"The Tudors"

The Tudors, which is a drama on Showtime, has become quite exciting.

As King Henry VIII parades his new wife, Anne Boelyn, to his court and the people of England, his first wife, Princess Dowager Catherine, is under house arrest for her refusal to accept the king's divorce and his subsequent marriage to her former lady-in-waiting. Many of his subjects are demoralized by their king's defiance of papal authority.

Not to be undeterred, Pope Paul III (played by the great acting veteran Peter O'Toole) is working to undermine Henry's power throughout his realm and among his royal colleagues throughout Christendom. Paul III reveals a startling plan to demoralize Henry's defiance of papal authority in England further, by declaring Bishop John Fisher, a staunch Papist, who has been imprisoned in the Tower of London for his public unwillingness to accept Henry as the supreme head of the English Church, a cardinal. He declares to Cardinal Campeggio, who is to send Fisher his cardinal's hat, "Let's see if the King is still prepared to prosecute and torture a prince of the Church!"

The Final Prayer of Cardinal Wolsey

"Lord, we haven't spoken as long or as often as we should. I have often been about other business. If I wanted forgiveness, I should ask for it, but for all I have done, and for all I am yet to do, there can be no forgiveness. And yet, I think I am not an evil man, though evil men pray louder, seek penance, and think themselves closer to heaven than I am. I shall not see its gate, Lord, nor hear your sweet words of salvation. I have seen eternity, I swear, but it was only in a dream and by morning all was gone. I know myself for what I am, and I throw my poor soul on your forgiveness, in the full knowledge that I deserve none at your loving hands."

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I recently discovered a wonderful show from Showtime, called The Tudors. It is delicious in all the carnal sense. Although, its history is a bit sketchy (isn't all history, after all?), I find it tantalizing and provocative. I have always been a fan of the Tudor dynasty, mostly its queens, but I found myself akin to Cardinal Wolsey's character in this dramatic interpretation. In the finale, the only absolution Wolsey found was from a knife's blade, but his soliloquy shook me and said all I have ever thought about the world, but mostly the holier-than-thou sort of people. The irony is that a man who many so-called pious individuals had forsaken as a wretch was, in fact, the most pious and understanding of God's forgiveness. Cardinal Wolsey may have his absolution from me, a simple mortal and sinner. I am nothing more or less.

I look forward to the continuation of this story.