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Despite its title, Henry the Eighth deals with three other, more important stories: the fall of Cardinal Wolsey, the fall of Queen Katherine, and the raising of Anne Bullen (Boleyn). For Elizabethans, the culmination of the play was, of course, the birth of Elizabeth, heralding their queen and her successor, James. Full treatment of Henry VIII would have to be dealt with by historians.

The machinations of court life under Henry were to be continued under Elizabeth but, unlike her father, to much greater political success. James, unfortunately, is another story altogether.