1541

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

Born Bath, of royal blood, she survived the Wars of the Roses and was trusted by Henry VIII enough to be a governess to Mary, his daughter by Catherine of Aragon. However when the king wanted a divorce from Catherine, Cardinal Pole, Margaret's son, from the safety of Italy, wrote denouncing the king who then turned against the whole Pole family. This meant execution for Margaret, even at age 68. There are stories that she ran from the block and the executioner chased her around Tower Green before he could complete the job (cue the Benny Hill theme tune).

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This section lists the memorials where the subject on this page is commemorated:
Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury

Commemorated ati

Tower of London execution site

Catling wrote the poem as well as creating the sculpture. Doesn't that cushio...

Tower scaffold - 1946

See Anne Boleyn's plaque for when/how this plaque was displayed.

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Other Subjects

John Tiptoft, Earl of Worcester

Unusually well-educated. Titles: Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Constable, Deputy Governor of Ireland.... and Butcher of England - for his relish in executing many Lancastrians. Thus when the Lan...

Person, Execution, Politics & Administration

1 memorial

Ensign Denise Madeleine Bloch, Légion d'honneur, Croix de Guerre

Denise Madeleine Bloch was born on 21 January 1916 in Paris, France to a Jewish family. Her father was Jacques Henri Bloch and her mother was Suzanne Levi-Strauss. She had three brothers. Her Wiki...

Person, Armed Forces, Espionage, Execution, France, Germany

War dead, WW2

1 memorial

Edward Plantagenet, Earl of Warwick

His father, George Duke of Clarence, was executed for treason by being drowned in a vat of Malmsey wine, if we believe Shakespeare. Edward was a potential claimant to the English throne and so imp...

Person, Execution, Royalty

1 memorial