Marc Smeaton
Encyclopedia
Mark Smeaton was a musician at the court of Henry VIII of England
in the household of Queen Anne Boleyn
. He was one of five men executed for alleged treason
and adultery
with Queen Anne.
, violin
, virginals
and the organ
. His exact date of birth is not known, but he was probably around 23 when he died. Possibly of Flemish
-French Flemish origin, the name Smeaton could be derived from the surnames de Smet or de Smedt. Smeaton originally joined the choir of Henry VIII
's chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey. However, after his voice broke and Wolsey fell from grace, he was transferred from the Cardinal's household to Henry's Chapel Royal, where his musical ability came to the notice of Henry's wife, Anne Boleyn
, who was a great patron of the arts, and he was transferred to her household. Smeaton was possibly, as tradition has it, the son of a carpenter and a seamstress. Established as a court musician, he was named a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1532.
Because of his lowly social origin, he was never part of the Queen's intimate circle of companions, which included her favourite ladies-in-waiting
and courtiers. Anne herself once reprimanded him for assuming she would speak to him in the same way she would speak to an aristocrat. A poem by the courtier Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder
made reference to his apparent social-climbing.
, when she sent for him to play the virginals
. As Anne later confessed, "[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 and said it was no matter." Smeaton's reply was non-committal. Anne replied, "You may not look to have me speak to you as I should do to a nobleman, because you are an inferior person." Knowing the truth of her words, Smeaton miserably replied, "No, no, Madam. A look sufficeth, thus fare you well."
Unfortunately for Smeaton, his conversation with the Queen was quickly reported to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's advisors, who was looking for evidence of Anne's committing treason and adultery. It is generally accepted that Anne was accused of adultery in order to free her husband, Henry VIII
, to marry a new wife, Jane Seymour
, to whom he was betrothed the day after her execution. Smeaton was arrested on 30 April. No one at first noticed Smeaton's absence. Cromwell took Smeaton to his house in Stepney
and supposedly tortured him. The usually unreliable Spanish Chronicles detailed that Smeaton was tortured with a knotted cord around his eyes. Anne is not thought to have noticed his disappearance or been informed of his arrest.
At 6 pm on May Day
, he was sent to the Tower of London. Allegedly upon the rack, Smeaton cracked and "confessed" to being Anne's lover. However, this confession did not match up to the facts. Smeaton could not possibly have had sex with Anne on 13 May 1535 at Greenwich
as he had confessed, because the Queen was at Richmond
then. He is also thought to have supplied the names of certain of Anne's circle, who were also arrested. Afterwards he was put in a cell in the Tower of London. Other accusations alleged that the Queen had committed adultery with Sir Francis Weston
, Sir Henry Norris, Sir William Brereton
, and with her own brother, George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
. However, besides Smeaton, all the other "lovers" maintained their innocence, with Smeaton the only one to admit his "guilt", as well as the only one who was tortured. Out of all the supposed "lovers," Smeaton's arrest caused the greatest scandal. People were shocked that the Queen would stoop to have an affair with a person of low degree.
Before Smeaton was arrested, he spent lavishly on horses and liveries
, which was strange, as Smeaton earned only £100 a year. The implication was that Smeaton received the money from the queen in exchange for "services" as her lover.
A different version of the events surrounding Smeaton's guilty plea is told by Agnes Strickland
. Smeaton was lured into signing the incriminating deposition
by the subtlety of Sir William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton
. The latter noticed Smeaton's terror and replied, "Subscribe, Mark, and you will see what will come of it," as Fitzwilliam tried to make Smeaton feel dishonourable enough to confess. Whether Smeaton was tortured or coaxed into guilt, "it was generally said that he had his life promised him, but it was not fit to let him live to tell tales."
As Smeaton was led to his execution, he stumbled back from the bloody scaffold. Collecting himself, he said despairingly, "Masters, I pray you all pray for me, for I have deserved the death". Smeaton was granted the "mercy" of a beheading, rather than the usual brutal quartering
assigned to commoners. This is thought to have been due to his co-operation with Anne's enemies. The other four men were also beheaded.
