Does "The Tudors" series stick to historical facts?

Question

Hello!

How close is "The Tudors" Tv series to history??? is it backed up by facts or is it just fiction with the Tudors face???

I'm doing research on the Tudor family and wanted to know if it was a good source, or just a good series tow atch as fiction! :)

thanks!

Answer 1

no because you would not believe the amount of blood spilt in the name of king and country over the centuries and still is.

a that is a fact?

Sybaris?

he was only 6' 2" because of the "corns and gout" he was stood on? just a little f**t really.

Answer 2

*falls over laughing*

You could always do a research paper on just how horribly inaccurate this series is. Heck, I wouldn't even go so far as to call it with the Tudor's face. Ever seen any portraits of Bluff King Hal or Catharine of Aragon? Katharine of Aragon was blonde as a young woman, her hair darkening a bit as she got older. And Harry had reddish-hair and was in his youth a tall, well-muscled gentleman.

And don't even get me started on how everyone seems to run about court half-dressed. A little decorum, please. And Henry appears to have jumped in a time-machine and started pilfering clothes from his daughter Elizabeth's reign.

So, in short, bad costuming, no attempt to even try to stick to any sort of facts = no resemblance to anything vaguely accurate.

And caitlin, I have to wonder what sort of college history course you took that would make you think The Tudors is even vaguely accurate. Your teacher should be embarassed with themselves.

Answer 3

It might be interesting but do you really want to quote it as a reference source for your work?

Answer 4

Check this out!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_VIII_...

Answer 5

im mor eof a dark ages buff but i have to say for a tv series they do seem to try to get as much of it right as they can and still keep it entertaining. we do know alot of the events happened we dont know exactly HOW they happened. so its interesting to see how they come up with some of it. im not saying there arent problems or mistakes in the show but i think you guys are being a bit overcritical. im mean show me one movie/tv show that ever got the history 100% right.

Answer 6

Its not a very accurate source, like anything, they want to make it full of more drama, otherwise it wouldn't make good television obviously. Most of the events happened mind you, but they really take a lot of liberty with the facts, like its possible Henry had an affair with so and so, but we don't REALLY know.  They do have an Historian who checks facts for them, but that's just so they don't mess up a name of something - if i were you, just do research the good old fashioned way. Its a great show to watch though.

Answer 7

yepp!!

It's actually really acurate.

I just learned all about King Henry VIII in my college History class && I was schocked how right on The Tudors is.

they left out some facts; but not many..

Like; Catherine of Aragon (Henry's 1st wife) fought in wars; she was'nt the angel the showed in the series lol.

&& that dates Anne Boelyn was reported to have had affairs with all those men; were just so wrong. A few of the days she was accussed of having an affair; she was in recovery from child birth.

Alos; Mary (Catherine && Henery's only daughter) was called Bloody Mary basically her whole life; by the people of England.

but they got most of the info. in the series.

Answer 8

I think one of the bigger problems with The Tudors was the decision to merge Henry's two sisters into one character. The fictional sister is partly based partly on both characters. I assume that the series won't last to the reign of his daughter, because one sister is the grandmother of Mary Queen of Scots, and the other sister is the grandmother of Lady Jane Grey. It will be confusing to explain the plot when the two sisters have been merged.

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   For some reason, historical dramas like to change history. Virtually all of them do deliberate changes to improve the story. In my humble opinion the movie that most respected history was the comedy "Shakespeare in Love". There is obviously fictional characters. When it suited the writer he puts in ridiculous artifacts for laughs that clearly have no basis in history. But underlying the comedy is a painstaking attention to detail. All of the nine historical characters are played by actors of the correct age, and there parts are consistent with what we know about their personalities.

====================

Joseph Fiennes ... Will Shakespeare

Geoffrey Rush ... Philip Henslowe

Judi Dench ... Queen Elizabeth

Rupert Everett ... Christopher Marlowe

Patrick Barlow ... Will Kempe

Martin Clunes ... Richard Burbage

Simon Callow ... Tilney - Master of the Revels

Joe Roberts ... John Webster

Ben Affleck ... Ned Alleyn

Answer 9

While it is based on fact, many of the situations and a few of it's people are fictional and or altered.

Answer 10

no this link will tell u where it deviates

           http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tudors

Answer 11

Well, Henry VIII existed in history, as did Katherine of Aragon and Anne Boleyn.  And Cardinal Wolsey and most other characters.  That's about all I can say for its accuracy!  I agree with a couple of other respondents; by merging Henry's two sisters into one murderous female character, they wrote Lady Jane Grey and the Stuarts out of history!  None of the main characters looked as they were supposed to look according to their portraits, the costumes weren't strictly accurate, and poor little Henry Fitzroy was killed off as a child.  Henry VIII himself had red-gold hair, a cruel, thin-lipped mouth and small eyes.  Well, he was about 6' 2" tall...

Here's a site you might like to peruse:

http://tudorswiki.sho.com/page/The+Tudor...

The series is for entertainment only; please don't use it as a source of history!  I'm afraid I couldn't watch it.