1. Mary Boleyn was one of the mistresses of Henry VIII for an unknown period.
19 Facts About Mary Boleyn
2.
Mary Boleyn was rumoured to have been a mistress of Henry VIII's rival, King Francis I of France, for some period between 1515 and 1519.
3.
Mary Boleyn was married twice: in 1520 to William Carey, and again, secretly, in 1534, to William Stafford, a soldier from a good family but with few prospects.
4.
Mary Boleyn died seven years later, having spent the remainder of her life in obscurity.
5.
Mary Boleyn was probably born at Blickling Hall, the family seat in Norfolk, and grew up at Hever Castle, Kent.
6.
Mary Boleyn was the daughter of a wealthy diplomat and courtier, Thomas Boleyn, later Earl of Wiltshire, by his marriage to Elizabeth Howard, the eldest daughter of Thomas Howard, then Earl of Surrey and future 2nd Duke of Norfolk, and his first wife Elizabeth Tilney.
7.
Mary Boleyn was given the conventional education deemed essential for young ladies of her rank and status, which included the basic principles of arithmetic, grammar, history, reading, spelling and writing.
8.
Mary Boleyn remained in England for most of her childhood until she was sent abroad in 1514 around the age of fifteen when her father secured her a place as maid-of-honour to the King's sister, Princess Mary Boleyn, who was going to Paris to marry King Louis XII of France.
9.
Mary Boleyn was joined in Paris by her father Sir Thomas and her sister Anne, who had been studying in France for the previous year.
10.
Mary Boleyn returned to England in 1519, where she was appointed a maid-of-honour to Catherine of Aragon, the queen consort of Henry VIII.
11.
At some point, Mary Boleyn became Henry's mistress; the starting date and duration of the liaison are unknown.
12.
Mary Boleyn's husband had left her with considerable debts, and Anne arranged for her nephew to be educated at a respectable Cistercian monastery.
13.
In 1534, Mary Boleyn secretly married an Essex landowner's younger son: William Stafford.
14.
Queen Anne was furious, and the Boleyn family disowned Mary.
15.
Mary Boleyn admitted that she might have chosen "a greater man of birth" but never one that should have loved her so well, nor a more honest man.
16.
Mary Boleyn asked Cromwell to speak to her father, her uncle, and her brother, but to no avail.
17.
Mary Boleyn has been the central character in three novels based on her life:.
18.
Mary Boleyn's novel spawned five others in the same series but drew criticism for its lack of historical accuracy.
19.
Mary Boleyn is a character in several films and television series:.