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Into History.

com. It's January 24th, 1536, in a jousting field at Greenwich.

It's January 24th, 1536, in a jousting field at Greenwich Palace on the banks of the River Thames near London.

At one end of the jousting yard, the King of England, Henry the 8th, sits to stride his horse facing his challenger.

The full body armor of both man and beast glints silver under a cold gray sky.

Crowd goes wild as Henry raises his lance. Their king is nearly ready to charge.

After more than a century of fighting over the English throne, the country is united under the reign of Henry's family, the tutors.

Henry is a popular ruler, a hero of the times.

He's handsome, witty, and wise.

A writer and lover of music and poetry, he's also a keen sportsman, accomplished at tennis,

archery, hunting, wrestling, and his favorite sport, jousting.

Henry urges his horse forward as his opponent does the same.

Their hooves send mud flying as they gather speed. Henry and his opponent close in

and each tightens the grip on their lances and braise for impact.

But the force of the contact hitting Henry is so great

that both horse and rider lose their balance.

Henry's head thumps sickeningly against the ground, and then his horse lands on top of him.

King Henry suffers a nasty wound to the leg and a blow to the head that leaves him unconscious for two hours.

He's had two other serious head injuries recently,

...