Thomas More is the "Man For All Seasons" in the title of the play. Did she plot against the crown? A third account in Burke's Peerage, possibly apocryphal, described the appalling circumstances of the execution. Although a jury of twelve men would have . Higginbotham is more comfortable with biography, but this has not deterred her publisher from dressing up her new book like a historical novel of the type she doesnt much like, with a moody wash of colour and a woman with trailing skirts and half a head. The countess was to look after the little girls health and diet, ensure that she did not wear herself out in learning French and Latin, and see that her immediate environment was kept spotless, so that everything about her be pure, sweet, clean and wholesome, as to so great a princess doth appertain. Jan 2016 - Mar 20226 years 3 months. Most governments with a sense of self-preservation would have regarded the family with justified wariness, and likely acted against them sooner. A Professional theme for architects, construction and interior designers Mores piety was the defining aspect of his character; even as the circumstances of his life changed, it remained constant and unyielding. But the kings horoscope was looking nasty and, according to a Spanish commentator, he aged twenty years in two weeks. The barrel, though, may have been strung on Margaret after her death. She managed her lands quite well, and became one of the five or six wealthiest peers in England. Best Known For: Thomas More is known for his 1516 book . 3. Henry VII paid for Richard's funeral. Margaret's own favour at Court varied. But it is difficult to detect in her conduct the heroic virtues assumed by Rome, and easier to see self-protective caution at work. Biography. She was later regarded by Catholics as such and was beatified on 29 December 1886 by Pope Leo XIII. Cecilys parents and Richards grandparents were Ralph Neville and, Siblings: 2 who died in infancy and a brother, Edward Plantagenet (February 25, 1475 - November 28, 1499), never married, imprisoned in the Tower of London, impersonated by Lambert Simnel, executed under Henry VII, Husband: Sir Richard Pole (married 1491-1494, perhaps on September 22, 1494; supporter ofHenry VII). Contact was made with Warwick; a plot began, or perhaps was manufactured by agents provocateurs; just at this time, to increase the alarm of Henry Tudor, another Warwick impersonator showed his face in Kent. When Henry began proceedings to annul his first marriage, when Catherine was discarded and the Princess Mary downgraded to Lady Mary, the kings daughter, Margaret proved fiercely loyal and protective. Columbus, Ohio Area. He impressed the cardinal enough that he was knighted upon his return and made under-treasurer of the Exchequer. The eldest daughter of Henry VII and Elizabeth of York, Margaret was the sister of Henry VIII. And the king was now newly enamored of a young noblewoman called Anne Boleyn. As part of the evidence for the bill of attainder, Cromwell produced a tunic bearing the Five Wounds of Christ, symbolizing Margaret's support for the Church of Rome and the rule of her son, Reginald, and the king's Roman Catholic daughter, Mary. It was not so much a letter as a small book. It was a housekeeping matter, the French ambassador said; Henry, now with his fifth wife, Katherine Howard, wanted to make a progress north, and to empty the Tower before he set off, either by acts of mercy or the condemnation of detainees. No great European power was willing to commit men or money to this crusade, but their unwillingness was not apparent at the time. In 1886, 10 years after . And so he was imprisoned in the Tower of London on 17 April 1534. The one potentially scandalous act of his life was his quick second marriage to a widow seven years his senior, Alice Middleton. He worked eight years as undersheriff and proved himself an impartial judge and able administrator. Later in life, he bitterly resented her abandonment of him. [18][19][20][21][22] Margaret was buried in the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula within the Tower of London. Henry VII had controlled them first while her brother was a minor and then during his imprisonment; he later confiscated them after his trial. He read anything and everything he could find on the subject. In the spring of 1536 the Boleyn family were destroyed, and the Pole family and other English grandees grouped themselves about the incoming queen, Jane Seymour. After bearing More three daughters (Margaret, Elizabeth, Cicely) and one son (John), Jane died in 1511. There are panel paintings of Pole in the following churches: There are stained glass windows of Pole in the following churches: On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. It