The Tudors on Showtime
The Tudors stars Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Henry VIII, and a stellar cast. Season One had 10 episodes, Season Two also had ten episodes, and Season Three is set to begin on SHOWTime Sunday, April 15, 2009. SHOWTIME plans to work its way through the six wives of Henry VII.
It's a fascinating look at Henry VIII and his court, fleshing out the history behind his reign and six marriages - which English school children used to remember with the saying "Divorced, Beheaded, Died, Divorced, Beheaded, Survived."
Also, visit www.hulu.com to view 84 various clips from the Tudors!
The Tudors - get it on Amazon.
The Tudors - The Complete First Season
Release Date: 01/01/2008
Amazon Price: $21.99 (as of 12/23/2009) 
List Price: $42.99
The Tudors: It's Good to Be King
The Tudors: It's Good to Be King is the perfect series companion. The Tudors features the full shooting scripts of episodes 1-5 and synopsis of the entire first season including episodes 6-10, PLUS on-set photography, additional material such as period maps, genealogy of the royal family, some portraiture of the Tudor dynasty, and more.
Amazon Price: $11.66 (as of 12/23/2009)
List Price: $14.95
The Tudors: The King, the Queen, and the Mistress
This novelized version of Showtime's epic series focuses on the rarely dramatized, tumultuous early years of King Henry VIII's nearly forty-year omnipotent reign (1509-1547).
Amazon Price: $10.20 (as of 12/23/2009)
List Price: $15.00
The Tudors - The Complete Second Season
Release Date: 01/06/2009
Amazon Price: $16.99 (as of 12/23/2009)
List Price: $40.99
![Tudors-Season 1-2 [Blu-ray]](http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/61A7q5WKDCL._SL75_.jpg)
Tudors-Season 1-2 [Blu-ray]
Release Date: 02/17/2009
Amazon Price: (as of 12/23/2009)
List Price: $89.49
How historically accurate is The Tudors?
A few reviews
- Historical Accuracy of The Tudors
- "Virtually everything in this production is spot-on -- the sets, the events, the details of daily life -- all of it is thoroughly-researched and beautifully presented. And fortunately for the viewer, the production value is high (awesome cinematography!) and the performances are all terrific."
- Historical Accuracy - Another Opinion
- First, the ages of the characters are not historically accurate. Henry VIII at the time of the setting was in his forties, while Anne Boleyn was in her twenties. The casting is obviously inaccurate. However, they are covering several years of history in each episode, so I do not see how the same actor could portray the same Henry VII from the first few episodes as in the current and future episodes. The same goes for the character of Catherine of Aragon; in The Tudors, she seems much older than Henry VII does when in actuality she was only a few years older than him.
- Review of The Tudors
- Metacritic assigns scores to all the major reviews of The Tudors, resulting in a 8.1 out of 10 rating for Season One of the series. Provides links to all the major reviews.
Season Three Information
Production on Season 3 of The Tudors began on June 16th in Dublin, Ireland and will premier on Showtime on Sunday, April 15th.
Brit songstress Joss Stone is set to play Henry's fourth wive, Anne of Cleves, and the role of Jane Seymour has been re-cast, with Annebelle Wallis playing the role. The season begins with Henry wed to Jane Seymour, and ends ......... ?
Brit songstress Joss Stone is set to play Henry's fourth wive, Anne of Cleves, and the role of Jane Seymour has been re-cast, with Annebelle Wallis playing the role. The season begins with Henry wed to Jane Seymour, and ends ......... ?
- Joss Stone plays Anne of Cleves
- Brief article from USA Today about Joss Stone's role in The Tudors.
- Jonathan Rhys-Meyers talks about Season 3
- Brief article with some comments from JRM about Season 3.
Season 3 starts April 15, 2009 on Showtime
Here's a few preview and trailer videos from YouTube to tantalize you until the season premier.
The Tudors Season 3
The Tudors: Season 2 Trailer
The Tudors Season 3: Jonathan Rhys Meyers
Season 3, Queen Jane Seymour
The Tudors 3 Interview Jonathan Rhys Meyers & Joss Stone
curated content from YouTube
Season Two
The second season of "The Tudors" started with Divorce - Tudor Style, and ended with the pending execution of Anne, and Henry's pending marriage with Jane Seymour.
