Things You Need to Stop Believing About Mary Boleyn
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Was Mary Boleyn really the "pretty" Boleyn sister? Did she have a long love affair with Henry VIII?
In this video, we’re diving into 11 major misconceptions about Mary Boleyn’s life, from her rumoured relationships to the true nature of her family’s ambitions.
Get ready to uncover the real story behind the myths you’ve heard in books and movies. From mistaken identities to misunderstood motives, we’ll set the record straight on one of the Tudor era’s most mysterious figures.
Henry VIII and Mary Boleyn's Children - • Henry VIII and Mary Bo...
#MaryBoleyn #TudorHistory #TheOtherBoleynGirl #BoleynSisters #HistoryUncovered #HenryVIII #AnneBoleyn
Lots of interesting information. Whilst some fiction has its place, some of it, especially as I like to call it the "Hollywoodesque" version that is there to increase viewing figures does more harm than good. Thanks for a more rounded and accurate portrayal Claire.
I don’t know. Hollywood only jumped onboard after books were written
Thank you for watching!
I like to think that the Boleyn sisters would appreciate your efforts to see their reality. They certainly sound like absolutely fascinating women. Thank you 😊
I hope so!
Hi Claire! Good video as always. I think it was you who quoted Eric Ives when he said/wrote that what we actually know about Mary Boleyn could be written on a postcard with room to spare. I think that's the most accurate statement about Mary that I've heard. What I also think is that Mary survived 1536 because she was nowhere near H8's court. Maybe she was laying low somewhere -- who knows. That's the major issue with Mary -- we just don't know a great deal about her. What is said and written about her seems to be smoke and mirrors only, no verifiable facts. Thanks again for the video!
Yes, he told me that over dinner when I was lucky enough to meet him. Yes. I think she was with Stafford far away from court.
Oh thank you Claire this is so interesting. I love Anne Boleyn and read so much about her, but I don't know much about Mary. It was surprising to know her first 2 children were not infact Henry's, as previously thought. I love Tudor history, always have. Love your channel x
I truly believe that she was involved with Henry VIII before her marriage, when Bessie Blount was pregnant, that would make make sense of the king helping to arrange her marriage, allowing it at Greenwich, attending it and giving a gift.
This happily confirms that 90+% of what is stated online is utter nonsense 😊. Very good channel by the way!
I enjoyed this so much. I do love The other Boleyn girl and the Tudors. I always try to look for the truth while I'm watching them with my phone in hand.😊
I get the same when I'm watching anything historical... which is a great way to learn actual history! :-)
I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
I think perhaps that Mary would be right pleased at being gossiped about all these centuries later! Thanks for the clarification Claire.
Yes, all the attention she's still getting!
Who knows what really happened but I’m glad Mary got to keep her head and seemed to have a reasonably happy life. Also glad that her children had a good relationship with their cousin Queen Elizabeth. Informative video as usual. Thanks.
Me too!
Thanks Claire 💜
Mary, a shadowy figure as you say, we know so little so it's easy to create storylines for her, to believe in vain when supposed facts rear their heads and try and make them stick.
One not so true facts that appeared here that I had believed in was that Mary knew King Francis intimately. Interesting to discover that there is no real evidence for this and Mary's tainted image as the great wh*re is really unfair, untrue and an assassination of a character we frustrationly knew next to nothing about 😢
Lovely to see 👀 you here Shane, and I just thought I'd say a very friendly "Hello" 👋
@@Lyndell-P Hello Lyndell 👋 🌺
Lovely to see you as always 😻
Did I tell you about my cat? I don't recall 🤔
@@Shane-Flanagan "No!" I don't believe that you did tell me about your cat 😻 but I'd love to hear about it. If you have time, leave me a reply and I'll check for it, in the morning (my time) as it is just after midnight here, so I must go to sleep. Although, I believe it is about mid afternoon where you are. "Take care" and I will look forward to hearing about your cat ... 😊 and "Goodnight" from me 🥱😴💤💤💤
The fact that she's shadowy, though, makes her perfect for fiction.
@@anneboleynfiles Double edged sword though when it comes to fiction as we've seen with Mary
Thank you for using original and contemporary sources.
My pleasure! Delving into the sources is what I love!
I don't believe that Mary's children were the kings, especially her son. Henry VIII would have acknowledged any son he had from a mistress just to add to his virility and for added proof that his lack of male heir isn't his problem, look how many sons he has outside of marriage...of course he's not the problem (rolls eyes).
