'Henry Brandon, 1st Earl of Lincoln' (
March 11,
1516 London -
March 8,
1534 Southwark) was the eldest child and only son born to
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk and
Mary Tudor, Queen of France. He was an older brother of
Lady Frances Brandon and
Lady Eleanor Brandon.
Origin
His paternal grandparents were
Sir William Brandon and
Elizabeth Bruyn. His maternal grandparents were
Henry VII of England and his
queen consort Elizabeth of York.
His maternal uncles were
Arthur, Prince of Wales,
Henry VIII of England,
Edward Tudor and
Edmund Tudor, Duke of Somerset. His maternal aunts were
Margaret Tudor,
Elizabeth Tudor and
Katherine Tudor.
Earl of Lincoln
He created
Earl of Lincoln by his maternal uncle Henry VIII on
June 18,
1525. He died as an
adolescent, unmarried and without issue.
His early death would have an unexpected influence in the history of the
Tudor dynasty.
Henry was born about a month after his first cousin
Mary I of England. Henry VIII had no other children at the time. His Queen consort
Catherine of Aragon was already thirty years old and with little prospect to have any more children.
Consequently the Duchess of Suffolk was in position to claim being second-in-line for the throne, placing Henry as third-in-line for the throne. (Henry VIII's
Second Succession Act and his Will excluded the line of his elder sister
Margaret Tudor from the succession.) The early death of the Earl of Lincoln allowed for the royal ambitions of his sister Frances and the eventual very brief succession of his niece
Lady Jane Grey to the throne on
July 10,
1553.