Died 1535 | Aunt Anne of York | |
Parents Sir Richard Pole, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury Grandparents George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence, Edith St John Uncles Edward Plantagenet, 17th Earl of Warwick, Richard of York Similar Margaret Pole - Countess, Geoffrey Pole, Sir Richard Pole, Henry Pole - 1st Baron Mo, Ursula Pole - Baroness | ||
Sir Arthur Pole of Broadhurst, Sussex (bet. 1493-1499 - bet. 10 May 1527 - August 1532) was an English knight.
Contents
Life
He was the second son of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (godmother to Mary I of England) and Sir Richard Pole. His younger brother, Cardinal Reginald Pole, became the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Mary I. His eldest brother was Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu.
Arthur started his career in at court in 1514, travelling to France with Henry's sister Mary when she was wed to Louis XII. Distinguishing himself on the jousting field in 1516, he soon became a squire of the king's body. He was then elevated to Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King Henry VIII in 1518. Arthur was among the courtiers who traveled to France for the Field of the Cloth of Gold in May 1520 where he earned prizes as a member of Henry Courtney, Earl of Devon's team.
He was knighted by Charles Brandon while both he and Lord Montagu were on campaign against the French in 1523. He was also the Lord of the Manor of Broadhurst, Sussex.
Marriage & Family
He married before 24 October 1522 Jane Lewkenor (b. 1492) widow of Sir Christopher Pickering of Ellerton (b. 1490 in Sedbergh, Yorkshire and died in Woodbridge, Suffolk), whom she married before 1516, and daughter of Sir Roger Lewkenor (b. 1469 and died in Trotton, Sussex) of Trotton, Sussex - a paternal grandson of Sir Roger Lewknor and Alianora de Camoys - and wife Eleanor Tuchet - daughter of John Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley and 3rd Baron Tuchet and Anne Echingham.
The couple had at least four children: Henry, Mary b. (1529) who married Sir John Stanley, Jane, and Margaret (b. 1527) who married Sir John Fitz-Herbert.
Historian Hazel Pierce has suggested plausibly that Arthur may have died of the sweating sickness in 1528. He most certainly was dead before his widow entered into a marriage contract with her next husband in August of 1532. He was buried at Bisham Abbey.
When Arthur died, his mother and brother, Lady Salisbury and her son, Lord Montague, did not wish Jane to remarry, which would deprive the Pole family, and Arthur's heirs, of her fortune. They coerced Jane to become a novice. Jane was eventually released from her vows by William Barlow, the new Bishop of St. Asaph, who was residing in his priory of Bisham. She said to Bishop Barlow, 'Can I leave the veil at pleasure?'; 'Yes, for all religious persons have a time of probation. You are only a novice and could leave your nun's weeds at your pleasure. I bind you no further...', he said. Jane then married Sir William Barentyne (b. 31 Dec. 1481 - d. 17 Nov. 1549). The Barentynes' sought and Act of Parliament to declare their children legitimate in 1543 after the passage of the Act of the Six Articles. She died before 12 March 1562/63.