The last episode of The Tudors attempts to give Henry VIII a dramatic and emotional sendoff, but how accurate is it? From Catherine Parr’s near arrest to the brutal reality behind Anne Askew’s execution, The Tudors’ finale blends fact and fiction in ways that reshape the truth of England’s most volatile court. In this breakdown of Season 4 Episode 10, we’ll separate what actually happened from what the show invented and take a closer look at how Henry VIII really died, what happened after his death, and the legacy he left behind.

Inside This Post:

• Was Catherine Parr Really Almost Arrested?
• Did Charles Brandon Die Like in the Show?
• Did Anne Stanhope Blackmail Bishop Gardiner?  
• Henry’s Death: What the Show Got Right (and Wrong)
• What Happened After Henry VIII Died?
• The Fate of Catherine Parr
• Did Thomas Seymour Molest Elizabeth?
• The Truth About Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I
• Was the English Reformation Really About Religion?
• Minor Historical Inaccuracies

Episode 10: Death of a Monarchy

Here we are at the final episode of The Tudors! I’ve enjoyed writing these recaps, analyzing history, and providing historical insights (and learning things along the way). I still remember how moving this episode was the first time I excitedly tuned in to watch it, but also the ways it disappointed me. Let’s get into it!

Was Catherine Parr Really Almost Arrested?

It’s 1546. Bishop Gardiner’s plot against Catherine Parr comes to a head with an intended arrest warrant, but a servant warns Catherine instead. Fearful that the king is about to turn against her, she cries and pleads with him not to be displeased with her. Then she has her ladies burn all the Protestant books in their libraries. Catherine convinces the king she was only arguing with him to distract him from his pains, and he pretends to forgive her, but still allows the arrest warrant to be drawn up, only to turn against the man who comes to serve it in his presence.

So, did any of this happen? Yes, all of it.

Henry was known for his theatrics and for emotionally manipulating people, often forgiving them to their face only to turn against them a few hours later (as we saw with him leaving Cardinal Wolsey hopeful of redemption in the first season, before he rode out and never saw him again). He did the same with Catherine Parr.

There is some disagreement about who warned Catherine Parr. Some sources claim it was the king’s physician, whom Henry told of the plot and swore to secrecy, but when the Queen became hysterical, Henry sent the physician to her. He told her the truth. Two historians, Linda Porter and Elizabeth Norton, believe Henry purposefully let Catherine know his intentions so that she could apologize and save herself.

The other sources say Archbishop Cranmer got wind of the danger she was in from Bishop Gardiner, and knew about the merciless interrogations pressed on Anne Askew, so he warned her that her life was in danger. Catherine, in a brilliant move, went to Henry and, in a carefully scripted conversation, expressed regret if she had ever overstepped her role as his wife by discussing and debating religion. She flattered the king by suggesting her theological debates were a means to learn from his “superior” knowledge of spiritual matters and of scripture, an invitation that if she ever doctrinally erred, he could correct her. Mollified, Henry accepted her apology.

When Lord Risley arrived the next day to arrest Catherine in the king’s presence, Henry berated him for daring to act against the queen “without my consent” (which he had given). But why all the theatrics? I think it played out on several fronts. It made Catherine Parr afraid and have a reason for gratitude for the king showing her mercy; it told her how near to death she had come, and to watch her tongue from now on. It flattered the king’s ego to be her “savior,” because that was a role he always played in his marriages—to “rescue” a damsel, as he did Catherine of Aragon (“mistreated and abandoned by my father and hers”). It put Ridley and Bishop Gardiner in their place by reminding them he could be capricious and his disfavor might fall upon them next.

Was Catherine Parr in any real danger of being executed? I think so, yes. Henry had lost all sense of reason and had become a tyrant who lopped people’s heads off with no concern for their guilt. Her attempted arrest predated Henry Howard’s trial for using the royal arms without permission. Hardly a death offense, but he lost his head. It is not a stretch to think Henry might kill someone over a difference of theological opinion or because his mood was bad that day. But he was also old and tired, and probably sick of executing his wives.

If Catherine was accused of heresy, she would be burned at the stake like Anne. So she had her entire household quickly dispose of all their books, controversial or not, and feign total obedience to the king’s will.

Did Charles Brandon Die Like in the Show?

