Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury

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Image:Margpole.JPG Margaret Pole (August 14, 1473 – May 27, 1541), Countess of Salisbury, was the daughter of George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabella Neville. Her father was a brother of both Edward IV and Richard III.

Born at Farleigh Castle in Wiltshire, she married Sir Richard Pole in 1494. In 1513, her younger brother, Edward, Earl of Warwick, having been executed by King Henry VII of England, she was given the earldom of Salisbury by King Henry VIII.

Execution

Margaret was appointed governess to the young Princess Mary, later Queen Mary I of England. However, at the time of the divorce of Mary's mother, Catherine of Aragon, the countess made the mistake of appearing to side with Catherine and Mary against the king, and this was his cue to declare her a traitor. She lost her titles in 1539, following the execution for treason of her eldest son, Henry Pole, Baron Montagu.

Eventually she was executed—on May 27 1541 in the Tower of London—by Henry VIII in continuation of his father's program of eliminating possible contenders for the throne.

She refused to acknowledge that she was a traitor. She was not tried. She was not permitted to reply to charge. In 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!

She was small, frail, elderly, and ill. She was dragged to the block, but refused to lay her head on the block. She was forced down. The executioner swung his axe as she struggled. However it made a gash in her shoulder rather than her neck. Then she leapt from the block and ran away pursued by the executioner, with his axe. She was struck eleven times before she died. As she was of noble birth she was executed in the privacy of the Tower of London rather than on nearby Tyburn Hill. There were about 150 witnesses to her execution.

Legacy

Her son, Reginald Cardinal Pole said that he would "...never fear to call himself the son of a martyr".

The feast day of Blessed Margaret Pole is May 28. She was beatified in 1886 by Pope Leo XIII.

Issue

She and her husband were parents to five children:

• Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu (1492 - January 9, 1539). Most famous as one of the peers in the trial of Anne Boleyn. Married Jane Nevill, daughter of George Nevill, 4th Baron Bergavenny and Margaret Fenne. She was a younger sister of George Nevill, 5th Baron Bergavenny.
• Reginald Cardinal Pole (1500 - November 17, 1558). Served as 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 (1504 - August 12, 1570). Married Henry Stafford, 1st Baron Stafford.

Preceded by: Edward, Earl of Warwick

Countess of Salisbury 1513 - 1539

Succeeded by: forfeit