Smeaton's body was buried in a common grave with another accused adulterer with the queen, William Brereton. Years after Smeaton's death, Queen Mary
convinced herself that her sister Elizabeth
, whom she considered a rival for her throne, was illegitimate. She repeated several times that she thought Elizabeth had the "face and countenance" of the doomed young Smeaton. But the extreme resemblance of Elizabeth to her father Henry VIII
disproved this claim.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
the Elder allegedly wrote a sonnet about the doomed Smeaton:
. The film depicts him being tortured by Cromwell's henchmen. Smeaton appeared in the second season of Showtime's The Tudors
. He was played by David Alpay
. In the series, he is depicted as having a homosexual
relationship with Anne's brother, George Boleyn
. This may have been based on the theories of Retha Warnicke, who argued that Smeaton and George Boleyn may have had a sexual relationship. One source speculates that he may have been homosexual.
Smeaton appears in Gaetano Donizetti
's opera Anna Bolena
, in which the character is a trouser role assigned to a contralto
.
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
in the household of Queen Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
. He was one of five men executed for alleged treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
and adultery
Adultery
Adultery is sexual infidelity to one's spouse, and is a form of extramarital sex. It originally referred only to sex between a woman who was married and a person other than her spouse. Even in cases of separation from one's spouse, an extramarital affair is still considered adultery.Adultery is...
with Queen Anne.
Smeaton's background
Smeaton was a handsome musician and dancer in the King's household and later transferred into the Queen's, and was famed for his talents as a singer. He could play the luteLute
Lute can refer generally to any plucked string instrument with a neck and a deep round back, or more specifically to an instrument from the family of European lutes....
, violin
Violin
The violin is a string instrument, usually with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is the smallest, highest-pitched member of the violin family of string instruments, which includes the viola and cello....
, virginals
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
and the organ
Organ (music)
The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
. His exact date of birth is not known, but he was probably around 23 when he died. Possibly of Flemish
Flemish people
The Flemings or Flemish are the Dutch-speaking inhabitants of Belgium, where they are mostly found in the northern region of Flanders. They are one of two principal cultural-linguistic groups in Belgium, the other being the French-speaking Walloons...
-French Flemish origin, the name Smeaton could be derived from the surnames de Smet or de Smedt. Smeaton originally joined the choir of Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
's chief minister, Cardinal Wolsey. However, after his voice broke and Wolsey fell from grace, he was transferred from the Cardinal's household to Henry's Chapel Royal, where his musical ability came to the notice of Henry's wife, Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn
Anne Boleyn ;c.1501/1507 – 19 May 1536) was Queen of England from 1533 to 1536 as the second wife of Henry VIII of England and Marquess of Pembroke in her own right. Henry's marriage to Anne, and her subsequent execution, made her a key figure in the political and religious upheaval that was the...
, who was a great patron of the arts, and he was transferred to her household. Smeaton was possibly, as tradition has it, the son of a carpenter and a seamstress. Established as a court musician, he was named a Groom of the Privy Chamber in 1532.
Because of his lowly social origin, he was never part of the Queen's intimate circle of companions, which included her favourite ladies-in-waiting
Lady-in-waiting
A lady-in-waiting is a female personal assistant at a royal court, attending on a queen, a princess, or a high-ranking noblewoman. Historically, in Europe a lady-in-waiting was often a noblewoman from a family highly thought of in good society, but was of lower rank than the woman on whom she...
and courtiers. Anne herself once reprimanded him for assuming she would speak to him in the same way she would speak to an aristocrat. A poem by the courtier Sir Thomas Wyatt the Elder
Thomas Wyatt (poet)
Sir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet credited with introducing the sonnet into English. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent – though his family was originally from Yorkshire...
made reference to his apparent social-climbing.
His arrest
His unhappiness was said to have caught Anne's attention one day in her chamber at WinchesterWinchester
Winchester is a historic cathedral city and former capital city of England. It is the county town of Hampshire, in South East England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government district, and is located at the western end of the South Downs, along the course of...
, when she sent for him to play the virginals
Virginals
The virginals or virginal is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family...
. As Anne later confessed, "[On] Saturday before May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
… 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 and said it was no matter." Smeaton's reply was non-committal. Anne replied, "You may not look to have me speak to you as I should do to a nobleman, because you are an inferior person." Knowing the truth of her words, Smeaton miserably replied, "No, no, Madam. A look sufficeth, thus fare you well."
Unfortunately for Smeaton, his conversation with the Queen was quickly reported to Thomas Cromwell, one of Henry VIII's advisors, who was looking for evidence of Anne's committing treason and adultery. It is generally accepted that Anne was accused of adultery in order to free her husband, Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
, to marry a new wife, Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour
Jane Seymour was Queen of England as the third wife of King Henry VIII. She succeeded Anne Boleyn as queen consort following the latter's execution for trumped up charges of high treason, incest and adultery in May 1536. She died of postnatal complications less than two weeks after the birth of...
