and colors, such as purple, reserved only for royalty. Let’s not touch on the lack of codpieces, either.

#5: Accurate: Christina of Denmark Rejects Henry VIII

When real life gives you lemonade, you don’t wonder where the lemons are. This show always has an eye for real-life drama, and in this instance, they delivered. After the death of Jane Seymour, a grieving Henry VIII nevertheless begins his search for a new queen. Now, the Duchess of Milan in her widowhood, Christina of Denmark was duly approached, but by then, Henry’s cruelty to his wives was common knowledge. Christina’s well-executed zinger about her hypothetical two heads was indeed on the historical record, albeit expanded upon by the series’ canny writers. Henry definitely needed some ice for that burn.

#4: Not Accurate: Henry Composed “Greensleeves”

Many things in history are, alas, lost to time. While the authorship of “Greensleeves” is unknown, Henry VIII certainly did not compose it out of frustrated love for Anne Boleyn. “Greensleeves” was originally published in 1580, registered by Richard Jones at the London Stationers’ Company, and it shows up in later publications. Musicologists have confirmed the ballad has an Italian-style composition that came way after Henry’s death. Shakespeare also referenced the ballad in his spin-off play “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” Still, the series can’t resist the image of Henry VIII plucking his lute and jotting down the notes like a male Taylor Swift. Who would?

#4: Accurate: Jane Seymour Gives Birth & Dies

Jane Seymour was indeed Henry VIII’s third wife, after he annulled his first marriage to Catherine of Aragon and ordered the beheading of his second wife, Anne Boleyn. The series also follows the historical record faithfully, depicting Jane giving birth to Henry’s only surviving male heir. Sadly, Jane suffered from postpartum complications following a difficult labor, dying less than two weeks afterward. She received a queen’s funeral, the only one of Henry’s wives to have been granted it. Henry’s sincere mourning in the show is also accurate. At his death, he requested to be buried beside her. We wish we could have seen more of Seymour, but it could not be.

#3: Not Accurate: Wolsey’s Death

History aficionados must have been miffed at this dramatic change from the historical record. Cardinal Wolsey rose to great prominence, becoming the king’s chief advisor as the powerful and influential Lord Chancellor. But Wolsey’s failure to secure an annulment of the king’s first marriage led to Henry’s turning on him. He was charged with treason, his property confiscated, and was ordered to return to London for his trial. In the series, however, Wolsey is arrested for his communications with the Queen. Shockingly, he takes his own life in a jail cell on the way to London. In real life, Wolsey fell ill with dysentery and died before his trial. Wolsey was indeed done dirty, by both Henry and this series.

#3: Accurate: Mary Tudor Acknowledges Henry as Supreme Head of the Church

Henry VIII’s daughter with Catherine of Aragon was undoubtedly stuck between a rock and a hard place. Even as her father broke away from the pope, Mary clung to her Catholic faith, as well as her belief in her parents’ lawful marriage. To that end, she refused to acknowledge her father’s new marriage with Anne Boleyn, as well as her new half-sibling, Elizabeth. Upon Henry’s marriage to Jane Seymour, however, Mary was finally convinced to acknowledge her father as the Supreme Head of the Church. The series follows the timeline very faithfully, although in real life, many people were pressuring Mary to sign, not just Imperial Ambassador Chapuys. Accepting your father’s new family after a divorce is always such a trial.

#2: Not Accurate: Mary & Elizabeth Weren’t Princesses

Perhaps this was done for simplicity’s sake. Conversely, “The Tudors” may have wished to soften Henry’s treatment of his daughters by calling them princesses. The facts are these: When Henry annulled his marriage to Catherine of Aragon, their daughter, Mary, subsequently became illegitimate and stripped of her titles, including princess. These titles were transferred to Henry’s daughter with Anne Boleyn, Elizabeth. Thus, Elizabeth was a princess… up until Henry sent her mother to the chopping block. Thereafter, Elizabeth became illegitimate, and her titles, too, were stripped. Elizabeth and Mary only returned to the line of succession behind their brother, Edward VI, with the Third Succession Act of 1544, three years before Henry’s death. As it is, Elizabeth and Mary weren’t princesses until then.

#2: Accurate: Henry Had an Illegitimate Son with Elizabeth Blount

Henry’s real-life obsession with a legitimate heir did not prevent him from his flagrant womanizing. His affair with Elizabeth Blount, the lady-in-waiting to his first wife, was particularly fruitful. She gave birth to a son, named Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset. The only out-of-wedlock son Henry acknowledged, Fitzroy did indeed come to court and was even presented to it by a proud Henry. By all accounts, he was raised in a similar style and comfort as his half-siblings. He died, sadly, when he was 17, and not as a child as depicted in the series.

#1: Not Accurate: Henry Had Two Sisters, Not One

In the series, Henry’s oldest sister Margaret was set to marry the King of Portugal at Henry’s command. Margaret instead develops a mutual attraction with Henry’s best friend, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and smothers the King of Portugal days after their wedding. Now a widow, she secretly marries Brandon, causing a furious Henry to banish them from court for a time. In reality, Henry had two sisters, Margaret and Mary. The real-life Margaret married James IV, while Mary was the one who married Charles Brandon in secret after her husband, King Louis XII of France, died. These two characters were amalgamated into one, er, murderous sister for the purposes of the series. Calm down, show.

#1: Accurate: Henry Left the Catholic Church So He Could Remarry

Whatever the thousand historical inaccuracies of “The Tudors,” the series gets the most important aspects of Henry VIII’s life correct. Although a deeply pious Catholic, Henry was desperate for a male heir. He believed marrying his mistress and consummating his passion would give him what he most desired. To secure the annulment, he argued that his first marriage to his brother’s widow was not legitimate, as it was forbidden by Scripture. When the Catholic Church resisted his efforts, Henry severed ties to become the Supreme Head of the Church of England in 1534. He stripped Catherine of her former titles, and Anne Boleyn became Queen. This is very much a case of real life being so much stranger than any fiction.

Which other historical inaccuracies or accuracies have you encountered in “The Tudors?” Let us know in the comments down below!