Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

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File:BrandonArms.png
Arms of Brandon: Barry of ten argent and gules, a lion rampant or ducally crowned per pale of the first and second
File:Coat of arms of Sir Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, KG.png
Quartered arms of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (Template:Circa – 22 August 1545) was an English military leader and courtier. Through his third wife, Mary Tudor, he was the brother-in-law of King Henry VIII.

Biography

Born in 1484, Charles Brandon was the second but only surviving sonTemplate:Sfn of Sir William Brandon, Henry Tudor's standard-bearer at the Battle of Bosworth Field. William Brandon was killed during the battle. Charles Brandon's mother, Elizabeth Bruyn (d. March 1494), was the daughter and co-heiress of Sir Henry Bruyn (died 1461).Template:SfnTemplate:Efn

Charles Brandon was brought up at the court of Henry VII, and became Henry VIII's closest friend. He was about seven years older than Henry and was a role model for the young prince, especially after the death of his brother, Prince Arthur. Brandon was becoming an excellent jouster and a ladies' man and as such was an object of admiration for Henry. Brandon is described by Dugdale as "a person comely of stature, high of courage and conformity of disposition to King Henry VIII, with whom he became a great favourite." Brandon held a succession of offices in the royal household, becoming Master of the Horse in 1513, and received many valuable grants of land. On 15 May, he was created Viscount Lisle, having entered into a marriage contract with his eight-year-old ward, Elizabeth Grey, suo jure Viscountess Lisle.Template:Sfn The contract was ended and the title was forfeited as a result of Brandon's marriage to Mary Tudor in 1515.

Template:Anchor Template:Infobox UK legislation He distinguished himself at the sieges of Thérouanne and Tournai in the French campaign of 1513. One of the agents of Margaret of Savoy, governor of the Netherlands, reminded her that Brandon was a "second king" and advised her to write him a pleasant letter. At this time, Henry VIII was secretly urging Margaret to marry Lisle, whom he created Duke of Suffolk on 4 March 1514, although he was careful to disclaim any complicity in the project to her father, Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.Template:Sfn When Brandon was made Duke of Suffolk, there were only two other dukes in the kingdom (Buckingham and Norfolk). After being made Duke of Suffolk, he continued to travel around that county so as to get to know the towns and villages and the local dignitaries. He mainly stayed at his family's homes, including Wingfield Castle and the now demolished Henham Hall.

After his marriage to Mary, Suffolk lived at Westhorpe Hall for some years in semi-retirement, but he was present at the Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520, an event organised in part by his cousins, Sir Richard Wingfield who was English ambassador to France and Thomas Wolsey who was Cardinal and Lord Chancellor.

In 1523 he was sent to Calais to command the English troops there. He invaded France in company with Floris d'Egmont, Count of Buren, who was at the head of the Flemish troops, and laid waste the north of France, but disbanded his troops at the approach of winter.Template:Sfn

Brandon was appointed Earl Marshal of England in 1524, a position previously held by Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk. However, in 1533 he relinquished the office to Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, "whose auncesto[ur]s of longe tyme hadde the same until nowe of late."Template:Sfn

After Wolsey's disgrace, Suffolk's influence increased. He was sent with Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, to demand the Great Seal from Wolsey (it is possible Henry sent Brandon to Wolsey as they were related); and Suffolk acted as High Steward at the new Queen's coronation. He was one of the commissioners appointed by Henry to dismiss Catherine's household, a task he found distasteful.Template:Sfn

His family had a residence on the west side of Borough High Street, London, for at least half a century prior to his building of Suffolk Place at the site.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Charles supported Henry's ecclesiastical policy, receiving a large share of the lands after the dissolution of the monasteries. In 1544, he was for the second time in command of an English army for the invasion of France. He died at Guildford, Surrey, on 22 August in the following year.Template:Sfn At Henry VIII's expense he was buried at Windsor in St George's Chapel. Brandon was perhaps the only person in England who successfully retained Henry VIII's affection for most of a period of forty years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Marriage to Mary Tudor

Charles Brandon took part in the jousts which celebrated the marriage of Mary Tudor, King Henry VIII's sister, with King Louis XII of France. On Louis XII's death in 1515, Brandon was sent to congratulate the new king, Francis I, and was accredited to negotiate various matters with him, including Dowager Queen Mary's return to England. Love had existed between Mary and Brandon before her marriage to Louis. Francis, perhaps in the hope of his wife Queen Claude's death, had been one of Mary's suitors in the first week of her widowhood, in which Mary had asserted that she had given him her confidence in order to avoid his overtures.Template:Sfn

