Frances Brandon

Frances Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk

Lady Frances Brandon (born July 16, 1517 in Bishop's Hatfield, Hertfordshire , † November 20, 1559 London ) was an English noblewoman and the eldest daughter of the English Princess Mary Tudor , sister of Henry VIII. , From her marriage to Charles Brandon, 1. Duke of Suffolk . Due to her royal descent, Frances was entitled to the English throne. Her oldest daughter Jane Gray was for nine days queen of England, however, was of Mary I disempowered. Despite the execution of her daughter and husband, Henry GrayFrances managed to secure the inheritance of her younger daughters Catherine Gray and Mary Gray and re-establish herself at court. Due to a smear campaign in the course of the transfiguration of her daughter Jane Gray, she has often been falsely portrayed as brutal and coarse since the 18th century.

Life

childhood

Mary Tudor and Charles Brandon , parents of Frances Brandon

Frances was born on July 16, 1517 in Hatfield, which at the time belonged to the Bishop of Ely. Her mother, Mary Tudor , was on a trip to the shrine in Walsingham, Norfolk when she went into unexpected labor. The former queen had no choice but to seek the bishop's hospitality and gave birth to her daughter between two and three in the morning. Two days later, the girl was baptized Frances in Hatfield Church. Since the name was quite unusual in England at the time, there is the theory that the proud parents named her after the French King Francis I , who had made it possible for them to get married through his support. Another theory is that the child was named Frances because her birthday was the day of the canonization of Francis of Assisi .

Frances' godmothers were Queen Catherine of Aragon and her daughter, the one-year-old Princess Maria . Since the two could not be present in person for the baptism, they were represented by two ladies-in-waiting, Lady Anne Boleyn, a relative of the future Queen Anne Boleyn and Lady Elizabeth Gray. The church was adorned with ornate gold brocade, Tudor roses and French lilies to mark the joyous occasion, reflecting Frances' royal ancestry. Even though she was strictly the daughter of a duke, Frances carried her mother's royal blood within her. As the granddaughter of Henry VII and niece of Henry VIII , she was entitled to the English throne.

Together with her older brother Henry and older half-sisters Anne and Mary Brandon, Frances grew up in Westhorpe, Suffolk, under the supervision of their nurse Anne Kynge. Her younger sister Eleanor was born between 1518 and 1521 . Her brother Henry died as a toddler, but in 1523 Frances had another brother in Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln . Charles Brandon's underage ward Magdalen Rochester and Katherine Willoughby were added , so there were children of all ages in Westhorpe. In 1525, Frances' younger brother was promoted to Earl of Lincoln , sparking rumors that the king, who did not yet have a legitimate son and heir to the throne, wanted his nephew to be his heir. If so, Frances Brandon would have become the new king's sister, no doubt a tempting idea.

However, Charles Brandon had to secure the legitimacy of his children with Mary Tudor only three years later, as there were disagreements due to his marital history as to whether he had been an unmarried man at all at the time of his marriage to the king's sister. Had his children been declared bastards, they would not have had any inheritance rights. A papal document dated May 12, 1528 finally affirmed the legitimacy of Frances and her siblings and secured them a place in the line of succession.

Marriage to Henry Gray

Engagement and first years of marriage

In 1530, Frances' father tried to arrange for her a prestigious marriage to Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey , heir to the Duke of Norfolk, Thomas Howard . However, this humiliatingly refused the proposal because he did not find Frances' dowry large enough. At the age of twelve, Frances was engaged to Henry Gray, 3rd Marquess of Dorset . Originally the young man was engaged to Lady Katherine FitzAlan, but Frances was a much better match as the king's niece. However, years later, that previous engagement would spark some legal disputes.

Just a year after the engagement, in 1530, Henry Grey's father died and Charles Brandon secured the tutelage of his future son-in-law. A guardianship in England at that time meant a secure source of income, as the guardian administered the lands and funds of the ward. In return, the ward grew up in the guardian's household and was maintained by him. In March 1533, Frances and Henry were married at Charles Brandon's house on Suffolk Place, Southwark. It was around this time that her younger sister Eleanor became engaged to Henry Clifford.

