This pair of magnets picture sisters Mary (c1499-1543) and Anne Boleyn (c1501-1536) . Novelist Philippa Gregory portrays Mary as a sweet, romantic girl beleaguered by her mean sister, Anne. History, however, records a woman described by French King Francis I as a "Great Whore," a practice apparently continued after she left France. Back home in England, marriage to William Carey didn't prevent her having an affair with King Henry VIII, who was still married to Catherine of Aragon. When Henry's eye began to roam, Mary's sister Anne found the courage to deny his sexual overtures until marriage. When Anne failed to produce an heir, Henry directed his advisors to engineer her trial for treason and resulting beheading. Mary ultimately inherited what was left of the Boleyn estates.
The girls were children of a diplomat, Thomas Boleyn, 1st Earl of Wiltshire, and Elizabeth Howard. Only one of Anne's children lived, Elizabeth I who ruled England for 50 years. Mary had two husbands and bore at least three children, resulting in a couple dozen grandchildren.
My favorite website about the Boleyns is on Opentopia.
Each magnet size: 3" x 4" (7.62cm x 10.16cm)
This is just one of a large selection of Tudor dynasty refrigerator magnets. See the entire collection.
