I’m delighted to be a hosting a stop on Tony Riches’ blog tour for his new novel, Brandon Tudor Knight. To mark the occasion, Tony has written a guest post entitled ‘The Life and Death of Charles Brandon’.
Brandon – Tudor Knight
by Tony Riches
Publication Date: December 3, 2018
Preseli Press
eBook; ASIN: B07L3YGBWJ
Genre: Historical/Tudor/Biographical
From the author of the international bestselling Tudor Trilogy comes a true story of adventure, courtly love and chivalric loyalty.
Handsome, charismatic and a champion jouster, Sir Charles Brandon is the epitome of a Tudor Knight. A favourite of King Henry VIII, Brandon has a secret. He has fallen in love with Henryís sister, Mary Tudor, the beautiful widowed Queen of France, and risks everything to marry her without the Kingís consent.
Brandon becomes Duke of Suffolk, but his loyalty is tested fighting Henryís wars in France. Maryís public support for Queen Catherine of Aragon brings Brandon into dangerous conflict with the ambitious Boleyn family and the kingís new right-hand man, Thomas Cromwell.
Torn between duty to his family and loyalty to the king, Brandon faces an impossible decision: can he accept Anne Boleyn as his new queen?
Available on Amazon
About the Author
Tony Riches is a full-time writer and lives with his wife in Pembrokeshire, West Wales. After several successful non-fiction books, Tony turned to novel writing and wrote ëQueen Sacrificeí, set in 10th century Wales, followed by ëThe Shellí, a thriller set in present day Kenya. A specialist in the history of the early Tudors, he is best known for his Tudor Trilogy. Tonyís other international best sellers include ëWarwick ~ The Man Behind the Wars of the Rosesí and ëThe Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobhamí.
For more information please visit Tony’s website and his blog The Writing Desk. He can also be found on Facebook, Twitter, and Goodreads.
The Life and Death of Sir Charles Brandon, Tudor Knight
It comes as no great surprise to learn that King Henry VIII had few close friends, but Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, was his closest throughout his life. Brandon’s father, Sir William Brandon, was standard bearer for Henry Tudor at the Battle of Bosworth Field – and is thought to have been killed by King Richard III on 22nd August, 1485.
Young Charles Brandon was brought up at King Henry VII’s court and became a favourite of the king as well as a childhood friend of his second son – the future King Henry VIII. Worried about anything happening to his only remaining son, Henry VII banned him from dangerous sports, so I imagine young Henry might have been envious of Charles Brandon, a champion jouster.
Their great friendship was tested in 1515, when Henry VIII sent Brandon to France to escort his young widowed sister, Mary Tudor, back to England. Brandon risked his life by secretly marrying Henry’s sister (against the king’s explicit orders) before they returned. He was forgiven but was never able to repay the massive fine.
Brandon’s prowess as a champion jouster made him one of the most popular Tudor knights. Charles Brandon led the jousting at the meeting of King Henry VIII and King Francois I of France at the Field of Cloth of Gold in 1520, and in 1523 commanded the English army in an attack on Calais. He was High Steward at the wedding of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn in 1533 and was rewarded with land as part of the dissolution of the monasteries.
Charles Brandon lived a full and active life and attended a meeting of the Privy Council the day before his death on 22 August, (by coincidence on the anniversary of the Battle of Bosworth, the same day as his father) 1545 at 4 o’clock in the afternoon. He’d asked for a modest funeral and to be buried in the college church of Tattershall in Lincoln.
(c) National Trust, The Vyne; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation
King Henry decided instead that Brandon should be buried with full honours at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle, where he had been made a Knight of the Garter. King Henry, who said said that in all their long friendship Charles Brandon had never knowingly betrayed a friend or taken advantage of an enemy. He is reported to have asked his council, ‘Is there any of you who can say as much?’
I visited Windsor Castle as part of the research for my book, and discovered Brandon’s tomb in the fourth bay of the south quire aisle, near the south door, partly covered by a wooden bench seat and under a life-sized portrait of King Edward III. It seems that it was originally as modest as he would have wished, but the chapel records show that in 1787 it was ‘ordered that leave be given to lay a stone above the grave of Charles Brandon Duke of Suffolk, according to His Majesties directions’.
The resulting stone was put in place during the repaving of the quire aisles and nave. The simple inscription states only that Charles Brandon married Mary, daughter of Henry VII, widow of Louis XII of France. I also discovered that the jousting helm mounted on the wall adjacent to his tomb is not a funerary helm and is not thought to have any connection with Brandon. I think Brandon would have been amused to know he lies alongside King Henry VI – and a few yards from the equally unimpressive tomb of his lifelong friend and benefactor, King Henry VIII.
Tony Riches
Blog Tour Schedule
Thursday, February 28
Review at Passages to the Past
Friday, March 1
Feature at CelticLady’s Reviews
Review at Locks, Hooks and Books
Monday, March 4
Interview at Passages to the Past
Tuesday, March 5
Review at Donna’s Book Blog
Wednesday, March 6
Guest Post at Encouraging Words from the Tea Queen
Thursday, March 7
Feature at T’s Stuff
Friday, March 8
Excerpt at The Book Junkie Reads
Monday, March 11
Guest Post at On the Tudor Trail
Tuesday, March 12
Review at Hisdoryan
Feature at To Read, Or Not to Read
Wednesday, March 13
Review at For the Sake of Good Taste
Thursday, March 14
Excerpt at Myths, Legends, Books & Coffee Pots
Friday, March 15
Review at Coffee and Ink
Review at A Darn Good Read
Sunday, March 17
Review at Historical Fiction with Spirit
Monday, March 18
Review at Maiden of the Pages
Review at Svetlana’s Reads and Views
Tuesday, March 19
Review at The Tudor Enthusiast
Review at Just One More Chapter
Giveaway
During the Blog Tour we will be giving away a paperback copy of Brandon-Tudor Knight! To enter, please use the Gleam form below.
Giveaway Rules
- Giveaway ends at 11:59pm EST on March 19th. You must be 18 or older to enter.
- Giveaway is open internationally.
- Only one entry per household.
- All giveaway entrants agree to be honest and not cheat the systems; any suspicion of fraud is decided upon by blog/site owner and the sponsor, and entrants may be disqualified at our discretion.
- The winner has 48 hours to claim prize or new winner is chosen.
This looks amazing!
I am looking forward to reading your new book!
Very excited.