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"The Meetest Man Here to do the Affairs of this Country"
At the beginning of 1543 Bryan was appointed vice-admiral of Henry’s fleet amid preparations to prosecute a war against France. But before he could send an army to the continent, the king had to secure his northern frontier against attack. The defeat of Scotland had left the nation with an infant monarch and a regency council divided into bitter factions. Although the kingdom had ceased to count as a danger to England, the opportunity created by the victory at Solway Moss revived Henry’s ambitions to impose English rule on Scotland. But instead of marching across the border following his triumph, the king relied upon his brother-in-law Archibald Douglas, sixth Earl of Angus, leader of the pro-English faction in Scotland, and those captured on the battlefield to act in England’s interests. They were pledged to work toward detaching the country from its alliance with France by agreeing to the marriage of their infant sovereign Mary Stuart to Henry’s five year old son and heir.
But against the king’s wishes James Hamilton, Earl of Arran, heir presumptive to the Scottish throne, was proclaimed Governor on 3 January during the queen’s minority. Although Henry was concerned that Aarran might rally the country against him, he feared much more that the Catholic pro-French faction, led by Cardinal Beaton, would again ascendancy over the Regency Council. To prevent French aid and supplies from reaching Beaton’s party, the king assembled a fleet of vessels along the east coast of England under the command of Lord Admiral John Dudley and his newly appointed Vice-Admiral Sir Francis Bryan.
Bryan was dispatched to Newcastle on 19 January with orders to prevent the passage of French shipping into the Firth of Forth. Henry’s plans to make Scotland a "satellite state", and thereby secure his northern border while he went to war with France, necessitated the liberation of that country from French influence. But the specter of English domination had revived Scottish nationalism, and it soon became apparent that Henry’s allies in Scotland were no longer prepared to work for his cause. Thus reports that men and supplies were gathering at the French port city of Le Havre under the banner of Claude duke of Guise raised grave concern in England. As a grandfather of Mary Queen of Scots, Guise had openly proclaimed his objective to come with four ships to Scotland in order to gain possession of Mary and her mother, Mary of Guise, and seize Edinburgh and Dunbar Castle. Therefore it became Bryan’s chief responsibility to prevent Guise’s passage to Scotland.
Bryan arrived in Newcastle on 11 January 1543 to find only six of his ten ships ready and victualled; the other four had yet to arrive from London. He complained to the Privy Council that "...there are more pretty ships here able to serve; but no mariners and no ordinance, and very little powder". Nevertheless he proceeded to furnish his own vessel, the 140 ton, Elizabeth, with 50 mariners and carpenters, 40 soldiers, and 20 gunners. Soon thereafter he departed with his fleet toward Scotland. Although he received numerous reports of ships heading north, none turned out to be part of Guises’s fleet, so while awaiting his arrival, Bryan concentrated upon detaining as many French ships sailing to Scotland as he could capture-which only amounted to two.
He spent most of February patrolling the sea-lanes between the cities of Edinburgh and Hull, trying vainly to prevent the arrival of supplies from France and the piratical activity of Scottish ships along the English coast. His duties ended on 20 February when a three month truce was signed with Scotland, causing his appointment as vice-admiral to be revoked.
Although Scottish affairs had preoccupied him for many months, Henry still intended to attack France and conclude his reign with a magnificent triumph. To that end he signed a new Anglo-Imperial treaty on 11 February 1543 committing himself and Charles to invade France, each with an army of 25,000 men. Five months later Henry signed the Treaty of Greenwich with Scotland, insuring peace between the two countries and agreeing to a marriage between Prince Edward and Mary Queen of Scots in the near future. Although Henry did not gain custody of the queen, he was hopeful that Scotland was now in his grasp, and therefore he sent five thousand men under the command of Sir John Wallos to the Netherlands to aid Charles V against an invading French army.
