Catherine Brandon, Duchess of Suffolk, suo jure 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby (22 March 1519 - 19 September 1580), born Catherine Willoughby, was a noblewoman living at the English courts of King Henry VIII, King Edward VI and later, Queen Elizabeth I. Events 238 - Gordian I and his son Gordian II are proclaimed Roman emperor. Events 335 - Dalmatius is raised to the rank of Caesar by his uncle Constantine I. Nobility is a government-privileged title which may be either hereditary (see Hereditary titles) or for a lifetime England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Henry VIII (28 June 1491 &ndash 28 January 1547 was King of England and Lord of Ireland, later King of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of Edward VI (12 October 1537 &ndash 6 July 1553 became King of England and Ireland on 28 January 1547 and was crowned on 20 February at the age of nine Noted for her Protestant reform views, she fled abroad to Wesel and later Poland during the reign of Queen Mary I. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. For other uses see Reform (disambiguation Reform means beneficial change or sometimes more specifically reversion to a pure original Wesel (ˈveːzəl is a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Poland (Polska officially the Republic of Poland Mary I (18 February 1516 &ndash 17 November 1558 was Queen of England and Queen of Ireland from 19 July 1553 until her death
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Childhood
Catherine was born, probably at court, to Maria de Salinas, a close friend and lady-in-waiting to the Queen, Catherine of Aragon, and the 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby, a courtier of Henry VIII, on 22 March 1519 and was baptised on 26 March. Maria de Salinas Lady Willoughby (ca 1490 - 1539 was a Noblewoman from Spain who became a Lady-in-waiting to Queen Katherine of Aragon. Catherine of Aragon (16 December 1485 – 7 January 1536 also known as Catharine, Katherine or Katharine ( Castilian Infanta Catalina William Willoughby 11th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1482 - 1526 was an English Baron and the largest landowner in Lincolnshire Events 1026 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as Holy Roman Emperor. The King favored another match bolstering his own marital alliance with Spain, and he even named one of his warships the Mary Willoughby. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. It seems clear that Catherine was named for the Queen, but her Spanish ties did not prevent her from becoming one of England's leading Protestants later in life. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland
Marriage
In 1526, Lord Willoughby de Eresby died, and Catherine, as his only surviving child, inherited the Barony and an income of 15,000 ducats a year at the age of seven. The ducat (ˈdʌkət is a Gold coin that was used as a trade currency throughout Europe before World War I. Wardship of the girl, i. e. , guardianship and provision of her person, fell to the King, who sold it to his brother-in-law, the Duke of Suffolk. Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk (c 1484 &ndash 22 August 1545) was the son of Sir William Brandon and Elizabeth Bruyn A battle over her inheritance ensued with her uncle, who argued that the estates and title should pass to him rather than a female heir. After this issue was resolved, Catherine was betrothed to the Duke's son and heir, the Earl of Lincoln. Henry Brandon 1st Earl of Lincoln ( 11 March 1516 &ndash 8 March 1534 Southwark) was the eldest child and only son born to Charles However, on the death in 1533 of the Duke's wife, Mary Tudor (sister of Henry VIII and Queen Dowager of France), Brandon chose to marry Catherine himself (Lord Lincoln died the following year). Mary Tudor may refer to Mary I of England, daughter of Henry VIII and Katherine of Aragon d
Despite about 35 years' difference in their ages, the Duke of Suffolk and his new Duchess had two sons, Henry and Charles. Henry Brandon 2nd Duke of Suffolk ( September 18 1535 &ndash July 14 1551) was an English nobleman the son of Charles Brandon 1st Duke Charles Brandon 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1537 &ndash July 1551 was the son of Charles Brandon 1st Duke of Suffolk and Catherine Willoughby. This marriage brought Catherine into a significant branch of the extended royal family, as the King's will made his sister Mary's descendants the next heirs to the throne after his own children. The Duke and Duchess of Suffolk officially greeted Anne of Cleves when she arrived in England in 1539 to marry the King, and in 1541 they helped arrange a royal progress for the King and his next Queen, Catherine Howard. Anne of Cleves Queen of England (22 September 1515&ndash16 July 1557 ( German: Anna von Jülich-Kleve-Berg) was the fourth wife of Henry VIII For other Catherine Howards see Catherine Howard (disambiguation Catherine Howard (between 1520 and 1525 – 13 February 1542 also called This progress later became notorious for the Queen's adulterous trysts with her kinsman, Thomas Culpeper, though the Duke and Duchess's Grimsthorpe Castle was "one of the very few places on the route . Thomas Culpeper (executed 10 December 1541) was a Courtier of Henry VIII. Grimsthorpe Castle is a Country house in Lincolnshire, England four miles (6 km north-west of Bourne on the A151. . . where Catherine Howard had not misbehaved herself" (Martienssen, Queen Catherine Parr).
Personality and beliefs
Noted for her wit, sharp tongue, and devotion to learning, by the last years of Henry VIII's reign the Duchess of Suffolk was also an outspoken Protestant. Protestantism refers to the forms of Christian faith and practice that originated in the 16th century Protestant Reformation. She became a close friend of Henry's last Queen, Catherine Parr, particularly after the Duke died in 1545, and was a strong influence on the Queen's religious beliefs. Catherine Parr ( c 1512 &ndash 5 September 1548 also known as Katherine or Katharine Parr(e, was the last of the six wives of Henry In 1546, as the Queen's Protestantism grew controversial, the King ordered the Queen's arrest, though his wife managed to sweet-talk him into cancelling this.