Francis I and Henry VIII both professed a friendly attitude towards the marriage of the lovers, but Brandon had many political enemies, and Mary feared that she might again be sacrificed for political considerations. The King's Council, not wishing to see Brandon gain further power at court, were opposed to the match. The truth was that Henry was anxious to obtain from Francis the gold plate and jewels that had been given or promised to Mary by Louis XII, as well as reimbursement of the expenses of her marriage with him; and Henry practically made his acceptance of Brandon's suit dependent on Brandon obtaining them.Template:Sfn However, when Brandon was sent to bring Mary back to England, the King made him promise that he would not propose to her. Once in France though, Brandon was persuaded by Mary to abandon this pledge. The couple wed in secret at the Hotel de Clugny on 3 March 1515 in the presence of just 10 people, among whom was Francis I.<ref>Weir, Alison. Britain's Royal Families: The Complete Genealogy p. 152 London: Random House, 2011</ref> Brandon announced their marriage to Thomas Wolsey, who was a kinsman and friend.

Technically, this was treason as Brandon had married a royal princess without the King's consent.<ref>Yonge, Charlotte Mary. The War of the Roses, p. 335 London: Macmillan and Company, 1877</ref> Henry was outraged, and the privy council urged that Brandon should be imprisoned or executed. He was only saved from the King's anger by Wolsey smoothing things over and from the affection that the King had for both his sister and for him. The couple got off relatively lightly and were charged only with a heavy fine of £24,000 to be paid to the King in yearly instalments of £1000, as well as the whole of Mary's dowry from Louis XII of £200,000, together with her plate and jewels. Nonetheless, Henry later reduced the fine. The couple were then openly married at Greenwich Hall on 13 May 1515 in the presence of the King and his courtiers. The Duke of Suffolk already had been twice married, to Margaret Neville (the widow of John Mortimer) and to Anne Browne, to whom he had been betrothed before his marriage with Neville. Browne died in 1511, but Neville, from whom he had obtained a declaration of nullity on the ground of consanguinity, was still living. Brandon secured in 1528 a bull from Pope Clement VII that assured the legitimacy of his marriage with Mary Tudor.Template:Sfn

Mary died on 25 June 1533, and in September of the same year, Brandon married his ward, the 14-year-old Katherine Willoughby (1519–1580), suo jure Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. Katherine had been betrothed to his eldest surviving son, Henry, Earl of Lincoln, but the boy was too young to marry.<ref name=L&Pv6n1069>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} In a letter to Emperor Charles V, the Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys wrote: 'On Sunday next the duke of Suffolk will be married to the daughter of a Spanish lady named lady Willoughby. She was promised to his son, but he is only ten years old...'</ref><ref>"...Lincoln was sickly [...] and Charles did not wish to gamble on his son's survival and risk losing Katherine's lands. So he married her himself." In: "Starkey, David (Hg): Rivals in Power: Lives and Letters of the Great Tudor Dynasties. Macmillan, London 1990, p. 178</ref> The Earl of Lincoln died in 1534.

With Willoughby, Brandon had his two youngest sons, who showed great promise: another Henry (1535–1551) and Charles (c. 1537–1551), who later became Dukes of Suffolk. However, they eventually died of the sweating sickness within an hour of each other.Template:Sfn

Between 1536–1543, Brandon gave his London residence Suffolk Place, rebuilt by him in fine Renaissance style in 1522, to Henry VIII in exchange for Norwich Place on the Strand, London. He also leased Hoxne Hall at this time.<ref name="HG HH">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Marriages and children

Before 7 February 1507, Charles Brandon firstly married Margaret Neville (born 1466), widow of Sir John Mortimer (d. before 12 November 1504),Template:Sfn<ref>The Picards or Pychards of Stradewy (now Tretower) Castle, and Scethrog, Brecknockshire, (London: Golding and Lawrence, 1878), p. 62 Retrieved 16 September 2013.</ref><ref>'Parishes: Martley with Hillhampton', A History of the County of Worcester: volume 4 (1924), pp. 289-297 Retrieved 16 September 2013.</ref> and daughter of John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (slain at the Battle of Barnet) and Isabel Ingaldesthorpe (or Ingoldesthorpe), daughter and heiress of Sir Edmund Ingaldesthorpe (or Ingoldesthorpe) and Joanna Tiptoft. Charles and Margaret had no children. The marriage was declared void about 1507 by the Archdeaconry Court of London, and later by papal bull dated 12 May 1528.Template:Sfn Margaret subsequently married Robert Downes, gentleman.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

