no image
Privacy Level: Open (White)

Charles Brandon KG PC (abt. 1484 - 1545)

Sir Charles "1st Duke of Suffolk" Brandon KG PC
Born about in Bishops Lynn, Norfolk, Englandmap
Ancestors ancestors
Husband of — married 7 Feb 1507 (to 1508) [location unknown]
Husband of — married about 31 Mar 1510 [location unknown]
Husband of — married 4 Feb 1515 in Hotel de Cluny, Paris, Francemap
Husband of — married 7 Sep 1533 (to 22 Aug 1545) in Englandmap
Descendants descendants
Died at about age 61 in Guildford Palace, Guildford, Surrey, Englandmap
Problems/Questions
Profile last modified | Created 3 Jan 2011
This page has been accessed 12,733 times.


Preceded by
New (2nd Creation) Previous Creation
1st Duke of Suffolk
1514 - 1545
Succeeded by
Henry Brandon
Preceded by
New (3rd Creation) Previous Creation
1st Viscount Lisle
1513 - 1515
Succeeded by
Extinct 4th Creation

Contents

Biography

Origins

Charles Brandon descended from a family of gentry in East Anglia. His grandfather Sir William Brandon was a retainer of the Mowbray dukes of Norfolk, Knight of the Shire for Suffolk, and Marshall of the King's Bench. Sir William made an advantageous marriage before 1462 to Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Robert Wingfield of Letheringham Suffolk.[1] They had three sons: William, Thomas and Robert. [2] [3] Sir William Brandon appears to have been the first in the family to be knighted, by King Edward IV on the battlefield of Tewkesbury, May 4, 1471.[4]

When Richard III usurped the throne of England following his brother Edward IV's death in 1483, the Brandons switched their loyalty to the Lancastrian scion Henry, Earl of Richmond - who would defeat and kill Richard in the 22 August 1485 Battle of Bosworth, thus becoming King Henry VII. During this battle, Sir William Brandon the younger was Henry's standard bearer; in the performance of his duty, he was killed - some accounts say by Richard III himself.[5]

Note: Sources are in dispute about whether this Sir William Brandon was indeed knighted, some suggesting that the son has been confused with the father. Shaw, however, is clear that he was knighted, along with several others, by Henry Earl of Richmond on the eve of the Battle of Bosworth, 7 August 1485, as he brought his forces ashore at Milford Haven.[6]

His orphaned son, Charles Brandon, thus was owed a great debt by the new king. Charles was one of two sons and one daughter of Sir William Brandon and his wife Elizabeth, daughter of Sir Henry Bruyn and widow of Thomas Tyrrell, Esq. His exact date of birth is not known. His brother William died young, [1] leaving Charles his father's sole heir, but there was little to inherit, as his grandfather Sir William was still living until 1491.[7]

Charles Brandon was fortunate, however, in his uncle Sir Thomas Brandon, who rose to a position of importance in the court of Henry VII, holding a number of substantial offices, including Master of the Horse and ambassador to the emperor, and named Knight of the Garter.[8] [9] Sir Thomas died 27 January 1510, without issue, but there was little material inheritance for his nephew Charles - although he did inherit the post of Marshall of the King's Bench. The real legacy of Sir Thomas was the entree he gave Charles to court, where he became a member of the Earl of Essex's household and a close companion of other rising young courtiers. By 1509, when Henry VIII ascended to the throne, Charles was a member of the Company of the King's Spears, of which the lieutenant was Henry Bourchier, the Earl of Essex, in whose household Charles had served. This meant jousting.[10]

As Henry VIII declared, he loved courtly sports in good company: "Hunte, syng and daunce," [11] but above all in the joust. There were very few who could keep up with Henry, but Charles Brandon was especially skilled in the arts of the joust and the tiltyard. He was entering the lists as early as 1501, and he was prominent even before he was knighted on March 30, 1512. [12] By that year, he was becoming the king's favorite partner.[13]They also joined in mummery and guising, when they appeared in matching disguises at the court revels.[14] Among numerous other appointments, honors and titles, Sir Charles Brandon was installed as Knight of the Garter on 7 May 1513.[15] [1]