seems Margaret was questioned about her contacts with Barton, but she came to no harm as a result and, unlike Gertrude, she escaped without grovelling. Under the reign of Henry VIII on May 27th 1541, at the age of 67, Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury was executed for treason. In 1540, Cromwell fell from favour and was attainted and executed. Thomas More (1478-1535), lawyer and moral philosopher, is still regarded by many Catholics as the quintessential good man. He needed to convince the Spanish he was secure in his kingdom. Then, in good faith, between your grace and me is but this, that I shall die today, and you tomorrow.. He had an illegitimate son, called Henry Fitzroy, by one of his early mistresses. Allida is tongue-tied with An Impossible Thing to Say by Arya Shahi, in which an Iranian American teen in Arizonafalls in love with the new girl at school, Shakespeare, and rap music while . Not only did this mean that Margaret came of royal stock, but it meant that she came from the family that was historically opposed to the reign of the Tudors, a fact that would affect her throughout her life. When Margaret was only four years old, her father was killed in the Tower of London where he was imprisoned for rebelling again against his brother, Edward IV; rumor was that he was drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine. Biography of Anne Neville, Wife and Queen of Richard III of England, Biography of Elizabeth Woodville, Queen of England, Biography of Margaret of Anjou, Henry VI's Queen, Famous Mothers in History: Ancient Through Modern, M.Div., Meadville/Lombard Theological School, Father: George, Duke of Clarence, brother of king Edward IV and of Richard, Duke of Gloucester (later Richard III), Note: Cecily Neville, Margarets paternal grandmother, was a paternal aunt of Margarets maternal grandfather, Richard Neville. Susan Higginbotham. Margaret's third son, Reginald Pole, studied abroad in Padua. He dictated letter after letter. In 1504, More was elected to Parliament and one of his first acts was to oppose Henry VIIs request of a grant of three-fifteenths. Inventories paint the picture: tableware of silver and gold, Venetian glass, mother-of-pearl, tapestries portraying the journeys of Ulysses and the discovery of Newfoundland; the countess herself, tall, stately, wears ermine, tawny damask, black satin and black velvet. The sitter might as well be carved, for all she suggests flesh or circulating blood. And so, when More returned from a diplomatic mission to France in summer 1527, the king laid the open Bible before his favorite councilor. But by then Lord Montagu was dead, executed along with the Marquis of Exeter and other opponents of the regime. Henry VIII married Catherine of Aragon in 1509 and Margaret was again appointed as one of her ladies-in-waiting. But time and impatience had made him emphatic in his righteousness. And his old friend, the duke of Norfolk, took care to warn him of his danger, Indignatio principis mors est. To which More famously replied, Is that all, my lord? Henry accepted Mores resignation. Edward IV declared that Margaret's younger brother, Edward, should be known as Earl of Warwick as a courtesy title, but no peerage was ever created for him. When Arthur married Catherine of Aragon, Margaret became one of her ladies-in-waiting, but her entourage was dissolved when Arthur died in 1502 aged fifteen. Of the many executions ordered by Henry VIII, surely the most horrifying was that of sixty-seven-year-old Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, hacked to pieces on the scaffold by a blundering headsman. Margarets husband Richard died in 1504, leaving her with five young children and very little land or money. Eleanor was related through marriage to Lady Margaret Beaufort's extended family.) Retrieved from https://www.thoughtco.com/margaret-pole-tudor-matriarch-and-martyr-3530618. Get the best results here. Henry VII also decided, about that time, to marry the 15-year-old Margaret to his half-cousin, Sir Richard Pole. Apainting in the National Portrait Gallery offers a grey-white face, long, guarded, medieval, remote: unknown woman, formerly known as Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. Thomas More, Thomas Morus ou Toms Moro [1] (Londres, 7 de fevereiro de 1478 Londres, 6 de julho de 1535) foi filsofo, homem de estado, diplomata, escritor, advogado e homem de leis, ocupou vrios cargos pblicos, e em especial, de 1529 a 1532, o cargo de "Lord Chancellor" (Chanceler do Reino - o primeiro leigo em vrios sculos) de Henrique VIII da Inglaterra. After his death, and for centuries thereafter, Sir Thomas More was known as the most famous victim of Henry VIIIs