All language subtitles for The Game Of Crowns - The Tudors

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

(dramatic violin music)
(thunder cracking)

- [Narrator] For those
in power or vying for it,

there can be no rest.

(Henry VII battle cries)

(swords clashing)

(horse whinnying)

Over centuries, kings
and queens are crowned,

overthrown, imprisoned,
reinstated and murdered.

(dramatic violin music)

- [Dr. Emmerson] If this had
been the work of fiction,

we would think it was
pushing credulity.

- [Dr. Norton] He still did not
have a legitimate male heir.

- [Dr. Emmerson]
And I think this is

the beginning of the end.

- [Narrator] This is a
dangerous game of strategy,

cunning and deception.

- [Dr. Norton]
Mary is undoubtedly

the biggest threat to Elizabeth.

(dramatic violin music)

- [Narrator] Dynasties
will rise and fall

all in answer to the
ever present question

that fueled civil
war and blood feuds,

which pitted brother
against brother,

father against son,
cousin against cousin.

(horse whinnying)

- [Dr. Emmerson] Family
who killed one another.

- [Narrator] Who will wear
the bloody crown of England?

(dramatic violin music)

- [Henry VIII] I am the
king, I am the king!

- [Dr. Norton]
There was no dynasty

like the Tudor
dynasty for drama.

- It's this wretched thing!

(Henry VII battle crying)

(swords clashing)

- [Narrator] This is
The Game of Crowns.

(dramatic violin music)

It's 1484, civil war
has raged on in England

for almost half a century.

Richard III, who's rumored

to have killed his
infant nephews,

the rightful heirs to the throne

after imprisoning them
in the Tower of London,

sits on the throne safe
behind castle walls in London.

He is yet to learn that 250
miles west of the capital,

a young man is about to land

on the craggy
Pembrokeshire coast,

an army of French
mercenaries in tow.

He is about to set his
sights on the very throne

Richard III has battled
and butchered his way onto.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Now
his claim to the throne

was rather tenuous.

His father was the illegitimate
son of Catherine of Valois

and a relationship
with an Owen Tudor.

So not only was his claim
an illegitimate one,

but it also only came
through his mother.

The odds really were
stacked against Henry Tudor

at the Battle of Bosworth.

(epic music playing)

Not only did Richard III have
the support of the nobles

and a much larger army, he
was also a seasoned warrior,

whereas Henry Tudor had
much less experience.

(epic music playing)

(Henry VII battle cries)

(swords clashing)

(soldiers yelling)

But the battle was really
decided by the Stanley brothers

who held back their
troops of around 6,000

and waited to see which side
was likely going to win.

(Lord Stanley battle cries)

They then joined and fought
alongside Henry Tudor.

(epic music playing)

- [Narrator] On the
battlefield at Bosworth,

two armies clashed to decide
who will sit on the throne.

On the battlefield at Bosworth,

a king will die caught
in the fray of soldiers,

swords and horses hooves.

On the battlefield at Bosworth,

a king will emerge
triumphant and go on to found

one of the greatest
dynasties in British history.

His name is Henry Tudor.

Born January the 28th, 1457

to Margaret Beaufort and
Owen Tudor in Pembrokeshire,

Henry's claim to the
throne is a tenuous one.

@ - Henry VII had a veryú
difficult hereditary claim

to the throne, of which
he was well aware.

@ It was almost no claim at all.

- [Narrator] He
becomes king in 1485

when King Richard III is slain

at the battle of Bosworth field.

He is crowned King Henry VII
of England on October the 30th.

Knowing that many of the
nobles surrounding him

have a stronger claim to
the throne than he does,

Henry is endlessly paranoid.

His reign is one of terror.

- He very much rules
with an iron fist.

People are scared of Henry VII

and he rules through finances.

Very cunningly, he dates
his accession to the throne

to the day before Bosworth field

and that means that anyone
who fought for Richard III

was actually committing
treason against their

lawful king of England,

which means of course he
can seize their property

or say that they owe him money.

And this very much
keeps nobility in line,

but he doesn't
rule through love.

- [Narrator] A key
part of establishing

the Tudor dynasty on the throne

is Henry's marriage
to Elizabeth,

the heiress to the House of York

in a union which unites the
two warring families as one.

- And the House of
York had always used

the symbol of the white rose

and we see it all the time
in Yorkist iconography.

The house of Lancaster
had on occasion

used a red rose symbol

and Henry very
cleverly actually,

noted these two symbols
and created the Tudor rose,

which is a red and white rose

and which symbolized the union

of the House of Lancaster
and the House of York.

- [Narrator] Henry
knew that any children

they should have would be of

both the Lancastrian
and the York line,

ending in perpetuity
the wars of the roses.

They have a successful marriage

and no less than seven
children are born,

securing the next generation
in the Tudor dynasty.

- [Dr. Norton] Prince
Arthur is their eldest

and he is the future
of the dynasty.

@ - Arthur, Prince of Wales,
ú was supposed to be the heir

@ that succeeded to Henry Tudor

@ and much hope and
expectationú lay on his shoulders.

- He wants to use ideas of

the legendary king
of the Britons,

because of course
the Tudors are Welsh,

the descendants of the Britons.

So Arthur is named Arthur,
to reference King Arthur

and he's raised in
his own household

and he's raised
to become a king.

- [Dr. Emmerson] He was
the Prince of Wales.

He therefore set
up court at Ludlow.

In order to secure the realm

and to have alliances
with other countries,

he was also married to
the enfanter of Spain,

Catherine of Aragon.

Tragically their marriage
was to be a short lived one

for Arthur contracted
the sweating sickness

and died suddenly in 1502.

(epic music playing)
(thunder cracking)

- [Dr. Norton]
This is devastating

both for Henry
and for Elizabeth.

- [Narrator] All of
his father's hopes

are undone in his
eldest son's death

and must now rely upon his
only remaining male heir,

Prince Henry.

- Everything changed for
Henry when Arthur died.

- He is the second son of
Henry's VII and Elizabeth York.

- From having been the
spare, he was now the heir

and all of England's hopes
rested upon his shoulders.