If you'd like to watch Episode One of Season Two -- here's the link to click. Enjoy!
If you'd like to watch Episode One of Season Two -- here's the link to click. Enjoy!
The Tudors: Season 2 Trailer
Jonathan Rhys Meyers - The Tudors Season 2 Promo
The Tudors: Inside Look at Season 2
The Tudors: A Royal Christmas - Season 2
The Tudors: Watch a full scene from Season 2 of The Tudors
The Tudors: Opening Credits - Season Two
The Tudors End of Season 2 - Bolero
curated content from YouTube
The Music of "The Tudors"
SheetMusicPlus has The Tudors music score, written for soprano, alto and tenor recorder, plus piano and percussion. Dance and Music: Book 1: The Tudors - Score By Marshall-Ward. For SAT recorders, Piano and Percussion. Recorder with other instruments. Published by Magnamusic Distributors Inc. (HADM001)
See more info...
Season Two Episode Guide
A brief synopsis of Season Two (Details from the SHOWTIME website).
- Divorce, Tudor style. As the Catholic Church struggles in vain to control Henry VIII's demands for an annulment, the King appoints himself head of the Church of England. A cook is blackmailed into poisoning a high-ranking bishop; then boiled alive for his crime. When Anne Boleyn insists Henry break all contacts with Katherine, the noble Queen is banished from court. The Reformation has begun.
- Christmas at the Tudor court is a time for ringing in the new. Mistress Anne Boleyn has replaced the banished Queen Katherine. The King's chaplin, Thomas Cranmer, makes a fact-finding visit to Lutheran Germany while Henry withdraws both the authority and taxes of the Catholic Church at home. And a royal visit to France finally convinces Anne to consummate her relationship with Henry, even as his best friend Charles Brandon suggests that she is no virgin.
- Henry destroys all ties with authority and the past. After many failed attempts to have his marriage to Katherine annulled by the Catholic Church, Henry runs out of patience and marries Anne Boleyn in secret. He appoints the young Lutheran Thomas Cranmer to the head of the Church of England and strips Queen Katherine of her title and status.
- Questions of faith dominate the court. As the infant Princess Elizabeth is baptised, the 'Act of Succession' is unveiled declaring that only children of Henry and Anne are legitimate successors to the English throne. A law is passed where every Royal subject must take an oath, on pain of death, recognising the validity of the King's new marriage and the supremacy of Henry VIII in all matters
- Attempts to legitimise the King's marriage and increase his power hit unmovable obstacles as Sir Thomas More and Bishop Fisher insist that only God can be head of the church. Imprisoned in the Tower of London they face likely execution unless they take the Oath of Allegiance. Meanwhile Henry's wandering eye continues to roam
- As the Reformation gathers pace Sir Thomas Cromwell becomes ever more powerful as propagandist-in-chief of a new moral order. Royal confidence has given way to doubt. Henry is haunted by the memory of the executed Thomas More while Queen Anne Boleyn's insecurities border on paranoia. Her husband's affairs continue and an effort to have her daughter Elizabeth betrothed to a French royal is disappointed when the French King refuses to recognise that the infant Princess is of legitimate birth.
- As Thomas Cromwell's increasingly ruthless 'reforms' spread terror through an ever more vulnerable Catholic Church, Anne Boleyn has nightmares that her position at the King's side is under threat from the continued existence of former Queen Katherine and her daughter Mary. Meanwhile Henry is occupied by sad news and a happy encounter.
- At Henry's command Jane Seymour is made a lady-in-waiting to Anne Boleyn, to the discomfort and suspicion of the Queen. When Henry is seriously injured in a jousting match all thoughts turn to who might succeed him. There will be far-reaching consequences if Anne's pregnancy does not deliver a healthy son.
- Anne has lost a son and with it her last chance at a lasting marriage with Henry. The King's affections are shifting anyway: the Seymour family are awarded rooms at court and seem likely to replace the Boleyns as royal favourites. Several in the court begin to move against Anne who is accused of adultery. Arrests are made of suspected lovers and of Anne herself. All, including the Queen, are sentenced to death.
