Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore Read online

  Copyright © 2011 by Alison Weir

  Published simultaneously in the United States of America by Ballantine Books, an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York

  Originally published by Jonathan Cape, a division of Random House Group Limited, London, as Mary Boleyn: The Great and Infamous Whore

  All rights reserved. The use of any part of this publication reproduced, transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, or stored in a retrieval system, without the prior written consent of the publisher – or, in case of photocopying or other reprographic copying, a licence from the Canadian Copyright Licensing Agency – is an infringement of the copyright law.

  Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication

  Weir, Alison

  Mary Boleyn : mistress of kings / Alison Weir.

  eISBN: 978-0-7710-8923-7

  1. Boleyn, Mary, 1508-1543. 2. Henry VIII, King of England, 1491-1547 – Relations with women. 3. Great Britain – Kings and rulers – Paramours – Biography.

  4. Great Britain – History – Henry VIII, 1509-1547. I. Title.

  DA335.B66W45 2011 941.05′2092 C2011-902219-2

  We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry Development Program and that of the Government of Ontario through the Ontario Media Development Corporation’s Ontario Book Initiative. We further acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts and the Ontario Arts Council for our publishing program.

  Title-page photograph: © iStockphoto

  McClelland & Stewart Ltd.

  75 Sherbourne Street

  Toronto, Ontario

  M5A 2P9

  www.mcclelland.com

  Cover design: Marietta Anastassatos

  Cover images: Corneille de Lyon, portrait of a woman (Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow/Scala/Art Resource, N.Y.), “Tudor Rose,” wallpaper designed by S. Scott and produced by Cole & Sons, after a design by Augustus Charles Pugin for the Houses of Parliament, 1845–50 (Victoria & Albert Museum/Bridgeman Art Library International)

  v3.1

  Preface

  I owe a debt of gratitude to several kind people for their assistance with this book. To Nicola Tallis, who is surely destined to be one of our great popular historians of the future, for so generously sending me her research paper and numerous related documents on Mary Boleyn, and for encouraging me to write this book and listening so enthusiastically to my arguments. To Douglas Richardson, for emailing me so much helpful information and for his very judicious observations on the paternity of Mary’s Carey children. To Anthony Hoskins, for so kindly sending me copies of his article “Mary Boleyn’s Carey Children” and his unpublished responses to Lady Antonia Fraser’s views on that article, with other related essays, letters, and press cuttings. Anthony, we may not agree on all points, but it was so generous of you personally to share all this, and your conclusions, with me. To Carole Richmond, who—just as I was finishing revising the text—very kindly drew my attention to, and sent me, Elizabeth Griffiths’ groundbreaking article on the Boleyns at Blickling, which has proved invaluable. To Josephine Wilkinson, author of Mary Boleyn, for assistance with sources and permission to publish her theory on the “sister” who was present when Anne Boleyn miscarried in 1536.

  I should like to thank my historian friends, Tracy Borman, Sarah Gristwood, Siobhan Clarke, and Susan Ronald, for all the lively discussions about this book, and their professional support while I was writing it.

  My agent, Julian Alexander—is it really twenty-three years we’ve been working together?—has been, as ever, enthusiastic and dynamic in his advocacy of my work, and always a friendly and encouraging voice at the other end of the phone. In a year in which we have set up my own historical tours company, at Julian’s suggestion, he has worked indefatigably to get us off the ground while supporting me in my writing career. That’s some feat!

  I wish also to thank my professional colleagues, Siobhan Clarke and John Marston, for shouldering many of the administrative burdens of Alison Weir Tours Ltd., so that I could get on with finishing this book. And to my lovely husband, Rankin, the mainstay of my life, thank you for shouldering nearly everything else, and for the occasional glass of wine placed on my desk when the stress gets too much!

  I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my dear mother, Doreen Cullen, for all her selfless support of my work over the years, and for her unending enthusiasm, praise, and encouragement.

