POLE, William de la, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450). Document signed ('Suffolk'), an indenture recording the resolution of a dispute relating to the manor of Sproughton, n.p., 19 May 1436.
Lot 230

POLE, William de la, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450). Document signed ('Suffolk'), an indenture recording the resolution of a dispute relating to the manor of Sproughton, n.p., 19 May 1436.

Closed11 December 2019

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GBP 5,000

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POLE, William de la, 1st Duke of Suffolk (1396-1450). Document signed ('Suffolk'), an indenture recording the resolution of a dispute relating to the manor of Sproughton, n.p., 19 May 1436.

In English. On vellum, 36 lines on one membrane, 275 x 510mm, indented at upper and left margins (some staining, not affecting legibility, and four puncture holes). Provenance: Sotheby's, 13 December 1965, lot 196.

Shakespeare's Duke of Suffolk as a regional magnate. The triplicate indenture settles a dispute opposing Sir William Drury and his wife Dame Margerie against Thomas Sampson and others about the ownership of the manor of Sproughton (in Suffolk).

After a notable, if undistinguished, role in Henry V's campaigns in France (the highpoint of his military career involved being captured by Joan of Arc), Suffolk ascended over the course of the 1430s to a position of dominance in the royal government of the weak Henry VI, which included a key role in the founding of Eton and King's College, Cambridge. His hegemony was brutally ended in the popular uproar of 1450, which culminated in his extra-judicial execution whilst attempting to flee into exile. He is a prominent figure in Shakespeare's Henry VI, parts 1 and 2. The present document reflects his position as one of the leading regional magnates in East Anglia.