John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk
John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, KG, was a major magnate in 15th-century England. He was the son of William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk, and Alice Chaucer, the daughter of Thomas Chaucer. His youth was blighted, in 1450, by the political fall and subsequent murder of his father, who had been a favourite of king Henry VI but was increasingly distrusted by the rest of the nobility. Although the first duke of Suffolk had made himself rich through trade and – particularly – royal grants, this source of income dried up on his death, so John de la Pole was among the poorest of English dukes on his accession to the title in 1463. This was a circumstance which John felt acutely; on more than one occasion, he refused to come to London due to his impoverishment being such that he could not afford the costs of maintaining a retinue.
Effigies of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, KG, and his wife, in Wingfield Church, Suffolk. He wears the Garter below his left knee
Church of St Mary the Virgin, Iffley, Oxfordshire, 15th-century stained glass of the arms of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1442–1491/2), KG. Arms: Quarterly, 1st & 4th: Azure a fess between three leopard's faces or (de la Pole, (here shown with six leopard's faces)); 2nd & 3rd: Argent, a chief gules over all a lion rampant double queued or (Burghersh of Ewelme); Impaling the royal arms of England with label of three points argent, the arms of his 2nd wife Elizabeth of York. Crest:
Effigies of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk, KG, and his wife, in Wingfield Church, Suffolk.
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk
William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk,, nicknamed Jackanapes, was an English magnate, statesman and military commander during the Hundred Years' War. He became a favourite of the weak king Henry VI of England, and consequently a leading figure in the English government where he became associated with many of the royal government's failures of the time, particularly on the war in France. Suffolk also appears prominently in Shakespeare's Henry VI, parts 1 and 2.
19th-century illustration of Suffolk's murder
Illustration of Suffolk and Margaret from a production of Henry VI, Part 1 (Charles Heath)