Margaret Pole

Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, B~Headed For Treason

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Margaret Pole was the last of the Pantagenets.

She was the daughter of George Duke of Clarence & Isobel Neville.

Her father was the brother of King Edward IV, and King Richard III, and all three were known as The Son's of York.

As such she was a second cousin, to King Henry VIII and Godmother to his daughter, Mary I.

In 1538, numerous members of the Pole family were arrested under the act of treason, and were taken to the Tower of London to face a traitor’s punishment.

In January 1539, many of the members of the Pole family were exEcuted.

Margaret Pole was taken to the block on 27th May 1541.

She was 65 years old.

She was given a private exEcution, as she was of noble birth.

When told by the exEcutioner to kneel, Margaret refused.

She replied:

“So should traitors do and I am none”.

There are two accounts of her exEcution, both of which are brutal.

One claims that she was exEcuted by an inexperienced axeman, who at first missed her neck, gashing her shoulder, and that it took a further ten blows, to finish her off.

The second account tells of how she managed to escape from the block, but was brutally cut down by her exEcutioner as she tried to run away.

This second account concurs with the first, in that it says that eleven blows were required.

Both however, led to a dreadful end, and her botched exEcution become known as one of the worst in The Tower's history.

She was finally buried in the Chapel of St. Peter ad Vincula in The Tower Of London.

Margarets last days were nothing short of traumatic.

She is thought to have etched some final words, into the stone of her cell, while she awaited her grizzly end.

These are the words found on the wall of her cell:

I am no traitor, no, not I!

My faithfulness stands fast and so,

Towards the block I shall not go!

Nor make one step, as you shall see;

Christ in Thy Mercy, save Thou me!

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https://inquisitivewonder.com/the-gruesome-execution.../...

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https://ko-fi.com/thetudorintruders

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Portrait attributed to Margaret Pole by unknown artist~Created: circa 1535.

Given to the National Portrait Gallery, London in 1931.