Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury 1473-1541

Born in 1473, Margaret Pole was the daughter of George, Duke of Clarence, niece of both Edward IV and Richard III, and the only woman, apart from Anne Boleyn, to hold a peerage title in her own right during the sixteenth century. After being restored by Henry VIII to the earldom of Salisbury in 1512, her deep Catholic convictions were increasingly out of favour with Henry and she was executed on a charge of treason in 1541. In 1886, Margaret Pole was among sixty-three martyrs beatified by Pope Leo XIII for not hesitating 'to lay down their lives by the shedding of their blood' for the dignity of the Holy See. In this first biography of a significant female figure in the male-dominated world of Tudor politics, Hazel Pierce presents the life and culture of this propertied titled lady against the social and political background of late Yorkist and early Tudor Britain. Containing important new research on aristocratic life and court politics in the period, including a complete re-appraisal of the so-called 'Exeter conspiracy', Margaret Pole is a major contribution to our understanding of Henry VIII's relationship with the nobility, and the political, social and cultural position of women in sixteenth century England.