Marriages, Mistresses and Children

Life for a young man at court was expensive, and the typical way of remedying this problem was through marriage to an heiress. Charles Brandon's first marital adventure was complicated and possibly bigamous. His biographer Gunn calls his activities "asset-stripping opportunism."[16]

Anne Browne/Margaret Neville

About 1503 or later, when he was Master of Horse to the Earl of Essex, , Charles Brandon contracted a marriage with Anne Browne, daughter of Sir Anthony Browne of Calais, possibly by his first wife Eleanor Ughtred. Some sources suggest this was a legal marriage "per verba de praesenti." [2] Anne Browne became pregnant, but rather than solemnizing the union, Charles Brandon married instead (between 1505 and 1507) Margaret Neville, widow of Sir John Mortimer, the sister-in-law of Anne's father Sir Anthony Browne and thus Anne's aunt. He then proceeded to sell off several of Margaret's properties before, about 1507 or 1508, having the marriage annulled on grounds of consanguinity.[1] There was no issue of this union. (Later, in May 1528, he obtained a Papal Bull confirming the annulment, doubtless concerned about the legitimacy of his subsequent children.) [17]

In 1508, Charles Brandon secretly married Anne Browne at Stepney Church, but the Earl of Essex, concerned lest he "wold used her as he dyd before", insisted on a public marriage before witnesses, which took place later at St Michael's Cornhill, before "a great nombre of worshypfull people."[18] The marriage produced two daughters:

Anne - probably b. before 1509, d. about 1558, m. Grey
Mary - b. about 1510, d. before 1544, m. Stanley

Anne Browne Brandon died some time after the birth of her second child, probably 1510.[19]

Research Note:

A great deal is unclear about this entire situation, although there seems to be no real dispute over the identification of the Anne Browne jilted about 1505 and the Anne Browne, daughter of Sir Anthony Browne, who officially married Charles Brandon - particularly if the comment of the Earl of Essex is confirmed. (Gunn cites no authority.)

The question of Anne's mother is more sticky. If, as has been claimed, she were Lucy, daughter of John Neville and thus Margaret Neville's sister, the charge of consanguinity would seem to have a strong basis. But Lucy Neville Brown does not appear to have had a daughter Anne.[20] The Visitation cited does not identify a previous wife of Sir Anthony, who might have been Anne's mother, although the evidence of his Will, desiring to be buried next to her, suggests a first wife did indeed exist.[21] This wife has been identified as Eleanor Ughtred, based on a marriage license.[22] Alternative suggestions have been made, but none seem to be conclusive.[23]

Nor is it clear if Anne, the daughter of Charles Brandon and Anne Browne who married Lord Powis, is the same child with whom Anne Browne was pregnant when he married Margaret Neville, or whether she was a subsequent birth. Gunn has proposed that this suggestion might have been concerned with rumors of her illegitimate birth.[24] The fact that in about 1513 Charles arranged to foster his daughter Anne with Margaret of Austria suggests a child about seven years or older, not an infant in arms.[25]

Elizabeth Grey, Lady Lisle

Elizabeth Grey was the daughter and heiress of John Grey, 2nd Viscount Lisle, who died in 1504 shortly after her birth, leaving her Baroness Lisle in her own right. Her mother and stepfather both being dead by December 1512, King Henry presented her wardship as a gift to Charles Brandon. After Brandon contracted marriage with her, Henry on 15 May 1513 created him Viscount Lisle, "with remainder to the heirs male of the body of Elizabeth Grey, Viscountess." The contracted marriage, however, never took place, as Charles Brandon had in 1515 married Mary Tudor, well before Elizabeth Grey had come of age.[26]

Some sources have suggested that upon coming of age, Elizabeth refused the marriage with Brandon, but in fact, after his marriage to Mary Tudor, her wardship was transferred to Katherine Plantagenet, who married her to her son Henry Courtenay, Earl of Devon. Elizabeth died, still under age, before 12 May 1519.[26]

She had no issue.

There was previous connection between Howard/Knyvett/Brandon

1510 For Sir Edward Howard, Sir Thomas Knyvet, Charles Brandon, and Edward Guildford. Licence to export, during three years, wool, leather, lead, tin, &c. in a ship called the Mary and John of London, late belonging to William Davy, deceased.[27]

Note: This Elizabeth Grey should not be confused with Elizabeth Grey, her aunt and heir, thus also Lady Lisle.

