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Historical person
c. 1484–1545
Charles Brandon, 1st Duke of Suffolk, rose from a gentry background to become one of Henry VIII’s closest personal companions. Skilled in tournament culture and royal service, he received offices, lands and eventually the dukedom of Suffolk in 1514. His career depended heavily on Henry’s favour, but he also undertook diplomatic and military responsibilities, including commands during the king’s wars with France.
Brandon’s most famous act was his marriage in 1515 to Mary Tudor, Henry VIII’s younger sister and the widowed queen of France, before the king had formally approved the match. The couple survived Henry’s anger and remained prominent at court. After Mary’s death, Brandon married his young ward Katherine Willoughby. He continued to serve Henry through the religious and political upheavals of the 1530s and died in 1545.
Charles Brandon appears directly in Tony Riches’s Mary – Tudor Princess, Brandon – Tudor Knight and Katherine – Tudor Duchess, the three novels of the Brandon Trilogy that follow his marriage, court career and family from overlapping perspectives.
Series
The Brandon Trilogy follows three closely connected lives at the court of Henry VIII: Mary Tudor, the king’s younger sister; Charles Brandon, his intimate companion and later Duke of Suffolk; and Katherine Willoughby, Brandon’s final wife. Across the three novels, private affection repeatedly collides with the demands of…
All books in this series
