Historical Inaccuracies - 'The Tudors', Series 1, Episode 3

• Henry tells Charles Brandon that his sister, Margaret, is to marry the King of Portugal. This contains several inaccuracies. Firstly, Henry's elder sister Margaret was married to James IV of Scotland in 1503. His younger sister, Mary, had been married to the aging King Louis of France, not Portugal, but this took place some years before the series is set (Louis is dead and Francis I is King in the series). 
• Henry makes Brandon the Duke of Suffolk. In reality, he did this after the French campaign of 1513.
• In the masque, the castle is defended by ladies, when in real life those parts were played by boys from the chapel royal. Henry takes the part of 'honesty', when he actually played 'amourness'.
• Thomas Boleyn gives William Cornish, the pageant master, some money for putting Anne in the masque. Anne would actually have been chosen because of her own merits.
• Brandon did not accompany Mary to France (not Margaret to Portugal, grr). He was sent to pick her up after her husband died. At that point they married in secret. At the time the series is set, they were already Duke and Duchess of Suffolk, Henry had forgiven them, and they were happy. 
•  The emperor had already visited England briefly, as King of Spain, just before the Field of Cloth of Gold. He did then visit again in 1522.
• Henry's interest in Anne did not begin until several years later, in about 1525-1526.
• St. Paul's Cross, in London, looks like it's in a farm, when in fact it was a well-known public preaching point where people would often gather to hear preachers.
• They keep showing fireworks, when I don't think England had fireworks at this time. 
• Richard Pace, the secretary, was not arrested. He did, however, have a bit of a nervous breakdown and was removed as secretary.
• Traitors Gate wasn't called Traitors Gate at this time.

Historical Inaccuracies - 'The Tudors', Series 1, Episode 2

• Henry arrives at the Field of the Cloth of Gold with a small retinue. In reality, both he and Francis arrived with hundreds of people and it was feared there would be a battle.
• This is going to be a running theme of annoyance, but the clothes are very innacurate throughout all series of this programme. For example, Francis is shown wearing ermine, as he would, but Henry is shown in very 'relaxed' clothes. In reality, Henry would have 'dressed up' and worn fur also, as only royalty were allowed to wear ermine. 
• Little Princess Mary meets the Dauphin. In fact, her comment about wanting to kiss him took place at a 'proxy' wedding in London, when she asked the French representative if he was the Dauphin. She did not actually go to the summit.
• When Francis presents Henry with the jewelled necklace, the camera pans to show a black gentleman in the audience. Sadly, he would not have been there, as black people were thought of as infidels and inferior, and there were very very few of them in England or France at the time. 
• Mary Boleyn is shown wearing purple. In fact, only royalty were allowed to wear purple.
• In the series, the Field of Cloth of Gold is set whilst Henry's mistress, Bessie Blount, is pregnant with his child. In real life, she gave birth to his son in 1519, a year before the summit.
• Buckingham is shown taking pledges of allegiance from nobles. His conspiracy was actually stopped before it got that far.
• The Duke of Norfolk is shown giving Henry a new year's gift. There is a little confusion because the series keeps the same actor for this role throughout, when in fact one Duke of Norfolk died in 1524, and his son succeeded him. 
• The Duke of Norfolk says his father was executed by Henry VII. This is not true. The 1st Howard Duke died at the Battle of Bosworth fighting for Richard III. The 2nd died in 1524, and the third lived until the 1550s. 
• Buckingham's trial is depicted as taking place in the hall of the palace, when it would have actually taken place somewhere else, most likely in the Tower of London or at Westminster.
• St. Peter's Bascilica, in the Vatican, is shown, when it was not built until much later.
• Thomas Boleyn and his daughter, Anne, are shown talking in the courtyard of somewhere that looks like a prison, and I think this set is actually re-used for the Tower of London when Anne finds herself there in 1536.

Historical Inaccuracies - 'The Tudors', Series 1, Episode 1

• The ambassador who is murdered would certainly not have been Henry's uncle. Henry had only one, bastard, uncle at this time (Lord Lisle), who was mainly in charge of Calais. 
• Whitehall Palace did not exist until the 1530s, when this series is set in the 1520s. It was originally Wolsey's palace of York Place, until Wolsey fell and the King took it and renamed it.
• At the council meeting, Henry says the King of France has 'bullied the Pope into declaring him defender of the faith'. In fact, the French Kings had been styled 'most christian king' for many years. 
• Henry's mistress, Bessie Blount, did not at this time have a husband. She was married off after her affair with the King. 
• At the tennis match, Charles Brandon points out Buckingham's daughter. Although Brandon had a complicated martial life, there is no record of him ever having an affair with one of Buckingham's daughters.
• Wolsey, after talking to secretary Pace, enters the King's throne room. In real life, all who passed near the throne were required to bow and doff their hats, even if the King was not in the room. 
• Henry decides not to shave until he meets Francis. It was actually Francis who instigated this vow.
• The French bishop mentions the papal election, and assures Wolsey of the support of the French and 'with the support of your own cardinals' Wolsey will be elected. I'm not sure which cardinals he means, as Wolsey was the only English cardinal.
• Queen Katherine says Wolsey has dismissed her Spanish confessor. This was not true, as Katherine could not confess in any other language apart from Spanish, and retained a Spanish confessor until her death.
• Buckingham says Thomas Boleyn has come from an 'old' family. In fact, the Boleyns were a relatively new family, who had worked their way up through advantagous marriages and royal service. 
• Buckingham did not talk to other nobles about his conspiracy. The evidence, such as it was, came from his servants.
• Thomas Boleyn was not the ambassador to France at this time, although he had been previously.

