Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, c.1484-1545

Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, was one of Henry VIII's most exalted subjects. Throughout his career, he remained one of the king's closest friends, and was a courtier, diplomat and military leader of great influence. Yet Brandon's life was by no means free from misadventure. As a new magnate, he encountered formidable problems of local government. His marriage to Henry's sister Mary was disastrous, and his relationship with Anne Boleyn fraught. He was accused of treason and was responsible for a military fiasco. The author explains how Brandon not only survived these vicissitudes of fortune and managed to retain the king's friendship, but steadily increased his own power, wealth and standing. The book sets out a consideration of the Duke of Suffolk in the context of recent research on late medieval and Tudor politics and society. Drawing extensively upon a wide range of contemporary documents, he reconstructs Brandon's life and times, and in doing so thr ows new light on many issues in Tudor history, including local government, faction, patronage, and the impact of the Reformation on poilitical and personal life.