The Tudors Season 3, Episode 8, brings one of the most dramatic political downfalls of Henry VIII’s reign to the forefront. As the king’s disastrous marriage to Anne of Cleves collapses, Thomas Cromwell’s enemies seize their chance to destroy him, while Catherine Howard emerges as Henry’s next infatuation. The episode also weaves in a romantic subplot involving Princess Mary and a foreign duke, further complicating an already crowded timeline. While compelling, the series once again rearranges events, simplifies political motives, and alters key historical details. From Cromwell’s arrest and execution to Catherine Howard’s introduction at court, here’s what really happened.

In This Post:

• Princess Mary and Duke Philip’s Marriage Proposal
• How Catherine Howard Met Henry VIII
• The Downfall of Thomas Cromwell
• Cromwell’s Execution: Fact vs. Fiction
• Closing Thoughts
• Minor Historical Inaccuracies

Episode 8: The Undoing of Cromwell

Henry VIII’s marriage to Anne of Cleves unravels and takes down Thomas Cromwell. Sir Francis Byron finds the king a distraction: the flirtatious young Catherine Howard. Princess Mary has her heart broken when she’s not allowed to marry a visiting duke.

This episode’s timeline is all over the place, with things happening out of sequence, but that doesn’t matter much. I’ll just note it where it happens.

Mary Tudor and Duke Philip’s Marriage Proposal

I like the idea of Anne of Cleves trying to bring Princess Mary and Duke Philip together, but that’s historically implausible, since he arrived in England a month ahead of her, which meant negotiations had been in play for some time. Since the Duke was related to Anne, and Henry wanted to get rid of her, he didn’t let their courtship continue for long.

The two of them have a cute little romance on the show (it’s humorous in hindsight, since they went on to both be in Once Upon a Time) and are heartbroken to be torn apart, even if Mary sluffs it off as “well, I couldn’t have married a HERETIC anyway,” but we don’t know how upset they were in real life. Historical records say Philip was quite taken by Mary, but she was less so with him, even if she offered him a “kiss” and was affectionate toward him.

Philip visited England three more times, in his determination to have her, but Henry refused to let them meet. (It’s likely that besides any affection he had for her, Philip saw Mary as a plausible future queen of England if her baby brother failed to thrive and the king had no more heirs, which no doubt spurred his ambitions a bit. Romance in Tudor times was more a case of “how can I advance my family out of this match?” for the aristocracy than concerned with love matches, however much Henry VIII tried to find one.)

Henry was probably so arrogant he thought his daughter deserved better, even if it would have been politically helpful to marry his “bastard” off to a low-ranking foreign duke who would live at court with her. And to be honest, Mary probably would have been happier in this marriage than what she got, an absentee Spanish husband who didn’t even like her.

How Did Catherine Howard Meet Henry VIII?

On the show, Francis Bryan is casting about for a “distraction” for the king, and decides on Catherine Howard. But in “actual history,” Catherine’s uncle, Sir Thomas Howard, got her a position within the queen’s household, and she joined Anne of Cleves’s ladies-in-waiting in January 1540. The king was being nice to her relatives by March, and giving her expensive presents by April, which meant their romance was already underway by the time The Tudors introduces her.  

Bryan meets Catherine at Lambeth Palace, historically the official home of the Archbishop of Canterbury, rather than Catherine Howard’s home of Norfolk House. It’s heavily implied to be a brothel. Which, um, no? Catherine Howard lived with the Dowager Duchess of Norfolk, Agnes Howard (her step-grandmother). One way to accrue additional wealth was to become a guardian of an underage member of the aristocracy, with access to their money until they became of age; Agnes often did this with court orphans, and wound up “taking care” of a large household of young people. She spent a great deal of time at court, so they went unsupervised, which led to Catherine’s “sexual maturing” at age 13.

The Tudors walks a fine line here. Perhaps Catherine’s hypersexuality implies her sexual abuse from a young age, or maybe her depiction is to bring “sex” back into the show that has been lackluster this season. Either way, the actress looks fourteen, which makes all the nudity demanded from her in this and the next season cringe.

This Catherine is way, way too forward with her sexuality in front of the king. Henry was quite sure when they married she was a virgin, after all. The real Catherine was coquettish in a less sexual manner, with the usual flirtations and blushes and “oh, you got me a present, how very generous, Your Majesty,” rather than doing… ah… things with jewels. And then meeting Henry for sex in a secret cottage.

She is giggly and naïve, and has no awareness of court etiquette, which she would have had. Her step-grandmother would have educated her in behaviors suiting a lady-in-waiting, to get her into court, where she could find a profitable match. One of the few things we know about her for sure is that she could do things gracefully and correctly, and people admired her. (She was also submissive and pretty. Henry had had enough of argumentative, challenging wives on his own level.)

