Weekly history documentaries from a former university lecturer, with an emphasis on royalty & original sources.
WHAT MAKES ME DIFFERENT: I am a fully qualified historian from Northern Ireland (I get lots of questions about the accent!) whose videos are thoroughly researched and based on a reading of the original evidence. I will never just regurgitate Wikipedia entries at you and there will be no crazy conspiracy theories or claims of alien involvement here unless I'm debunking them. Just 100% history.
Music used in video intros: Friday Fugue, RU-vid Audio Library.
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What a man slug. To him, women were just commodities to be used and discarded. Too bad he survived to old age, when so many others fell afoul of his tyrant friend.
Unscrupulous snake are the words that come to mind. I think Henry liked having this piece of 'rough' around, a bit edgy, he could do things that Henry was not allowed to do when he was younger. There is also the fact that Charles's father died putting Henry 7th on the throne, so there is that sense of 'payback' about their relationship. Letting your mate win at jousting is also a good ploy for being in the good books. I bet there were plenty of drinking sessions and betting IOUs to make life more enjoyable for Henry. They deserved each other, even buried in the same place (St Georges chapel). "That's what friends are for" is their song! Thanks HC.😀
When I think of Brandon I can see Richard Dillane’s somewhat oafish and uncouth portrayal of him in the 2015 tv production of “Wolf Hall”. From what you’ve just said, it sounds like Hilary Mantel, Peter Straughan (the screenwriter)and Dillane knew what he was about! Like you I don’t find much about him that is redeeming which is very sad. Money appeared to be his god, and he had no compunctions about marrying the wealthiest woman available. I did not know about his annulment of his marriage to his first wife in order that he could marry someone with more money and then remarry wife #1 again after he was free. No wonder Henry VIII liked Brandon so much. They were two sides of the same coin. Yuck!🤢
He was a very naughty person, but seemed to make all the right moves at the right time He did what he wanted to yet, he followed the kings orders. Also think as you said he wasn't around for a lot of the things that happened at court.
Thank you! This is why I lost interest in the show after one episode (well, in addition to it being just really poorly written Jane Austen fanfiction). The reason I originally got so interested in history was due to films like "Anne of the Thousand Days," and "Lady Jane." Although neither of these were completely historically accurate either, they at least got the major things right (like, the clothing, hair coverings, and what race people were). The reason I loved these films was because they allowed me to escape the modern day completely and become immersed in a different time. Today's "period" pieces do not even try to do this. They are insufferably "of our time" and hold zero appeal for many people who used to be fans of this genre. I don't understand why if you want to tell a modern story, you don't just do that and leave "history" out of it, because there really isn't any left after they dissect it and rewrite it for these productions anyway.
I wonder what “if”, Jane & Guilford had been ALLOWED to live, what turmoil might’ve ensued during Elizabeth i’s reign , especially if they’d had MALE children. I think they would’ve reviled Mary, Queen of Scot’s claim to the English thrown. Great video!!! You always allow for “what if” options & THAT gives everyone a chance to imagine thing’s beyond recorded history.
I'm so impressed by your channel and episodes!! I've watched many historical videos on RU-vid and yours are by far brilliantly done, and always accurate. I look forward to seeing anything you upload 😊😊
Perhaps a reason why both Spain and France saw Christina as unbiased and beholden to neither, was due to the fact that she had no thanks to give either country's monarchs, as they had either shamelessly exploited her for the sake of their power, or invaded her territories to deprive her and her heir the rights to them.
Hello History Calling. Like you, I have a largely negative view of Charles Brandon. I do have a very positive of his final duchess, Catherine Willoughby, who has an intriguing life story worthy of its own episode. Perhaps you are headed in that direction?
Like most people, I'd heard about him as Henry's buddy, but you've totally opened my eyes to what a conniving and opportunistic snake he really was! Thank you for your in-depth analysis of him and the roles he played at Henry's Court. (I'm mumbling swear words under my breath at him right now! ) Thank you, HC, as always, for your insightful video! 😊
Always superb HC, the man was a rogue, and as slippery as an eel he treated all the women he knew with Complete I differance and used them to his benefit what a horrible man, he took a leaf out of Henry's book, thank you HC. ☺️👍
He was the King's Man~ They were very similar in nature. Close as brothers and loyal to each other to the end. They were men of their time. I found them both fascinating, especially Charles Brandon.