At this time, it was rumoured that the King was considering the Duchess of Suffolk - still only in her mid-20s — as wife number seven. In February 1547, Van der Delft wrote: 'I hesitate to report there are rumours of a new queen. Some attribute it to the sterility of the present Queen, while others say that there will be no change during the present war. Madame Suffolk is much talked about and is in great favour; but the King shows no alteration in his behaviour to the Queen, although she is said to be annoyed by the rumour'[1] But the friendship of the two Catherines remained strong, and after Henry VIII's death in 1547, the Duchess helped fund the publication of one of Catherine Parr's books, The Lamentation of a Sinner. She also became a patron of John Day, England's leading Protestant publisher; Day printed various books with the Duchess of Suffolk's coat of arms from 1548 onward. For the soul singer see Johnny Daye John Day or Daye ( c 1522 &ndash 23 July 1584 was an English Beginning in 1550, the Duchess helped establish Stranger churches for foreign Protestants, principally Dutch, who were fleeing religious persecution on the Continent. Stranger church was a term (similar in meaning to the French étranger) used by English-speaking people for independent Protestant churches established in foreign lands
After Henry VIII's death
Upon Catherine Parr's death in childbirth, the Duchess of Suffolk took custody of her child, Mary Seymour. Mary Seymour ( 30 August 1548 -after 1550 ? was the only daughter of Thomas Seymour, Baron Seymour of Sudeley and Catherine Parr, widow of But the Duchess's letter to her friend William Cecil, asking for funds to support the Queen's infant daughter, is the last definite record of this child. William Cecil may refer to Lord William Cecil (1854-1943 British royal courtier William Cecil 1st Baron Burghley (1520-1598 English Years later, the Duchess also became the custodian of one of her Brandon step-granddaughters, Lady Mary Grey, when the latter was placed under house arrest after marrying without royal consent. Lady Mary Grey (1545&ndash April 20, 1578) sometimes spelled Marie was the third and last daughter of Henry Grey 1st Duke of Suffolk and Lady Frances
In 1551 both the Duchess's sons, already students at Cambridge, died within an hour of each other. In recovering from this misfortune and its severe test to her faith, Catherine built a new life. In this period she employed Hugh Latimer as her chaplain. Latimer's belief in Christ's return Hugh Latimer said "It may come in my days old as I am or in my children's days the saints shall be taken up to meet Christ in the air [2] She married her second husband, Richard Bertie, a member of her household, out of love and shared religious beliefs. But she continued to be known as the Duchess of Suffolk, and her efforts to have her husband named Lord Willoughby de Eresby were unsuccessful. In 1555, during the reign of Queen Mary I, the Berties were among the English Protestants who went into exile on the Continent. Their persecution by Stephen Gardiner, the Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor, and subsequent wanderings were recounted in Foxe's Book of Martyrs, in an account probably written by Richard Bertie himself for the 1570 edition. For the British architect see Stephen Gardiner (architect. Stephen Gardiner (c See also List of bishops of Winchester The Bishop of Winchester is the head of the Church of England The Lord High Chancellor of Great Britain, or Lord Chancellor is a senior and important functionary in the Government of the United Kingdom. The Book of Martyrs, by John Foxe, is an Apocalyptically oriented English Protestant account of the Persecutions of After their return to England, they lived at Catherine's estate, Grimsthorpe in Lincolnshire, and at court. By Richard Bertie, Catherine was the mother of Peregrine Bertie, who married a sister of the Earl of Oxford, and of Susan Bertie, who married firstly Earl of Kent, and secondly Sir John Wingfield, a nephew of Catherine's friend Bess of Hardwick. Peregrine Bertie 13th Baron Willoughby de Eresby (1555 - 1601 was the son of Richard Bertie and Katherine Willoughby 12th Baroness Willoughby de Eresby. Edward de Vere 17th Earl of Oxford ( 12 April 1550 &ndash 24 June 1604) was an Elizabethan Courtier, Playwright Susan Bertie Dowager Countess of Kent (b 1554) was the daughter of Catherine Brandon Duchess of Suffolk, née Willoughby by her second husband Reginald Grey (before 1541 &ndash 17 March, 1573) was Earl of Kent from 1562 to his death Elizabeth Talbot Countess of Shrewsbury ( July 27[[ 527]]&ndash February 13, 1608) known as Bess of Hardwick, was the third surviving daughter
Literary tributes
Advocates of Oxford as the real author of Shakespeare's plays have suggested that Catherine's strong personality may have served as a model for Paulina in The Winter's Tale. The Winter's Tale is a play by William Shakespeare, first published in the First Folio in 1623 Catherine and Richard Bertie's exile became the basis of a ballad by Thomas Deloney, The Dutchess of Suffolk's Calamity, published before 1607, and of Thomas Drue's play, The Life of the Duchess of Suffolk, published in 1624. It may also have been the subject of an unpublished play from 1600 by William Haughton, The English Fugitives. William Haughton (d 1605 was an English Playwright in the age of English Renaissance theatre. Catherine's second marriage to one of her servants and subsequent persecution also present parallels to the plot of John Webster's The Duchess of Malfi. John Webster (c 1580 &ndash c 1634 was an English Jacobean Dramatist, and a late contemporary of William Shakespeare. The Duchess of Malfi is a Macabre, tragic play, written by the English dramatist John Webster and first performed in
References
Bibliography
- My Lady Suffolk: A Portrait of Catherine Willoughby, Duchess of Suffolk by Evelyn Read (1963) ASIN B000JE85OK.
- Letters and Papers of the Reign of Henry VIII
In fiction
- Catherine's story is fictionalized in the novel The Sixth Wife: A Novel by Suzannah Dunn.
| Peerage of England | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by William Willoughby |
Baroness Willoughby de Eresby 1526-1580 |
Succeeded by Peregrine Bertie |