The Last Plantagenets in Tudor England

Not Just the Tudors

History Hit

History

4.8 • 3K Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

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Summary

Direct descendants of the Plantagenets were once at the very heart of Tudor politics, yet their story is often overlooked. From Margaret Pole, niece of Edward IV and Richard III, to her son Cardinal Reginald Pole, the family’s fortunes mirrored the turbulent shift from Plantagenet to Tudor rule.

Professor Suzannah Lipscomb is joined by Adam Pennington to uncover the dynasty’s dramatic journey from survival after the Wars of the Roses to Margaret Pole’s shocking execution in the Tower of London.

More:

Henry VIII's Nemesis, Cardinal Pole

Henry VII: Rise of the Medieval Tudors

Presented by Professor Suzannah Lipscomb. The researcher is Max Wintle, edited and produced by Rob Weinberg. The senior producer is Anne-Marie Luff.

All music courtesy of Epidemic Sounds.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb.
0:02.6	If you'd like not just the Tudors ad-free to get early access and bonus episodes, sign up to History Hit.
0:10.5	With a History Hit subscription, you can also watch hundreds of hours of original documentaries,
0:16.0	including my own recent two-part series, A World Torn Apart, The Dissolution of the Monastries, and enjoy a new release every week.
0:25.2	Sign up now by visiting historyhit.com forward slash subscribe.
0:32.0	Hello, I'm Professor Susanna Lipscomb and welcome to not just the Tudors from History Hit, the podcast in which we explore everything from Anne Boleyn to the Aztecs, from Holbein to the Huguenots, from Shakespeare to Samarise.
0:46.8	Relieved by regular doses of murder, espionage and witchcraft. Not in other words just the Tudors, but most definitely also the Tudors.
1:08.8	The story of the Pole or Poole family is one of dynastic grandeur, quiet resilience, and eventual tragic downfall.
1:18.2	Yet it remains curiously overlooked in mainstream British history.
1:25.3	Direct descendants of the House of Plantagenet, the Paws were once at the heart of English royal politics.
1:32.7	Margaret Paul, perhaps the most famous of them, was the daughter of George Duke of Clarence,
1:37.9	and niece to kings Edward VIII and Richard III.
1:41.6	She was born into a world shaped by the brutal conflict of the Wars of the Roses,
1:45.9	in which the houses of York and Lancaster vied for the English crown. That long civil war reached
1:52.3	its climax, if not its end, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485, when Henry Tudor Earl of Richmond
1:59.0	defeated Richard III and established his new dynasty.
2:03.9	The Plantagenets who had ruled for over three centuries were swept aside.
2:09.3	For Yorkers-Nobles like Margaret, the Tudor victory meant suspicion, exile, or worse.
2:14.9	Her father had already been executed for treason during the reign of Edward
2:17.8	the 4th, and her family's fortunes plunged further under the new regime. Yet, Margaret
2:23.3	survived, and even thrived, eventually being restored to the peerage as Countess of Salisbury
2:28.3	by Henry VIII. At his court, she became a prominent and trusted figure, especially during
	...

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