The Other Boleyn Girl D
after her elicit and dangerous affair with King Henry 8 Mary Bolin fell deeply in love with Will Stafford a soldier from a poor Noble family tragically their Union was doomed to a heartbreaking end he wasn’t rich or prestigious enough to openly be with Mary so the two eloped when Mary became pregnant the king discovered their secret and flew into a rage but her nightmare was just the beginning but more on this later Mary bolin’s parents Thomas Bolin first of Earl of Wiltshire and Lady Elizabeth Howard were both Savvy courtier who knew a thing or two about social climbing according to many Thomas’s Ambitions knew no bounds and he was prepared to sacrifice almost anything to get to the top it’s no wonder that Mary ended up in the middle of some of the tor’s courts most shocking scandals there’s a reason why the Bolin seem so power hungry they’d previously suffered a dramatic
Fall From Grace no upstart to the ocracy Mary drew blood from The Dukes of norfol on her mother’s side her great-grandfather had passed while fighting against Henry toor’s forces on the side of Richard 3 when Henry tdor became king of England he demoted the men of the Bolan family to Earls nearly immediately King Louis 7 made moves to send his new wife’s English attendance home but Mary Bolin had an Ace up her sleeve her father had recently been appointed England’s ambassador to France so she was allowed to stay However just a year later Louis 7 passed Mary tador packed her bags to go back to England but Mary bin decided to stay and she may have had devious reason to following the passing of Louis 7 his son-in-law Francis 1 was crowned King of France Mary Bolin stayed in France to serve under his Queen cloud but she was hiding
a dark secret from her so-called friend it was during this time that Mary was said to have begun an illicit affair with King Francis 1 and that might not have been the only trouble she was getting into According to some Mary Bolin embarked on a number of affairs with different men during the time she was in Paris however history may vindicate her yet many historians believe that these tales about her exploits are exaggerated all for a very cruel reason after departure of Mary Tor and the coronation of Francis 1 Mary Bolin had been alone in Paris but she was soon joined by her father Thomas and her sister Anne the trio spent roughly 4 years here during which time Mary had her affair with Francis eventually the relationship ended but it wasn’t the only relationship that was souring it was around this time that the relationship between Mary Bolin and her parents Thomas and Elizabeth began to
sour according to to one historian they developed feelings of dislike for their eldest child ouch was it the affair with Francis or the rumors that spread about her either way pretty harsh no wonder she turned to others for the love and affection that she was lacking at home nevertheless the Bolin were still ambitious and jockeyed for a position for Mary in the English Royal Court little did they know that they’d be sending her down a dark and twisted Road upon her return to France she became a Made of Honor to Henry ‘s wife Catherine of Aragon putting her squarely in the notorious King’s sights at the same time Mary bolan’s parents had been doing their best to find a suitable match and soon after they came back from France they settled on one his name was William Cary and he was both third cousin and favorite courtier to Henry 8 Mary and William Cary were married on February 4
1520 but it wasn’t exactly happily ever after her it’s not known exactly when it began but one thing’s for sure soon after her marriage to William Cary Mary Bolin began an illicit affair with King Henry 8 how long did it go on did she love him the answers to many of these questions are Mysteries the pair were actually so discreet that very few accounts of the relationship exist it would come at a great expense to Mary but at first it certainly came with its own benefits while we may not know much about the affair between Mary Bolin and Henry 8 it has been speculated that one person who was close to both knew and kept it a secret for his own dark reasons that would be William Cary Mary’s husband and Henry’s friend he didn’t seem to mind sharing his wife with the King Carrie benefited from numerous prestigious appointments and manners given to him by
