Steven Gunn

Henry VIII's Closest Friend

Charles Brandon

The first biography of the lifelong companion and trusted confidante of Henry VIII

The reign of Henry VII is important but mysterious. He ended the Wars of the Roses and laid the foundations for the strong governments of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I. Yet his style of rule was unconventional and at times oppressive. At the heart of his regime stood his new men, low-born ministers with legal, financial, political, and military skills who enforced the king's will and in the process built their own careers and their families' fortunes. Some are well known, like Sir Edward Poynings, governor of Ireland, or Empson and Dudley, executed to buy popularity for the young Henry VIII. Others are less famous. Sir Robert Southwell was the king's chief auditor, Sir Andrew Windsor the keeper of the king's wardrobe, Sir Thomas Lovell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer so trusted by Henry that he was allowed to employ the former Yorkist pretender Lambert Simnel as his household falconer. Some paved the way to glory for their relatives. Sir Thomas Brandon, master of the horse, was the uncle of Henry VIII's favourite Charles Brandon, duke of Suffolk. Sir Henry Wyatt, keeper of the jewel house, was father to the poet Sir Thomas Wyatt. This volume, based on extensive archival research, presents a kaleidoscopic portrait of the new men. It analyses the offices and relationships through which they exercised power and the ways they gained their wealth and spent it to sustain their new-found status. It establishes their importance in the operation of Henry's government and, as their careers continued under his son, in the making of Tudor England.

Henry VII's New Men and the Making of Tudor England

This marvellous new book sets the developments in the government of England under the early Tudors in the context of recent work on the fifteenth century and on continental Europe.

Early Tudor Government, 1485–1558

David Grummitt

Hans Cools

Comparing the effects of war on England and the Netherlands, this book tests the idea that war increased rulers' power over their subjects. Exploring themes such as national identity and religious change, the result is a compelling and nuanced picture of societies and policies tested and shaped by the pressures of ever more demanding warfare.

War, State, and Society in England and the Netherlands 1477-1559

War should be recognised as one of the defining features of life in the England of Henry VIII. Henry fought many wars throughout his reign, and this book explores how this came to dominate English culture and shape attitudes to the king and to national history, with people talking and reading about war, and spending money on weaponry and defence.

Steven Gunn

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