- Endings and beginnings. As Anne Boleyn awaits her death, painfully delayed by the executioner's late arrival, Henry visits Jane Seymour and asks for her hand in marriage. Declaring his marriage to Anne null and void means that their daughter Elizabeth becomes illegitimate and is no longer in line to the throne - clearing the way for a legitimate heir to come from his marriage with Jane. Henry begins this momentous event with a magnificent breakfast at which is served a dish reserved for the English King alone: an exquisite roasted swan.
King Henry VIII (1491 - 1547)
The Real Henry Tudor
Young King Henry cut a striking figure. Six feet tall and powerfully built, he excelled in many athletic events, including jousting, archery, wrestling and all forms of mock combat. He loved to dance and did it well; he was a renowned tennis player. Henry also enjoyed intellectual pursuits, often discussing mathematics, astronomy and theology with Thomas More. He knew Latin and French, a little Italian and Spanish, and even studied Greek for a time. The king was also a great patron of musicians, arranging for music wherever he might be, and was a notably gifted musician himself.Source
BBC America Shop
The BBC America Shop has such wonderful stuff, and it's even BETTER when you can get Free Shipping - just click this link to start saving - FREE Shipping on orders over $100
Some of my favorite Henry VIII items at the BBC America shop are:
Henry VIII Disappearing Wives Mug
Henry VIII Music Collection
Tudor History
- Tudor History
- An EXCEPTIONAL website with information on Tudor history, family trees, reference maps, Tudor culture, links to primary and secondary sources, etc.
- The Tudors
- Another excellent website with information on the Tudor Dynasty, chronology, Tudor times, etc.
- Tudor England 1485 to 1603
- Another excellent website on Tudor history. Links to primary and secondary sources, biographies, portraits, etc.
They also have an excellent genealogy page - Click here to view.
Anne Boleyn (1500-1536)
'She is of middling stature, with a swarthy complexion, long neck, wide mouth, bosom not much raised, and in fact has nothing but the King's great appetite, and her eyes, which are black and beautiful - and take great effect on those who served the Queen when she was on the throne. She lives like a queen, and the King accompanies her to Mass - and everywhere.' the Venetian ambassador describes Anne, 1532Source (excellent biography from EnglishHistory.net)
Season One Episode guide
- King Henry VIII, the young and ambitious monarch of England, prepares for war with France but is dissuaded by the diplomatic manipulation of his powerful Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who proposes that the King sponsor a "Treaty of Universal Peace." The harmony of the King's domestic affairs is threatened, however, when he discovers that Elizabeth Blount, the young and beautiful lady-in-waiting to his Queen, Katherine of Aragon, is pregnant with his child.
- Allegiances shift at home and abroad. Despite extravagant claims of loyalty to France during the "Field of Cloth of Gold" ceremonies, Henry contemplates an alliance with Charles V, King of Spain, who was recently named Holy Roman Emperor. Because he is dependent on the support of the French cardinals, Wolsey's chance to become Pope is threatened. A gift of Machiavelli's The Prince makes Henry wonder if it is better for a king to be loved or feared. For now, he sets about achieving both. He executes the scheming Duke of Buckingham for treason and celebrates the birth - by Lady Elizabeth Blount - of a first healthy baby son, whom he names Henry Fitzroy.
- A new and important ally sweeps into Henry's court in the form of Charles V, the most powerful man in Europe and nephew to Henry's wife, Katherine of Aragon. To protect the very significant alliance he hopes will aid in his bid for an English role in European affairs, the King is careful not to reveal to Charles the growing distance between himself and the Queen. However, affairs of the heart are more likely to unsettle Henry's resolve as he comes face-to-face for the first time with the beautiful Anne Boleyn. Unbeknownst to the King, he is being seduced by forces more calculating than any young woman.
- While Henry is named "Defender of the Faith" by a Pope grateful for his spiritual and political loyalty, fidelity is scarce in Henry's court. His sister, Princess Margaret, marries the decrepit King of Portugal, only to murder him soon after and returns to the lustful arms of Charles Brandon. The Duke of Norfolk and Sir Thomas Boleyn continue to conspire against Cardinal Wolsey. And the King grows ever more enamored of Anne Boleyn. His increasing disinterest in his Queen, and the realization that he still hasn't produced a legitimate heir to the Tudor dynasty, conjure an urgent desire for radical action.