  I am singularly blessed in having three outstanding editors. A huge thank-you goes to my commissioning editor, Will Sulkin, and to my editorial director, Anthony Whittome, without whose brilliant creative support and boundless interest and enthusiasm this work would not be in print. I want to thank you also, Tony, for all the excellent work you have done on my books over the past twelve years, and for being such a wonderful friend. I feel very privileged to be one of the authors you have chosen to work with following your much-lamented retirement. I have learned so much from you, and it is thanks to you that I am much more knowledgeable about writing and publishing books than I was twelve years ago.

  I wish also to acknowledge all the support and advice given to me by my American editor, Susanna Porter, and her lovely team, who welcomed me so warmly to New York last summer. I’d like to make special mention of my publicists too: Lisa Barnes at Ballantine, Clara Womersley at Jonathan Cape, and Ruta Liormonas at Doubleday, and to thank them for all their hard and highly professional work on my behalf, and for making publicity such fun.

  Finally, I should like to acknowledge all the efforts put in on my behalf by the unsung heroes of the publishing team at Jonathan Cape and Random House, notably: Neil Bradford, Sophie Hartley, and Kay Peddle.

  I thank you all, from the bottom of my heart.

  Alison Weir

  Carshalton, Surrey

  January 2011

  Contents

  Cover

  Title Page

  Copyright

  Preface

  Illustrations

  Introduction

  Genealogical Tables

  1. The Boleyns

  2. The Carey Connections

  3. The Careys

  4. The Knollys Connections

  5. The Stafford Family

  1. The Eldest Daughter

  2. The Best of Husbands

  3. Into the Realm of France

  4. A Very Great Whore?

  5. William Carey, of the Privy Chamber

  6. The Assault on the Castle of Virtue

  7. Living in Avoutry

  8. Hiding Royal Blood

  Photo Insert

  9. The Sister of Your Former Concubine

  10. In Bondage

  11. High Displeasure

  12. A Poor Honest Life

  Appendix I Of Her Grace’s Kin

  Appendix II Portraits of Mary Boleyn and William Carey

  Select Bibliography

  Notes and References

  Dedication

  Other Books by This Author

  About the Author

  Illustrations

  Called “Mary Boleyn,” artist unknown, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle Ltd, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Called “Mary Boleyn,” artist unknown, The Royal Collection, Palace of Holyroodhouse, Edinburgh. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Miniature of an unknown woman by Lucas Horenbout, The Trustees of the 9th Duke of Buccleuch’s Chattels Fund

  Miniature of an unknown woman by Lucas Horenbout, Royal Onta
rio Museum. With permission of the Royal Ontario Museum © ROM

  Thomas Boleyn, brass in Hever Church, c.1539. Photo reproduced by courtesy of H. Martin Stuchfield

  Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk, artist unknown, Arundel Castle, Sussex. Photo: His Grace The Duke of Norfolk, Arundel Castle/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Blickling Hall, Norfolk, drawing by Edmund Prideaux, c.1725. Photo: © English Heritage. NMR. From the collection at Prideaux Place. Reproduced with permission

  Anne Boleyn, artist unknown, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Andy Williams/Photolibrary

  The Yule Log by Robert Alexander Hillingford, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle Ltd, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  The courtyard at Hever, engraving by Joseph Nash, 1849. Photo: Mary Evans Picture Library

  Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn at Hever, engraving by Joseph Nash, 1849. Photo: Mary Evans Picture Library

  Henry VIII, artist unknown, c.1520, National Portrait Gallery, London. Photo: Art Media/HIP/TopFoto

  Henry VIII by Lucas Horenbout, c.1525/6, Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge. Photo: Fitzwilliam Museum, University of Cambridge, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Katherine of Aragon with a pet monkey, artist unknown, private collection. Photo: Private Collection/Photo © Philip Mould Ltd, London/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Elizabeth Blount, memorial brass, c. 1539–40, British Museum, London. © The Trustees of the British Museum

