Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
| Margaret Plantagenet | |
|---|---|
| Countess of Salisbury | |
Portrait of an unknown woman, often identified as the Countess of Salisbury | |
| Born | 14 August 1473 Farleigh Hungerford Castle, Somerset, England |
| Died | 27 May 1541 (aged 67) Tower of London, London, England |
| Burial | |
| Spouse | Sir Richard Pole |
| Issue | |
| House | Plantagenet |
| Father | George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence |
| Mother | Isabel Neville |
The Blessed Margaret Pole | |
|---|---|
| Martyr | |
| Cause of death | beheading |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church (England) |
| Beatified | 29 December 1886, St. Peter's Basilica, Rome, Kingdom of Italy, by Pope Leo XIII |
Margaret Plantagenet, Countess of Salisbury (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), was the only surviving daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (a brother of Kings Edward IV and Richard III) and his wife Isabel Neville. As a result of Margaret's marriage to Richard Pole, she was also known as Margaret Pole. She was one of just two women in 16th-century England to be a peeress in her own right (suo jure) without a husband in the House of Lords.
One of the few members of the House of Plantagenet to have survived the Wars of the Roses, Margaret was executed in 1541 at the command of King Henry VIII, the second monarch of the House of Tudor, who was the son of her first cousin, Elizabeth of York. Pope Leo XIII beatified her as a martyr for the Catholic Church on 29 December 1886. One of her sons, Reginald Pole, was the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury.