Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury
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| Blessed Margaret Pole | |
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| 8th Countess of Salisbury | |
| Born | August 14, 1473, Farleigh Castle, Wiltshire, England, |
| Died | May 27, 1541, Tower of London |
| Venerated by | Roman Catholics |
| Beatified | December 29, 1886 by Pope Leo XIII |
| Feast | May 28 |
Life
Born at Farleigh Castle in the English county of Somerset, on 14 August 1473, she was the daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence and Isabel Neville, elder daughter of the 'Kingmaker' Earl of Warwick and the sister of Edward, Earl of Warwick. As the last male representative of the Yorkist line, Edward was seen as a danger to the new Lancastrian dynasty and was executed on the orders of King Henry VII on 28 November 1499. Around 1491, Henry VII had given Margaret in marriage to Sir Richard Pole, whose mother was the half-sister of the king's mother, Margaret Beaufort. At her husband's death in 1505, Margaret was left with five children, of whom the fourth, Reginald Pole, was to become cardinal and Archbishop of Canterbury.The family fortunes were various. On his accession, King Henry VIII reversed her brother's attainder; and, in 1513, made her Countess of Salisbury in her own right. An Act of Restitution was also passed by which she came into possession of her ancestral domains. Her chief residence was Warblington Castle in Hampshire. Henry VIII considered her the saintliest woman in England; after the birth of Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I, Margaret became her godmother and sponsor in confirmation and was afterwards appointed governess of the princess and her household. As the years passed there was talk of a marriage between the princess and the countess's son Reginald, who was still a layman. However, when the matter of the king's divorce from Katharine of Aragon began to be talked of, Reginald Pole boldly spoke out his mind in the affair and shortly afterwards withdrew from England. The princess was still in the countess's charge when Henry married Anne Boleyn, but when he was opposed in his efforts to have his daughter treated as illegitimate, he removed the countess from her post, though she begged to be allowed to follow and serve Mary at her own charge. She returned to court after the fall of Anne, but in 1530 Reginald Pole sent Henry a copy of his published treatise Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione, in answer to questions put to him on the king's behalf by Thomas Cromwell, Cuthbert Tunstall, Thomas Starkey, and others. Besides being a theological reply to the questions, the book was a denunciation of the king's policies. Henry was enraged, and though the Countess and her eldest son had written to Reginald in reproof of his attitude and action, determined that the family should pay for the insult.
In November, 1538, her eldest son, Henry Pole, Baron Montagu, another son and other relatives were arrested on a charge of treason, though Thomas Cromwell had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin", they were committed to the Tower, and in January, with the exception of Geoffrey Pole, they were executed. Ten days after the arrest of her sons, Margaret herself, despite her age, was arrested and examined by William FitzWilliam, Earl of Southampton, and Thomas Goodrich, Bishop of Ely, but these reported to Thomas Cromwell that although they had "travailed with her" for many hours she would "nothing utter", and they were forced to conclude that either her sons had not made her a sharer in their "treason", or else she was "the most arrant traitress that ever lived". In Southampton's custody she was committed to Cowdray Park, near Midhurst, and there subjected to all manner of indignity. In May Cromwell introduced against her a Bill of Attainder, the readings of which were hurriedly got over, and at the third reading Cromwell produced a white silk tunic found in one of her coffers, which was embroidered on the back with the Five Wounds, and for this, which was held to connect her with the Northern Uprising, she was "attainted to die by act of Parliament" and also lost her titles. The other charges against her, to which she was never permitted to reply, had to do with the escape from England of her chaplain and the conveying of messages abroad. After the passage of the Act, she was removed to the Tower and there, for nearly two years, she was "tormented by the severity of the weather and insufficient clothing". In April, 1541, there was another insurrection in Yorkshire, and it was then determined to enforce without any further procedure the Act of Attainder passed in 1539. In some sense her execution was the continuation by Henry VIII of his father's programme of eliminating possible contenders for the throne.
Execution
She refused to the end to acknowledge that she was a traitor. A popular ballad at the time reads:
- For traitors on the block should die,
- I am no traitor, no, not I!
- My faithfulness stands fast and so,
- Towards the block I shall not go!
- Nor make on step, as you shall see,
- Christ in Thy Mercy, save Thou me!
Legacy
Her son, Reginald Cardinal Pole said that he would "...never fear to call himself the son of a martyr". She was later regarded by Catholics as such and was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.Issue
She and her husband were parents to five children:
- Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu (c. 1492 - January 9, 1539). Most famous as one of the peers in the trial of Anne Boleyn. Married Jane Neville, daughter of George Neville, Lord Abergavenny and Margaret Fenne.
- Reginald Cardinal Pole (c. 1500 - November 17, 1558). Papal legate in various regions, including England, and finally Archbishop of Canterbury.
- Sir Geoffrey Pole (c. 1501 - 1558). Suspected for treason by Henry VIII and accused of conspirating with Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor. Lived in exile in Europe. He was married to Constance Pakenham, daughter and heiress of Sir John Packenham.
- Sir Arthur Pole (c. 1502 - 1535). Lord of the Manor of Broadhurst, Sussex. Married Jane Lewknor, daughter of Sir Roger Lewknor and Eleanor Touchet. Eleanor was daughter of James Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley and Anne Echingham. James was son of James Tuchet, 5th Baron Audley and Margaret de Ros.
- Ursula Pole, Baroness Stafford (c. 1504 - August 12, 1570). Married Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford.
Further reading
- Hazel Pierce, March 2003, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, 1473–1541 - Loyalty, Lineage and Leadership, University of Wales Press, ISBN 0-7083-1783-9
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