I don't think H8 would acknowledge his children with Mary since he just used Mary (I believe the red headed "Henry" Carey was Henry 8 son and Catherine the red head was QE1 half sister! Mary had to vanish as many commented how "Henry" Carey looked like H8! And how would folks take to King H8 have kids by sisters!!! Henry would have been called out if he acknowledged them and QE1 would have been rejected for such....all this could be easily proven..go to Henry Carey 's grave and get DNA or Catherine Carey's DNA...but it would tarnish the Tudor crown of today!!! That's why the crown won't do it! I also think Margaret Beaufort has the 2 princes in the tower murdered to make way for her own son H7
Absolutely fascinating! I am a keen amateur genealogist and discovered only yesterday, that my husband is likely descended from Mary's son, Henry Carey.
I wanna think Elizabeth knew her aunt . Her paternal aunts wouldn’t have had much to do with her. Mary died before she was born and Margaret was on contentious terms with Henry
I'd love to think that she did know Mary.
@@anneboleynfiles aunt Mary Boleyn or aunt Mary Brandon? Cuz she had two aunt Mary. She had her aunt Jane but I don’t know if they had much to do with each other cuz Jane was busy being lady in waiting for her next 3 stepmothers
I admire Mary for getting out of that toxic court of Henry VIII. And I so pity her parents who had to continue to interact with the king after 1536. In some ways Mary was the most successful Boleyn because she escaped with her life and her known children were successful during the reign of Elizabeth. By getting far away from court, she was also never in the position of having to continue to directly flatter the king who so devastated her family.
Yes, to escape from that dangerous setting must have been wonderful for her.
@@anneboleynfiles Here's a what-if or a what was really going on question. Though it seems Mary's second marriage was for love, could other reasons have led to a quick and secret alliance? Were Henry and Anne planning to marry Mary to a powerful man she may not have liked? In any case, Mary was a commodity to use for an advantageous marriage. If Henry and Anne were thinking about that, who would likely have been chosen for such a match?
Back in 1983 I read A Passion's Reign by Karen Harper and thus began my obsession with Anne and Mary Boleyn.
🇭🇲 This was very interesting indeed. It is always good to hear the truth and/or have these many myths
'put to bed' as it were. The fact that two of Mary Boleyn's children 'did' serve their cousin, Queen Elizabeth Ist so very well (and were much trusted) always pleases me to hear - as well.
As always "thank you" so much Claire 👍😊 with much love to you and yours, from Lyndell xx 💓🫂
And love to you and Bob too!
Was literally just thinking about her today! I was wondering if, due to the fact that Anne had such atrocities made up about her, wouldn't the same be done about her sister, in order to discredit the entire Boleyn family? They talk about her supposed affair in France as if she was willing, when, by the same token, it was considered treasonous to deny a king anything. Not to mention that she likely wasn't as grandly educated as Anne was, so perhaps she didn't know what she was getting into. The fact that King Francis referred to her as an "English mare" is downright disgusting...
Yes, I think the whole Boleyn family suffered.
The king referring to her as a mare is a good indication that she was an attractive woman. I don't refer to women that way, but the French did.
The word 'pretty' is very subjective isn't it? The eye of the beholder comes to mind. I do think part of this 'problem' is that people believe fiction over the factual truth. I think Jane Boleyn is a great example, because of several fictional depictions, people believe that Jane Boleyn was a horrid woman. We will never know the actual truth unless we use a time machine and risk returning to that time period.
Yes, definitely a subjective word and it is so very hard to get at the truth about 16th century people.
@@anneboleynfiles Indeed. Its very difficult to know. It drives me crazy when people assume that dramas are historically accurate.
The French king called her a mare. The French loved their horses. The king thought she was attractive.
Thank you for setting the facts straight.
It's a pleasure.
Thank you Claire! As usual, I appreciate your insights. I agree that a lot of the myth surrounding Mary stems from Gregory's highly inaccurate and inflammatory novel The Other Boleyn Girl. She practically beatifies Mary and literally demonizes Anne. I couldn't read another of her books after that atrocity. I hope more Tudor enthusiasts find their way to your website for a more balanced, truthful look into both sisters.
There's a book entitled "Mary Boleyn" authored by Allison Weir that I've long thought about reading. I don't even know if it's classed as fiction or non-fiction. Would you recommend it as a reliable account? Love your program BTW.
It's non-fiction. I agree with Eric Ives, who once told me that what we know about Mary can be written on a postcard with room to spare, so you need to be aware that the book is more about her family, the context, the court etc. as we know very little about her.
@@anneboleynfiles Thanks Claire. I have Ives' book and in spite of being rather heavy going, I'd much rather read it than most of the other so called experts who tend to embellish and even recreate Tudor history. I've not read any of your books though and I fully intend to remedy that in future. Thanks for sharing your knowledge.
@@marvmzem2010 I think Ives is a little outdated with regards to his views on Thomas and Jane Boleyn, but otherwise his book is the Anne Boleyn bible as far as I'm concerned.
Thank you, my favourite books of mine are The Fall of Anne Boleyn, the George B one, and The Boleyns of Hever Castle.
@@anneboleynfiles Noted. Thanks again.