Henry during the course of the affair in 1524 Mary Bolin became pregnant and gave birth to a baby girl that she named Catherine Cary but soon Dark Rumors began to swirl about the young family due to the timing of Katherine’s birth many believe she may have been fathered by Henry 8 and not William Cary many even said that Catherine looked like the king however Henry 8 was way more in the sun game legitimate or not he was clearly only interested in male heirs and had already acknowledged the illegitimate son years earlier so Catherine’s parentage was something of a moot point at this point both Mary and Anne were firmly entrenched in the twoo court one would expect that they were close but Anne was an unmarried Made of Honor while Mary held the position of lady in waiting to her husband’s mistress while Mary was said to be the most beautiful
of the pair it was Anne who had inherited her parents ambitious nature and and soon enough she’d put it to good use in 1525 Mary Bolin became pregnant again if her affair with the King had survived the birth of the first child the second pregnancy was the final nail in the coffin for her affair with Henry 8 by the time that Mary’s second child Henry Cary was born the king had definitely turned his attentions elsewhere so did anyone else notice that Mary named her children Henry and Catherine the names of the alleged lover and his wife people in the court must have because once again there were Whispers that Henry KY was the king’s illegitimate son however those rumors were dispelled pretty quickly after all something way more juicy and scandalous was about to go down their Affair might have been over but what Mary a did to Mary Bolin in 1526 had to sting
regardless it was in this year shortly after the birth of Mary’s second child that the king began to publicly Pur Su her sister an if Mary was affected by this quick turn she didn’t let it show she had a position in the court to protect after all and she’d need all the help she could get considering what was in store for her and Bin had always been their parents favorite and now Henry 8 was ardently pursuing her it couldn’t have been easy for Mary Bolin but her nightmare was just beginning in 1528 a mysterious and dangerous illness swept through the twood door Court the sweating sickness as it was called soon threw a dark poor over the two door Court after the outbreak began Henry at fled his home and dissolved the court hoping to avoid it altogether the bolans retreated to their home of he Castle but sadly both anbin and William KY contracted the sickness Henry 8 sent his personal physician to care for Anne but
the prognosis for Mary’s husband wasn’t so promising under the care of the king’s doctor and Bin recovered from the sweat sickness but William Carrey wasn’t as lucky he passed on June 22nd 1528 at just 28 years old leaving his wife Mary a widow the loss was devastating but the heartache wasn’t over yet William Cary had been a successful and Wealthy courtier he had an esteemed position with the two door court and had been a favorite of Henry 8s however despite this he left behind considerable debts when he passed and the burden fell to his widow Mary Bolin she was in deep trouble but the worst was Yet to Come following the loss of her husband Mary Bolin struggled desperately to pay off her widow’s debt she’d been at the center of twoo court but now she was utterly destitute bin even began to pawn her own jewelry but it still wasn’t
enough when Mary bolin’s husband William passed on her father’s reaction was utterly coldblooded Thomas Bolin offered little financial support to Mary and the wake of her widowhood it took her sister Anne’s intervention to secure Mary a very handsome widow’s pension of €100 a year while Mary’s 10-year-old son Henry Cary was being educated at the expense of his aunt Anne the same old rumors about the boy began to follow him to the monastery some of the monks believed their pupil was in fact the illegitimate son of Henry 8 when the king continued to support Henry financially long after his father’s passing it added some weight to that theory as if having affairs with both Bowland girls wasn’t enough Henry 8 continued to have a Wandering eye but it was one that was nearsighted it’s rumored that Henry may have conducted an affair with another relative of Mary and ANS the alleged other other woman was either Mary
Shelton or her sister M both cousins to the Bolan family if it seems like Henry isn’t casting a wide net I’ll add that aristocratic families were very bred so the dating pool was very shallow Henry 8 had fallen for Anne Bolan in 1526 but unlike her sister Mary she refused his advances she didn’t want to be his mistress she wanted to be his Queen Henry scrambled to find a way to get rid of Catherine of Aragon who was approaching 40 and who had yet to Bear him any sons the ensuing drama was utterly chaotic and Mary Bolin would often get caught in the middle through it all Henry 8 had been notoriously discre about his affair with Mary Bolin however when he saw an opportunity to use it to his Advantage he finally spilled the beans see long before Henry 8 had been married to Catherine of Aragon she’d been briefly married to his brother and when he wanted to leave her
