John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk
John de la Pole | |
---|---|
Duke of Suffolk | |
Duke of Suffolk | |
Born | 27 September 1442 |
Died | 14-21 May 1492 | (aged 49)
Buried | Wingfield, Suffolk |
Spouse(s) | |
Issue more... |
|
Father | Alice Chaucer |
John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk,
As a youth, John de la Pole married twice; his first marriage was
Suffolk did not receive major grants from Edward IV either, although de la Pole continued to support him in arms when necessary, and when Edward lost his throne in 1470, Suffolk was not trusted by the new Lancastrian regime. Suffolk fought for Edward at the battles of Barnet and Tewkesbury but did not join Edward's inner circle during his second reign. He seems to have acquiesced in the accession of Richard III in 1483, but, unlike his son, was not present for Richard III's defeat at the Battle of Bosworth two years later. Henry VII does not seem to have held Suffolk's son's treason against the duke, and even seems to have protected him from the former's attainder. John de la Pole died in 1492 and was buried at Wingfield Church, Suffolk.
Youth
John de la Pole was born on 27 September 1442, only son and heir to
The earldom of Suffolk, says historian Michael Hicks, was 'not particularly well-endowed,' probably only just scraping the £666 qualifying income for that rank. His mother, though, held substantial estates in her own right, from her father, Sir Thomas Chaucer. Furthermore, because this was Alice's third marriage, she held large dowers from both previous husbands, the second of whom had been Thomas Montagu, 4th Earl of Salisbury.[1]
John's father augmented the family's position by exploiting the favour of the King, Henry VI, to whom he was an important councillor in the 1440s. Already Earl of Suffolk, John's father was in turn elevated to a marquess (in 1444) and then Duke of Suffolk (1448), and with these titles received major grants from the crown. Also, it had been his father's receipt of the wardship of Margaret Beaufort from the king that enabled John's marriage to her,[1] whilst both were still infants and despite them being within the prohibited degrees of consanguinity.[4] Contemporaries claimed that the marriage to the daughter of John Beaufort, Duke of Somerset (cousin of the-then childless king), was intended to make John de la Pole an eventual heir to the crown;[1][5] this is considered unlikely by modern historians, who have pointed at indications that the King supported William in these plans.[6] It has been suggested that the marriage was the direct result of William's political difficulties during the 1450–1451 parliament.[7]
Father's downfall
Any plans his father had for John were rudely upset in 1450 when Suffolk was
Since Suffolk had never been formally convicted, he was not attainted, but the royal grants which had given John de la Pole such good prospects were now resumed to the crown.[1] And although John inherited his father's dukedom of Suffolk, he had lost the various offices that he had held, such as the Constableship of Wallingford Castle. On top of this, due to his mother retaining one-third of his father's estate in dower, his expectations from the dukedom could only have been even smaller.[1] His income has been estimated at less than £280 per annum, which was less than the minimum required for an earl, let alone a duke.[1]
John de la Pole did not come of age until 1463. As such, in 1450 his wardship was resumed to the crown, and custody of his estates granted to others by the king. His marriage to Margaret Beaufort was
Early career
John de la Pole started being included in commissions from around 1457.[1] One of these, to Oxfordshire in July 1457, was to suppress "congregations and unlawful gatherings against the king"; since he was still only fifteen this was probably a symbolic position.[10] Sometime before February 1458, in a match arranged, it appears by his mother, John married Elizabeth, the second surviving daughter of Richard of York and Cecily, née Neville. The marriage took place at a politically turbulent time. The First Battle of St Albans had taken place less than three years earlier, and the king was attempting make a peace between York and his allies (who had won the battle) and the families of those lords who had died there. York after all had been a bitter enemy of John's father—indeed, it had been mainly thanks to York that impeachment proceedings were brought against Suffolk in 1450.[1]
Marriage
Biographer J.A.F. Thomson posits that "although he was not of such major importance, the young John de la Pole was a good catch for a magnate who wished wealth and dignity for a daughter".