But however close his present relationship with the emperor might appear, Henry was extremely uneasy about his future reliability because he could not forget Charles’s breach of their alliance against France following the Battle of Pavia in 1525. He needed reassurance that the emperor would now fulfill his commitments against the French; Bryan therefore was dispatched as ambassador to the emperor’s court at the beginning of October. He found him with his army at Avesnes, a small town on the Franco-Dutch border fifty-three miles southwest of Brussels, just as he was about to attack a number of small garrison towns held by the French.
On his arrival at court, Bryan congratulated the emperor on his recent victory against William duke of Cleves, Henry’s former brother-in-law, not an ally of France. He then asked ".... what is to be done next year (against France), in order that his Majesty (Henry) may prepare?" But Charles would not commit himself to a specific plan and merely replied that his actions depended upon "other public affairs", such as the Turk’s designs in Hungary and the outcome of his current venture against France. Henry however was anxious that the emperor postpone any large scale operations involving the French, since he may have been considering the possibility of striking another blow at Scotland to protect his northern borders, before turning his full attention to te continent.
Since Charles was eager to draw England into a war against France, he attempts to reassure Henry of his trustworthiness. To demonstrate that he was in fact preparing for the next year’s joint-invasion, he revealed to Bryan his plans for fortifying his newly acquired garrisons along the Franco-Dutch borders. He remarked that Francis himself had been with the French forces in Cambrai, which the emperor had recently captured, and that he had compelled Francis to flee from the city at night, "playing the owl’s part" as Charles humorously put it. The emperor’s chief minister, Nicolas Perrennot de Granvells, also took care to dispel any suspicion that the emperor would fail to fulfill his commitments to Henry, especially in view of his dispatch of 5000 troops to Charles’s aid the previous summer. When Bryan, in a veiled reference to the emperor’s past unreliability, pointed out the shame of such a possibility, Granvelle declared earnestly, "No, no, be sure, mons. Ambassador, this knot is too fast knit to be unknit without both hands unknit it".
Though the emperor’s minister had publicly declared his monarch’s resolve to remain true to his alliance with England, Bryan wanted a clear statement from Charles himself that he would join Henry in an attack on France and not make peace until a complete victory had been achieved. In November 1543, Bryan became anxious over the arrival at the emperor’s court of John duke of Lorraine, a close ally of the French king. In a brief meeting with the emperor, the duke expressed a desire for peace between Charles and Francis. The emperor replied that since Lorraine had no commission from the French king, it would be useless to answer him. Later the same day Charles approached Bryan, and as if to reassure him, told him of Lorraine’s arrival and what had been proposed. Bryan pointed out that during the emperor’s present expedition into France Lorraine had assembled all of his forces to fight against him but then had not used them on the appearance of Wallop’s troops. He asked ironically, "...how will he do next year when my master shall be of as great power (as the emperor)?" Charles agreed that Lorraine would probably present no threat whatever. Bryan continued confidently, "Now, your Majesty, the sticking to you of a faithful friend makes your enemy to shrink". "And I," declared the emperor, will "never fail my friend again".
Greatly encouraged by these remarks, Bryan had a conversation that same evening with the emperor’s sister, Mary, Queen of Hungary and Governess General of the Netherlands, whom he found sitting before the fire playing cards with the Duke of Lorraine. Later, after the duke had taken his leave, she beckoned to Bryan, and referring to Lorraine’s proposals of peace between the emperor and Francis, asked if he had "heard ever so lean a message?" "Madame" replied Bryan wryly, "if the broth be no fatter it is not worthy the supping". With that she laughed and so Bryan departed. He came away from both interviews confident of Charles’s support for his master’s cause; "the emperor", he told the king, "will do nothing without you". )an assurance that was to be falsified by events the following year).
Soon after this meeting Henry recalled Bryan and appointed Nicholas Wotton, dean of Canterbury, as his new ambassador to the emperor. As he took his leave of Charles, Bryan assured him that although Henry too had received peace overtures from Francis, he had rejected them and was continuing his preparations for war the following year. Bryan left Brussels the day after Christmas to return to England. A few days later Henry concluded a new agreement with the emperor. Each was to invade France in six months time at the head of 40,000 men. The English were to attack from Calais while the Imperial forces would enter France further north; their common objection was to capture Paris.