- And he's always intended
to be a great nobleman,

but of course isn't
raised to become king.

He's declared Prince of Wales

and he now becomes the sole
focus of his father's ambitions

and his father's efforts,

because his father
has no brothers,

he has no other surviving sons.

So Henry VIII is the future
of the Tudor Dynasty.

- [Narrator] Henry
VII died in 1509,

leaving the throne to his 17
year old son, now Henry VIII.

- Henry VII was
never a popular king.

Most of his court feared him,

so on his death there is a
sense of celebration, you know,

of joy that England
is now gonna get this

young and charismatic king.

Henry VIII very much
resembled his grandfather,

Edward IV who'd been
very, very popular

and there is a real sense
of hope for the future.

He's seen as a true
renaissance prince.

He's highly educated, he's
incredibly good looking.

The young Henry VII was
described as so beautiful,

he'd make a pretty woman.

- [Dr. Emmerson]
He was very much

conversant in the
language of courtly love.

He enjoyed singing,
dancing, composing music,

and also playing instruments.

- He's athletic, he's
very into his sports.

He's very muscular and well
built. He's very, very tall.

He is a king of which
England can be proud

and there is very
much celebration

at his accession to
the throne in 1509.

(jubilant music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson] When Henry
VIII ascended to the throne,

one of his first acts was
to ask his brother's widow,

Catherine of Aragon, for
her hand in marriage.

- [Narrator] However, to marry,

the new king has to gain
a special dispensation

from the Pope in Rome.

The Pope approves this and
Henry and Catherine are wed

and crowned King and
Queen of England,

strengthening once again
England's alliance with Spain

and the rest of Catholic Europe.

- [Dr. Norton] When
she marries Henry VIII

after several years of waiting,

she must have felt that all
her prayers have been answered.

He is incredibly good looking

and undoubtedly Catherine fell
deeply in love with Henry.

(suspenseful music playing)

Catherine of Aragon was raised
her whole life to be queen.

Both her parents are monarchs.

Her mother is
Isabella of Castile

and her father is
Ferdinand, King of Aragon.

So she's incredibly royal.

- She was wily and determined
and also courageous.

Catherine in many ways was
an ideal queen consort.

She was supportive of Henry
and his many campaigns abroad,

but she was also happy
to be subservient to him.

She was a loyal wife to Henry

and also expected loyalty back.

- [Narrator] Catherine proves
herself to be a good wife

and a great queen.

Henry adores her and the
country follows suit.

She fulfills all
her duties as queen,

save one, securing a male heir.

- [Dr. Emmerson] For
the first 10 years

of her life married to Henry,

Catherine spent
most of it pregnant

and tragically out
of six children,

only one was to survive.

In 1516, after many years
of sadly losing children,

Catherine of Aragon
gave birth to a daughter

who was christened Mary.

Now it is often stated
that Henry was disappointed

at the birth of a daughter,

but actually I think
we have evidence

that he was relieved that at
last a child was surviving

into it's infancy.

- And while for Catherine,

as the daughter of
a female sovereign,

the idea of a reigning
queen is not so alien.

For Henry, coming out of
the wars of the roses,

it is a terrifying prospect.

- [Narrator] With Catherine
six years older than Henry

and nearing middle age,
the king begins to worry.

With only one daughter
and no legitimate sons,

the succession of the Tudor
dynasty is not yet assured.

(tense music playing)

The king prays and prays,

asking God for a son and for
a wife who could give him one.

In his wife's gaggle
of ladies in waiting,

he finds the answer
to his prayers.

A young, fertile and beautiful
woman named Anne Boleyn.

Henry had many mistresses

during his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon,

but Anne was a wily woman

and does not want to fall victim

to every whim and
wish of the King,

like many of his mistresses had,

including her own
sister Mary Boleyn.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Henry VIII
was actually quite slow

in his advances
towards Anne Boleyn,

who joined his court in 1522.

He actually had a relationship
with Anne's sister,

Mary Boleyn, in
the interim years

before he turned his
attentions towards her.

But we know for certain by 1526,

that Henry VIII was falling

head over heels in
love for Anne Boleyn.

- [Dr. Norton] Anne
Boleyn had always looked

for a good marriage,

because marriage is a way
towards social status for women.

There is no doubt that
Henry adored Anne.

He loved her deeply.

In his letters he talks about

being struck by
the dart of love.

- [Narrator] She is insistent

if he was ever to have her,

it would be as his
wife and queen.

- She favored the
French fashions

but also she was
highly intelligent.

She had been
afforded an education

that was quite different to
the women around her in England

and she also had very
radical religious ideas too.

So she really rebuffed
Henry's advances

until she got to the point where

Henry offered her
a legitimate path,

a hand in marriage and a crown.

- [Narrator] For the second time

pertaining to his relationship
with Catherine of Aragon,

the King has to seek a special
dispensation from the Pope.

(religious music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson]
The only real way

that Henry was going to be
able to marry Anne was if

the Pope would annul his
marriage to Catherine of Aragon.

And Anne and Henry knew
that the best mechanism

for achieving that end

would be through the King's
minister, Thomas Wolsey.

- [Narrator] At Henry's behest,

Cardinal Wolsey travels to Rome,

where he'll petition
Pope Clement

to grant the annulment of the
King's marriage to the Queen

on the grounds that it was and
had always been illegitimate.

- [Dr. Norton] Anne and Henry

place their hopes
in Cardinal Wolsey

and he was dispatched to Rome

to try to bring
about the annulment.

- [Narrator] The cardinal
appeals to Pope Clement

for an annulment of Henry
and Catherine's marriage

on the basis that the
initial dispensation was void

as the marriage clearly
disobeyed instructions

in the book of Leviticus,

which states that the
marriage of a brother's wife

was incestuous and
would bear no children.

- [Dr. Norton] Henry wanted
to annul his marriage

to Catherine Aragon on the basis

that she had been
his brother's wife.

So they're related to within
the first degree of affinity,

they are as far as the
church is concerned,

brother and sister.

