Historical accuracy takes another hit in The Tudors Season 3, Episode 7, as the series dramatizes one of Henry VIII’s most infamous marriages. The episode follows Anne of Cleves’ arrival in England, her disastrous first meeting with the king, and the political tensions that would ultimately lead to Thomas Cromwell’s downfall. While the show leans heavily into the idea of Anne as a rigid Protestant outsider and an unattractive match for Henry, the real history is far more nuanced. From her actual religious background to the awkward but misunderstood first meeting with Henry, this episode reshapes key events for drama.

In This Post:

• Was Anne of Cleves Really a Protestant?
• Anne of Cleves’s First Meeting With Henry VIII
• Thomas Cromwell and the Reformation
• A Disastrous Marriage
• Minor Historical Inaccuracies

Episode 7: Protestant Anne of Cleves

After endless political shenanigans, Anne of Cleves finally arrives in England. Henry VIII eagerly goes to meet his new wife only to find he doesn’t like her at all. Unfortunately, Cromwell informs him that the marriage must go forward, or he risks a diplomatic incident. The sullen king marries the terrified Protestant, but neither of them can please one another, thus paving the way for Cromwell’s downfall.

Was Anne of Cleves Really a Protestant?

Much is made in this episode about Anne of Cleves being a “Protestant” (a Lutheran), though she was actually a “Reformist Catholic.” Cleves did not have an official religion and were not Lutherans; they were unaffiliated Catholics who preferred Humanist reforms and who followed the writings of Erasmus, a Catholic Humanist and best friend of the late Sir Thomas More. Her mother was a strict Catholic, and her brother never adopted Lutheranism until it became popular a few years after she moved to England. They were also not members of the “Protestant League.”

Her brother wanted her to marry Henry VIII because he hoped to challenge Emperor Maximilian (Catherine of Aragon’s nephew, and the monarch who inherited the Holy Roman Empire of Spain, Germany, and the Netherlands) and needed allies for his “war” (which Henry VIII did not agree to, did not want, and which probably furthered his desire to get out of this failed marriage ASAP).

Anne was a disappointment to Henry on multiple levels. The king really loved “forbidden territory,” and she was pushed into his arms, rather than him winning her over—it excited him to “rescue” Catherine of Aragon from poverty, to chase a woman who kept telling him no with Anne Boleyn, to sneak off with Jane Seymour. He did not like her looks and complained about them (he was obese and stank from his unhealed leg ulcer, but still thought he was in the “prime of life” and deserved all the good things). And… Anne was not witty, educated, or on his level, the same as his first two wives.

Catherine had been a formidable woman, raised by a feminist queen, who saw to it she had a sufficient education in all matters, from shirt-making to public relations to diplomacy. She held her own and beat him in legal arguments, much to his chagrin. Anne was fiery, opinionated, and prone to devious insults. Jane was his quiet relief, a woman who smiled and did as he told her. But Anne did not speak English well, could not discuss things with him, and her education had focused mainly on useful female tasks. So, she bored him as a wife.

As the show depicts, Mary hated her at first, fearing she was another heretic, but came to like her a great deal. They bonded over both being unceremoniously chucked aside as it suited the king, and Anne’s amiability in “whatever religion you think best, I agree with” won her bonus points with Mary (who subsequently treated her well during her reign and buried her with a state funeral).

It’s ironic that out of all the surviving portraits, Anne is actually the prettiest wife, despite Henry complaining that she was the ugliest. Unlike on the show, nobody looked surprised to see her face when she arrived, and people only started agreeing that Holbein had misrepresented her after Henry threw a hissy fit about it. Everyone thought Anne was polite, kind, and good-natured.

Brandon takes the place of other people in all his interactions with her, which makes sense; why cast randos when you have Henry Cavill?

Anne of Cleves’s First Meeting With Henry VIII

This scene is appropriately cringe, but it’s not exactly how things happened. On the show, Anne knows she is meeting her future husband and does not know what to say to him or how to behave, which irks him, and he sees her face and doesn’t like it, so after some flat flirtations, he storms off like a strumpet in a tantrum.