In the meantime affairs in Scotland were proving much more troublesome. Cardinal Beaston and his pro-French party had wrested power from Arran and denounced the treaty of Greenwick. Henry’s anger at the treachery of the Scots caused him, in May 1544, to dispatch Edward Seymour, earl of Hertford, and 12,000 men to devastate the Lowlands and burn the city of Edinburgh; orders that were reluctantly but thoroughly carried out by the English commander. By striking such a blow, Henry effectively paralyzed the country during the coming
campaigning season.
The king was then able to turn his undivided attention to France. Appointed as an officer in the forces at Calais, Bryan was instructed to furnish 200 men for the army that would advance into France later that year. He accompanied them to Calais in the second week of June under the command of his uncle the Duke of Norfolk.
Henry believed that since a sizeable French force was entrenched at the town of Montreuil, 38 miles south of Calais, and a considerable French garrison lay in Boulogne, it would be unwise for Norfolk and his army to advance toward Paris and leave them free to imperil his communications and supplies. Therefore, on 20 June the council gave Norfolk authority to besiege Montreuil, located on the Canche River. But it was not long after his forces took up positions around the city that Norfolk realized the difficulty of the task. Montreuil could not be surrounded as the enemy were too great in number: nevertheless the decision was made to lay siege on one side of the town only. A number of his advisors, including Bryan, warned that this would lead to a long, drawn out struggle with a doubtful prospect of success because towns were seldom won unless they were fully invested by the opposing army. However, the siege commenced on 10 July, and efforts were made to mine under the town’s fortifications.
These attempts met with failure, and it was agreed by Bryan and the other lieutenants that the flat, sparse landscape around the town made it the worst place to approach they had ever seen. There was no secure camping place for the army within a mile of it, and the town was defended by a force of 4000 men, which included many veteran soldiers.
On 14 July Henry, now an old man at 53 and greatly overweight but indomitable and ready to assume command, arrived to supervise the siege of Boulogne, a port town 20 miles southwest of Calais. Charles protested that their treaty stipulated that the king’s army march toward Paris and not get bogged down in lesser military operations. To this Henry retorted that unless both Montreuil and Boulogne were taken, his advancing army could not be supplied. While the king was engaged in operations against Boulogne, he was joined by Bryan, who had been sent by Norfolk at the beginning of August to convey his greetings and probably also explain the difficulties faced by the duke’s army at Montreuil. Upon his arrival at Calais he became aware of the growing criticism of Norfolk’s "remissness". Both Bryan and the Duke of Suffolk, however, made a strong defense on Norfolk’s behalf, noting the general lack of supplies and privations his army had to face. Two days later Bryan took his leave of the king and returned to Montreuil.
On 14 September 1544 Boulogne capitulated, and seven days later Henry entered it in triumph. He stayed nearly two weeks, supervising its fortification and knighting some of his companions. It was galling news, however, to discover that on the same day he had entered Boulogne, the emperor had come to terms with the French at the town of Crecy. Charles had once again deserted Henry as in 1525 following his victory at Pavia. Moreover, the emperor’s withdrawal exposed English forces to the full weight of the French army. The dauphin swiftly moved to relieve Montreuil and threatened to attack Norfolk’s army which remained short of food. In a dispatch to the king, the duke warned that his mercenaries were now likely to desert, and his supply line from the town of Etaples was threatened by the French. Henry therefore ordered Norfolk to withdraw immediately. On 26 September Bryan and his contingent moved out with the duke’s army as they retreated toward Etaples, the only place where the water was low enough to allow the army to transport its artillery across the Canche River. On 30 September, the same day Norfolk arrived in Boulogne, the king took his leave of the army and departed for Dover; Bryan remained behind as a member of the garrison until the following spring.
Although peace negotiations between England and France had now begun, Henry’s determination to keep Boulogne prevented any agreement from being reached. Therefore when Bryan returned to court in April 1545, he found Henry preparing for a renewal of hostilities against the French. But now the king was left to carry on the war without the aid of the emperor, and he was no nearer mastery of his northern neighbor than he had been a year ago.
