In this time, the rules of precedent were observed even in instances of execution. As the highest ranking nobility of those to be executed, the first to die was George Boleyn, Lord Rochford. According to custom, George would have been expected to make a speech on the scaffold. Usually, the condemned would speak to the offences laid against them, desire that those in attendance pray for them, and speak to the sovereignty of the King. Here is the speech of George Boleyn as close as we can tell from the Chronicle of Calais:
What is of interest here is that George confessed to being a sinner but not to the crimes with which he was charged. This all seems to be in line with the Boleyns’ sympathy towards the reformed faith and belief in the idea of justification through faith. Another accounting of George’s scaffold speech from Thomas Wyatt includes the following:Christian men, I am born under the law and judged under the law, and die under the law, and the law has condemned me. Masters all, I am not come hither for to preach, but for to die, for I have deserved to die if I had twenty lives, more shamefully than can be devised, for I am a wretched sinner, and I have sinned shamefully. I have known no man so evil, and to rehearse my sins openly, it were no pleasure to you to hear them, nor yet for me to rehearse them, for God knoweth all. Therefore, masters all, I pray you take heed by me, and especially my lords and gentlemen of the court, the which I have been among, take heed by me and beware of such a fall, and I pray to God the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost, three persons and one God, that my death may be an example unto you all. And beware, trust not in the vanity of the world, and especially in the flattering of the court. And I cry God mercy, and ask all the world forgiveness of God. And if I have offended any man that is not here now, either in thought, word or deed, and if ye hear any such, I pray you heartily in my behalf, pray them to forgive me for God’s sake. And yet, my masters all, I have one thing for to say to you: men do common and say that I have been a setter forth of the Word of God, and one that have favoured the Gospel of Christ; and because I would not that God’s word should be slandered by me, I say unto you all, that if I had followed God’s word in deed as I did read it and set it forth to my power, I had not come to this. If I had, I had been a living man among you. Therefore I pray you, masters all, for God’s sake stick to the truth and follow it, for one good follower is worth three readers, as God knoweth.
Trust in God, and not in the vanities of the world, for if I had so done, I think I had been alive as ye be now. Men do common and say that I have been a setter-forth of the word of God and one that hath favoured the Gospel of Christ; and because I would not that God’s word should be slandered by me, I say unto you all that if I had followed God’s word in deed as I did read it and set forth to my power, I had not come to this. Truly and diligently did I read the gospel of Christ Jesus, but I turned not to profit that which I did read; the which had I done, of a surety I had not fallen into so great errors. Wherefore I do beseech you all, for the love of our Lord God, that you do at all seasons hold by the truth, and speak it, and embrace it.
While similar in tone, it more readily emphasizes that it was George’s pride and vanity that brought about his downfall and not any particular deed.
Each man in his turn mounted the scaffold, spoke to the crowd, and would place his head upon the block. Henry Norris was next to die and was recorded as saying almost nothing at all. Francis Weston would have been next. He is reported to have said:
I had thought to have lived in abomination yet this twenty or thirty years and then to have made amends. I thought little it would come to this.
William Brereton would follow, saying:
I have deserved to die if it were a thousand deaths. But the cause whereof I die, judge not. But if ye judge, judge the best.
Finally, after watching each of his companions die, Mark Smeaton would have been last. At this point, the block and scaffold would have covered in the blood of the others. While the others did not confess to the adultery in their trial and still did not do so before meeting the axe, Smeaton did not take the opportunity to retract his previous confession:
Masters, I pray you all pray for me for I have deserved death.
After their executions, the bodies would have been undressed and buried. As he was from the nobility, George was interred inside the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula near the high alter while the others were buried in the chapel yard.
There has been some speculation and reports that Anne herself would have been able to witness the executions and did so. This is often portrayed in film and television versions of the events for dramatic effect; however, given the placement of the royal apartments within the Tower, it would not have been possible for her to look out her lodging windows and see Tower Hill. Yet, on this day, Anne would have been aware of the executions. We also know from the journal of William Kingston that Anne was concerned for the soul of Mark Smeaton as he did not retract his confession and thus would go to his judgment with a lie upon his conscience, damning his immortal soul.
After their executions, the bodies would have been undressed and buried. As he was from the nobility, George was interred inside the chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula near the high alter while the others were buried in the chapel yard.
That being said, there is some evidence that Thomas Wyatt was able to observe and hear the executions from his place within in the Tower. He wrote two poems about the event. The first, “Innocentia Veritas Viat Fides Circumdederunt me intimici me,” was written in May during his imprisonment.
Who list his wealth and ease retain,
Himself let him unknown contain.
Press not too fast in at that gate
Where the return stands by disdain,
For sure, circa Regna tonat.The high mountains are blasted oft
When the low valley is mild and soft.
Fortune with Health stands at debate;
The fall is grievous from aloft,
And sure, circa Regna tonat.These bloody days have broken my heart.
My lust, my youth did them depart,
And blind desire of estate. Who hastes to climb seeks to revert.
Of truth, circa Regna tonat.The Bell Tower showed me such sight
That in my head sticks day and night.
There did I lean out of a grate,
For all favour, glory, or might,
That yet circa Regna tonat.
By proof, I say, there did I learn:
Wit helpeth not defence too yern,
Of innocency to plead or prate.
Bear low, therefore, give God the stern,
For sure, circa Regna tonat.
The Latin phrase at the end of each stanza translates to “Thunder rolls around the throne.” The other was a longer poem likely written after he returned to his father’s castle in Allington. It was untitled and thus is known by its first line, “In Mourning Wise, Since Daily I Increase.” It is of particular interest that this longer lament does not make reference to Anne herself.
After the executions, Anne would receive a visit from the Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Cranmer, to inform her that her marriage to Henry had been declared null and void, thus making their daughter, Elizabeth, a bastard. There is no recording as to the grounds for annulment, but it could have been one of two reasons or perhaps even both: unlawful degree of affinity and pre-contract of marriage. The unlawful degree of affinity would have been due to Henry's previous sexual relationship with Anne's sister, Mary. The issue of the pre-contract would have been due to Anne's relationship with Henry Percy and possible engagement that had been reversed under the direction of Percy's father, the Earl of Northumberland and Cardinal Thomas Wolsey. Unlike Katherine of Aragon, Anne signed documentation assenting to the dissolution of her marriage to Henry. This was a strategic move in an attempt to protect her daughter Elizabeth from receiving harsher treatment from her father, similar to that Mary received when her mother, Katherine, did not agree to the annulment Henry received in order to marry Anne.
For further reading:
George Boleyn: Tudor Poet, Courtier, and Diplomat by Clare Cherry and Clare Ridgeway
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