The Fall of Anne Boleyn: A Countdown by Ridgway Claire

Author:Ridgway, Claire [Ridgway, Claire]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: MadeGlobal Publishing
Published: 2012-04-24T23:00:00+00:00

Sir Francis Bryan

Sir Francis Bryan is thought to have been born around 1490 and was the first surviving son of Sir Thomas Bryan. His mother was Lady Margaret Bryan (née Bourchier), lady-in-waiting to Queen Catherine of Aragon and the future governess of Princess Mary, Princess Elizabeth and Prince Edward. Bryan was a second cousin to both Anne Boleyn and Jane Seymour.

In 1516, he became the King's cupbearer and then, in 1518, master of the toils. He also became a gentleman of the privy chamber in 1518, but lost this position in Wolsey's purge. He regained the position in 1528, probably due to the influence of Anne Boleyn. He was knighted in 1522 for his courage during the capture of Morlaix in Brittany, serving under the Earl of Surrey, and by 1526 he held the position of chief cupbearer and master of the henchmen. During the King's Great Matter, Bryan was Henry VIII's trusted messenger to the Pope and Francis I. He even went as far as sleeping with a courtesan at the Papal court to get inside information.

Thomas Cromwell referred to Bryan as "the vicar of Hell" in a letter to Gardiner and Wallop on the 14th May 1536,1 and, according to Catholic recusant Nicholas Sander, the King also referred to him by this nickname. Sander writes "This man was once asked by the king to tell him what sort of a sin it was to ruin the mother and then the child. Bryan replied that it was a sin like that of eating a hen first and its chicken afterwards. The king burst forth into loud laughter, and said to Bryan, "Well, you certainly are my vicar of hell". The man had been long ago called the vicar of hell on account of his notorious impiety, henceforth he was called also the king's vicar of hell."2

Bryan was a staunch Catholic and his motto was Je tens grace ('I look for salvation'). Historian Susan Brigden3 writes of how he owned a copy of the 1537 Matthew Bible and that he acted as a patron of scholars who could translate the Bible from the original Greek. Like his good friend, Thomas Wyatt, Bryan was also a poet.

It seems that he felt no guilt in conspiring with Cromwell to bring down the Boleyn faction. Cromwell ordering Bryan back to London for interrogation was probably for show, a tactical move.

Robert, Abbot of Woburn, made a declaration in 1538 regarding Sir Francis Bryan's involvement in the fall of Anne Boleyn, which he likened to the fall of Lucifer. Of Bryan, he said:

"At the fall of queen Anne Mr. Bryan was sent for by the lord Privy Seal in all haste "upon his allegiance." At his next repair to Ampthill the abbot went to visit him, being in the Court with lord Grey of Wilton and others. Sir Francis espied the abbot at the gate, and of his gentleness came to meet him. Said, "Now welcome home and never so welcome." He, astonished, asked, Why so? Said he would explain at leisure.

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