East Anglian affairs and feud with the Pastons
Much of Suffolk's early activity in East Anglian local politics was probably at the instigation of his mother, Alice,
He involved himself in some of the most controversial episodes in East Anglian society of the time, for instance, attempting to purchase part of the by-then somewhat infamous
The duke also made other disputed (and in some cases outrightly illegal) claims to other properties in the region over the following decade, and in 1465, a group of his retainers destroyed the manor house of Hellesdon in Norfolk, ransacking its church. For these and other illegalities alleged by contemporaries, Suffolk escaped retribution, probably due to his royal connections. On the other hand, he was never able to use such connections to his advantage and persuade the king to intercede in any disputes on the duke's behalf.[1]
Wars of the Roses
Although King Henry doubtless intended to tie political opponents together, John's marriage to Elizabeth of York may have had the unintended consequence of tying Suffolk to York's future opposition of Henry. And, as Hicks says, Suffolk "once again hazarded the future of his House" by involvement in national politics.[1]
The year following John's marriage to Elizabeth, York's political opposition to Henry had become an armed campaign. Following their
But, according to one contemporary chronicler, at the same parliament, Suffolk was stripped of his dukedom and reduced to the rank of earl, because he had married the daughter of York.[1] Official records continued to refer to John as duke,[13] and in any case, as he was still strictly a minor, and not in official receipt of any of his titles, it may not have been true. Or, if it did happen, it may well have been on the grounds of his fiscal inability to uphold the status of a duke.[1]
In 1460, the last year of Lancastrian rule, John was appointed a justice of the peace, but this was insufficient to prevent him taking the Yorkists' side, which, after the Battle of Wakefield on 30 December 1460, came under the control of the dead duke of York's eldest surviving son, Edward, Earl of March.[1]
John seems to have regarded himself from the age of eighteen as a potential force in English politics, and in the late 1450s seems to have deliberately avoided intimating support for either faction. However, by early 1461 Suffolk had come down firmly on York's side.
Later career
Under Edward IV
One of de la Pole's first commissions under the new regime was to accompany Edward on his campaign against the Scots in winter 1462, although he had returned to
Although Suffolk was receiving minimal financial benefit from the new regime, he still took conspicuous part in all the major state ceremonies. Such events ranged from the 1465 royal wedding to
Following Tewkesbury, Suffolk was granted the estates of the under-age
Under Richard III and Henry VII
Edward IV died suddenly in April 1483, leaving his young son,
In August 1485 Henry Tudor invaded England. The duke, like so many of his peers, failed to participate at the Battle of Bosworth Field, unlike Lincoln, who fought for the king. Neither of them were sanctioned for any part they had played in the previous regimes.[1] Indeed, Suffolk almost immediately regained Wallingford (since Lovell had been attainted after Bosworth), and played an active role in Henry VII's first parliament. In October 1485, de la Pole raised men against rebels in Norfolk who had been "associating" with the Scots.[10] The following year, Lincoln took part in Lambert Simnel's rebellion in 1487, possibly with the intention of claiming the throne himself. Confronting Henry's army at the Battle of Stoke Field, Lincoln was killed in the fighting.[1] Soon after Henry's accession, Suffolk, with the rest of the nobility, was forced to subscribe to royal diktat not to distribute livery or assemble great retinues. Back in East Anglia, however, Suffolk continued to raise forces against those he believed to be in possession of manors claimed by the duke.[10]
Last years and death
Notwithstanding the rebellion and death in battle against the king of Suffolk's son and heir, the duke does not seem to have lost the trust of King Henry. He was once again appointed trier at the 1487 parliament, and mustered men for Henry's expedition the next year. Around the same time he also lost the constableship of Wallingford again. Although Suffolk did not actually lose much under Henry Tudor, his heirs were to suffer. At the 1487 parliament that Suffolk attended, Lincoln was attainted for treason; Suffolk kept his own lands and also those he had granted Lincoln; but this was only for his life, and on de la Pole's death, these estates were to revert to the crown. This was not long to be effected. Although Suffolk seems still to have been alive on 14 May 1492,[1] when he sat as county justice of the peace (JP)[10] he was certainly dead six days later. He was buried, wearing the mantle of the Order of the Garter,[19] in the college he founded at Wingfield in Suffolk in a 'splendid' tomb which belied the "discreet obscurity" in which he had spent his final years.[20] His head rests on a helm surmounted by the Saracen head crest of the de la Pole family which appears "with wavy hair bound with a jewelled fillet and ear ring in the right ear".[21] Elizabeth, who died later, was buried next to him wearing a widow's barbe.[19]
Tomb
Suffolk's tomb in St Andrew's Chapel of Wingfield church
Children
He had eleven known children, all by Elizabeth.
