Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk

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Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, detail from the wedding portrait with his third wife Mary Tudor

Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk KG (* around 1484; † August 22, 1545 at Guildford Castle in Surrey ) was an English nobleman, general and favorite of Henry VIII. Born as the son of a simple knight, he rose to a great extent within a very short time, the king made him Duke of Suffolk in 1514, to the amazement of many contemporaries . In 1515 he married the king's sister, Mary Tudor , widow of the French king Louis XII, without permission . But Heinrich forgave the couple. Above both daughter Frances Brandon , they are the grandparents of Queen Jane Gray .

As a general, Charles Brandon was three times at the head of an English invading army in France (1513, 1523 and 1544).

Life

Origin and childhood

The Battle of Bosworth, painted by Philip James de Loutherbourg, 1804

Charles Brandon was the son of William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn, daughter and heiress of Sir Henry Bruyn of South Ockendon in Essex. William and his brother Thomas bet on the overthrow of King Richard III. and took part in the rebellion of Edward Stafford, Duke of Buckingham . After their failure, they fled to Brittany and joined Heinrich Tudor, Earl of Richmond , who also claimed the English throne. William's wife followed him there and according to some sources their first son was born in Paris in 1484, either Charles or his brother William. There is evidence that Charles was named after the French King Charles VIII . In 1485 William Brandon returned to England with Heinrich Tudor's invading army. At the Battle of Bosworth Field he was named Henry's standard-bearer by Richard III. personally killed.

Early years at court

When his mother died in March 1494, Charles Brandon was an orphan . Most likely at the instigation of his uncle Sir Thomas Brandon, who meanwhile held an important position at court, he came to the court of Henry VII. In 1501 he served Crown Prince Arthur on the morning after his wedding night, but did not accompany him to his new residence in Ludlow. There is also no evidence that he was ever in Prince Henry's household or was even brought up with him, as was later claimed many times, including by the chronicler William Dugdale , who only lived well over a century later and was not a contemporary witness. Brandon still had close ties to Heinrich's household, through his aunt Mary Redyng, who served as a noblewoman in his household, and her husband, who was his chamberlain. From about 1503 Charles was one of the servants at court who served the king at table and between 1505 and 1509 he was Rittmeister for the Earl of Essex. Later, Heinrich was to have a variety of interests, especially a love of sporting activities such as jockeying and real tennis, and a lifelong friendship developed.

The climb

When Heinrich was crowned king in 1509, Charles Brandon was already in his favor. What followed was a meteoric rise - typical of the Tudor period. In just five years, Charles went from simple esquire to duke, one of the highest dignities in England. From 1505 Charles was engaged to be married to Anne Browne, daughter of the governor of Calais. Anne and Charles were promised each other "per verba de praesenti", a binding contract according to canon law. Their daughter Anne Brandon was born in 1506 (later wife of Edward Gray, 3rd Baron Gray of Powys), but Charles married in 1506 Anne Browne's rich aunt Margaret Neville (* 1466), niece of the "Kingmaker" Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick . This marriage was dissolved at the instigation of the Browne family in 1507 and in 1508 Charles Anne Browne finally married officially. Another daughter Mary (later consort of Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Monteagle) was born in 1510. Anne Browne died two years later.

In 1512 Charles became engaged to his ward, the 8-year-old orphan Elizabeth Gray, daughter and heir to Lord Lisle of Sparsholt in Berkshire. King Henry VIII therefore awarded him the title of Viscount Lisle on May 15, 1513 . Elizabeth refused to marry Charles when she came of age and later became the wife of Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter . The new Viscount Lisle accompanied the king to France as well as to the Netherlands, where negotiations were held with Emperor Maximilian I and his daughter, the governor Margarete, about the marriage of Maximilian's grandson Karl and Heinrich's sister Mary. On this occasion Charles was noticed by his familiar behavior towards the governor.

Duke of Suffolk and the King's brother-in-law

On February 1, 1514, Charles was made Duke of Suffolk by the King. The title and the extensive property associated with it came from the dispossessed de la Pole family . Brandon was one of only three dukes in England (alongside Norfolk and Buckingham ). His and Wolsey's influence on the king were valued extremely highly.