for an Bolin he used this as an excuse to have the marriage anold but knowing he’ used this excuse once he had to cover his bases to protect himself the only reason we know for sure that Henry H had affair with Mary Bolin is because he admitted to it before Marrying an he needed a dispensation for the marriage to be accepted and he had to admit that he’d been with Anne’s sister with that out of the way he was free to finally wed Anne thereby screwing Catherine of Aragon over twice each time in a different way with the same rules and Bin spent 7 years finding her time and waiting for Henry 8 to become her husband while an was popular at court and the King was known for lavishing her with gifts she was also detested by those who remained loyal to Catherine of Aragon and was even once attacked by an a angry mob of women finally after Henry 8 received his dispensation to anol his marriage to
Catherine of Aragon he was free to wet Anne bin Mary Bolin was one of Anne’s attending ladies in waiting at the latter’s coronation on June 1st 1533 if her sister marrying her ex-lover made Mary feel awkward at all she never showed it Mary bin was still struggling but as a new sister-in-law to the king she began to once again benefit from his good graces likely at the behest of his new bride Anne she’ never really reconciliated with her parents following her husband’s passing but at least she had Anne and Henry Mary was on the list of recipients of gifts from the king in 1532 and 1534 but soon enough they’d all turn on her needle work was a stand Ed part of any Noble woman’s education and Mary was no exception in 1533 she made a New Year’s gift to a black work collar crafted by her own hand that she gave to Henry 8 don’t let your mind Drift from
collars to something dirty this is well after the affair ended she was likely grateful to have made it back into the inner circle of the two door Court little did she know her days were numbered Mary bolan’s love life had been tumultuous since the beginning from her early days as the mistress to one king to her later days as the very much married mistress to another she’ known the advantages and downsides to making political matches but in 1534 something completely unexpected happened to Mary Bolin in 1534 the widowed Mary Bolin fell deeply and desperately in love but there was just one problem his name was William Stafford and he was a soldier from the noble Stafford Dynasty however he was a younger son from a lower branch that her Ultra ambitious parents would never approve there was also that little thing where Stafford wasn’t rich or prestigious enough to openly be with a king’s
sister-in-law regardless Mary was determined to be with him and she’d sacrificed it all to do it due to her status and lack thereof Mary Bullen and William Stafford only saw one option they eloped in 1534 which should have been a glorious and happy day for the couple instead set off a brutal chain reaction that would ruin their life together before it even began at first they kept their marriage a secret but soon enough the truth came out shortly after their wedding Mary Bolin became pregnant hiding a wedding is one thing but hiding a pregnancy is another especially when the entire twoo court was anxiously waiting one as the pressure was on Anne Bolin to conceive a son for the king when it became clear that Mary Bolin was pregnant the consequences were dire the truth was out not only had Mary Bolan secretly married a man beneath her station she was also pregnant by him the condemnations were Swift and brutal and Bin had given Henry
at a daughter but not the son he so desired and her sister’s unexpected pregnancy must have felt like a slap in the face in the midst of her struggles Queen Anne instantly turned on her sister but that was just the start Mary had never been her parents favorite child in fact she’d actually been their least favorite and after her father had stiffed her following the loss of her first husband the relationship between Mary and the Bolin had been a bit cold to say the least when Mary’s power hungry parents found out that she had secretly wed Amir Soldier their icy demeanor turned into white hot rage following her secret marriage Mary bolan’s parents disowned her but the nightmare didn’t end there her actions had flagrantly disregarded the king’s Authority over her as a courtier and he was Furious in the end Henry 8 had his ex-lover and current sister-in-law Mary Bolin banished from court she had lost it all her story didn’t end there from
