The Brandon Men

Book Corner: The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings by Sarah Bryson

Sharon Bennett ConnollyLeave a comment

Four generations of Brandon men lived and served six English kings, the most famous being Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, best friend and brother-in-law to King Henry VIII. Yet his family had a long history tied closely to the kings of the Wars of the Roses back to Henry VI. Charles Brandon’s father, Sir William Brandon, supported Henry Tudor’s claim on the throne and became his standard bearer, dying at the Battle of Bosworth. Charles’s uncle, Sir Thomas Brandon, was Henry VII’s Master of the Horse, one of the three highest positions within the court. Charles’s grandfather had ties with Henry VI, Edward IV and Richard III. These men held important offices, made great sacrifices, walked the fine line between being loyal courtiers and traitors, and even gave their lives, all in the name of loyalty to the king they served. No more shall the Brandon name be an obscure reference in archives. It is time for them to emerge from the shadows of history.

I have been looking forward to reading The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings by Sarah Bryson ever since I heard that Sarah was working on it. I loved her first book, La Reine Blanche: Mary Tudor, A Life in Letters, and was hoping this one would be as good. I was wrong!

The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings is even better. In telling the story of Henry VIII’s best friend, Charles Brandon, and Charles’ forebears, Sarah Bryson writes with a passion that draws the reader in from the very first pages. Sarah Bryson starts the story at the beginning, with the first known head of the Brandon family, Sir William Brandon, born in around 1425. The Brandons rose to prominence during the unsettled times of the Wars of the Roses, their fortunes turning with the tug-of-war between York and Lancaster. Sir William Brandon’s son – also William – was killed at the Battle of Bosworth while protecting the future king, Henry VII. It was this William whose son, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, took the family to its greatest heights, going so far to marry Mary Tudor, Dowager Queen of France and King Henry VIII’s beloved baby sister.

While the rest of the family had a no-less dramatic story, it is Charles Brandon’s which catches the attention. Brandon pursued a thriving career at court, as one of Henry VIII’s closest friends and jousting partners, while at the same time he chased after wealth and land through several scandalous marriages and betrothals. His marriage to Mary Tudor, however, was the icing on the cake; it brought him a beautiful bride, a love story that would last the ages, and the title of Duke of Suffolk as the brother-in-law to the king. It also brought him more trouble than even he could have imagined; whilst Brandon did not lose his head, he got heavily in debt trying to placate the king for his presumption in marrying the king’s sister.

Charles Brandon’s life was also tinged with family scandal, with one daughter being publicly shamed for her extramarital affair, and tragedy; two of his sons died during the duke’s lifetime, with two mores, his sons by Katherine Willoughby, dying within half an hour of each other before either reached their majority. It was Charles Brandon’s granddaughter by Mary Tudor, the tragic Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen of England for Nine Days. The Brandon story is one of the highs and lows of ambition and family; the veritable wheel of fortune that was so popular in medieval culture.

Lacking experience in military action, Henry Tudor appointed the veteran Earl of Oxford to command his troops and to lead the vanguard. Sir Gilbert Talbot took the right wing and was ordered to defend the archers and keep an eye on the battle line, while John Savage was to lead the left wing. Henry Tudor was positioned to the rear of the troops with several French mercenaries whom he had brought with him from France. Standing close to Henry was Sir William Brandon II.

Brandon had been appointed Henry’s standard-bearer. It is unclear exactly why Brandon was chosen to carry one of Henry Tudor’s standards; perhaps it was due to his unfaltering loyalty to the man he hoped would become king, or perhaps it was down to his physical toughness. We have no description of what Sir William Brandon II looked like, but his son Charles grew up to be tall, handsome, well built and extremely suited to physical pastimes such as hunting and jousting – all qualities that he may have inherited from his father.

Facing them, on King Richard’s side was John Howard, Duke of Norfolk, with Sir Robert Brackenbury leading the Yorkist vanguard. Next came a force commanded by Richard III and comprised of his bodyguard and others. In the rear was the Earl of Northumberland and his men.

When the battle cry went up, arrows flew and the roar of Richard III’s artillery filled the air. Oxford’s men clashed with the Duke of Norfolk’s, the two being old foes. Both sides paused to reorientate themselves. Oxford formed his men into a wedge and charged forward. At this second charge, Henry’s French troops attacked Norfolk’s vanguard. Soon Norfolk’s men were in trouble. Many were killed, including the duke. Others fled while some defected to fight on Henry Tudor’s side.

