That's correct, Claire. They did show both accidents, but the first in 1524 was changed around a bit, making Anthony Knivert hit him instead of Suffolk. They used this as their way of an opening to show Knivert and Compton given titles (Anthony for being struck worse after Henry continued jousting, and William for carrying the huge log).

Claire said:

Henry VIII had a jousting accident in March 1524 when he forgot to put his visor down and the Duke of Suffolk hit him just above his eye – narrow escape! Henry actually got back on his horse and carried on jousting!

He then had another more serious jousting accident on the 24th January 1536 when he fell off his horse and his horse fell on him. This is the accident that caused him to be unconscious for 2 hours and it was thought that he'd die. There is speculation that this accident caused some brain damage and that's why he became more of a monster, see http://www.independent.co.uk/n…..70421.html. The accident may also have caused Anne's miscarriage in that she was obviously stressed by what happened. If I remember rightly, The Tudors did show both of these accidents.

Thank you for the link to the article. I was aware of the injury, but had not read about the theory of the accident changing his personality. I found that to be very interesting.

We have talked a little about Henry's jousting accident before with a view that it brought about the personality changes or brought to the fore a personality trait that Henry had kept well hidden. I think that these two hours were the most interesting of his reign and history changed dramatically from that day forward. Regardless of different times and different attitudes, Henry changed from the much loved King to tyrant almost over night. This would be consistent with a head trauma in my estimation. The expedited trial of His Queen, Anne and her co-accused contradicted its self as if Anne and Henry were never married, both his daughters Mary and Elisabeth were at that stage both bastards. I somehow get the feeling at that time that Henry was an incoherent mess going one way, then another. Any seemingly well thought out argument would have held water with him. A most intriguing  time indeed.

Another vote for brain injury causing personality changes. I worked with a man who was in an auto accident with his then wife and both suffered brain injury which required months of rehab. He said that they both underwent profound personality changes; he became very laid-back, while his wife became hyper and controlling. The marriage didn't survive.

AnneTheQueene said:I just wonder if he ever thought of the wrong doings in his life or if he ever regretted them?

He seemed to have a 'knack' for blaming anyone and everyone for anything he didn't want to be associated with later. I waver between thinking him to have been a psychopath/sociopath, or 'merely' incredibly immature, manipulative and vindictive. But as Paudie pointed out elsewhere, he must have had some good qualities for a woman like Anne to have been in love with him, which I believe she was.

I know it's been awhile since this thread was active, but I just wanted to let you all know I watched a program Friday night on Canada's History Channel titled Museum Secrets. It's a six part series featuring different museums from around the world and some interesting pieces from their vast collections.

Last night the show featured The Metropolitian Musuem of Art in New York. One piece the show featured was Henry VIII's “Wilton Armour.” They spoke about how the armour had been refitted to fit Henry's increasing frame, his failed campaign in France, and his significant changes in personality.

The show spoke to a leading psychoneurologist from New York who talked about new research into the impacts of head injuries. He used modern day concussions as examples of say American football players. The doctor argued that sports head injuries, such as concussions, have long term implications, and the patient can shows signifacant personality changes.

Suzannah Lipscombe was also featured in the same segment, and was used to couple the psychoneurologists research. Dr. Lipscombe spoke about Henry's two head injuries, espcially the terrible fall in Janurary 1536.

The impact of Henry's fall could have seriously damaged his brain, which could example his mood disorder in the following years. Since the Tudors did not have the luxury of modern medical technology, we can never really know. But after listing to a psychoneurologist, I feel he and Dr. Lipscombe are on the right track. But, even currently the medical community does not really know the long term effects of repeated head trauma, and hopefully ongoing research will incread our knowledge, and help answer some questions about Henry.