Mary Boleyn The Other Boleyn Girl
A mysterious woman around Court her Sordid behaviour gave her contact with Kings and
other nobles. Her family would take the limelight, her sister would gain the
ultimate recognition. Yet liaisons and scandals were never far away. She was the
other Boleyn girl, she was Mary Boleyn
It's been suggested that Mary was born at Bickling Hall, which was the family seat
in Norfolk. However, she was raised at Hever Castle. Her father was Thomas
Boleyn, a wealthy courtier and diplomat. Thomas held many positions throughout
his life and was made a Knight of the Garter in 1523. Before more success
entitled him to the peerage of Viscount Rochford in 1525. Then again, in 1529, his
nobility once again grew when he became the Earl of Wiltshire and Earl of Ormond.
He was married to Lady Elizabeth Howard. She was the eldest daughter of Thomas
Howard was the second Duke of Norfolk, and his first wife, Elizabeth Tilney.
Elizabeth married into the Boleyn family sometime in the 15th century.
Mary's early education more than likely took place at Hever Castle. Hever began life as
a country house that was built sometime in the 13th century. However, between
1462 and 1539, it became the estate of the Boleyn family. Her brother George would
go on to become a prominent courtier. On his father's enhancement to the
earldoms of Wiltshire and Ormond, George would be given a junior title of
Viscount Rochford in 1525. However, later in life, George and his sister Anne would
be accused of incest and both face trial over the indictments. For now, both
George and Mary will have taken classes together studies would include the
basics of maths and grammar alongside history, reading and writing. These would
be nominal achievements to ensure her and other ladies a good start in life with
a view to further education later, especially if they wanted to increase their
rank and status at court in their later years. But apart from these lessons,
Mary would also have taken part in secondary educational skills, which would
diversify her interests and show awareness towards other pastimes. Again these
accomplishments would comprise household management, sewing skills, and of
course, the obligatory dance lessons. Most of Mary's childhood she would remain
at Hever, that was until around the age of 15, she was sent to France in 1514.
This was due to her father arranging a place for her as maid of honour to the
King's sister, Princess Mary. She had become the surviving daughter of King Henry
VII of England and Elizabeth of York, and had been betrothed to King
Louis XII of France, a man who had already been married twice, and one who
was 30 years older than herself at the time. After the big day had come and
gone, most of the Queen's English servants and maids were sent back home.
Although Mary was allowed to stay. These events were mainly due to her father. He
had now travelled over the English Channel to become the new English ambassador
to France. By 1515, Queen Mary left the country too after she was widowed, but
Mary stayed on longer and remained at the French courts with Francis I
who became the new King from 1515 until he died in 1547, and Claude, who was the Queen
consorts of France by her marriage, although she died in 1524. It was now that
Mary was joined by her sister Anne. Anne was already in the country and had been
studying there for at least a year before the move to Paris. The first whispers
of salacious affairs started to take place. It had been said Mary had been drawn
into an affair with King Francis. Some say the gossip was exaggerated. However,
the King himself called her "The English Mare" maybe a solid reference to riding!
Although Mary's reputation had taken a bit of a tumble, She would be saddling up
to return to England in 1519. She was appointed as the maid of honour to
Catherine of Aragon. Catherine would reign from June 1509 until May 1533 and be
the first wife to King Henry VIII; previous to this, she had been married to
Henry's elder brother Arthur, Prince of Wales. But Mary still remained a lady
that interested many men throughout court. She was believed to be very
attractive and a woman of great beauty. These traits would undoubtedly be put to
the test over the coming years. One man who caught the eye of Mary was William
Carey. He was a man of wealth and very influential in Henry's court. William
served as a gentleman to the Privy chamber and became an Esquire of the King's Body.
Mary and William were married on the fourth of February 1520. The King
himself attended and we can't know for sure if he gave a speech. He did,
however, take a fancy to Mary. The complicated lifestyle of the English court
would once again be seen as highly contentious. Henry made a pass at Mary, and
from what we know the two became lovers. How this came to be no one can be
certain, but as usual rumours spread like wildfire.
It was also suggested that Mary had in fact given birth to two children by
Henry. Still these have never been substantiated, and no evidence exists that
either child was Henry's. Catherine Carey would go on to marry Sir Francis Knollys.
Henry Carey would go on to a life of acting and step out on the
boards as a member of William Shakespeare's company, the Lord Chamberlain's men.
King Henry was now going through what came to be known as the Kings great matter
back at court. So more speculation about his private life wouldn't go down well.
Moreover, Henry was struggling to remove Catherine of Aragon as his wife.
Catherine had been married first to his brother Arthur, but Henry took his
place when he died. Upon first getting together, the couple were delighted with
life, but eventually that all paled into insignificance and Catherine fell from favour.
An annulment was the course of action Henry desired, plus a dispensation
from the Pope to marry the new woman in his life Anne Boleyn, Mary's sister.
Anne's rise to power began when she also returned from France in 1522. She also,
like her sister Mary joined Queen Catherine's entourage as a maid of honour.
However, the two girls took different paths at court. Anne initially gained much
popularity, yet she was alienated from Mary due to their differing circle
friends. It has been said that Mary was the more attractive of the two yet it
was Anne who became more ambitious and had the intelligence to back it up. Once again,
the King started to take an interest in the Boleyn family, primarily this time
with Anne; she was the one his eyes were glued to. With calmness and quite
possibly disbelief in this, Anne took it all in her stride and refused to become a
mistress. By 1526, Henry was now head over heels in love with this woman. She
had a certain something about her and Henry knew he would have to fight long to
gain her trust and, above all else, her love.
