Previous
Duke of Norfolk/Thomas Howard
Suffolk is Henry’s brother-in-law and a member of the king’s council. He is married to Henry’s sister, who used to be the Queen of France. Like Norfolk, Suffolk dislikes Wolsey for wielding a huge influence over Henry, and he is very glad to announce to Wolsey that Henry has dismissed him as Lord Chancellor. However, he is unhappy at Anne Boleyn’s rise to power because his wife, who used to be a queen, is now expected to wait on Anne. Because of this, Suffolk refuses to travel with the court to Calais. Cromwell tells him that Anne is inclined to hold grudges and advises him not to anger her. Cromwell says that Suffolk’s wife might be excused from the trip if she pleads an illness, but that Suffolk himself should go, which shows that Cromwell doesn’t think that even the king’s sister and brother-in-law will be spared Anne Boleyn’s revenge if they cross her.
Duke of Suffolk/Charles Brandon Quotes in Wolf Hall
The Wolf Hall quotes below are all either spoken by Duke of Suffolk/Charles Brandon or refer to Duke of Suffolk/Charles Brandon. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Part 2: Chapter 1 Quotes
This is an indecent spectacle: the man who has ruled England, reduced. They have brought out […] the scarlet silk in which he braves the summer heat of London, the crimson brocades that keep his blood warm when snow falls on Westminster and whisks in sleety eddies over the Thames. […] There have been days when, swaggering out, he would say, “Right, Master Cromwell, price me by the yard!”
[…] So day by day, at his request and to amuse him, he would put a value on his master. Now the king has sent an army of clerks to do it. But he would like to take away their pens by force and write across their inventories: Thomas Wolsey is a man beyond price.
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Part 2: Chapter 2 Quotes
“I wonder,” Wolsey says, “would you have patience with our sovereign lord? When it is midnight and he is up drinking and giggling with Brandon, or singing, and the day’s papers not yet signed, and when you press him he says, I’m for my bed now, we’re hunting tomorrow…If your chance comes to serve, you will have to take him as he is, a pleasure-loving prince. And he will have to take you as you are, which is rather like one of those square-shaped fighting dogs that low men tow about on ropes. Not that you are without a fitful charm, Tom.”
Related Characters:
Related Symbols:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Wolf Hall LitChart as a printable PDF.
Duke of Suffolk/Charles Brandon Character Timeline in Wolf Hall
The timeline below shows where the character Duke of Suffolk/Charles Brandon appears in Wolf Hall. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Part 2: Chapter 1: Visitation, 1529
The Duke of Norfolk and the Duke of Suffolk arrive at Cardinal Wolsey’s house and tell him that he has been dismissed from his...
(full context)
Part 2: Chapter 2: An Occult History of Britain, 1521-1529
...Boleyn. Wolsey tells Cromwell that he doesn’t know what to do next. The Duke of Suffolk “threatened him to his face,” and Suffolk is joined by Norfolk, Thomas Boleyn, and Lord...
(full context)
...legate,” which means that he has become more powerful than the king. The Duke of Suffolk and the Duke of Norfolk take the Great Seal of the Lord Chancellor away from...
(full context)
Part 3: Chapter 1: Three-Card Trick, Winter 1529-Spring 1530
...himself coveted” and “[w]ears an expression like an heiress: sly, coy, cold.” The Duke of Suffolk, too, is happy to take on some of the cardinal’s men.
(full context)
...“unprepared.” This amuses the king, who says he will listen to him another day since Suffolk is waiting for him now.
(full context)
...trained in the Florentine banks and in Venice. The king is surprised and says that Suffolk said Cromwell was “a common soldier,” and Cromwell admits that he was that, too. Henry...
(full context)
Suffolk accosts Cromwell on his way out and asks him how his “fat priest” is. The...
(full context)
The cardinal then moves to a “little lodge at Richmond.” Cromwell runs into Suffolk, who tells him that they “need no cardinals in this realm.” When the cardinal hears...
(full context)
...return for his wealth, and that he no longer likes the company of Norfolk and Suffolk. Norfolk tells Cromwell that the cardinal must go north, away from the king—if not, Norfolk...
(full context)
Part 3: Chapter 2: Entirely Beloved Cromwell, Spring-December 1530
...Wolsey handled it back then. Cromwell offers to take care of the matter, and Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, tells the king that Cromwell can surely handle it.
(full context)
Earlier, Cromwell had been to Suffolk’s kennels to admire his hounds, and he had given him a useful tip on how...
(full context)
Part 4: Chapter 2: “Alas, What Shall I Do for Love?”, Spring 1532
...promised to speak to the Pope in favor of Henry’s marriage. Anne Boleyn asks Charles Brandon, the Duke of Suffolk, if his wife is ready to make the journey, and he...
(full context)
Brandon tells Cromwell that Anne Boleyn has learned her tricks from her mother, who was a...
(full context)
Part 6: Chapter 2: The Map of Christendom, 1534-1535
...them up. Cromwell says that the end result is the same, which is death, and Brandon says the king might not grant More a merciful death. Cromwell notes that this unnerves...
(full context)
