Blount, Elizabeth (c. 1500–1540)
A “damsel of the most serene queen” from about 1513, Bess Blount was Henry VIII’s mistress and the mother of his acknowledged son, Henry FitzRoy (1519–1536). She married twice, had six more children, and was back at court as Lady Clinton when Anne of Cleves was queen.
Brandon, Charles (1485?–1545)
Starting as a page to Prince Arthur, Charles Brandon advanced steadily at court. He was sewer to Henry VII circa 1503, master of horse to the Earl of Essex from 1505, esquire of the body to Henry VII in 1507, and had developed a close personal friendship with the future Henry VIII before 1509. He was knighted in 1512, created Viscount Lisle in December of that same year, and elevated in the peerage to Duke of Suffolk in 1514. He married the king’s sister in mid-February 1515. His matrimonial history up to that point included three earlier “marriages” and an annulment, and he wed yet again after Mary Tudor’s death.
Brandon, Sir Thomas (1454?–1510)
Charles Brandon’s uncle, Sir Thomas was master of horse to Henry VII, with whom he was in exile in Brittany and France.
Bryan, Elizabeth (Lady Carew) (c. 1495–1546)
At court with her mother, one of Queen Catherine’s ladies, Elizabeth Bryan married Sir Nicholas Carew in December 1514. She was at court for most of Henry VIII’s reign and considered one of the most beautiful women there.
Bryan, Margaret (Lady Guildford) (d. by 1527)
Older sister of Elizabeth, Margaret Bryan married Sir Henry Guildford at court in May 1512. She participated in many of the masques and revels her husband produced. She died sometime between 1521 and 1527.
Carew, Nicholas (c. 1496–1539)
Squire of the king’s body, then groom of the privy chamber to Henry VIII, Nicholas Carew was probably in Prince Henry’s household as early as age six. He married Elizabeth Bryan in December 1514. He was not knighted until 1520, but he was already a champion jouster by 1516. He was executed for treason in 1539.
Catherine of Aragon (1485–1536)
The daughter of Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, Catherine of Aragon was sent to England in 1501 to marry Henry VII’s oldest son, Arthur, Prince of Wales. Arthur died soon after their marriage and Catherine spent the next seven years on the fringes of the English court and in near poverty. When Henry VIII succeeded his father, one of his first acts was to marry his brother’s widow. During the early years of Henry’s reign, theirs was a successful and harmonious marriage. When the king left England to make war on France, he named Catherine as regent. Although she had expert help from the Earl of Surrey and others, she was the one who ordered troops to defend England against the Scottish invasion that ended with the Battle of Flodden and she had a hand in negotiating the peace that followed. When she failed to give King Henry a son, he divorced her.
Chambre, John (1470–1549)
One of six physicians and five apothecaries to the king, Dr. Chambre served both Henry VII and Henry VIII. He first came to court in 1507.
Compton, Sir William (1482–1528)
William Compton was a ward of the king after his father’s death in 1493 and entered royal service at that time as a page to Prince Henry. To King Henry VIII he was groom of the bedchamber, groom of the stole, and chief gentleman of the bedchamber. He was knighted in 1513 and married by 1514 to Werburga Brereton, Lady Cheyney, a wealthy widow. He used her fortune to rebuild Compton Wynyates. His house in Thames Street in London was reportedly used by the king for assignations with at least one mistress, and in 1510 Compton himself was at the center of a scandal involving the married Lady Hastings. Earlier that same year he was almost killed in a tournament he and the king had entered in disguise.
Denys, Hugh (d. by 1516)
Hugh Denys was Henry VII’s groom of the stole. His wife, Mary Roos, was a member of Queen Elizabeth’s household and later joined that of Queen Catherine of Aragon. Mrs. Denys was still alive in 1540, by which time she had been widowed a second time.
Gibson, Richard
Richard Gibson was actively involved in every revel, spectacle, and tournament at court from 1510 to 1534. He was a yeoman tailor by profession, but he was also one of the King’s Players under Henry VII and their leader from 1505 to 1509. This troupe of players did not travel other than with the court and each received an annual salary of twenty marks plus livery and rewards for performances. Gibson was made sergeant of tents and sergeant at arms for the journey to France in 1513. He went on to become principal costume designer and producer of revels, working with Sir Henry Guildford, the king’s master of revels, as his deputy, and with William Cornish, director of the Children of the Chapel and designer of masques and pageants. Gibson was responsible for obtaining material from the wardrobe, renting houses to serve as workshops, contracting the services of whatever household departments were needed, hiring artists and artisans to make costumes, properties, and pageant wagons, and arranging for their transportation. He also made jousting apparel and trappings for the horses and decorated banqueting houses, some of which he helped construct.
Goose, John
“Goose” was Henry VIII’s fool when Henry was Duke of York.
Gordon, Lady Catherine (d. 1537)
Married to Perkin Warbeck by command of James IV of Scotland as part of the attempt to overthrow Henry VII, Lady Catherine ended up as a prisoner of the English king. She was placed in Elizabeth of York’s household, where she became a favored lady-in-waiting, and when Henry VIII became king she received several grants of land in Berkshire. In 1510 she married James Strangeways, a gentleman usher of the king’s chamber. After Strangeways’s death she married twice more, both times to minor courtiers.
Guildford, Henry (1489–1532)
Although there is no record of Henry Guildford at court before 1509, he may have been one of the children of honor in the Duke of York’s household at Eltham, where his mother was the Lady Mary’s lady governess. Guildford was knighted in 1512. He served the king as master of revels and became master of horse in 1515. He married Margaret Bryan at court on April 25, 1512.
Guildford, Sir Richard (1450–1506)
Father of Henry and husband of “Mother Guildford,” Sir Richard was deeply in debt at the time of his death in Jerusalem, where he had gone on pilgrimage. The previous year he had lost his post as controller of the king’s household due to poor management of money and had spent six months in the Fleet before being released by the king’s order. He was pardoned just before he left England.
Henry VII (1457–1509)
From 1471 until 1485, Henry Tudor was in exile in Brittany and France. Little is known of his exact location or his companions before 1483. In 1485, he defeated Richard III to seize the throne of England. He married Elizabeth of York (1465–1503) to strengthen his claim.
Henry VIII (1491–1547)
The second son of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Henry was Duke of York until the death of his older brother, Arthur. He then became Prince of Wales. He succeeded his father to the throne in 1509 and immediately married Arthur’s widow, Catherine of Aragon. In 1514, Henry VIII was twenty-three, stood six feet two inches tall and had a thirty-five-inch waist and a forty-two-inch chest. He was an athletic man, especially fond of tennis and jousting, at which he excelled. He was known to love his younger sister dearly and take great pleasure in her company. He was the first English monarch to adopt the style “Your Majesty” in preference to the traditional “Your Grace.”