A look at his career with Henry VIII with a little back history of his life. Great for those who have an interest in him, Henry or that time period.

Rating: 3.5/5.0

Genre:
Nonfiction

This is the fourth book I read for Sarah Beth Watkins. The format is similar to the other books I have read for her which I like. The book is divided into ten chapters and gives you all the information you would need to know without resorting to unnecessary fillers. As with all her other books, she also provides many references for the readers to dig into in case one needs to know more information about a certain personality or historical event.

This book is about Sri Francis Bryan, who at a young age came to King Henry VIII's court and became one of his close friends. This friendship has benefited him a lot. This friendship has granted him a number of public offices and posts. In this book, we get to know the positions of power that he occupied and also the role he had in what happened to King Henry VIII's wives.
Sir Bryan was a half-cousin of both Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard as well as half-second cousin to Jane Seymour. His relationship with the king was a strong one and it is said that he had a big influence on him which caused him to be banished at one time by the others in the court.

Each chapter in the book focuses on a particular period of his life in which he had to play an important role or mission. Starting from becoming a courier, becoming an ambassador to France or a soldier in Scotland, up to his final days in Ireland. One of the interesting things in the book was reading about the queens and what role they played in the court. It was a very intriguing thing to read how Sir Francis Bryan was handling himself and staying on the King's right side who at some point has even called him his vicar of hell!

This was both an entertaining read and a very beneficial one for me to know about this historical personality up close. Many thanks to Net Galley and the publisher Chronos Books for providing me a free advanced reading copy for this honest and unbiased review. The book is expected to be released on February 1st, 2020.

As a fan of British royal history, I was very intrigued by the description for this book and was excited to pick it up. I'd heard of Sir Francis Bryan previously, but did not know much about him or his ambassadorial duties during Henry VIII's reign. This book provides a decent amount of information about Bryan's dealings in England and the Continent, and relies heavily on data from contemporary correspondence. Reading excerpts from Tudor letters was the best part of this book in my opinion, and did a lot to provide context for the biographical information of Bryan's life. There were a few odd moments when the author referenced Bryan's enjoyment of drinking and women, but would then immediately abandon the topic. Other than those several asides, the story flows very evenly and quickly through Henry VII's reign. An enjoyable and quick history read!

Having not read about Sir Francis Bryan I jumped at the chance to read this review copy. Bryan was known as The Vicar from Hell, apparently due to his sex life and lack of principle.

“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.”

Where many died as a result of upsetting Henry VIII, Bryan managed to retain his head by changing with the times in accordance with the kings needs. Although he did fall out of favour a few times and was banished from court for his influence on the king.

Bryan was cousin to Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard and also distantly related to Jane Seymour. Being close to these women it's a surprise he managed to stay in favour.

Through his life Bryan saw many of his friends die either through execution or normal causes of death.  His friends included Thomas Wyatt, Lord Lisle and Nicholas Carew (also his brother in law) who he had to sit on the trial for which found Carew guilty of treason. He spent most of his life as an ambassador travelling to across Europe on behalf of Henry VIII.

In 1526 Bryan lost an eye in a jousting accident and from then on wore an eye patch (if you've watched the Tudors you'll know who I mean). He was first married to Philippa which was childless, and following her death took the advice of Thomas Wyatt and married a wealthy widow, Joan Butler dowager countess of Ormond. Bryan spent his remaining days in Ireland where he died 2 February 1550 and was buried in Waterford at his request.


The book uncovers his life from coming to court at a young age through all his diplomatic duties to his final years in Ireland. He outlived Henry VIII and really was his most notorious ambassador.

I was enthralled by this book, the writing style is easy to follow and it's exceptionally referenced throughout. I very much look forward to reading more by this author.

Blog post scheduled to post nearer publication date.

