John de la Pole, 1st Earl of Lincoln

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John de la Pole, Earl of Lincoln (1462/1464 - June 16, 1487), was the eldest son of John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk and Elizabeth of York. His mother was the sixth child and third daughter born to Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York and Cecily Neville.

[edit] Heir to the throne

During the last year of the reign of his maternal uncle King Richard III, he was designated heir to the throne. After Richard's defeat at the Battle of Bosworth Field on August 22, 1485, Lincoln was reconciled with the new king, Henry VII, but soon became impatient for power and tried to achieve it by supporting the claims of the boy pretender, Lambert Simnel. Lincoln's life came to an end at the Battle of Stoke in 1487, at which the rebel army was defeated, and he was killed. In November 1487, he was posthumously attainted.

His death did not end the de la Pole claim to the throne. His younger brother Edmund de la Pole, 3rd Duke of Suffolk became the leading Yorkist claimant to the throne until his execution by orders of Henry VIII of England in 1513. Their younger brother Richard de la Pole continued their claim until his own death at the Battle of Pavia (February 24, 1525).

[edit] Paternal ancestry

His paternal grandparents were William de la Pole, 1st Duke of Suffolk and Alice Chaucer. Suffolk was an important English soldier and commander in the Hundred Years' War, and later Lord Chamberlain of England. He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, part 1 and Henry VI, part 2.

Alice Chaucer was a daughter of Thomas Chaucer and Maud Burghersh. Thomas was the Speaker of the British House of Commons on three occasions, Chief Butler of England for almost thirty years, attended fifteen parliaments and was Speaker of the House five times, a feat not surpassed until the 18th century.

Thomas was a son of Geoffrey Chaucer and his wife Philippa (de) Roet. Geoffrey was an English author, poet, philosopher, bureaucrat (courtier), and diplomat. He is sometimes called the father of English literature. Although he wrote many works, he is best remembered for his unfinished frame narrative The Canterbury Tales. He is also credited by some scholars with being the first author to demonstrate the artistic legitimacy of the vernacular English language, rather than French or Latin.

Preceded by Vacant, last held by Henry of Grosmont

Earl of Lincoln 1467 - 1487

Succeeded by Vacant, next held by Henry Brandon