Sir Charles Brandon

Sir Charles Brandon (* around 1521; † August 12, 1551 in Alnwick ) was an English knight and politician. He was an illegitimate son of Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk . Originally commander on the Scottish border and in the campaign against France in 1544, he sat for Westmorland in the House of Commons of the English Parliament from 1547 . He is not to be confused with his half-brother of the same name Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk . Through his half-sister, Frances Brandon , he was an uncle of the Nine-Day Queen Jane Gray .

Life

Brandon's exact date of birth and his mother's name are unknown. However, there are suspicions that she was a member of the Seckford family. It is possible that she was also the mother of Brandon's illegitimate sister and Suffolk's daughter Frances (not to be confused with her legitimate half-sister of the same name, Frances Brandon ), since Frances was the only one of his siblings in Brandon's will. Brandon was first mentioned in November 1542, where he was stationed on the border with Scotland and commanded a garrison of 200 soldiers. In January 1544 he was appointed steward and constable of Sheriff Hutton , which is why he was obliged to provide 50 soldiers against the Scots.

It is unknown how much contact Brandon had with his father and his family. However, Suffolk was serving at the same time as Brandon on the Scottish border, where he held the office of Warden of the Marches , an administrative post which u. a. was responsible for border security. So it's entirely possible that Brandon was part of his father's entourage during his time on the border. When King Henry VIII took to the field against France in the summer of that year, Brandon accompanied him and was defeated by Suffolk during the 1544 campaign to Knight Bachelor . However, he was not mentioned in his father's will because as a bastard he was not entitled to his father's inheritance. He returned to serve in France in the summer of 1546 and was one of the men said to have "broken spears and behaved honorably". As a reward, he received £ 40.

At an unspecified time before his father's death, Brandon had married Elizabeth Strangways. His wife was a wealthy heiress who received a third of her father's lands and, according to the law of the time, all of the woman's goods passed into her husband's possession upon marriage. In this way, Brandon gained estates in Yorkshire , including the castle and manor house of Sigston. Both benefited from the distribution of formerly church properties, which gave them several mansions. Brandon did not shy away from appropriating the lands of the former Maison Dieu poorhouse without paying the poor anything for it or even providing them with a priest.

In 1547, Brandon received a seat in the House of Commons for Westmorland County . Since he had no ties to this county, it is believed that he was supported by influential nobles. One possible candidate is Henry Clifford, 2nd Earl of Cumberland, who was Eleanor Brandon's brother-in-law through his wife . Even Edward Seymour, 1st Duke of Somerset is eligible because Brandon had served under him. He took part in various meetings and was a. a. questioned as a witness when William Pickering, his successor as Sheriff Hutton's constable, was fighting a lawsuit over a concession.

On July 22, 1551, Brandon drew up his will. In it he explained that there is “no salvation for me except through the precious blood of Christ, in whose hands I put my soul”, a typical tenet of the Protestant faith . The main heirs were his wife and Humphrey Seckford, whom he referred to as his cousin. Other Seckfords were also favored. He bequeathed gold bracelets to his sister Frances, now married to William Sandon. Brandon died on August 12, 1551 in Alnwick, Northumberland . His will was read out in the presence of his brother-in-law Henry Gray, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and confirmed on November 16. Since his two legitimate half-brothers Henry and Charles Brandon had died in July, the last son of Suffolk, Brandon, died.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} BRANDON, Sir Charles (by 1521-51), of Sigston, Yorks on The History of Parliament . Accessed August 30, 2016
2. ^ William Arthur Shaw: The Knights of England. Volume 2, Sherratt and Hughes, London 1906, p. 56.