The Tudors

[Mr. Adventure]

Henry in 1531 at age 40, two years prior to his marriage to Anne Boleyn

Catherine of Aragon at age 16 or 17, still in her mourning dress. This portrait really shows her reddish hair.

Don't know squat about the histrory but those are some of the best portraits I've seen, it seems like a lot of old pictures are rather crude or at least stylized so it's hard to tell what the people *really* looked like.

 

[Captain Shaw]

Well, to be fair, he was still the monarch, so it would focus on him and show that he had no power and it was the council that controlled the kingdom. As people have said elsewhere, it will be interesting to see how they handle Mary, Queen of Scots given that she doesn't/can't exist in the Tudor-verse given that Princess Margaret died without having met/married King James IV and given birth to James V.

If the show last that long they will just never talk about Marys parents.

 

[Dorian Thompson]

Don't know squat about the histrory but those are some of the best portraits I've seen, it seems like a lot of old pictures are rather crude or at least stylized so it's hard to tell what the people *really* looked like.

Thanks. Those two were the best of the bunch. I believe the one of Catherine was painted by Hans Holbein. He was one of the court's official portrait painters. Catherine in her youth was much prettier than Anne Boleyn. They'd planned to do official portraits of Arthur, but he didn't live long enough. That picture of Catherine would have been painted either in 1502 or early 1503 since she's still in mourning dress. Henry VII and Ferdinand negotiated for a year, and she was finally officially betrothed to Henry junior in 1503, but young Henry was still only twelve years old.

Catherine was supposed to marry Henry in 1505 when he turned fourteen, but her mother Isabella died in the interim; Isabella was the real power in Spain, the power that could have cemented a politically advantageous alliance. Henry VII kept putting off the marriage because a Spain/England alliance was no longer so advantageous (but he didn't want to return Catherine's considerable dowry), so she lived in limbo until 1509 when Henry senior died. He'd tried to negotiate other marriages for young Henry in the interim but nothing worked out. Henry VIII decided that he wanted to marry Catherine once his father died in 1509; Henry was almost 18 by then and Catherine was 24. That's why she fell so crazy in love with him. Catherine had lived in near poverty for years because Henry senior gave her next to no money. Had she returned to Spain, she'd have had nothing and maybe not had a chance to arrange an advantageous marriage. Catherine really viewed Henry as her rescuer. Henry still wanting to marry her 7 years after Arthur died gave her a place in the world. Princesses were at the mercy of their fathers and male relatives unless they were joint rulers like her mother had been. That type of situation was rare.

That's why her "duenna," Dona Elvira, lied and said she hadn't slept with Arthur. She was trying to make sure Catherine could stay in the country and make another marriage. It's almost certain that Catherine slept with her husband when you look at the facts; there's no reason she wouldn't have: Catherine's confessor said she did, and the pope actually issued two dispensations at the time so that she could marry her late husband's brother, one said she hadn't slept with Arthur and one said she did. They waited six weeks to declare Henry the official heir in case Catherine was pregnant. Catherine herself never claimed publicly that she hadn't until Henry was trying to divorce her. Catherine was trying to protect her daughter's birthright to the throne. Henry didn't care until she couldn't give him a son. He then used it as an excuse to divorce her by citing Leviticus. Catherine had been fond of Arthur--they exchanged letters throughout their childhoods--but they didn't meet until right before their wedding and she barely had a chance to get to know him. She'd known Henry for 8 years by the time she married him. Henry was a grown man when she married him, while Arthur had been 14 or barely 15. That's why Henry was her great love.

 

[tenmei]

If the show last that long they will just never talk about Marys parents.

Yeah, if the show lasts that long but it might make her connection to the throne a bit awry.