When Anne Boleyn went to the scaffold for her execution inside of the Tower of London,
there had already been five men who lost their heads days before on Tower Hill.
She was accused of sleeping with other men, treason and incest but today she is considered
a victim of her husband King Henry VIII.
Anne would lose her head with a French swordsman taking it from her shoulders, but much of
the evidence against her was fabricated and made up.
But there was one man who was tortured for information after being linked to Anne Boleyn.
He was the only one who it’s believed was tortured for information by Thomas Cromwell
as what he would say would lead to the execution of a Queen.
Mark Smeaton was a musician that was prominent in the court of Henry VIII and inside of the
household of Queen Anne Boleyn.
He was considered a talented singer and also a handsome musician and dancer, and he moved
from Henry VIII’s court to Queen Anne Boleyn’s.
It’s not known why he moved, and it may have been on the request of Henry or Anne,
but he played many different instruments and also joined a choir which was led by Cardinal
Wolsey.
But following the Cardinal’s fall from grace, he then became a key part of the services
inside of the Chapel Royal at Hampton Court, and he would continue to build on his musical
talents.
It’s believed that many women inside of the court found him attractive, and he would
later become a groom of the privy chamber in 1532.
It’s believed that Smeaton was never one of the Queen’s closest companions, and that
she had more favoured attendants and courtiers, as at one point Anne Boleyn would tell him
off for the way he spoke to her, but it was clear Smeaton wanted to climb the social ladder.
However at some point he became rather unhappy, and he would have then attracted the attention
of Queen Anne Boleyn who sent for him to play the Virginials.
Anne would later say that, ‘On Saturday before May Day I found him standing in the
round window in my chamber of presence, and I asked him why he was so sad, and he answered
that it was no matter.’
She then said, ‘You may not look to have me speak to you as I should do to a nobleman
because you are an inferior person.’
Smeaton then replied, ‘No no madam, a look sufficeth thus fare you well.’
However this dismissive conversation between the two would come back to haunt Anne Boleyn
and Mark Smeaton.
At the time Henry VIII was looking for ways to get rid of his second wife, and he had
his eye captured by Jane Seymour one of Anne’s ladies in waiting.
Jane was showered in gifts and she would show these off in front of her mistress Anne, and
this made the Queen intensely jealous and she knew that she was losing her husband to
another woman.
But it was clear to everyone that Henry VIII wanted to marry Jane Seymour and make her
his third wife, and also the fact Anne had not given the King a male heir brought much
tension towards her.
But Henry VIII then sought to ask Thomas Cromwell one of the King’s chief advisors to fix
him a way out of his marriage to Anne, and Cromwell would create a scheme that would
see Anne accused of incest, adultery and treason.
These charges are based on very little fact, and today Anne is considered a victim of the
plotting and someone who was unfairly executed and killed.
But the conversation that Mark Smeaton and Anne Boleyn had was reported to Thomas Cromwell
who was in the process of collecting information against Anne to be used against her.
Cromwell’s ears pricked up when he heard that the pair had spoke, and although nothing
at all came from this conversation, Cromwell would use it as evidence to later sentence
the Queen and Smeaton her loyal musician to death.
Anne would be accused of adultery with Mark Smeaton, and On the 30th April 1536, Mark
Smeaton was sent for by Cromwell and he was taken to his house in Stepney and it was a
trap.
When he arrived, Smeaton suspected nothing and it was said Cromwell took him by the hand
and led him into his chamber where 6 men were waiting.
Once he was in the room, Cromwell said ‘Mark, I have wanted to speak to you for some days,
and I have had no opportunity till now.
Not only I, but many other gentlemen, have noticed that you are ruffling it very bravely
of late.
We know that four months ago you had nothing, for your father has hardly bread to eat, and
now you are buying horses and arms, and have made showy devices and liveries such as no
lord of rank can excel.
Suspicion has arisen either that you have stolen the money or that someone had given
it to you …”
With this, Cromwell was implying that Anne Boleyn had been purchasing gifts for Smeaton,
and that he was being showered in gifts in return for sleeping with Henry VIII’s queen.
Cromwell said, ‘I give you notice now that you will have to tell me the truth before
you leave here, either by force or good will.’
Smeaton was now cornered and he was frightened and it was said, ‘ “Then he [Cromwell]
called two stout young fellows of his, and asked for a rope and cudgel and ordered them
to put the rope, which was full of knots, round Mark’s head, and twisted it with the
cudgel until Mark cried out ….” The torture continued, and Cromwell inside his house was
torturing a man who would be accused of sleeping with the Queen fo England.
Torture continued until Mark was ready to admit anything, and he was completely broken.
It was said, ‘“When the Secretary heard it he was terror-stricken, and asked Mark
if he knew of anyone else besides himself who had relations with the Queen.
Mark, to escape further torture, told all he had seen of Master Norris and Brereton,
and swore than he knew no more.
Then Cromwell wrote a letter to the King, and sent Mark to the Tower.”
Cromwell would write to King Henry VIII saying, ‘“Your Majesty will recollect that Mark
has hardly been in your service four months and only has [100 pounds] salary, and yet
all the Court notices his splendor, and that he has spent a large sum for these jousts,
all of which has aroused suspicions in the minds of certain gentlemen, and I have examined
Mark, who has made the confession which I enclose to your Majesty in this letter.”
When Henry VIII read the confession his stomach was turned and he was confused and upset.
But whilst he was at the Tower of London, Mark Smeaton would confess to being the lover
of the Queen, and with this it’s believed this confession was extracted using torture
devices such as The Rack or the Scavenger’s Daughter.
But his confession did not add up, he claimed he was at Greenwich with Anne on a specific
date, but she was not there, and the torture applied to him had made him accept anything
to make his ordeal and pain stop.
Mark Seaton’s arrest was a great scandal, as the thought that the Queen had slept with
such a man of low standing was considered shocking.
He had been battered with a knotted cord around his eyes at Cromwell’s house and now racked
possibly.
But the evidence against Mark Smeaton rested on that one conversation he had with Anne
and the fact he had confessed under torture.
It was a brutal time in History, and his trial occurred at Westminster Hall but it was just
a formality, and he was found guilty and was sentenced to death on the 17th May 1536.
Four other men accused of being the Queen’s lovers were also condemned including her brother
George.
He throughout the trial had been shackled, and his execution would come shortly after
his death sentence.
He was led towards Tower Hill and as he was led towards the scaffold thousands of people
were there to witness his execution.
He was led up to the scaffold, and he stumbled back, before he said ‘Masters I pray you
all pray for me, for I have deserved the death,’ before an executioner with an axe placed him
on the block before he swung the axe.
Mark Smeaton was the only one of the men who were condemned in the Anne Boleyn affair who
was tortured.
The four others were implicated based on the fact they had been speaking with the Queen
at some point, and it was a shocking moment in history.
Days later Anne Boleyn would be condemned and she would also lose her head inside the
walls of the Tower of London.
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