On 24 January 1506 Edmund commissioned two servants to treat with Henry VII and in March 1506 was conveyed to the Tower. Henry had given Archduke Philip his written promise not to execute Edmund.
Upon the accession of Henry VIII in 1509 Edmund was not among those included in the general pardon. He went to the block in 1513.
Edmund married Margaret, daughter of Richard, Lord Scrope and had one daughter Anne, who became a nun at Minories within Aldgate. He had no male heir.
Richard de la Pole, 14?-1525
Richard was the fifth son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, and Elizabeth, sister of Edward IV. His brothers Humphrey and Edward took orders in the Church, Edward becoming the Archdeacon of Richmond. In 1501 Richard fled abroad with his brother Edmund. Three years later he was attainted along with his brother. Eventually he fled to Hungary, where Henry VII requested that King Ladislaus VI surrender Richard to him. The Hungarian king refused and gave Richard a pension.
Richard’s name is not mentioned in the general pardon issued by Henry VIII upon his accession in 1509. Louis XII of France recognized Richard as king of England, giving him a pension of six thousand crowns. After the execution of his brother Edmund in 1513, Richard assumed the title of Duke of Suffolk and became a claimant to the English throne.
When Louis XII died in 1515, his successor Francis I continued Richard’s allowance. As a further sign of favor, he was sent him on several missions, including Lombardy and Bohemia. In 1522, Francis seriously thought of sending Richard to invade England, but the invasion did not take place.
On 25 February 1525, Richard was killed, fighting in the French army at the Battle of Pavia. The Duke of Bourbon was one of the chief mourners at his funeral.
Margaret of York, Duchess of Burgundy, 1446–1503
Born at Fotheringhay, Margaret, the third daughter of Richard, Duke of York, and Cicely Neville, was an intelligent, charming, and accomplished woman. Prior to the announcement of Edward’s marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, she had acted as the first lady of the court.
A prestigious marriage was arranged for her to Charles the Bold, Duke of Burgundy, who was many years her senior. She had no children by him and survived him by many years. After Charles’ death, Margaret maintained a close friendship with her Charles’ only daughter Mary. The respect in which she was held in her adopted country enabled her to play an active supporting role for the Yorkist cause on many occasions. After the death of her brother Richard III, she continued her efforts, backing both Lambert Simnel and later Perkin Warbeck. She died at Malines and is buried in the church of Cordéliers.
The arms of Burgundy, shown impaling France modern and England quarterly on her arms were: Quarterly, first and fourth, azure, three fleurs de lys or within a bordure gobony argent and gules; second, per pale, Bendy of six or and azure within a bordure gules and sable, a lion rampant or; third, per pale, Bendy of six or and azure, within a bordure gules and argent, a lion rampant gules crowned or; over all an inescutcheon, or, a lion rampant sable.
George of York, Duke of Clarence, 1449–1478
Born in Dublin, George was the sixth son of Richard, Duke of York, and Cicely Neville. He was created Duke of Clarence in the first year of Edward IV’sreign. Until Elizabeth Woodville finally bore Edward a son in 1470, Clarence was the heir presumptive ,and it was soon clear to the Earl of Warwick that he was discontented and ambitious. On 11 July 1469, George married Isobel Neville, Warwick’s elder daughter, against the wishes of his brother, cementing an alliance against the king. When Warwick reconciled with Margaret of Anjou, however, and his younger daughter, Anne, was betrothed to the Lancastrian heir, George realized that he was not to be made king in Edward’s place. At the last minute, he returned to the Yorkist fold and was reconciled with Edward and his younger brother Richard. After Warwick’s death at the Battle of Barnet in 1471, George laid claim to his vast estates, and although eventually forced to share them when Richard of Gloucester married the now-widowed Anne Neville, he remained a rich and powerful prince. He continued to flout Edward’s authority, however, and was put in the Tower. In 1478 a Bill of Attainder passed the death sentence on Clarence and he died in the Tower, the exact manner of his death being unknown. Clarence and Isobel had four children, of whom two, Margaret and Edward, survived.
Clarence’s arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, over all a label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; his crest was On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned or, charged on the breast with a label as in the arms; his badges were A bull passant sable armed unguled and membered or, gorged with a label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules, and A silver gorget of chain, edged and clasped with gold and lined with red.
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury, 1473–1541
Margaret was the eldest child of George, Duke of Clarence and Isobel Neville, she married Sir Richard Pole, K.G. in 1491. They had four sons and a daughter. During the fifth year of the reign of Henry VIII, Margaret, as heiress to the titles of Warwick and Salisbury, petitioned the king and was restored to the title of Countess of Salisbury. She was appointed governess to the Princess Mary and remained in favor until Anne Boleyn became the Queen. Her loyalty to Princess Mary caused her to be dismissed from court.
After the downfall of Anne Boleyn, Margaret returned to court. She did not remain in favor for long. Because of the letter her son, Cardinal Reginal Pole, wrote to the King, and of the betrayal of her son Geoffrey, the Countess was arrested and put into the Tower in March 1539. She was kept in the Tower under close confinement for two years and was executed without trial. She was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1886.