tyranny. He married Anne Cheney, daughter of Nicholas Cheney. The two men had first met in 1497 and remained close friends until Mores death. Gender: Male. During her time in prison, Cromwell himself was executed. Did she, as the regime alleged, burn the evidence that incriminated her? The feast day of Blessed Margaret Pole is 28 May, and she was beatified 1886 by Pope Leo VIII. His crusade against his native land was never launched, but many years later he would return, Archbishop of Canterbury to Mary Tudor, and join in heresy-hunting and the burning of reformers. You see, we speak of being anchored to our principles. Margarets youngest son, Geoffrey, probably under threat of torture, denounced not only his own family but the Courtenay clan and other prominent members of the old families. Margaret would have had a claim to the Earldom of Warwick, but the earldom was forfeited on the attainder of her brother Edward.[4]. It was More's execution - far more than those of Anne Boleyn or Thomas Cromwell or Margaret Pole - which established the king's reputation for capricious cruelty. Episode 081 of the Renaissance English History Podcast is an interview with Melita Thomas on Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. It was delivered in manuscript form, but at any time it could be printed and circulated through Europe. Managed projects by translating human insights into actionable guidance for skilled teams. [2] His heir was his son Thomas. The next year, the late king's marriage was declared invalid by the statute Titulus Regius of 1484, making his children illegitimate. An Exclusive First Look at Laura Carmichael as Maggie Pole in the Series Finale of The Spanish Princess Watch as she confronts Sir Thomas More. In 1537, after the split from the Roman Catholic Church proclaimed by Henry VIII, Pope Paul II created Reginald Pole who, though he had studied theology extensively and served the church, had not been ordained a priest Archbishop of Canterbury, and assigned Pole to organize efforts to replace Henry VIII with a Roman Catholic government. Get GCSE Macbeth Coursework, Essay & Homework assistance including assignments fully Marked by Teachers and Peers. Mores wife had been like most women of her time ill-educated, and during their brief marriage, he taught her Latin and other subjects. Pole and his hagiographers gave several later accounts of Pole's activities after Henry met Anne Boleyn. Certainly Henry wanted Mores support. When he later built his Great House in Chelsea, its rooms were specifically designed to encourage quiet study and prayer. It should be noted that Mores affinity for the monastic life never left him, despite his later marriages, family, and career. It was granted, and the wealthy widow became stepmother to his four children, and More stepfather to her daughter and son. Now he decided to seriously test his religious convictions. (Scientists aren't absolutely sure that people register no pain when the head is removed or that they lose consciousness instantaneously.) That was what really cost her head in the end, but we wanted to . The charge was treason. Yesterday we travailed with the Lady of Salisbury all day before and after noon, till almost night. Sometimes the questioners were mild, sometimes roughly spoken, traitoring her and her sons to the ninth degree yet will she nothing utter. Margaret continued not uttering, or uttering no proof of treason. And while this reasoning worked to replenish the royal treasury for Henry VII, it also provided the second Tudor king with a chance to curry popular favor when he in one of his first acts as Henry VIII imprisoned and later executed Edmund Dudley and Richard Empson, who were Mortons (and his fathers) tax collectors. She was an apt enough pupil to later converse with visitors in Latin. It gave the king pause, and More was allowed to return home. Intellectuals from England and Europe visited; More was a generous and kind host. After Richard III seized the throne, he sent Margaret to Yorkshire with her brother. This is what Margaret is now, besides paper and ink, and the ruins of her palaces: pieces of breastbone and pelvis, a single finger bone and four vertebrae. Henry and others were executed, though Geoffrey was not. In 1529, he represented Henry VIII in Paris, persuading the theologians of the Sorbonne to support Henry's divorce from Catherine of Aragon. I am no traitor, no, not I! Margaret may have been deprived of her dynastic importance, but her marriage was honourable and stable, and she retained her status, if not her familys great titles and wealth. The symbolism and importance of this decision cannot be underestimated. St. Mary's Roman Catholic Church in Bridge Gate, Derby, Our Lady and the English