On this day in 1536, Tower Hill ran red with blood as five men lost their lives in connection with Queen Anne Boleyn’s downfall.
George Boleyn, Lord Rochford, Sir Henry Norris, Sir Francis Weston, William Brereton, and Mark Smeaton were all executed by beheading, their lives taken swiftly in one of the most bloody chapters of Henry VIII’s reign.
Although they had been sentenced to the full horrors of being hanged, drawn and quartered, the king, in a grim show of ‘mercy’, commuted their sentences to death by the axe. While this was considered a kinder end, we must remember that none of these men had received a fair trial, and only one (Smeaton) had confessed, likely under torture or immense pressure.
Executions in Order of Rank
The executions took place in order of social standing. George Boleyn, the queen’s brother and a powerful courtier, was the first to face the block. Eyewitness Charles Wriothesley recorded George’s scaffold speech, which, like many of the time, followed a set pattern: a show of humility, a plea for prayers, and praise for the monarch, no matter the injustice.
“Masters all, I am come hither not to preach and make a sermon, but to die, as the law hath found me, and to the law I submit me, desiring you all, and specially you my masters of the Court, that you will trust on God specially, and not on the vanities of the world, for if I had so done, I think I had been alive as ye be now; also I desire you to help to the setting forth of the true word of God; and whereas I am slandered by it, I have been diligent to read it and set it forth truly; but if I had been as diligent to observe it, and done and lived thereafter, as I was to read it and set it forth, I had not come hereto, wherefore I beseech you all to be workers and live thereafter, and not to read it and live not there after. As for mine offences, it can not prevail you to hear them that I dye here for, but I beseech God that I may be an example to you all, and that all you may beware by me, and heartily I require you all to pray for me, and to forgive me if I have offended you, and I forgive you all, and God save the King.”
He was followed by Sir Henry Norris, once one of the king’s closest friends and his Groom of the Stool. His servant, George Constantine, noted that Norris said very little, unlike the other men who spoke longer farewells. Perhaps he was too stunned, or too proud, to follow the usual script.
Sir Francis Weston, knighted during Anne Boleyn’s coronation celebrations, confessed to having lived sinfully and assumed he’d have years ahead to repent: his fate had clearly taken him by surprise.
William Brereton, a powerful courtier from the north, made a haunting remark, “I have deserved to die if it were a thousand deaths. But the cause wherefore I dye, judge not. But if ye judge, judge the best”
Finally, it was the turn of Mark Smeaton, the only man to confess to adultery with the queen. He asked the crowd to pray for him but, tellingly, made no attempt to retract his confession. When Anne heard of this, she is reported to have said: “Did he not exonerate me before he died…? Alas! I fear his soul will suffer for it.”
It’s important to remember that a scaffold confession did not always mean guilt; many men declared themselves deserving of death simply because all people were seen as sinners. Additionally, strict “scaffold etiquette” shaped these speeches: loyalty to the crown was expected, even at the point of death.
Where Were They Buried?
The five men were laid to rest after their executions. George Boleyn was interred in the chancel of the Chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, inside the Tower. The other four were buried in the churchyard: Weston and Norris in one grave, Brereton and Smeaton in another. Unlike many traitors, their heads were not displayed on London Bridge.
These were not just political casualties. They were husbands, brothers, courtiers, and friends, swept away by a ruthless campaign to destroy Anne Boleyn.
In two days, the queen herself would follow them.
May their souls rest in eternal peace 🕊️