Northumberland and his men did not move into the fight, and it is believed that at some point the earl decided to leave the battle without throwing any of his men into the fray. Amid this chaos, some of Richard III’s supporters begged him to flee, but he declared that he would live or die as a king. Oxford’s men had pushed forward, leaving a gap, and Richard III now saw an opportunity to get to Henry Tudor directly. He charged with his men, aiming to strike Henry down.

As he advanced, Richard III’s lance pierced through Henry’s standard-bearer, Sir William Brandon II, and broke in half. History records that William Brandon ‘hevyd on high [the Tudor standard] and vamisyd it, tyll with deathe’s dent he was tryken downe.’ What was racing through Sir William’s mind in those last few moments as Richard III and his men came thundering towards him? He had given up his property, his land, his wealth, everything he had to support Henry Tudor. He had bid his wife and infant son farewell to follow Henry to England in the hopes of a better life, not just for himself or his family but for England. It was his sworn duty to protect Henry Tudor with his life, and as Richard III’s lance pierced his armour and threw him from his horse, he gave up his life to save the man he believed to be the rightful king of England. Sir William Brandon II had been loyal to his last breath.

In The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings, Sarah Bryson puts flesh on the bones of history; she brings the family, their actions, hopes and dreams, back to life. Concentrating on the human side of their story, Sarah Bryson expertly recreates the world in which the Brandon men and their families lived, from the violence, suspicion and betrayal that personified the Wars of the Roses, to the glamour, intrigue and fear of the court of Henry VIII. Neither does she shy away from the more questionable actions of the family, such as Charles Brandon’s dislike of Anne Boleyn and complicity in her downfall. Sarah Bryson examines the evidence and arguments with a neutral, if passionate, eye, giving us a wonderful portrait of Charles Brandon as a fallible human being whose ambition sometimes gets in the way of his own success. However, and above all, Charles Brandon knew where his loyalty – and his prospects – lie; with the king. He did everything to ensure that his relationship with Henry VIII, and therefore his family’s security, remained paramount in his career.

I was surprised to see that the Brandon story overlaps a little with my own research on the Warennes. Two hundred years after the demise of John de Warenne, the 7th and last Earl of Warenne and Surrey, it seems that some of the Warenne lands, notably Bromfield and Yale in Wales, found themselves in the hands of Charles Brandon – a little serendipity there.

The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings is a beautifully written non-fiction biography of a family that most people have heard of, but of which few know the particulars. Meticulously researched, with substantial notes and an excellent bibliography, it tells the story of the Brandon family and their rise to heights that none of them could have predicted in their wildest dreams. It is a story of war and conflict, love and feuds, with family ambition tempered by family tragedy. It is, above all, a story of service to the crown.

Sarah Bryson is a wonderful writer of non-fiction, whose love of the Brandons’ story comes through on every page, drawing the reader in; engaging, entertaining and enlightening you on every page. It is, in short, a thoroughly enjoyable investigation into the rise of one of the greatest families of the Tudor court, from the origins in later medieval England and the discord of the Wars of the Roses; from humble Suffolk landowners, to the great Duke of Suffolk who owned most of Lincolnshire. The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings is definitely worth reading!

To buy the book:

The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings is available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon

About the author:

Sarah Bryson is a researcher, writer and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours. She currently works with children with disabilities. She is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in Mary Tudor, Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk and the reign of Henry VIII and the people of his court. She has run a website dedicated to Tudor history for many years and has written for various websites including ‘On the Tudor Trail’ and “QueenAnneBoleyn’. She has been studying primary sources to tell the story of Mary Tudor for a decade. She is the author of books on Mary Boleyn, Charles Brandon and La Reine Blanche. She lives in Australia. –This text refers to the hardcover edition.

My books

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III. Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey is now available from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US and Book Depository.

1 family. 8 earls. 300 years of English history!

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available from Pen & Sword,  Amazon and from Book Depository worldwide.

Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066.  Available now from Amazon,  Amberley Publishing, Book Depository.

Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon and Book Depository.

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©2021 Sharon Bennett Connolly

Guest Post: Suffolk Place by Sarah Bryson

Sharon Bennett Connolly3 Comments

Today it is a pleasure to welcome author/ historian Sarah Bryson to History…the Interesting Bits as the last stop on Sarah’s blog tour for her latest book The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings. Look out for my review coming soon.

Suffolk Place

Suffolk Place was once the magnificent manor home belonging to Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. It is a common misconception that Brandon built Suffolk Place, when in fact it has a long and rich history dating back to the 1460’s.

