William de la Pole , 1st Duke of Suffolk William de la Pole , 1st Duke of Suffolk , KG ( 16 October 1396 – 2 May 1450 ) , was an English commander in the Hundred Years ' War and Lord High Admiral of England from 1447 until 1450 . He was nicknamed Jack Napes , from which the word " jackanapes " derives . He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare ' s " Henry VI , Part 1 " and " Henry VI , Part 2 " . Biography . William was born at Cotton , Suffolk , the second son of Michael de la Pole , 2nd Earl of Suffolk , and Katherine de Stafford , daughter of Hugh de Stafford , 2nd Earl of Stafford , KG , and Philippa de Beauchamp . Almost continually engaged in the wars in France , he was seriously wounded during the Siege of Harfleur ( 1415 ) , where his father died from dysentery . Later that year his older brother Michael de la Pole , 3rd Earl of Suffolk , was killed at the Battle of Agincourt , and William succeeded as 4th Earl . He became co - commander of the English forces at the Siege of Orléans ( 1429 ) , after the death of Thomas Montacute , 4th Earl of Salisbury . When that city was relieved by Joan of Arc in 1429 , he managed a retreat to Jargeau where he was forced to surrender on 12 June . He remained a prisoner of Charles VII of France for three years , and was ransomed in 1431 . After his return to the Kingdom of England in 1434 he was made Constable of Wallingford Castle . He became a courtier and close ally of Cardinal Henry Beaufort . His most notable accomplishment in this period was negotiating the marriage of King Henry VI with Margaret of Anjou ( 1444 ) . This earned him elevation to Marquess of Suffolk that year ; though a secret clause was put in the agreement which gave Maine and Anjou back to France , which was partly to cause his downfall . His own marriage took place on 11 November 1430 , ( date of licence ) , to ( as her third husband ) Alice Chaucer ( 1404 – 1475 ) , daughter of Thomas Chaucer of Ewelme , Oxfordshire , and granddaughter of the notable poet Geoffrey Chaucer and his wife , Philippa ( de ) Roet . With the deaths in 1447 of Humphrey , Duke of Gloucester and Cardinal Beaufort , Suffolk became the principal power behind the throne of the weak and compliant Henry VI . In short order he was appointed Chamberlain , Admiral of England , and to several other important offices . He was created Earl of Pembroke in 1447 , and Duke of Suffolk in 1448 . However , Suffolk was later suspected of being a traitor . On 16 July he met in secret with Jean d ' Orléans , comte de Dunois , at his mansion of the Rose in Candlewick street . The first of several meetings in London , they planned a French invasion . Suffolk passed Council minutes to Dunois , the French hero of the Siege of Orleans . It was rumoured that Suffolk never paid his ransom of £20 , 000 owed to Dunois . Lord Treasurer , Ralph Cromwell , wanted heavy taxes from Suffolk ; the duke ' s powerful enemies included John Paston and Sir John Fastolf . Many blamed Suffolk ' s retainers for lawlessness in East Anglia . The following three years saw the near - complete loss of the English possessions in northern France . Suffolk could not avoid taking the blame for these failures , partly because of the loss of Maine and Anjou through his marriage negotiations regarding Henry VI . On 28 January 1450 he was arrested and imprisoned in the Tower of London . He was banished for five years , but on his journey to Calais his ship was intercepted by the ship , " " Nicholas of the Tower " " , and he was killed . He was later found on the seashore near Dover and the body was brought to a church in Suffolk , possibly Wingfield , for burial , seemingly at the wishes of his wife Alice . The body of de la Pole was returned to the Collegiate Church at Wingfield , Suffolk , where it was buried beneath a purfled arch . Descendants . William de la Pole ' s only known legitimate son , John , became the 2nd Duke of Suffolk in 1463 . De la Pole also fathered an illegitimate daughter named Jane de la Pole , with a nun , Malyne de Cay . " The nighte before that he was yolden [ yielded himself up in surrender to the Franco - Scottish forces of Joan of Arc on 12 June 1429 ] he laye in bed with a Nonne whom he toke oute of holy profession and defouled , whose name was Malyne de Cay , by whom he gate a daughter , now married to Stonard of Oxonfordshire " . Jane de la Pole ( d . 28 February 1494 ) was married before 1450 to Thomas Stonor ( 1423 – 1474 ) , of Stonor , Oxfordshire . Their son Sir William Stonor , KB , was married to Anne Neville , daughter of John Neville , 1st Marquess of Montagu and had two children : John Neville , married to Mary Fortesque , daughter of Sir John Fortesque of Punsburn , Hereford , but died without issue ; and Anne Neville , married to Sir Adrian Fortesque , who distinguished himself at the Battle of the Spurs ; he was beheaded in 1539 . Thomas Stonor and Jane de la Pole ' s two other sons were Edward and Thomas . Thomas Stoner married Savilla Brecknock , daughter of Sir David Brecknock . His great - great - grandson Thomas Stoner ( 18 December 1626 – 2 September 1683 ) married in 1651 Elizabeth Nevill ( b . 1641 ) , daughter of Sir Henry Nevill , 9th Baron Bergavenny and his second wife Katherine Vaux , daughter of The Hon . George Vaux and sister of Edward Vaux , 4th Baron Vaux of Harrowden . Thomas ' s son John Stoner ( 22 March 1654 – 19 November 1689 ) married on 8 July 1675 Lady Mary Talbot , daughter of Francis Talbot , 11th Earl of Shrewsbury and wife Jane Conyers , daughter of Sir John Conyers . Jackanapes . De la Pole ' s nickname " Jacknapes " comes from “ Jack of Naples ” , a slang term for a monkey at the time . The phrase “ of Naples ” was rendered “ a Napes ” in vernacular . It probably derives from * Jak a Napes , presumably circa 1400 . Monkeys were one of many exotic goods from Naples exhibited in Britain , hence he acquired the nickname " Jack a Napes " . It acquired the meaning " upstart person " , from its use as de la Pole ' s nickname . He was one of first " nouveau riche " nobles , risen from the merchant class . The family used a collar and chain on its coat of arms , which was an unfortunate choice , as this was more associated with monkey leashes , leading to the derisive nickname " Jack Napis " for de la Pole , yielding the insult .