The second episode begins with Jane Seymour being dressed for her wedding and her subsequent introduction to the people who take her to their hearts , whilst the King and Cromwell differ on the dissolution of the monasteries which have angered the English Catholics and united them into a huge army to march on London in protest calling it , the Pilgrimage of Grace , headed by the King 's former comrade Robert Aske whom the King tricks into incriminating himself into treason and is sentenced to a gruesome traitor 's death . Meanwhile , the country is on edge as the heavily pregnant Queen goes into labour and finally gives birth to a son much to Henry 's joy although it is cut short when the Queen dies . Two years after the Queen 's death , Cromwell , whose power has steadily risen through the days of Anne Boleyn encourages the King to consider marrying the Protestant Anne of Cleves but once he sets sights on her , the King is repulsed and immediately seeks a way out of the marriage . Sensing the decline of Protestant influence the Duke of Norfolk devises a way to snatch the reign to power and arranges for his teenage niece Catherine Howard to enchant the increasingly obese and terrifying King and to eventually marry him . It soon transpires that the young Queen has a promiscuous history and is carrying it on with a man in the king 's service which the Protestant reformers seize as their opportunity to rid themselves of the Catholic faction . The Queen and her family are arrested and the young Queen dies at the hands of the executioner , like her cousin Anne Boleyn . With the demise of Catholic peers the reformers take the opportunity to consolidate their powers , enhanced by the wedding of the king to Catherine Parr who attempts to unite the royal family . The film closes as the King reflects on his past loves . His obsession with Anne Boleyn , his quiet but steady affection for Jane Seymour , and his lust for the young Catherine Howard . Finally the king 's over indulgent lifestyle catches up with him and he suffers a seizure and later dies in a scene reminiscent of the film 's opening , imploring his son to be successful as a man before he can be successful as a king . He dies with his son and last wife beside him
Pilgrimage of Grace
Pilgrimage of Grace
Henry VIII (TV serial)