I’m delighted to be taking part in the virtual tour for Sarah Bryson’s latest book, The Brandon Men: In the Shadow of Kings. To mark its recent publication, Sarah has written a fascinating guest article about the rivalry between the Paston and Brandon families.
Paston vs Brandon
The Paston family are one of the most well-known families of the 15th century thanks to the wealth of letters they wrote. It is through these letters that historians have been able to learn a great deal about the political climate of the time, the happenings throughout the country and the interpersonal relationships between the Paston family and those that they interacted with. It is through these letters that the rivalry between the Paston and the Brandon families played out.
On the 17th July 1471 John Paston referred to the Brandon’s as ‘mine greatest enemies’. Both families were gentry in the county of Norfolk, both trying to climb the social and political ladder, both striving to make their fortune, to uplift their family and make their name known. It was inevitable that at some point the Pastons and the Brandons would clash.
The first reference to this rivalry was made in June 1469 when John Paston wrote that he believed William Brandon was manipulating John Mowbray, 4th Duke of Norfolk, one of the most influential men in East Anglia. It was also apparent that King Edward IV was well aware of Brandon’s influence upon the Duke of Norfolk. Pastron wrote:
‘Thomas Wingfield told me and swore unto me that when Brandon moved the king and besought him to show my lord favour in his matters against you that the king said unto him again Brandon though thou canst beguile the Duke of Norfolk and bring him about the thumb as thou list I let thee weet thou shalt not do me so for I understand thy false dealing well enough And said unto him moreover that if my Lord of Norfolk left not of his hold of that matter that Brandon should repent it every vein in heart for he told him that he knew well enough that he might rule my Lord of Norfolk as he would and if my lord did anything that were contrary to his laws the king told him he knew well enough that it was by nobody’s means but by his and thus he departed from the king.’
Tensions between the family increased two months later when William Brandon was part of an army of 3,000 men sent by the Duke of Norfolk to besiege Caister Castle. Caister had belonged to Sir John Fastolf, and when he died in 1459, he left the property to his lawyer John Paston. However, the Duke of Norfolk believed he was the rightful owner of the castle and wanted it back.
Margaret Paston wrote several letters to her son John detailing the events of the siege. It started on Monday 21 August and lasted until September. Two men, Duabney and Berney, were killed and several others injured and during the siege gunpowder and arrows were used. It would not have been in Norfolk’s interest to destroy the fabric of the castle during the siege, and in the end lack of supplies and men that saw Margaret Paston yield Caister Castle to her attackers.
John Paston tried to get a writ of ownership from King Edward IV, even going so far as to seek the assistance of Queen Elizabeth’s brother, Anthony Woodville 2nd Earl Rivers in hope he would intercede on his behalf with the king, but he was unsuccessful.
Six years after losing Caister Castle John Paston was still seeking the castle’s return. On 23 October 1475 he wrote to his brother:
‘AFTER all duties of recommendation please it you to understand that I have spoken with my lady since I wrote to you last and she told me that the king had no such words to my lord for Caister as ye told me but she saith that the king asked my lord at his departing from Calais how he would deal with Caister and my lord answered never a word. Sir W Brandon stood by and the king asked him what my lord would do in that matter saying that he had commanded him before time to move my lord with that matter and Sir W Brandon gave the king to answer that he had done so. Then the king asked Sir WB what my lord’s answer was to him and Sir WB told the king that my lord’s answer was that the king should as soon have his life as that place and then the king asked my lord whether he said so or not and my lord said yea And the king said not one word again but turned his back and went his way, but my lady told me and if the king had spoken any word in the world after that to my lord, my lord would not have said him nay.’
Paston’s letter provides another instance where William Brandon was in close vicinity to the Duke of Norfolk as well as King Edward IV. When the duke would not answer the king’s question, Edward VI turned to Brandon, who stated Norfolk would rather give up his life than Caister. Certainly, this type of interaction would certainly not have endeared Brandon to the Pastons!
The matter with Caister Castle was finally sorted out in 1476. By then the Duke of Norfolk had died and John Paston appealed to the King for the return of Caister. Edward IV supported his claim in return for a payment of 100 marks. Paston paid this and Caister Castle was finally back in the ownership of the Paston family.
