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The teenage Henry VIII falls in love with the beautiful Spanish princess Katherine of Aragon. As his first queen, she leads the kingdom at war, wins the love of the people, and teaches Henry how to rule. They are together for over twenty years. But tragically, Katherine cannot give Henry the son he desperately needs to save the Tudor dynasty. When an ambitious younger rival, Anne Boleyn, appears, Katherine is cruelly rejected by the man she loves. But she refuses to go without a fight... Part 1 of 4.
Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s bewitching mistress, is desperate to become Queen of England. Sexually obsessed by Anne and desperate for a son, Henry cruelly abandons Katherine of Aragon, his wife of twenty years. But Henry’s obsession with Anne soon darkens into jealousy. When rumours emerge that she has committed adultery and incest, he turns violently against her. Anne’s enemies now strike and her fall is brutally swift. In a ruthless show trial, she is condemned to death and beheaded. Part 2 of 4.
After decades of disaster, Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour, finally gives him the son and heir he craves. But, tragically, she dies within days of childbirth, and Henry’s joy turns to despair. Convinced to marry again, Henry chooses the German princess Anne of Cleves. But all he sees before the engagement is a painting, and in the flesh he finds Anne so ugly he becomes impotent. Now he must fight to escape the marriage, while his advisor Thomas Cromwell pays for the fiasco with his head. Part 3 of 4.
In 1539, after four failed marriages, Henry VIII falls in love with the seductive teenager Catherine Howard. But she turns out to have a hidden sexual past. Finally, her secrets catch up with her and she becomes the second of Henry’s wives to lose her head. Old and sick, Henry makes one last attempt at marriage. In the kindly Katherine Parr he seems to have found the perfect wife at last. But when she tries to push Henry into religious reform, she too comes within hours of the executioner’s block. Part 4 of 4.
Emperor Hadrian is well known for his eponymous wall. Seventy miles long, it was a prodigious feat and remains one of the greatest physical remnants of the Roman Empire. But in reality, the wall was nothing more than a sideshow to the main event. In this fascinating historical documentary, historian Dan Snow follows in the footsteps of the Emperor, from Northumberland to North Africa, from Jerusalem to Rome, and discovers one of the most powerful and enigmatic rulers and characters in world history. Overtly gay, a philosopher, poet and flautist, he was also a brilliant military strategist and ruthless commander of his legions. With his Greek intellect and Roman engineering skills, Hadrian set about physically ring-fencing and consolidating the entire empire. For better - and often for worse - he helped to define the world we know, leaving a legacy that is still marvelled at today.
Between April 1915 and July 1916, more than one million Armenians were deported and massacred. In Turkey, discussion of the subject has always been refused and concealed, and the use of the word 'genocide' has been forbidden. However, it is from within Turkish society itself that voices are now calling to be heard.
Thomas Cromwell was one of the strongest supporters of the English Reformation. At a time when lineage meant everything, Cromwell rose from poor beginnings to become chief minister to King Henry VIII. However, at the moment of his greatest triumph, Cromwell was struck down and destroyed. He fell victim to the King's anger and was beheaded on 28 July 1540. Cromwell has gone down in history as ambitious and corrupt; a ruthless politician who destroyed people and institutions. But is this fair? This is a fascinating journey through Tudor England in search of the truth about Henry VIII's best servant.