Reginald Pole (1500 - 1558)

Born 12 Mar 1500 in Stourton Castle, Staffordshire, England

Ancestors

Died 17 Nov 1558 at age 58 in Lambeth Palace, London, England

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Reginald Pole is Notable.

Biography

Reginald Pole, son of Richard Pole and his wife, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury ^[1] was probably born at Stourton Castle in Staffordshire on the 12th of March 1500. ^{[2] [3]} His mother was a granddaughter of Richard, Duke of York, the father of Edward IV and Richard III. By the year of Reginald's birth the Tudor monarchy had been established in England for a mere 15 years. In 1509 Henry VII died and was succeeded by his only surviving son, Henry VIII. ^[4]

Reginald was educated at Sheen Priory and Magdalen College, Oxford, matriculating in 1512. Taught by William Latimer and Thomas Linacre, he graduated on the 27th of June 1515 aged 15. In 1518 the King granted him the Deanery of Wimborne Minster, and several other livings followed though Reginald was not an ordained priest. He was, in 1523, studying at the University of Padua.^[5]

However, by 1527, King Henry was seeking to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled. Some eighteen years of marriage and many pregnancies had left the couple with one child, a daughter, the Princess Mary, and anyway he had fallen out of love with his 40 year old wife and in love with Anne Boleyn who declined to become his mistress. ^[6] Reginald declined to support his king in this endeavour and took himself abroad again and on the 22nd of December 1536 was created a Cardinal. Having spoken against the divorce he was even more vocal on the subject of the Act of Supremacy which made Henry the head of the Church of England. Safely abroad the King could not reach him so his vengeance fell on Reginald's family. His eldest brother, Henry, Baron Montagu, went to the block in January 1539 and his mother, the Countess of Salisbury, then aged 67 followed on the 27th of May 1541.

Reginald eventually returned to England after the death of Edward VI and the accession of Mary. Finally ordained priest, he was created Archbishop of Canterbury on the 22nd of March 1556.

Only twelve hours after the death of the Queen he died at 7 p.m., on the 17th of November 1558 and was buried in Beckett's Corona at Canterbury Cathedral. ^[3]

1558: "The xix day of November ded(died) be-twyn v and vj in the morning my lord cardenall Polle at Lambeth, and he was byshope of Canturbere; and the he lay tyll the consell sett the tyme he shuld be bered (buried), and when, and where."^[7]

Sources

1. ↑ p 89, Poole - Pole Benolte, Thomas; Philipot, John; & Owen, George. The Visitations of the County of Sussex: 1530 and 1633-4. London: The Harleian Society, 1905. Vol LIII
2. ↑ Visitation of Hampshire Page 36: Poole
3. ↑ ^{3.0 3.1} Wikipedia: Reginald Pole
4. ↑ Wikipedia: Henry VII of England
5. ↑ Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 46 Pole, Reginald by James Gairdner
6. ↑ Wikipedia: Henry VIII of England
7. ↑ Machyn, Henry. The Diary of Henry Machyn, Citizen and Merchant-Taylor of London, from A.D. 1550 to A.D. 1563, Camden Society Series (London, 1848) Vol. 42, Page 178

See also

• T. F. Mayer, ‘Pole, Reginald (1500–1558)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008 accessed 28 Sept 2017

• Richardson, Douglas.Royal Ancestry (2013) Royal Ancestry: A Study in Colonial and Medieval Families, 5 vols., ed. Kimball G. Everingham, (Salt Lake City, Utah: the author, 2013), Vol IV, page 400, Reginald Pole.

• Lives of the Archbishops of Canterbury: Reformation period; vol. 3, Volume 8; Bentley,1869 - 447 pages