- Henry is a king of passion and perseverance. Efforts at alliances - both personal and political - face setbacks, but the King remains undeterred. When his ally, Emperor Charles V, releases Francis I, their mutual enemy, from prison, he is stunned - but resolves to redirect his European ambitions. And when Anne Boleyn is insulted by his offer to make her his sole and unique mistress, it merely redoubles his passion and resolve to one day marry her. However, his separation from the most powerful political figure in Europe may prove easier to affect than an annulment from his wife.
- Personal and political allegiances continue to change in Henry's court. The King grows ever more confident in his role as monarch and more enamored of the young Anne Boleyn. Despite Cardinal Wolsey's influence and efforts - and much to the frustration of the King - the Catholic Church seems unable to make progress in Henry's petition for a divorce. This adds to the growing discomfort of the increasingly vulnerable Wolsey.
- Dark days for Tudor England. The mysterious sweating sickness, almost always fatal to those who catch it, runs rampant. A food shortage adds to the suffering. Henry's natural optimism and energy take a beating as the King's confidence gives way to doubt and delusions. But after darkness comes light. The plague begins to disappear and the King receives news that his mistress, Anne Boleyn, has miraculously survived. Even better, an envoy of Pope Clement is on his way to England to finally convene a court which will decide on Henry's request for a divorce.
- Pope Clement's special envoy arrives in London to oversee the court deciding upon the legitimacy of Henry's marriage to Katherine of Aragon. The findings of this trial will have far-reaching consequences: the future of the King's amorous relationship with Anne Boleyn, Cardinal Wolsey's career and influence, and England's relationship with Rome all hang in the balance.
- Cardinal Wolsey's fall is quick and pitiless. Stripped of office and authority, he is banished from the court and sent far from his much-beloved King. His unlikely successor is Sir Thomas More, a man unlike the overbearing Wolsey in every way but one - his loyalty to Henry.
- Cardinal Wolsey is down but not yet out. Although exiled, he tries to gather last-minute support from his old enemy, Queen Katherine. She hesitantly agrees to his plan, as she finds herself in a situation similar to that of the fallen Cardinal. But their plot is intercepted by the King's new advisors and Wolsey must pay the ultimate price.
The Tudors on eBay
eBay can be a good resource for The Tudors items - posters, books, DVDs, etc. Bookmark this lens and check back often - this list will change daily.
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byThe Tudors on CafePress
Who knew? You can get mugs, magnets, hoodies and bibs proclaiming your love of The Tudors.
Tudor Rose Light T-Shirt
Price: 24.99
Divorced Beheaded Died Sticker (Bumper)
Price: 4.99
Anne Boleyn Magnet
Price: 3.99
I Love The Tudors Bib
Price: 12.99
Reader Feedback
submit
-
Reply
- MsLadyBells MsLadyBells May 8, 2009 @ 7:19 pm
- Hey, cool lens. I didn't see it listed here, but there are some really nice Tudors products at a Cafe Press store called Gold Label Goods. U should check it out --- glg.com
-
Reply
- fleur_de_lis_rising fleur_de_lis_rising Aug 20, 2007 @ 5:26 pm
- Very interesting! I don't watch much TV, but this is something I'd love to see!
-
Reply
- awelldressedbullet awelldressedbullet Aug 20, 2007 @ 9:42 am
- Great lens, put together nicely, well done! - Kathy
-
Reply
- Freaknoodles Freaknoodles Aug 20, 2007 @ 6:51 am
- I haven't watched the show, but your lens looks great!
by rejoicemusic
IRL, I sell choral music online (Visit REJOICE Music) and also LOVE English history! View my lenses on Richard III and Sharon Kay Penman.
(more)Explore related pages
King Henry VIII and his Wives- Henry VIII (28 June 1491 - 28 January 1547) was King of Englandfrom 21 April 150...
Movie vs. History: 'The Other Boleyn Girl'- How much fact and how much fiction in the movie "The Other Boleyn Girl?" It does...
King Henry VIII of England- King Henry VIII (1491-1547) was strong and ruthless king of the Tudor era. He wa...
Richard III: The Last Plantagenet King of England- Richard III (1453-1485) was the last Plantagenet King of England, and the last K...
Outlander Series - time travel, romance and changing history
- Diana Gabaldon has created a phenomenal series spanning continents and centuries...
The Novels of Sharon Kay Penman- Sunne in Splendor was the first Sharon Kay Penman novel I read, and I was instan...