Charles Brandon dies in this episode, but goes to visit the king beforehand despite his illness. Henry, in a grand show of pomp, says he has the divine power to heal, and he will make Brandon well again. “You won’t die; I forbid it.” Of course, Brandon then dies, and his nonexistent mistress is distraught. The series does not tell us what kills him, only that he is suffering and weak for several weeks.

Historically, Brandon died in the summer of 1545 (a year before Catherine Parr’s arrest warrant and Anne Askew’s death), but it was “sudden.” Brandon was 61, which for the time was “old.” His wife, Catherine Willoughby, was at his bedside. It distressed Henry VIII, since Brandon had been his oldest friend and one of his last remaining links with his childhood. Somehow, Brandon survived the culling of the king’s friends, even though he had the audacity to marry the king’s sister without the king’s permission. (An executable offense that certainly would have gotten him killed had he done it a decade later in Henry’s life.)

Brandon requested a quiet funeral in his will, but Henry gave him a lavish, grand ceremony befitting his high status at St. George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle.

Did Anne Stanhope Blackmail Bishop Gardiner?  

In the series, Bishop Gardiner summons Anne Stanhope-Seymour to interrogate her about her Protestant sympathies and ask if she provided Anne Akew with the means to die faster in the flames. Lady Anne says she acted only out of Christian charity, to make her circumstances more tolerable. But when he presses her further, she says unless he wants the king to know about how he embezzled funds from two monasteries, he will drop the charges against her.

Historically, Anne Stanhope did financially support Anne Askew while she was imprisoned in the Tower. Maybe she felt that her husband’s importance at court made her impenetrable. She was questioned by Bishop Gardiner, but released for lack of evidence, or perhaps because her husband had too much influence over the king for Gardiner to undermine her successfully. She had the last laugh because after Henry VIII died, Bishop Gardiner opposed the new king’s Protestant polices and wound up imprisoned in the Tower.

Henry’s Death: What the Show Got Right & Wrong

In the series, Henry summons his wife and daughters and says he is going to spend Christmas alone and they can go to Greenwich without him. He is aware of his impending death and bids them all farewell, with each of them responding as one would expect. Mary is in tears, and Elizabeth is stoic.

This is a delightful scene, and I appreciate it, but as far as we know, Henry never said a formal farewell to his family. It’s true, though, that Mary and Catherine spent Christmas without him, as he was held up with his advisors, planning his elaborate funeral arrangements. So he must have been aware of his impending death.

Premonitions, Ghosts, & Death Riding

Throughout this episode are flashes of a youthful Henry on a road full of falling leaves, with a beautiful white horse cantering in slow motion toward him. As the episode reaches its end, Death appears on the horse.

What does the symbolism mean? White horses can be omens of death or symbols of courage; they could represent one of the four horses of the Apocalypse. I think it’s more about passing time; Henry was once young and now is old. He once had his entire life ahead of him; now he doesn’t. The leaves are falling to show he has no control over time and can never get it back. I think the skeleton riding toward him is Death, coming to take him away and make him pay for his many sins.

Ghosts are nothing new on The Tudors; in an earlier season, Henry saw a grotesque vision in a mirror when suffering from the sweating sickness. He saw the ghost of Sir Thomas More after his execution in season two. The ghost of Lord Darcy and the ghosts of the executed men from the Pilgrimage of Grace haunted Charles Brandon throughout seasons three and four. Now, the ghosts of his three wives come to deliver to him a last message and berate him for his mistakes. And I love it. It’s showing us how far we have come, how unfair Henry has been, and to remind us his Queens are magnificent. I don’t understand why they did not include Catherine Howard, but maybe Henry is only remembering the wives that gave him children.

Each scene is wonderful in how it highlights the temperaments of his wives.

Catherine of Aragon says her coming to visit her daughter should not surprise him, but scolds him for leaving Mary “alone, unmarried, and abandoned by her father. … She ought to be a long time married by now, with her own children.” Henry becomes angry and tells her to leave. Catherine raises her head and, with a flash of defiant, smug triumph, says, “You sent me away before, though I loved you… but I was still your wife in God’s eyes and still am.”

Since Catherine went to her grave insisting on that, it’s à propos.

Anne Boleyn expresses regret that she neglected her daughter in search of a son, and praises her for being “like me in many ways, but not so intemperate.” Henry agrees Elizabeth is clever, and wishes he could love her more, but “from time to time, she reminds me of you and what you did to me.” This fires up Anne, who strides toward him and says, “I did nothing! I was innocent! All the accusations against me were false! I thought you knew!” Then she turns her thoughts to Catherine Howard, dead in the cold ground beside her. “Poor child,” she laments. “It was not her fault either, but we were like two moths drawn to a flame and burned.”

