King Henry VIII, the young and ambitious monarch of England, prepares for war with France but is dissuaded by the diplomatic manipulation of his powerful Lord Chancellor, Cardinal Wolsey, who proposes that the King sponsor a "Trea...

Henry and his court look to sign the treaty with France, though tempers of both kings flare up at the summit. Meanwhile, Henry takes on a new mistress named Mary Boleyn, though he soon tires of her and Mary's sister, Anne, is summ...

The King asks Charles to escort his sister, Margaret, to her betrothed and promotes him to Duke of Suffolk. The envoys from the Holy Roman-Emperor meet with Cardinal Wolsey and determine how to cement the treaty between the two na...

As a reward for his denunciation of Martin Luther, the Pope christens Henry "Defender of the Faith," but a brush with death causes the king to seek a solution to his lack of an heir. Princess Margaret marries the decrepit King of ...

Henry is displeased to learn that the Emperor Charles V, Queen Katherine's nephew, has released King Francis of France from prison and is forced to look for a foreign ally elsewhere. Meanwhile Katherine's alliance with Charles int...

Henry is still besotted with Anne Boleyn, queen Catherine asks a diplomat to appeal to her Habsburg relatives. Now the emperor has captured the pope in Italy, cardinal Woolsey promises the king to get a mandate from the cardinals ...

Sir William Compton is diagnosed on his Warwickshire estate with highly contagious 'sweating sickness', the physician bleeds his back- death comes swift, his body is burned before burial, Thomas Tallis breaks his lute on the fresh...

Cardinal Campeggio's long awaited papal legation has arrived at court to decide with colleague-cardinal Thomas Wolsey on the royal request for divorce, claiming Catherine's first marriage to Henry's late elder brother nullified hi...

The legatine court's divorce trial continues in the Queen's absence, hearing testimony suggesting prince Arthur carnally consummated his marriage to Catherine: embarrassing for the court, amusing for the populace. Catherine's coun...

Now cardinal Wolsey lives in misery as penniless archbishop of and in York, barred from court, hoping in vain Anne Boleyn who broke his hold on the king will reward his efforts as she once wrote, honors and offices are mainly dist...