Mary Tudor

In October 1514, Princess Mary Tudor, sister of England's King Henry VIII, was married reluctantly to the 52-year-old King Louis XII of France, who died on 1 January, freeing her to marry again. Her choice, perhaps reinforced with tears, was Charles Brandon, who had been sent by her brother to manage her return to England, along with her dowry. He returned with the widowed queen, whom he had married in Paris, but not the full amount of the dowry, which he had to promise to repay, after which the couple were given a state wedding at Greenwich on 13 March 1515. Throughout her life Mary retained the title: the French queen.[1] [2] [28] [29][30]

The marriage appears to have been a happy one, with the couple writing often to the king that they did not want to be parted from each other.[31]

They had the following children: [32]

Henry Brandon, b. 11 Mar 1515/16, d. before 1522
Frances Brandon b. 16 Jul 1517, d. 20 Nov 1559, m. Grey
Lady Eleanor Brandon b. 1519/20, d. 27 Sep 1547, m. Clifford
Henry Brandon b. 1522, d. Mar 1533/4 1st Earl of Lincoln 1525

Note: Many sources have assumed that the Henry Brandon born in 1516 was the same Henry Brandon who was created Earl of Lincoln in 1525 and died in 1534. However, it seems clear that Charles Brandon had two sons that he named Henry, as contemporary sources report that the Earl of Lincoln, at his creation, was a "childe of twoo yere old."[33] [34] And if Henry Brandon had been seventeen years old at the time of his mother's death, he would have been fully of age to marry Katherine Willoughby himself. (See below) The title Earl of Lincoln had previously belonged to a member of the pretender de la Pole family, and the creation for Henry Brandon might have signaled Henry VIII's intention to place him in the line of succession to the throne.[35]

Mary Brandon, the Dowager Queen of France, died 25 June, 1533, after a lingering illness and was buried with the magnificence befitting a queen at the Abbey of Bury St Edmonds, Suffolk.[36]

Katherine Willoughby

Mary Tudor Brandon, on her return from France, had been close to her sister-in-law Queen Catherine of Aragon, and with Catherine's household, which included Dona Maria de Salinas, one of the English queen's Spanish ladies-in-waiting, who married William Willoughby, 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby. Katherine, born on 22 March 1519 and apparently named for the English queen, was his daughter and heir (although the inheritance was disputed by relatives) to substantial property, especially in Lincolnshire. After Lord Willoughby died in 1526 and Katherine became baroness in her own right, it was natural for the Brandons to want the wardship of their friend's daughter, which they bought from King Henry in 1528, and to marry her to their son, the Earl of Lincoln, who was four years younger.

But after his wife Mary Tudor died in 1533, Charles Brandon may have been concerned about the health of his son, as well. (Henry Brandon died the next year, at age 10). Charles decided to marry Katherine, age 14, himself. Katherine was then of age, and it can be presumed that both she and her mother consented to the arrangement. After his wife's death, his income was constrained, but he also possessed sufficient clout in the courts and government to fight off Katherine's uncle, who was pressing great claims on the estate - both against Katherine and her mother's jointure.[37]

Thus, in material terms, the match appears to have been successful, and in marital terms as well, as the marriage produced two sons: [1]

Henry (third son of this name) - b. probably 1535, d. 14 July 1551 of the sweating sickness.
Charles - b. probably 1537, d. 14 July 1551 of the sweating sickness, half an hour after his brother.

Charles Brandon died 22 August 1545 and was buried at the wish of King Henry at St. George's Chapel, Windsor. His widow Katherine remarried after the death of her sons, some time in 1553, Richard Bertie, Esq., a gentleman of her household. They had two children.[1]

Unknown (possibly Seckford?)

An otherwise unknown mistress bore Charles Brandon at least two acknowledged children: [38] [39] [1]

Charles Brandon Had cousins Seckford (See his will)
Frances - m. (1) Sandon (2) Bilsby [40]
(?) Mary - m. Ball

It is noteworthy that, of all Charles Brandon's known daughters, all but one produced children, but of his five known sons, only Sir Charles attained adulthood and married, yet still had no children. The Brandon name was cut off in the male line after three generations from old Sir William.