- [Narrator] This became a
matter of international tension.

Catherine's nephew, the Holy
Roman Emperor, Charles V,

is vehemently against
the annulment,

as is Queen Catherine herself.

Pressure comes from all
sides for Pope Clement,

as Queen Catherine
and King Charles V

urge him not to
annul the marriage

and Wolsey and Henry push for
the dispensation to be made.

- [Dr. Norton] While the pope
is in the emperor's power,

he will never
grant the annulment

of the Emperor's
aunt's marriage.

The English try and
Cardinal Wolsey tries,

but he's in an
impossible situation.

He can never do it.

He will never be able
to annul this marriage.

- [Narrator] Caught between the
wills of two powerful kings,

the Pope delays his decision
as long as possible.

The indecision infuriating
both Henry and Anne,

who begin to doubt Wolsey's
loyalty to the crown

over the church.

Wolsey returns to England
without the Pope's annulment.

- Wolsey ultimately fails to
secure an annulment for Henry

from his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon

and this leads to
his dramatic fall.

- [Narrator] Enraged
by Wolsey's failure

to secure the annulment,
Wolsey is arrested.

Henry turns to more
drastic measures.

Thomas Cromwell, one of
Henry's key ministers at court,

proposes a new plan to grant
Henry's divorce, reformation.

- Henry knows that the
Pope is not going to grant

his annulment to his first
queen, Catherine of Aragon.

- There is no
solution other than

breaking away from the Pope.

Because if the Pope will
not grant the annulment,

then perhaps the church
needs to move from the Pope.

- And therefore he
is greatly influenced

by these new thinkers,
including Anne Boleyn,

and taking the
unprecedented step

to break with the Church of Rome

and to install himself as King,

@ as the head of his new church.

- As soon as Thomas
Cranmer is confirmed

@ as Archbishop of Canterbury,

he disavows his oath of
allegiance to the Pope

@ and declares the Englishú
church separate from Rome

with the King as
it's supreme head

and this is the moment
that the English church

goes its own way.

- [Dr. Emmerson] In
order to do this,

Henry actually elevates
himself beyond kingship

and proclaims that he is an
Emperor of his own empire.

This is really the beginnings
of the British Empire.

This is where it all begins.

- [Narrator] Anne and Cromwell's
shared reformist views

make them indomitable allies.

And so begins to
break from Rome,

fueled more by political affair
than theological dispute.

(religious music playing)

Having installed himself
as the supreme head

of this new church in England,

Henry grants his own divorce

and begins preparations
to marry Anne Boleyn.

Catherine is given the
title, The Dowager Princess.

Such was Catherine's
impression on people

that even her enemy, Thomas
Cromwell, said of her,

"If not for her sex,

she could have defied all
the heroes of history".

In the winter of 1532,

Anne and Henry journey to Calais

to gain the approval of
King Francis I of France.

In a private
conference with Anne,

he gives them his blessing.

And by the time they
reach Dover on their ship,

they are lovers.

They wed hurriedly in secret

and again publicly
two months later

and Anne is crowned queen.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Henry
had moved heaven and earth

@ to marry Anne Boleyn
andú the price for crowning her

@ was the delivery of theú
much longed for male heir

that Henry so desired.

@ But the child that Anneú
had in 1533 wasn't a son,

it was a daughter, the
future Elizabeth I.

- Elizabeth was born
at Greenwich Palace
in September, 1533.

She's the first child of
Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn,

the first since the
break with Rome.

So her birth was really
looked forward to.

Henry certainly was
expecting his son.

We know that in fact,

because he prepares
the birth announcements

for the birth of a Prince.

Unfortunately for her parents,

of course, she is a girl.

And the birth announcements are

amended to add an
S to say Princess.

- Now some historians
have suggested that

Henry was furious at Anne

for the delivery of a daughter

and indeed that this
was the beginning

of the end of
their relationship,

but actually we
have good evidence

that Henry consoled
Anne and suggested that

the delivery of a
healthy daughter

was a good sign for the
sons that would follow.

- Elizabeth's birth
was disappointing.

He really did want
to have a son,

but he knew that
both he and Anne

were young enough to
have more children

and Anne does quickly
become pregnant again

the following year.

Henry VIII loved jousting

and it is an incredibly
dangerous sport.

Once in his youth actually,

he came close to being killed

when he forgot to put the
visor down on his helmet

and his friend the Duke
of Suffolk didn't notice

and jousted at him and
actually the lance splintered

and he was very
lucky to survive.

(tense music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson] In 1536,

Henry suffered a disastrous
accident whilst jousting.

(tense music playing)

Some reports state
that he was unconscious

whilst others just
mentioned the fact

that he was severely injured.

(tense music playing)

- [Dr. Norton] He fell badly

and his horse landed
on top of him.

(tense music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson] This really
changed Henry's lifestyle.

It, in many ways,
emasculated him.

- [Dr. Norton] One
account suggested

he was unconscious
for several hours

and there were also
suggestions that perhaps

there was some sort
of brain damage.

(tense music playing)

- I think this is a turning
point in Henry's life

and not for the better.

- [Narrator] He will never
recover from his injuries.

- [Dr. Emmerson] I think this
narrowing of his abilities

and I think this continual
pain that Henry is in,

really changes his personality.

I think he becomes
hotheaded and irrational

and would lash out to a degree
that he hadn't previously.

- [Dr. Norton] And it
really hammered home

to the King and to his court,

he still did not have
a legitimate male heir.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Not long after
Henry's jousting accident,

Anne tragically miscarries.

- [Dr. Norton] Anne Boleyn would
blame her final miscarriage

on the news of the
King's accident.

- And I think this is the

beginning of the
end of Anne's life.

(pensive music playing)

- [Dr. Norton] Henry told
Anne that he could see that

he would have no
more boys by her,

which was particularly ominous.

- [Narrator] The trauma
of Henry's injury

and Anne's miscarriage has
put the couple at odds.

- Henry by this stage
was involved with

Anne's lady in
waiting, Jane Seymour,

who had herself declared

that she would not become
the King's mistress.

