Henry VIII

When I was in 6th grade, the BBC production The Six Wives of Henry VIII played on PBS in Kansas, and I watched all 6 episodes. Each episode focused on one wife. I prided myself on knowing the names and order of the 6 wives, who had which children and how they died. Divorced, beheaded, died. Divorced, beheaded, survived. I believe that PBS ran a subsequent series on Queen Elizabeth 1, and I watched those episodes, as well.

Last night we finished watching the Showtime series, The Tudors which lasted for four seasons and obviously went into much greater detail about Henry's reign. I learned much more about the political and religious climate of that time and more about the personalities of each of the queens. The series is richly staged, at times quite violent, at times quite bawdy, and mostly interesting.

I have read Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel this year (focusing on Thomas Cromwell), and am now interested in reading more about this influential and famous royal family.