On 25 February 1525, Richard was killed, fighting in the French army at
the Battle of Pavia. The Duke of Bourbon was one of the chief mourners at
his funeral.
Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, 1446–1503
Born at Fotheringhay, Margaret, the third daughter of Richard, Duke of
York, and Cicely Neville, was an intelligent, charming, and accomplished
woman. Prior to the announcement of Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth
Woodville, she had acted as the first lady of the court.
A prestigious marriage was arranged for her to Charles the Bold, Duke of
Burgundy, who was many years her senior. She had no children by him and
survived him by many years. After Charles’ death, Margaret maintained a
close friendship with her Charles’ only daughter Mary. The respect in which
she was held in her adopted country enabled her to play an active
supporting role for the Yorkist cause on many occasions. After the death of
her brother Richard III, she continued her efforts, backing both Lambert
Simnel and later Perkin Warbeck. She died at Malines and is buried in the
church of Cordйliers.
The arms of Burgundy, shown impaling France modern and England quarterly
on her arms were: Quarterly, first and fourth, azure, three fleurs de lys
or within a bordure gobony argent and gules; second, per pale, Bendy of six
or and azure within a bordure gules and sable, a lion rampant or; third,
per pale, Bendy of six or and azure, within a bordure gules and argent, a
lion rampant gules crowned or; over all an inescutcheon, or, a lion rampant
sable.
George of York, Duke of Clarence, 1449–1478
Born in Dublin, George was the sixth son of Richard, Duke of York, and
Cicely Neville. He was created Duke of Clarence in the first year of Edward
IV’sreign. Until Elizabeth Woodville finally bore Edward a son in 1470,
Clarence was the heir presumptive ,and it was soon clear to the Earl of
Warwick that he was discontented and ambitious. On 11 July 1469, George
married Isobel Neville, Warwick’s elder daughter, against the wishes of his
brother, cementing an alliance against the king. When Warwick reconciled
with Margaret of Anjou, however, and his younger daughter, Anne, was
betrothed to the Lancastrian heir, George realized that he was not to be
made king in Edward’s place. At the last minute, he returned to the Yorkist
fold and was reconciled with Edward and his younger brother Richard. After
Warwick’s death at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, George laid claim to his
vast estates, and although eventually forced to share them when Richard of
Gloucester married the now-widowed Anne Neville, he remained a rich and
powerful prince. He continued to flout Edward’s authority, however, and was
put in the Tower. In 1478 a Bill of Attainder passed the death sentence on
Clarence and he died in the Tower, the exact manner of his death being
unknown. Clarence and Isobel had four children, of whom two, Margaret and
Edward, survived.
Clarence’s arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, over all a
label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; his crest
was On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned
or, charged on the breast with a label as in the arms; his badges were A
bull passant sable armed unguled and membered or, gorged with a label of
three points argent each charged with a canton gules, and A silver gorget
of chain, edged and clasped with gold and lined with red.
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, 1473–1541
Margaret was the eldest child of George, Duke of Clarence and Isobel
Neville, she married Sir Richard Pole, K.G. in 1491. They had four sons and
a daughter. During the fifth year of the reign of Henry VIII, Margaret, as
heiress to the titles of Warwick and Salisbury, petitioned the king and was
restored to the title of Countess of Salisbury. She was appointed governess
to the Princess Mary and remained in favor until Anne Boleyn became the
Queen. Her loyalty to Princess Mary caused her to be dismissed from court.
After the downfall of Anne Boleyn, Margaret returned to court. She did
not remain in favor for long. Because of the letter her son, Cardinal
Reginal Pole, wrote to the King, and of the betrayal of her son Geoffrey,
the Countess was arrested and put into the Tower in March 1539. She was
kept in the Tower under close confinement for two years and was executed
without trial. She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1886.
Her arms were: Quarterly, first, Quarterly, France modern and England, a
label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; second,
gules, a saltire argent, a label of three points gobony argent and azure
impaling Gules, a fess between six crosses crosslet or; third, Chequy or
and azure, a chevron ermine impaling Argent, three lozenges conjoined in
fess gules; fourth, Or, an eagle displayed vert impaling Quarterly, I and
IV, Or, three chevrons gules; II and III, Quarterly, Argent, and gules, a
fret or, overall a bendlet sable.
Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, 1492–1539
The eldest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was knighted by Henry VIII in
1513 during Henry’s French campaign. He was a ember of the royal household
and was allowed his own livery. In 1520, he attended Henry VIII at the
Field of the Cloth of Gold. He was one of the peers who convicted Anne
Boleyn.
As a Roman Catholic, Pole did not approve of Henry’s destroying Church
property and the anti-Catholic feeling in England. Henry was fully of
Montagu’s feelings, and through his betrayal of his brother Geoffrey Pole,
the king now had the evidence he needed to have Montagu arrested in put
into the Tower. Pole was tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers. He
went to the block on December 9 1539.
He married Jane, daughter of George Neville, Lord Bergavenny, in 1513.
They had three children. His only son may have been attainted with his
father and died in the Tower.
Geoffrey Pole, 1502?-1558
The second son of Margaret Plantagenet, little is known of his early
life. In 1529, he was knighted by Henry VIII at York Place. A devout Roman
Catholic, he greatly disapproved of Henry VIII’s divorce proceedings from
Katherine of Aragon. Although he was appointeed one of the servitors at
Anne Boleyn’s coronation, his loyalties were with Princess Mary and the
former Queen Katherine. He then visited the imprial ambassador Chapuys and
assured him that if the Holy Roman Emperor were to invade England to
redress the wrong that had been done to Queen Katherine, that the English
people would favor him.
Unfortunately, his words reached the ears of the king and he was arrested
and sent to the Tower on August 1538. He was persuaded to talk and he
revelaed the names of secret Papists at court, including his own brother,
Henry Lord Montagu. Geoffrey was pardoned as a result of his betrayal and
the others he mention, including his brother, were executed.
Having felt guilty at betraying his brother and friends, Geoffrey tried
to commit suicide while he was in the Tower. In 1540, he left his family
behind and fled to Europe, where he remained until the reign of Queen Mary.
He returned to England and died in 1558.
He married Constance, the elder of two daughter and heirs of Sir John
Pakenham. They had five sons and six daughters.
Arthur Pole, 1502-1535
Third son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was sentenced to death in the reign
of Elizabeth I, being implicated in a plot to release Mary, Queen of Scots.
Because of his royal blood, the Queen spared him from execution but not
imprisonment.
In 1526, he married Jane Lewknor. It is not known if there were any
children from this marriage.
Reginald Pole, 1500-1558
The youngest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he graduated from Magdelan
College, Oxford. He was sent to Italy to complete his education and lived
there for five years. Reginald was another Pole family member who did not
approve of Henry’s divorce from Queen katherine. The King was well aware of
this and several times tried to get Pole on his side. At the urging of the
Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Pole wrote Henry a letter, in which he
attacked Henry’s policy of royal supremacy and defended the spiritual
authority of the Pope. It was at this time that he was created a cardinal
by Pope Paul III. Henry then put a price on the new cardinal’s head and
arrested and executed many members of the pole family, including his mother
and his oldest brother Henry Lord Montagu.
When Henry’s daughter Mary became Queen, he was commission as a papal
Legate. He landed in England in 1554 and began to reorganize the country
back into the Church of Rome. Two years later he was ordained as a priest
and the following year became the Archbishop of Canterbury.
For the next two years, Cardinal Pole help Queen Mary with her
persecution of English Protestants. Disapproving of Pole’s methods, Pope
Paul IV cancelled his legatine authority and denounced him as a heretic.
Shortly afterwards, he fell ill and died twelve hours after Queen Mary on
November 17 1558.
Ursula Pole, ? -1570
Ursula was the only daughter of Margaret Plantagenet. In 1518, she
married Henry Stafford, first Baron Stafford. Very little is known of her.
It is believed that she had at least thrteen children before her death in
1570.
Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, 1474–1499
The son of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isobel Neville, he may have
suffered from some form of mental impairment. He lived in the royal
