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 Jackanapes. He also appears prominently in William Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 1 and Henry VI, Part 2. Already holder of the title Earl of Suffolk, he was granted the additional titles Marquess of Suffolk (1444), Earl of Pembroke (1447) and Duke of Suffolk (1448).

William de la Pole was born at Cotton, Suffolk, the second son of Michael, 2nd Earl of Suffolk, and Katherine de Stafford, daughter of Hugh, Earl of Stafford, KG, and Lady Philipa 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, 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, 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.

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