William de la Pole (Chief Baron of the Exchequer) facts for kids

Sir William de la Pole (died 21 June 1366) was a very rich wool merchant from Kingston upon Hull in England. He became a special banker to the King and even worked as a top financial officer for a short time.

William de la Pole started a powerful family that became known as the de la Poles. Thanks to his skills in business and money, his family rose from being not very well known to one of the most important families in England in just one lifetime. Near the end of the 1300s, people said he was "second to no other merchant of England." He also founded a special monastery in Hull called the Charterhouse Monastery.

Who Was William de la Pole?

William de la Pole was likely the second of three brothers. His older brother, Richard de la Pole (who died in 1345), was also a merchant. He also had a younger brother named John. William was probably born between 1290 and 1295.

We don't know much about William's early life or exactly who his parents were. There are different ideas about his family, but some sources mention a father named William, who might have been from Ravenser or Hull. Some historians think there might have been more than one William de la Pole in Hull at that time, which makes it confusing.

One historian, A.S. Harvey, couldn't find any old papers that mentioned a William de la Pole in Hull or Ravenser before William and Richard. He said that their parents and where they came from are still a mystery.

Some older books from the 1600s and 1800s say his father was also named William de la Pole. These books sometimes describe his father as a merchant and sometimes as a knight. It's also been suggested that his mother was named Elena, but this is also debated by historians.

It seems that William and his brothers might have been orphans from an important family. Two important merchants, John Rotenhering and Robert Rotenhering, might have been their guardians. John Rotenhering's property eventually went to the de la Pole brothers.

William de la Pole's Career

William and his brother Richard started as merchants in Ravenser. By the 1310s, William had moved to Kingston upon Hull. They were already well-known merchants by the late 1310s. By 1317, they were helping the King's Chief Butler, and from 1321 to 1324, they were town officials in Hull.

In the 1320s, William was selling more and more wool from Hull to other countries. Around the same time, William started lending money to King Edward II. This was to help the King with his fights against the French over a region called Gascony. Records show he lent the King large sums, like £1,800 and £1,000, in 1325.

The brothers also became very important in Hull. They spent £306 to improve the town's defenses.

Helping the King with Money

After King Edward II was removed from power, William and Richard became even more important to the country. This was because wars with Scotland started again in 1327, during the reign of Edward III. William lent £4,000 for the Scottish war and £2,000 to pay Dutch soldiers who helped remove Edward II.

By 1329, the total money he had lent the King was more than £13,000. This was a huge amount, similar to what big banks like the Bardi from Florence would lend. The de la Poles got this money by borrowing from other merchants.

In return for their help, the King gave the de la Poles many special rights and rewards. They received the manor of Myton in 1330. In 1332, William became the first mayor of Hull, a job he held until 1335. He also represented Hull in Parliament several times in the 1330s. William and Richard officially ended their business partnership in 1331.

Working for the King

William spent more and more time working for the King in the 1330s. He helped get supplies and ships for the King's wars with the Scots. He also helped get ships ready for the big fight with France that became known as the Hundred Years War.

He also helped manage the English Wool Company, which the King set up to pay for his war by controlling the wool trade. However, people smuggling wool caused problems, and the plan failed. From June 1338 to October 1339, the King had to borrow over £100,000 from William de la Pole. William bought a large estate called Burstwick from the King for £22,650, which made the King unhappy because he was in financial trouble.

In 1339, William helped the King get back his crown, which had been used as a pledge for a loan of 50,000 florins from the Archbishop of Trier. In the same year, William became a Knight Banneret, a special kind of knight. On September 26, 1339, he was made a Baron of the Exchequer, which meant he was a high-ranking judge in the King's financial court.

Later Challenges and Philanthropy

In 1340, William and Richard de la Pole were arrested. William was accused of problems related to the English Wool Company. He was held in Devizes Castle, and his lands were taken away. However, the charges were dropped in 1344. Between 1343 and 1345, he went back to helping the King finance his wars by starting a new company.

During a peaceful time in the 1350s, the King brought up the old wool smuggling accusations against William again. This forced William to give up his claim to the Burstwick estate. In 1354, he signed a paper that canceled all the King's debts to him in exchange for a pardon.

In 1350, William founded a hospital in Hull called the Maison Dieu. Shortly before he died, he got permission from King Edward III to start a religious house. He died before it was finished, but his son, Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk, completed it as a Carthusian monastery dedicated to St. Michael. This is now known as the Charterhouse, Kingston upon Hull.

Death and Burial

William de la Pole died on June 22, 1366. Many sources say he was buried in the Holy Trinity Church, Hull. However, some historians believe he was eventually buried with his wife Katherine (who died in 1382) in the church of the Carthusian monastery in Hull, which was finished in 1377.

Family and Children

William de la Pole married Katherine de Norwich, who was the daughter of Sir Walter de Norwich. Katherine died on January 28, 1382. They had four sons and two daughters:

• Michael de la Pole, 1st Earl of Suffolk
• Edmund de la Pole, who was the Captain of Calais in 1387
• Sir Walter de la Pole, a Knight
• Sir Thomas de la Pole, a Knight (died 1361)
• Blanche de la Pole, who married Richard le Scrope, 1st Baron Scrope of Bolton
• Margaret de la Pole, who married Robert Neville of Hornby

Important Descendants

William de la Pole's family members continued to be important in English history for the next 150 years. This included several Dukes of Suffolk. His descendants also took part in battles during the 'Hundred Years' War' with France.

The family's luck changed when the House of York lost the English throne in the late 1400s. Some of his direct male descendants included:

• John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln (around 1462–1487). He was named the heir to King Richard III. He died fighting for a Yorkist claimant, Lambert Simnel, at the Battle of Stoke Field.
• Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk (1471–1513). He was executed by King Henry VIII because he claimed the throne as the next Yorkist heir after his older brother.
• William de la Pole (1478–1539). He was held in the Tower of London by King Henry VII. His property was taken because he had a possible claim to the throne, even though he never tried to become king. He was imprisoned for 37 years until he died in 1539.
• Richard de la Pole (1480–1525). He was another Yorkist who claimed the throne after John and Edmund. He was killed at the Battle of Pavia.

Images for kids

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  A 19th-century statue of William de la Pole in Kingston upon Hull.

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  An 1880 portrait of William de la Pole by Thomas Tindall Wildridge.

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  The coat of arms of the de la Pole family.