Blessed Margaret Pole

[Blessed Margaret Pole]
Also known as
Margaret Plantaganet
Memorial
28 May
Profile
Daughter of the Duke of Clarence. Niece of King Edward IV and King Richard III of England. Married Sir Richard Pole in 1491. Mother of five, one of whom became a cardinal. Widow. Unofficial ward of King Henry VIII, who made her Countess of Salisbury and governess to Princess Mary, daughter of King Henry VIII.

When she opposed Henry's plan to marry Ann Boleyn, she was driven from court and received the king's disfavor. When her son, Reginald Cardinal Pole, wrote against Henry's presumptions to spiritual supremacy, the king decided to crush the family. Two of Margaret's sons were executed in 1538 for the crime of being the brothers of Reginald. The elderly Margaret was arrested soon after, falsley charged with plotting revolution; in 1539 she was sent to the Tower of London where she spent her remaining two years. In 1541, at the outbreak of an actual uprising, Margaret was summarily executed with trial as a precaution. Martyr.
Born
14 August 1471 as Margaret Plantaganet
Died
beheaded 27 May 1541 on Tower Hill, London, England
buried at Saint Peter ad Vincula, Tower of London
Beatified
1886 by Pope Leo XIII
Canonized
pending
Additional Information
Book of Saints, by the Monks of Ramsgate
Catholic Encyclopedia, by Blanche M Kelly
Our Sunday Visitor's Encyclopedia of Saints, by Matthew Bunson, Margaret Bunson, and Stephen Bunson
Sacred Heart Parish, Waterlooville, England
Tudor Place
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