Historical Inaccuracies - 'The Other Boleyn Girl' DVD

The Other Boleyn Girl (DVD)

• When Mary Boleyn is getting ready for her wedding, Anne describes her as 'younger than me'. Recent new research into the birth dates of the Boleyns now confirms that Mary was actually the eldest of the three surviving children, with Anne next, and George the youngest. 
• Mary was married off to William Carey *after* her affair with the King.
• Queen Katherine is shown giving birth to a stillborn baby, then talking to her daughter Mary. Katherine's last pregnancy was in 1518, when she gave birth to a short-lived daughter, not a boy as the film states. Mary was born in 1516, so would only have been 2 at the time and not the older child she is shown as in the film.
• It is doubtful that Henry Percy would have attended the wedding of Mary Boleyn. His father, whilst being *one of* the richest landowners in the country, may not have been the richest. 
• Thomas Boleyn asks the Duke of Norfolk about the King. However, Boleyn was actually a prominent courtier before either of his daughters gained royal favour, and would have often been at court and known much about the King.
• Henry did not visit the Boleyn home as portrayed in the film. The part about Anne trying to capture his affections during this visit is, therefore, complete fiction. He also never had a fall whilst hunting with her. 
• In the film, Lady Boleyn is depicted as being greatly concerned about her daughters being used as tools for family advancement. In real life, howver, she seemed to have few qualms about this and was happy to share in the spoils when Anne won the King's heart, even going with them to inspect Wolsey's palace of York Place when Henry took it from his fallen minister.
• The image of Mary Boleyn as a chaste, homely woman wanting a life in the country is entirely wrong. She was as ambitious as the rest of her family, and rather free with her favours, first at the French court (Francis I described her as a 'great whore') and then at the English.
• When Mary is told she must go to court, her husband says he has been given a position in the privy council. The Duke of Norfolk then describes this role as 'attending on the King'. This is a confusion between privy council, which was a body of advisors, and privy chamber, which is where Carey would have attended on the King as one of his servants. 
• When she firsts sleeps with the King, Mary asks for some water. Nobody in that age drank water, as it was unclean and dangerous. People drank weak beer instead. 
• Anne never married Henry Percy, although they were both very taken with each other. They may have contracted themselves to each other before witnessess, which in that time was legally binding, but their relationship was curtailed by Cardinal Wolsey, not the Duke of Norfolk. 
• Anne was not sent to France in exile. She had already spent time at the French court, and before that the court of the Regent of the Netherlands. This was a common practice in noble families for the education of their daughters. 
• Mary Boleyn did not give Henry a son. Had she done, the child would have been acknowledged by the King, as was the case with his illegitimate son, Henry Fitzroy, who was borne by his mistress Bessie Blount. 
• When Anne returns to France, she talks to Henry about the 'new' French king. However, Francis I had ascended the throne earlier than the film is set. 
• George Boleyn visits Mary during her confinment, but in reality he wouldn't have done, as no men were allowed in the confinment room.
• Katherine of Aragon did not go on 'trial', as suggested in the film. Both her and Henry were required to appear before an ecclesiastical court, headed by Wolsey and Cardinal Campeggio, to try the validity of thier marriage. Only the two Cardinals could deliver a verdict, not 'bishops' as the film states. Bishops were certainly not all in favour of the King's case - John Fisher being the most notable example.
• The trial is depicted as taking place at the Tower of London. In fact, it was held at Blackfriars, near Bridewell Palace. Anne removed to her family's house at Hever and was not present. 
• The King's anulment was far more complicated than the film suggests, and the ecclesiastical implications are only barely hinted at.
• In the film, Katherine is sent away under armed guard. In real life, Henry went on progress with Anne and ordered Katherine to leave Windsor and remove to Wolsey's old house at the More, and then ordered her several more times to move further away. 
• Henry never raped Anne. They probably first slept together during a visit to Calais in November 1532. This was a couple of years after Henry seperated from Katherine, and not on the same day, as depicted in the film.
• Henry and Anne married in secret, not publicly like in the film, although Anne was later crowned.
• Mary did indeed marry Stafford, although he was not one of her father's servants. They married before, not after, Anne's death, and were both banished from court.
• Anne never planned to sleep with her brother, and the accusations against them were completely made up. The film makes no mention of the other men accused of sleeping with the Queen. 
• Mary Boleyn made no attempt to save her sister and was not present at Anne's execution.