- [Narrator] Thomas
Cromwell and Anne,

who had once been united in
the pursuit of the same cause,

are now warring over
the King's favor.

In the ensuing weeks, Anne
makes one crucial mistake.

She threatens Cromwell's life.

- The end for Anne
came very quickly.

(dramatic music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson] Very
dramatically, on the
2nd of May, 1536,

Anne is arrested at
the Palace of Greenwich

and is taken to the
Tower of London.

She has no idea why
she has been arrested,

but two people do.

Her husband Henry VIII and
his minister Thomas Cromwell.

- [Narrator] Cromwell
poisons Henry against her

and she is arrested and charged

with adultery,
incest, and treason.

(dramatic music playing)

Anne is executed on
the 19th of May, 1536,

by the blade of a
French swordsman.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Henry ordered
that a cannon was fired

at the moment that
Anne was executed.

(sword slicing)

And this was his cue to move on.

Indeed, he proposed to
Jane Seymour the next day

and they were married
only two weeks later.

Compared to Henry's
first two queens,

Jane Seymour was rather
less complicated.

She was rather meek
and slightly milder

than Catherine and Anne

and was certainly happy to be
more pliant to Henry's will.

- [Dr. Norton] It is a marriage

that he hopes will bear sons.

Jane comes from a
very fertile family.

She has many brothers and
he's hopeful that Jane

will prove a very different
wife to Anne Boleyn.

Finally at the start of 1537,

Jane realizes she's pregnant

and when she feels
the baby quicken,

so she feels the baby move,

the whole country
erupts into celebration.

Henry is incredibly solicitous
throughout her pregnancy,

he vows to remain close to her,

so she's not frightened
by any rumors.

This is probably a reference to

Anne Boleyn's final miscarriage

and the fact that
she blamed it on

Henry's fall from a horse.

- [Dr. Emmerson] After
many years of heartache,

Jane Seymour finally gave
Henry the son and heir

that he so desperately craved.

- When Jane goes into
labor in October, 1537,

the whole country
hold their breath

and it's a very long,
very arduous labor.

Finally, after two
days, Jane gives birth

and it is a healthy prince
and everybody celebrates.

(joyous music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson]
Henry was elated.

There was much celebration
throughout the kingdom

and lavish feasts and
jousts were prepared.

- [Dr. Norton]
This is the moment

that Henry has been waiting
for, for nearly 30 years.

(joyous music playing)

- [Narrator] To Henry's great
relief, in October, 1537,

a son is born, whom
they call Edward.

- [Dr. Norton] And everything
seems all right with Jane.

She seems to be recovering well.

She's able to send out the
official birth announcement

shortly after the birth.

- But tragically all was not
well in the birthing chamber.

- Childbirth was a very,
very common form of death

for women in the period

and Jane holds on until
the 24th of October,

12 days after the
birth of her son,

before sadly dying in the night.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Henry VIII
was absolutely crestfallen

at the death of Jane Seymour.

He really appears
to have entered into

a prolonged period of
mourning and depression.

Henry at this point
had gone through

a huge amount of heart ache.

He had gone to
extraordinary lengths

to secure this son and heir

and then tragically his wife

had been snatched away from him.

He really must have felt that

everything was stacked
against him at this point.

(melancholy music playing)

- [Narrator] Heartbroken
without his third queen,

Henry falls into
a deep depression.

Thomas Cromwell, one of the
king's closest advisors,

visits the king.

He has a proposal.

- [Dr. Norton] So most
kings in the period

chose their wives for
diplomatic reasons.

They wanted to make a
grand foreign alliance

which would bring friendship
between the countries.

Henry had been unsuccessful
in finding a French bride

and then an imperial bride.

- Rather like Anne Boleyn,

Thomas Cromwell was something
of a religious radical

and he understood
that Henry's kingdom

was rather less secure
than it should be,

because of his newly
founded Church of England.

Therefore, Cromwell's
proposal was to

create an alliance with
a Protestant country.

- [Narrator] He explains that

Henry should marry
Anne of Cleaves,

in a diplomatic move
that would ensure

a good relationship
with the powerful duchy

in the holy Roman empire.

Intrigued by the proposition,

Henry dispatches his
favorite court painter,

Hans Holbein the Younger,
to take her likeness.

Months later, the
painter returns

with a portrait of a
young and healthy woman.

Henry agrees to the union.

- [Dr. Norton] The
marriage contract

was signed in September, 1539,

and Anne then made her
way towards England.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Henry
VIII's first meeting

with Anne of Cleaves
couldn't have gone worse.

Anne was supposed to voyage
to court to meet Henry,

but like a love sick boy,
Henry can't wait to meet her

and decides to visit
her in disguise.

- [Dr. Norton] Henry
VIII arrived to find

Anne of Cleaves
looking out a window

at a bear baiting below.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Now, as
part of court etiquette

and as part of the
language of courtly love,

@ Henry's courtiers knew that

Henry would often
appear in disguise

@ and they in turn wereú
supposed to recognize the King

@ no matter what he was wearing.

@ This was to flatter the king.

Now Anne grew up in

a completely different
environment to this.

She wasn't conversant in the
language of courtly love at all

and when Henry VIII
burst into her chamber,

she was completely
unimpressed with this man

that stood before her.

- [Dr. Norton] Her
visitor then left the room

and returned wearing
a purple cloak,

@ which was a cue for
everyoneú to recognize the king.

@And as they fell to their knees,

Anne of course
realized her mistake

and recognized that
this was Henry VIII,

this was her suitor.

But the damage had
already been done.

- And I think, actually,
in that moment,

Henry VIII saw, perhaps for
the first time in his life,

a genuine reaction to how
unattractive he had become.

Anne hadn't recognized him

as this all powerful
majestic person.

She'd simply seen an obese

and slightly aging
man before her.

Henry would leave that
chamber and proclaim,

"I like her not" and state
that she was nothing like

as was depicted in her painting.

- Actually most people
seem to have agreed

that the portrait
was a good likeness,

but there was just
something about Anne

that didn't appeal to Henry.

