Quick Facts
Biography
Sir Arthur Pole of Broadhurst, Sussex (c. 1502 - 1535 or bet. 1493-1499 - aft. 10 May 1527) was an English knight.
Life
He was the second son of Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury (godmother to Mary I of England) and Sir Richard Pole. His older brother, Cardinal Reginald Pole, became the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury under Queen Mary I. His eldest brother was Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu.
He was Gentleman of the Bedchamber to King Henry VIII in 1518 and his Esquire of the Body in 1520, who invested him as a Knight in 1523. He was also the Lord of the Manor of Broadhurst, Sussex.
Marriage & Family
He married before 24 October 1522 Jane Lewkenor (b. 1492) widow of Sir Christopher Pickering of Ellerton (b. 1490 in Sedbergh, Yorkshire and died in Woodbridge, Suffolk), whom she married before 1516, and daughter of Sir Roger Lewkenor (b. 1469 and died in Trotton, Sussex) of Trotton, Sussex - a paternal grandson of Sir Roger Lewknor and Alianora de Camoys - and wife Eleanor Tuchet - daughter of John Tuchet, 6th Baron Audley and 3rd Baron Tuchet and Anne Echingham.
The couple had at least four children: Henry, Mary b. (1529) who married Sir John Stanley, Jane, and Margaret (b. 1527) who married Sir John Fitz-Herbert.
When Arthur died, his mother and brother, Lady Salisbury and her son, Lord Montague, did not wish Jane to remarry, which would deprive the Pole family, and Arthur's heirs, of her fortune. They coerced Jane to become a novice. Jane was eventually released from her vows by William Barlow, the new Bishop of St. Asaph, who was residing in his priory of Bisham. She said to Bishop Barlow, 'Can I leave the veil at pleasure?'; 'Yes, for all religious persons have a time of probation. You are only a novice and could leave your nun's weeds at your pleasure. I bind you no further...', he said. Jane then married Sir William Barentyne (b. 31 Dec. 1481 - d. 17 Nov. 1549). The Barentynes' sought and Act of Parliament to declare their children legitimate in 1543 after the passage of the Act of the Six Articles. She died before 12 March 1562/63.