In The Tudors Season 1, Episode 6, political schemes and romantic rivalries dominate the court as Cardinal Wolsey struggles to maintain power and Catherine of Aragon finds herself publicly challenged by Anne Boleyn. But how much of this scandal-heavy episode is actually true? From secret conclaves and forged alliances to misplaced rosaries and an arm-wrestling redemption, this historical fact check will walk you through what really happened versus what was scripted for drama.

Inside This Post:

• Did Cardinal Wolsey really attempt to lead the Church?
• Rosaries are not necklaces!
• Was Catherine openly hostile to Anne Boleyn?
• Minor historical errors you may have missed

Episode 6: True Love

Cardinal Wolsey lobbies for the king’s divorce with a conclave of French cardinals, only for the Pope’s escape from Emperor Charles to thwart his intentions and put his ambitions at risk. Catherine of Aragon has several confrontations with Anne Boleyn, who is emboldened to talk back by Henry’s public affection for her at court. Her uncle and father pressure her to turn Henry against Wolsey, while scheming to return Charles Brandon to court.

Wolsey’s Tightrope: Power, Politics, and Papal Pipe Dreams

A lot of this episode revolves around Cardinal Wolsey, so we’ll go through each allegation and situation point by point. I’m a little confused about how Michael Hurst is portraying the cardinal, since it seems like he can’t decide if we should feel sympathy for him. He implies he is promiscuous and corrupt, but also undone by unfair alliances being formed against him.

Boleyn, Brandon, and Norfolk form an alliance against him (although Brandon was not much at court at this time; not because of being thrown out of it, but in his marriage).

Show: Catherine of Aragon says Wolsey has spies among her ladies, and that he pays them in money and “sexual favors.” Later, we see a French girl offer herself to Wolsey, who refuses her on the grounds of not being young and foolish, and tells her she deserves better than to be “used as a whore.”

Fact: There’s no proof Wolsey had spies in Catherine’s court, but it would not be unlikely. He was famous for having informants elsewhere, and since the King’s Great Matter was of such importance, he would want to remain apprised of not only what the queen said in confidence but also with whom she corresponded and what she said.

Her accusation of his being promiscuous is unlikely. Wolsey had one long-term mistress (Joan Larke) with whom he fathered two illegitimate children. It lasted well over a decade, but ended when he became the Archbishop of York. He then arranged a prosperous marriage for her, and she bore her new husband four more children. So, unlike in the show, she was not still living with him.

Show: Sir Thomas More says with the Pope imprisoned, Wolsey could be the de facto Pope and get the king what he desires through a conclave of cardinals. He goes to France to establish a new alliance, only to get snubbed by the Cardinals at his conclave, when none of them show up. The Pope’s escape from the emperor means the conclave cannot proceed as he hoped, and the desired divorce/annulment cannot happen.

Fact: Wolsey had no chance of being the de facto Pope, because he was too far removed from the papacy and lacked the political connections to rule in the Pope’s stead. He had ambitions toward the Papacy though. He attempted to convene the cardinals to discuss the “Great Matter,” but they did not show up, influenced by the orders of the Pope and of Emperor Charles, who saw this as a tactic to undermine his influence in his aunt’s situation.

Show: Boleyn discovers Wolsey is embezzling from the king by closing “bad” monasteries and funneling the funds into his own private projects and pockets, such as the college at Oxford.

Fact: This is partially true. Wolsey suppressed and closed (with papal permission) several smaller monasteries in decline and used the income to fund the creation of Cardinal’s College at Oxford. In the show, Henry is unaware of this and considers it embezzlement from the royal funds, but in reality, Church funds would not have gone into the treasury. As a high-ranking Cardinal, Wolsey would have had legal control over those funds to appropriate them where he saw fit.

Show: Wolsey does not know about Henry’s intentions with Anne, calls her a “silly girl” for having an audience with the king, and is shocked to learn Henry wants to marry her.

Fact: Wolsey referred to Anne as a “foolish girl” but in relation to her secret engagement to Henry Percy, rather than her involvement with the king. In the show, he’s blindsided to learn that Henry wants Anne, and had a relationship with her sister, Mary, and only discovers it when he reads the secret bull Henry tries to send to the Pope. In actuality, Wolsey was aware of Henry’s intentions from the start as his Lord Chancellor. The king entrusted him with securing an annulment for marrying Anne. He knew of the king’s love for her earlier than this, as he broke off Anne’s engagement to Percy, under the king’s orders (which caused her to hate him forevermore).

A Good Scene: He and Sir Thomas More argue about politics vs. faith, and he says Sir Thomas may take pride in his piety, but he cannot help but be “stained” by the elements he works with; meaning that in a corrupt court, he too will become corrupt. More washes his hands with water, and then asks, “Am I stained?” since his element is “spiritual.” (It’s a delightful contrast between Wolsey’s ruthless pragmatism and More’s idealistic humanist arrogance.)

Show: Wolsey complains Henry is going to ask the Pope, if he cannot have an annulment, for permission to take a second wife, which never happened. Henry did not ask permission to commit bigamy.

Not a Necklace: Why That Rosary Scene Misses the Mark

As Anne undresses the queen for bed, we see she has a rosary around her neck. A modern non-Catholic would not understand that this is heretical. A rosary is not a piece of jewelry, but a sacramental object intended to inspire prayer and devotion. To wear it in such a manner would be disrespectful. Catherine would never have done that. Instead, she might have worn her rosary wrapped around her wrist or on a hook on her belt. And she would have removed it, kissed it, and placed it in a box for safekeeping at night.

Pearls, Prayers, and Passive-Aggression: A Royal Rivalry

She has two separate scenes with Anne, in which we see Anne’s growing defiance and willingness to confront the queen. In the first, Catherine warns Anne to keep her distance from the king by stating she has his heart. Anne submits. But in a later scene, after she finds Henry touching Anne in public, she grips the necklace her husband gave Anne and remarks that Anne is an “expensive whore” in Spanish.

Anne answers she is not a whore. Catherine then warns her Henry will soon tire of her, as he did all the others, and Anne dares to ask her, “And what if he does not?” Catherine becomes angry and dismisses her from her presence.

This scene reads like a modern woman confronting her husband’s mistress, but Catherine was more subtle than that. She grew up knowing how to behave and what was expected from her in public, and after her initial confrontation with her husband over his first mistress in 1514, she became a lot more circumspect. (Henry punished her for her outrage by sending away two of her favorite companions.)

Catherine behaved as if nothing was wrong during the annulment. She feigned normality and even showed Anne favor, likely to avoid fostering a scandal or earning the king’s displeasure, but her letters reveal her deep resentment toward Anne as the cause of her marital problems. There is a story about her playing cards with Anne and when Anne drew a king, she said, “My lady Anne, you have good hap to stop at a king, but you are not like others, you will have all or none.”

She would not have been as confrontational with Anne as the series shows, instead, favoring subtler ways to depict her displeasure.

Dead Queens and Courtly Fictions: A Few Final Flubs

• Wolsey greets Francis and his wife, Queen Claude, when he reaches France, but she had died by this time (she passed in 1524).
• The show implies that most of the queen’s ladies are promiscuous. Actually, the English court had more decorum than most, and Catherine chose her ladies for their modesty and good natures, so it’s unlikely they would be going around inviting men into threesomes (Thomas Tallis, George Boleyn).
• Brandon has to crawl like a dog to Henry to ask permission to return to court, then beat him in an arm wrestling match to secure his position. Never happened. He paid his dues to the king, and came back to court.

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

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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.