John de la Pole, 2nd Duke of Suffolk (1442-1492) was a major magnate in fifteenth-century England. His youth was overshadowed by the political fall and subsequent murder of his father, who had been a favourite of King Henry VI but was increasingly distrusted by the rest of the nobility. His second marriage, to Elizabeth of York, the sixth child and third daughter of Richard Plantagenet, 3rd Duke of York, made him the brother-in-law of two kings, Edward IV and Richard III. The second eldest of his thirteen children from the marriage, also John, would eventually be named heir to Richard III in 1484 and die in battle in the Yorkist cause. The father would outlive the son.
Part of the fascination in this dual biography is the relationship between these two powerful figures and their differing involvement in the Wars of the Roses. Did the elder John approve of his son's rebellion and close involvement in the Lambert Simnel conspiracy? How much did he support his claim to the throne? The differences between the political decisions of the Duke of Suffolk and the Earl of Lincoln are profound, despite the ties of blood. By focussing on these two overlapping lives, Michele Schindler provides a new perspective on the tumultuous events of fifteenth-century England and the birth of the modern nation-state.