Suffolk Place, otherwise known as Brandon House was built during the 1460’s by Charles Brandon’s grandfather, Sir William Brandon. William Brandon was closely associated with England’s Kings and was knighted in 1471 after the Battle of Tewkesbury by King Edward IV.

In 1457 William Brandon was Marshall of the Marshalsea Prison in Southwark. The prison was run for profit and prisoners would have to pay the Marshall for certain rights, such as access to better conditions, soap, water, food etc.

The Prison was located along Borough High Street, the main thoroughfare from Southwark to London. To enter London from Southwark people had to cross the famous London Bridge. From as early as 14 November 1462 William Brandon was being referred to as Brandon ‘of Suthwerk.’

William Brandon built Suffolk Place, known then as Brandon House, during this period opposite the prison that he controlled. Suffolk Place would become the Brandon family’s main dwelling, providing the family not only access to the Prison but close access to London. In 1465 Sir Thomas Howard, the future Duke of Norfolk is recorded as having stayed at “Brandennes Place in Sothwerke”.

Dominico Mancini, Parisian Scholar, described Southwark as ‘a suburb remarkable for its streets and buildings, which, if it were surrounded by walls, might be called a second city.’ In fact, Southwark was so large that it had a population of approximately 8000 people, many of those considered to be foreigners, including Flemish.

When Sir William Brandon died in 1491 not only was the Marshall of the Marshalsea Prison granted to his third son, Thomas Brandon, but he also left his property of Suffolk Place. Thomas’ older brother William, father of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk had died at the famous Battle of Bosworth fighting for King Henry VII. In 1502 Thomas Brandon added to Suffolk place by leasing 48 acres of meadow surrounding the property. He turned this meadow into a park which also included a fishpond stocked with fish to eat.

Thomas Brandon held his own illustrious career at court, becoming Henry VII’s Master of the Horse and knighted on the 17th June 1497 at battle of Blackheath. Over his career Thomas Brandon amassed quite a fortune comprising of land, plate and coin totaling almost £1000.

When Thomas Brandon died on January 27th 1510, he left Suffolk Place to Lady Guildford, wife of the late Sir Richard Guilford whom had helped Thomas Brandon during his final illness. To keep Suffolk Place Charles Brandon, Thomas’ nephew, had to rent the property from Lady Guildford for £42 6s 8d a year.

Suffolk Place was built from traditional Tudor red brick, containing four towers with domed turrets at each corner and an additional tower positioned at the center of one side. The palace was decorated with fashionable terracotta. In addition, there were decorations of cupid, an urn flanked by two griffins, a mythological creature and Charles Brandon’s famous crowned lion’s head badge. The chapel within Suffolk Place contained six guilt statues of saints. Brandon stocked Suffolk Place with plate worth £1 475. Suffolk Place would have stood out as one travelled along Borough High Street as they made their way toward London Bridge clearly showing Brandon’s status to all that passed.

After Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk’s first son was born, the baby, named Henry after the King, was Christened at Suffolk Place. The christening ceremony took place in the hall at Suffolk Place and was conducted with great splendor and ceremony. The hall was lavishly decorated with wall hangings of red and white Tudor roses, torches were lit and the christening font was warmed for the special occasion. The Christening as performed by John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester and he was assisted by Thomas Ruthall of Durham. The King attended ceremony as did Cardinal Thomas Wolsey, the Duke of Norfolk and other important members of the court. The King and Cardinal Wolsey stood as the godfathers while Catherine, the Dowager Countess of Devon, a daughter of the late King Edward IV stood as the godmother.

In June 1522 when Charles V visited England Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk he had the honour of hosting Henry VIII and the Emperor at Suffolk place where the men dined and hunted in the great park that Brandon’s Uncle had purchased. Charles was a great lover of hunting and kept the park stocked with deer.

Suffolk Place would not stay in the hands of Charles Brandon. On 19 July 1535 Brandon was to be given £2333.6.8 by the King in return for handing over ‘the manors and lordships of Ewelme, Donington, Hokenorton, Carsington, Throppe, Newnham, Courtney, Newnham Moreyn, Tournes, Cudlington, Lekenor, Hantesford Auston, Thorold, Langley, West Bradley, West Compton and Bukland in counties of Oxford and Berk., the manor house of Southwark called Suffolk place and two adjoining walled gardens the constableship of Wallingford Castle.’ To lose Suffolk Place was a huge blow for Brandon as it had been his family’s primary residence in London since his grandfather built the place in the early 1460’s. However, Brandon was in debt and needed money to continue his position at court. Henry VIII did grant Brandon the Bishop of Norwich’s house near Charring Cross to Brandon which still provided the Duke with close access to Westminster and the King.