Martyrs' church in Cambridge. You can find out more about our use, change your default settings, and withdraw your consent at any time with effect for the future by visiting Cookies Settings, which can also be found in the footer of the site. She also had restored to her the title to the Earldom of Salisbury. Her fiction is stiff and chary, as if she is too constrained by her knowledge of the pitfalls to turn her characters loose in their own lives. Her son Arthur joined them, dying young, probably in the sweating sickness epidemic of 1528. This is Aalto. More suffered a sharp chest pain, possibly angina, and begged the king to release him from his duties. Calculate relationship; Relationship with x x (Sosa/Ahnentafel #1) Relationship with Thomas Chaworth (spouse) More . His father recalled him to London and he trained as a law student at New Inn and later Lincolns Inn. Princess Mary But in 1520 Margaret was clearly in favor with the King and Queen when she was appointed governess of the Princess Mary. It is unlikely she had seen him for many years, but in any case, mourning for a traitor was inadvisable. When Reginald was seven, and Margaret a widow with an uncertain future, she sent him to be educated at Sheen with the monks of the Charterhouse. Cardinal Wolsey and the king needed no further reason to bring More into the kings service. As Englands premier intellectual, Mores opinion mattered. Mores letters indicate that he was not particularly keen to enter royal service. But for now he was out of Henrys reach, leaving his family as hostages. Katharine was the kings true wife. Their destruction came with a wave of arrests in the autumn of 1538. But three years into his reign, the young Henry VIII restored her to the greater part of her revenues and gave her back a family title, creating her Countess of Salisbury in her own right. His resignation was at first not accepted. Credit: PjrWindows / Alamy Stock Photo. London Review of Books, Later that year, Reginald was summoned to Rome, made a cardinal and put in charge of organising a crusade against England economic sanctions first, war if need be. In January 1539 Geoffrey was pardoned, but Margaret's son, Henry, Baron Montagu (and cousin Exeter), were later executed for treason after trial. More was not a man to be broken by prison, but he suffered physically. He then disappeared into his private closet, and after an hour, came out as cheerful as before. This was on 16 May 1532, the date on which the archdiocese of Canterbury, as head of the English clergy, sent a document to Henry VIII in which is promised to never legislate or even convene without royal assent, thus making the king a lay person head of the spiritual order in England. In practice, pre-nuptial agreements, trusts and the legally sanctioned breach of entails created some flexibility. And "Look," we say, "look, I'm anchored! We come now to the great event of Henrys reign. He collected books and rare objects, but he gave away his possessions freely as well. For these reasons, More had no cause to suspect his monarch of anything less than fealty to their shared faith. (Along with Margaret her sister-in-law Eleanor Pole was also a lady-in-waiting to Katherine. Such was his reputation that the the great universities Oxford and Cambridge made him high steward. Basically, they disliked and mistrusted one another. Henry wanted Reginald to come back to England and talk the matter over, but Reginald had the sense to keep his distance. It was during this trip that he began to write Utopia, his most famous work. Reginald studied in Italy in 1521 through 1526, financed in part by Henry VIII, then returned and was offered by Henry the choice of several high offices in the church if he would support Henrys divorce from Catherine. Thick as thieves, More and the king continued to establish a close relationship, with More rising up in the ranks. Margarets brother was 24. When Catherine of Aragon gave birth to a daughter, Mary, Margaret Pole was asked to be one of the godmothers. Whatever her private feelings at this point, in public she was pragmatic and circumspect. . Here is an excerpt from Chapter 7, "Unheard-Of Cruelty", describing the trial and execution of Sir Thomas More. The popular image is of a man principled, steadfast, courageous who placed his own conscience above his kings demands. Reginald Pole supported Henry VIII in 1529 trying to win support among theologians in Paris for Henrys divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Sir Thomas de la Pole was born circa 1378. Put a different hood on her, and she could be a man one of her own Plantagenet relations. More had already begun writing his History of King Richard III as well; it is considered the first masterpiece