The engrossing Showtime series about the reign of England’s Henry VIII kicks off its fourth season Jan. 3.
Tune in to see who survives.
The Tudor court is full of ambition and intrigue — personal, political religious, and often all three mixed together. This is office politics writ large as those close to Henry, spouses and advisers, had an unfortunate tendency to suffer beheading when they displeased Henry. Displeasing Henry was not hard to do. A daughter followed by a miscarriage or stillbirth was sufficient provocation.
Henry’s biggest claim to fame was breaking with the Catholic Church when it refused to grant an annulment of his first marriage, which would have enabled him to take a new bride. Season 3 ended with his divorce from his fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, a marriage that lasted six months. She was one of only two wives to outlive him. Henry ultimately married six times. Despite his desperate desire to produce male heirs, his only son died as a teen, though two daughters survived and were eventually crowned queens.