Bradgate House, the main Gray family estate

Frances' wedding was her mother Mary Tudor's last public appearance. Immediately afterwards, the already seriously ill Mary withdrew to Westhorpe. Fifteen-year-old Frances and her husband, however, moved to Bradgate in Leicestershire, a seat of the Grays. On May 28th, Henry Gray attended Anne Boleyn's coronation . Just a month later, Frances' mother died in Westhorpe. Her funeral took place on July 21, and Frances led the funeral procession. Three months later, Frances had a stepmother who was about two years her junior when the widowed Charles Brandon married his underage ward, Katherine Willoughby. Frances' younger brother Henry died a year after his mother.

Frances and Henry Gray spent some of their time at court and some in the country. However, life at court was expensive and the young couple loved socializing, celebrations and outings. It is not known to what extent Frances had any influence over her husband in this regard. A contemporary described her in 1538 as “of a higher birth” than her husband and therefore “of greater temperament, but she was able to subordinate it to her husband's will”. Though constantly in debt, the Grays were quite popular for their generosity and hospitality.

The couple's first two children, a son and a daughter, died as babies. 1537 The first surviving child came into the world and has been under the current Queen Jane Seymour in the name of Jane baptized. In 1540 the second daughter Catherine was born, in 1545 the last daughter Mary . That same year, Frances' father, Charles Brandon, died and his titles and possessions were passed on to his wife's eldest son, Katherine Willoughby. Frances was with her father when he died and he decreed that she should inherit £ 200 worth of dishes. Should she survive her half-brothers, she should also receive various household items, cattle and jewels.

How Frances' relationship with her husband was in the last years of their marriage cannot be said with any certainty. Although she shared Henry Grey's Protestant views, Frances was still friends with her Catholic cousin Maria and visited her regularly with her family. The fact that Frances did not get pregnant again after giving birth to her daughter Mary in 1545 is interpreted by some historians as a sign of estrangement between the married couple. On the other hand, Henry Gray rushed to his wife in 1552 when she became seriously ill and was in mortal danger.

Social rise of the Grays

Although Frances was often vilified as cruel and domineering in the course of the transfiguration of her eldest daughter Jane over the centuries, she enjoyed respect and respect during her lifetime. Despite the legend of her dominant, hard-hearted personality, Frances was known for generosity and hospitality. For example, she took her brother-in-law's three orphaned children - Thomas, Margaret and Francis Willoughby - under her wing, distant relatives of Katherine Willoughby. Margaret Willoughby would later become the best friend of Frances 'youngest daughter Mary, while Thomas Willoughby attended college with Frances' half-brothers Henry and Charles Brandon. Margaret and Francis were eventually taken in by their uncle George Medley, but would continue to be supported by Frances for years to come.

Queen Catherine Parr

As the king's niece, Frances was also one of the most senior ladies at court and often took on ceremonial duties. Together with her cousins ​​Princess Maria and Lady Margaret Douglas , who were almost the same age , she led the funeral procession for the late Queen Jane Seymour in 1537 and was later among the ladies who welcomed the new Queen Anne of Cleves to England. Together with her younger sister Eleanor, her stepmother Katherine Willoughby and Margaret Douglas, Frances was one of the so-called ladies of honor of Queen Catherine Parr , which was a high honor and at the same time gave her the opportunity to introduce her daughter Jane to the higher circles at court. During this time she was awarded various properties by her uncle, including the College of Astley and Warwickshire .

After the death of Frances' half-brothers Henry and Charles , the title of Duke of Suffolk reverted to the Crown. Since Frances was now the legal heir of her father, Henry Gray was raised to the new Duke of Suffolk by means of the Iure uxoris in 1551 , which not only meant a social advancement for the family, but also increased possessions. Not long afterwards, Frances' disinherited older half-sister Anne Brandon, Baroness Gray of Powys, laid claim to the paternal inheritance and provoked a lawsuit that would last for years by claiming that Frances and her sister Eleanor were illegitimate. In addition, Anne Brandon sneaked some lands that belonged to Frances with forged papers and sold them illegally. Nevertheless, Anne should not be able to win the title of her father for her second husband. Both Frances and her sister Eleanor were confirmed by the court to be their father's legitimate heirs.

