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The Lady Mary Boleyn (~1501 - July 19, 1543) was granddaughter to Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, daughter to Elizabeth Howard and leading diplomat Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, sister to George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford and Anne Boleyn.
Mary is not as well known as her (probably younger) sister, Anne. (The year of Mary's birth is uncertain but almost certainly lies between 1499 and 1504, whereas Anne's is probably 1507.) Mary was the mistress of two kings, Francis I of France and then Henry VIII of England. She was married twice to members of Henry's court and bore children who were in the court of her niece Elizabeth I of England.
Mary's early life was punctuated by becoming Maid of Honour to Mary Tudor, new Queen consortA queen consort is the wife and consort of a reigning king. In contrast the husband of a reigning queen is (usually) not called " king consort"; rather, he is popularly called " prince consort". In the British system, a male consort does not automatically of Louis XII of FranceLouis XII, King of France ''Father of the People ( June 27, 1462 January 1, 1515) was King of France from 1498- January 1, 1515. Birth Louis XII, King of France was born on June 27, 1462 in the Chateau de Blois, France. The son of Charles, duc d'Orleans a. While many of the Queen's English maids were ordered to leave France, Mary Boleyn was permitted to remain, probably because of her father's connections as the new English ambassador. When Mary Tudor left France after Louis' death on January 1January 1 is the first day of the calendar year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Here a calendar year refers to the order in which the months are displayed, January to December. The first day of the medieval Julian year was usually a day other, 1515Events June Invasion of Persia by Sultan Selim I of the Ottoman Empire. August 23 Battle of Chaldiran. Selim I crushes the Persian army of Shah Ismail I. September 5 Selim captures the Persian capital of Tabriz without encountering any resistance, but is, Mary Boleyn stayed in the court of the new king and queen, Francis I and Claude de Valois. Eventually, Mary became Francis's mistressThe term mistress is the feminine form of the word master''. It has a few related meanings: A mistress is the female lover of a person, usually one who is married or in a committed relationship with another. In some systems of nobility (especially in the, the king calling her "my English mareA mare is a female horse. Mare is Latin for ocean A Lunar mare is an ancient basaltic lava floodplain on Earth's Moon, usually inside an impact basin." in his later years especially since Mary subsequently embarked on numerous affairs provoking a great scandal. Her sister Anne and her father joined her in France, both of them apparently mortified by Mary's actions. She was sent home in disgrace either in 1519 or 1520.
Shortly after going back to England, Mary married William Carey, a courtier. Henry VIII was a guest at the couple's wedding, and Mary soon became the king's lover. Popular legend states that Mary bore Henry two illegitimate children, but this seems unlikely. In fact, it appears that both of Mary's children were from her husband, William. Mary's sister was called back to England in 1522, and it is uncertain how much effect either sister had on the rising fortunes of their father, who was created a Viscount in 1525. But, by 1523/ 1524, Mary's affair with Henry was finished. That Christmas, Henry fell victim to the charms of the brilliant, bewitching and cultured Anne Boleyn. By 1527, he had proposed marriage. A year later, when Mary's husband died during an outbreak of the plague, her callous father and former royal lover both showed no intention of helping Mary in her financial plight. It was only the intercession of Anne that Mary's life improved somewhat. Mary was promised a hefty annual pension and Anne arranged for Mary's son to be educated at a respectable Cistercian monastery.
When Anne went to Calais with Henry VIII in 1532, Mary was one of Anne's companions. Anne was crowned Queen on June 1, 1533. In 1534, Mary secretly married Sir William Stafford, an usher of no rank and small income. When this was discovered in 1536, her family disowned her for marrying beneath her station, and the couple was banished from the Court. Because of this, Mary survived the trials that resulted in the execution of Anne and her brother George on charges of treason (they were falsely accused of incest) and lived out the rest of her days in anonymity with her husband. She died on 19 July 1543.