Margaret Margaret, Countess Of Salisbury

1473 - 1541  (68 years)

• Name	Margaret Margaret   [1, 2, 3]
  Suffix	Countess Of Salisbury
  Birth	1473
  Gender	Female
  Death	27 May 1541	, , ENG
  Person ID	I8404	Ancestrees
  Last Modified	30 Sep 2024

  
  

  Father	George George, Duke Of Clarence,   b. 21 Oct 1449   d. 18 Feb 1478 (Age 28 years)
  Relationship	natural
  Mother	Isabel NEVILLE
  Relationship	natural
  _MARRIED	N
  Family ID	F1372	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

  Family	Richard POLE   d. 1504
  Marriage	Abt 1491
  Children	1. Reginald POLE,   b. 1500   d. 1558 (Age 58 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   2. Geoffrey POLE,   b. 1494, Lordington, Sussex, ENG d. 1558 (Age 64 years)  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   3. Henry POLE  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   4. Arthur POLE  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]   5. Ursula POLE  [Father: natural]  [Mother: natural]
  Family ID	F1640	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart
  Last Modified	30 Sep 2024

  
  

• Notes

  http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A393662 "FIVE LADIES AND THE TOWER OF LONDON" Margaret, Countess of Salisbury c 1473 - 1541 Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury holds a special place in English history as being the last Plantagenet princess. Thelantagenets were the ruling dynasty in England from 1154 - 1485. Margaret was extraordinary, reaching the age of 69 or 70 in an era where the average life expectancy for a woman was 45 years. She was also famous for staying true to the old Catholic ways, while remaining faithful to King and successfully treading her way through the War of the Roses and four of the King's marriages. She was considered and revered as the first lady in the land after the queen and princesses. The Countess's father was the Duke of Clarence, who in turn was the brother of King Edward IV and Richard III. She was also first cousin to Edward V and Richard, Duke of York; the two princes who disappeared in the confines of the Tower of London. Margaret had five children, two of whom became well known. Her son Henry, (LORD MONTAGUE) was executed by the King in 1538 and her other son Reginald fled religious reform and was made a Cardinal by the Pope. The reason why Margaret, Countess of Salisbury was executed is simple. Her family were not only too close to the body of the throne to make their own claims to crown and country, but also her son was dedicated to the old Catholic faith. Her execution was timed for Henry VIII's marriage to Catherine Howard to show that the old era had passed. Margaret was executed at the scaffold site on 27 May 1541 and legend has it that the execution did not run smoothly and several chops were needed to finish off the job." An old ballad about her at the time went like this. "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!"

  
  

• Sources

  [S169] Pat Moran, Moran Exodus from Offaly (Decorah, Iowa: Amundsen Pub. Co., 1995). [S466] Richard Coate to L. Dudick Email letters dated 1999 + at rcoate@earthlink.net. [S282] Wikipedia Article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page, c2006).