JOHN DE LA POLE, 2nd DUKE OF SUFFOLK.
Born 1442.
Status: Married, to Elisabeth of York (born 1444).
Children: John de la Pole (born 1461) 1st Earl of Lincoln, Edmund de la Pole (1464), Elizabeth de la Pole (1468), Anne de la Pole (1471), Catherine de la Pole (1473), Dorothy de la Pole (1475).
Titles: 2nd Duke of Suffolk, 1st Baron de Clifford, 1st Baron Skipton .
Seat: Wingfield Castle, Donnington Castle, Ewelme Palace, Wallingford Castle, Eastworldham, Westworldham, Cotton, Nuneham.
Distinctions: Knight of the Golden Fleece, Knight of the Garter.
Traits (9):
+2 Charisma+2 from buildings=4
+2 Survival.
+3 Wealth.
+1 Battles.
+1 Joust.
BIOGRAPHY AND BACKGROUND.
If there is a nouveau riche on England's soil, is certainly de la Pole. His great-great-grandfather, William de la Pole, was a mere merchant, albeit a famously wealthy one who became Chief Baron of the Exchequer and was thereby ennobled. His enormous wealth allowed him to fund the elderly Edward III’s campaigns, something that earned him the royal favour and appraise. Michael de la Pole, William’s son and heir, had King Richard’s trust, being one of his most trustworthy (and voracious) servants, serving him for a long time; devious, ambitious and scheming, he planted the seeds of distrust between Lancaster and the King. He managed to be created Earl of Suffolk, after William de Ufford’s death, being allotted a sizable part of the late earl’s lands and possessions. Fleeing execution and attainment, Michael died in France in 1389. His son, also named Michael, shrewdly consented Richard II’s deposition and supported Bolingbroke, such a prudent move earned him a restoration of all lands and titles that he hadn’t managed to recover since his father’s demise. Restored to all honours once held by the 1st Earl, he actively served Henry IV and Henry V, finally dying at Harfleur in 1415. He had married Katherine de Stafford, great-grandaughter of Joan of Acre and Gilbert de Clare, Earl of Gloucester and grandaughter of Thomas de Beauchamp, 11th Earl of Warwick, marriage which brought great fortunes to the family.
Michael’s son and heir only enjoyed the earldom briefly, dying at Agincourt barely a month after his father’s death. The second-born son, William, was the infamous Jackanapes, probably the most hated man in the realm: Suffolk was the king’s favourite after Gloucester’s death and was responsible of brokering the marriage between Margaret of Anjou and Henry VI. Conceited, but ineffectual, he is to blame for the loss of most England to the French, which lead to his eventual exile and beheading at the hand of some rogues in the middle of the sea.
William de la Pole (3rd Earl) had been created Marquess of Suffolk in 1444, Earl of Pembroke in 1447 and 1st Duke of Suffolk in 1448. He had married another exceptionally wealthy lady, Alice Chaucer (a landholder on her own right), by whom he had a son, John; only child born from their union and sole heir to their honours and possessions. A son whose inheritance was preserved solely by Lady Alice’s doing, as she savagely fought to do so during the long minority of her son.
John de la Pole himself is an extraordinarily handsome young man, having inherited the golden locks of his mother and the watery eyes of Jackanapes. Slender of frame, with a slim waist and long limbs, he is quite fond of himself and is known to be largely vain and arrogant. Under his mother’s shadow, he does little on his own, save expending enormous sums on a princely lifestyle; fashionable, he has as many jewels as the King himself and a wardrobe to put to shame his wife’s. However, he isn’t as dull as some may think, for Suffolk is cautious, prudent and even rather intelligent. Surprisingly cultured, John de la Pole is a connoisseur and a patron of the arts like none other since Humphrey of Gloucester’s death. Extremely proud, he hates to be reminded of his commoner’s ancestry, the sole exception being his kindred with Geoffrey Chaucer himself, the laureate poet. De la Pole joined his brother-in-law after Wakefield, fighting at the Second Battle of Saint Albans on the Yorkist side, expecting a restoration of his dukedom after an eventual victory over Lancaster. A wound prevented him joining the march north and fighting at Towton. An largely ambitious man, he plotted his way into an impromptu triumvirate with Norfolk and Exeter. A coalition that almost ended overthrowing Edward IV. However, the King finally managed to regain the reins of kingship and restore his badly contested authority. The duke was restored to the king's graces soon afterwards, owing much to his support of Elizabeth Woodville's claim; his eldest son and heir, John de la Pole, was created Earl of Lincoln soon after the Queen was crowned. In 1471 he was charged with leading an embassy to Burgundy, alongside Henry Stafford, duke of Buckingham, in order to fetch a bride, Mary of Burgundy, to marry Richard of Gloucester after a long-winded betrothal. Charles of Burgundy named him Knight of the Golden Fleece during a chapter of the order in Brussels that year, after the 'Trimming Duke' had famously won a tourney unhorsing Anthony, Bastard of Burgundy.
JOHN DE LA POLE, 1st EARL OF LINCOLN
Born 1461 (12)
Status: Married, to Isabel Neville (born 1462).
Children: None.
Traits (4):
+2 Survival
+1 Joust
+1 Charisma
BIOGRAPHY: The eldest son of John de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk, and Elizabeth of York; his maternal grandparents are Richard Plantagenet, duke of York, and Cecily Neville. Nephew to Edward IV, the young heir of de la Pole was created Earl of Lincoln shortly after Elizabeth Woodville had been crowned as Queen on England, in lieu of the now displaced Margaret Percy. Soon thereafter he was betrothed to the eldest daughter of the Marquess of Somerset, Earl of Kent and Lord Fauconberg, Anthony Neville. Lincoln has inherited the coloring of his mother Elizabeth, he is a long-limbed, slim and red-haired lad. In 1475 he finally married his intended, Lady Isabel.
FAMILY TREE:
Michael de la Pole, 2nd Earl of Suffolk (1367-1415), married Katherine de Stafford (1376-1419):
-Michael de la Pole, 3rd Earl of Suffolk (1394-1415), married Elizabeth Mowbray:Catherine de la Pole, nun (1410).
Elizabeth de la Pole (1411-1422). -William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450), married Alice Chaucer (1404):
John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1442), married Elizabeth of York (1444): John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (born 1461), married Isabel Neville (born 1462).
Edmund de la Pole (1464).
Elizabeth de la Pole (1468), betrothed to George Neville (born 1461).
Anne de la Pole (1471).
Catherine de la Pole (1473).
Dorothy de la Pole. (1475).
-Alexander de la Pole (1400-1429)
-John de la Pole (1401-1429)
-Thomas de la Pole (1402-1433), married Anne Cheney:Catherine de la Pole (1416), married firstly Sir Miles Stapleton and secondly Sir Richard Harcourt:
Elizabeth Stapleton, married William Calthorpe:
Francis Calthorpe. William Calthorpe.
Jane Stapleton, married firstly Christopher Harcourt and secondly John Huddleston.
William Harcourt. -Katherine de la Pole (1403), abbess.
-Isabel de la Pole (1404-1466), married Thomas de Morley, 5th Baron Morley:Anne de Morley, married John Hastings, 9th Baron Hastings. Robert de Morley, 6th Baron Morley (1418-1443), married Elizabeth de Ros:
Alianore Morley (1442), married Sir William Lovel, 7th Baron Morley:
Henry Lovel (1466).
Alice Lovel (1467). Hugh de Morley. Elizabeth de Morley, married Sir John Arundell: Anne Arundell.
-Elizabeth de la Pole (1411-1466), married Edward Burnell and Sir Thomas Kerdeston.
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