Mark Smeaton
| Mark Smeaton | |
|---|---|
| Born | c. 1512 |
| Died | 17 May 1536 (aged 23–24) Tower Hill, London |
| Cause of death | Decapitation |
| Resting place |
Tower of London, London, United Kingdom 51°30′31″N 0°04′37″W / 51.508611°N 0.076944°W |
| Occupation | Court musician to Henry VIII |
Mark Smeaton (c. 1512 – 17 May 1536) was a musician at the court of Henry VIII of England, in the household of Queen Anne Boleyn. Smeaton, the Queen's brother George Boleyn (Viscount Rochford), Henry Norris, Francis Weston and William Brereton were executed for alleged treason and adultery with Queen Anne.
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 lute, viol, 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.
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