Mark Smeaton was one of the men who fell during Anne Boleyn's downfall. Anne Boleyn's downfall came as a result of her being accused of extramarital affairs. Anne Boleyn was accused of having extramarital affairs with five men. Those men were: her own brother, George Boleyn, Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton and Mark Smeaton. The simple answer to that question is that Mark Smeaton was probably tortured. He was the only man of the five accused to be tortured. The other men were of noble stock. And therefore, could not be tortured. People will say anything to relieve the pain of torture. Therefore, we can't take his confession as seriously as we would from a person not under the duress of torture. It could be argued that since Mark Smeaton never retracted his guilty plea, he was, in fact, guilty of what he was accused of - having an extramarital affair with the Queen. However, it is not that simple. There could be many reasons as to why Mark never retracted his confession of guilt. One reason could be that he feared being tortured again. Or, he feared that he would have a more brutal death reinforced on him. Initially, Mark Smeaton was bound to be hung, drawn and quartered. However, he was granted a more merciful death of a beheading. Another reason why Mark may not have retracted his guilty plea was, that he did think that he was guilty. Perhaps not in the way that we think. Or even in the way that he was accused of. It's possible that he was attracted to Anne Boleyn. It's also possible that he saw her in a lustful way, or even was in love with her. While studying history and historical events, we have to try and set ourselves in the scene. Like an actor. We have to sometimes forget about our foreknowledge of events, or events. And place ourselves in the event. Or placing ourselves inside the shoes of another person. The person that we are studying. How would that person react? What would their thoughts be of the situation? What is the norms, values and thoughts of that society, at that particular time? Doing this, it makes it easier for us to try and get a better understanding of the situation at hand. It helps us in the case of Mark Smeaton because, if he genuinely did believe that he ''...deserved the death...'' that was given to him. Why did he believe that he deserved that death? Of course, he could have had an extramarital affair with Anne Boleyn. But. It also could be something less obvious to us. It could have been that his thoughts were impure of Anne. His guilt may have all been in his own mind. We have to remember that people in Tudor England had a very different view of marriage, relationships and lust. Especially towards a royal, such as Anne Boleyn. If Mark Smeaton did have impure thoughts of Anne, that would alone would have cost Mark Smeaton his life. Henry would have beheaded him. Could we be so sure of that? Yes and no. Nothing is ever certain when we are talking about Henry VIII. But. If we look at his behaviour from other instances, a good indicator how he probably would have acted, then Smeaton would have lost his life. If we look at how Henry VIII reacted to Thomas Culpepper when he found out that he was having an affair with Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, then yes. Of course, an affair is far more serious than lustful thoughts. However, we should not put it past Henry VIII that he would have taken such drastic action. Look at how he executed Thomas Moore for not signing the the letter which would have annulled Henry VIII and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon's marriage. When it comes to Henry VIII, we are best assuming the worst. Yes, Henry VIII is a fascinating monarch. You could even call him a great monarch, great doesn't necessarily mean good. But, at the same time, Henry VIII was a tyrant who didn't really show compassion or mercy. Back to Mark Smeaton. Mark Smeaton's Early Life Mark Smeaton started his life from a humble background, he was a commoner. Unlike the other men who were accused of having adultery with the Queen. The other four men were nobles. Mark was not. Because Mark Smeaton was a commoner, we know little about his early life. Mark Smeaton was likely Flemish, of Flemish-born origin. This is thought because of his surname, Smeaton. Which he most likely changed when he arrived in England. It's unclear when exactly Mark moved to England. But, we do know that he was promoted to the position of Groom in the Privy Chamber, by Cardinal Wolsey in 1529. Mark was born sometime in 1512. Therefore, somewhere between that time frame Mark moved to England and set up home there. He started his journey to Henry VIII's court by being a singer in the choir of the Chapel Royal. It is also thought that Mark was talented in things such as dancing and poetry. Downfall and arrest Smeaton's downfall and arrest came in 1536. He was only a young man at the time. Though, his exact age at the time of his downfall is unknown and disputed. He was arrested on the 30th of April 1536. It is thought that Smeaton was taken to his own home by Thomas Cromwell and tortured there. Anne was either aware that Smeaton had been arrested, or she noticed his absence. Either way, alarm bells must have started ringing for her. He was sent to the Tower of London on May Day, at 6 PM. It was while at the Tower of London, Smeaton was thought to have been further tortured. Here, he was alleged to confess to having extramarital affairs with the queen. And, implementing the four other men: Francis Weston, Henry Norris, William Brereton and the Queen's own brother, George Boleyn. Smeaton was condemned to death on the 12th of May 1536. The other four men were also condemned to death on the same day. He was executed on the 17th of May that year, at Tower Hill. Other posts you may like:
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