- But I think the
truth of the matter was

that there was an ugly,
aging and smelly person

in that chamber and it wasn't
Anne of Cleaves, it was Henry.

- [Narrator] Unable to
get out of the marriage

for fear of offending
Europe, the couple marries.

Though they divorced soon,

as an alliance with
Cleaves is less desirable.

(tense music playing)

Anne is afforded the
title, the King's sister,

and gifted a great
portfolio of properties.

Henry is now 49 years old and
once more without a queen.

- Having served Henry
loyally for many years,

Thomas Cromwell was
now seen by the king

as the architect of this
incredibly awkward marriage

between Anne of
Cleaves and himself

and he really blamed Cromwell.

- [Narrator] The
Duke of Norfolk,

a noble of conservative views,

and an old rival of
the reformist Cromwell,

has another proposal
for the king.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Noticing how
vulnerable Cromwell now was,

waiting in the wings
was the Duke of Norfolk

who had never been
fond of Cromwell.

And he had a niece who was
in Anne of Cleaves employ,

Catherine Howard.

He saw this as an opportunity,

not only to place his young
niece in the King's bed,

but also to bring down Cromwell.

- [Narrator] He offers Henry
the hand of his young niece,

Catherine Howard, and
convinces him that Cromwell

no longer prioritizes the
King's wishes, but his own.

Having fallen far from
the King's graces,

on the 28th of July, 1540,

Cromwell is led to the
scaffold at Tower Hill,

where the executioner's
axe awaits him.

- Cromwell has been sent to
the Tower of London in disgrace

and he isn't even
afforded a trial.

He is actually condemned to
death by an act of attainder.

In his last letter
to King Henry VIII,

he writes a post script
at the end of the letter

begging three times for
"Mercy, mercy, mercy".

But no mercy came
and Thomas Cromwell

was taken to the public
scaffold site on Tower Hill

and beheaded on the very day

that the king married
Catherine Howard.

- [Dr. Norton] Catherine
Howard is really

Henry VIII's midlife crisis.

She'd been a lady in
waiting to Anne of Cleaves.

She's a teenager.

- Henry VIII is absolutely
besotted by Catherine.

He lavishes gifts upon
her, jewelry and clothes,

but soon rumors start a court,

that all is not well
with Catherine's past.

- [Dr. Norton] She was
a woman with a past,

or a girl with a past really,

and she'd had two
previous lovers,

one of which had
been consummated.

- [Dr. Emmerson] And the
Archbishop of Canterbury,

Thomas Cranmer, leaves a
letter for the king to find

which details some troubling
facts about Catherine's past.

At first, Henry VIII is entirely
dismissive of these claims,

but he does order that
Thomas Cranmer investigate.

But then things take
a turn for the worse.

A letter is discovered in the
possession of Thomas Culpeper,

one of Henry VIII's
favorites at court.

This is a romantic letter.

It talks of Catherine
longing to see him

and this sends Henry
into an absolute rage.

He is blinded by this
rage and suggests that

he's going to kill Catherine
with his own sword.

She is confined
to her apartments

and then is imprisoned
at Syon Abbey.

But rather unlike Anne,

who is dispatched within
19 days of her arrest,

Catherine languishes in prison.

Henry can't quite believe
what has happened.

It is reported at this time

that there is no more room
in the Tower of London,

for it is so full
of Howard relatives.

And eventually Catherine
is taken herself

to the Tower of London.

She is taken to the
Queen's Apartment

and is afforded a private
execution on Tower Green.

(sword slashing)

(crow cawing)

(relaxing music playing)

Henry VIII's sixth and final
queen was Catherine Parr.

Catherine was a
relatively young woman

when Henry first
took notice of her,

but actually she had
already been twice widowed.

- She was very, very
reluctant to marry Henry

and actually seems to
have been quite horrified

when he declared
his interest in her.

Henry, however,
would not be refused.

There are claims that
Catherine actually said

it was better to be his
mistress than his wife.

But if that was the case,

he ignored her and
insisted on marriage.

- [Dr. Emmerson] I think
at this point in his life,

Henry is looking for
peace and stability

and looks to Catherine Parr

to rehabilitate his family life,

to bring his children together,

and to bring harmony once
more to the royal family.

- Catherine is incredibly
fond of the King's daughters,

Mary and Elizabeth, and
indeed persuades Henry

to restore the girls to
the line of succession.

- Catherine Parr is an
incredibly intelligent woman.

She is very well read,

and has very radical
religious ideas too.

She's also the first queen
to ever publish a book

and the first woman to
publish a book in England

under her own name
and in English.

- Henry VIII had
been ill on and off

for the latter part of 1546.

And just before Christmas
he leaves the queen

and his daughter Mary
and goes to Westminster.

(dramatic music playing)

And it's clear very
quickly that he's dying.

He spent his last few weeks

cloistered away
with his counselor

and particularly his
secretary, William Paget,

who is very close
to Edward Seymour,

Henry's brother-in-law,
the brother of Queen Jane

and the uncle of the
heir to the throne.

(sinister whispering)

During this period, Henry asks
that a new will is drawn up.

He previously made a will

in the early days of his
marriage to Catherine Parr

and he seems to have
named her as Regent

in the event of his death,

but this new will
completely overturned that.

Instead of naming
anyone as Regent,

Henry in fact established

a council of equal
ranking executors.

So all of these men have
an equal role to play.

And it was hoped that
they would guide Edward

through his minority
into his adult reign.

(sinister whispering)

- [Narrator] On the
28th of January, 1547,

Henry dies at age 55 at
the Palace of Whitehall.

(dramatic music playing)

His son Edward is little
more than nine years old

and is now King of England.

- Obviously he came to
the throne as a child.

He's nine years old.

He's a shy, uncertain
boy at his succession,

to the extent that,
at his coronation,

he actually forgets his French

when he's talking
to the ambassadors.

(holy music playing)

- [Dr. Emmerson] Edward VI

was a highly
intelligent young man.

He was well versed
in most subjects

and he was also a radical
religious thinker.

This was certainly
encouraged by his uncles

who shared the Protestant faith.