Raising their daughters

Frances was well aware of the role her daughters could play in England. Her royal blood and Protestant upbringing made her eldest daughter Jane a worthy bride for Crown Prince Edward of the same age . She and Henry Gray therefore attached great importance to the education of their three daughters. When, after the death of Henry VIII. Edward was placed under the tutelage of his uncle Edward Seymour , Seymour's younger brother Thomas offered the Grays to raise Jane in his household and to marry her off to his nephew, the young king. The Grays agreed, especially since Thomas Seymour had recently married the king's widow Catherine Parr and gave Jane into his care.

Although Frances addressed Seymour in her letters as her "dear brother", she and her husband had to quickly realize that Seymour's influence on the king's marriage was far less than he had claimed. Added to this was his scandalous flirting with Frances' young cousin Elisabeth , who also lived under his roof. When Catherine Parr died in childbirth, Frances therefore insisted on bringing her daughter home immediately, but only finally succeeded when Seymour fell out of favor for his intrigues and was charged with high treason.

Like her husband, Frances was part of the Protestant camp and, according to her contemporaries, was very religious. After his famous visit to Bradgate, scholar Roger Ascham was full of praise for the Grays and extolled Jane's virtues as well as those of her parents. James Haddon, the chaplain of the Grays, also told his friend Michelangelo Florio that Jane had inherited her piety from her parents and was very close to her mother. It was only in the following centuries that the myth of the power-hungry, dominant horror figure emerged, who forced her daughter into an unwanted marriage by force and came upon the throne. One reason for this are Jane's words, which Ascham wrote down years later:

“In the presence of my father or mother, whether I speak or remain silent, sit, stand or walk, eat, drink, be sad or happy, sew, play, dance or do anything else, I always have to do it appropriately and completely do as God created the world, because otherwise I am so severely scolded, so cruelly threatened, sometimes pinched, pushed or pounded that I believe I am in Hell. "

After the comparatively great freedom under her guardian Thomas Seymour, Jane protested against the restrictions in her parents' household. Frances, on the other hand, felt obliged to prepare her daughter for the role of obedient wife and mother. In this conflict-ridden situation, it was her husband's friends, Protestants on the European continent, who began to teach Frances' daughter. In particular, Heinrich Bullinger Letters influenced Jane's thinking and behavior so much that her parents enrolled him easier thank you letters.

Mother of the Nine Day Queen

After negotiations about a marriage between Frances' daughter Jane and the young Edward Seymour had failed, the Grays received an offer instead from John Dudley, 1st Duke of Northumberland . He proposed that Jane marry off his fourth son, Guildford Dudley . At the same time, Frances' second daughter Catherine Henry Herbert was to marry, the son of William Herbert, 1st Earl of Pembroke . The aim of these marriages was a political alliance between the leading Protestant nobles, possibly against the impending danger of a Catholic succession to the throne by Princess Maria . Although Frances herself said for the rest of her life that she did not support Jane's marriage to Guildford, she and Henry Gray eventually bowed to outside pressure and instructed Jane to consent to the marriage. Robert Wingfield of Brantham, a contemporary of the Grays and friend of Roger Aschams, testified that Frances vehemently opposed the marriage, "but her feminine doubts were in vain."

John Dudley , Lord Protector of England

The popular claim that Frances mistreated her daughter in order to drag her to the altar comes from a mutilated and arbitrarily altered black copy of the work Historia delle cose occorse nel regno d'Inghilterra by Raviglio Rosso., In which, interestingly, Henry Gray and not Frances Jane beats. It says Jane submitted to her mother's curses and her father's beatings. In his original, Rosso simply stated: "Although she resisted marriage for a while, she finally submitted to her mother's admonitions and her father's threats." In the Tudor period, it was common for parents to arrange their daughters' marriages and Daughters who defied their parents' will were labeled disobedient and even "unnatural." It was popular belief that children were required to obey their parents unconditionally, and therefore the exercise of parental authority was socially acceptable. Since the stories of Frances' brutality towards her daughter did not appear until centuries later and in no contemporary source, they should be treated with caution.

