WHITEHALL
In 1240, Walter de Grey, the Archbishop of York, purchased a beautiful estate in London, and subsequently named it York Place. It was close enough to the Palace of Westminster and could accommodate the royal court, and several monarchs stayed there throughout the centuries.
York Place was rebuilt during the 15th century and Cardinal Wolsey added it to his property portfolio when he was made Archbishop of York. As with Hampton Court, Wolsey expanded and improved the estate to such an extent that it rivalled the royal residences and indeed at one point it had more rooms than the Vatican in Rome. Like a jealous child, Henry loved relieving Wolsey of his most beautiful estates, and took over the magnificent property in 1530, intent on making it one of his main royal residences and to replace Westminster, which was being rebuilt following a devastating fire in 1512. The name was changed from York Place to Whitehall in 1532, a nod to the white stone that had been used to build it.
PLACENTIA
The Palace of Placentia, sometimes simply known as Greenwich, first appears in records in 1417 as an estate given to Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester by his brother, Henry V, which he remodelled and named Bella Court. Upon his death in 1447, the estate was renamed the Palace of Placentia or ‘pleasant place’ by Henry VI’s Queen, Margaret of Anjou, and was brought into the crown’s control. Under Henry VII, the palace was revamped and enlarged. It would also be the birthplace of several monarchs, including Henry VIII and his daughters, Mary and Elizabeth. Henry VIII loved the palace so much that it became his primary royal palace, and he celebrated almost every Christmas there.
FAMILIES OF COURT
The old king grew narrow as he aged ... there was no nobleman he did not hold by a debt or bond, and he said frankly that if he could not be loved he would be feared.
(Wolf Hall)
Today there is a more nuanced view of Tudor politics, that it was less about institutions such as the nobility, Privy Council, the Exchequer and the representation of roles such as Chief Minister and so on, rather it was more to do with the interaction between those institutions and the people, the social networks, clients and patrons, all of which was manifest in the court and its infinite matrix of relationships. Henry’s ministers and advisers, including Cromwell, may have wanted to modernize the running of the financial and administrative institutions of the country but, ultimately, they had to bend to the royal will and the king’s predilections, and make the best of whatever direction that might take them. The court was a place where, as scholars have noted, ‘a name dropped could mean much, and a career could be built through second, third, or fourth-hand access to those in power’. Henry VII rewarded those who fought with him at the Battle of Bosworth, and punished those who chose the wrong side. The nobility also had to contend with a shift in the balance of power: from Henry VII’s reign onwards, new men from the ranks of the gentry, the mercantile and the law – those who had little, if any, family fortune or influence but displayed skill, loyalty and ability, those who benefitted from their education and those who brought with them ‘a galaxy of talents’.
THE BRANDONS
Originally hailing from the Norfolk coast, the Brandon family emerged from obscurity in the 15th century when William Brandon entered into the service of John de Mowbray, who held the premier dukedom of Norfolk. This connection would propel William’s career as he rose in de Mowbray’s esteem, with William becoming a senior member of the Duke’s council. Throughout the tumultuous years of civil war known as the Wars of the Roses, the Brandons remained loyal Yorkists and were rewarded for their fealty, with William being knighted by Edward IV following the battle of Tewkesbury. However, the loyalty shown to Edward IV wavered during the reign of his brother, Richard III. Richard’s reputation was undermined not only by accusations of ruthless ambition, but by the untimely disappearances of his nephews, who had been placed in the Tower of London for their own protection. Family murders for political reasons were not uncommon, but now Richard was suspected of the ‘unnatural murder’ of his own kin. William’s two sons, Thomas and William, took part in a rebellion against the crown, led by Henry Stafford, Duke of Buckingham, later fleeing to Brittany to join the exiled Henry Tudor. In retaliation, King Richard ordered parts of Brandon’s lands to be seized. Having fallen out of favour, William quickly left court for the town of Gloucester and remained in self-imposed exile until his death.
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 cou
ple 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 Dover in 1540. Within months, he would be involved in the annulment of the marriage, and certainly played some part in Cromwell’s spectacular downfall. The last years of Henry VIII’s reign were caught up in his desire to recapture some of the glory of his youth in a military triumph over France, and in 1543, Brandon, now almost 60, served as Henry VIII’s loyal lieutenant in the North before leading the siege of Boulogne in 1544, in what Henry hoped would be his Agincourt.
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.
THE PERCYS
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.
THE HOWARDS
The Duke of Norfolk fought on the losing side, and his heirs were turned out of their dukedom. They had to work hard, long and hard, to get it back. So, do you wonder, he says, why the Norfolk that is now shakes sometimes, if the king is in a temper? It’s because he thinks he will lose all he has, at an angry man’s whim.
The Howards had been an integral piece of England’s social fabric for centuries. Beginning with William Howard, a lawyer in the county of Norfolk who was summoned to Parliament in 1295, the family sought their elevation through commerce or the law, and married well. When Robert Howard married Margaret Mowbray, daughter of Thomas Mowbray, 1st Duke of Norfolk, he acquired the duchy of Norfolk. Their son, John, eventually succeeded to most of the Mowbray estates and was created Duke of Norfolk and hereditary Earl Marshal in 1483 when the Mowbray line died out. The Howards were a politically powerful family, but they backed the wrong horse (or the wrong rose), with the head of the family, John Howard, killed on the field of Bosworth fighting for Richard III in 1485. During Henry VII’s reign, they found themselves in a political eclipse. And worse – for the Howards, being out of favour meant being out of money. John’s son, Thomas Howard, would spend his entire career clawing back the Howard reputation. A councillor and military commander for both Henry VII and Henry VIII, he would restore the Howard name, becoming one of the most powerful men at court, enjoying the favour of the Tudor kings. Thomas Howard had at least 16 children acr
oss two marriages – to Elizabeth Tilney, and then her cousin, Agnes (for which Howard received a papal dispensation). Many of his children would become powerful members of Henry VIII’s court – the young and dashing Edward Howard became Henry VIII’s first Lord High Admiral of his navy, but was killed at sea by the French in 1513. Of the other siblings, Edmund Howard would father Catherine, destined to become Henry VIII’s fifth queen, and William Howard would serve four Tudor monarchs in various capacities, but it is Thomas Howard, the eldest son, who we know best.
The Duke of Norfolk is, of course, chief of the Howard family and Boleyn’s brother-in-law: a sinewy little twitcher, always twitching after his own advantage.
(Wolf Hall)
Norfolk is almost a comic relief, a tactless, rough bully of a man who, according to Cromwell, lives in the old world of saints, relics and superstition, is convinced Wolsey has sent demons to prick at his heels, and enjoys speaking in vividly violent terms to noble and commoner alike. Historically Norfolk was something of a wolf about court, and he did favour violent turns of phrase, once threatening that he would sooner eat Wolsey alive than allow him to return to favour. His brusque manner was better suited to dealing with the Scots than the easily offended French, and he could be found at court drinking and gambling with various ambassadors, and along with the Duke of Suffolk, he provided the muscular strikes. Following Wolsey’s demise, Norfolk became one of the most powerful men at court and resented his niece’s influence over the king, even if that influence benefitted his own family. Norfolk was a survivor, extracting himself from Anne Boleyn’s fall and presiding over her trial and that of her accused lovers. He also oversaw the execution of his other royal niece, Catherine Howard, and outlived his own son, living to witness the reigns of Edward VI and Mary I.
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