In fact, he was something
of a religious zealot

and unlike his father, who
remained a traditional Catholic,

Edward imposed a
fully Protestant
reformation on England

for the first time.

(holy music playing)

- [Narrator] Edward enacts
many Protestant reformations

during his short reign.

By the time he is 12,

multiple Catholic rebellions
have been quelled,

prayer books published
in his native English,

and his uncle and
protector, Edward Seymour,

the Duke of Somerset
has been executed.

- [Dr. Norton] And although
his laws are overturned,

in the reign of his half sister,

his is a model that is
followed by Elizabeth

in her religious settlement

with her book of common prayer,

which is, of course, Edward's
book of common prayer.

He matures as a ruler
in his six years.

There are just signs,
there are just hints

of the monarch that
he could have become.

- [Narrator] Edward is
now 15 and is gravely ill.

He has not had a chance
to marry and sire an heir

and is loath to let his
new Protestant England

fall into his sister,
Mary's Catholic hands.

- [Dr. Emmerson]
Edward is a boy king

and a fiercely
Protestant one too.

And his heir, at the time,
is his elder sister Mary,

who is a devout Catholic
and a Roman Catholic too.

This causes enormous
tensions between the two.

Their differences are so great,

that Edward cannot
conceive of his sister Mary

succeeding to the throne

and undoing the
Protestant reformation

that he has enacted
upon the country.

And he goes to great lengths

in order to
disinherit his sister

from the line of succession.

- [Narrator] By June, he
knows that he is dying.

He redrafts his will,
naming his cousin,

the 16 year old, Lady
Jane Grey, his successor.

She will only be
queen for nine days.

- He unfortunately
dies at the age of 15,

but his legacy is certainly
the Protestant reformation,

because it is under Edward

that Protestantism becomes
established in England.

When we think about Edward,

we often think of
him as a boy King,

as a footnote to the
reign of his father,

but actually the
Protestant reformation

really should set
his reign apart

and we should look more closely

at just what Edward achieved.

- In the wake of Edward's death,

Lady Jane Grey is
suddenly proclaimed Queen

and is taken to the
Tower of London,

which is usually at the
center of political power

at the point of a coronation.

(suspenseful music playing)

- [Narrator] Mary arrives in
London with an army of men

and seizes the Tower of London.

Lady Jane Gray is arrested
and later executed.

And Mary takes her rightful
place on the throne of England.

The eldest child of Henry VIII,
Mary is a devout Catholic.

She swiftly unravels all of

the Protestant
policies of her brother

and declares her
parents' marriage valid.

Now age 37, she starts
her search for a husband.

She decides to ally
herself with Catholic Spain

by marrying her
cousin, King Philip II.

Philip would become her co-ruler

and King of England, as
well as King of Spain.

- [Dr. Emmerson] When
Mary came to the throne,

one of her first actions
was to finally marry

and she chose for her husband,
King Philip II of Spain.

- [Dr. Norton] And it's a
really good match for Mary.

He is the son of the
Holy Roman Emperor,

so one of the most
powerful princes in Europe.

And Mary has always been very
close to her Spanish relatives

and so she is very, very excited
by her marriage to Philip.

- Mary was desperate
to beget a son and heir

to secure her own succession.

- Unfortunately,
it is an incredibly

@ unpopular marriage in England

@ because in the 16th century,

the husband of a
Queen, is a King,

@ so whoever Mary marriesú
will become King of England

@and nobody wants a Spanish King.

- [Narrator] Such was the
dislike for a foreign man

to sit on the throne of
England alongside Mary,

rebellion sparks.

- [Dr. Norton] Early in 1554,

there is a great
rebellion against Mary.

It is led by Sir Thomas
Wyatt and it begins in Kent.

- Thomas Wyatt
rebels in favor of

Princess Elizabeth
ascending to the throne.

- [Dr. Norton] Wyatt marches
his troops up to London

and actually it's really,
it's a very, very dangerous

situation for Mary
and she's urged

to flee her capital
by her advisors.

She refuses and
actually makes a speech

at the Guild Hall in London

and it's absolutely
the speech of her life

and we can see Elizabeth
modeling later speeches on this.

Mary talks about being
married to her country

and it really rallies the
people of London in her support

so that when Wyatt's troops
cross the river into London,

they are met with
a substantial army

and they are defeated that day.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Mary
believes that Elizabeth

is part of this conspiracy
and arrests her sister,

imprisoning her in
the tower of London.

Indeed, it is likely she is
held in the very same rooms

that her mother
was once held in.

@ This must have beenú
terrifying for Elizabeth,

however, Mary
ultimately knew that

@ Elizabeth was her only heir.

There was no one
else to succeed her,

@ so therefore she had no
choiceú but to let Elizabeth go.

- [Narrator] She is desperate
for an heir of her own.

She learned from her
own succession to power

that without an heir all her
reformation would be undone.

- Mary believed that
she came to the throne

with God's favor, that
God had supported her,

so she sees her queenship
as divinely inspired.

So it seems only natural

that she will give birth to
a Catholic heir to the throne

to keep her half sister
away from the crown.

- Mary was determined
to have a son and heir,

and at one point she
believed very much

that she was pregnant.

- So she has all the
symptoms of pregnancy.

The doctors agree.

Everyone is very, very excited

and she makes preparations
for the birth.

She then retires
for her lying in,

which is usually
about a month before

a woman believes
she'll give birth,

and so she waits,
and then she waits,

and she waits some more
and nothing happens.

- Tragically, this was
a phantom pregnancy

and no children ever came
from her marriage to Philip.

(tense music playing)

- [Narrator] Heartbroken
and grieving,

Mary considers her false
pregnancy to be God's punishment

for her having tolerated
heretics in her realm.

With her husband away
at war with France,

the queen's persecution
of Protestants

becomes more and more violent.

To believe in a different
God than that of the monarch

was an act of disloyalty,

so heresy was both a civil
and religious offense

which amounted to treason.