As the fight over Caister Castle was taking place, tensions between the Brandon family and the Pastons continued. On the 17th July 1471, John Paston wrote to his mother saying that that:
‘Also and Sir Thomas Wingfield come to Norwich, that he may have as good cheer as it please you to make unto that man, that I am most beholden to for his great kindness and good-will; for he taketh full my part against my greatest enemies, (the) Brandons, and his brother William; for at my first coming to Sir Thomas Wingfield, both William Wingfield and William Brandon the younger were with Sir Thomas, and had great words to mine own mouth, and in chief William Wingfield; and wheresoever he may meet me on even ground, he will do much, but and we meet evenly, no fears, so I have your blessing.’
The Wingfield brothers, Thomas, the older, and William had fallen out and William Brandon II, whose mother was Elizabeth Wingfield, sister of both Thomas and William, had sided with the younger brother against the Pastons.
In 1478 Sir John Paston wrote an even more damning letter against William Brandon II:
‘yonge William Brandon is in warde and arestyd ffor thatt he scholde have fforce ravysshyd and swyvyd an olde jentylwoman , and yitt was nott therwith easysd, butt swyvyd hyr oldest dowtr, and than wolde have swyvyd the other sustr bothe; wherforr men sey ffowle off hym, and that he wolde ete the henne and alle hyr chekynnys; and som seye that the Kynge ententdyth to sitte upon hym, and men seye he is lyke to be hangyd, ffor he hathe weddyd a wedowe.’
John Paston’s letter suggests that sometime during or before 1478, William Brandon II forced himself upon an older woman and tried to have some form of relationship with the woman’s daughters. In addition to this great offence, the letter claimed that Edward IV was not pleased by this news and that the punishment for such horrible crimes was to be hanged. This was a damning allegation, yet it is interesting to note that there is no record of William Brandon II serving time in prison or in fact any punishment handed out. Certainly, if the King knew of this something would have been done, yet William Brandon II was never charged or taken to court. It may very well be that there was gossip about and John Paston picked up on another opportunity to attack his great enemy.
While the conflict between the Paston and Brandon families could have originated in 1469 with the siege of Caister Castle, it is highly likely to have been simmering for many years beforehand. Both families were trying to make their way in East Anglia, to climb the social and political ladder and make a name for themselves. Their rivalry seems to have run deep, the Paston men making many claims against the Brandon men. Unfortunately, we have no surviving letters to reveal the personal thoughts of the Brandon men, however, it would not be a stretch to think that their feelings ran along similar lines to those of the Pastons. We have no knowledge of how long the feud between the Paston and Brandon family’s ran for, there are no more letters containing mention of the Brandon’s after Edward IV’s death, however it would not be improbable to think it carried on for many more years.
Sources:
Archer-Hind, Laura and Fenn, John, The Paston Letters (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, Ltd., 1924).
Bloomfield, Francis and Parkin, Charles, An Essay Towards a Topographical History of the County of Norfolk, containing a description of the towns, villages and hamlets (London: W. Miller, 1810).
Blomefield, Francis, East Flegg Hundred: Great Yarmouth, chronology of particular events, An Essay Towards A Topographical History of the County of Norfolk: Volume 11, pp. 394-399. (London: British History Online, 1810). <http://www.british-history.ac.uk/topographical-hist-norfolk/vol11/pp394-399>.
Grose, Francis, The antiquities of the county of Norfolk (London: John Grey Bell, 1849).
Paston, The Paston Letters A Selection in Modern Spelling (Oxford: Oxford University Press).
Smith, Earnest D., The Story of Caister Castle and Car Collection (Caister Castle, 2018).
Turner, Dawson, Sketch of the history of Caister Castle (London: Whittaker and Co., 1842).
About the Author
Sarah Bryson is a researcher, writer and educator who has a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education with Honours. She currently works with children with disabilities. She is passionate about Tudor history and has a deep interest in the Brandon family who lived in England during the 14th and 15th centuries. She has previously written a book on the life of Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII and wife of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. She runs a website and facebook page dedicated to Tudor history. Sarah lives in Australia, enjoys reading, writing and Tudor costume enactment.
Links:
Website: https://sarah-bryson.com/
Sarah Bryson’s Facebook page
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