At the time of his downfall, Mark Smeaton was the court musician at the court of Henry VIII. There is very little known about Mark Smeaton's early life. This is largely down to his low status. Even though Mark Smeaton was privileged enough to have a position in the Royal Court. He wasn't regarded as having a high position in the court, he was not thought to be part of Anne Bolyen's inner circle. Smeaton was unlikely to have been born into the nobility. He was likely to have been born into a low status family. Most of what we do know about Mark Smeaton is about his talents. He was thought to be very talented in the arts. Smeaton was a very talented musician. However, he is also thought to have been a talented singer and dancer.
Even though Smeaton was well established, and probably well known, in the court, there is not much known about him. This is likely to be for two reasons. The first, is that he was of low social birth. And the second was that given he was only 23 years old at the time of his execution, it probably did not spend that long at court.
Smeaton was one of the five men which was accused of having an affair withQueen Anne Bolyen. All five men, which included Mark Smeaton, were executed on the 17th of May 1536. There was little to no evidence against the men. Most historians agree that Smeaton, Anne, and the four other men, including her brother, were all innocent.
Interestingly, Smeaton was the only man who confessed to having an affair with the Queen. The confession which came from Smeaton, came when he was being tortured. Smeaton's confession likely came through wanting the torture to stop, rather than it being something of genuine meaning. Because of his perceived low status, Mark Smeaton was the only man to be tortured. Nobility could not be tortured. And therefore, the other four men never were tortured. Smeaton was executed along with the other four men on May 17th 1536.
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On this day in history George Boleyn, brother to Anne Boleyn, was executed on this day, along with four other men. His alleged crime? Committingincest with his sister Anne. And acting in a treason-like manner with his alleged actions against the king. These allegations against George and Anne would secure both of their downfalls, and the downfalls of four other men. However, before we get to the end of George's story, we must start at the beginning.
George Boleyn is thought to have been born sometime inApril 1504 at Blickling Hall in Norfolk. He was born into a wealthy, well established, aristocratic family. His father was Thomas Boleyn, a politician who was a cold and calculating figure. So much so, that his children became pawns in quest for power. His mother was Elizabeth Boleyn, who was also of nobel birth. The fates might have been against George towards the end of his short life. But, he certainly was a winner in the lottery of birth.
George was one of three siblings. One of his siblings is of course, Anne Boleyn. His other sister is Mary Boleyn. From different sources we can be certain that George was born in 1504. What historians have debated is the age of the three Boleyn siblings. Due to the uncertainty of when Anne Boleyn and Mary Boleyn were born. With the information that we know now, it is likely that George was the youngest of the three. There was two other siblings of George, Anne and Mary. However, neither two siblings reached adulthood.
We do not know much about George Boleyn's early life. There is one thing that we do know, the fact that he would have been educated and intelligent. He likely spoke French, as well as English. Had a thorough knowledge of music. And, he could read and write. Something which was rare in the Tudor era, reserved only for the extremely wealthy.
It is also clear that George, like his sister Anne, lived abroad in his early years. Other than this, we don't really know anything about him. Or his time abroad. The only detailed account that we have of George's life is in his latter years. Most of what we know about George comes from 1529 to 1536, the last six or seven years of his life. George Boleyn starts to become prominent figure in 1529 when, at 27 years old, he becomes a member of the Privy Council a group of specially appointed advisers to the ruling monarch, by the ruling monarch. The Privy Council is a group which still surprisingly and controversially is still active today. By the time that George was appointed member of the Privy Council, he was well into his marriage. He married a nobel woman called Jane Parker. A woman who would become the infamousLady Jane Rochford Boleyn. Jane would become infamous because of her damaging evidence towards her husband and sister-in-law. It is through Jane that the allegations of George and Anne committing incest came to fruition. There is debate however about whether or not Jane did actually betray her husband and her sister-in-law. Which is discussed in the book 'Jane Boleyn: The infamous Lady Rochford'. Later in Jane's life, she suffered a full mental breakdown and was declared insane. It could be argued that she was mentally ill for longer than that. Given her strange behavior in helping future queen Katherine Howard have an affair with Thomas Culpepper. And, it would have been silly for her to bring her husband down, knowing full well that would also be her own downfall - given at the time divorced women were not treated as kindly as divorced men. It might have been foolish of her to help create her own downfall, but it doesn't really suggest that she was mentally insane. We don't know enough about her to make judgments on her full mental and emotional health. Given that George Boleyn was speculated to be promiscuous, she probably felt resentful and unloved by him. So much so, that perhaps her words and accusations about him may have been a way to get back at him. A foolish heat of the moment decision. The rumors surrounding Jane's alleged words against her husband and sister-in-law were used opportunistically against the Boleyn's. It was words that helped bring the Boleyn's down. Regardless if they were actually based on truth or not. Even if Jane Boleyn was taken out of the picture, the same fate would have likely bestowed George, Anne and the other four men. A case was built against them. Even though the evidence is virtually non-existent. The outcome would have most likely have been the same, with or without Jane in the picture. That fate was that George, Anne, Henry Norris, Mark Smeaton, Francis Weston and William Brereton, were all sentenced to death. The five men, including George, were executed on the 17th of May 1536. Anne Boleyn was killed two days later, on the 19th of May 1536.
