March 2022

15 Buckden Roundabout March 2022 A Tale of Three Dukes It is mid - July 1551, and the epidemic is raging in London and Cambridge. Two young noblemen aged 16 and 14, who have fled from Cambridge to escape the disease, arrive at the Bish- op of Lincoln ’ s Palace in Buckden, which they hope will be a refuge until the storm of sickness has passed. They are Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his younger brother, Charles. Most of us are familiar with the story of Queen Catherine of Aragon, the first wife of Henry VIII, who was imprisoned for a while at the Bishop ’ s Palace in Buckden, while the King searched for a means to divorce her so that he could legally marry Anne Boleyn. Fewer people are aware of this other con- nection between Buckden and Tudor nobility, a tale which be- gins at the foundation of the Tudor dynasty and finally ends in Buckden. Henry VIII ’ s father, Henry Tudor, had come to the throne by defeating Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth Field, and Wil- liam Brandon, the Brandon boys ’ grandfather, was Henry Tu- dor ’ s standard bearer at that great battle. William Brandon was killed by Richard III himself on Bosworth Field, while de- fending the Tudor standard. The Brandons were to receive rich honours for their loyalty to the Tudor cause. William Brandon ’ s son, Charles, was brought up at the new Tudor court, and be- came a close childhood friend of the future Henry VIII. Charles Brandon grew up a large, athletic young man, one of the few who were able to stand up to Henry VIII in jousting and other sport when Henry was in his prime. Their dispositions were similar in many ways and they became close friends. Charles proved to be a brave soldier who distinguished himself in several military campaigns in France. Henry rewarded Charles with a dukedom, as the son of his father ’ s loyal stand- ard bearer, a successful campaigner in England ’ s cause and a close confidante. Brandon became 1st Duke of Suffolk, and one of only three dukes in England at the time. If Henry VIII was notorious for the number of his wives, and the various scandals surrounding several of them, Charles Brandon was hardly less so. Henry had six wives, and Charles had four, all scandalous liaisons in one way or another. He began his career as a husband by marrying the widow Margaret Neville, sixteen years his senior. He had no children with Margaret, the marriage was annulled in 1507 and the annulment confirmed by Papal Bull in 1528. The successful annulment of Charles ’ s first marriage contrasts with the struggle that Henry VIII had in setting aside Catherine of Aragon He was unable to get the Pope ’ s blessing, and the tortuous process was ultimately to lead to the establishment of the Church of England with Henry at its head. Within a year of the annulment of his marriage to Margaret Neville, Charles married Anne Browne in secret. Not much is known about Anne ’ s life. She would have been no older than 20 when she married Charles, and possibly much younger. The couple had two daughters and Anne died two weeks after the birth of the younger one. Living in the Brandon household at this time was a child, Eliza- beth Grey, a viscountess, an orphan and a ward of Charles Brandon. For the first, but not the last time, Charles proposed to marry a child to whom he stood as guardian, and Elizabeth and Charles were contracted to marry. Elizabeth was just seven or eight years old. Who knows how long Charles would have waited before actually taking her to the marriage bed, because another much more tantalising prospect arose, and Charles broke off the contract to marry Elizabeth. For many years, Charles had been in love with Henry VIII ’ s fa- mously beautiful sister, Mary Tudor, and Mary appeared to return his regard. But a royal princess was an important diplo- matic tool and she could not dispense her favours freely. It seemed that the romance between Charles and Mary was doomed forever. Mary was betrothed to the future Holy Ro- man Emperor, and, after this alliance was abandoned, was married off in 1514 to the French king, Louis XII, as an expedi- ent to seal the peace after a round of the interminable Anglo - French wars. Mary was 18 and Louis was 52. She hated the experience of the French court and Louis ’ s attempts to get an heir. However, she did not have to suffer long, because Louis died a mere three months after they wed, some said of the gout, and some of the bed, and Mary was left a widow, the Dowager Queen of France. What was to be done with Mary? As the beautiful young sister of the English king and the French king ’ s widow, she embodied enormous political capital. Moreover Louis had promised to pay Henry a dowry fit for a queen, but this promise was as yet unfulfilled. Brandon had made no secret of his affection for Mary, but a marriage to him would squander Mary ’ s diplo- matic worth and was opposed by Henry ’ s advisers, some of whom were Charles ’ s enemies and who could see that a union of Charles and Henry ’ s sister would make Charles ’ s power at court even greater. Then, the King made a rather strange decision. He appointed Charles to travel to France and accompany Mary and her dow- ry back to England, making Charles promise that he would not try to make her his wife. However, being thrown together proved too much of a temptation for the couple, and they mar- (Continued on page 16) The gatehouse at Buckden Towers, the former Bishop of Lincoln ’ s Palace—photo by the author Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk A Tale of Three Dukes