‘The Tudors’ Season 4 Episode 4 begins with the arrival of King Henry and his companions into Yorkshire and yet more groups of nobles, clergy, and commoners to grovel before him and to beg forgiveness for past rebellions.
Spoilers surely follow.
After a while, it must be pretty boring for King Henry to hear somebody accuse themselves of all sorts of sins, the more multi-syllable adjectives to describe them the better. And the King has to right readily accept the groveling in the spirit given, along with the gifts to sweeten things. Apologies are all well and good, but the gold that goes with it makes them seem more serious.
The King is also eager to meet his nephew, the King of Scots, to arrange for a peace deal, advantageous to England of course. This is something that the King of Scots is rather reluctant to do. Being in the same country as Henry VIII can be hazardous to one’s health.
In the meantime, Queen Katherine is having all sorts of trouble juggling both husband and lover and keeping them apart. Hubby gets peevish every time he finds out that his bride is as yet not pregnant. Henry tends to take this as a personal slight rather than just nature not running its course.
Tom Culpepper, on the other hand, is just peevish. And that causes Katherine to, foolishly, claim to have hundreds of lovers. This is going to come back to bite her.
And if that is not enough problems for the silly fool, bimbo Queen, Francis Dereham shows up. Dereham was the fellow who liked to sneak into Katherine’s bed when she was just Lady Katherine and do all sorts of naughty things with her. Now that he is at court, Dereham develops a tendency to get drunk and start boasting about his “familiarity” with the Queen. This suggests a kind of death wish on the part of Dereham.
Meanwhile, back at Hatfield, Lady Elizabeth, the future Glorianna, notices that Prince Edward had a fever. This is a serious matter with 16th century medicine and the fact that Edward was the sole male heir. It turns out the Edward had a form of malaria called Quartan Fever from which he recovered.
Finally King Henry receives a letter detailing some of the indiscretions committed by Queen Katherine. This apparently only relates the Dereham episodes. But Henry will find out that he is a cuckold before long. He will not be pleased.
Source: The Tudors, Season 4, Episode 4, TV.Rage
