On This Day in Tudor History: The Men Accused of an Affair with Anne Boleyn Executed

All five men apologised for their sins and acknowledged that they were to die by the law. This was convention for those to be executed. However, none openly admitted to their guilt of committing adultery with Anne Boleyn; not even Mark Smeaton who confessed. The only thing the men confessed to, except Henry Norris who said very little, was that they were sinners and deserved death.

It is likely that they viewed themselves as sinners – as anyone would. They were all God-fearing men and would have wanted to make sure their souls were clear for judgment from the Lord. This is why it is strange that Mark Smeaton never said anything about his confession being a lie, and leads to the possibility that he was telling the truth the whole time.

All speeches were short, except George’s, who went on to advise the people to tell the truth and learn from his mistakes.

I often search for whether Anne Boleyn and the five men were really guilty. One thing that really strikes me odd is that Anne and George would commit incest. The Other Boleyn Girl depicts Anne begging her brother to make her pregnant after a miscarriage but it isn’t something that I could see either of them doing.

Anne Boleyn was a very strong-willed and smart woman. She had worked hard to become Queen, whether she originally wanted that or not. She had turned public opinion and became one of the greatest Queen Consorts England had seen. She wanted the best for the people and wouldn’t have jeopardised all of that for affairs.

George Boleyn was loved by the people. While there are doubts that his marriage was a happy one, there are signs that he had mistresses, so why would he risk his life to have an affair with his own sister? When George was first arrested, it was because he was withholding the truth about the Queen. George and Anne were close and told each other everything, so it is possible that he knew some of Anne’s darkest secrets that she didn’t want Henry VIII to know. That doesn’t mean that they were having an affair!

It was actually Lady Rochford who gave Thomas Cromwell the idea that incest was one of the crimes. She had mentioned how close they were, and it is unclear whether she was vindictive in this, but that didn’t mean that her words were true.

As for the other men, Sir Henry Norris and William Brereton were close friends to the King. It would make no sense for them to risk their friendship and their lives by betraying him in this way. There was nothing that they could gain. It was the same with Francis Weston. The only person who could have gained was Mark Smeaton.

While Mark confessed, it is likely that that was gained through torture. He was the only one out of the five men who could have been tortured due to being a commoner. It was also possible that he was promised an easier execution if he admitted to his crimes, despite them probably being untrue.

Were the men and Anne Boleyn really guilty? That will never really be known. None of the trial transcripts were kept; in fact, legal reporting didn’t start until during 1536 and was very unreliable. The chroniclers all state different views of the events at the execution, so it will be difficult to know if anything else they had to say were true.

When you look at the reports from the chroniclers, it is difficult to choose which one could be right. The problem is that the writers all had their own views and don’t seem to have reported without a biased opinion. For example, The Spanish Chronicler states that Henry Norris gave a long speech while all the others say that he barely said anything.

Whether they were guilty or not, they were executed as if they were. Anne Boleyn’s execution date was set for the day after but did not happen until May 19 due to her executioner being delayed. Anne was executed by sword, in the French manner, unlike the men accused of having an affair with her. Three days after the executions of the five men, Henry VIII and Jane Seymour were betrothed.