Duke of Suffolk

Between 1512, when he was knighted, and 1 February 1513/14, when he was created Duke of Suffolk, Charles Brandon rose at a precipitous rate that astonished and shocked the peers who were now his fellows, notably Thomas Howard, now restored to the rank of Duke of Norfolk, who regarded Suffolk as an upstart. By 1512, Henry VIII, attempting to restore the glory of the Hundred Years War, had decided to join Pope Julius II in his crusade against France.[41] For Charles Brandon to take a role as commander of this force and as ambassador, it was necessary for him to hold high rank. Henry had another probable motive for handing him the Suffolk dukedom - to forestall the efforts of the Yorkist pretender Richard de la Pole, whose ancestors had held that title. The new Duke of Suffolk would soon be acquiring former de la Pole lands.[42]

The war in 1513 had been a minor success, in which Brandon, newly Viscount Lisle, was named Marshall of Henry's invasion army and fought in the siege of Tournai. (Which was handed back to France in 1519.) Henry was eagerly preparing for another year's campaign when a new pope, Leo X, dissolved the alliance and made peace with France, pressuring England to do the same. So the war was put off, and Princess Mary Tudor, previously betrothed to Charles of Austria, married instead the French king Louis XII, who soon after died, leaving her free to marry the new Duke of Suffolk.[43] [44]

The Duke of Suffolk's motto was Loyaulty me oblige, and it was loyalty to King Henry that governed the course of his life - whether on the battlefield, in the House of Lords, in council. He was the one figure whom the king could always rely on and whose loyalty he returned.[45]

Some of the duties imposed on him must have been distasteful, especially from the later 1520s, when Henry decided to rid himself of his wife Catherine of Aragon at any cost, so he could generate a male heir with a younger woman - Anne Boleyn. Henry made his chancellor, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey a scapegoat when he could not convince the pope to grant him a divorce; Suffolk, along with the Duke of Norfolk, was sent to demand that Wolsey relinquish the the Great Seal of his office. In Parliament, he signed the bill of articles indicting Wolsey, from whom he had received great favors while the chancellor was in power.[46]

The two dukes were also sent together to browbeat Queen Catherine into denying the validity of her marriage to Henry (she refused) and to dissolve her household, despite Suffolk's wife, Henry's sister, being one of the old queen's loyal companions.[47] He declared privately at one point that he wished some accident might happen to him on the way to excuse him from carrying out the king's instructions.[46] Yet he served as high steward at the wedding of Henry and Anne Boleyn.[48]

Suffolk was much happier with his duties to the king when they led him to war, as in 1528 when he led an army into France, although to no real effect.[49] In September 1536, after Henry had begun closing the monasteries and confiscating their wealth, an outbreak known as the Pilgrimage of Grace rose up, and Suffolk was commissioned to lead the king's forces to put it down, which he did with enthusiasm. Henry declared that his service gave him "as moche cause to rejoyse of our favour and goodnes heretofor extended unto you."[50]

About 1540, King Henry decided to return to war in France, having first invaded Scotland. From 1542 to 1544, Suffolk served in the north against the Scots, then in 1544 he commanded Henry's army in its invasion of France, when it took the fortress of Boulogne after a lengthy siege. The next year, as he was preparing to lead another force to Boulogne, he died on 24 August, over sixty years of age.[51] [52]

His son Henry succeeded him as Duke of Suffolk, but died in 1551 at about age sixteen from the sweating sickness, followed by his brother Charles, who was Duke for about half an hour. The title was then presented to his son-in-law Henry Grey, husband of his daughter Frances, but Grey was attainted for participating in Wyatt's Rebellion against Queen Mary, and the title Duke of Suffolk became extinct.

Research Notes

There is a Will for Sir Charles Brandon dated 1551, but this applies to his illegitimate son.

