Overview
King Henry VIII smitten with Anne Boleyn wishes to displace his estimable Queen Catherine for her. He appeals to Cardinal Wolsey to set aside the tenets of the Church and consent to his divorce from the Queen. The cardinal absolutely refuses to do anything so inimical to his office, as representative of the Holy See. Angered King Henry induces the Archbishop of Canterbury to call a special council through which he divorces himself from Queen Catherine. In punishment for his refusal to accede to the king's wishes, the cardinal is exiled to Leicester Abbey where he dies three days afterward, conscious that he had sustained the sacredness of his office, a martyr to his faith and of service to his king.
Cast
Cardinal Wolsey
Catherine of Aragon
Anne Boleyn
King Henry VIII
Gardiner, later Bishop of Winchester
Thomas Cranmer, Archbishop of Canterbury
Bishop of Essex
King's friend (as Harold Wilson)
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