  Greenwich Castle, detail from a drawing by Anthony van der Wyngaerde, 1558, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Photo: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Henry Fitzroy, Duke of Richmond and Somerset, miniature by Lucas Horenbout, c.1533–4, The Royal Collection. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Letter from Anne Boleyn to her father, written at La Veure, 1514, Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. Reproduced with permission of The Master and Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, MS 119, p. 21

  Mary Tudor, Queen of France, sister of Henry VIII, artist unknown, French school, c.1514, Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris. Photo: Musée des Arts Décoratifs, Paris, France/Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Tournai tapestry depicting the marriage of Louis XII and Mary Tudor in 1514, c.1525, Hever Castle, Kent. Photo: Hever Castle Ltd, Kent, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  François I, King of France, School of Jean Clouet, Musée Condé, Chantilly. Photo: Musée Condé, Chantilly, France/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Claude de France, Queen of France, tomb sculpture by Pierre Bontemps, 1549, Basilica of St. Denis, Paris. Photo: Manuel Cohen/Getty Images

  Print of Hôtel de Cluny, Paris, c.1835. Photo: Mary Evans Picture Library

  Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor, wedding portrait by an unknown artist, c.1515, from a private collection. Reproduced with permission

  The “Donjon d’Anne” Boleyn at Briis-sous-Forges. Photo © Véronique Pagnier

  William Carey portrait, possibly by Hans Holbein, private collection

  William Carey, copy of a lost Elizabethan portrait, collection unknown, © reserved. Photograph National Portrait Gallery, London

  Greenwich Palace drawing by Anthony van der Wyngaerde, 1558, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. Photo: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, UK/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Nicholas Bourbon, drawing by Hans Holbein, 1535, The Royal Collection. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Syon Abbey, painting by Jonathan Foyle, 2004, © Jonathan Foyle, www.built.org.uk

  Sir John Russell, drawing by Hans Holbein, The Royal Collection. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Mary Boleyn’s signature, The National Archives, Lisle Papers, S.P. 3/6, 23

  Anne of Cleves, miniature by Hans Holbein, 1539, Victoria & Albert Museum, London. Photo: V&A Images/Alamy

  Probably Katherine Howard, miniature by Hans Holbein, The Royal Collection. Photo: The Royal Collection © 2011 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Henden Manor, Kent. Photo: Brian Shuel/Collections Picture Library Rochford Hall, Essex. Photo: Pamaer.org/Getty Images

  St. Andrew’s Church, Rochford, exterior. Photo: John Whitworth, www.essexchurches.info

  Henry Carey, Lord Hunsdon, 1591, artist unknown, Berkeley Castle, Gloucestershire. With grateful thanks to the Berkeley Castle Charitable Trust

  Elizabeth I by Steven van der Meulen, c.1563. Photo: World History Archive/Alamy Lord Hunsdon’s tomb in Westminster Abbey. Photo: © Dean and Chapter of Westminster

  Portrait of a pregnant lady, probably Katherine Carey, Lady Knollys by Steven van Der Meulen, 1562, Paul Mellon Collection, Yale Center for British Art. Photo: Yale Center for British Art, Paul Mellon Collection, USA/The Bridgeman Art Library

  Tomb of Katherine Carey and Sir Francis Knollys in Rotherfield Greys Church, Oxon, Photo: John Ward, Aston Rowant, Oxfordshire

  Introduction

  Mary Boleyn has gone down in history as a “great and infamous whore.” She was the mistress of two kings, François I of France and Henry VIII of England, and sister to Anne Boleyn, Henry VIII’s second wife. She may secretly have borne Henry a child. It was because of his adultery with Mary that his marriage to Anne was declared invalid. It is not hard to see how this tangled web of covert relationships has given rise to rumors and myths that have been embroidered over the centuries, and particularly in recent years, so that the truth about Mary has become obscured. In all my years of writing women’s histories, I have never tackled a subject who has been so romanticized, mythologized, and misrepresented.