OK so he was a cad, I still stand by my comment last week about Mary having much greater self-determination than Katherine Howard. Though I would love to know, What exactly went through Charles's head when he choose to marry Mary. Did he think Henry would be less mad than he was? Did he think the punishment couldn't be too bad? Or maybe this philander briefly fell head over heels for Mary and decided to risk it? I dont know.
He knew Henry loved Mary, and he knew Henry was fond of him. And as has been mentioned, Henry had not yet developed or revealed (whichever it was) his vicious side. If Henry had actually promised Mary that she could marry whom she wanted when the French king died, he was aware of that (even if he didn't think Henry really meant it). He also knew Mary was returning with a fortune, so that at worst, he could mollify Henry with wealth, which was what happened. I definitely agree with you about Mary's agency vs. Katherine's.
Having not read much about Brandon, I didn't have any opinion of him except that he and Mary wanted to wed. You have opened my eyes to the scheming, opportunistic person. I'm now going to have to research him more.
I find it anti-feminist and downright misogynistic to assume that a woman, even a young adult or older teen woman, isn't responsible for making her own moral decisions. Being badly brought up doesn't relieve a woman of her responsibility for her own moral character and isn't a get out of responsibility free card for the trouble her own bad decisions caused her. Of course it would have been next to impossible to refuse Henry when he had his mind set on her, but one has to consider the fact that a girl come to court as the veteran of prior affairs might have wanted to become queen and known full well how to catch a man's interest.
Thanks for a thorough look into the life of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk. I'm definitely going to watch it again, because I find Brandon such an enigma among the characters in the story of Henry VIII. I have to agree with another commenter here that Henry Cavil's portrayal of him (while I knew it wasn't accurate) makes me want to like him in spite of his obvious misogyny and self-interest. I didn't know his father died at Bosworth, or that he was orphaned early, and I think the precarious circumstances of his position might explain why he was so eager to trade on his close proximity with the royal family for advantageous marriages. In that era, and many since, it was normal to look at marriage as opportunities for advantage and advancement. Enriching oneself through a brilliant match was how it was done, and nobody talked of love, not even the royals themselves. Mary Boleyn was ostracized from court for the mistake of making a humble marriage. And no one seems to have waited long, including Henry himself, before taking another spouse, if they saw advantage to be gained. So, I don't think it's quite fair to call out Charles for that. But his marriage to Mary makes me wonder if Henry knew that Charles was as much a cheater and womanizer as he himself was, and that their friendship partly depended on the locker room type of talk of their exploits that he, Henry would no longer be privy to, as his brother-in-law and her protector. After all, it's beyond Henry's scope to care about the French King's infidelity, (if any, old as he was) but Henry could hardly countenance Charles cheating on his own sister! So, the bawdy speculation and stories about who's ripe for the picking at court had to end between them, or be one-sided if they were to remain civil. Which is a calculation that Charles probably didn't consider when he made his hasty marriage. Also,, I had not realized that Charles's son by Mary was in line to the throne as a grandson of Henry VII, a fact that should have been obvious to me, and one I'm sure Charles would have been aware of, and which could also have garnered Henry's ire. Well, this has gone on too long, but you've given me so much to think about I couldn't help putting it into words. Thanks for another great video!
Thanks Mary Lou. I'm glad you liked it. Yes, there is an argument to be made that at least some of Charles's actions were not unusual at the time as regards his marriages, but swinging back and forth between the aunt and niece is definitely still pretty grim in my book. It makes me wonder what it's like inside the mind of someone who could do that? I think he certainly lucked out in having Henry Cavill play him in The Tudors. It's made him a lot more sympathetic to modern audiences.
@@HistoryCalling I agree 100%, and having watched it again, I have to admit the aunt and niece episode can't be excused. I wonder if the aunt was aware that Charles had precipitated the marriage with her niece?
I remember reading about how Brandon had taken women's money and left them in the dust from Antonia Fraser's book. She didn't give much attention to it, as the focus of the book was the six wives, but I thought at the time that sounded like rather unpleasant behaviour. Still, even if he wasn't the most decent guy, he got out of Henry's court in one piece, which even Thomas Cromwell didn't manage, so he must have had something between the ears and a good idea of how the game was played.
You couldn't write the script, could you? The Brandons, The Howards (Suffolk and Norfolk reaspectively) - so many fingers; so many pies. Talk about the need for a monopolies commission, even then. Great vid, HC. Fanx. 😊