Mary and Anne were ambitious women who had sex appeal and used it. Anne exposed some of Henry's male insecurities and he didn't like the feeling. She played a dangerous game with a man who killed people regularly.
Anne has been described as a cold woman indifferent to her sister’s suffering yet it was Anne that sent Mary a gold cup to help her out. Some writers would have you believe that Anne wouldn’t have sent her sister her anything. So many little things that show the person Anne really was go completely under the radar or are ignored by writers completely or are twisted to make Anne into something she wasn’t. Like trying to make out Mary was in love with Henry but loved her children more where Anne didn’t love children and was about as maternal to her daughter as a rock.
very well set out. Whatever you think of the fictional accounts there is no doubt that they helped re-spark an interest in Tudor history and for that and the fact that some of the fictions are entertaining I can forgive the inaccuracies
Fascinating. You always are.
Very satisfied 😌
I'm so glad!
The Other Boleyn Girl novel and film were quite different in their portrayals of Mary and her relationship with Henry VIII. Both are clearly fictional, but the novel showed a more complicated character with more nuanced motivations and feelings. I wouldn't say that the novel depicted a great love story. There is certainly some inital infatuation and even feelings, but it is a lot more cynical. The more enduring, complicated love of the novel is the familial love between Mary and Anne.
Yes, that's true.
I believe that one of the Mary Boleyn portraits was done for one of her great or great granddaughters so it's not fully contempory but known as her by early 17th century. Rather like her sister's portraits! As yet another Mary Boleyn descendant, I was always told that Mary & her Mother were light brown haired, while Anne and George took after their father and paternal Irish grandmother. Can't prove it though!!!
I'm forever reading that Mary was blonde and Anne brunette, but unfortunately we have no contemporary descriptions of Mary.
I have always thought of the Boleyn sisters as very alike in colouring, but Mary as more rounded as Anne was slim and almost flat chested!
Yes, we known that Anne was described as having a bosom not much raised, but unfortunately we just don't know what Mary looked like.
Thank you for addressing these stories.
Thank you for watching!
A very interesting video.
It's possible that Mary was Francis' mistress but not entirely plausible. I wish that's how people framed that situation, but they don't. I can see anti-Evangelicals saying "that whole family is bad. Mary was a mistress of Francis I, so Anne is clearly a skank, too." Or it could have been made up whole cloth.
The whole "Mary was Henry's long time mistress" thing bothers me way more. Since it leads people, even supposedly well-studied and dedicated historians, to think a whole bunch of things that are very obviously not true. Henry and Catherine Carey were not Henry VIII's kids! Jeez.
Thanks you.
Though the descendents of Mary, the Boleyns are ancestors of the Current Royal family - not through Anne & Elizabeth.
Elizabeth didn't have children so, yes, that would be impossible.
I think Mary is very maligned and was probably very little as she has been perceived. The Other Boleyn Girl was a fun read, but it was also infuriating if you know the real history.
Great video Claire, Thank you!❤
Thank you for watching!
Did Elizabeth have much to do with her aunt Mary?
There's no evidence that she did, but she was close to her maternal cousins.
❤
The only thing that seems clear to me is that Henry VIII only loved himself, and MAYBE , at one point, Catalina de Aragon. He was in love with the idea of love. He "loved" Jane Seymour because she gave him a son. But I think that for all of the other women in his life, including Mary Boleyn, he was at best infatuated with them. Remember, love and lust are both four lettered words in the dictionary and are often confused for one another.
In my opinion, Mary, like Bessie Blount and Anna von Kleeves, was one of the lucky one s who got away.
Yes, I think Anne Boleyn was definitely an obsession.
He couldn't handle Anne's sex appeal around other men. He went green with jealousy, and that was a feeling he wouldn't abide.
@@freefall9832 The original portrait of her conveys very clearly that Anne was very sexy.
@@lesliemoiseauthor Her sister Mary must have been happy to get out of the kings eye.
Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth II, Diana, Princess of Wales and King Charles III are descendants of Mary Boleyn, Anne Boleyn's sister.
Yes, and William and Harry are lucky to descend from her twice over.
I am descended from Mary Boleyn thru her son Henry Carey going down the Carey thru Plummer lines to Summey, and Pennel ancestors. Even Queen Elizabeths Uncle who abdicated the Crown, his wife was a descendant of the Plummer ancestors of mine. Henry VIII 's mother Elizabeth of York was half sister to my ancestor Thomas Grey, Elizabeth Woodville 's oldest son. I had about a half dozen ancestors who were involved in the Tudor Courts. Many were executed by Henry VIII. John Dudley, Margaret Pole, 3rd Duke of Buckingham, Several Howards, Edward Seymour for starts, even a few more.
Oh good. Now history channels are getting in on the UA-cam thing of "insult your audience to get views."