His sons, Thomas and William, remained in Brittany with the young Henry Tudor, and were in his army as it sailed from Brittany to England. Of the two Brandon men, only Thomas would survive to see the reign they had fought for – William, who served as standard bearer to Henry Tudor, was slain in battle. But Henry VII would demonstrate throughout his reign his favour to those who had shown him loyalty and dedication during those years of exile, favour which also extended to men’s families.
Charles Brandon
William’s son, Charles Brandon, grew up in the household of his uncle, Sir Thomas Brandon, and became a leading courtier under Henry VII. By 1507, Brandon himself was serving the king as an esquire of the body. Although he was seven years older than Henry VIII, Charles Brandon was by all accounts his closest companion and friend, and appears in the sources as a larger-than-life figure – as tall as Henry and equally handsome and athletic. Brandon was popular at court, an enthusiastic and skilled jouster, and was one of the few men within Henry’s inner circle capable of physically besting the king, although he was careful not to do so too often. On the battlefield Brandon distinguished himself in the sieges of Thérouanne and Tournai in Henry VIII’s French campaign of 1513. For his service, he was created Duke of Suffolk.
In Wolf Hall Cromwell is less than complimentary of Charles Brandon: ‘... in his view, Charles Brandon is no brighter than Christopher the mule, though better at fighting and fashion and generally showing off’.
But Mantel’s Cromwell forms a good working relationship with Brandon, an element Mantel has drawn from the sources. Brandon could play the buffoon, as we see in Mantel’s books, but he was no fool, and was careful not to be a sycophant. He was the ideal companion because he demanded so little of the king. He encouraged Henry’s love of physical pursuits and chivalric entertainment – they were very much partners in crime – although this may have been partly calculation. But even Brandon was not exempt from Henry’s wrath.
With four marriages throughout his life, Charles Brandon’s marital exploits would almost rival his king’s. His first marriage, to Margaret Neville, niece to the famed ‘kingmaker’ Edward Neville, Earl of Warwick, seemed at first a powerful match, but it would end in annulment. His second marriage in 1508 to his former wife’s niece, Anne Browne, just a year before Henry came to the throne, was short-lived and ended with her death in 1511. But it was perhaps his third marriage, which brought him a little too close to Henry for comfort, that almost cost him his head.
As one of Henry VIII’s trusted friends, Brandon was chosen to participate in the celebrations of the marriage of Henry’s younger sister Mary Tudor to the ageing Louis XII, King of France. The marriage was short-lived, with Louis dying weeks after the wedding, and Brandon was dispatched to France to congratulate the new French king, Francis I, but also to negotiate Mary’s return to England. According to Brandon, Mary accused him of planning to take her back to England only to have her married off again in a political match against her will and issued him with an ultimatum, that he should marry her now or never marry at all. Brandon, swayed by her tears and his own ambition, risked Henry’s wrath and secretly married Mary in Paris, in February 1515.
It was almost entirely down to Wolsey’s intervention that Brandon survived Henry’s rage, with the two banished from court, the threat of execution looming over Brandon’s head. Wolsey interceded for Brandon, but he would still have to repay Mary’s marriage portion in annual instalments of £4,000, and she would have to return all the plate and jewels she had taken to France as part of her dowry, as well as the many gifts King Louis had given her. The couple were eventually forgiven and invited back to court, and their marriage would produce four children: Henry, Frances, Eleanor and a second Henry after the death of their first son. But Henry VIII’s ‘great matter’ would place a strain on Henry and his relationship with the couple.
Brandon’s dislike of Anne Boleyn and her influence over Henry would intensify, causing friction between Henry and his old friend even after Brandon’s wife, Mary Tudor, died on 25 June 1533, just over three weeks after Anne Boleyn’s coronation. Brandon caused further scandal by hastily marrying his 13-year-old ward Catherine Willoughby, originally betrothed to his son, Henry Brandon. The marriage was a cause célèbre at court, with Anne Boleyn especially seeking to promote discord between Brandon and the king, as she was aware that his sympathy was with Katherine. She failed to prise apart their friendship.
Brandon’s military career continued as he was appointed as the King’s lieutenant in suppressing the rebels of the dangerous rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace in late 1536, and in 1537 he moved to Lincolnshire on the orders of the King. He led the party that met Henry’s fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, upon her arrival at
