Everything about Charles Brandon Duke Of Suffolk totally explained
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk (c. 1484 –
22 August 1545), was the son of
Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. His father was the
standard-bearer of
King Henry VII and was slain by
Richard III in person on
Bosworth Field. Charles Brandon died of unknown causes at
Guildford.
Ancestry
His paternal grandparents were a senior Sir William Brandon of
Wangford,
Suffolk (d. 1491), who served as
Marshal of Marshalsea prison, and Elizabeth Wingfield (d.
28 April 1497). His maternal grandparents were Sir Henry Bruyn and Elizabeth Darcy.
Background
Charles Brandon was brought up at the court of Henry VII. He 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".
Political career
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 1513, he was created
Viscount Lisle, having entered into a marriage contract with his ward,
Elizabeth Grey,
suo jure Viscountess Lisle, who, however, refused to marry him when she came of age.
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, writing from before Thérouanne, reminded her that Lord Lisle was a "second king" and advised her to write him a kind letter.
At this time, Henry VIII was secretly urging Margaret to marry Lisle, whom he created
Duke of Suffolk, although he was careful to disclaim (on
4 March 1514) any complicity in the project to her father,
Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.
Suffolk took part in the jousts which celebrated the marriage of
Mary Tudor, Henry's sister, with
Louis XII of France. He was accredited to negotiate various matters with Louis, and on Louis' death was sent to congratulate the new King,
Francis I.
An affection between Suffolk and the young
Dowager Queen Mary had existed before her marriage, and Francis roundly charged him with an intention to marry her. Francis, perhaps in the hope of
Queen Claude's death, had himself been one of her suitors in the first week of her widowhood, and Mary asserted that she'd given him her confidence to avoid his importunities.
Francis and Henry both professed a friendly attitude towards the marriage of the lovers, but Suffolk had many political enemies, and Mary feared that she might again be sacrificed to political considerations. The truth was that Henry was anxious to obtain from Francis the gold plate and jewels which had been given or promised to the Queen by Louis in addition to the reimbursement of the expenses of her marriage with the King; and he practically made his acquiescence in Suffolk's suit dependent on his obtaining them. The pair cut short the difficulties by a private marriage, which Suffolk announced to
Thomas Wolsey, who had been their fast friend, on
5 March 1515.
Suffolk was saved from Henry's anger only by Wolsey, and the pair eventually agreed to pay to Henry £24,000 in yearly instalments of £1000, and the whole of Mary's dowry from Louis of £200,000, together with her plate and jewels. They were openly married at
Greenwich Hall on
13 May. The Duke had been twice married already, to
Margaret Neville (the widow of
John Mortimer) and to Anne Browne, to whom he'd been betrothed before his marriage with Margaret Mortimer. Anne Browne died in 1511, but Margaret Mortimer, from whom he'd obtained a divorce on the ground of
consanguinity, was still living. He secured in 1528 a bull from
Pope Clement VII assuring the legitimacy of his marriage with Mary Tudor and of the daughters of Anne Browne, one of whom, Anne, was sent to the court of Margaret of Savoy.
After his marriage to Mary, Suffolk lived for some years in retirement, but he was present at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold in 1520. In 1523 he was sent to
Calais to command the English troops there. He invaded
France in company with
Count de 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.
Unlike his wife, Suffolk was entirely in favour of Henry's divorce from
Catherine of Aragon, and in spite of his obligations to Wolsey he didn't scruple to attack him when his fall was imminent. The Cardinal, who was acquainted with Suffolk's private history, reminded him of his ingratitude: "If I, simple Cardinal, hadn't been, you should have had at this present no head upon your shoulders wherein you should have had a tongue to make any such report in despite of us."
After Wolsey's disgrace, Suffolk's influence increased daily. He was sent with
Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, to demand the
Great Seal from Wolsey; the same noblemen conveyed the news of
Anne Boleyn's marriage to King Henry, after his divorce from Queen Catherine, 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.
He 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
24 August in the following year.
After the death of Mary Tudor on
24 June 1533 he married in 1534 his ward
Catherine Willoughby (1520–1580),
suo jure Baroness Willoughby de Eresby, then a girl of fifteen.
His daughters by his marriage with Anne Browne were Anne, who married firstly
Edward Grey, Lord Powys, and, after the dissolution of this union, Randal Harworth; and Mary (b. 1510), who married
Thomas Stanley, Lord Monteagle. By Mary Tudor he'd
Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (1516–1534);
Frances, who married
Henry Grey, Marquess of Dorset, and became the mother of
Lady Jane Grey; and
Eleanor, who married
Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland. By Catherine Willoughby he'd two sons who showed great promise, Henry (1535–1551) and Charles (c. 1537 – 1551), Dukes of Suffolk. They died of the
sweating sickness within an hour of one another.
Wives and children
He contracted to marry Elizabeth Grey, 5th Baroness Lisle (1505–1519). The contract was annulled. No issue.
First marriage
Before February 1506, he married
Margaret Mortimer (née Neville).
The marriage was annulled in 1507. No issue.
Second Marriage
About 1508, he married
Anne Browne (d. 1511) daughter of
Sir Anthony Browne, Standard Bearer of England 1485 and
Eleanor Oughtred.
Issue
- Anne Brandon (d. 1557)
- Mary Brandon (1510 – c. 1542)
Third Marriage
In May 1515, he married
Mary Tudor, Queen Dowager of France (
18 March 1496 –
25 June 1533).
Issue
Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (11 March 1516 – 8 March 1534)
Lady Frances Brandon (16 July 1517 – 20 November 1559)
Lady Eleanor Brandon (1519 – 27 September 1547)
Fourth Marriage
On 7 September 1534, he married Catherine Willoughby (c. 1519 – 1580)
Issue
Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (18 September 1535 – July 1551); sweating sickness
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537 – July 1551); sweating sickness
Literature and Screen
Brandon is briefly fictionalised in the historical fiction novel The Last Boleyn by author Karen Harper.
He is portrayed by Richard Todd in The Sword and the Rose, an account of his romance with Mary Tudor in 1515.
Brandon is portrayed by actor Henry Cavill in the Showtime series The Tudors.
He is a character in the novel Mary, Queen of France by author Jean Plaidy.Further Information
Get more info on 'Charles Brandon Duke Of Suffolk'.
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