Anne had many attributes. She was
clever, tenacious, and certainly not the pushover Henry quite possibly
envisaged. This made the hunt even more extraordinary for Henry and gave him new
determination to annul his marriage with Catherine and take Anne as his new Queen.
Now was the time for Henry when he must have thought this was a real incentive.
This new lady in his life was far more than just a bedmate, and he would now go
on to allow no one or no other force to stand in his way.
Sadly for Mary, William, her
husband passed away from the sweating sickness on the 22nd of June 1528. This
would be the start of some troubling times for Mary as William had left her with an
insurmountable debt. Henry stepped in and gave the wardship of Mary's child
Henry Carey to Anne; he was her nephew. It was either that or the boy would be sent
to a monastery for his education. But that wasn't all; Anne had somehow managed to
get her sister an annual pension worth 100 pounds. Atleast for now, Mary had a
little more financial security.
By 1532, Anne and Henry were pretty much inseparable.
She went with Henry on a state visit to France, and luckily for
Mary, she was invited along. On 1 June 1533, Anne was crowned Queen of
England, and on 7 September, she gave birth to their first child,
although it was a girl. Henry submitted to this minor setback, knowing more children would
come along. The elusive male would soon be upon him, or so he thought. Anne's
daughter was named Elizabeth and she would go on to become Queen Elizabeth I
One year on, in 1534, Mary became attracted to an Essex landowners son,
his name was William Stafford. It's entirely possible the couple met while on
the King's and Annes trip to France, Stafford was listed as one of the 200
people who accompanied them.
Love was in the air! And the pair married in secret.
Yet, this would not go down well with the Boleyn family. You see, William was
nothing more than a lowly soldier and he had little to no prospects. And his
income was indeed small. Mary fell in love with him and believed it was a true
match made in heaven. It was only when Mary became pregnant that the Queen found
out about the couple. Anne was furious; her father also took the same narrative.
This was certainly not what the Boleyns had expected. There was only one
thing that could be done. To banish the newlyweds from the court.
Mary would once again fall into a lifestyle of worthlessness. She was penniless, yet this
time there would be no support from her sister. Mary had to resort to begging,
not in a conventional way but by speaking to Thomas Cromwell. He was the chief
minister to King Henry. And with this approach, Mary hoped for some help.
The realisation of what was happening finally kicked in. Mary's mind was torn, she
knew she could have done better than what was classed as a lowly man, yet would
she have found a man who was more loving or honest than the one she had now?
Cromwell quite possibly knew the answer to her questions and maybe tried in
vain to calm Mary. But Mary went onto say,
Henry was told about Mary, although he seemed
indifferent to her predicament, as per usual, he showed little compassion and
probably thought, well, Mary had made her bed, she should probably lie in it.
But the questions kept coming from Mary, she was now pleading for Cromwell to
speak with her father, her brother, her uncle, in fact, anyone associated with the
Boleyns. Nothing was really achieved, she had lost her recognition, and the
family took no notice of her petition. Eventually, and sometime later, Mary
received some more welcoming news. Her sister Anne had slightly relented, although Anne
knew Mary had undertaken a massive mistake. She did give some support for her
plight by sending a golden cup and some money. However, that was as far as it
would go. Mary would not be reinstated at court, and in hindsight, it may have
been a blessing in disguise that Mary never returned there. There are no records
of the life of Mary after this last brief encounter, and albeit this wasn't done
face to face. However, Mary's life was secure. And although not in the best of
fiscal states, she did manage to escape the ravages that were coming upon her family.
In 1536, the world of the Boleyn's would be turned upside down. On
19 May, her sister Anne the Queen of England, would be executed along with
others, including George, her brother. Yet all throughout this unsettling
period leading up to this date, no record show that Mary either visited or had
any communication towards Anne or George. who was also held in the Tower of London.
It would be just 7 years later, on 19 July 1543, that Mary would die.
It's unknown what the causes were and the facts behind Mary's death remain
uncertain. It is said she was in her mid-forties at her passing.
There are no indications as to where Mary was buried, Numerous places have created a
storyline expressing their claim on this, where as the truth will never been known,
and it's unlikely her tomb is still around today. Marriage story is just as
Mary's story is just as likely to have been created from fiction as truth, it's a mixture of
legend and snippets of fascinating facts. But how honest is the portrayal we see
today of this lady? Her promiscuity is well written about, its for certain she
has been cast as a woman with a debauched side to her character, yet she showed what
seems to be true love to her husband. Although she fell on hard times, she
stayed faithful and managed to come through it all. Mary could be considered a
good time girl. She quite probably enjoyed the companionship of men and the
party lifestyle. But when she met William, she was literally bowled over. Her
life would change at this point. The rest is subjective, and we'll never know.
Whoever took on Mary was in for a wild ride, well according to King Francis anyway!
Imagination can be very harsh on the realties of life, I think in this
case, the whispers and fundamental flaws pertaining to certain parts of this
historical story of Mary Boleyn can literally be taken with a pinch of salt. Yet,
life would have been so very different if Henry's perception of her had been
anywhere near that of her sister Anne.