NOTES:
Born at Castle Farley, near Bath, 14 Aug 1473; daughter of George Plantagenet, Duke of Clarence (he of the nosedive in the "butt of almsey."), and Isabel, elder daughter of the Earl of Warwick (the King-maker), and the sister of Edmund of Warwick who, under Henry VII, paid with his life the penalty of being the last male representative of the Yorkist line (28 Nov 1499). By birth she was of the "ancient Royal House" of Plantagenet, and she had never been declared illegitimate, unlike her first cousins, the "Princes in the Tower".

Royal blood, even the faintest of drops, was considered a threat by Henry VIII and his fledgling Dynasty. (Henry VII 's actions go a long way to cast guilt on him rather than Richard III in the disappearance and murder of the "Lost Princes.") At the time of the Pole boys' birth, all seemed well - their mother was aligned with one of Henry VII's staunchest supporters, and Henry VII himself would produce three sons (Arthur, Henry VIII and Edmund, though two of these boys would never see their 17 birthdays.)

Close friend of Catalina de Aragon, after the birth of the Princess Mary, Margaret of Salisbury became her sponsor in baptism and confirmation. Margaret was assigned to Mary's household when the latter was still the pampered, beloved daughter of the King and Queen; she was Mary's first "Lady Mistress" who oversaw and governed Mary's household and acted very much in the capacity of a mother.

Royal birth demanded a certain style, and rank was recognized by the Royal child, even from infancy, having his or her own household. Once Mary no longer needed a nurse (Lady Bryan, who was, coincidentally, related by marriage to the Boleyns - her husband's first wife was a Boleyn relation) the Plantagenet Countess of Salisbury was honoured with a prominent position in the Lady Princess' household.

Catalina de Aragon often communicated with her daughter through Margaret (it was noted that all Margaret had to say to Mary was "Madam, your mother, would wish..." for the eager-to-please little girl to comply instantly and with good cheer). But when the matter of the king's divorce began to be talked of Reginald Pole (Cardinal) boldly spoke out his mind in the affair and shortly afterwards withdrew from England. Margaret was allowed to stay with Mary for a while, but then Henry feared that Margaret, a long-time friend and admirer of Catalina, would only serve to strengthen Mary's resolve not to bend to her father's Will, especially where it touched Catalina and Mary's status. Margaret was dismissed from Mary's service, and thus she begged to remain, and pay for Mary to have a household from her own pockets, Mary was bundled off to serve herself in the household of the new "only" Princess in England, her baby half-sister, Elizabeth. So began Mary's days of abject misery, and Margaret, though she never stopped loving and praying for Mary and her beleagured mother and their cause, disappeared from the Henrican center stage.

Catalina de Aragon and Margaret entertained dreams of a marriage between ReginaldPole(Cardinal)(who was not an ordained priest, though he became a Cardinal. It is entirely possible that ReginaldPole(Cardinal did not receive Holy Orders to keep him available as a possible spouse for Mary. These dreams were especially treasured when Charles V threw over his child cousin Mary to marry another cousin, Isabella of Portugal, who was more of an age to immediately given Charles an heir (whereas Mary at the time was six years old, and had six years to go before reaching the canonical minimum of twelve).

Catalina, being Spanish, naturally favoured an Imperial alliance for her daughter over a French one, and when it appeared that Henry was not going to engage Mary to a royal spouse at all (he bastardized Mary when Elizabeth was born to his second wife, Anne Boleyn an escape for Mary and a marriage to Cardinal Pole (who was on the continent and avoiding Henry VIII 's wrath - the good Cardinal was publishing papers supporting Catalina's and Mary's cause and deriding Henry) seemed the happiest prospect for her unhappy daughter.

Unfortunately, however far out of reach Cardinal Pole was, his mother was still within Henry 's reach, and despite the fact that Margaret had had no contact with Mary and Catalina , she still was witness to the long-ago hopes (and probably still praying for them to see fruition) and, having the blood of the "ancient House of Plantagenet" and ideas of a Tudor- Plantagenet- Pole alliance, was thus seen as a threat to Henry and his new, Mary-less, line of descent. Also, it was hoped, that Cardinal Pole would surrender himself to save his mother, who, despite beiong past seventy, was thrown, along with every other Pole Henry could get his hands on, into the Tower.

She returned to court after the fall of Anne, but in 1540 Reginald Pole (Cardinal) sent to Henry his treatise "Pro ecclesiasticæ unitatis defensione", in answer to questions propounded to him in the king's behalf by Cromwell, Tunstall, Starkey, and others. Besides being a theological reply to the questions, the book was a denunciation of the king's courses. Henry was beside himself with rage, and it soon became evident that, failing the writer of the "Defensio", the royal anger was to be wreaked on the hostages in England, and this despite the fact that the countess and her eldest son had written to ReginaldPole (Cardinal) in reproof of his attitude and action.

Unluckily, a search of Margaret's home produced a heraldic device entertwining pansies (the symbol of the Poles) with marigolds (one of the symbols of Mary Tudor.) Henry VIII went off the deep end when he heard of that, and with Cardinal Pole refusing to return to England, he vented his anger on Margaret, whom once he said he "loved and honoured as [he did] his own Granddame."

In Nov, 1538, two of her sons and others of their kin were arrested on a charge of treason, though Cromwell had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin", they were committed to the Tower, and in Jan, with the exception of Geoffrey Pole, they were executed. Ten days after the apprehension of her sons the venerable countess was arrested and examined by William Fitzwilliam, Earl of Southampton, and Thomas Goodrike, Bishop of Ely, but these reported to Cromwell that although they had "travailed with her" for many hours she would "nothing utter", and they were forced to conclude that either her sons had not made her a sharer in their "treason", or else she was "the most arrant traitress that ever lived". In Southampton's custody she was committed to Cowdray Park, near Midhurst, and there subjected to all manner of indignity. In May Cromwell introduced against her a Bill of Attainder, the readings of which were hurriedly got over, and at the third reading Cromwell produced a white silk tunic found in one of her coffers, which was embroidered on the back with the Five Wounds, and for this, which was held to connect her with the Pilgrimage of Grace, she was "attainted to die by act of Parliament". The other charges against her, to which she was never permitted to reply, had to do with the escape from England of her chaplain and the conveying of messages abroad. After the passage of the Act she was removed to the Tower and there, for nearly two years, she was "tormented by the severity of the weather and insufficient clothing". In Apr, 1541, there was another insurrection in Yorkshire, and it was then determined to enforce without any further procedure the Act of Attainder passed in 1539.

Whatever the version, all agreed that Margaret, Countess of Salisbury died a very hard death. Chalk up another judicial murder for Bluff King Hal.

When the story of his mother's gruesome death, in all its horrific and gory details, reached Cardinal Pole in Europe, he said that he would "...never fear to call himself the son of a martyr".

Margaret was buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula within the Tower. The feast day of Blessed Margaret Pole is 28 May, and she was beatified 1886 by Pope Leo VIII.