The Downfall of Thomas Cromwell

Welp. It’s that time again. The time in every Tudor season where someone we know and love (or hate) goes to face the executioner. And today, it’s Sir Thomas Cromwell. He shows up innocently at a Council meeting, only to be stripped of his office, arrested, and dragged away to prison.

The real deal was more formal, with fewer hysterics, but dramatic. Even if Cromwell orchestrated the downfall of many innocent people, I feel bad for him in the same way I feel bad about killing a wasp so it doesn’t sting my cat. Dude went to the same prison everyone he got executed did, and he knew his chances were slim of ever leaving it alive. When the king takes your stuff, you are a gonner. They also convicted him with the same sham job he used to bring down everyone else—the king called him guilty, so Parliament voted and deemed him guilty.

Henry still needed Cromwell to get his marriage to Anne of Cleves annulled, and Cromwell did it for him, as his “best servant” ever. Maybe just a competency flex, a desperate hope that Henry would reward this obedience with taking all his stuff and releasing him, or a “well, it’s something to do that’s useful” moment.

Henry never went for Cromwell’s family. Perhaps he didn’t care, or maybe he wasn’t feeling that vindictive; but they could keep their estates. Maybe the letter Cromwell wrote to him, begging him to be a “good and gracious lord” to his poor son, wife, and children, actually made the old fart have a twinge of conscience.

Cromwell’s Execution: Fact vs. Fiction

The series has Sir Francis Bryon and Edward Seymour get the executioner drunk, so he can botch Cromwell’s execution and make him suffer, which is a super sh*tty thing to do. Henry may execute everyone and everything around him without shame, but he doesn’t make them suffer physically first. So, why do they all hate him so much? He’s Protestant. And the son of a butcher, so smart, he became the Lord Chancellor of England, and wealthy ass-hats don’t like folks who refuse to stay in their lowly position.

Cromwell’s botched execution is hard to watch, with the drunk, hung-over executioner hacking into his shoulders several times while the crowd gasps and looks sickened, until a soldier shoves him off to the side and finishes the job.

But how true is it? Turns out… it isn’t, and we’ve all believed a lie for centuries.

Contemporary accounts mention nothing out of the ordinary, just that he was “beheaded,” and it was “more merciful than it could have been” (not a hanging, drawing, and quartering). One of his enemies said his death was better than he deserved, which would not be said if they hacked at him for ten minutes. His head went up on London Bridge for a time, which means it hadn’t been broken by an inadequate axman.

In the 1600s, historian John Stow wrote that Cromwell “patiently suffered the strokes of the axe” by the hands of an incompetent executioner.

95 years later, a writer says it took “three or four strokes” to sever his head.

So, it probably did not happen this way. Instead, writers across the centuries, as we are wont to do, enhanced the telling of the story with gruesome details.

My Thoughts on Season Three

This season isn’t difficult for me to watch, but it is boring to recount, because it’s mainly political back-and-forth interactions, with made-up figures jammed in-between to try to sex up the plot. It doesn’t give enough time to the Pilgrimage of Grace for you to become emotionally attached to anyone who goes to death because of it, thanks to this season being two episodes shorter than normal.

Brandon is inconsistently written, and the writer can’t decide whether we should hate or love him, but I don’t like him. I never did, and this season doesn’t help. I also wanted more of Jane Seymour. I much prefer this actress, who is lovely and demure, but has a strong, quietly defiant streak that the season two Jane lacked. (Season two’s Jane was not the sharpest tool in the shed.)

Anne of Cleves is excellent. Would she be that anxious about facing possible execution if he wanted to get rid of her? She was born of a noble family, which would make any accusations or her execution a diplomatic incident, but consider her position. She had no friends or supporters in England. Henry had already taken down Catherine of Aragon and beheaded Anne Boleyn. Being terrified is a legit response, and contemporaries did say she was worried.

In the end, Anne of Cleves got the best deal out of all his wives. Houses, properties, an allowance, and she never had to sleep with the old, stinky goat!

I’m glad to be done with these historical recaps, since season four will be more “fun” in the sense of… “wow, they really just did that.”

Minor Inaccuracies:

• Anne of Cleves is shown playing a pianoforte, but she didn’t play or sing. She loved (and was excellent at) needlework instead. She taught the English ladies a lot of new embroidery stitches and patterns.
• Thomas Cromwell’s son Gregory was not at his execution.
• Henry and Catherine visit Nonsuch Palace, which would not be completed for another year. They were off getting married the same day as Cromwell’s execution.
• Brandon and Edward Seymour bring down Cromwell, instead of Bishop Stephen Gardiner and Sir Thomas Howard.

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.