Montague

Montague is Margaret Pole’s son and a peer whose political judgment becomes increasingly consequential as Henry VIII reshapes the Church and threatens those who resist him. He serves as a trusted adviser within his family, carries grave news to Princess Mary Tudor, and helps organize a covert effort to protect her. His arc is not one of open rebellion: it is the narrowing struggle to act prudently and honorably while the consequences of dissent fall on his mother, children, and wider kin.

Identity and Family Position

Montague is shown through his relationship with Margaret Pole, who looks to him for counsel even as he continues to seek her advice. In moments of crisis he kneels before her, treating her as a figure of authority; when he faces a dangerous decision, he likewise turns to her. He is also a father: he names Harry Pole among the children whose safety is at stake. The family’s vulnerability is therefore immediate and personal, not merely a question of noble standing.

The narrative places him among those required to navigate a court where political and religious authority are being remade. His caution is not passivity. He weighs what can be done, recognizes when the ground has shifted, and distinguishes between the purpose he thought he was serving and the more dangerous consequences that emerge.

Counselor and Messenger at a Turning Point

When Montague tells Margaret and Princess Mary Tudor that the Church has submitted to the king, he describes a decisive transfer of authority: Henry VIII will rule the Church in England, while the Pope is to be disregarded. He also reports that Thomas More has resigned as Lord Chancellor and returned home. Montague delivers the news quietly, but its implications are immense. Mary understands that the king is claiming control over the Church’s wealth, laws, and courts, extending royal power into domains that had previously stood beyond his possession.

His role here is that of a messenger and adviser rather than the architect of the change. Yet the scene establishes his ability to recognize its significance and to speak plainly about it to those who need to know. The resignation of Thomas More also connects the constitutional upheaval to the loss of a trusted counselor who might have spoken against the king’s course.

Montague later seeks Margaret’s advice about an invitation to dine with Thomas Cromwell. She warns him to approach cautiously, and he recognizes that the invitation may signal a wider change in their circumstances. The exchange shows how political danger enters even apparently ordinary courtly business: a dinner with the king’s chief minister may carry implications that cannot safely be dismissed as social formality.

Jury Service and the Limits of Consent

Montague tells Margaret that he is to sit on the jury in proceedings against the king’s wife. He and the others who met with Cromwell had understood that they were assisting in an inquiry into the validity of the royal marriage, with the aim of freeing the king from vows they believed false. They had not understood that they would be asked to judge the queen on a charge of adultery. His alarm arises from the distance between the task they thought they had agreed to and the role now imposed on them.

The episode places him inside a legal process shaped by royal objectives. The issue is not simply whether he will serve, but how the meaning of his earlier agreement has been transformed. His distress records a recurring predicament in the story: participation secured under one description can become complicity in a different and more perilous undertaking. The evidence does not establish how he votes or what verdict he reaches; it shows the pressure of being made a participant in proceedings whose terms have changed.

Protecting Princess Mary Tudor

When Montague concludes that Princess Mary Tudor is no longer safe in the kingdom, he helps plan for her escape. He understands that the king’s hostility toward her is bound up with her defiance and with his treatment of her mother. Although Jane Seymour speaks in Mary’s favor and Cromwell advises that she be brought to court, Henry VIII has spoken of trying the princess for treason. Montague judges that her presence itself has become a danger.

The preparations are practical and dispersed across a network of loyal relatives and contacts. Geoffrey Pole checks that a boatman at Grays is ready to leave and remains loyal to the princess. Arthur Plantagenet, Viscount Lisle, writes from Calais to say he can receive the goods Montague is preparing to send. Montague brings six strong horses to court, presenting them as preparations for the hunting season. Henry Courtenay obtains information from a stable boy at Hunsdon about Mary’s morning walks in the garden. Together, these details reveal a rescue plan built from cover stories, trusted messengers, transport, and close attention to the princess’s movements. The evidence records the preparations, not a successful escape.

Political Judgment and Growing Danger

Montague’s understanding of the danger extends beyond the immediate court. He tells Margaret that Reginald Pole may be right, and that many in England would agree with him, but that those who remain in the country bear the risk of his public opposition. He points to unrest in Lincolnshire, where commoners are joined by gentry, and to the people who seek him out or ask what he intends to do. His warning is familial as well as political: speaking truth has endangered Margaret, himself, Harry Pole, his other children, and their kin.

This is the clearest statement of Montague’s practical ethic. He does not deny the force of Reginald’s convictions, but insists that the cost of speaking from abroad is paid by relatives who remain within the king’s reach. The character emerges as neither a fearless dissenter nor a willing instrument of royal policy. He tries to protect the vulnerable, understands the price of resistance, and sees how Henry VIII’s growing intolerance makes truthful counsel dangerous. His story remains suspended between those obligations; the episodes establish the threat closing around his family without supplying his eventual outcome.