Mary Boleyn

Product Description

Mary Boleyn is remembered by posterity as a great & infamous whore. She was the mistress of two kings Francois I of France & Henry VIII of England & sister to Anne Boleyn Henry VIIIs second wife. She may secretly have borne Henry a child & it was because of his adultery with Mary that his marriage to Anne was annulled. It is not hard to see how this tangled web of relationships has given rise to rumours & misconceptions that have been embroidered over the centuries. In this the first full-scale biography of Mary Boleyn Alison Weir explodes much of the mythology that surrounds her subject & uncovers the facts about one of the most misunderstood figures of the Tudor age. Her extensive forensic research has facilitated a new & detailed portrayal in which she recounts that contrary to popular belief Mary was entirely undeserving of her posthumous notoriety as a great whore or the hackney whom the King of France famously boasted of riding. Weir also presents compelling new evidence that almost conclusively determines the paternity of Marys two oldest children. In this astonishing & riveting book Alison Weir shows that Marys story had a happy ending & that she was by far the luckiest of the Boleyns.