, to whom he was betrothed the day after her execution. Smeaton was arrested on 30 April. No one at first noticed Smeaton's absence. Cromwell took Smeaton to his house in Stepney
Stepney
Stepney is a district of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets in London's East End that grew out of a medieval village around St Dunstan's church and the 15th century ribbon development of Mile End Road...
and supposedly tortured him. The usually unreliable Spanish Chronicles detailed that Smeaton was tortured with a knotted cord around his eyes. Anne is not thought to have noticed his disappearance or been informed of his arrest.
At 6 pm on May Day
May Day
May Day on May 1 is an ancient northern hemisphere spring festival and usually a public holiday; it is also a traditional spring holiday in many cultures....
, he was sent to the Tower of London. Allegedly upon the rack, Smeaton cracked and "confessed" to being Anne's lover. However, this confession did not match up to the facts. Smeaton could not possibly have had sex with Anne on 13 May 1535 at Greenwich
Greenwich
Greenwich is a district of south London, England, located in the London Borough of Greenwich.Greenwich is best known for its maritime history and for giving its name to the Greenwich Meridian and Greenwich Mean Time...
as he had confessed, because the Queen was at Richmond
Richmond Palace
Richmond Palace was a Thameside royal residence on the right bank of the river, upstream of the Palace of Westminster, to which it lay 9 miles SW of as the crow flies. It it was erected c. 1501 within the royal manor of Sheen, by Henry VII of England, formerly known by his title Earl of Richmond,...
then. He is also thought to have supplied the names of certain of Anne's circle, who were also arrested. Afterwards he was put in a cell in the Tower of London. Other accusations alleged that the Queen had committed adultery with Sir Francis Weston
Francis Weston
Sir Francis Weston was a gentleman at the court of King Henry VIII of England. He became a friend of the king and gained a sad fame by being one of the men accused alongside Anne Boleyn...
, Sir Henry Norris, Sir William Brereton
William Brereton (groom)
Sir William Brereton , who came from a Cheshire landowning family, was a Groom of the Privy Chamber of Henry VIII. He was caught up in the accusations against Anne Boleyn, tried for treason and executed with the Queen and four others...
, and with her own brother, George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford was an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn...
. However, besides Smeaton, all the other "lovers" maintained their innocence, with Smeaton the only one to admit his "guilt", as well as the only one who was tortured. Out of all the supposed "lovers," Smeaton's arrest caused the greatest scandal. People were shocked that the Queen would stoop to have an affair with a person of low degree.
Before Smeaton was arrested, he spent lavishly on horses and liveries
Livery
A livery is a uniform, insignia or symbol adorning, in a non-military context, a person, an object or a vehicle that denotes a relationship between the wearer of the livery and an individual or corporate body. Often, elements of the heraldry relating to the individual or corporate body feature in...
, which was strange, as Smeaton earned only £100 a year. The implication was that Smeaton received the money from the queen in exchange for "services" as her lover.
A different version of the events surrounding Smeaton's guilty plea is told by Agnes Strickland
Agnes Strickland
Agnes Strickland was an English historical writer and poet.-Biography:The daughter of Thomas Strickland of Reydon Hall, Suffolk, Agnes was educated by her father, and began her literary career with a poem, Worcester Field, followed by The Seven Ages of Woman and Demetrius...
. Smeaton was lured into signing the incriminating deposition
Deposition (law)
In the law of the United States, a deposition is the out-of-court oral testimony of a witness that is reduced to writing for later use in court or for discovery purposes. It is commonly used in litigation in the United States and Canada and is almost always conducted outside of court by the...
by the subtlety of Sir William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton
William Fitzwilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton
William FitzWilliam, 1st Earl of Southampton, KG , English courtier, was the third son of Sir Thomas FitzWilliam of Aldwark and Lady Lucy Neville .His father died while FitzWilliam was in his infancy, and his mother remarried Sir Anthony Browne, the elder, so that...
. The latter noticed Smeaton's terror and replied, "Subscribe, Mark, and you will see what will come of it," as Fitzwilliam tried to make Smeaton feel dishonourable enough to confess. Whether Smeaton was tortured or coaxed into guilt, "it was generally said that he had his life promised him, but it was not fit to let him live to tell tales."
