1
00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:03,560
Speaker 1: Can you imagine two sisters both becoming the obsession of

2
00:00:03,600 --> 00:00:06,760
Speaker 1: a king. One became the mistress of King Henry the

3
00:00:06,800 --> 00:00:09,880
Speaker 1: eighth and one his queen. But it all came crashing

4
00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:13,160
Speaker 1: down with one of them losing her head. I'm Patty Steele.

5
00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:17,200
Speaker 1: The rise and catastrophic fall of Anne and Mary Bolin.

6
00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:25,000
Speaker 1: That's next on the backstory. The backstory is back talk

7
00:00:25,040 --> 00:00:28,440
Speaker 1: about a family story made for a Real Housewives spin off,

8
00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:30,960
Speaker 1: and I have to thank By the Way Backstory listener

9
00:00:31,080 --> 00:00:35,000
Speaker 1: Nicole Shelley for this story idea. The Bolin sisters were

10
00:00:35,080 --> 00:00:39,080
Speaker 1: aristocrats in England in the early fifteen hundreds. Their father

11
00:00:39,280 --> 00:00:42,600
Speaker 1: was an intense social climber and worked really hard to

12
00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,879
Speaker 1: get his daughters recognized by royalty. Both daughters, with their

13
00:00:46,920 --> 00:00:51,280
Speaker 1: father's encouragement, became involved with King Henry the Eighth. Henry,

14
00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:54,920
Speaker 1: of course, was the large and larger than life King

15
00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:58,120
Speaker 1: of England from fifteen oh nine to fifteen forty seven.

16
00:00:58,760 --> 00:01:03,160
Speaker 1: He was infamous for his huge appetite for food, wine,

17
00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:07,760
Speaker 1: women especially, and also for his habit of executing anybody

18
00:01:07,880 --> 00:01:09,840
Speaker 1: who got in the way of what he wanted. That

19
00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,760
Speaker 1: included two of his six wives. Mary Bolin was the

20
00:01:13,800 --> 00:01:17,400
Speaker 1: older sister of Anne Bolin. When Mary was fifteen, she

21
00:01:17,520 --> 00:01:19,800
Speaker 1: was sent to Paris as a maid of honor to

22
00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:22,960
Speaker 1: the soon to be wife of the French King. Mary

23
00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:26,039
Speaker 1: had one heck of a good time and developed a

24
00:01:26,080 --> 00:01:29,640
Speaker 1: reputation as a party girl. While in Paris, she had

25
00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 1: rumored affairs with a ton of men, including possibly French

26
00:01:34,240 --> 00:01:38,360
Speaker 1: King Francis the first One. Catholic bishop described her as

27
00:01:38,840 --> 00:01:41,360
Speaker 1: in don't get mad at me. This is a direct quote.

28
00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:45,120
Speaker 1: He called her a very great whore, the most infamous

29
00:01:45,160 --> 00:01:48,480
Speaker 1: of all. When she was nineteen, Mary went home to

30
00:01:48,560 --> 00:01:51,680
Speaker 1: England where she was appointed yet again as a maid

31
00:01:51,760 --> 00:01:55,160
Speaker 1: of honor, this time to Catherine of Aragon, the first

32
00:01:55,160 --> 00:01:58,240
Speaker 1: wife of King Henry the eighth. She got married not

33
00:01:58,400 --> 00:02:01,440
Speaker 1: long after arriving back in the England, but pretty soon

34
00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:05,000
Speaker 1: she became Henry's mistress. See what a soap opera this

35
00:02:05,120 --> 00:02:09,760
Speaker 1: really is anyway. Not long after that, her younger sister Anne,

36
00:02:09,919 --> 00:02:13,440
Speaker 1: also part of the palace social scene, caught Henry's eye.

37
00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,200
Speaker 1: She was in her early twenties. She was beautiful, cultured,

38
00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:22,520
Speaker 1: incredibly intelligent, and extremely confident. Henry was crazy about her,

39
00:02:22,720 --> 00:02:26,679
Speaker 1: and he wanted yet another Bullyn's sister. As his mistress. Now,

40
00:02:26,800 --> 00:02:30,440
Speaker 1: wouldn't that infuriate her sister Mary? Well, the two weren't

41
00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:33,359
Speaker 1: very close, so that didn't stop her. But the thing

42
00:02:33,480 --> 00:02:37,000
Speaker 1: is Anne wanted nothing to do with being his mistress.

43
00:02:37,520 --> 00:02:39,840
Speaker 1: She basically told Henry, put a ring on it if

44
00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:43,799
Speaker 1: you want me. Henry, meantime, was already done with his wife,

45
00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:47,239
Speaker 1: Queen Catherine. He wanted a male heir to the throne.

46
00:02:47,280 --> 00:02:50,600
Speaker 1: But since their marriage, Catherine had had four babies that

47
00:02:50,639 --> 00:02:53,800
Speaker 1: were either still born or died within weeks of being born.

48
00:02:54,400 --> 00:02:56,560
Speaker 1: When she had a fifth child, it was a baby

49
00:02:56,639 --> 00:02:59,840
Speaker 1: girl Mary. Henry was happy to have the little girl,

50
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 1: but really wanted a boy, and he also really wanted

51
00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:06,320
Speaker 1: Anne Bolin, so he tried to get his marriage to

52
00:03:06,400 --> 00:03:10,040
Speaker 1: Catherine and old. Now the problem is they were Catholics

53
00:03:10,120 --> 00:03:13,000
Speaker 1: and the Church wanted no part of this messy affair.