- John, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1462–16 June 1487),[25] was the eldest and his heir. Eventually, due to King Richard III losing his own son, he became heir to his maternal uncle's throne. Following Richard's death at Bosworth Field, Lincoln rebelled against the new king Henry VII, and was killed at the Battle of Stoke.[26]
- Geoffrey, born circa 1464, but died young.[27]
- Edward (1466–1485) joined the church and became Archdeacon of Richmond.[28]
- Elizabeth (c. 1468–1489), married Henry Lovel, 8th Baron Morley (1466–1489), and had no issue.[29]
- Edmund (1471–30 April 1513),[30] eventually inherited his father's dukedom, and had to bargain energetically with the king and pay a substantial amount before it was granted.[10] He eventually became a Yorkist pretender to the crown of Henry VIII, who had him beheaded.[31]
- Dorothy, born in 1472, died young,[29]
- Humphrey (1474–1513) took Holy Orders
- Anne (1476–1495) became a nun.[29]
- Katherine (c. 1477–1513), married William, Baron Stourton, with whom she had no issue.[32]
- Sir William de la Pole (1478–1539)
- Richard de la Pole (1480–1525)
John de la Pole's two youngest sons, William and Richard, both seem to have been involved in a plot against Henry VII that was discovered in 1501. Sir William, of
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag Hicks, M. (2004). "Pole, John de la, second duke of Suffolk (1442–1492)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.
- ISBN 978-1-139-44919-9.
- ^ Michael K. Jones, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (Cambridge University Press, 1992), 37.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-300-21294-5.
- ^ Ralph A. Griffiths, King and Country: England and Wales in the Fifteenth Century, (Hambledon Press, 1991), 91.
- ISBN 978-0-521-44794-2.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-521-44794-2.
- ISBN 978-0-520-04372-5.
- ^ Virgoe, R., 'The Death of William de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk', Bulletin of the John Rylands Library 47 (1965), 492.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Thomson, J.A.F., 'John De La Pole, Duke of Suffolk', Speculum 54 (1979), 532.
- ^ Thomson, J.A.F., 'John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk', Speculum 54 (1979), p. 529.
- ISBN 978-1-84384-024-4.
- ^ Thomson, J.A.F., 'John De La Pole, Duke of Suffolk', Speculum 54 (1979), 530.
- ISBN 978-1-139-50281-8.
A medieval English mark was a unit of currency equivalent to two-thirds of a pound.
- ^ Handbook of British Chronology, ed. E. B. Pryde, D. E. Greenway, (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 484.
- ^ George Frederick Beltz (1841). Memorials of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, from Its Foundation to the Present Time, Including the History of the Order. Pickering. pp. 164–.
- ISBN 978-1-84383-832-6.
- ISBN 978-90-04-31043-8.
- ^ a b Handbook for Essex, Suffolk, Norfolk, and Cambridgeshire ... J. Murray. 1870. p. 178.
- ISBN 978-1-84383-832-6.
- ISBN 978-0-85115-554-8.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-84383-068-9.
- ISBN 978-1-78327-115-3.
- ^ Sir Nicholas Harris Nicolas (1842). History of the Orders of Knighthood of the British Empire; of the Order of the Guelphs of Hanover; and of the Medals, Clasps, and Crosses, Conferred for Naval and Military Services. J. Hunter. p. 369.
- ^ Moorhen, W., 'The Career of John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln', The Ricardian 13 (2003), 341–358.
- ISBN 978-1-317-90518-9.
- ISBN 978-0-300-21294-5.
- ISBN 978-0-521-55586-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-118-78314-6.
- ISBN 978-1-4391-9157-6.
- ISBN 978-1-136-96253-0.
- ISBN 978-5-87129-193-1.
- ISBN 978-0-19-924737-0.
- ISBN 978-5-87129-193-1.
- ^ Cunningham, S. (2004). "Pole, Richard de la (d. 1525)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press.