Sources

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Magna Carta Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 2nd Edition, 2011. pp. 297 ff. Douglas Richardson. Magna Carta
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, Extant, Extinct, Or Dormant: S to T. vol. VII, p. 308. United Kingdom, G. Bell & sons, 1896. Suffolk
  3. Gunn, Steven. Charles Brandon, p. 16. Amberley, 2016.
  4. Shaw, William Arthur. The Knights of England., vol 2, p. 25. London: Sherratt and Hughes, 1906. Knights
  5. Hall's Chronicle, pp. 418-419. London: 1809. Hall
  6. Shaw, vol, 2, p. 35. Knights
  7. Gunn, p. 16.
  8. Gunn, pp. 17-18.
  9. Shaw, vol 1, p. 113. Knights
  10. Gunn, pp. 19-24.
  11. "Pastyme with Good Companye" Good Companye
  12. Shaw, vol. 2, p. 45. Knights
  13. Gunn, pp. 23-24.
  14. Hall, pp. 516-520. Hall
  15. Shaw, vol. 1, p. 114. Knights
  16. Gunn, pp. 41-45.
  17. Gunn, p. 108.
  18. Gunn, p. 42.
  19. Gunn, p. 42.
  20. Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII, p 83. Sussex
  21. Astle, Thomas, and Grose, Francis. The Antiquarian Repertory, vol. 3, p. 178:. . . United Kingdom, Printed and published for Edward Jeffery, 1807. "The Monument of Sir Anthony Brown" Anthony Brown
  22. Richardson, Douglas. Royal Ancestry (2013): vol. 5 page 134.
  23. soc.genealogy.medieval.narkive.com [1] [2]
  24. Gunn, p. 42.
  25. Gunn, p. 44.
  26. 26.0 26.1 Cokayne, G E. The Complete Peerage, (Edition One, Volume Four), p. 117, also note c. 1893. Lisle
  27. Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, Henry VIII by Great Britain. Public Record Office Publication date 1862-1932 Vol 1 Page 186
  28. Gunn, pp. 49-52.
  29. Hall, pp. 581-582. Hall
  30. Edward Walford. "Greenwich," in Old and New London: Volume 6, (London: Cassell, Petter & Galpin, 1878), 164-176. British History Online, accessed November 15, 2021, http://www.british-history.ac.uk/old-new-london/vol6/pp164-176.
  31. Green, Mary Anne Everett. Lives of the Princesses of England, From the Norman Conquest. Vol V. p 109 ff. London: Longman, Brown, Green, Longman, & Roberts, 1857. Green
  32. Alison Weir, Britain's Royal Family: A Complete Genealogy, p. 152. London: Vintage Books, 2008.
  33. Hall, p. 703.
  34. Gunn, pp. 92 & 109.
  35. Burke, John. A General and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerages of England, Ireland, and Scotland, Extinct, Dormant, and in Abeyance ... England. H. Colburn & R. Bentley: London, 1831. p. 438. Burke
  36. Green, pp. 138-141. Green
  37. Gunn, pp. 146-147.
  38. History of Parliament Online: Brandon, Sir Charles (by 1521-51) HOP
  39. Gunn, p. 109.
  40. BRANDON, Sir Charles (by 1521-51), of Sigston, Yorks. Published in The History of Parliament: the House of Commons 1509-1558, ed. S.T. Bindoff, 1982 Available from Boydell and Brewer. Author: M. J. Taylor
  41. Scarisbrick, J. J. 'Henry VIII.' pp. 32-38. London : Eyre & Spottiswoode, 1968. Scarisbrick
  42. Gunn, pp. 40 & 54.
  43. Scarisbrick, pp. 51-58.
  44. Hall, p. 567.
  45. Gunn, pp. 237 - 244.
  46. 46.0 46.1 Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 06: Brandon, Charles, by James Gairdner. DNB
  47. Gunn, p. 133.
  48. 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, Volume 26: Suffolk, Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Britannica
  49. Hall, pp. 61-667. Hall
  50. Gunn, pp. 158-168.
  51. Gunn, pp. 197-209.
  52. Hall, pp. 861-863. Hall

See also:





Is Charles your ancestor? Please don't go away!
 star icon Login to collaborate or comment, or
 star icon ask our community of genealogists a question.
Sponsored Search by Ancestry.com

DNA
No known carriers of Charles's DNA have taken a DNA test.

Have you taken a DNA test? If so, login to add it. If not, see our friends at Ancestry DNA.



Comments: 4

Leave a message for others who see this profile.
There are no comments yet.
Login to post a comment.
According to this tree I am related. I believe the Brandon's emigrated from Ireland possibly to America. My father traced lineage as far back as John Richard Brandon II (circa 1662)
posted by Anonymous Brandon
All the best with building your tree Todd.

Mike

posted by Michael Christmas

Rejected matches ›