Page 36 - All About History - Issue 52-17

Bo e yn Sisters
l

Secrets of the French court bedded Mary Boleyn and
Francis I of France, who
presided over Europe’s
most glittering court
How Mary Boleyn became intertwined with
French royal affairs
Anne and Mary Boleyn be as promiscuous as their king.
remained in France when their One who caught his eye was
former mistress, Mary Tudor, Mary Boleyn. The relationship
who was the widow of Louis was brief, but it was enough
XII, returned to England in for the French king to later
1515. They transferred into the declare that Mary was “a very
service of Claude, Louis’ 15-year- great whore and infamous
old daughter and the wife of the above all.” The elder Boleyn
new king, Francis I. sister was soon shipped home
Francis was very different to by her scandalised family, while
his ‘aged’ predecessor. At 21, Anne – to whom no scandal was
he was young, handsome and attached – remained in France.
athletic, making no pretence of
being faithful to his queen. He
first made advances to his wife’s
stepmother, Mary Tudor, later
recalling that she was “more
dirty than queenly.” He stopped
short of consummating this
relationship after being warned
that, should the dowager queen
become pregnant, the child
might be attributed to Louis.
36 Francis would therefore remain
“plain Comte d’Angouleme, and
never King of France.”
Instead, Francis turned his
attentions to the women of his The Boleyn Sisters
court, who were rumoured to served Mary Tudor

How three lives led to a love triangle

A n neB o ley n Anne Boleyn was one of the first Englishwomen to be queen

1501 1513 1522 1527
Probablebirth ServesMargaretofAustria ReturnstoEngland AgreestomarryHenryVIII
Although her birth date was nowhere recorded, Anne travels to serve Margaret of Austria, regent Anne returns to England when it is proposed that Henry VIII offers to marry Anne, after a
Anne is probably born in this year. She spends of the Netherlands in Brussels. She reluctantly she marries her Irish cousin, James Butler, to settle long pursuit. She accepts and returns to
most of her childhood at Hever Castle, which leaves the following year to transfer to the an inheritance dispute concerning the earldom of court. The king opens an ecclesiastical
was the primary seat of the Boleyns. household of Queen Mary Tudor in France. Ormond. The marriages comes to nothing. case to try the validity of his marriage.

H e nry V III England’s most infamous monarch, who ushered in the Reformation
1491 1509 1519 1531
HenryVIII’sbirth Becomesking ThebirthofHenryFitzroy SupremeheadoftheChurch
Henry VIII is born on 28 June at Henry VIII becomes king at the age of 17. He Elizabeth Blount gives birth to Henry Fitzroy, As a precursor to the Break with Rome, Henry
Greenwich. As the second son of Henry immediately marries Katherine of Aragon, to proving that Henry can father a healthy son. Fitzroy forces the English clergy to accept him as
VII, he becomes Prince of Wales following whom he has been betrothed since childhood. is ennobled in 1525 while Katherine’s daughter, supreme head of the Church of England and
She is the widow of his elder brother.
the death of his elder brother in 1502.
Mary, goes to Ludlow as de facto princess of Wales.
begins a series of anti-papal measures.
M a r y B o ley n The elder but less well-known Boleyn sister, who was mistress to two kings
1499 1514 1520 1522
Probablebirth ArrivalinFrance MarriesWilliamCarey Becomesaroyalmistress
Mary Boleyn was probably born in 1499 Mary arrives in France to serve the new French Some time after returning to England, Mary Mary became Henry VIII’s mistress in around
at Blickling Hall in Norfolk. She is the queen. She was soon joined by her sister, Anne. marries the courtier, William Carey, on 4 1522, bearing two children who may have been
eldest surviving child and raised with her Mary and Anne remain behind when their February 1520, before taking up a court position fathered by the king. Thanks to her prominence,
younger sister, Anne, and brother, George. widowed mistress returns to England in 1515. in the household of Queen Katherine of Aragon. the sisters danced at a court masque that March.