Finally, the only ghost he wants to see is Jane Seymour, but she is full of lament. She shakes her head at his hopes that their son will be a king, because he will die young. “You expected too much of him,” she says. “You locked him away from the world like your father did with you. Don’t you understand you have killed him?”

You can see these ghosts as genuine, or as manifestations of Henry’s remorse and remembrances; except these ‘shades’ offer him no comfort in his last hours. These brief scenes are my favorite parts of the episode, which ends with Henry looking up at his now-famous Holbein portrait. I wanted to see him die, after everything he did to so many people, and felt robbed of that ending, but in the many years since, I have come to peace with it. This is perhaps one of the best episodes of The Tudors and lets us leave these people on a melancholy note.

What Happened After Henry VIII Died?

Let’s do a little rundown on everyone left standing and address a remark I made a few episodes ago about wanting to talk about Thomas Seymour “later.”

The Fate of Catherine Parr

A few months after the king’s death, Catherine Parr married Thomas Seymour in secret. Once the word got out, King Edward VI accepted the match, but Princess Mary disliked it and did not want her sister, Elizabeth, anywhere near them, but the princess remained at their household. Anne Stanhope-Seymour saw this as the chance to demand the royal jewels from Catherine, saying that she lost her role as the dowager queen and was not entitled to wear them anymore; she, as the first lady of court, should have them. This broke down Thomas and Edward’s friendship.

In November, Catherine printed her book The Lamentation of a Sinner, which is the book I mentioned earlier as arguing for justification by faith alone. She translated and published several more books, earning a reputation as a writer, poet, and scholar of theology.

Catherine sent Elizabeth away from the house when it become apparent that her husband had an unnatural fondness for her. She became pregnant and spent the last few months of her life in the company of Lady Jane Grey, the future nine-day queen of England. She gave birth to a daughter and died five days later (1548) from childbed fever, the same thing that killed Jane Seymour.

Did Thomas Seymour Molest Elizabeth?

Thomas Seymour sent Princess Elizabeth a letter asking her if she would marry him at age thirteen (looking to the future and his chances of becoming a king consort if things went his way, or just to advance his name with a marriage to royal blood). Elizabeth rejected his proposal by saying she was too young at thirteen (he was 25 years old at the time) and had to mourn her father for two years. He married her stepmother instead and moved into the same house as Elizabeth.

Thomas Seymour started grooming her for a sexual relationship. He would tease her and tickle her, coming into her room early to catch her in her nightdress. Elizabeth’s lady-in-waiting, Kat Ashley, had a crush on Seymour, and asked the princess to play along at first, but his behavior so bothered the princess that she started getting up early so he would not disturb her first thing in the morning. Thomas was often undressed, and at least once gave her a “playful tap on the butt.” He even climbed into bed with her once. Kat became upset with his increasing familiarity and tried to get him to stop, but he insisted he was doing nothing wrong.

A few months later, while “playing in the garden,” Thomas had Catherine Parr hold on to the princess while he “cut her dress to ribbons with a knife.” No doubt he played it off as being “playful,” but Catherine disliked it and started watching her stepdaughter. Elizabeth expressed some dismay at the idea of being “touched” by her stepfather, but one day, Catherine caught them alone in an “embrace” and sent Elizabeth away. For the next several months, Elizabeth fell ill, probably from trauma, distress, and stress.

Elizabeth was molested for a year, and no one knew how to stop it other than to separate her from her abuser. But fate came for Thomas Seymour; after many disagreements with his brother’s policies, Thomas got caught trying to break into the king’s apartments and was arrested. The Council accused him of high treason, of trying to kidnap the king and to marry Princess Elizabeth, and executed him in 1549.

A couple of movies and television shows have tried to romanticize his behavior by making Elizabeth “in love with him.” One of them is the 1953 film Young Bess, which is more forgivable (Classic Hollywood was notorious for inaccuracies) than the more recent series, Becoming Elizabeth, in which she willingly sleeps with him behind his wife’s back. I don’t hold with making sexual abuse victims willing participants, y’all. That is some seriously unforgivable ick from the writers.

