Margaret Plantagenet, daughter of the Duke of Clarence and niece of King Edward IV and Richard III of England, was born in 1471 at Farley Castle near Bath, England. When she was about 20 years old, she married Sir Richard Pole and bore him five children. When Henry VIII became king, she was widowed and had her estates, which had been forfeited by attainder, returned to her by Henry, who made her countess of Salisbury in her own right.
She was governess of the king's daughter Mary, but incurred his enmity by her disapproval of his marriage to Anne Boleyn. Despite his remark that she was the holiest woman in England, she was forced to leave the court. When her son Reginald Cardinal Pole wrote against the Act of Supremacy, Henry swore to destroy the family. In 1538, two other sons were arrested and executed on a charge of treason, even though Cromwell had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin.”
Margaret was arrested ten days later and in May 1539, Parliament passed a bill of attainder against her for complicity in a revolt in the North, and she was imprisoned in the Tower for two years, where she was "tormented by the severity of the weather and insufficient clothing." When another uprising occurred in Yorkshire in April 1541, it was then determined to enforce without any further procedure the Act of Attainder passed in 1539.
On the morning of May 28, 1541, Margaret was told she was to die within the hour. She answered that no crime had been imputed to her; nevertheless she walked calmly from her cell to East Smithfield Green, within the precincts of the Tower, where a low wooden block had been prepared, and there, by a clumsy novice, she was beheaded at the age of 70. She was never tried and no guilt was ever proven against her except her possession of a white silk tunic embroidered with the Five Wounds, which was supposed to connect her with the uprising in the North.
Lord, in Whom there is no change or shadow of alteration, You gave courage to Your servant Blessed Margaret Pole. Grant unto us, we beseech You, through her intercession, the grace to always be steadfast in faith. May we be strengthened to serve You in imitation of the courage of Blessed Margaret. We ask this through Jesus Christ, Your Son, Who lives and reigns with You in the unity of the Holy Spirit, forever. Amen. Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, pray for us! Blessed Margaret Pole, pray for us!
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photo by anonymous via Wikimedia Commons
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