Heir, Hostage, Court Favourite… Dead at 15 - Henry Brandon’s Story

On this day in Tudor history, 18 September 1535, Henry Brandon, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, was born at Chartley in Staffordshire. The eldest son of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk, and Catherine Willoughby, Henry’s life was full of promise, until it was heartbreakingly cut short.

Educated alongside Prince Edward (the future Edward VI), Henry thrived at court: he carried the orb at Edward’s coronation, ran at the ring, and studied at Cambridge under some of the greatest humanist tutors of the day. He was a young noble who seemed destined for greatness.

But in the summer of 1551, the dreaded sweating sickness struck. Within hours, Henry and his younger brother Charles were dead, snuffing out the Brandon male line in one cruel blow.

In this podcast, I share Henry’s brief but brilliant story, his education, his role at court, and the tragedy that ended his family’s hopes.

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