immersive cultural enrichment on board and on shore freshly prepared regional cuisine viking sails the rivers of the world and takes travelers to the heart of iconic destinations discover more at viking dot com

i'm jace lay cobb and you're listening to Masterpiece Studio.

Mary Tudor is remembered as the first female monarch of England, but her path to the throne

was far from guaranteed.

When Mary was 17, her father, King Henry VIII, broke with the Catholic Church to divorce her

mother, Catherine of Arrigan, after 24 years of marriage, and declared himself the supreme head of the church in

England. Mary lost her title of princess and became illegitimate. And as if that weren't enough,

Henry also demanded his daughter abandon her Catholic faith and acknowledge Henry as the head of the church.

But Mary would do no such thing. At the start of Wolf Hall, the mirror in the light,

Mary is in exile, her mother dead, and her father resolute. Unbeknownst to Mary, Thomas Cromwell made a

promise to her mother, Catherine, to keep Mary's safe. In an effort to do so, Cromwell persuades Mary to sign the

oath, and now he wants to present her with a ring inscribed with a special message.

I wanted to ask your majesty's permission that I might give this to the Lady Mary.

In praise of obedience, very apt. And do you think my daughter will take the

point? Meanwhile, since meeting with Wolsey's daughter, Dorothea, in episode two,

Cromwell has been plagued by thoughts of betrayal. His conscience runs wild, but something even larger is brewing outside the

castle walls. Cromwell hears word that a rebel army is approaching. They believe the king is dead,

Cromwell rules, and that he wants the king's daughter for himself. Cromwell fears for Mary's life

and petitions Henry's latest queen, Jane Seymour, to bring Mary out

of exile and into the kingdom.

My lord privy seal, Chancellor of Augmentation.

Highness, why not ask the king to fetch Lady Mary here?

...