January 28

Anniversary Henry VIII's Death
 

The BBC was strongly criticized when it's much heralded series The Tudors was launched initially on US television before it appeared in Britain. Criticisms ranged from the appearance of anachronisms such as  modern radiators, Tarmac driveways, Victorian carriages , and Henry VIII's inside leg measurements taken by a tailor using a modern-day metallic tape measure to major historical inaccuracies. Leanda de Lisle, a Tudor biographer, claimed that "With inaccuracies in almost every sentence, the BBC is dumbing down the Tudor period." Alison Weir, historian and author of The Six Wives of Henry VIII, compared the series to a "Hollywood fairytale". She added: "Henry had red hair, not black hair as this actor has, and some of the scenes are just plain gratuitous." Henry was a very discreet king; he would never have indulged in womanizing openly. While he may have liked the ladies he would never have been so indiscreet - that is why there is so little evidence of his affairs."

The imperially slim Jonathan Rhys Meyers  performance as the young Henry VIII was generally praised by the critics regardless of his lack of read head and the additional poundage of the young Henry. Other memorable portrayals of the king in previous film and television roles include Charles Laughton who most closely resembled the obese monarch and looked like a Holbein painting in The Private Life of Henry VIII (1933), Robert Shaw in A Man for all Seasons (1966), Keith Michell in Henry VII and his Six Wives (1973), and Ray Winstone in Henry VIII (2004).

The BBC series did give some insight into Henry VIII's ability to choose loyal and faithful people to work for him. He was not a brilliant statesman as some writers state. In fact, Henry found the day-to-day details of head of state dull and boring. He devoted most of his time to relieve his boredom by creating a magnificent court which helped the monarch indulge his tastes in feasting dancing, drama, music, hunting_,  tournaments_, and the English custom of wenching. While wenching and feasting ran neck and neck as Henry's primary interests during his early years, his later years were marked primarily by gluttony, Here is Phillip Lindsey's (British historical novelist and was  technical advisor on Alexander Korda's The Private Life of Henry VIII  (1933) portrait of Henry's eating habits:

Pies were Henry's greatest indulgence. He once had a Christmas pie made that weighed one-hundred-and-sixty-five pounds and measured nine feet across. This gargantuan creation required twenty-five pounds of butter for the top crust and required a four-wheeled cart to transport it from the kitchen to the banquet room.

Meat pies especially mutton pies, were Henry's passion and his chefs vied in enhancing the flavor of these pies with various combinations of spices, especially saffron, which was also used to disguise the flavor of what was often spoiled meat. The following recipe is based on mutton (although lamb is substituted), which was first marinated in the sour juice of Seville oranges (although a marinade of lemon and orange juice is substituted). And this recipe is for small individual  pies and not the gargantuan version that Henry preferred.
 

Henry VIII's Mutton (Lamb) Pie