In the same year, the Habsburgs withdrew from the marriage project with Mary and became Louis XII. When France asked for the hand of the princess in addition to peace, she was promised. Mary, the king's favorite sister, agreed on the condition that she could choose her next husband herself. At that time there was already a love affair between her and Charles Brandon. Mary married the French king on August 13, 1514.

Wedding portrait of Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor

Louis XII. died suddenly shortly afterwards on December 31, 1514. Mary inaugurated the new French king Francis I of her love for Brandon, as he was interested in marrying the French ex-queen to one of his compatriots or even marrying her himself. The marriage to the Habsburg Charles also came up again.

The diplomatic mission of bringing the Queen back to England and congratulating the new King of France Henry VIII was entrusted to Charles Brandon. After meeting Francis I on February 1, 1515 in Senlis, Charles and Mary secretly married in February 1515 in Cluny . In return for his consent to the marriage, Francis I demanded that the English demands for Mary's dowry be abandoned. The English side also demanded the full repayment of the princess' trousseau through Wolsey and Heinrich.

On May 13, 1515, Brandon's official marriage to Princess Mary took place in Greenwich Palace in the presence of the royal couple . Although Brandon was now officially the king's brother-in-law, he still had to submit to court protocol and give his wife precedence at court on solemn occasions. So he was by no means given the same status as Mary. This relationship is made clear by a motto under which Charles Brandon rode into a tournament after the official marriage:

Cloth of gold, do not despise
Though thou be match'd with cloth of frieze;
Cloth of frieze, be not too bold
Though thou be match'd with cloth of gold

Gold brocade, do not despise
That linen is braided with you;
Linen, do not triumph
That gold brocade braids with you.

Gold brocade was a noble, precious material and thus a paraphrase for Mary, who is asked in the poem not to despise the simple linen with which she teamed up. Linen was a cheap, widespread fabric that was also worn by the common people. The material thus symbolizes Charles Brandon, who despite his connection to gold brocade - i.e. Princess Mary - is admonished in the poem not to be arrogant.

On March 11, 1516, the princess gave birth to the first child of the marriage, a son who was named after King Henry, but who died in 1522. In 1517 and around 1519 two daughters, Frances Brandon and Eleanor Brandon, followed, and in 1523 a second son, who was also named Henry Brandon . The exact dates of birth of the two younger children are not known.

Brandon attended the meeting of Henry VIII and Francis I, the so-called Camp du Drap d'Or , in 1520 and his wife helped Anne Boleyn admit into the court of Queen Catherine. In 1523 he had to give up the title of Viscount Lisle in favor of Arthur Plantagenet . Plantagenet, the illegitimate son of Edward IV the king's uncle, was married to Elizabeth Gray, the aunt of Brandon's former fiancée, who was Baroness Lisle after the death of her niece in 1519 . As part of the humiliating elevation of Henry Fitzroy to Duke of Richmond and Somerset for Queen Catherine , Brandon's son was also named Earl of Lincoln . At that time Mary became seriously ill and the princess was increasingly in debt to repay her dowry. She died on June 26, 1533 while Brandon was in charge of Anne Boleyn's coronation ceremonies.

In early September 1533, shortly after Mary's death, Charles Brandon married the wealthy fourteen-year-old Katherine Willoughby, 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby . In a letter to Emperor Charles V , the Spanish ambassador Eustace Chapuys mentions the marriage with the words: "Next Sunday the Duke will marry the daughter of a Spanish lady named Lady Willoughby", and comments ironically: "This gives the Duke a service for the ladies If, as usual, they are reprimanded for remarrying immediately after their husband's death, they can refer to his example. " Brandon's second son Henry, Earl of Lincoln, also died in 1534, aged only ten or eleven. Brandon remained connected to the king, he stood at the scaffold at the execution of Anne Boleyn and took action against the Pilgrimage of Grace . Suffolk spent the last few years quietly and wealthy, Henry had given him abundant church property. The two sons of his fourth marriage, Henry and Charles , died of an English sweat on July 14, 1551 .

progeny

Surname birth death Additional
With Anne Browne
Anne Brandon, Baroness Gray of Powys approx. 1507-1509 January 1558 ⚭ Edward Gray, 3rd Baron Gray of Powys