what we can tell Mary had no misgivings about everything that she’d sacrificed for William Stafford even as Mary begged for Thomas Cromwell the king’s advisor to intercede with Anne and the King on her behalf she stood by her man and wrote I had rather beg my bread with him than to be with the greatest Queen in Christendom and I believe verily he would not forsake me to be a king was this appointed stab at her sister’s choices within a year of her secret marriage to William Stafford Mary belind gave birth to a son named Edward soon after she became pregnant again this time with a daughter she chose to name the girl an it was most likely a heartbreaking gesture to honor her a strange sister it’s not known of and learned of this tribute as the Queen’s life was filled with Troubles of her own Henry 8 had Against All Odds had his marriage to Catherine of Aragon a old when he decided to leave an Bolin he
didn’t want to take a chance on the same plan not working a second time on top of that Anne’s position at court was not exactly favorable her former Ally Thomas Cromwell had turned on her and he had a devious and chilling plan up his sleeve he conspired to have Anne imprisoned battley and treason but that wasn’t all Mary and Anne’s little brother George Bolin was detained by the authorities at the same time implicated in the same charges as his sister while an and George had always been close most historians agree that the disturbing charges against the siblings had been drummed up as a way to OU the Bolin from the two door Court after Anne had failed to deliver a male Heir it was a devastating blow but another was waiting the younger banss around the corner the ambitious Bolin parents had already disowned Mary Bolin but what Thomas Bolin did to his daughter an was even crer the sentence for the charges against Anne and her brother George was
execution as a Cate to Henry 8 Thomas bin reluctantly agreed to the sentence that was handed down to his two youngest children it was yet another brutal betrayal from the Elder Bolin and it was all for nothing Thomas was stripped of his position and left the court in disgrace both of Mary’s younger siblings were found guilty in separate trials George was brought to the scaffold for his execution on May 17 1536 in this final address to the crowd that gathered to watch he gave them a dire warning saying to not trust in the flatteries of the Court the bolans had done everything in their power to position themselves at the center of the twoo court and look where it had gotten them 2 Days Later Mary’s Sister Anne was led to the scaffold for her own execution she dressed the crowd and didn’t condemn henry8 for his betrayal even going so far to say God Save the King and send him long to Reign Over You
for a gentler nor a more merciful Prince was there never many suspect that her kind words were meant to save her remaining relatives from Henry ‘s wrath while Mary Bolin never came back to court after her Exile her daughter Catherine had an illustrious career as a professional lady in waiting to future Two Door Queens while the awkward execution of an Bolin in 1536 might have put a damper on her prospects Katherine managed to become a maid of honor to Henry forth’s and fifth Queens an of clevis and Katherine Howard she was also a close friend and chief Lady of the bed chamber to her maternal cousin Elizabeth 1 of England following the execution of her siblings Mary spent nearly a decade with her second husband on straford sh lands with little income we don’t know if it was a comfortable living but when it comes to the twoo era no news was usually good news meaning that we can
perhaps take the silence on their later life to mean that it was relatively peaceful compared to life at the court she may have been the Survivor of the family but the Bolin didn’t exactly have a long life expectancy on July 19 1543 Mary Bolin passed on she was only in her early 40s but was survived by her four children there are no records of what happened to her two children by her second husband but her first two children went on to keep the Bolan family going Mary bolan’s life was one of dramatic highs and devastating lows from her illicit Affair to King Henry 8 to her passionate and Forbidden Love for will Stafford Mary’s story is filled with Intrigue danger and Defiance despite the king’s wrath and the perilous circumstances she faced Mary remained Resolute in her love for will her determination to follow her heart even at Great personal risk speaks to
the strength and courage she possessed although their Union faced immense challenges and led to a tragic end Mary’s Legacy endures a tale of unwavering love and resilience in the face of adversity as we reflect on her life we honor a woman who defi the Norms of her time and stay true to her heart leaving behind a story that continues to captivate and Inspire thank you for joining us and exploring the remarkable and poyant journey of Mary Bolin
