The Extraordinary Life and Death of Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

At 7am on 27 May 1541, Lady Margaret Pole – another victim of Henry VIII’s increasingly bloody regime – was led to her execution inside the Tower of London. But Margaret was no scheming minister like Thomas Cromwell, or a prisoner of conscience such as Thomas More, or even one of the King's wives. She was a 67-year-old woman who had spent her life serving the Tudors but whose royal blood had proved more a curse than a blessing.

Lady Margaret Pole was the daughter of Edward IV’s brother George, Duke of Clarence, who was third in line to the throne at the time of her birth in August 1473. The precariousness of life at the heart of royal power became apparent when Margaret was just four years old and her father was put to death at the Tower (as legend has it, drowned in a butt of Malmsey wine) for plotting against his brother the King.

Then, in 1483, shortly before her 10th birthday, Margaret’s uncle Richard seized the throne (making himself Richard III). He declared his two nephews, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York illegitimate, and the boys soon disappeared from the Tower. Richard also incorrectly claimed that Clarence’s treason barred his children, Margaret and her younger brother Edward, Earl of Warwick, from any claim to the throne, when in fact the princes’ disappearance only made their claim stronger.

Margaret’s dynastic importance was heightened further by the accession of Henry Tudor, who became Henry VII. Henry’s own claim to the throne was tenuous, and put Margaret and her brother in the undesirable position of having a stronger claim to the throne than the King. Henry needed no other excuse to immediately imprison Edward in the Tower, and later had him executed.

In 1487, Henry VII arranged a marriage for the 14-year-old Margaret to his cousin and loyal supporter, Sir Richard Pole. Pole was of considerably lower status than Margaret, which was intended to undermine her status. The couple had five children: Henry, Arthur, Ursula, Reginald and Geoffrey.

Margaret’s royal service began in 1501, when Henry VII appointed her to the household of Katherine of Aragon upon her marriage to his eldest son and heir, Arthur. Margaret and Katherine developed a loyal friendship, albeit one that was interrupted when Arthur died in 1502 and Margaret was dismissed from Katherine’s much-reduced household.

Like Katherine, Margaret spent the next few years living in financial difficulty, especially after the death of her husband Richard in 1504, which left her to support their five children alone. She was forced her to give her son Reginald to the church, relinquishing all financial responsibility for him. He never forgave her and many years later would bitterly recall: ‘You never took any care to provide for my living nor otherwise, as you did for other[s].’

Margaret’s fortunes improved dramatically with the accession of Henry VIII in 1509. He married Katherine of Aragon, who immediately appointed Margaret to her household. Three years later, Margaret was made Countess of Salisbury and granted all lands that her brother Edward had held at the time of his death. This gesture was a tacit recognition by the new King of the injustice of Edward’s execution.

A dramatic change in fortunes

Just a year after her appointment as Mary’s governess, Margaret’s sons came under suspicion of involvement in the Duke of Buckingham's treason. She was reappointed in 1525, but by then the royal marriage was starting to fall apart. Desperate for a son, Henry eventually sought an annulment so that he could marry Anne Boleyn. Margaret remained openly loyal to Katherine and Mary, which soured her relationship with the King.

In 1533, the year that Henry finally married Anne Boleyn, the countess refused his request to surrender Princess Mary’s jewels and plate. Mary's household was dissolved soon afterwards and Margaret's offer to serve the princess at her own expense was firmly refused by the King.

Two years later, the Imperial ambassador Eustace Chapuys, a supporter of Katherine and her daughter, petitioned Henry to place Mary under Margaret's care. The King exploded with rage, ranting that the countess was ‘a fool, of no experience’.

‘Wretched and blundering’: the botched execution of Lady Margaret Pole

But in May 1541, just two months after he had spent a considerable sum on Margaret’s apparel, the King suddenly ordered her execution. This was likely prompted by the rising of the north, a rebellion against his supremacy of the church, as well as by rumours that Reginald was planning to rescue his mother from the Tower.

Margaret Pole’s execution came on 27 May 1541. Accounts of her death make difficult reading. According to one account, the axeman chased her around the block, hacking at her neck, and it took 11 blows to sever her head. This may be exaggerated, but Chapuys attested that the elderly countess had suffered at the hands of ‘a wretched and blundering youth … who literally hacked her head and shoulders to pieces in the most pitiful manner.’ Her body was laid to rest in the Tower chapel of St Peter ad Vincula.

Upon hearing the news of his mother’s death, Reginald Pole declared that he was now the proud son of a martyr. Three centuries later, Margaret was beatified by Pope Leo XIII for having laid down her life in defence of the ‘true Orthodox faith’. She is remembered today as a scion of royalty who served and defied a king, and who wielded enormous influence as a woman in a man’s world.

Tracy Borman
Chief Curator, Historic Royal Palaces