The horrifying truth behind Wolf Hall: BBC drama shows beheadings, torture and burning at the stake, but the real dark side of Henry VIIIs reign was even more gruesome (and forks were a rarity at the Tudor dinner table!)

Wolf Hall has once again left viewers gripped as it continues the story of the dramatic rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell under the tyrannical King Henry VIII.

The BBC show, an adaptation of the mega-selling series of novels by the late Hilary Mantel, is at times gruesome as it depicts executions and torture.

The new and final series, named The Mirror and the Light after Dame Hilarys final novel, left viewers shocked when it opened with a flashback of the beheading of Henrys second wife, Anne Boleyn.

The beheading scene is by no means the only gruesome moment in the televised version of Wolf Hall. 

But the reality of life during Henrys reign was at times even more gory and revolting - as we reveal below. 

Executions (including being boiled alive)

How you were going to be tortured or executed depended on your social status and the crime that you were accused of, historian Dr Charlotte Gauthier told MailOnline.

Anne Boleyns execution is depicted in the opening episode of the Mirror and the Light, leaving some viewers shocked.

Henry VIIIs second wife was beheaded on May 19, 1536, after failing to give her husband his desired son and having been found guilty of fabricated treason charges.

Beheadings - usually a swift way to die - were reserved for members of the nobility.

Wolf Hall does also depict how Henry was offered the option of having Anne Boleyn burnt at the stake.

Anne Boleyns execution is depicted in the opening episode of the Mirror and the Light. The scene left some viewers shocked. It was a flashback from the end of the shows first season

Anne Boleyn was executed on May 19, 1536, as Thomas Cromwell looked on. Above: A depiction  of Annes execution at the Tower of London

Although she was spared that horrifying fate, the first series of the show does depict an unfortunate Protestant lawyer suffering the fate.

The portrayal of the death of James Bainham very much aligns with history. The real Bainham was burned at the stake in 1532 for the crime of heresy.

The normal method of execution for ordinary convicts was hanging.

However, executions were often amateurish compared to those carried out in the 19th and 20th centuries in British prisons.

The depiction of the burning at the stake of Protestant lawyer James Bainham in Wolf Hal

The first series of the show depicts the burning at the stake of unfortunate Protestant lawyer James Bainham

Rather than the necks of the condemned breaking after a fall from the gallows, they would often die by strangulation instead.

One particularly horrifying form of execution is not depicted in Wolf Hall.

The punishment of being boiled to death was put on the statute book by the Acte for Poysoning, which Henry ordered after cook Richard Roose poisoned the porridge for the household of the Bishop of Rochester, causing two deaths.

Henry, paranoid that he too could be poisoned, attempted to ensure that the new punishment would put off would-be poisoners.

Roose was boiled to death at Smithfield on April 5, 1531. According to records from the time, he was dipped up and down in boiling water until he was dead.

In 1542, maid Margaret Davies suffered the same fate after she poisoned four people in the house she lived in.

Another method of execution that the condemned could experience was being pressed to death

Another method of execution that the condemned could experience was being pressed to death.

Reserved for accused people who refused to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty, it involved the placing of heavy weights on to the accused until they either died or made a plea.

In 1586, when Henrys daughter Elizabeth I was on the throne, the Catholic Margaret Clitherow - now a saint - met such a fate for refusing to enter a plea after being charged with harbouring Catholic priests.

One of the most feared forms of execution at the time was the infamous hanging, drawing and quartering.

Reserved for the most serious cases of treason, it involved being hanged until nearly dead, then castrated, disemboweled, beheaded and finally cut into quarters. 

Torture 

Before Bainham is burnt at the stake, he is seen in the third episode of the first series of Wolf Hall being tortured at the direction of Thomas More, Henrys lord chancellor.

As Bainham is groaning in agony, More - an ardent Catholic - reads in Latin from the Bibles Book of Peter, warning of false prophets who will bring destructive heresies.

However, Dr Gauthier says the scene in both Dame Hilarys book and the TV series is likely inaccurate.

Before Bainham is burnt at the stake, he is seen in the third episode of the first series of Wolf Hall being tortured at the direction of Thomas More, Henrys lord chancellor

It probably didnt happen. Where Hilary Mantel got that from is what is popularly known as Foxes Book of Martyrs. 

