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'Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk' (c. 1484 – August 24 1545) was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn. His father was the standard-bearer of Henry VII and was slain by Richard III in person on Bosworth Field. He was the second husband of Mary Tudor, younger sister of Henry VIII.

Contents

Ancestry

Background

Political career

Wives and Children

First Marriage

Second Marriage

Third Marriage

Fourth Marriage

Literature and Screen

References

Ancestry

His paternal grandparents were a senior Sir William Brandon of Wangford, Suffolk (d. 1491) and Elizabeth Wingfield (d. April 28, 1497). His paternal grandfather had served as Marshal of Marchalsea. His maternal grandparents were Sir Henry Bruyn and Elizabeth Darcy.
His paternal grandmother was a daughter of Sir Robert Wingfield of Letheringham, Suffolk (1403–1454) and Elizabeth Gousell.

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

He 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', though he was careful to disclaim (March 4, 1514) any complicity in the project to her father, the emperor Maximilian I.
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 had 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 Wolsey, who had been their fast friend, on 5 March.
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 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 had been betrothed before his marriage with Margaret Mortimer. Anne Browne died in 1511, but Margaret Mortimer, from whom he had 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 did not 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, had not 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 suppression 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 on 24 August in the following year.
After the death of Mary Tudor on 24 June 1533 he married in 1534 his ward Catherine (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 had 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 had 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 of France (March 18 1496 – June 25 1533).
'Issue'
#Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln (March 11 1516 – March 8, 1534)
#Lady Frances Brandon (July 16 1517 – November 20 1559)
#Lady Eleanor Brandon (1519 – September 27, 1547)

Fourth Marriage

On September 7 1534, he married Catherine Willoughby (c. 1519–1580)
'Issue'
#Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (September 18 1535 – 1551)
#Charles Brandon, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537–1551)

Literature and Screen

★ Charles is briefly fictionalized in the historical fiction novel ''The Last Boleyn'' by author Karen Harper.

★ Charles is portrayed by Richard Todd in ''The Sword and the Rose'', an account of his romance with Mary Tudor in 1515.

★ Charles is portrayed by actor Henry Cavill in the Showtime series ''The Tudors''.

References

★ Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, C.1484-1545 by [S.J. Gunn] ISBN 0-631-15781-6

★ The Project Gutenberg EBook of Henry VIII., by A. F. Pollard [1]
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