Trial and execution
The evidence against him rested on his expenditure and the one reported conversation. Smeaton's trial took place at Westminster Hall, but it was generally believed there was no question of his guilt. Smeaton was condemned to death on 12 May 1536, as were the four other men accused of being the Queen's lovers. Anne herself was condemned on the 15th. It was alleged by one of Anne's ladies-in-waiting, thought to be Elizabeth Browne, countess of Worcester, "admitted some of her court to come into her chamber at undue hours", On news that Smeaton was now clapped in irons, she replied dismissively, "he was a person of mean birth and the others were all gentlemen". When she heard that Smeaton had failed to withdraw his "confession" in fully explicit terms, Anne was said to have been angry.As Smeaton was led to his execution, he stumbled back from the bloody scaffold. Collecting himself, he said despairingly, "Masters, I pray you all pray for me, for I have deserved the death". Smeaton was granted the "mercy" of a beheading, rather than the usual brutal quartering
Hanged, drawn and quartered
To be hanged, drawn and quartered was from 1351 a penalty in England for men convicted of high treason, although the ritual was first recorded during the reigns of King Henry III and his successor, Edward I...
assigned to commoners. This is thought to have been due to his co-operation with Anne's enemies. The other four men were also beheaded.
Smeaton's body was buried in a common grave with another accused adulterer with the queen, William Brereton. Years after Smeaton's death, Queen Mary
Mary I of England
Mary I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from July 1553 until her death.She was the only surviving child born of the ill-fated marriage of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon. Her younger half-brother, Edward VI, succeeded Henry in 1547...
convinced herself that her sister Elizabeth
Elizabeth I of England
Elizabeth I was queen regnant of England and Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death. Sometimes called The Virgin Queen, Gloriana, or Good Queen Bess, Elizabeth was the fifth and last monarch of the Tudor dynasty...
, whom she considered a rival for her throne, was illegitimate. She repeated several times that she thought Elizabeth had the "face and countenance" of the doomed young Smeaton. But the extreme resemblance of Elizabeth to her father Henry VIII
Henry VIII of England
Henry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was Lord, and later King, of Ireland, as well as continuing the nominal claim by the English monarchs to the Kingdom of France...
disproved this claim.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Thomas Wyatt (poet)
Sir Thomas Wyatt was a 16th-century English lyrical poet credited with introducing the sonnet into English. He was born at Allington Castle, near Maidstone in Kent – though his family was originally from Yorkshire...
the Elder allegedly wrote a sonnet about the doomed Smeaton:
- Ah! Mark, what moan should I for thee make more,
- Since that thy death thou hast deserved best,
- Save only that mine eye is forced sore
- With piteous plaint to moan thee with the rest?
- A time thou hadst above thy poor degree,
- The fall whereof thy friends may well bemoan:
- A rotten twig upon so high a tree
- Hath slipped thy hold, and thou art dead and gone.
Popular depictions
Smeaton was portrayed by Gary Bond in the 1969 costume film Anne of the Thousand DaysAnne of the Thousand Days
Anne of the Thousand Days is a 1969 costume drama made by Hal Wallis Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. It was directed by Charles Jarrott and produced by Hal B. Wallis. The film tells the story of Anne Boleyn...
. The film depicts him being tortured by Cromwell's henchmen. Smeaton appeared in the second season of Showtime's The Tudors
The Tudors
The Tudors is a Canadian produced historical fiction television series filmed in Ireland, created by Michael Hirst and produced for the American premium cable television channel Showtime...
. He was played by David Alpay
David Alpay
David Alpay is a Canadian actor.-Education:Alpay had planned to pursue a career in neuroscience when he was studying at Earl Haig Secondary School in North York, Ontario. He even went so far as to win the University of Maryland, Baltimore's Brain Bee in grade 12...
. In the series, he is depicted as having a homosexual
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
relationship with Anne's brother, George Boleyn
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford
George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford was an English courtier and nobleman, and the brother of queen consort Anne Boleyn...
. This may have been based on the theories of Retha Warnicke, who argued that Smeaton and George Boleyn may have had a sexual relationship. One source speculates that he may have been homosexual.
Smeaton appears in Gaetano Donizetti
Gaetano Donizetti
Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment...
's opera Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena
Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn...
, in which the character is a trouser role assigned to a contralto
Contralto
Contralto is the deepest female classical singing voice, with the lowest tessitura, falling between tenor and mezzo-soprano. It typically ranges between the F below middle C to the second G above middle C , although at the extremes some voices can reach the E below middle C or the second B above...
.