As a result, many
people were arrested,

imprisoned, and executed,

including the Archbishop
of Canterbury,

Thomas Cranmer, who served
both Henry VIII and Edward VI.

The Archbishop would
be one of the thousands

burned at the stake for their
faith during Mary's reign.

As a result of these burnings,

she gains the name Bloody Mary.

- [Dr. Norton] By
the start of 1558,

it is clear that it's
only a matter of time

before Elizabeth
takes her throne.

Mary is not going
to have a child

and her health is declining.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Mary
has gone down in history

as Bloody Mary, which I
think is particularly unkind.

She was England's
first Queen Regnant,

who reigned in her own right,

so I think it's uniquely unfair

and even misogynistic
to land Mary

with this really
unfortunate title.

- [Narrator] The Bishop
of Winchester, John White,

praises Mary at her
funeral service.

"She was a King's daughter,
she was a King's sister,

she was a King's
wife, she was a Queen

and by the same
title, a King also".

- [Dr. Emmerson] After only
five years on the throne

and having provided no
heir, Mary dies in 1558,

leaving her throne begrudgingly

to her Protestant
sister, Elizabeth.

- [Dr. Norton] Following
her accession at Hatfield,

Elizabeth makes
her way to London.

She's met by cheering crowds.

She is Henry VIII's
daughter, and in fact,

her coronation portrait

is very much reminiscent
of her father.

She's displaying herself
as Henry VIII's daughter.

(holy music playing)

- [Narrator] Her
coronation is set

for 15th of January,
1559, an auspicious day

selected by the court
astrologer, Dr. John D.

- [Dr. Emmerson] And they
hoped that the young Elizabeth

would provide more stability,
more peace and harmony.

- [Narrator] Elizabeth
like her brother before her

is zealous in her commitment
to the Protestant cause,

but she knows from
witnessing firsthand

the decisions made
by her sister, Mary,

pertaining to religion,
that forced conversion

can only end in terror
and in bloodshed.

- When Elizabeth became Queen,

England was a Catholic country.

And so the question of what
the state religion would be

was really on everybody's lips

because she was well
known to be a Protestant.

In 1559, she created
her religious settlement

where she set the state religion

and it was a Protestant church.

- But when she
came to the throne,

she knew that she
had to be pragmatic.

She knew that she needed
to unify her kingdom.

She stated that
she had no desire

to open windows into men's souls

and this must have been
something of a relief

to her kingdom.

- Elizabeth tried to take

something of a
compromise approach,

something of a middle way.

Some Catholics refused
to come to church.

And actually, although Elizabeth

has this reputation
for moderacy,

the penalties against
Catholics who wouldn't conform

could be very severe and went
all the way up to execution.

- Elizabeth unfortunately
suffered many illnesses

during her early reign,
including catching smallpox.

This created great anxiety
throughout the country

and not least in her counsel.

Elizabeth, of course, was
unmarried at this point.

She had no children, no heir.

- [Dr. Norton] Under
the laws of succession,

the next in line to the
throne was Catherine Grey.

However, she was then
a prisoner in the tower

because she had made
a secret marriage

to the Earl of Hartford,

and Elizabeth in her anger
had invalidated the marriage

and imprisoned Catherine
and her husband

and Catherine's infant children.

If you look at
strict hereditary,

the heir to throne was
Mary Queen of Scots,

who was unlikely to appeal
to anyone in England.

She's a Catholic, she's
educated in France,

she's a foreign ruler.

So it's a real
constitutional crisis

and the Privy Council meet to
decide who will be the heir.

- What would happen
to the Tudor dynasty

if she were to die without one?

- No one is quite
clear what will happen

and it really hammers
home the uncertainties,

the fact that the
stability in England

hangs on the life
of just one woman.

- [Narrator] The
monarch must secure

the succession of
the house of Tudor.

She knows that she is
the last of her siblings.

She is the third and final

of Henry VIII's
surviving children.

Her advisors think she needs
a husband to support her

and an heir to succeed her.

- Elizabeth actually
receives a deputation

from the House of Commons

not long after
she becomes Queen,

where they petition
her to marry.

She takes it in very good grace,

but she says to them, you know,

"Since I've been a child,

I have decided that I'm
going to remain unmarried

and I'm going to be a virgin.

I'm gonna reign as
a virgin queen".

And it doesn't really
cause any stir,

which is surprising, but really,

it's because nobody
believed her.

It was a ridiculous suggestion
that this young girl of 25

would hope to reign as Queen.

Of course, she had to marry.

Of course, she had to
give England a King.

Her role was to produce heirs
to continue the dynasty.

- [Dr. Emmerson] I think
Elizabeth chose not to marry

for a number of
different reasons.

I think it began
at an early age.

I think she knew
from the example set

by firstly her mother,

and then her stepmother,
Catherine Howard,

how vulnerable a Queen could
be at the hands of a King.

I think this left a
psychological imprint

on Elizabeth's mind.

I think the thought of marrying

terrified her, quite frankly.

But also Elizabeth
was determined,

perhaps for the first
time in her life,

to have control over
herself and of her kingdom.

She had been left
incredibly vulnerable

by the downfall of her mother,

and she had been de-legitimized,

she had been removed
from the succession.

And I think, in a way,

Elizabeth wanted to
rule without a husband.

She knew that if
she had married,

her husband would automatically
have become a King Regnant.

And Elizabeth wanted control
not only of her own destiny,

but that of her kingdom too.

- Mary Queen of Scots is
undoubtedly Elizabeth's rival.

Mary was born in 1542 and
when she was six days old,

she became reigning
queen of Scotland.

Mary is undoubtedly the
biggest threat to Elizabeth,

and this is because of her
place in the English succession.

So Mary is effectively her heir.

She is the next hereditary
heir to the throne.

- Mary Queen of Scots was
Elizabeth's first cousin

and she had something of a
tempestuous rule in Scotland.

Indeed, she was forced
to abdicate her throne

because of her actions.

- [Dr. Norton]
After she realized

she couldn't stay in
Scotland any longer,

Mary fled to England

and it was the absolute worst
decision she could have taken

because Elizabeth
was the one person

who could never allow
Mary to have her freedom.