54
00:03:13,600 --> 00:03:16,720
Speaker 1: That's when Henry decided he would make himself Supreme Head

55
00:03:16,760 --> 00:03:19,960
Speaker 1: of the Church of England and separate from the Catholic Church.

56
00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:24,400
Speaker 1: That allowed him to annul his marriage to Catherine, remove

57
00:03:24,440 --> 00:03:28,320
Speaker 1: her from the palace, and marry Anne Boleyn. She was

58
00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:32,400
Speaker 1: crowned Queen in fifteen thirty three. That was everything. She

59
00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,920
Speaker 1: and her socially ambitious family wanted right well. Meantime, her

60
00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:40,920
Speaker 1: sister Mary's husband died. A few years later. Mary secretly

61
00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:43,640
Speaker 1: married a really nice guy, but with no money, and

62
00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:47,520
Speaker 1: her family banished her. She never saw Anne again, although

63
00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:51,120
Speaker 1: Anne did try to send her money from time to time. Anyway,

64
00:03:51,200 --> 00:03:55,200
Speaker 1: Anne's wedding and coronation took the Bolin family to the mountaintop,

65
00:03:55,880 --> 00:03:59,800
Speaker 1: but there was just one problem, mother nature. The queen

66
00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:03,600
Speaker 1: quickly started to lose Henry's devotion after she, just like

67
00:04:03,640 --> 00:04:06,440
Speaker 1: his first wife Catherine, failed to give him the male

68
00:04:06,520 --> 00:04:10,160
Speaker 1: heir to the throne he desperately wanted, and truthfully, the

69
00:04:10,200 --> 00:04:13,800
Speaker 1: honeymoon was over anyway. Insiders in the court said he

70
00:04:13,880 --> 00:04:18,159
Speaker 1: started to get tired of Anne's super vivacious personality, even

71
00:04:18,200 --> 00:04:20,840
Speaker 1: though that's what made her so attractive to him. Early on,

72
00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:24,400
Speaker 1: he grew suspicious of her, and at the same time

73
00:04:24,760 --> 00:04:28,240
Speaker 1: he had become infatuated with one of Anne's own ladies.

74
00:04:28,240 --> 00:04:32,039
Speaker 1: In waiting Jane Seymour. To bypass the nuisance of a

75
00:04:32,080 --> 00:04:35,720
Speaker 1: divorce and the bad press, Henry simply ordered his wife's

76
00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:41,400
Speaker 1: arrest on contrived charges of adultery, incest, witchcraft, and conspiring

77
00:04:41,480 --> 00:04:44,279
Speaker 1: to kill him. Her brother George, with whom she was

78
00:04:44,320 --> 00:04:48,280
Speaker 1: really close, was accused of incest with her. Both were

79
00:04:48,360 --> 00:04:52,080
Speaker 1: thrown into the Tower of London. A sham trial took place,

80
00:04:52,200 --> 00:04:56,040
Speaker 1: and just four days later, on May nineteenth, fifteen thirty six,

81
00:04:56,520 --> 00:04:59,520
Speaker 1: Anne and her brother were beheaded. That was just three

82
00:04:59,600 --> 00:05:04,160
Speaker 1: years after her marriage and coronation. Mary, in the meantime,

83
00:05:04,279 --> 00:05:08,520
Speaker 1: died in July of fifteen forty three, disconnected from her family,

84
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:12,600
Speaker 1: wanting too much? Can sure be a slippery slope? Oh

85
00:05:12,680 --> 00:05:15,760
Speaker 1: and by the way, their father, who had orchestrated his

86
00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:19,479
Speaker 1: daughter's right into Henry the Eighth's bed, continued to be

87
00:05:19,560 --> 00:05:23,720
Speaker 1: in the King's good graces after Anne's beheading and continued

88
00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:32,720
Speaker 1: to enjoy the good life once again. I want to

89
00:05:32,720 --> 00:05:36,599
Speaker 1: thank backstory listener Nicole Shelley for this story idea. Feel

90
00:05:36,600 --> 00:05:39,120
Speaker 1: free to DM me if, like Nicole, you have a

91
00:05:39,160 --> 00:05:41,919
Speaker 1: story you'd like me to cover. On Facebook, It's Patty

92
00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,320
Speaker 1: Steele and on Instagram Real Patty Steele and I hope

93
00:05:45,360 --> 00:05:47,960
Speaker 1: you like the backstory with Patty Steele. I would love

94
00:05:47,960 --> 00:05:51,560
Speaker 1: it if you'd subscribe or follow for free to get

95
00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:57,760
Speaker 1: new episodes delivered automatically. I'm Patty Steele. The Backstory is

96
00:05:57,800 --> 00:06:01,919
Speaker 1: a production of iHeartMedia, prem Neworks, the Elvis Durand Group,

97
00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:05,760
Speaker 1: and Steel Trap Productions. Our producer is Doug Fraser. Our

98
00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,920
Speaker 1: writer Jake Kushner. We have new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.

99
00:06:10,320 --> 00:06:12,520
Speaker 1: Feel free to reach out to me with comments and

100
00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:16,520
Speaker 1: even story suggestions on Instagram at Real Patty Steele and

101
00:06:16,600 --> 00:06:19,599
Speaker 1: on Facebook at Patty Steele. Thanks for listening to the

102
00:06:19,640 --> 00:06:23,360
Speaker 1: Backstory with Patty Steele. The pieces of history you didn't

103
00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:24,520
Speaker 1: know you needed to know.