In real life, Anne was preoccupied and watching a bull-baiting (an awful ye old times tradition of setting bull dogs on a chained bull to terrorize it, to “freshen” the meat, and for entertainment; I hate history). She did not know why this weird, fat English dude kept trying to get her attention and give her presents, and this ticked off Henry.

I don’t remember if I’ve talked about this before, but… Henry loved playing dress-up games. English courts had many traditions based around the king and his knights dressing up in costumes and pretending to be other people, usually Robin Hood and his merry men. All the English ladies and knights were “in” on this, so it was probably a shock to everyone that the German Anne did not know about this tradition, and they had nothing like it in Cleves. Women before her responded well to this; Catherine, Anne, and Jane played along, pretended not to know who the king was, and then were “delighted” when he revealed his true identity.

But Anne had no clue who this man was, or why he kept interrupting her. And being the grandiose narcissist Henry was at this point in history, he took it personally. She was supposed to play along, be flattered, flirt, call him a handsome stranger, and then be shocked and overjoyed to find out that this dashing man is her future husband!

I love the fact that The Tudors cast someone so gorgeous as Anne, and she even looks a little like the historical portrait, as if to illustrate what a twit Henry is.

Thomas Cromwell and the Reformation

There’s a nice scene in which Cromwell “educates” the audience with a small speech to a clueless servant about what being a Lutheran actually means; that you don’t need popes or priests, but can actually talk to God yourself. It’s a way to provoke our sympathy for a man who is going to die brutally in the season finale, by painting him as an actual man of faith.

“God is not just in church; he is everywhere. We need no priests to speak for us; we can speak for ourselves. There’s no need for bells and books and candles. All you need is your soul,” he says.

The real Cromwell is more complex. Here, he’s been very devout all along, and the writer has intentionally left him out of a lot of nefarious actions this season to build up our sympathy for him. The real Cromwell took down Margaret Pole’s family and several others who were viable threats to his position as Chancellor. He fabricated evidence to bring down the Boleyns (which the series showed, in part). It paints the closure of the religious houses as being on Reformist principles, when in reality, Cromwell saw the financial benefit from shutting down abbeys, selling off the property to the highest bidders, and refilling the royal coffers.

He had become incredibly rich while serving as the king’s trusted advisor, and his prominent position, ruthlessness when dealing with his enemies, and wealth is why other members of the court wanted to see him gone (so they could step into the void).

But this scene, and James Frain’s overall magnificent performance, is why the last episode “hurts.” Because we really do like Cromwell now. Or at least I do. And it stinks to see him being physically abused by Henry (there is no historical precedent for him being this way).

A Disastrous Marriage

Henry stalled his marriage to Anne of Cleves for two days, but alas… his counselors found no legal loophole to get him out of it, so he had to “yoke himself” to a woman he already disliked. Henry did not want this so much, he was actually excited when the courtier who walked Anne up the aisle went missing, and tried to use that as an excuse to postpone it. (And then he showed up, just a little late, and poor Henry had to “do the thing.”)

A lot of his complaining the next morning is what the real Henry said, and he made sure everyone knew there had been no consummation out of ick. (I dunno why he thought he could feel her breast and know she was not a virgin, but… okay, Henry. You’d know. I guess.) But Michael Hirst gets in a nice dig from Anne, by saying the smell Henry complained about historically was coming from his rotten leg. Haha.

Minor Inaccuracies:

• Henry VIII introduces his daughters as princesses to Anne, but they were only known as the Lady Mary and Lady Elizabeth at this time, since they had been declared bastards.
• Cromwell says marrying Anne of Cleves would bring with it the financial and military support of the Protestant League, which isn’t entirely true, since her brother wasn’t a member.
• Anne says only men gamble and play cards in her country; actually, she was an excellent card player and received a gambling allowance. But she needed to learn to play English card games.
• Brandon is conspiring against Cromwell, when historically, he had nothing to do with Cromwell’s downfall.

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.