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court, she well knew the price of adultery by a queen. Anne indulged in so-called "courtly love" flirtations in which a man worshipped an unattainable woman, but in 16th century England, this was accepted behavior for a woman of rank. However, the men who would later be accused of adultery with the queen were implicated because of these very flirtations. Sir Thomas Wyatt was just one of those that were arrested.
Sir Thomas Wyatt
Poet Sir Thomas Wyatt, estranged from his unfaithful wife, began courting Anne around 1525, the same year the king took notice of her.
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According to Wyatt's grandson
George, who wrote a biography on Anne Boleyn, Wyatt fell for the
queen's "witty and graceful speech." Henry, still uncertain of his target, was jealous of his competition. In one reported instance, the king snapped at the poet when he saw Wyatt wearing a jewel snatched from Anne. To cool the king's temper, Anne reassured him that the trinket was taken without permission, but Henry was not appeased. Wyatt was sent on a diplomatic mission to Italy. When he returned in May 1527, he recognized the intensity of the king's feelings for Anne, accepted defeat and expressed his emotion in a poem:
There is written her fair neck round about ;
'Noli me tangere ; for Cæsar's I am
Sir Thomas Wyatt would later be arrested for his relations with the queen, but would escape execution because of his friendship with Cromwell, the king's advisor (see King vs. Queen.)
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