The Truth About Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I

King Edward VI became king at age nine and died at age fifteen. Edward Seymour and Archbishop Cranmer used his brief reign to promote the Protestant agenda, which lead to further uprisings and executions. Personality-wise, he was strong-willed, prone to righteous indignation, and preachy, once reducing Princess Mary to tears by berating her in public for her Catholic beliefs. Had he lived, he would have been a militant and intolerant Protestant.

As he lay dying, the prince opposed Mary’s place in the succession because of her religious beliefs and settled the Crown on his cousin, Lady Jane Grey, a Protestant. Edward declared both of his sisters unable to succeed them because they were “bastards,” and said the Grey line would continue the Tudor succession. Edward had a prolonged illness, suffered a brief recovery, and relapsed; his doctors believed a tumor in his lung was killing him, which the physician who performed the autopsy confirmed. It could also have been tuberculosis, which also killed his grandfather.

Lady Jane Grey became queen for a short time, but Princess Mary’s considerable popularity and the fact that the vast majority of England considered her to be the true and lawful heir thanks to their undying support of her beloved mother, allowed her to take the throne with minimal opposition. Mary imprisoned Jane and her husband, but did not execute them until they were used as the central focus of a Protestant uprising. She made an unfortunate and unpopular marriage to Prince Philip of Spain, hoping to create a dynastic union to protect her from the Protestant League, but her progressive reinstating of Catholicism and the subsequent almost three hundred burnings of heretics made her unpopular.

Though pressured many times to execute her sister Elizabeth for treason, Mary refused and left her in the line of succession; after her death, Elizabeth created a stable nation with greater tolerance for both faiths (it disintegrated into persecution of Puritanism). She learned from her sister’s mistakes and married no one, instead ruling England for 45 years, despite many attempts to unseat her.

Was the English Reformation Really About Religion?

The English Reformation was never about faith. Protestants often cite the English Reformation as something “good” that happened in England, but Henry VIII never cared about Protestant beliefs other than that he wanted complete and total control and to be held accountable to no one. Overthrowing Catholicism in England turned him into a tyrant with collateral damage in the thousands. It caused the executions of hundreds of people because they disagreed with him or the new faith, and every faction that got into power for several generations after his death continued killing people who did not share their theological beliefs.

(For the record, I’m a Protestant, in case you think I have Catholic sympathies. No, I have sympathy for human beings with feelings who feel pain and did not deserve to die in the ten thousand brutal ways both factions used to kill each other.)

Archbishop Cranmer and Bishop Gardiner, and many others in the series and in real life, cared less about their faith than politics and power. Both intended to burn the other at the stake. It was a fight over doctrine, without humanity in it, and humanity is the foundation of Christ’s message. Again and again, He bore down on our treatment of one another being the only thing God cares about. He shamed those who mistreated one another. He advocated for charity, forgiveness, and “do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”

And here were powerful men and women, undercutting each other, betraying each other, torturing each other, and killing each other, in the name of their religion. None of which is remotely Christian. When you care more about power, or being right, or protecting your “church” than you do about another human being, you are evil, and out of step with Christ’s entire message of love and grace and kindness.

It reminds me of a moment in the irreverent series Good Omens, when the angel and demon show up to the Crucifixion. One asks the other, “Did your side do this?” and he says no; “did your side do this?” he asks back, and the answer is no. The humans did it. Why? “He told them to be NICE to each other.”

“Ah,” says one of them. “That’ll do it.”

Minor Historical Inaccuracies:

• Edward Seymour punches Bishop Gardiner in the face at a Council meeting; this incident happened, but it was Viscount Lisle (John Dudley).
• Henry commissions a portrait from Hans Holbein, who has been dead for four years. He says, “Paint me, as you painted my father,” except Henry VII never sat for Hans Holbein while alive; Hans painted the royal family posthumously.  
• Francis I is dying in this episode, but he outlived Henry VIII by two months.
• Henry VIII did not appoint Edward Seymour as Protector / Regent of England for his son; he appointed a group of executors that included Archbishop Cranmer. All of them were to be members of Edward’s Privy Council, and Henry VIII instructed that “none of them shall do anything appointed by this Will alone, but only with the written consent of the majority.”

Curious what personality types feature in The Tudors? Check out my analysis here!

This article is part of my Historical Accuracy in Historical TV Shows & Movies series, where I break down the real history behind popular historical dramas.

About the Author: Charity Bishop writes historical fiction, historical fantasy, and suspense novels that explores the darkness in human hearts, and the light that refuses to be extinguished. Discover her books.