John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk

John de la Pole
Duke of Suffolk
The Tomb of 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife in Wingfield Church
Duke of Suffolk
Reign	1463–1492
Born	27 September 1442
Died	27 October 1492 (aged 50)
Burial	Wingfield, Suffolk
Spouse	Lady Margaret Beaufort (1450–1453; annulled) Elizabeth of York
Father	William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
Mother	Alice Chaucer

Arms of De la Pole: Azure, a fess between three leopard's faces or

Quartered arms of Sir John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, KG

St Mary the Virgin Church, Iffley, Oxfordshire, 15th-century stained glass of the arms of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1442–1491/2), KG. Arms: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Azure a fess between three leopard's faces or (de la Pole, (here shown with six leopard's faces)); 2nd & 3rd: Argent, a chief gules over all a lion rampant double queued or (Burghersh of Ewelme); Impaling the royal arms of England with label of three points argent, the arms of his 2nd wife Elizabeth of York. Crest: A Saracen's head gules, beard and hair gold, with a jewelled fillet about the brows

John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, KG (27 September 1442 – between 29 October 1491 and 27 October 1492), known as "the Trimming Duke", was the son of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Alice Chaucer, daughter of Thomas Chaucer, and a great-grandson of the poet Geoffrey Chaucer.

Life

On 7 February 1450, when still a small child, he was married to the six-year-old Lady Margaret Beaufort, though the Papal dispensation to marry was not signed until 18 August 1450,^[1] and later this marriage was annulled in February 1453.^[2]

Sometime before February 1458, John married Elizabeth, the second surviving daughter of Richard of York and Cecily Neville. She was the sister of Edward IV and Richard III.^[3] John was thus brother-in-law of two Kings of England. Richard, Duke of York had been a bitter enemy of John's father (executed in 1450), but John supported the House of York in the Wars of the Roses.

The Dukedom of Suffolk had been forfeited when John's father was executed. The title was restored by Edward IV, and John was created Duke of Suffolk by Letters Patent on 23 March 1463.^[4] He was Constable of Wallingford Castle and held the Honour of Wallingford. In 1472 he was made a Knight of the Garter and appointed High Steward of Oxford University. He was also sometime Lord Lieutenant of Ireland.

He submitted to Henry VII after Bosworth Field. He served Henry loyally, even though three of his sons later rebelled.

He was buried at Wingfield, Suffolk.

Children

He had eleven known children, all by Elizabeth:

• John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (c. 1462–16 June 1487). He was designated heir to his maternal uncle Richard III. Married to Lady Margaret FitzAlan and had a son Edward de la Pole, who died young. Rebelled against Henry VII and was killed at the Battle of Stoke Field.
• Geoffrey de la Pole (b. 1464). Died young.
• Edward de la Pole (1466–1485). Archdeacon of Richmond.
• Elizabeth de la Pole (c. 1468–1489). Married to Henry Lovel, 8th Baron Morley (1466–1489), without issue.
• Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1471–30 April 1513). Yorkist pretender in succession to his brother John. Beheaded by order of Henry VIII.
• Dorothy de la Pole (b. 1472). Died young.
• Humphrey de la Pole (1474–1513). In Holy Orders.
• Anne de la Pole (1476–1495). Nun.
• Catherine de la Pole (c. 1477–1513). Married to William Stourton, 5th Baron Stourton, without issue.
• Sir William de la Pole, knight, of Wingfield Castle (1478–1539). William was kept in the Tower of London, his date of death is generally regarded as being during late 1539, either October or November. Married Katherine Stourton, no issue.^[5]
• Richard de la Pole (1480–24 February 1525). Yorkist pretender in succession to Edmund. Killed at the Battle of Pavia.

Notes

1. Michael K. Jones, The King's Mother: Lady Margaret Beaufort, Countess of Richmond and Derby, (Cambridge University Press, 1992), 37.
2. Ralph A. Griffiths, King and Country: England and Wales in the Fifteenth Century, (Hambledon Press, 1991), 91.
3. Stanley B. Chrimes, Henry VII, (Yale University Press, 1999), 13.
4. Handbook of British Chronology, ed. E. B. Pryde, D. E. Greenway, (Cambridge University Press, 2003), 484.
5. "William de la Pole". Links.org. Retrieved 2008-03-21.

References

• Burke's General Armorie, London, 1844, gives the Duke's arms as: "Az. a fesse between three leopards or."
• Burke, John, and John Bernard, The Royal Families of England, Scotland, and Wales, with their Descendants, Sovereigns and Subjects, London, 1851, vol. 2, pedigrees CLXIX and CCI.
• Burke, Sir Bernard, Ulster King of Arms, Dormant, Abeyant, Forfeited, and Extinct Peerages of the British Empire, London, 1883, p. 441.
• Richardson, Douglas, Plantagenet Ancestry, Baltimore, Md., 2004, p. 690.
• Richardson, Douglas, Magna Carta Ancestry, Baltimore, Md., 2005, p. 268-9.