In early 1508, in a secret ceremony at Stepney, and later publicly at St Michael's, Cornhill,Template:Sfn Charles secondly married Anne Browne (the stepdaughter of Margaret Neville's sister, Lucy Neville), daughter of Sir Anthony Browne (Standard Bearer of England in 1485) and Eleanor Ughtred,<ref>Cokayne states that Anne Browne was the daughter of Sir Anthony Browne and Lucy Neville; Template:Harvnb.</ref> the daughter of Sir Robert Ughtred (c. 1428Template:Sndc. 1487) of Kexby, North Yorkshire and Katherine Eure, daughter of Sir William Eure of Stokesley, Yorkshire. By Anne Browne, he had two daughters:Template:Sfn

Charles was then contracted to marry Elizabeth Grey, 5th Baroness Lisle (1505–1519), and was thus created 1st Viscount Lisle of the third creation in 1513, but the contract was annulled, and he surrendered the title either before 1519 or in 1523.Template:Citation needed

File:Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon2.jpg
Wedding portrait of Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon

In May 1515, Charles thirdly married Mary Tudor, Queen Dowager of France (18 March 1496Template:Snd25 June 1533). After their marriage, Charles and Mary resided at Westhorpe Hall where they raised their four children:

On 7 September 1533, hardly two months after Mary's death, Brandon married for the fourth time. His bride was Katherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (22 March 1519 – 19 September 1580), the daughter and heiress of William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and María de Salinas. Brandon had two sons by her, and both of them were still children when he died in 1545. However, both of Brandon's sons later died young of the sweating sickness on the same day. They were:

In 1553, two years after suffering the death of both her sons on the same day, Brandon's widow, Katherine, married Richard Bertie. They would have two children, a son and daughter, together.

Charles also had a number of illegitimate children:

Later years and death

After becoming a widower in 1533 after his wife, Mary's, death, Brandon married Katherine Willoughby. At the end of that year, Brandon was dispatched to Buckden Towers by King Henry to see the King's former wife, Catherine of Aragon. The reason behind Brandon's visit was to inform Catherine that she would be moving to Somersham Palace and would no longer be styled as Queen, but the Dowager Princess of Wales (as the widow of Prince Arthur). Catherine refused both, locking herself in a room so she could not be moved to the "unhealthy" Somersham. Brandon was in a difficult situation. Both he and his late wife, Mary, had quietly supported Catherine's cause against Anne Boleyn and now Brandon's new mother-in-law was Maria de Salinas, former lady-in-waiting to Catherine. After Brandon left Buckden, it was decided to move Catherine to Kimbolton Castle which was healthier and which Catherine agreed to. Kimbolton was owned by Brandon's family, the Wingfields, and he may have suggested it to Henry in an attempt to placate Catherine.

As he was no longer Henry's brother-in-law, Henry persuaded Brandon to make his base in Lincolnshire where Katherine now owned her father's former castle, Grimsthorpe. On their marriage, Henry also gave them Vaudey Abbey, but he asked Brandon to give up his former home with Mary, Westhorpe Hall, as well as properties that belonged to Brandon's family, Wingfield Castle and Henham Hall. The reason Henry asked Brandon to move his base to Lincolnshire was to ease the tensions between the other major East Anglian family, the Howards. However, after the execution of Anne Boleyn in 1536, Brandon continued to receive East Anglian properties following the dissolution of the monasteries including Leiston Abbey and Eye Priory.

After the transfer of properties, Brandon, now based in Lincolnshire, enjoyed living at Tattershall Castle, although he also spent time at Grimsthorpe and built a new manor house at Spilsby. When in London, he resided at his properties, Suffolk Place or the Barbican.

In 1539, Henry made him Lord Steward of the Royal Household. A few years later, Brandon was involved with skirmishes and negotiations with the Scots, including the Battle of Solway Moss and the Rough Wooing. Later he was sent to France and was involved with the Siege of Boulogne.

Charles Brandon died on August 22 1545 in Guildford aged 60 years old. It was also the sixtieth anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth and the death of his own father. The King was deeply grieved at the death of his lifelong friend. Henry had already lost his two sisters and Brandon was the one remaining link to his childhood. When Brandon's death was announced at the Privy Council meeting, Henry professed that throughout their long friendship, Brandon had never attempted to hurt an adversary, nor had he ever said a word to injure anyone. He added “is there any of you, my Lords, who can say as much?”

Brandon's will requested a quiet funeral at Tattershall, however Henry ignored that and paid for an elaborate funeral at St. George's Chapel, Windsor where Jane Seymour was buried and Henry himself would later be buried there, next to his 3rd wife and close to his lifelong friend, in 1547.

Fictional portrayals

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Notes

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References

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Sources

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Further reading

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