  It may seem strange, in the pages that follow, to see popular history books, some of them decades out of date, compared with serious academic studies, and yet the former are important because it is through them that the mythology of Mary Boleyn has been largely created, nurtured, and reaffirmed; and it is helpful to see where and how misconceptions originated.

  Everyone knows Henry VIII as the king who married six times. His matrimonial adventures have been a source of enduring fascination for centuries, and the interest shows no sign of abating. On the contrary, in the wake of Philippa Gregory’s The Other Boleyn Girl (2001), the two film versions of it, and the successful (but alarmingly inaccurate) TV drama series The Tudors, it has been elevated to a virtual obsession, as one can see reflected only too clearly in numerous websites and blogs on the Internet, where historical personages like Anne Boleyn now have what are essentially fan clubs. We have also witnessed a disconcerting blurring of the demarcation line between fact and historical fiction in the public’s eye.

  Comparatively little is known or understood about Henry VIII’s extramarital adventures. Most recent popular history books have thrown little new light on that subject, or have merely confused it further, and thanks to them, and to the widespread appeal of The Other Boleyn Girl, many people have the wrong idea about the woman whom that novel has made the most famous of Henry’s mistresses, Mary Boleyn. Was she really such a “great and infamous whore” with a notorious reputation? Is it true that the King was the father of her children? I am often asked these and numerous questions about Mary, and am constantly being made aware, not only of various misconceptions that are accepted as facts by a majority, but also that many others who are well-informed on the subject wonder why Mary Boleyn is so misrepresented. It is for these reasons—and because I have done a lot of unpublished research on her over four decades—that I have written a biography of Mary.

  Mary Boleyn represents only one short episode in Henry VIII’s checkered love life; all we can say with certainty is that she was his mistress for a short period while he was married to his first wife, Katherine of Aragon. Mary’s true historical significance—and importance—lies in the implications of her royal affair for her more celebrated sister, A
nne Boleyn.

  My interest in Mary, and my research, goes back to the 1960s, when she was regarded as little more than a footnote to history—in which obscurity she remained until the publication of Philippa Gregory’s novel. Since then I have written about Mary briefly in three books: The Six Wives of Henry VIII, Henry VIII: The King and His Court, and The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn, while my unpublished research comes from my extensive original version of The Six Wives of Henry VIII, written in 1974. A serious historical treatment of Mary Boleyn is long overdue. There has been just one admirable, but sadly brief, study by Josephine Wilkinson; I understand that Dr. Wilkinson was constrained by a disadvantageous word limit when she had so much more to say, and she has most generously agreed that I can claim that this is the first full biography of Mary.

  Recently, in The Tudors, Henry VIII has been portrayed as a great lover and sensualist. Many people are asking if this is true! Although the evidence is fragmentary, there are many tantalizing references in contemporary sources that can help provide an answer to the paramount question: what was Henry VIII like as a lover? Was he the virile Adonis portrayed in The Tudors? Was he, in fact, a bit of a prude in bed? The answers to these questions necessarily have a bearing on Henry’s relations with Mary Boleyn, and they form a part of this book.

  Having had some experience in constructing women’s histories from fragmentary source material—in, for example, Eleanor of Aquitaine; Queen Isabella; and Mistress of the Monarchy: The Life of Katherine Swynford, Duchess of Lancaster—and having collated information on Mary Boleyn and Henry VIII’s extramarital career for earlier books and projects, I had a good basis for crafting what has turned out to be an unexpectedly fascinating—and astonishing—story from the surviving evidence relating to Mary Boleyn’s life. In her case, the sources are richer than for those medieval ladies, for she lived in an age of flowering literacy and diplomacy, and we have far more insights into her existence through letters, diplomatic dispatches, and archival records than is the case with any medieval women.