On May 21, 1553, a double wedding took place at Durham House. Jane and Guildford, Catherine and Henry Herbert were married, and Frances' youngest daughter Mary was engaged. Just a week later, however, Jane was already defying her new mother-in-law, the Duchess of Northumberland, and leaving her home without permission to see her mother. The reason for their upset was probably the news that the ailing young King Edward had made her his heiress. Here the first tensions between Frances and Lady Dudley became apparent, because when Frances wanted to keep her daughter with her, Lady Dudley declared furiously that she would then also keep Guildford with her. As this would have led to a scandal, the two young married couple were finally placed in Chelsea.

Finally, on July 8th, Frances was called to see her daughter. She had previously had to renounce her own claim to the throne in an audience with her cousin Eduard, and now the nobles of the empire called her to convince their reluctant daughter that she was the rightful queen. Frances then accompanied Jane on her procession to the Tower of London , carrying the train of the young queen, a blatant reversal of order for her contemporaries. During the days at the Tower, Frances stayed with her daughter and sided with her when she, Guildford, and his mother argued. Given the great support that Princess Maria received from the population, Frances was so tense that she burst into tears when Maria proclaimed herself queen in a letter.

Life after the coup

Rehabilitation at court

Jane's reign ended after nine days and only Frances' friendship with the new Queen Maria I initially saved the family. Jane and Guildford had been arrested in the Tower, and Henry Gray was arrested on July 28th. In a desperate aftermath, Frances went to see her cousin and begged mercy for her family. In doing so, she did not hesitate to charge Northumberland with the poisoning. Henry Gray had gotten sick a few days earlier, and Frances claimed Northumberland wanted to get him out of the way to take away Jane's most important protector. Her allegations matched Jane's suspicions that Lady Dudley tried to poison her while living in her household. Maria was convinced and pardoned the arrested Henry Gray, who was released on July 31st. However, Jane remained in custody, even though Maria intended to pardon her.

Jane Grey's execution

Henry Grey's renewed participation in an uprising against Mary sealed both his fate and that of his eldest daughter. After the failed Wyatt uprising, both were sentenced to death for high treason. The only thing Frances could do was convince Maria to at least forgive Henry despite the execution. This symbolic act was necessary in order to one day rehabilitate herself and her surviving daughters. Since her husband's possessions went to the Crown after his conviction, Frances and her younger daughters were left with nothing when he died. Catherine Grey's marriage to Henry Herbert was annulled by her father-in-law shortly before Jane's fall, leaving Frances in charge of two underage daughters. Thanks to the Queen's forgiveness, it was now at least theoretically possible for her to possibly get back the former possessions of Henry Grey's later.

Under Mary's Catholic rule, Frances hid her Protestant sympathies and behaved in conformity. Even so, there is evidence that she continued to secretly advocate the Protestant cause. John Day, a Protestant printer, had received her daughter Jane's original letters and printed them in hiding on the estate of William Cecil , who was friends with both Frances and her stepmother, Katherine Willoughby . As a pamphlet, Jane's writings have been viewed as the strongest literary attack on Mary's government. Since it is unclear how Day came into possession of these private letters, there is a theory that he received them from Frances. If she was actually responsible, Maria never found out, as she returned several possessions to her cousin in April. In July, Frances became a lady of the Privy Chamber and thus belonged again to the exclusive circle of courtiers who had access to the Queen at all times. Her daughters Catherine and Mary also became ladies-in-waiting.

Second marriage to Adrian Stokes

There were other major changes in Frances' personal life. George Medley, uncle of the Grey's protégés Margaret and Francis Willoughby, also took part in the unsuccessful Wyatt uprising. Unlike Henry Gray, he had got away with a jail sentence, but staying in the Tower ruined his health. Since he was no longer able to care for the children, Frances took them in. She organized a school for Francis and brought Margaret to court, to the delight of her daughter Mary, Margaret's close friend. In 1555, Frances' friend and stepmother Katherine Willoughby left England, as she was in the crosshairs of Stephan Gardiner because of her openly Protestant attitude . In addition, her half-sister Anne Brandon still tried to claim her father's inheritance. The situation had become much more complicated now that the lands Katherine Willoughby had inherited were also up for discussion - lands that the Crown had since confiscated.

Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon

To top it all off, rumors grew that there were plans to marry Frances to Edward Courtenay, 1st Earl of Devon . Like Frances, he had royal roots and was descended from Katherine of York , the younger sister of Frances' grandmother Elizabeth of York . However, he was considered mentally unstable and Frances quickly created facts. In May 1555, when Courtenay finally left England, she had married Adrian Stokes, her Rittmeister. Due to a misidentified portrait, Stokes had been believed to be 15 years younger than Frances since the 18th century. A contemporary horoscope shows his date of birth as March 4, 1519, so that he was only two years younger than his wife. The marriage date was also given as only three weeks after Henry Grey's execution since the 18th century, most likely as part of the smear campaign against Frances. However, since the Spanish ambassador only speculated in a letter about a possible marriage between Frances and Courtenay in 1555, it is highly unlikely that she was already married to Stokes at that time. According to historians, the incorrect dating may also be due to the Julian calendar , where the new year began on March 25th.

The marriage to Stokes was rated differently. Historians today largely agree that Frances wanted to be on the safe side by marrying a man from a humble background. Any more prestigious marriage would have brought the children of this union again into dangerous proximity to the throne, and Frances had experienced firsthand the consequences of this proximity. The children of a simple gentleman, on the other hand, would not even be considered as candidates for the succession to the throne. Even so, her contemporaries viewed the marriage as a humiliation of Frances' royal ancestry and denied her the courtesy title of Duchess of Suffolk. According to legend, Princess Elisabeth asked in astonishment: “What? Did this woman marry her groom? ”However, there is only one historical statement made by Elisabeth on the marriage of her cousin (and on the second marriage of Katherine Willoughby), addressed to the Spanish ambassador in the spring of 1561:“ Should I do it like the ladies of Suffolk, hers Servants married? ”Still, affection seems to have played a role in the marriage, as Frances later appointed her second husband to be her executor and Stokes would years later responsibly look after his disgraced stepdaughter Mary.

The last few years

After her marriage to Adrian Stokes, Frances spent the rest of her life withdrawn from court. While her daughter Catherine continued to serve as the queen's maid, ten-year-old Mary remained in her mother's care. Although she became pregnant by Stokes several times, none of the children survived into adulthood. In addition, Frances' health was going downhill. When Queen Elizabeth ascended the throne in 1558, Frances' now eldest daughter Catherine was viewed by many as a potential heir to the throne. Elisabeth, however, distrusted Catherine and reduced her status at court. During the court's annual trip through the kingdom in the summer of 1559, Catherine fell in love with Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford , her sister Jane's one-time marriage candidate. In October Hertford asked Frances "for her benevolence so that he could marry Lady Catherine, her daughter."

Catherine Gray , Frances' second daughter

Frances was aware, however, that as a member of the royal family, Catherine also needed the queen's approval in order to marry. She consulted with Adrian Stokes, to whom she said that Hertford "would be a very suitable husband for her if the wedding of Queen Elizabeth and her honorable advisors were to be enjoyed." The couple agreed that Stokes should speak to Hertford and a first draft for a letter to the Queen. In the draft, Stokes wrote:

“A nobleman would be kind to her daughter, the Lady Catherine. You [Frances] humbly ask Your Royal Highness to be a good and gracious mistress, and that she may please agree to marry the said earl. It would be the only thing she [Frances] wanted before she died and it would make her die calmer. "

Frances herself was seriously ill at this point and it was already becoming apparent that she would not recover. She therefore called Catherine back home from the court to inform her: "I have now found a husband for you, if you like to give him your heart and your benevolence." Catherine happily replied that she was more than ready To love Hertford. Relieved by her daughter's excellent prospects, Frances went to settle her last business. On November 9, she made her will, dividing her widow's inheritance between her daughters. Everything that did not go to her daughters she bequeathed to her husband Adrian Stokes.

death

Frances Brandon's crypt in St Edmund's Chapel at Westminster Abbey

Frances Brandon died on November 20, 1559 in the presence of her daughters and a few friends in her Charterhouse residence in London. The cost of the burial of the "beloved cousin" was paid for by Queen Elizabeth, who arranged a dignified funeral for Frances as a member of the royal family. The funeral procession, led by Catherine Gray, moved from Richmond Palace to Westminster Abbey on December 5 , where Frances would find her final resting place. The funeral oration was given by John Jewel , incumbent Bishop of Salisbury . The Herald announced:

"Praise and praise be to Almighty God that it pleased him to bring the noble, serene Princess Lady Frances, the recently deceased Duchess of Suffolk, out of this fleeting life into his eternal glory."

