2nd January In 1539, Geoffrey Pole, son of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, was pardoned after attempting suicide for the third time. Pole had been imprisoned in the Tower of London on 29th August 1538 after being banned from court, due to his brother Reginald’s promotion as Cardinal. He was interrogated regarding letters he and his family had received from his brother, and words which he had uttered showing his support for the Cardinal, who had denounced the King and the royal supremacy in his treatise Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione (De unitate). As a result of information gleaned from Geoffrey Pole, his brother, Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu, was arrested for treason along with his brother-in-law, Sir Edward Neville, and Henry Courtenay, Marquis of Exeter, and his family (wife Gertrude Blount and son Edward Courtenay). The three men were accused of conspiring against the King, seeking to deprive the King of his title of supreme head of the church and plotting with Cardinal Reginald Pole. Pole’s mother, Margaret, was also arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London. Neville, Montagu, Exeter and Margaret were all executed for treason. Only Geoffrey survived, thanks to his broken spirit and his testimony against his family.1
The fate of Henry Pole the Younger remains one of the Tower of London’s most enduring mysteries. While his exact age is unknown—estimates range from 13 to 18—his survival following his father’s execution suggests he was likely a young adolescent.
The most haunting theory regarding his disappearance is that he died of starvation, whether through deliberate cruelty or systemic neglect. Regardless of the specific cause, his silent end remains a somber mark on the Tudor era.
Following the execution of his father, Lord Montagu, in 1539 and the brutal execution of his grandmother, Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury, in 1541, Henry Pole the Younger remained a prisoner in the Tower. The public backlash against his grandmother’s death likely deterred Henry VIII from ordering the boy’s formal execution to avoid further outrage.
Despite being denied a pardon in 1540, young Henry continued to receive a food allowance from the King. However, stripped of his titles and family, he remained a forgotten captive whose life ultimately faded away within the Tower walls.
The lack of certainty regarding Henry Pole the Younger’s age persists, with estimates varying between a birth year of 1521 and Allison Weir’s proposed date of 1527. This suggests he was likely in his early teens when imprisoned.
Historical comparisons highlight the severity of his treatment; while his fellow captive Edward Courtenay was given a tutor and relative freedom, the French Ambassador noted in 1540 that Henry was poorly and strictly kept and not desired to know anything. His uncle, Reginald Pole, later lamented his fate, referring to him as the “remaining hope of our race,” a title that underscores the tragic loss of the family’s lineage.
The stark contrast in prison conditions suggests a grim end for Henry Pole the Younger. Because the recorded food bills for his maintenance simply ceased, it is highly probable he died from neglect, harsh treatment, or starvation.
While historical records offer no definitive conclusion, the silence is telling; had he been alive when Mary I took the throne, she certainly would have released him.2
As mentioned earlier, Edward Courtenay was also sent to the Tower of London, and he too was a child of only twelve years old. He remained imprisoned there during the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, both of whom viewed him with extreme suspicion. It was his pious cousin Mary who finally released him, and even after he later rebelled against her, he was once again spared imprisonment in the Tower because of her clemency.
This reveals much about Mary, who is still often judged as a villain. While her grandfather, Henry VII, imprisoned Edward Plantagenet—at ten years old—in the Tower, her father Henry VIII imprisoned the two boys mentioned above, and Edward VI kept his cousin confined out of fear of being usurped. Mary, by contrast, even after enduring an attempted coup that nearly succeeded, tried to save the life of her cousin, the young Lady Jane Grey. Contrary to what is often said, Jane was not sent to the Tower by Mary; she was already there in preparation for her coronation, which ultimately never took place.
In other words, Mary’s justification for the execution of Jane Grey was based on something that actually happened, not on something the monarchs merely feared might happen. It was not the result of simple anxiety over a potential threat, especially considering the care and kindness she showed toward Jane’s sisters, who were allowed to live and were treated with notable leniency.
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Source:
On This Day in Tudor History by Claire Ridgway ↩︎
- Henry Pole the Younger: A Forgotten Enigma – Renaissance English History Podcast ↩︎