The10th of May 1536 was a significant day for Anne Bolyen, it was a day which would seal the fate of Anne Boleyn.
The Grand Jury of Middlesex found that Anne Boleyn was guilty of having several affairs outside of her marriage toHenry VIII. The jury found that Anne had committed adultery with five men. One of those five men was her brother, George Bolyen. The second man who was found guilty of having an affair with the Queen was the court musician Mark Smeaton. The third man who was found guilty was politician and writer Sir William Brereton. Forth to be accused and found guilty was gentleman of the Privy Chamber Sir Henry Norris. And, finally, the fifth man to be found guilty was another gentleman of the Privy Chamber Sir Francis Weston.
The indictment starts off more like a rant, accusing Anne of being 'evil' and as having a ''heart of malice''. The interesting thing about the indictment is that although Anne is accused of being adulterous with these five men, the evidence seems weak, to non-existing. For example, there doesn't seem to be any mention of who is accusing her. And, there is little evidence of where these affairs took place.
If anything, the indictment provides an accusatory tone, rather than a factual tone. From the outset, it seems like a bitter and hateful attack, rather than a proper legal process.
Another thing should be taken into consideration is Henry's courting of Anne. The accusations about Anne being an adulteress doesn't seem to fit with her personality. It took Henry seven years to win over Anne. She never wanted to be the Kings mistress, like her sister Mary Boleyn was. Anne was aware of the Kings fickle nature, and his quick disregard for women he used as his mistress. Given her nature through this period of courting, it's hard to see her compromising her position, especially with the scale of the accusations thrown at her.
Although, of course it is't unthinkable or unlikely that she did have an affair. It's absolutely possible that she could have. But, on this scale, it seems unlikely. She wasn't promiscuous. And, on the basis of the evidence, or lack of evidence against her, it seems that she was innocent, rather than guilty.
We are going to look at what happened on this day inhistory on the 7th of May. These are the events which happened on this day:
. Louis XIV of France builds the Palace of Versailles in 1664 . America's oldest newspaper The Cambridge Chronicle was first published in 1846 . World War I submarine SM U-20 sinks, killing 1,198 people. 1915 . The Treaty of Moscow 1920 recognizes the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Birthdays David Hume 1711 Rabindranath Tagore_ 1861
If ever there was evidence to suggest that 'what goes around comes back around' as being authentic, then what happened to Anne Boleyn would support that.
You could say that in a very short time frame that history repeated itself in the Tudor court. Catherine Aragon was disposed of and replaced by Anne Boleyn. Several years later, Anne Boleyn was disposed of, and replace by Jane Seymour. It seems that Jane Seymour replaced Anne Boleyn in the exact same way. Anne was a Lady-In-Waiting to Catherine of Aragon, when she received the Kings affection. And, while Jane Seymour was a Lady-In-Waiting to Anne Boleyn, she received the Kings affections, and admiration. By the time Anne was gone, and Jane took her place, we can understand that Henry VIII was a fickle man. This would be proven later when he married three more times. Henry wasn't very loyal, and, in terms of romance and love, he didn't seem as if he new what he wanted. His disloyalty and fickle nature was also evident with the executions of Thomas More and Thomas Cromwell. Many suggest that it was actually Thomas Cromwell who was instrumental in Anne's downfall. But, if he was or was not responsible for her downfall, is for another blog.
Whoever, and for whatever reason that Anne Boleyn came down to earth with a bang is something that has enough gaps in the evidence to leave us guessing. However, it is something which appears to have happened very quickly. The time between her arrest, and her execution is about two weeks. Of course, it could have been something which was brewing for weeks, or even months.
What is interesting is Henry's actions towards others he executed, because he felt they betrayed him. Namely, Catherine Howard and Thomas More. Howard was given just over three months to live after she was arrested. More was given around the same time. We know that Henry was fond of both. However when it came to Boleyn, she wasn't given the same time. So, this gives us an indication that Henry wasn't as fond of Anne as Howard and More, at least at the time of her downfall and execution. Therefore, this gives us some indication that Henry indeed did want to get rid of her. Some might argue that if that was true, then he would have had Catherine Aragon and Anne of Cleeves. The thing is though, both Aragon and Cleeves were not like Anne Boleyn. Boleyn was outspoken and wasn't afraid to speak her mind, even with politicians within the court. This would have meant that she was tiresome for Henry. Whereas, you could say Aragon and Cleeves played the game of politics, and didn't speak out of turn. Something, it seems that Henry preferred in the long run.
Because of Anne Boleyn's outspoken and confrontational nature, along with the fact that she was instrumental in England's break off from Rome, that it is very likely that she had many enemies. Whether they were enemies which she had personality clashes with, or enemies because of the religious friction at the time, it is possible that instead of just one person being responsible for her downfall, there was several people responsible for her downfall.
The most obvious time that Anne Boleyn's downfall becomes evident is when she is arrested on May 2nd 1536. With Thomas More being executed almost exactly a year before Anne was arrested, perhaps many became aware that Anne was on bought time. Anne would have been more aware than anyone else how vulnerable her situation had become. She was well aware of how ruthless and unforgiving Henry was to his closest friend Thomas More a year earlier, this must have crossed her mind. |
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