Claire | August 29, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 29th August 1538, in the reign of King Henry VIII, Geoffrey Pole, son of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was arrested. Geoffrey was already on thin ice, having been a staunch supporter of Queen Catherine of Aragon and Princess Mary, but he now was suspected, […]
Claire | August 14, 2022
On this day in history, 14th August 1473, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was born at Farley Hungerford Castle. Margaret Pole was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, and his wife, Isabel Neville, daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick. Margaret was also the niece of Kings Edward IV and Richard III, and the […]
Claire | August 12, 2022
On this day in Tudor history, 12th August 1570, in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, Lady Ursula Stafford died. Ursula was the daughter of the late Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, former governess to Princess Mary. Margaret was famously executed in Henry VIII’s reign. Ursula was also the sister of Cardinal Reginald Pole and […]
Claire | August 24, 2016
A warm welcome to Susan Higginbotham who is joining us today as part of the book tour for ler latest book, a biography: Margaret Pole: The Countess in the Tower. Here is an extract from her book and you’ll find details of her book at the bottom of this post. Naturally, Margaret did not confine […]
Claire | May 27, 2012
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. Eustace Chapuys, the imperial ambassador, recorded the Countess’s execution in a letter to the Queen of Hungary: “About the same time, the very strange and lamentable […]
Claire | November 4, 2011
On this day in history… 1530 – William (some say Walter) Walsh and Henry Percy, Earl of Northumberland, arrived at Cawood Castle and arrested Cardinal Thomas Wolsey for high treason. 1538 – Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, was arrested for treason along with his brother-in-law, Sir Edward Neville, and Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, and […]
Claire | October 26, 2011
On this day in history, 26th October… 1529 – Thomas More took his oath as Chancellor 1536 – The rebels of the Pilgrimage of Grace halted at Scawsby Leys, near Doncaster, where they met troops captained by the Duke of Norfolk. The rebels were said to number around 30,000 and Norfolk’s army only a fifth […]
Claire | May 27, 2011
On this day in 1541 the 67 year old Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury and former governess to the Lady Mary (Henry VIII’s eldest daughter) was executed at the Tower of London. You can find out more about Margaret Pole, who was also Mary’s godmother, and her brutal end in my article The Execution […]