of English history and is wholly pro-Tudor. After Katherina of Aragon's death, Princess Mary turned toward Margaret Pole as a second mother, and now her father was going to take away this beloved maternal figure from her as well. With the accession of the young king uxorious, beautiful and benign England seemed to have entered a golden age: and at his coronation, all the spectators, and presumably Margaret Pole with them, with great reverence, love and desire, said and cried: Yea, yea!. And so he was. It was Mores impassioned speeches against this large and unjust burden that made the king reduce it by more than two thirds. ), St. Marie's Church in New Bilton, Rugby, England. The only people to escape the toxicity of the court were Lina (Stephanie Levi-John) and Oviedo (Aaron Cobham), who decided to seek a new life in the Ottoman Empire. Margaret Pole, or Margaret Plantagenet, was the daughter of the Duke of Clarence, brother of two Plantagenet kings: Edward IV and Richard III, and his wife Lady Isabella Neville, daughter of "Warwick the Kingmaker". Henry was wise enough to state his case and let it go, for a little while at least. Even as he secretly wore a hair shirt, he openly and consistently fasted, prayed, and maintained a relatively modest household. It is painted on a dateable oak panel, and the dates suit the presumed subject, but the artist is anonymous. Annes personal religious feeling was unimportant. And her gender did not necessarily disqualify her from becoming leader of the opposition if that was what she chose. Quite the opposite. Her father was the younger brother of Edward IV and Richard III. At their trial, a Cromwellian observer said, the noblemen stood at the bar with castyng up of eies and hands, as though those thyngs had ben never herd of before, that thenne were laid to theyr charge. The governors of Lincoln admired him enough to appoint him lecturer on law for three consecutive years. He is an English lawyer, eventually promoted to Chancellor and assistant to the King after Wolsey 's death. Margaret was superfluous; curtly, Henry wrote her off as a fool. There is an apocryphal story that Morton predicted his bright and lively page would grow into a marvelous man. Mores eldest daughter Margaret would become the first non-royal Englishwoman to publish a work in translation. Margaret is a devout Catholic and a member of the House of York, which fought Henry's father during the War of the Roses; she is first cousin of Henry's mother Queen Elizabeth of York through her father George Plantagenet, Elizabeth's uncle and the brother of Edward IV. This was not, as some say, Cratwell, who had himself been executed three years earlier, Learn how and when to remove these template messages, Learn how and when to remove this template message, Church of Our Lady Queen of Peace & Blessed Margaret Pole, "Unknown woman, formerly known as Margaret Plantagenet , Countess of Salisbury National Portrait Gallery", "The Execution of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury", "1541: Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury", "Pole, Margaret, suo jure countess of Salisbury (14731541), noblewoman", "Margaret Plantagenet, Lady Pole & Countess of Salisbury (14731541)", "Our Lady Queen of Peace & Blessd Margaret Pole, Southbourne", The Tragical History of King Richard the Third, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Margaret_Pole,_Countess_of_Salisbury&oldid=1140799395, People convicted under a bill of attainder, People executed by Tudor England by decapitation, People executed under the Tudors for treason against England, Burials at the Church of St Peter ad Vincula, Governesses to the English Royal Household, Hereditary peeresses created by Henry VIII, Articles incorporating a citation from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Articles incorporating text from the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia with Wikisource reference, Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the ODNB, Short description is different from Wikidata, Wikipedia articles needing copy edit from February 2023, Articles needing expert attention from June 2022, Miscellaneous articles needing expert attention, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, English Martyrs Church, Preston (she is on the right. In Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, 1473-1541, Hazel Pierce was unable to corroborate Richard Morisyne's assertion that as a young widow Margaret Pole made her home with the other Bridgettine nuns at Syon abbey.However, the household accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort (held at St. John's College, Cambridge) reveal that this was indeed the case, recording payments to her from . Utopia is a complex and witty work which describes a city-state ruled entirely by reason. On her wrist, emblematic, is a small barrel. Most aristocratic women outlived their husbands, and once a woman was widowed she was able to assert her independence and have a say in her family affairs, while cultivating the trope of the defenceless widow in any dealings with the authorities. He waited five days before being summoned to the scaffold on Tower Hill. Pierces book is thorough and scholarly, and her work is acknowledged in Higginbothams biography, which is less detailed, but serious and judicious. Find out more about the London Review of Books app. It was unlawful before man and God and thus void. The supposed discovery, six months after her house and effects were searched at her arrest, is likely to have been a fabrication. Lewis, Jone Johnson. The queen had suffered a series of miscarriages throughout their marriage; their only surviving child was the Princess Mary. Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, recorded the Countess's execution in a letter to the Queen of Hungary: The story of Mores last days is terribly affecting. And the king was not pleased with the young lawyer; he promptly imprisoned Mores father in the Tower until he paid a substantial fine. The nun sought out eminent supporters, especially those who, like Margaret and like Gertrudes husband, had a claim to the throne, and pressed on them the contents of her visions: unless he went back to his wife and to Rome, Henry would expire in torments. After her husband's death, Margaret acted as regent for her son James V, from 1513-1515. Bishop of Rochester, and Sir Thomas More, once Chancellor of England and a close royal friend, had both . One of her children, Reginald Pole, would go on to become a cardinal, and then . Henry VIII helped provide good marriages or religious offices for Margarets sons, and a good marriage for her daughter as well. In theory, after she married, a womans personal property and real estate were at her husbands disposal. The kings mother, Margaret Beaufort, was protective of young brides; her own body had been wrecked by a pregnancy at 13. Thomas More and Catherine herself were wise enough to steer clear of the nun. Higginbothams narrative begins with this bungled beheading so either the jacket designer was in the dark about the contents, or someone at her publisher has a mordant sense of humour. Soon he was acting as Henrys personal secretary and adviser, delivering official speeches, greeting foreign envoys, drafting treaties and other public documents, and composing the kings responses to Wolseys dispatches. Birth Year: 1478. Her daughter Ursula married the Duke of Buckingham's son, Henry Stafford, but after the Duke's fall, the couple were given only fragments of his estates. On the 27th May 1541, the elderly Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, godmother and former governess to Henry VIII's daughter Mary, was executed at the Tower of London. Margaret Pole was a pretty tough and clinical woman. Geoffrey appealed to Thomas Cromwell, who had him arrested and interrogated. It was not a bloodbath, but a selective cull, carried through by process of law. There have been rumors of an alleged relationship with Lady Margaret (see the White Queen series, for example). Margaret's relationship with Henry VIII, must have been good. It is at this moment that we must step back and consider the England in which More now lived. Two written eyewitness reports survived her execution: one by Marillac, the French ambassador, and the other by Chapuys, ambassador to the Holy Roman Emperor. [11], In 1531, Reginald Pole warned of the dangers of the Boleyn marriage. * Thomas Stafford (1531-4 May 1557) who was captured and executed for High Treason in Scarborough. Ursula married into the powerful Stafford family; of Margarets sons, only Reginald did not marry; by the age of seven he was given utterly to God. at, Edmund Mortimer, Earl of March (conflation of, This page was last edited on 21 February 2023, at 21:21. He was a brilliant scholar of the Renaissance who died rather than betray the Catholic church. Rather, he felt that he could be more effective in the city itself, not closeted away amongst the nobles and councilors of Henrys court. Looking to her last end, Margaret commissioned a chantry at Christchurch Priory. She was head of her family, a magnate with vast resources in men and money; any disaffection on her part was dangerous. In this first biography of a significant female figure in the male-dominated world of British Tudor politics, Hazel Pierce reconsiders the life and martyrdom of Catholic duchess Margaret Pole against the changing social and political landscape of her times.