Because Mary is such
a threat to her rule.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Elizabeth
knew that Mary as a Catholic

would become a figurehead

for those who opposed
Elizabeth's rule.

Indeed, people
already thought that

Mary had a more legitimate
claim to the English throne.

- And this really
matters to Elizabeth

because Elizabeth is still
legally illegitimate.

So legally she has no
title to her throne

other than by act of parliament
and by her father's will.

When Elizabeth hears that

Mary has landed in
the north of England,

she orders that she be
placed under house arrest

and Mary remains imprisoned
by Elizabeth, for 20 years.

(suspenseful music playing)

The two women never meet.

Mary's desperate come to court

to plead her case with Elizabeth

and Elizabeth will not see her.

Instead, Mary slowly
begins to lose hope

and she starts plotting
against Elizabeth

and there are several
plots, at least,

that her name is mentioned in

or that she seems to have
had direct involvement in.

- Mary did conspire
to overthrow Elizabeth

and to place herself
on the English throne.

- [Dr. Norton]
Lastly, of course,

she's involved in
the Babington plot

where she gives her consent
to murder Elizabeth.

In many respects, this is a
really sensible policy for Mary,

because actually
were Elizabeth to die

at any point during
Mary's imprisonment,

it's really likely that

Mary would be declared
Queen of England.

- [Narrator] She knows that
there's just one heartbeat

between her and
the English throne.

As her endless
imprisonment continues,

Mary's support for the murder
of Elizabeth is evident,

if that would lead
to her own liberty

and Catholic
domination of England.

Then correspondence is
intercepted by Elizabeth's men

that will lead to Mary's demise.

The letter reads,

"Let the great plot
commence", signed Mary.

- It had been
proved without doubt

that Mary had consented
to murder Elizabeth.

Elizabeth knew that
Mary wanted her dead.

- [Narrator] In 1586, after
being convicted of treason,

having been implicated
in the Babington plot,

Elizabeth could not let
the Scottish Queen live.

Knowing that Mary's execution

could spark a war
with Catholic Europe,

she reluctantly signs
the death warrant.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Mary was
executed at Fotheringhay Castle

and her execution sent shock
waves throughout Europe,

not least in Spain.

(dramatic slamming)

- [Narrator] The execution
of Mary Queen of Scots

broke international tensions
and the Spanish made a move.

Spain invades the English
occupied Netherlands,

then turns their
enormous fleet of ships

upon the island of Britain.

The Armada anchored off
Calais, readying for attack.

- [Dr. Norton] The
English were expecting

invasion from Spain, and
Philip built a great fleet,

the Spanish Armada.

So Elizabeth goes to
her troops at Tilbury

to try and ready her forces.

- [Dr. Emmerson] Elizabeth
really showed her mettle

at a speech that
she gave at Tilbury.

- [Dr. Norton] She talks about

having the body of a
weak and feeble woman,

but having the heart
and stomach of a King

and a King of England.

@ She really rallies the troops.

She portrays herself
as a war leader.

- The Spanish had
a much larger fleet

and the odds were stacked
against the Queen.

But then the weather breaks,
storms form and winds blow,

scattering the Spanish fleet.

- [Dr. Norton] Her commanders,

Lord Howard of Effingham
and Francis Drake,

are able to scatter
the Spanish fleet,

partly by aid of
a Protestant wind

that blows in the English favor.

The Armada is entirely
scattered, and in fact,

the ships that
remain have to sail

all the way around
Scotland and Ireland

to get home to Spain,

because they just cannot go
back down the English channel.

- [Narrator] England
sends burning fire ships,

which scorch and sink
the Armada's galleons.

(triumphant music playing)
(fire crackling)

- [Dr. Norton] It is a
triumph of Elizabeth's reign.

(peaceful music playing)

- [Narrator] The English

sailed back to
Plymouth, victorious.

- [Dr. Emmerson] This
is where the mythology

of Elizabeth really starts.

The truth of the matter is,

that it was more the weather

than anything that
Elizabeth had done,

that was the downfall
of the Armada.

@ But this is where Elizabeth,
ú the powerful virgin Queen,

@ really comes into prominence.

It is at this point that the
mythology of Elizabeth begins.

- [Narrator] From
this point onwards,

she becomes Gloriana,
the Virgin Queen,

the semi divine monarch
of myth and of magic.

Under her steady
and guiding hand,

England grows more
and more prosperous.

- [Dr. Norton] If
you'd asked Henry VIII

back at his death to
rank his children,

Elizabeth would definitely
be the least of his children.

And yet, actually, she is the
one that we really remember.

She reigns for 44 years.

It's remembered as a time
of general prosperity.

- [Dr. Emmerson]
Elizabeth's court was really

the center of power
in the kingdom.

This is where all of the
decisions about policy are made,

but it's also a place
of great exuberance.

Elizabeth loved
lavish celebrations.

She enjoyed hearty
banquets, and above all,

she loved dancing.

- It's the age of Shakespeare,
it's the age of exploration.

And Elizabeth's right at
the center, reining alone.

- [Narrator] Elizabeth
dies in 1603,

and with her dies
the Tudor dynasty.

- Elizabeth was destined to
be the last of her dynasty,

and of course she knew this.

She had no children, she
had no nephews and nieces.

There was no one else to
carry on the Tudor line.

So in part, of course, her
legacy is dynastic change

and the fact that
the King of Scots

became the King of England
and united the two kingdoms.

But her legacy is so
much more than this.

- Elizabeth died childless
and at the end of her reign

came the end of
the Tudor dynasty.

Actually, I think one of
Elizabeth's greatest legacies

was demonstrating that
a queen could rule

in her own right without a man.

She was a queen who
did not need a king.

- [Dr. Norton] She was
undoubtedly the woman

that proved that women
could reign in England.

She reigned for over 40 years
and she reigned independently.

She didn't have a king

and she was very much in
control of her kingdom.

- [Narrator] James
VI of Scotland

becomes James I of England,

and a new era dawns in the
battle for the English crown.

(epic music playing)