Brandon, Katherine, 4th wife of 1st Duke of Suffolk
- GB-1859-SJCA-PN203
- Person
- 1519-1580
Katherine Brandon was born in 1519, the only child of William Willoughby, eleventh Baron Willoughby de Eresby, and his wife Lady Maria de Salinas, a Castlian noblewoman who was maid of honour to Catherine of Aragon. After he father’s death, she became the ward of Charles Brandon, Duke of Suffolk.
The Duke was married to Mary, sister of Henry VIII, and their son together was created earl of Lincoln in 1525 as well as being a potential heir to the throne. The acquisition of Katherine’s lands would help Brandon to develop his growing sphere of influence, and he married Katherine three months after Mary’s death in 1533.
Katherine was known as a pious woman. After her husband’s death in 1545, she became associated with the circle of Queen Catherine Parr. Once Edward VI ascended the throne, Katherine became involved in shaping a new protestant culture in England. Many books were dedicated to her, including biblical translations, and she also printed her own: The Lamentacion of a Sinner, in 1547. The hope was that the book would help to lift restrictions on Bible reading by women and the lower classes.
After the coronation of Queen Mary, Katherine and her servants travelled to the continent. Their exile lasted until 1559, and its story was incorporated into John Foxe’s Acts and Monuments as well as becoming the subject of a popular ballad. Katherine had a strained relationship with Elizabeth I, due to the puritan tone of her faith which contrasted with the Queen’s.
Katherine had four children: two sons with her first husband, who both died of sweating sickness in 1551, and two children with her second, Richard Bertie. She died on the 19th of September 1580, two years before Bertie.