Charles Brandon’s friendship with Henry VIII remained unbroken throughout his life, which not many men could boast, and when Brandon died unexpectedly on 22 August 1545, Henry VIII sincerely mourned the loss of his brother-in-law and oldest and most loyal friend, arranging for him to be buried in St George’s Chapel, Windsor, at his own expense. Brandon was survived by six children, but his two sons, Henry and Charles, died of sweating sickness in July 1551 within hours of each other, and with them the title of the Duke of Suffolk ceased to exist. Brandon’s daughters, on the other hand, Anne, Mary, Frances and Eleanor, would marry well and enjoyed powerful positions at court, trajectories that Brandon was able to cultivate from his position close to the crown. He could never have envisioned that his granddaughter, Lady Jane Grey, whose bloodline as the niece of the King of England would bring her into such close proximity to the throne, would also lose her life.
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ERCYS
The Percys, one of the oldest noble families in England, originating from the village of Percy in Normandy, could date their ancestry to the Norman French William, Duke of Normandy who invaded England in 1066. William de Percy obviously acquitted himself well in battle, as he was rewarded with estates in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire and was awarded a barony. By the 12th century, there was only one female heir, Agnes de Percy, and the direct male line died out, but was revived by her husband, Joscelin de Louvain. Their sons adopted the surname Percy (dropping the French ‘de’) and their descendants fought for Edward I, Hammer of the Scots, during his battles for dominance over Scotland and Wales, and were granted estates which had once belonged to the Scottish royal family. It was Henry Percy who purchased land in Northumberland, just south of the border with Scotland, which made them formidable as they were the first line of defence against the Scottish. The family also married into the Plantagenet dynasty with the marriage of Henry Percy and Mary of Lancaster, the daughter of Henry Plantagenet, Earl of Lancaster, sometime in 1334. In 1377, his son, unimaginatively called Henry, was created Earl of Northumberland by Richard II.
At this juncture, the Percys literally step out onto the stage. Henry Percy plays a significant role in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, but he was also the father of another famous Percy – Sir Henry Percy, known as Harry ‘Hotspur’ – who turned against Richard II in favour of the king’s cousin, Henry Bolingbroke, the future Henry IV. Hotspur would go on to raise a rebel army and fight Henry IV as well, at the battle of Shrewsbury in 1403, but was killed before he could inherit the title of Earl of Northumberland. Hotspur’s son would redeem the family name, serving Henry V during his wars in France, and upon Henry’s death in 1422, Percy was appointed as a member of the council that would govern England during his son Henry VI’s minority. The Percy family would have their fair share of family drama and played important roles during the Wars of the Roses, remaining steadfastly loyal to the house of Lancaster. Eventually, the family switched sides, and Henry Percy, 4th Earl of Northumberland, rode at the head of an army to support Richard III’s troops, but never actually led them into battle. With Henry VII winning the day at Bosworth, Percy was briefly imprisoned by the new Tudor king, but was later released. He nevertheless went on to meet a violent end, beaten to death in York during a riot.
In Mantel’s series, it is his grandson, Henry Percy, heir to the Earldom of Northumberland, who flits in and out of the narrative. Percy served as a page in the household of Cardinal Wolsey, during which time he enjoyed a dalliance with the young Anne Boleyn, but it is not clear how far the relationship went. The Percys were still one of the most powerful families in England, and thus any marriage was a matter of politics. In Wolf Hall, an indignant Wolsey hauls the young Percy before him to berate his childishness, before summoning Thomas Boleyn to discuss Anne’s conduct. Thomas is given a dressing down, but as Wolsey notes to Cromwell later:
‘They made the rules; they cannot complain if I am the strictest enforcer. Percys above Boleyns.’
Percy was swiftly married to his intended match, Lady Mary Talbot, daughter of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Percy’s marriage was a miserable one, but it would come back to haunt Anne in particular just prior to her marriage to Henry, when rumours of the dalliance resurfaced. In Wolf Hall, Cromwell and the Boleyns summon Percy to convince him to dispute the rumour. Only Cromwell and Norfolk working together can persuade him to recant.
In Bring Up the Bodies, Percy is called upon again by Cromwell, to admit the opposite – a pre-contract with Anne that would make her marriage to Henry invalid. But this time Percy would not be bullied:
‘No.’ From somewhere, the earl finds a spark of his ancestral spirit, that border fire which burns in the north parts of the kingdom, and roasts any Scot in its path ....
‘I cannot help her any more. I can only help myself. ‘
Percy collapsed after the verdict against Anne in 1536 was read out loud, and never returned to court, dying just over a year later. With no children, he made the King his heir.
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The Duke of Norfolk fought
