Another Missing Son of York

Tower of London

The infamy of the disappearance of the Princes in the Tower gives the impression that these two are the only noble children to be lost upon entering the Tower complex. Sadly, this is not the case. In fact, a few decades later, another young boy, a cousin (1st cousin, twice removed) to Edward V & his brother, Richard, was also lost to history within the Tower walls.

Henry Pole, Baron Montegue, was the son of Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. When they, along with several others were arrested as part of the supposed Exeter Conspiracy in 1538, young Henry Pole, son of Lord Montegue, was taken to the Tower as well. His birthdate is unknown (believed to be between 1520-1527), but he was not more than teenaged when imprisoned. Another young person with connections to the royal family was also arrested at this time. Edward Courtenay was imprisoned along with his parents, who had allegedly conspired with the Poles.

Modern memorial to those executed at the Tower of London

Little proof of any treasonous plot was ever discovered. However, executions of Henry, Baron Montegue, Henry Courtenay, Marquess of Exeter, and Sir Edward Neville were quickly carried out. Others, including Gertrude Courtenay and Geoffrey Pole, were released for giving testimony against the others. Margaret Pole's execution did not take place until May, 1541, but the young sons of Pole and Courtenay remained imprisoned.

The fate of Edward Courtenay is well documented. He remained in prison until the accession of Queen Mary I in 1553. She released him from the Tower, and some hoped that she would chose to marry him, uniting Tudor blood with that of the noble York remnant. Edward, who had spent half of his life in the Tower, was not a desirable husband to the Queen or her sister, Princess Elizabeth. He was sent to Europe, where it was believed that he could cause less trouble for the royal family. He died in Padua in 1556 under somewhat suspicious circumstances.

Tower of London

Henry Pole the younger has a less certain story. All that remains are snippets of evidence that imply a tragedy similar to that suffered by his earlier cousins. In April 1540, King Henry VIII issued a general pardon that specifically excluded Margaret Pole and her grandson, Henry. In July 1540, a message by French ambassador Charles de Marillac mentions 'the little nephew of Cardinal Pole, who is poorly and strictly kept and not desired to know anything.' We may infer that Henry had not yet reached his teens based on the ambassador's term 'little nephew,' but this is not certain. Eustace Chapuys, Imperial ambassador, remarked upon Margaret's death that Henry was 'placed in close confinement, and it is supposed that he will soon follow his father and grandmother.' Henry is only thereafter mentioned in the payments for his food, which ends in 1542. He is not mentioned at the accession of Edward VI in 1547. Surely, had he been alive in 1553, Queen Mary would have released the nephew of her closest advisor, Cardinal Reginald Pole.

As with his cousins sixty years earlier, it is most likely that young Henry Pole met his demise within the Tower for no reason besides the royal blood running through his veins.



Additional reading: Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury 1473-1541 by Hazel Pierce
Photo Credit: Samantha Wilcoxson

The Execution of Henry Pole

On January 9, 1539, Henry Pole was sent to his death by King Henry VIII. What was his crime? To a great extent, his crime was being the oldest son of Margaret Pole and brother of Reginald Pole. Looking to secure his shaky dynasty, King Henry had already executed one of his wives, so what was a cousin or two?

This pair of Henrys had not always had a bad relationship. On the second Henry Tudor's accession to the throne, he had raised up his Pole relatives in a way that his father had been afraid to do. Margaret and Henry were both given titles that had been held by her illustrious ancestors. She was made Countess of Salisbury and her oldest son was the new Baron Montague. Margaret's third son, Reginald, was noted by the king for his great intellect from a young age, and the king supported him in gaining the best education money could buy.

For a while, it seemed that the breach between the Plantagenet branches, which the Tudors still considered themselves one of, had been healed. Margaret enjoyed a close friendship with Henry's beautiful queen, Katherine of Aragon, and eventually served as governess for their first and, as it would turn out, only surviving child, Princess Mary. It was not until the king decided that this little girl could not possibly serve as his heir that things went sour.

As Anne Boleyn's star rose, that of Katherine and anyone close to her fell. Henry and Margaret were fairly successful at balancing their loyalties to their king and their church, even as Henry VIII reformed it to suit his own purposes. Montague served the king in several positions and went with him to make war on France. Unfortunately, there was one thing that Henry Pole could never make up for in the king's eyes: his royal bloodline.

While Margaret had never pursued a crown for her children, even when Queen Katherine had suggested that Reginald would make a fine husband for Princess Mary, the king's animosity toward extended family grew increasingly as his quest for sons failed. By 1538, when Henry Pole was arrested, the king had succeeded in siring only one infant son and he was currently without a wife since Edward's mother, Jane Seymour, had died shortly following childbirth.

In contrast, Henry Pole was a capable adult with brothers and sons and Plantagenet blood running through all their veins. Pole was accused along with his cousin, Henry Courtenay Marquess of Exeter, who also had a Plantagenet mother. In a case that has become known as the Exeter Conspiracy, they were found guilty of plotting to depose the king and put Courtenay in his place.

Geoffrey Pole, Henry's youngest brother, was imprisoned and tortured until he gave testimony against those accused in the Exeter Conspiracy. He attempted suicide on at least two occasions due to the heavy guilt he felt for betraying his family, especially his brother. Letters written by Reginald Pole, by that time a cardinal and safely distant from Henry VIII's reach, were also used as evidence.

Henry Pole and Henry Courtenay went bravely to their deaths, though they were likely innocent of the charges against them. Their sons, another Henry Pole and Edward Courtenay, remained in the Tower. Edward Courtenay was later released by Queen Mary I in 1553. The younger Henry Pole became another York son lost to the Tower. He was never released and his death is not recorded.