- 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 Portugal reluctantly, but the union is short-lived; Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn intensifies.
- Henry is rewarded by Rome with the hereditary honorary title Fidei Defensor (Defender of the Faith) for his denunciation of Martin Luther in a writing by his own hand, helped by Thomas More, arousing great anger with Luther and his followers. Poor mister Pace has gone mad in the Tower before the innocent secretary is released; cardinal Wolsey nominates his successor: Thomas Cromwell, equally low-born and ruthlessly ambitious. A victory at Pavia by Henry's Habsburg ally, emperor Charles, who even captured the French king Francis I, is celebrated in a joust, where Henry personally fights, and failing to close his helmet gets wounded, almost losing an eye, but gets back in the saddle, as if he were invulnerable; a reckless jump over a bog with a pole which breaks and miserable medical care -bleeding- remind Henry of his mortality, which makes the king focus on the Tudor dynasty's lack of a male heir. Princess Margaret marries the old decrepit king of Portugal only when promised she may choose her next husband, but jumps her studly minder Charles Brandon's bones on the ship to Lisbon; the king's ugliness and intention to have many children make her faint, but after a nightmare wedding night, 'taken in use' with half the court attending behind a thin cloth, she makes sure the union is short-lived. Henry's desire for Anne Boleyn is only intensified when she returns his extravagant jewelry and retires to the family estate; her father intends to sit on damaging proof against Wolsey's greedy crimes till the time is ripe to make the chancellor fall out of the king's still unshakable grace.—KGF Vissers
- Sir Thomas More returns from Rome with news that the Pope has named King Henry VIII Defender of the Faith. The King is pleased but no so with Martin Luther's response to his religious pamphlet. Princess Margaret, the King's sister, marries the elderly King of Portugal but has an affair with Charles Cavill, newly named Duke of Suffolk. Lady Anne Boleyn plays coy with the King, refusing his gift of jewels. The more she resists him, the greater his infatuation. Mr. Pace is released from the Tower but he has lost his mind and his replacement Thomas Cromwell - selected by Cardinal Wolsey - has outside interests. Sir Thomas Boleyn learns of Wolsey's schemes in shutting monasteries and pocketing the proceeds. News comes that the Spanish King has defeated the French army and taken the French King Francis prisoner. The King nearly dies in an accident and realizing he has no true heir, orders Wolsey to get him a divorce.—garykmcd
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