Her arms were: Quarterly, first, Quarterly, France modern and England, a label of three points argent each charged with a canton gules; second, gules, a saltire argent, a label of three points gobony argent and azure impaling Gules, a fess between six crosses crosslet or; third, Chequy or and azure, a chevron ermine impaling Argent, three lozenges conjoined in fess gules; fourth, Or, an eagle displayed vert impaling Quarterly, I and IV, Or, three chevrons gules; II and III, Quarterly, Argent, and gules, a fret or, overall a bendlet sable.
Henry Pole, Lord Montagu, 1492–1539
The eldest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was knighted by Henry VIII in 1513 during Henry’s French campaign. He was a ember of the royal household and was allowed his own livery. In 1520, he attended Henry VIII at the Field of the Cloth of Gold. He was one of the peers who convicted Anne Boleyn.
As a Roman Catholic, Pole did not approve of Henry’s destroying Church property and the anti-Catholic feeling in England. Henry was fully of Montagu’s feelings, and through his betrayal of his brother Geoffrey Pole, the king now had the evidence he needed to have Montagu arrested in put into the Tower. Pole was tried and found guilty by a jury of his peers. He went to the block on December 9 1539.
He married Jane, daughter of George Neville, Lord Bergavenny, in 1513. They had three children. His only son may have been attainted with his father and died in the Tower.
Geoffrey Pole, 1502?-1558
The second son of Margaret Plantagenet, little is known of his early life. In 1529, he was knighted by Henry VIII at York Place. A devout Roman Catholic, he greatly disapproved of Henry VIII’s divorce proceedings from Katherine of Aragon. Although he was appointeed one of the servitors at Anne Boleyn’s coronation, his loyalties were with Princess Mary and the former Queen Katherine. He then visited the imprial ambassador Chapuys and assured him that if the Holy Roman Emperor were to invade England to redress the wrong that had been done to Queen Katherine, that the English people would favor him.
Unfortunately, his words reached the ears of the king and he was arrested and sent to the Tower on August 1538. He was persuaded to talk and he revelaed the names of secret Papists at court, including his own brother, Henry Lord Montagu. Geoffrey was pardoned as a result of his betrayal and the others he mention, including his brother, were executed.
Having felt guilty at betraying his brother and friends, Geoffrey tried to commit suicide while he was in the Tower. In 1540, he left his family behind and fled to Europe, where he remained until the reign of Queen Mary. He returned to England and died in 1558.
He married Constance, the elder of two daughter and heirs of Sir John Pakenham. They had five sons and six daughters.
Arthur Pole, 1502-1535
Third son of Margaret Plantagenet, he was sentenced to death in the reign of Elizabeth I, being implicated in a plot to release Mary, Queen of Scots. Because of his royal blood, the Queen spared him from execution but not imprisonment.
In 1526, he married Jane Lewknor. It is not known if there were any children from this marriage.
Reginald Pole, 1500-1558
The youngest son of Margaret Plantagenet, he graduated from Magdelan College, Oxford. He was sent to Italy to complete his education and lived there for five years. Reginald was another Pole family member who did not approve of Henry’s divorce from Queen katherine. The King was well aware of this and several times tried to get Pole on his side. At the urging of the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, Pole wrote Henry a letter, in which he attacked Henry’s policy of royal supremacy and defended the spiritual authority of the Pope. It was at this time that he was created a cardinal by Pope Paul III. Henry then put a price on the new cardinal’s head and arrested and executed many members of the pole family, including his mother and his oldest brother Henry Lord Montagu.
When Henry’s daughter Mary became Queen, he was commission as a papal Legate. He landed in England in 1554 and began to reorganize the country back into the Church of Rome. Two years later he was ordained as a priest and the following year became the Archbishop of Canterbury.
For the next two years, Cardinal Pole help Queen Mary with her persecution of English Protestants. Disapproving of Pole’s methods, Pope Paul IV cancelled his legatine authority and denounced him as a heretic. Shortly afterwards, he fell ill and died twelve hours after Queen Mary on November 17 1558.
Ursula Pole, ? -1570
Ursula was the only daughter of Margaret Plantagenet. In 1518, she married Henry Stafford, first Baron Stafford. Very little is known of her. It is believed that she had at least thrteen children before her death in 1570.
Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick, 1474–1499
The son of George, Duke of Clarence, and Isobel Neville, he may have suffered from some form of mental impairment. He lived in the royal apartments in the Tower under the reign of his uncle Richard III. Henry VII kept him in the Tower, but as a prisoner. When Perkin Warbeck was imprisoned in the Tower, the two attempted to escape (possibly at the instigation of Henry’s agents) and both were executed in 1499.
