Sir francis of king henry viii

So, we see how information may be lacking for the works and details of the life of Sir Francis Bryan. Would we be safe to assert that he had an eye for opportunity? Pun intended. He was known for his ability to survive, at a time when others could not be as adaptable. Now we see how his legacy lived on in the New World and played a part in shaping the character of a new country.

Sidney L. Dictionary of National Biography. Leslie Stephen, ed. New York: Macmillan and Co. Download as PDF Printable version. In other projects. Wikidata item. English courtier — Thomas Bryan father Margaret Bourchier mother. Anne Boleyn half-cousin Catherine Howard half-cousin. Career [ edit ]. Character [ edit ]. Marriage [ edit ]. Portrayals in fiction [ edit ].

Children [ edit ]. Boleyn was made a knight of the Bath at the coronation of He was one of the sympathizers with the ambitions of the young warlike king and an enthusiastic participant in royal entertainments, especially tournaments.

Sir francis of king henry viii: Sir Francis Bryan was

Boleyn was an outstanding diplomat Henry said that there was no skilled negotiator to equal hima sophisticated and cultivated man. In he was elevated to the peerage as Viscount Rochford, by which time both of his daughters were at the English court. Chapuys claimed in that Anne and her father were more Lutheran than the Lutherans, and a year later he said both were considered true apostles of the new sect.

He died at Hever Castle on 12 March Bryan was a restless, unscrupulous and promiscuous courtier, who held the favour of Henry VIII all the way to his death. Find out more at the Anne Boleyn files website. He was a groom of the privy chamber by Mayan esquire of the body inand a gentleman of the privy chamber in He was an expert jouster and carried out diplomatic missions for the king.

Carew remained in favour with the king but in Cromwell stage-managed another court purge, and Carew was one of its victims. He was arrested on 31 Decemberallegedly because a letter found at the home of the marchioness of Exeter implicated him in the treason. He was beheaded on Tower Hill on 8 March Compton was a minor knight from Warwickshire, whose career was made by his proximity to the king.

He became a page to Prince Henry when duke of York, and a deep and lasting friendship grew up between them. He jousting with the king at his first tournament in In December he was acting as 'master of the Toyles,' and storing Greenwich Park with 'quick deer. He was one of the sheriffs of Essex and Hertfordshire inand accompanied Wolsey on his visit to Calais 9 Julywhere he remained some days.

Sir francis of king henry viii: Sir Francis Bryan (June – 2

A year later he escorted the papal envoy Campeggioon his way to England from Orleans, to Calais. In November Bryan was sent to Rome by Henry to obtain the papal sanction for his divorce from Catherine. Bryan was especially instructed to induce the pope [ Clement VII ] to withdraw from his friendship with the emperorand to discover the instructions originally given to Campeggio.

Much to his disappointment, Bryan failed in his mission. Soon after leaving England he had written to his cousin, Anne Boleynencouraging her to look forward to the immediate removal of all obstacles between her and the title of queen; but he subsequently 5 May had to confess to the king that nothing would serve to gain the pope's consent to Catherine's divorce.

On 10 May Bryan, with Sir Thomas Gage and Lord Vaux, presented to Queen Catherine at Ampthill the summons bidding her appear before Archbishop Cranmer 's court at Dunstable, to show cause why the divorce should not proceed; but the queen, who felt the presence of Bryan, a relative of Anne Boleyna new insult, informed the messengers that she did not acknowledge the court's competency.

In Bryan was sent as ambassador to France, whither he was soon followed by Sir Nicholas Carewhis sister's husband, and at the time as zealous a champion of Anne Boleyn as himself. Between May and August Bryan was travelling with the Duke of Norfolk in France seeking to prevent an alliance or even a meeting between the pope [ Clement VII ] and the king of Franceand he was engaged in similar negotiations, together with Bishop Gardiner and Sir John Wallop, in December Bryan during all these years remained the king's permanent favourite.

Throughout the reign almost all Henry's amusements were shared in by him, and he acquired on that account an unrivalled reputation for dissoluteness. When the influence of the Boleyn family was declining, Bryan entered upon a convenient quarrel with Lord Rochford, which enabled the king to break with his brother-in-law by openly declaring himself on his favourite's side.

In May Anne Boleyn was charged with the offences for which she suffered on the scaffold, and Cromwell — no doubt without the knowledge of Henry VIII — at first suspected Bryan of being one of the queen's accomplices. When the charges were being formulated, Cromwellwho had no liking for Bryan, hastily sent for him from the country; but no further steps were taken against him, and there is no ground for believing the suspicion to have been well founded.

It is clear that Bryan was very anxious to secure the queen's conviction Froude's Historyii.

Sir francis of king henry viii: Sir Francis was a

A pension vacated by one of Anne's accomplices was promptly bestowed on Bryan by the king. Cromwellin writing of this circumstance to Gardiner and Wallop, calls Bryan 'the vicar of hell' — a popular nickname which his cruel indifference to the fate of his cousin Anne Boleyn proves that he well deserved. Bryan conspicuously aided the government in repressing the rebellion known as the Pilgrimage of Grace in October of the same year.

On 15 Oct. In December he was one of the king's household deputed to meet Anne of Cleves near Calais on her way to England, and Hall, the chronicler, notes the splendour of his dress on the occasion. He fought, as a captain of light horse, under the Duke of Somerset at Musselburgh 27 Sept. Soon afterwards Bryan rendered the government a very curious service.