4 - The Brownes, Catholicism and politics until the Ridolfi plot

Summary

Let us start with a basic question. How did the family and entourage of a successful service noble (the first Viscount Montague) become, in the later sixteenth century, associated with a strain of Catholicism which was so critical of the regime of Queen Elizabeth, the daughter of the sovereign whom Sir Anthony Browne (d. 1548), the viscount's father, had served through thick and thin?

If we want to reassemble and sketch out the Brownes' mid- and later sixteenth-century reputation for Catholicism there are worse ways to start than by trying to recover the formative political experiences of Sir Anthony Browne (the future first viscount). In all probability, he was heavily influenced by the fact that his father, Sir Anthony, Henry VIII's standard bearer, master of the horse and roving military supremo, was an unashamed Francophobe. Partly as a consequence of his dislike of the French, the elder Sir Anthony did not conceal his disapproval of the king's decision to cast aside Katherine of Aragon. He was hauled over the coals in June 1536. He openly stated that he had never considered Henry's divorce to be a lawful separation. He was quizzed as to ‘whye he should have such affection’ to Princess Mary, whose restoration to the succession was currently at issue, following the execution of Anne Boleyn, although Mary was refusing to submit to the king's demands.