Cardinal Beaton and the Catholic pro-French faction had retained control of Scotland and its infant queen Mary Stuart following Seymour’s devastating attack. Henry’s attempts to dislodge them from power by sending raiding parties across the border had only enraged the Scottish government which began planning with France a joint invasion of England. This threat came at a time when Henry was desperately short of money due to the demands of the previous year’s military operations. Therefore soon after his return from France, Bryan and other gentlemen were commissioned to collect forced loans or contributions from their counties; Bryan was assigned, with three other gentlemen, to raise the required sums from Bedforshire.
As Bryan was pressing his district for these ‘gifts’, the kingdom was preparing to defend itself against attack by land and sea. It awaited invasion not only from Scotland, but also from France, which might strike at Boulogne and invade England from the southeast or perhaps land in Ireland or the west-country. At sea a fleet of eighty sail and 12,000 men assembled at Portsmouth under the Lord Admiral John Dudley, while another force of some sixty ships, mostly privateers, amassed further west. Although he had served many times in the navy, Bryan was not appointed to a command in the fleet. Instead he was commissioned with Sir John Russell, Lord Privy Seal, to put the south coast in a position of defense. This area was particularly vulnerable to a marauding fleet, so both traveled from the county of Dorset west to Cornwall, ordering the local people to construct bulwarks, ditches, and trenches, while recommending places where ordnance should be placed. Impressed with Bryan’s energy and devotion to duty, Russell recommended to the Privy Council that should he himself be incapacitated, "Bryan is the meetess man here to do the affairs of this country".
On 15 July 1545 a French armada of 200 ships entered the Solent, the channel between the Isle of Wight and the mainland of southern England. The lord admiral repelled the attack but skirmishes continued, because the French landed several hundred men for a few hours on the Isle of Wight and pillaged the Sussen shore. Shortly thereafter the invasion fleet returned home. Their plan probably had been limited to a small number of swift landings in order to disrupt communications between England and Boulogne so as to facilitate the latter’s recapture by the dauphin’s army; however the port city’s commander, the Earl of Hertford, successfully defended the town against the French land forces.
But fears of an imminent French invasion were widespread among the towns and villages of the English south coast, and there were rumors that priests were storing armaments and supplies for the intended invaders. In the middle of August it came to the attention of Bryan and Russell that certain individuals were conducting unauthorized searches of priests’ houses in Somerset and Dorset. They were informed by the sheriff of Sherbourne in Dorset that his constables and tithing men had been directed to search the houses of priests and to put all weapons, books, and letters in safe keeping. As it was not known whether Henry or his council had issued these orders, the sheriff had written to the king’s commissioners Bryan and Russell to discover who had authorized such an action. No such instructions had been sent by the government, so upon receiving the letter, Russell immediately put a halt to all searches, directing the justices of each county to discover who had issued them.
Bryan traveled to the town of Bridgewater in Somerset to conduct his own investigations. He examined the gentlemen there and in other towns to find out who had originated and participated in these actions. In a letter to the Privy Council, Bryan and Russell concluded that no specific individuals were to blame, but that the entire affair had been the result of panic produced by fear of invasion. Many people believed the king had commanded the ‘search’ although no commission had been shown, and that the matter had passed from person to person, "who being ignorant people....had run as headlong a search’ as either man had ever seen.
The Privy Council shared these anxieties, and some members, including the Duke of Norfolk, were eager to end hostilities with France. They believed the only way to achieve this was to cede the captured port of Boulogne, thereby appeasing the French and delivering England from continued crippling military expenditures. Norfolk’s stance may have been one reason Henry later turned against him because the king was determined to keep his prize. With no sign of an Anglo-French accord by the end of the year, he convened another Parliament. In November Bryan was elected once again by the county of Buckinghamshire. The king was eager to refill the royal coffers emptied by the costly defense of the nation, and so Bryan and his fellow M. P.’s were instructed to consider a bill that would confiscate all the colleges and chantries of England. In the meantime the king was granted the plate, money and rents of the trade guilds. Once this measure had been enacted Parliament was prorogued.