The service was held according to Elizabeth's prayer book and Frances was buried in St Edmund's Chapel at Westminster Abbey. Four years later, Adrian Stokes erected a memorial on her grave, which has been preserved to this day. It shows Frances' statue in an ermine coat of a duchess, a crown on her head and a prayer book under her clasped hands. The Latin inscription on her grave reads:

Neither grace, nor splendor, nor a regal name Nor widespread fame can do anything; Everyone, everyone has passed here. Only true worth alone Survive the cremation and the silent tomb.

The myth of the bad mother

Frances Brandon is one of the most maligned women of the Tudor period. As her daughter Jane Gray became a symbol of innocence and purity over the centuries, Frances went through a negative transformation. She was portrayed as a lustful, coarse woman who regularly abused her daughter and used brute force to force her into marriage. The reason for this misrepresentation is on the one hand the repeatedly quoted claim from the arbitrarily modified black copy that Jane was beaten into marriage by her parents. Modern authors also quote this myth in both novels and non-fiction books. In her novel Innocent Traitor - Lady Jane Gray , Alison Weir describes a cruel, lustful Frances who abuses all of her daughters. Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt expands the myth of forced marriage in her non-fiction book Kampf der Königinnen by claiming that both parents brutally beat up their daughter at the same time until they are pulled away by the shocked governess.

The only clue about Jane's alleged abuse by her parents is Ascham's report, written twenty years after the meeting. Historians now agree, however, that Jane was treated no differently from other noble children of the Tudor period. Susan Higginbotham argues that Ascham only praises Jane's parents in his letters immediately after the visit, which would not be the case if he had heard of scandalous abuse. If Jane had been abused and oppressed by her parents, Jane would hardly have complained about her so openly. There is also historical evidence, including Jane's own letter to Queen Maria, that Jane did not have a disturbed relationship with her mother. Instead she fled to Frances after her marriage when she felt oppressed by her mother-in-law.

Frances was also accused over time of not even trying to save her daughter while asking for mercy for her husband. Evidence is cited that Henry Gray was pardoned and Jane stayed in the Tower. However, unlike Jane, Henry Gray had not signed any appeals against Maria and was so seriously ill that one feared for his life. Although none of Jane's letters to Frances survived, Michelangelo Florio reports that the young woman from the Tower wrote to her mother. After she and Henry Gray were executed, Frances was second married to Adrian Stokes. The myth claims that she married him three weeks after her husband's death, which was taken as further evidence of her lustfulness and heartlessness. In fact, the marriage took place a year later. Nor was Stokes 15 years younger than Frances.

Even the fact that the names of their daughters Jane, Catherine and Mary are not mentioned on the plaque of Frances' monument has long been interpreted as a sign of her bad relationship with her mother. In fact, however, her widower Adrian Stokes did not erect the monument until 1563. At that time, Catherine Gray was already imprisoned for her secret wedding in the Tower and Elisabeth refused to forgive her and recognize her as heir to the throne. So it is just as possible that Stokes simply did not mention her in order not to provoke Elisabeth even more.

Portraits

Although portrait painting experienced a heyday in the Renaissance and it can be safely assumed that Frances Brandon, like all of her high-ranking contemporaries, had portraits made of himself, we do not have any portraits of her today that can be clearly identified as her .

False identifications

The portrait of Mary Neville and her son by Hans Eworth was mistaken for Frances and Adrian Stokes for centuries

A portrait by the painter Hans Eworth, believed to be Frances for nearly three centuries, has recently been found to be misidentified. This portrait, actually depicting Mary Neville, Lady Dacre, and their son Gregory Fiennes, was auctioned off from the collection of a Mr. Collevous in 1727. On the back there was a note stuck to the Duchess of Suffolk and from then on it was assumed that it must be about Frances Brandon and her second husband Adrian Stokes.

