Scanned by Douglas Dowell. |
We think Mary was born in 1510-15, and we know that she was at court by 1532 at the latest; she went with Anne Boleyn to Calais then, and she also served as one of her ladies-in-waiting when Anne became queen. Her significance, however, arises from a brief period in early 1535 when she seems to have had some kind of relationship with the King.
This relationship, whether a full one or not (and it is possible that it was not - given that Henry was probably suffering from periodic impotence at this stage, a "courtly" relationship might suit a man anxious to demonstrate his skill with women and anxious about his actual capacities), has provoked controversy as to its origins. Was she procured deliberately, either by the Duke of Norfolk as a possible replacement for or challenge to Anne, or by the queen herself so as to replace a previous favourite who was hostile to the Boleyns and supportive of the Lady Mary's claims?
The seriousness of the king's amours during this period can be easily overstated. Since Anne Boleyn had set the precedent and while she failed to produce a male heir, there was always the possibility that (for whatever reason) she might be set aside and replaced. However, given that not even the name of the lady prior to (probably) Mary survives, that relationship should not be taken too seriously; while there is precious little evidence to suggest that Henry's relationship with her was ever a danger to Anne; the Imperial Ambassador, Eustace Chapuys (the queen's inveterate enemy) describes her as "first cousin of the concubine, daughter of the new governess of the princess [Mary]". That description really says it all. (Incidentally, her link to the queen was via the Boleyn side rather than the Howards - making her a less than obvious candidate for Norfolk to put forward.)
The main question is whether Anne deliberately put her before her husband's eye. It seems to me that this underestimates the queen's position in February 1535, when the affair began. Chapuys' despatches, as ever during Anne's tenure as queen, fit the usual pattern of periodic hopes that the Boleyns' position might be weakening followed by doubt; while quarrels with Henry were a normal part of the king's second marriage. Both Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII had tempers, and the relationship was based originally on emotional commitment; inevitably, the relation was a temperamental one. The Venetian ambassador reported in June 1535, for instance, that Henry had had more than enough of his second wife; a fortnight later, the returning French ambassador said she was very much in charge. The queen, therefore, had no particular need to procure more amenable mistresses for her husband; and it sits ill with her normal reaction to such affairs. It seems likely that the affair with Mary was a brief amour triggered simply by interest on the king's part.
Mary's own reputation seems to have been a lively one. She was apparently committed to be married to Henry Norris, one of Anne Boleyn's closest allies; the queen, however, reproached Francis Weston at least once for repeated flirting with Mary! Norris' execution in May 1536 obviously eliminated that match; but interestingly enough, in January 1538 (after Jane Seymour's death) rumour suggested that Mary might be a future bride to the king. (This may have been linked to Thomas Boleyn; after the death of his son and daughter, he may have wanted to try and recover some of his position.) The match was never a serious prospect, however, and in 1546 it seems she married Sir Anthony Heveningham and had five children by him. Anthony died in 1557, and she remarried to Philip Appleyard in 1558. She died in 1570 or 1571.