Edward IV, King of England, 1442–1483
By the Grace of God, King of England and France and Lord of Ireland
The eldest son of Richard, Duke of York and Cecily Neville, Edward was born in Rouen, France, on April 28, 1442. He was educated at Ludlow Castle, along with his younger brother Edmund, Earl of Rutland. He inherited the title of Earl of March. Edward. was raising forces in the Welsh borders for the Yorkist cause when his father and younger brother Edmund were killed at the Battle of Wakefield in 1460. Acting speedily and decisively, Edward routed the Lancastrians at the battles of Mortimer’s Cross and Towton, and claimed the throne. Henry VI was then acclaimed a usurper and a traitor. Edward was crowned in June 1461. He was an extremely popular ruler, although well-known for his licentious behaviour. During his reign, printing and silk manufacturing were introduced into England.
Edward’s secret marriage to Elizabeth Woodville, a widow of a Lancastrian knight, angeed the old nobility and alienated his cousin Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick (also known as "The Kingmaker"), who had previously been a major power during the early days of Edward’s reign. In 1469, Edward was deposed by Warwick, and was drien out of England and to Burgundy. Warwick reinstated Henry VI. Two years later, backed by his brother-in-law, Charles ("The Bold"), Duke of Burgundy, returned to England with a large army and defeated the Lancastrians at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury.
The remaining years of his reign were, for the most part, peaceful. There was, however, a short war with France in 1475, after which Louis XI agreed to pay Edward a yearly subsidy. Edward died on April 8 1483 and was buried at St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
As King, Edward’s arms were: Quarterly, France modern and England, and his crest On a chapeau gules turned up ermine, a lion statant guardant crowned or. As badges, he used the white rose of York, the sun in splendour, and the white rose en soliel, as well as the lion, the bull and the hart, the falcon and fetterlock of the dukes of York, and a white rose incorporating red petals, a forerunner of the Tudor rose.
Elizabeth Woodville, 1437–1492, Queen of England
Elizabeth was the eldest child of Sir Richard Woodville and Jacquetta of Luxembourg. She was maid of honor to Margaret of Anjou. She was married to Sir John Grey of Groby, who was killed in battle in 1461, leaving her with two small sons. Elizabeth married Edward IV secretly in April 1464 and was crowned Queen in May 1465. She was also a patroness of Queens’ College, Cambridge and gave the College its first Statues in 1475. Her ten brothers and sisters, who were as avaricious and unpopular as herself, were raised to high rank by the king. Elizabeth and Edward had three sons and seven daughters.
Following her husband’s death in 1483, their marriage was declared invalid by Parliament and their children illegitimate. In 1485, however, Elizabeth’s eldest daughter, Elizabeth of York, married Henry VII and became Queen of England. Elizabeth Woodville was subsequently banished to Bermondsey Abbey, where she died in 1492.
Elizabeth Woodville’s seal displayed a shield of her husband’s arms impaling her own, which were Quartlerly, first argent, a lion rampant double queued gules, crowned or (Luxemburg, her mother’s family), second quarterly, I and IV, gules a star if eight points argent; II and III, azure, semée of fleurs de lys or; third, barry argent and azure, overall a lion rampant gules; fourth, gules, three bendlets argent, on a chief of the first, charged with a fillet in base or, a rose of the second; fifth, three pallets vairy, on a chief or a label of five points azure, and sixth, a fess and a canton conjoined gules (Woodville).
Children of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville
Elizabeth of York, 1466–1503, Queen of England
Born 11 February, 1466 at Westminster Palace, Elizabeth was the first born child of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville. She was betrothed to George Neville, Duke of Bedford, and then engaged to the Charles, the Dauphin of France (later Charles VIII). Elizabeth married Henry Tudor in 1486 and became Queen of England, thus uniting the Houses of York and Lancaster. As. Queen, she was completely dominated by Henry VII and his mother Margaret Beaufort.
She bore Henry eight children: (1) Arthur, Prince of Wales, b. 1486; (2) Margaret (later Queen of Scotland) b. 1489; (3) Henry (later Henry VII) b. 1491; (4) Elizabeth b.1492; (5) Mary (later Queen of France and Duchess of Suffolk) b. 1496; (6) Edmund (died young) 1499; (7) Edward (died young); and (8) Katherine (died young) b. 1503. Elizabeth died in childbirth in on her birthday in 1503, at the age of 37 years. She is buried beside her husband in the Henry VII Chapel in Westminster Abbey.
Mary of York, 1467-1482
Mary was the second daughter, born 11 August, 1467 at Windsor Castle. She was promised in marriage to the King of Denmark, but died in 1482 before the marriage could take place. She is buried in St. George’s Chapel, Windsor.
Cicely of York, 1469–1507, Viscountess Welles
Cicely was born on 20 March 1469 at Westminster Palace. She was originally promised in a marriage treaty to the heir of James III of Scotland but instead married John, Lord Welles, by whom she had two daughters Elizabeth and Anne, both of whom died without issue. By her second marriage, to Thomas Kyme of Isle of Wight, she had Richard and Margaret. She died at Quarr Abbey, Isle of Wight on 24 August 1507.
Edward V, 1470–?
The eldest son of Edward IV and Elizabeth Woodville, Edward was born in sanctuary at Westminster on 4 November 1470. He was created Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, Earl of Chester, March and Pembroke. As Prince of wales, Edward was educated at Ludlow Castle by his uncle Anthony, Earl Rivers.