Post by Mary Boleyn on Jun 11, 2010 22:23:43 GMT 1
born c. 1499 - died July 19, 1543
Character's backstory: famous for being the mistress of two kings, Francis I and Henry VIII. Older sister of Anne Boleyn (evidence from a letter written by Mary's grandson to Elizabeth I, claiming the Ormonde title on the basis of Mary being the elder sister; Elizabeth accepted the claim). When she was still a young girl, her father secured her a position as a maid of honor to Mary Tudor in 1514 when she was to journey to France to become the wife of Louis XII. Mary remained in Paris after the wedding and stayed at court until she was recalled in 1519. There were rumours at the time that the reason Mary's family recalled her home was due to her numerous scandalous affairs with various men at the French court, including Francis I and his courtiers. Mary was wed to Sir William Carey, a minor noble, in February of 1520 at Greenwich, a match arranged by their two families and attended by Henry VIII. Soon after her marriage she began an affair with Henry which would last four to five years.
After (some say during) her affair with the king she gave birth to two children, Catherine and Henry, whom her husband William Carey claimed as his own. Mary was widowed in 1528 when her husband died of illness. She later remarried a commoner, Sir William Stafford. See below *
Gentility: daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, and Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Position: maid of honor to Princess Mary Tudor, Lady in Waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon
Personality type: flirtatious, scandal seems to follow her where ever she goes. Mary was considered more conventionally beautiful than Anne but lacked her sister's style intellect, and wit. Rash and emotional.
Signature look: appearance unknown, but likely attractive and fairer than her younger sister. Said to be the fair Boleyn with light complexion and golden hair, the opposite of her sister Anne. One portrait, a late copy of an early original, survives: hair colour is unknown, but she has large dark eyes.
Endearing trait(s): probably married her second husband, Stafford, (1534) out of love despite her family disowning her as a result. Both Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were outraged at her not following protocol; Henry VIII was offended at having an obscure member of the minor gentry as his brother-in-law. The Staffords spent the remainder of their live residing in the countryside. Mary had several children by Stafford. Upon Lady Rochford's (George Boleyn's wife) death in 1542, she inherited the entirety of the Boleyn fortune.
Annoying trait(s):A certain brashness in flouting convention by having affairs & a lack of ambition.
Nicknames: "The English Mare" - Francis I, King of France described her as "una grandissima ribalda, infame sopra tutti" ("a great prostitute, infamous above all")
Character's backstory: famous for being the mistress of two kings, Francis I and Henry VIII. Older sister of Anne Boleyn (evidence from a letter written by Mary's grandson to Elizabeth I, claiming the Ormonde title on the basis of Mary being the elder sister; Elizabeth accepted the claim). When she was still a young girl, her father secured her a position as a maid of honor to Mary Tudor in 1514 when she was to journey to France to become the wife of Louis XII. Mary remained in Paris after the wedding and stayed at court until she was recalled in 1519. There were rumours at the time that the reason Mary's family recalled her home was due to her numerous scandalous affairs with various men at the French court, including Francis I and his courtiers. Mary was wed to Sir William Carey, a minor noble, in February of 1520 at Greenwich, a match arranged by their two families and attended by Henry VIII. Soon after her marriage she began an affair with Henry which would last four to five years.
After (some say during) her affair with the king she gave birth to two children, Catherine and Henry, whom her husband William Carey claimed as his own. Mary was widowed in 1528 when her husband died of illness. She later remarried a commoner, Sir William Stafford. See below *
Gentility: daughter of Sir Thomas Boleyn, Earl of Wiltshire, and Lady Elizabeth Howard, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Norfolk
Position: maid of honor to Princess Mary Tudor, Lady in Waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon
Personality type: flirtatious, scandal seems to follow her where ever she goes. Mary was considered more conventionally beautiful than Anne but lacked her sister's style intellect, and wit. Rash and emotional.
Signature look: appearance unknown, but likely attractive and fairer than her younger sister. Said to be the fair Boleyn with light complexion and golden hair, the opposite of her sister Anne. One portrait, a late copy of an early original, survives: hair colour is unknown, but she has large dark eyes.
Endearing trait(s): probably married her second husband, Stafford, (1534) out of love despite her family disowning her as a result. Both Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn were outraged at her not following protocol; Henry VIII was offended at having an obscure member of the minor gentry as his brother-in-law. The Staffords spent the remainder of their live residing in the countryside. Mary had several children by Stafford. Upon Lady Rochford's (George Boleyn's wife) death in 1542, she inherited the entirety of the Boleyn fortune.
Annoying trait(s):A certain brashness in flouting convention by having affairs & a lack of ambition.
Nicknames: "The English Mare" - Francis I, King of France described her as "una grandissima ribalda, infame sopra tutti" ("a great prostitute, infamous above all")
