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Sir Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang

born c. 1490 - died February 2, 1550
Character's backstory: Came to court at a young age but was removed due to Cardinal Thomas Wolsey's influence. He returned in 1528 as a member of the Privy chamber probably due in part to his cousin Anne Boleyn. From then on he was highly influential, becoming one of the king's most favoured companions,and a leading member of the faction who wished to break Wolsey's grip on power. In 1536, he joined forces with Sir Thomas Cromwell to bring about his cousin Anne's downfall. After her death, he became Chief Gentleman of the Privy chamber,but was removed from this post in 1539 when Cromwell turned against his former allies. Sir Francis returned to favour following Cromwell's demise, becoming Vice Admiral of the Fleet.

Gentility: knighted courtier

Position: Chief Gentleman of the Privy Chamber under King Henry VIII, Lord Chief Justice of Ireland and Vice Admiral of the fleet under King Edward VI

Personality type: an infamous rake and libertine. Bryan had a reputation as a poet of almost the same calibre as his friends. He was also a man who, according to the abbot of Woburn, dared to speak his mind to the King; on foreign missions he could on occasion be equally outspoken, if not arrogant. Roger Ascham, who presumably knew him well, described his youthful personality as being maintained even when ‘spent by years’.

Signature look: eye patch, lost an eye in a joust in 1526. There are no paintings of him because of this. He was noted for his rich apparel and a chain of great worth and strange fashion.

Endearing trait(s): distinguished diplomat, soldier, sailor, writer & poet.

Annoying trait(s): morally flexible to whatever the King wishes, which is why he survives to die from natural causes, decided to turn on his first cousin Anne Boleyn and help Thomas Cromwell dispose of her








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 		Sir Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang


Bryan ... who knows how great a grace
In writing is to counsel man the right.
To thee ... that trots still up and down
And never rests, but running day and night
From realm to realm, from city, street and town,
Why dost thou wear thy body to the bones?
Sir Thomas Wyatt

'Vicar of Hell'
*He calls himself "The Black Pope" in the series
N. Sander, Rise and Growth of the Anglican Schism
(1877), p. 24, records that Sir Francis Bryan 'was once asked by the king to tell him what sort of 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'.

Also Cromwell, in a friendly letter to Bryan, calls him 'the vicar of hell' possibly due to his duplicity in regard to his cousin Anne Boleyn's Fall.


But Bryan was a hard-working diplomat, to whom Thomas Wyatt addressed one of his satires, and one suspects that his nickname should not be taken too seriously.

CHARACTER CONNECTIONS


Family members and kin:
A first cousin of Anne Boleyn's through their grandmother Elizabeth Tilney, he was also related to Jane Seymour
Father: Sir Thomas Bryan
Mother: Lady Margaret Bryan, nee Bourchier (Lady Governess to Henry VIII's children)
Sister: Margaret Bryan
Sister: Elizabeth Bryan (wife of Nicolas Carew)


First marriage: Phillipa Spice (daughter of Sir Humphrey Spice)
Son: Edmund Bryan

Second marriage: Joan Fitzgerald, Countess of Desmond
Son: Sir Francis Bryan
Daughter: Elizabeth Bryan

Mistresses: * in the series, fictional character Lady Ursula Misseldon
& a fictional romance with Anne Stanhope, Edward Seymour's wife

Friends: King Henry VIII
Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex


Enemies:



UNFORGETTABLE CHARACTER QUOTES

  • to Princess Mary Tudor - "you are an unfilial daughter....if you were my daughter I would smash your head against the wall until it was a soft as a boiled apple, you understand?"
  • recited to Lady Ursula Misseldon - "here is the real Danaë - she would kindle your lust even higher -
    with a touch, one mere touch of her body - and your limbs melt in the fire"
  • King Henry VIII to Francis: "who is that?" Francis: "shes the widow of the Earl of Edgmonde" Henry "a widow?" .....Francis: "Wait.its true she doesn't look it but she is over forty. On the other hand there is a maid at court who is only 14 but she already has a goodly stature" Henry:"let the fruit ripen before you pluck it, Sir Francis"
  • "I hate popery with a passion thats why they call me 'the Black Pope" to Anne Stanhope


DEFINING EPISODES | MEMORABLE SCENES


PHOTOS
Edward Seymour with Francis Bryan
Sir Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang
Sir Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van SprangPrincess Mary Tudor and Sir Francis Bryan
Francis Bryan and the KingSir Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang
Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang
 Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang
Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang
Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang Francis Bryan as played by Alan Van Sprang