It was written by rabid Protestant John Foxe. His whole purpose was to paint Catholics in a terrible light. It wasnt really a history at all. 

Although Bainham may not have been tortured at Mores direction, the practice extensively employed during Henrys reign and beyond.

Methods of inflicting pain included the ripping out of teeth and fingernails, the breaking of bones, castration and tongue removal. 

As Bainham is groaning in agony, More - an ardent Catholic - reads in Latin from the Bibles Book of Peter, warning of false prophets who will bring destructive heresies

As well as the rack, instruments of torture included the thumbscrew and what was known as the Scavengers daughter.

The latter consisted of a rack shaped into a foldable A-frame, where the victims head would be strapped to the top, while their hands and legs would go into the midpoint and lower ends respectively. 

When the frame was folded, victims knees were forced upwards, compressing their bodies to the point where blood was forced from their noses and ears. 

There was also a cell in the Tower of London called Little Ease, in which prisoners could neither stand, sit, nor lie down comfortably.

The point was to break the physical and emotional reserves of the person, Dr Gauthier said.  

Heads on spikes

Although the new BBC series has not yet reached the point of Cromwells downfall, Mores execution in 1535 is depicted.

But viewers do not see how his head was first parboiled and then exhibited on London Bridge.

The same fate befell Cromwell after his beheading in 1540.

For more than 300 years between the 14th and 17th centuries, the heads of traitors were placed on iron spikes at the south end of London Bridge.

Others notable victims of the practice included William Wallace and Oliver Cromwell.

Heads were first dipped in tar to preserve them.

For more than 300 years between the 14th and 17th centuries, the heads of traitors were placed on iron spikes at the south end of London Bridge

Although the new BBC series has not yet reached the point of Cromwells downfall, Mores execution in 1535 is depicted

Swearing 

One episode in the shows first season did shock viewers when an unnamed nobleman playing cards in the Kings presence used the c-word when obscenely commenting on the sexual allure of Jane Seymour, who was soon to become the monarchs third wife.  

Around 20 viewers were reported to have complained to the BBC, with a further four going directly to broadcast regulator Ofcom.

But the BBC insisted that the language was taken from Dame Hilarys book.

And, despite viewers protests, the depiction of swearing did align with the standards of the time.

One episode in the shows first season did shock viewers when an unnamed nobleman playing cards in the Kings presence used the c-word when obscenely commenting on the sexual allure of Jane Seymour

The c-word has been part of the English language since the 13th century and in Tudor times was not considered as obscene as it is today.

Dr Gauthier said: Anatomical terms didnt have the weight of taboo that the Victorian era put on them. They were just used. They were just words.

You wouldnt say it about the Queen. But it didnt quite have the same connotations.

However, Dr Gauthier was sceptical that a nobleman would have said it in the presence of the King when referring to a woman he greatly admired.  

Habits at the dinner table 

Several scenes in Wolf Hall show meal times, including banquets with the King and his aides.

However, in contrast to the depiction of the monarch in films such as the Private Life of Henry VIII - where he is seen grotesquely stuffing his face and tearing apart meat with his hands - things are seen to be more well-mannered in Wolf Hall.

That depiction aligns more with reality. A 1577 Tudor book told of the strict table manners handed down to children. 

Several scenes in Wolf Hall show meal times, including banquets with the King and his aides

Several scenes in Wolf Hall show meal times, including banquets with the King and his aides. One thing missing from the Kings table in Wolf Hall are forks. Cromwell and others are seen using just their knives to pick at their food

One rule said: Pick not thy teeth with thy knife nor with thy finger end.  

One thing missing from the Kings table in Wolf Hall are forks. Cromwell and others are seen using just their knives to pick at their food. 

Dr Gauthier said: Forks were available but not yet widely in use, they were mostly hanging around in Italy.

She added: They [the wealthy] had people called sewers, what we would call servers, to carve their meat for them.

However, one rather unhygienic practice - used to show off wealth - was to roast a peacock and then drape the uncooked skin back over the bird. 

They wanted to show the luxury of their table by showing that their peacock has been freshly killed and roasted just for the occasion.

Damien Lewiss Henry VIII heading up a meal in the first series of Wolf Hall