At the beginning of the New Year Henry again began to prepare for war against France. But although both countries raised troops, secret negotiations were taking place between them that would put an end to the struggle. The two nations were exhausted, and their kings elderly and in poor health. On 7 June 1546 peace was concluded. England was to keep Boulogne for eight years, at the end of which France might buy the town back for 800,000 crowns.
The peace was proclaimed simultaneously in London and Paris six day later. In August 1546, at an ostentatious gathering of English and French dignitaries at Hampton Court, Henry and the French Admiral Claude d’Annebault formally celebrated the ratification of the Anglo-French peace treaty. But unlike previous years when Bryan’s close affinity with the French court would have necessitated his presence, he was not appointed to greet the ambassadorial suite nor accompany it to London. He attended the feast that followed the ceremonies of ratification, but he did not sit at the royal table. Instead he joined a group that included Anthony Denny, a member of the privy chamber, Henry Howard earl of Surrey, Princess Mary and Elizabeth, and the Lady Anne of Cleves. These apparent snubs administered to Bryan may have foreshadowed the fall of the Howard faction to which he belonged.
Throughout the year Henry’s health declined to a point that those about him were convinced that his death was near. As a consequence two contending groups apparently became locked in a power-struggle in which the prize was the direction of affairs on the accession of the nine-year-old Prince Edward, though the king retained ultimate control almost to the time of his death. The attack on the conservative faction came in December, but it is unclear whether it was initiated by an apprehensive, merciless old monarch or from the pro-Protestant group headed by Edward Seymour and John Dudley. The assault began against Bryan’s cousin and uncle, Henry Howard, earl of Surrey, and his father the Duke of Norfolk. Surrey was arrested, sent to the Tower, and later executed for treason for claiming his father was the fittest man to take charge of Prince Edward and for boasting of his own descent from Edward III.
Searching questions were also asked of Norfolk, but he persisted in maintaining his loyalty to the king. At one point the interrogators aimed at pinning the charge of popery onto him. In his own defense Norfolk recalled Bryan’s testimony eight years earlier while he had been deathly ill. At that time England had faced the threat of an invasion by Francis, Charles and James V. Soon thereafter Catholic sympathizers were hounded from court. Bryan had then been asked if he had ever heard Norfolk uphold papal supremacy during their time together. He had loyally replied that he had never heard his uncle express such an opinion. Despite Norfolk’s recollection, both he and his son remained imprisoned. On 19 December 1546 Henry Howard was executed on Tower Hill while Norfolk remained imprisoned under sentence of death.
During the same month Stephen Gardiner, bishop of Winchester, the ablest member of the conservative faction, was dismissed from the council by Henry for resisting an exchange of royal lands for more valuable property in his diocese. The absence of Gardiner and Norfolk from the government made the ascendancy of the pro-Protestant element a virtual certainty on the king’s death.
By the end of December Henry was so sick that, considering his age and unwieldiness of body, many of his closest councilors believed any "new attack was likely to carry him off". He arrived in London on 23 December but saw only a few gentlemen. The records do not indicate whether Bryan was one of them. At two o’clock on the morning of 28 January 1547, the king died. In one of the versions of Henry’s last recorded words he is made to say: "Bryan, we have lost all". Perhaps this despairing utterance reflected Henry’s awareness of his final failure to preserve a conservative religious settlement in England. He may have foreseen the ascendancy of those committed to Protestant change which he had tried to keep in check, at least until his attack on the Howards in the final year of his reign. By means of his will, he had hoped to control those who would eventually form the regency council of his son and also maintain a balance between the opposing factions. Although his association with the king had spanned many decades, Bryan was not mentioned in his will. Perhaps his close connection with the Howard family precluded him form Henry’s final consideration. However, he was not denied participation in the ceremonies that attended the death of his royal master. Leading the gentlemen of the privy chamber, Bryan was part of the procession, a thousand strong, that accompanied the funeral march two weeks later on behalf of the deceased king whom he had served for over thirty years.