Hooray for this nonfiction about Sir Francis Bryan, diplomat for King Henry VIII; this book stands out for the way in which Watkins makes the characters feel truly human, piquing the readers' interest in their traits and foibles. It was super interesting to read about how Wolsey tried to pry the king's friends away from Henry. Keeping a young man away from his male friends? It is also fascinating to read about the meeting between Henry VIII and Francis I at the Field of the Cloth of Gold, where Francis I, though subservient in some respects to Henry, beat him in a wrestling match. Somehow, Henry held his temper. Francis I spent about 40 thousand pounds and Henry 36 thousand on this event, which Watkins gives as 32 million pounds sterling in today's money. Good grief! Despite my mentioning Henry so often, I was really attracted to the way the author described the king's friends, the way they dressed, and how they acted with each other. I truly enjoyed following the path of Sir Francis Bryan. The vicissitudes of life are thrown into high throttle in this milieu--one could gain the world one day and die a bloody mess (or drown attired in full armor) the next. A lot of detail is in this book about the Howard family, which I found interesting, knowing an American descendant of that same family. Bryan was an incredibly dexterous man, both physically and mentally, matching the needs of his king without getting into the kind of trouble that could cost his estate or his life. When he was on off hours, he drank and gambled too much, but that makes him human! I found myself envying him for knowing the courts of his era so well that he could compare them easily. He makes the most engaging comments: "And in the French Court I never saw so many women; I would I had so many sheep to find my house whilst I live" [sic}. I have never seen a book that gives more interesting details--perhaps as good, but never better. I think I may end up buying the hard cover. Yes, that good! I just reviewed Sir Francis Bryan by Sarah-Beth Watkins. #SirFrancisBryan #NetGalley #ChronosBooks
[NetGalley URL]https://grassrootswritersguild.wordpress.com/2019/11/12/high-life-in-the-late-middle-ages/

This is an intensely researched account of Sir Francis Bryan, a consummate courtier of the age. The author has put together a complete timeline of his life using what must have been mountains of correspondence between lords and ladies of the Tudor court. Bryan emerges as a fascinating figure, a friend of King Henry from a young age that manages to survive through wit, flattery and skill. I do think perhaps the book is a bit dry which won't appeal to everyone. I also felt that some letters which had no real bearing on events or building a profile on the man himself could have been omitted- in several instances Bryan is called on to pay suit to the king on behalf of acquaintances and we never know if he did or did not, or even what the outcome was. We are to understand this happened a lot and maybe so many letters didn't need to be reprinted concerning unimportant matters. I found the appendix to be most fascinating, because the best trick Bryan managed was to never give the game away concerning any of his own beliefs or leanings.

4 stars

Both Charles Brandon and Francis Bryan were close friends of Henry VIII's since childhood. Francis Bryan was a bit of a rake and loved his wine, but was always aware of his position vis a vis King Henry and was exceedingly careful not to anger him as so many others had done.

This book details the life of Francis Bryan: his lineage, his titles, the various positions he held and lands acquired throughout Henry’s reign and after the death of the King. He led a colorful and varied life. He travelled all over Europe as an ambassador and was sent by the King to track down and capture the heretic (as Henry saw him), Cardinal Reginald Pole. (He failed in this mission and Cardinal Pole played a key role in Queen Mary's reign.)

Although I knew of Francis Bryan, this is the first in-depth treatment of his life that I have read. I found it to be very interesting and well written. I enjoyed getting to know him.

There are copious quotes from letters and such written back and forth regarding court matters and lengthy quotes from the various famous personages of the 16th Century. Ms. Watkins footnotes well and thoroughly. I immediately went to Amazon to look at her other books.

I want to thank NetGalley nd John Hunt Publishing Ltd/www.chronos-books.com for forwarding to me a copy of this very instructive book for me to read, enjoy and review.

I only requested this book on a whim, since I have a passing interest in this time period and thought it would be interesting to learn more about one of the characters I knew relatively little about. However, I'm really pleasantly surprised by just how much I ended up enjoying it! Sarah-Beth's writing is fantastic - really informative, but engaging and easy to read too. I got through the entire book in a couple of days because I could hardly put it down. Congratulations on a truly brilliant and enlightening book.