Post by Mark Smeaton on Jun 4, 2010 1:04:43 GMT 1
OK guys, i'm going to have to deliver this bit by bit because i previously played Mark Smeaton for six or seven months and there's no way i can possibly get down everything that happened in one go, that and i need to tweak some of the things which happened on Kingdom as well so it can fit in here. I started playing Mark when he was about fifteen or sixteen on Kingdom, so that would have been in the year 1527 or 1528 (he was born in 1512), unless my Math is completely off!
Because Wolsey wasn't around very often, i had to improvise as far as Mark was concerned, and have him leave Wolsey's choir as a result of his voice breaking (there are two theories as to why he left, the other was that due to Wolsey's fall from power his house disbanded). Mark was forced to leave court after this and return to his home land of Flanders, but upon his return to England he performed at court as a simple musician, i think another word for this would be a minstrel or something to that effect, until of course his promotion under Anne Boleyn's patronage sought to change that.
I've based a lot of Mark's personality and characteristics on the series' portrayal, therefore my interpretation will be far removed from how i view him historically (while feeling a lot of sympathy for him, i can't say i have a very high opinion of him). As no one person can really be too certain of what he was really like as so little is known about him, mustering up an interpretation of him was tricky at best! And due to the massive gap in information between the years he was at Wolsey's choir, to the point when he came under the patronage of Anne Boleyn, a lot of his story is massively AU. You have been warned!
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Mark was quite taken with court life at the beginning, and enjoyed the splendid energy felt at banquets and other such festivities, especially when compared with the dulcet environment of his home in Flanders, which represented everything he hated and wanted to forget. As Mark was known to have become quite arrogant due to his rapid rise, and disdained his low-born parents, his distaste for his home can also be seen from that perspective.
Mark’s development outside the lavish parties only really begun outside of the court of England itself, when he was invited to the Kingdom of Bavaria to play at the wedding of the royal family, and he met Elizabeth Thorne. The relationship ended as quickly as it begun, mostly due to Mark’s own insecurities about his lowly position, and also given that Elizabeth was the daughter of a duke. Even though he was appointed a musician at the court of Neuschwanstein, Mark’s frequent visits to Bavaria lessened as he sought to avoid Elizabeth, and because the income of a simple musician wasn’t substantial enough to get him to Bavaria and from England, where he still felt he belonged.
During his final visit to the Bavarian court Mark became well acquainted with Agnes of Northleach, with whom he spent his final days teaching how to play the violin. Then he was to return to England, where he remained for almost a year until he realized the true extent of his feelings for Agnes, and made one last trip to Bavaria (a clumsily made trip at that!), and everything they felt for each other quickly spilled out. England soon became their home after that, especially when Mark briefly came under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell, who would later be partially responsible for introducing him to Anne Boleyn. This is yet another improvisation, but i thought it would be nice to point out that Cromwell was quite a patron of the arts as well.
Mark risked repeating the mistakes of his past with Agnes, but developed more issues with commitment than he previously had with his low-born status. I am basing this mostly on this little ‘book’ that was passed between George, Wyatt and Mark in which they all wrote, apparently slandering the sanctity of marriage. Mark never did marry either, so I’m assuming he wasn’t much in the realm of commitment either. Arguments arose, and Mark and Agnes suffered several ups and down as a result of his consistent uncertainty. While it was something he was never assured of, they remained together through thick and thin, and even endured the two years spent apart when Mark revisited Flanders, later returning in 1532 when they were blissfully reunited.
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This is really just a brief overview of what i spent 4 RPG years doing with him, i didn't go into much detail because to be quite honest i can't remember everything at all. I'll add more as it comes to me, but for now this is all i can recall. Though Mark came under the patronage of Anne Boleyn on Kingdom, i'm willing to rewind back and pick up from the beginning of Season 2.
Because Wolsey wasn't around very often, i had to improvise as far as Mark was concerned, and have him leave Wolsey's choir as a result of his voice breaking (there are two theories as to why he left, the other was that due to Wolsey's fall from power his house disbanded). Mark was forced to leave court after this and return to his home land of Flanders, but upon his return to England he performed at court as a simple musician, i think another word for this would be a minstrel or something to that effect, until of course his promotion under Anne Boleyn's patronage sought to change that.
I've based a lot of Mark's personality and characteristics on the series' portrayal, therefore my interpretation will be far removed from how i view him historically (while feeling a lot of sympathy for him, i can't say i have a very high opinion of him). As no one person can really be too certain of what he was really like as so little is known about him, mustering up an interpretation of him was tricky at best! And due to the massive gap in information between the years he was at Wolsey's choir, to the point when he came under the patronage of Anne Boleyn, a lot of his story is massively AU. You have been warned!
____________________________________________________
Mark was quite taken with court life at the beginning, and enjoyed the splendid energy felt at banquets and other such festivities, especially when compared with the dulcet environment of his home in Flanders, which represented everything he hated and wanted to forget. As Mark was known to have become quite arrogant due to his rapid rise, and disdained his low-born parents, his distaste for his home can also be seen from that perspective.
Mark’s development outside the lavish parties only really begun outside of the court of England itself, when he was invited to the Kingdom of Bavaria to play at the wedding of the royal family, and he met Elizabeth Thorne. The relationship ended as quickly as it begun, mostly due to Mark’s own insecurities about his lowly position, and also given that Elizabeth was the daughter of a duke. Even though he was appointed a musician at the court of Neuschwanstein, Mark’s frequent visits to Bavaria lessened as he sought to avoid Elizabeth, and because the income of a simple musician wasn’t substantial enough to get him to Bavaria and from England, where he still felt he belonged.
During his final visit to the Bavarian court Mark became well acquainted with Agnes of Northleach, with whom he spent his final days teaching how to play the violin. Then he was to return to England, where he remained for almost a year until he realized the true extent of his feelings for Agnes, and made one last trip to Bavaria (a clumsily made trip at that!), and everything they felt for each other quickly spilled out. England soon became their home after that, especially when Mark briefly came under the patronage of Thomas Cromwell, who would later be partially responsible for introducing him to Anne Boleyn. This is yet another improvisation, but i thought it would be nice to point out that Cromwell was quite a patron of the arts as well.
Mark risked repeating the mistakes of his past with Agnes, but developed more issues with commitment than he previously had with his low-born status. I am basing this mostly on this little ‘book’ that was passed between George, Wyatt and Mark in which they all wrote, apparently slandering the sanctity of marriage. Mark never did marry either, so I’m assuming he wasn’t much in the realm of commitment either. Arguments arose, and Mark and Agnes suffered several ups and down as a result of his consistent uncertainty. While it was something he was never assured of, they remained together through thick and thin, and even endured the two years spent apart when Mark revisited Flanders, later returning in 1532 when they were blissfully reunited.
____________________________________________________
This is really just a brief overview of what i spent 4 RPG years doing with him, i didn't go into much detail because to be quite honest i can't remember everything at all. I'll add more as it comes to me, but for now this is all i can recall. Though Mark came under the patronage of Anne Boleyn on Kingdom, i'm willing to rewind back and pick up from the beginning of Season 2.
