Arthur Pole (conspirator)
Sir Arthur Pole of Lordington, Sussex was an English conspirator.
Life
He was the eldest son and heir of Sir Geoffrey Pole and Constance Packenham who had some claim to the English throne as a Plantagenet descendant of George, Duke of Clarence. He was raised at Lordington, and Gentian Hervet of Orléans served as his tutor. After the fall of his uncle, Henry Pole, Baron Montagu and his grandmother, Margaret, Countess of Salisbury, Arthur was imprisoned for a time. Upon release, he served John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland.The Pole family was in favour during Mary's reign, and although Arthur requested to serve at the court of Elizabeth I, his request was denied in 1561. He was imprisoned that same year for celebrating the mass. In 1562, he was named a potential heir to the throne. Pole attempted to persuade France and Spain to back the family's claims. Advised that the Guise faction would not support his claim, Arthur sought the dukedom of Clarence in exchange for his support of Mary, Queen of Scots claim to the English throne. He was imprisoned with his brothers, Edmund and Geoffrey, in the Tower of London from October 1562 or 1563 for conspiring to advance his own or Mary, Queen of Scots' claims to the throne of England. On 26 February 1563 at the Tower of London, he was found guilty of treason, and imprisoned; he died in 1570. Arthur was imprisoned in the Beauchamp Tower, where an inscription can be found that reads: ‘Deo Servire / Penitentiam Inire / Fato Obedire / Regnare Est / A Poole / 1564 / IHS’.