Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk

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Pretender Edmund de la Pole, Duke of Suffolk
Born	1471 England
Died	30 April 1513
Throne(s) claimed	England
Pretend from	16 June 1487
Monarchy abolished	1485, Battle of Bosworth Field
Last monarch	Richard III of England
Connection with	Richard III declared his older brother as his heir and head of the House of York
Royal House	House of York
Father	John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk
Mother	Elizabeth of York, Duchess of Suffolk
Spouse	Margaret Scrope
Predecessor	John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln
Successor	Richard de la Pole

Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk, 6th Earl of Suffolk (1471/1472 – April 30, 1513), Duke of Suffolk was a son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and his wife Elizabeth of York.

[edit] Family

His mother was the second surviving daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville. She was also a younger sister to Edward IV of England and Edmund, Earl of Rutland as well as an older sister to Margaret of York, George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Richard III of England.

His paternal grandparents were William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Alice Chaucer. Suffolk was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England. He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2.

Alice Chaucer was a daughter of Thomas Chaucer and Maud Burghersh. Thomas was the Speaker of the British House of Commons on three occasions, Chief Butler of England for almost thirty years, attended fifteen parliaments and was Speaker of the House five times, a feat not surpassed until the 18th century.

Thomas was a son of Geoffrey Chaucer and his wife Philippa (de) Roet. Geoffrey was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat (courtier), and diplomat. He is sometimes called the father of English literature. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. He is also credited by some scholars with being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin.

[edit] Yorkist heir

His eldest brother John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (c. 1464-1487), is said to have been named heir to the throne by his maternal uncle, Richard III of England, who gave him a pension and the reversion of the estates of Lady Margaret Beaufort. However on the accession of Henry VII following the Battle of Bosworth Field, Lincoln took the oath of allegiance instead of claiming the throne for himself. In 1487, Lincoln joined the rebellion of Lambert Simnel, and was killed at the Battle of Stoke.

Following the death of his older brother at the Battle of Stoke, Edmund became the leading Yorkist claimant to the throne. Nevertheless, Henry spared his life and allowed him to succeed to his father's title of Duke of Suffolk in 1491. He married Margaret, daughter of Sir Richard Scrope. The headstrong Edmund did not have his elder brother's pragmatism, and a title was not enough for him. He left the Kingdom of England in 1501. This time seeking the help of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor where he drew others such as Sir James Tyrrell into his intrigue. He himself escaped punishment until the reign of King Henry VIII of England, and was executed in 1513.

His younger brother Richard de la Pole declared himself Earl of Suffolk and was the leading Yorkist pretender until his death at the Battle of Pavia on February 24, 1525.

[edit] References

Ewelme - The fall of the de la Pole family: [1]

Peerage of England
Preceded by John de la Pole	Duke of Suffolk 1491–1513	Succeeded by Forfeit