However, later separated from her husband and lived in public with her lover Randall Haworth

Mary Brandon, Lady Monteagle June 2, 1510 between 1540-44 ⚭ Thomas Stanley, 2nd Baron Monteagle
With Mary Tudor
Henry Brandon March 11, 1516, Bath Place before 1522 died childless
Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk July 16, 1517 November 20, 1559 ⚭ 1. 1533 Henry Gray, 3rd Marquess of Dorset ⚭ 2. 1555 Adrian Stokes
Eleanor Brandon, Countess of Cumberland between 1518 and 1521 September 27, 1547 ⚭ Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland
Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln approx. 1522/23 March 1, 1534 died childless
With Katherine Willoughby
Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk September 18, 1535 July 14, 1551 died of English sweat ; remained childless
Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk circa 1537 July 14, 1551 died of an English sweat an hour after his brother ; remained childless
Illegitimate children
Sir Charles Brandon circa 1521 August 12, 1551 ⚭ Elizabeth, widow of Sir James Strangway

was knighted by his father in 1544 during the campaign in France

Frances Brandon unknown unknown ⚭ 1. William Sandon ⚭ 2. Andrew Bilsby
Mary Brandon unknown unknown ⚭ Robert Ball of Scottow, Norfolk

See also: Brandon House

Representation in film and book

The love story between Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor and his friendship with Henry VIII inspired many films and novels, and he also appears as a supporting character in historical novels and films from the Tudor period:

Fiction

Movie

  • Henry VIII , played by Edward O'Neill, 1911
  • When Knighthood Was in Flower , played by Forrest Stanley, black and white film based on the novel by Charles Major, 1922
  • A princess falls in love (The Sword and the Rose) , played by Richard Todd , is also based on the novel by Charles Major, 1953
  • The Six Wives of Henry VIII - Catherine of Aragon , TV series, played by Raymond Adamson, 1970
  • Henry VIII and His Six Wives , played by Brian Blessed , 1972
  • The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight , played by Lewis Fiander, 1979
  • The Tudors , historic television series played by Henry Cavill , 2007-2010

literature

  • Gunn, Steven J .: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, C. 1484-1545 Blackwell Publishing, Williston 1988, ISBN 0631157816

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Death of Elizabeth Brandons In: George Edward Cokayne at al .: The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct or Dormant , Volume II, 1910, p. 358.
  2. ↑ Steven J. Gunn: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, C. 1484-1545 Blackwell Publishing, Williston 1988, p. 7
  3. ↑ Steven J. Gunn: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, C. 1484-1545 Blackwell Publishing, Williston 1988, p. 55
  4. ^ Family tree of the Brandons In: Starkey, David (ed.): Rivals in Power: Lives and Letters of the Great Tudor Dynasties Macmillan, London 1990, p. 39
  5. ↑ Perry, Maria: The Sisters of Henry VIII: The Tumultuous Lives of Margaret of Scotland and Mary of France , Da Capo Press Edition, 2000, pp. 136/154
  6. ↑ [1] “On Sunday next the duke of Suffolk will be married to the daughter of a Spanish lady named lady Willoughby ... The Duke will have done a service to the ladies who can point to his example when they are reproached, as is usual, with marrying again immediately after the death of their husbands. “Letter from the Imperial Ambassador Chapuys to Charles V of September 3, 1533 In: 'Henry VIII: September 1533, 1-10', Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII, Volume 6: 1533 (1882)
  7. ↑ Family tree 'The Ducal Family' In: Gunn, Steven J .: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, c. 1484-1545 Blackwell Publishing, Williston 1988, p. 94
  8. ↑ Sir Charles Brandon on The History of Parliament , accessed August 30, 2016
predecessor Office successor
New title created Duke of Suffolk
1514-1545 		Henry Brandon
New title created Viscount Lisle
1513-1523 		Title waiver
personal data
SURNAME Brandon, Charles, 1st Duke of Suffolk
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brandon, Charles
BRIEF DESCRIPTION English nobleman
DATE OF BIRTH 1484
DATE OF DEATH August 22, 1545
Place of death Guildford Castle