Mark Smeaton

Mark Smeaton was a professional musician at the court of Henry VIII, probably of comparatively humble birth, who entered royal service as a singer and instrumentalist. By 1536 he was associated with the household and courtly circle surrounding Anne Boleyn. On 30 April that year he was arrested during Thomas Cromwell’s investigation of the queen and became the only one of the men accused with Anne to confess to having committed adultery with her, a confession whose circumstances remain uncertain.

Smeaton’s statement became important to the prosecution even though surviving accusations against Anne contain chronological and practical problems, and later reports suggested that pressure or torture may have been used against him. He was tried for treason with Henry Norris, Francis Weston and William Brereton and was convicted. Smeaton was executed on Tower Hill on 17 May 1536, two days before Anne Boleyn. His case illustrates how little independent evidence survives behind the sexual charges used to destroy the queen and her circle.