What If Reginald Pole Had Just Shut Up? (Margaret Pole’s Survival)

Margaret Pole was 67 years old when Henry VIII had her executed. She wasn't plotting. She wasn't scheming. She was an old woman in the Tower whose son kept writing angry letters from Rome calling Henry a heretic.

So today we're playing a game. What if Reginald Pole had kept his opinions to himself? Could Margaret have survived to see Mary on the throne? I think the answer is yes, and the story of why is one of the most infuriating what-ifs in all of Tudor history.

We're talking about a man who had every possible advantage, chose righteousness over his mother's life, and then got a whole second act anyway.

Margaret didn't.

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