Claire | April 29, 2022
On 29th April 1536, three days before her arrest, Queen Anne Boleyn had encounters with two courtiers who would eventually be executed for allegedly sleeping with her and plotting with her to kill her husband, King Henry VIII. Find out about Sir Henry Norris, the king’s groom of the stool and friend, and musician Mark […]
Claire | April 29, 2017
On 29th April 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn had two separate encounters with male courtiers, men who would soon be accused of sleeping with her and plotting with her to kill King Henry VIII. You can read more about Anne’s encounters with Mark Smeaton, a musician, and Sir Henry Norris, her husband’s groom of the stool, […]
Claire | November 11, 2016
Yes, that is the question that I find myself answering today. I’ve never actually had someone ask me that or even argue about it with me, but while I was researching Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn’s 1535 royal progress I came across an article that put forward the theory that Mark Smeaton fathered the baby […]
Claire | April 29, 2016
On Saturday 29th April 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn had two separate encounters with two courtiers who would end up being accused of sleeping with her and of plotting the King’s death with her. The first encounter was with Mark Smeaton, a groom of the privy chamber, a court musician and a man who had been […]
Claire | April 30, 2015
On 30th April 1536, court musician Mark Smeaton was taken to Thomas Cromwell’s house in Stepney where he was interrogated. Within 24 hours he had confessed to making love three times to the Queen. It is likely that the note that Henry VIII received at the May Day joust, the next day, contained details of […]
Claire | April 29, 2015
On 29th April 1536, Queen Anne Boleyn had two encounters with male courtiers which she later worried about when imprisoned in the Tower. The first involved court musician Mark Smeaton and the second involved Sir Henry Norris, her husband’s Groom of the Stool and a man who was courting Anne’s cousin, Madge Shelton. Both were […]