Copy of the Neville portrait in Westminster Hall

The portrait was not correctly identified until 1986 by the art historian Susan Foister on the basis of another surviving painting by Lady Dacre. Lady Dacre is shown writing on it and in the background a portrait of her deceased husband, Lord Dacre, can be seen. Susan Foister was able to conclusively prove that both images are obviously the same person - Lady Dacre wears a. a. in both pictures the same ring on the fourth finger of her left hand. In professional circles it is therefore undoubtedly recognized that it is not a representation of Frances Brandon.

However, the false identification of the portrait long contributed to the conception of Frances as a brutal and lustful female version of her notorious uncle Henry VIII. In the 19th century the portrait was still being used as a template for a mural by Frances Brandon in Westminster Hall and wrong conclusions were drawn about Frances Brandon and Adrian Stokes. Since the age of the sitter is indicated on an inscription on the portrait as 36 and 21 years - the young married Lady Dacre had given birth to her son at the age of only 15 - it was concluded that Adrian Stokes was 15 years younger than Frances . Frances appeared as an older woman who, out of carnal lust, had married a much younger man below her class, and this also fitted with the erroneous, now refuted view that the marriage was only three weeks after the execution of her first husband. In truth, Adrian Stokes was only a little under two years younger than Frances, and they didn't get married until the year after Henry Grey's execution.

Controversial portraits

The Lady Marchioness of Dorset

In the case of some other portraits and sketches, there is disagreement among experts about the identity of the portrayed, or there is a lack of evidence for conclusive identification. From the collection of works by Hans Holbein the Younger, there are about two preliminary sketches for portraits that could possibly depict Frances Brandon. Both were subsequently given an identifying inscription, which some sources claim were made by John Cheke, a contemporary of Frances Brandon and teacher of Edward VI. Other sources assume that the inscriptions were not made until the 18th century.

The German of Suffolk

If the inscriptions are correct, the sketch The Marchioness of Dorset could be either Frances Brandon or her mother-in-law Margaret Wotton, the mother of her first husband. Since the date of creation of the sketch is not known and both women consecutively carried the title Marchioness of Dorset, it is unclear which of them is depicted.

The same problem arises with the sketch The Dutscheß of Suffolk . This is usually taken for a portrayal of Katherine Willoughby, the last wife of Frances' father, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, who was always known as the Duchess of Suffolk even after the death of her husband. But Frances also officially bore the title of Duchess of Suffolk from 1551 and it could just as well be a representation of her. The problem here is not only that the year the sketch was created is not known, but also that both women were referred to by their contemporaries with the same title.

progeny

Lady Mary Gray

With Henry Gray:

• Henry, Lord Harington, died as an infant
• Daughter, died as a toddler
• Lady Jane Gray (1537-1554); ⚭ 1553 Guildford Dudley , died childless
• Lady Catherine Gray (1540-1568); ⚭ 1553–1554 Henry Herbert, 2nd Earl of Pembroke ; ⚭ 1560 married to Edward Seymour, 1st Earl of Hertford , sons Edward and Thomas
• Lady Mary Gray (1545-1578); ⚭ 1565 Thomas Keyes

With Adrian Stokes:

• Elizabeth Stokes (July 16, 1555 - February 7, 1556)

ancestors

See also: Brandon (noble family)

Web links

Commons : Frances Brandon  - Collection of Images, Videos and Audio Files

• The Death and Burial of Frances, Duchess of Suffolk
• Lady Jane Gray, the Abused Child?
• Tudorhistory.org: Karen Hearn: Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630 (PDF; 793 kB)

