Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Questions from Jules - Court 'season' and Charles Brandon's estates c. 1516

Hi!

I'm a published author and am doing research for a novel which will heavily feature Charles Brandon. I specifically need help with two things:
1) the months Henry's court was active - did they have a 'season' - and where everyone resided at that time (i.e the castle name). If you have any links to floor plans and further research, that would be awesome.

2) Brandon's estates/holdings after the time of his marriage to Princess Mary (circa 1516). What did he hold when he married Mary? Any house/castle he lived in/visited frequently? Or was he mainly at court with Henry? Are any of his estates still in existence now?

Many thanks!

2 comments:

Kate said...

Henry's court was always active, although not always in the same place. In the summer months Henry and the court often went on progress stopping for a few days at several houses throughout the kingdom. Christmas court was usually held at a predetermined place. Henry liked Greenwich and Whithall but also held court at several other locations like Leeds. When the castles became"overripe" the court left for another location and the servents stayed behind to sweeten and freshen the castle for the monarch's return. The second part of your question requires a little research as I am well aware of Charles Brandon but not his holdings. I do know that he was often Henry's errand boy and so was sent from court to act on Henrys behalf. He was Henrys rep for the pilgramage of Grace and Marys escort to France so he was clearly back and forth from the court frequently

tudor princess said...

Someone has recently dug up a silver vervel which was used to tag one of Brandon's hawks.

This was found near Norwich and suggests that Brandon went hawking in that area.

You can read about it on the BBC news website.

It's amazing what touchstones of the past, survive.