In June the following year Suffolk Place was granted to Henry VIII’s third wife, Jane Seymour. After her death in 1537 the property reverted back to the crown. The property was occasionally used as a royal residence or to host royal visitors. The royal accounts record that

‘2 gardeners and 2 women were kept for weeding, and setting of strawberries and 3,000 “red rossiers” and 1,000 slips of damask roses were added as well as and cages to put birds in.

In 1545 part of Suffolk Place was turned into the Royal Mint and Edward VI, Henry VIII’s son, ordered that new sovereigns, royal, angel and half angel coins be made. However, the mint was closed in 1551 due to fraud.

After Edward VI’s death his half-sister Mary and her husband, Philip stayed at Suffolk Place in August 1555. In February 1556 Queen Mary granted Suffolk Place to the Archbishop of York. However, he was only granted 14 acres of the property as during the reign of Edward VI part of Suffolk Place had been leased out to small tenements.

The Archbishop did not keep the property for long and over the next year sought to dismantle and dispose of the once great Suffolk Place. The manor was completely destroyed by June 1562 and the remaining property sold to Anthony Cage. Soon the land was filled with small cottages.

Today nothing remains of Suffolk Place. In its place stands a large office building aptly named Brandon House.

Sources:

Calendar of the patent rolls preserved in the Public Record Office, 1446-1452 Henry VI v.5. Great Britain; ‘Close Rolls, Edward IV: 1471-1472’, in Calendar of Close Rolls, Edward IV: Volume 1, 1468-1476, ed. W H B Bird and K H Ledward (London, 1953), British History Online http://www.british-history.ac.uk/cal-close-rolls/edw4/vol2/pp222-234 [accessed 19 December 2018]; Gunn, Steven 2015, Charles Brandon, Amberley Publishing, Gloucestershire, UK; Gunn, Steven 2016, Henry VII’s New Men and The Making of Tudor England, Oxford University Press, Oxford; Letters and Papers, Foreign and Domestic, of the Reign of Henry VIII, 1509-47, ed. J.S Brewer, James Gairdner and R.H Brodie, His Majesty’s Stationery Office, 1862-1932; Porter, Stephen 2016, Everyday Life in Tudor London, Amberley Publishing, Gloucestershire; Sadlack, Erin 2001, The French Queen’s Letters, Palgrave Macmillan, New York; ‘Suffolk Place and the Mint’, in Survey of London: Volume 25, St George’s Fields (The Parishes of St. George the Martyr Southwark and St. Mary Newington), ed. Ida Darlington (London, 1955), pp. 22-25, viewed 2 June 2015, <http://www.british-history.ac.uk/survey-london/vol25/pp22-25&gt;.

About the Author:

Sarah Bryson is a researcher, writer and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours. She currently works with children with disabilities. She is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in the Brandon family who lived in England during the 14th and 15th centuries.  She has previously written a book on the life of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. She runs a website and facebook page dedicated to Tudor history. Sarah lives in Australia, enjoys reading, writing and Tudor costume enactment.

Links:

Website: Facebook page: Amazon

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My Books:

Defenders of the Norman Crown: The Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey tells the fascinating story of the Warenne dynasty, of the successes and failures of one of the most powerful families in England, from its origins in Normandy, through the Conquest, Magna Carta, the wars and marriages that led to its ultimate demise in the reign of Edward III.

1 family. 8 earls. 300 years of English history!

Defenders of the Norman Crown: Rise and Fall of the Warenne Earls of Surrey will be released in the UK on 31 May and in the US on 6 August. And it is now available for pre-order from Pen & Sword Books, Amazon in the UK and US and Book Depository.

Also by Sharon Bennett Connolly:

Ladies of Magna Carta: Women of Influence in Thirteenth Century England looks into the relationships of the various noble families of the 13th century, and how they were affected by the Barons’ Wars, Magna Carta and its aftermath; the bonds that were formed and those that were broken. It is now available from Pen & Sword,  Amazon and from Book Depository worldwide.

Heroines of the Medieval World tells the stories of some of the most remarkable women from Medieval history, from Eleanor of Aquitaine to Julian of Norwich. Available now from Amberley Publishing and Amazon and Book Depository.

Silk and the Sword: The Women of the Norman Conquest traces the fortunes of the women who had a significant role to play in the momentous events of 1066.  Available now from Amazon,  Amberley Publishing, Book Depository.

You can be the first to read new articles by clicking the ‘Follow’ button, liking our Facebook page or joining me on Twitter and Instagram.

©2021 Sharon Bennett Connolly  and Sarah Bryson