A member of the House of York on his mother’s side as a Plantagenet
Henry, his mother Margaret and his son becomes an unprovoked target for the King's anger when his brother Reginald Pole, a priest living in exile in Rome following the orders of Pope Paul III, begins denouncing Henry's Protestant government and imploring Catholic powers to invade England. Unable to reach Reginald, Henry instead takes out his vengeance against Henry Pole (the Lord Montague), Margaret, and his young son, by having Sir Francis Bryan arrest them.
They are cruelly beheaded (3.06)
Historic Counterpart[]
This character is loosely based on a man of the same name; Henry Pole, Baron Montagu.
Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, the 8th Countess of Salisbury’s eldest son, Henry Pole, Baron Montagu, Maternal grandson of the 1st Duke of Clarence, who was a brother of the York kings Edward IV and Richard III.
He was invested as a knight by King Henry VIII in 1513 and summoned to Parliament as Baron Montagu in the Peerage of England on 12 October 1514. In May 1536, Henry was one of the peers in the trial of Anne Boleyn.
4 November 1538, Montagu along with his wife's brother, Edward Neville, and other relatives were arrested on a charge of treason, though Sir Thomas Cromwell, Earl of Essex had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin". With the exception of Geoffrey Pole, they were all executed. Ten days after the arrest of her sons, Margaret herself, despite her age, was arrested and examined but would "nothing utter". And another cousin, Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter, was executed on 9 December 1538. On 9 January 1539, all of the remaining arrestees were beheaded, with the exception of Henry's brother Geoffrey Pole.
Because of the popularity of the Countess, Henry stayed the inevitable penalty of death.
Quotes[]
[to Edward seymour] You know, my Lord, this is the truth. The King never made a man, but he destroyed him again, so take a care, my lord.
Gallery[]
Margaret Pole in the Tower of London