Individual evidence

1. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne. ; 2000: Sutton Publishing, p. 17
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Retha M. Warnicke: Gray, Frances, duchess of Suffolk (1517–1559) . In: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography . Oxford University Press 2004, Online Edition January 2008 , accessed October 21, 2014
3. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne. ; 2000: Sutton Publishing, p. 18
4. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne. ; 2000: Sutton Publishing, p. 20
5. ^ Steven J. Gunn: Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, C. 1484-1545 Blackwell Publishing, Williston 1988, p. 131
6. ↑ ^{a b} Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne. ; 2000: Sutton Publishing; P. 30
7. ↑ ^{a b} Eric Ives : Lady Jane Gray: A Tudor Mystery. Malden MA; Oxford UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4051-9413-6 , p. 39
8. ↑ Barbara J. Harris: English Aristocratic Women 1450-1550. Marriage and Family, Property and Careers . 2002 Oxford University Press, p. 218
9. ^ ^{A b} George Lillie Craik: The Romance of the Peerage Or Curiosities of Family History: The Kindred of Queen Anne Boleyn. 1866 Chapman and Hall, pp. 256-257
10. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne . 2000 Sutton Publishing, p. 65
11. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne . 2000 Sutton Publishing, p. 66
12. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 17
13. ↑ ^{a b} Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 159
14. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 68
15. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 46
16. ^ Dulcie M. Ashdown: Tudor Cousins. Rivals for the Throne . 2000 Sutton Publishing, p. 73
17. ↑ ^{a b} The Death and Burial of Frances, Duchess of Suffolk ( Memento of the original from January 5, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
18. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 330
19. ↑ Eric Ives: Lady Jane Gray: A Tudor Mystery. Malden MA; Oxford UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4051-9413-6 , p. 183
20. ↑ Eric Ives: Lady Jane Gray: A Tudor Mystery. Malden MA; Oxford UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4051-9413-6 , p. 183: "Although she resisted the marriage for some time [...] she was obliged to consent, urged by her mother and threatened by her father. "
21. ↑ ^{a b} Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 105
22. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 110
23. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 112
24. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 126
25. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray: A Tudor Tragedy . Ballantine Books 2009, p. 157
26. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 162
27. ↑ ^{a b c d} Eric Ives: Lady Jane Gray: A Tudor Mystery. Malden MA; Oxford UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009 ISBN 978-1-4051-9413-6 , p. 38
28. ^ Carl T. Berkhout: Adrian Stokes (1519-1585) . In: Notes and Queries Volume 47 Issue 1 . Oxford Journals March 2000, p. 28
29. ↑ ^{a b} Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 168
30. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 167
31. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 337: "What [...] think if she married one of her servitors as the Duchesses of Suffolk [...] have done?"
32. ↑ Agnes Strickland: Lives of the Tudor princesses including Lady Jane Gray and her sisters . 1868: Longmans, Green and Co., p. 193: "to grant her good-will, that he might marry the Lady Katharine, her daughter"
33. ↑ Agnes Strickland: Lives of the Tudor princesses including Lady Jane Gray and her sisters . 1868: Longmans, Green and Co., p. 194: "he was a very fit husband for her, if the marriage should please the Queen Elizabeth and her honorable council"
34. ↑ Agnes Strickland: Lives of the Tudor princesses including Lady Jane Gray and her sisters . 1868: Longmans, Green and Co., pp. 195–196: "That such a nobleman did bear good-will to her daughter, the lady Katharine, and she did humbly require the queen's highness to be good and gracious lady unto her, and that it would please your majesty to assent to the marriage of her to the said earl, which was the only thing she desired before her death, and should be the occasion to her to die the more quietly. "
35. ↑ Agnes Strickland: Lives of the Tudor princesses including Lady Jane Gray and her sisters . 1868: Longmans, Green and Co., p. 195: "Now I have provided a husband for you; if you can like well to frame your fancy and good-will that way."
36. ↑ ^{a b} Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 197
37. ^ Sylvia Jurewitz-Freischmidt: Battle of the queens: Maria Stuart and Elisabeth of England. Piper Paperback 2011, p. 139
38. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Lady Jane Gray, the Abused Child? ( Memento of the original from October 11, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
39. ↑ Leanda de Lisle: The Sisters who would be Queen: Mary, Katherine, and Lady Jane Gray. A Tudor Tragedy. Ballantine Books 2009, p. 127
40. ↑ ^{a b} Tudorhistory.org: Karen Hearn: Dynasties: Painting in Tudor and Jacobean England 1530-1630 , pp. 68-69 (PDF; 793 kB)