The Tudors Final Season Brings New Characters to the Canvas

The fourth and final season of The Tudors will begin April 11, and with the new season come some new faces to the canvas.

Jonathan Rhys Meyers will return in his role as King Henry VIII, but this season will introduce us to many new, exciting, and cunning characters straight out of history. We will also see the return of a few characters from past seasons - some of them will return in a way you may or may not expect.

New faces to watch for this season on The Tudors and historical backgrounds:

Catherine Parr (Joely Richardson) was King Henry VIII's sixth and last wife. Her mother, Lady Maud Green, was one of Queen Katherine of Aragon's ladies-in-waiting. She was being courted by Thomas Seymour when she caught the King's eye. Henry VIII proposed marriage and she prayed for guidance. She finally relented, convinced it was God's will. Putting her feelings for Thomas aside, she married Henry. She would marry Thomas Seymour after the death of the King.

Thomas Culpepper (Torrence Coombs) was one of Henry VIII's most trusted attendants and was part of a group of dignitaries who greeted Anne of Cleves, Henry's fourth wife. He was charged with committing adultery with Henry's teen Queen, Katherine Howard. He was executed by order of the King on December 10, 1541.

Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey (David O'Hare) was Anne Boelyn and Katherine Howard's first cousin. He was accused of sympathizing with the "Pilgrimage of Grace" and was imprisoned on suspicion, though he was actually involved in putting down the rebellion. He would later be arrested and charged with treason for displaying the royal quarterings on his shield. He was executed on January 19, 1547 on Tower Hill by order of King Henry VIII.

Joan Bulmer (Catherine Steadman) was Queen Katherine's servant. She may have known about the Queen's past and was blackmailing her. She was interrogated at length following the Queen's arrest - along with several others - about the Queen's "activities" before her marriage to Henry.

Ambassador Marillac (Lothaire Bluteau) was a barrister at the Parliament of Paris when he was 22-years-old. He was ambitious, cunning, and was suspected of being a reformist sympathizer.

Girolamo de Treviso (David Caltagirone) was an Italian Renaissance painter. He went to England where he worked as a military engineer for King Henry VIII. de Treviso was killed during the Siege of Boulogne-sur-Mer in 1544.

Lady Elizabeth Fitzgerald (Gemma-Leah Devereaux) was brought up as a companion to Princess Elizabeth Tudor and the two had a close friendship. Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, wrote about her in his poem, "The Fair Geraldine" while he was imprisoned for hitting a courtier.

Anne Askew had Zwinglian convictions which led to a dispute with the clergymen in Lincoln. She was evicted from the house she lived in in 1544 and was arrested for heresy and aquitted in 1545. She was arrested again and burned at the stake in 1546. She was the only woman to have been tortured in the Tower of London - she was slowly stretched on the rack. Unable to walk, she was carried to her execution in a chair. Anne Askew never made a sound until the flames reached her chest.

Look for Queens Katherine of Aragon, Anne Boelyn, and Katherine Howard to make their returns in dream sequences along with Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr as Henry's end draws near.

Mark your calendars and tune in April 11 to watch! This is going to be an exciting season for The Tudors.

Read More:
The Tudors Season 4 Spoilers for Episodes 1-5
The Tudors Season 4 Spoilers for Episodes 6-10

Source:
Family History Research through the years that connected to some of these individuals
The Tudors Wiki