Editing Reginald Pole

{{Short description|Archbishop of Canterbury from 1556 to 1558}}
{{Use British English|date=April 2015}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2017}}
{{Infobox Christian leader
| type = Cardinal
| name = Reginald Pole
| title = [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|Cardinal]] [[Archbishop of Canterbury]] <br/>and [[Primate of All England]]
| image = El cardenal Reginald Pole, por Sebastiano del Piombo.jpg
| alt = A bearded Catholic cardinal wearing his robes
| caption = Portrait by the school of <br/> [[Sebastiano del Piombo]], {{circa|1549}}
| church = [[Catholic Church]]
| term_start = 22 March 1556
| term_end = 17 November 1558
| predecessor = [[Thomas Cranmer]]
| successor = [[Matthew Parker]]
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1500|03|12|df=yes}}
| birth_place = [[Stourton Castle]], Staffordshire<br/>[[Kingdom of England|England]]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1558|11|17|1500|03|12}}
| death_place = London, Kingdom of England
| buried = [[The Corona, Canterbury Cathedral]], Kent
| resting_place_coordinates = {{Coord|51.27995|1.08248|display=inline,title|format=dec}}
| parents = [[Sir Richard Pole]]<br/>[[Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury]]
| honorific_prefix = [[His Eminence]]
| cardinal = 22 December 1536
| created_cardinal_by = [[Paul III]]
| ordination = 20 March 1556
| consecration = 22 March 1556
| consecrated_by = [[Nicholas Heath]]
| coat_of_arms = Coat of arms of Reginald Pole.svg
| signature = Reginald Pole Signature.svg
}}
'''Reginald Pole''' (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English [[Cardinal (Catholic Church)|cardinal]] and the last Catholic [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], holding the office from 1556 to 1558 during the [[Counter-Reformation]].

== Early life ==
Pole was born at [[Stourton Castle]], [[Staffordshire]], on 12 March 1500,<ref>{{Cite book|title=History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire|publisher=Published by the author.|last=White|first=William|date=1834|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_mw9Mgl6AHr8C/page/n265 261]|location=Sheffield|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_mw9Mgl6AHr8C}}</ref> the third son of [[Sir Richard Pole]] and [[Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury]]. He was named after the now [[beatified]] [[Reginald of Orleans]], [[Dominican Order|O.P.]] His maternal grandparents were [[George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence]],<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mayer |first=Thomas F. |date=1999 |title=A Reluctant Author: Cardinal Pole and His Manuscripts |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3185877 |journal=Transactions of the American Philosophical Society |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=i–115 |doi=10.2307/3185877 |jstor=3185877 |issn=0065-9746}}</ref> and [[Isabel Neville, Duchess of Clarence]]; thus he was a great-nephew of kings [[Edward IV]] and [[Richard III]] and a great-grandson of [[Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick]].

Accounts vary as to where Pole received his early education: either [[Sheen Priory]], [[Christchurch, Dorset|Christchurch]] or [[Canterbury]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LKqq55MgdVQC|title=Old and New London: A Narrative of Its History, Its People, and Its Places|last1=Thornbury|first1=George Walter|last2=Walford|first2=Edward|publisher=Cassell|year=1872|volume=2|location=London, England|page=553}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite ODNB |title=Pole, Reginald (1500–1558), cardinal and archbishop of Canterbury |url=https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-22456 |access-date=2023-04-03 | date=2004 |language=en |doi=10.1093/ref:odnb/22456 | last1=Mayer | first1=T. F. }}</ref> Shortly thereafter, he [[matriculated]] at [[Magdalen College, Oxford]], in 1512. At Oxford he was taught by [[William Latimer (clergyman)|William Latimer]], his principal tutor,<ref name=":0" /> and [[Thomas Linacre]], who taught him at some point between 1518 and 1520.  In 1512, [[Henry VIII]] had paid him a pension of £12, renewed the following year; intended to go towards his education.<ref name=":0" /> Pole graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] degree on 27 June 1515. In February 1518, King Henry granted him the [[deanery]] of [[Wimborne Minster]], [[Dorset]]. He went on to be [[Prebendary]] of [[Salisbury]], and [[Dean of Exeter]] in 1527.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britannia.com/bios/abofc/rpole.html|title=Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury|publisher=Britannia Biographies|date=1908|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080807164517/http://britannia.com/bios/abofc/rpole.html|archive-date=7 August 2008|url-status=dead|access-date=2011-12-05}}</ref> On 19 March 1518 he was appointed prebend of ''Ruscombe Southbury, Salisbury'',<ref name="Volume 4 1991">listed as a prebendary in Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae 1066-1300: Volume 4, Salisbury. Institute of Historical Research, London, 1991.</ref> only to exchange that on 10 April 1519 for ''[[Yetminster]] secunda''.<ref name="Volume 4 1991"/><ref name=":0" /> He was also a [[Canon regular|canon]] in [[York]], and had several other livings, albeit not yet ordained a [[priest]]. Assisted by Bishop [[Edward Foxe]], he represented Henry VIII in [[Paris]] in 1529, probing general opinion among theologians of the [[University of Paris|Sorbonne]] on the [[annulment]] of Henry's marriage with [[Catherine of Aragon]].<ref name="odnb">{{Cite ODNB|id=22456|title=Pole, Reginald}}</ref>

In 1521, with a £100 stipend from King Henry VIII, Pole went to the [[University of Padua]]. It was here that he met leading [[Renaissance]] figures, including [[Pietro Bembo]], [[Gianmatteo Giberti]] (formerly [[Pope Leo X]]'s [[datary]] and chief minister), [[Jacopo Sadoleto]], Gianpietro Carafa (the future [[Pope Paul IV]]), [[Rodolfo Pio]], [[Otto Truchsess]], [[Stanislaus Hosius]], [[Cristoforo Madruzzo]], [[Giovanni Morone]], [[Pier Paolo Vergerio the younger]], [[Peter Martyr Vermigli]] and Vettor Soranzo. The last three were eventually to be condemned as [[Heresy|heretic]]s by the Catholic Church. As a widely known [[Protestantism|Protestant]] theologian, Vermigli contributed significantly to the [[English Reformation|Reformation]] in Pole's native England.

Pole's studies in [[Padua]] were partly financed by his election as a [[fellow]] of [[Corpus Christi College, Oxford]]. More than half of the cost was met by Henry VIII himself,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/files/Reginald_Pole.pdf|title=Lambeth Palace Library Research Guide: Reginald Pole, Archbishop of Canterbury (1500-1558)|website=Lambeth Palace Library|url-status=usurped|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101031213103/http://lambethpalacelibrary.org/files/Reginald_Pole.pdf|archive-date=31 October 2010|access-date=2019-09-16}}</ref> on 14 February 1523. This allowed him to study abroad for three years.

While in Padua, Reginald's brother, [[Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu]], presented to him the living of South Harting, Sussex on 10 April 1526.{{clarify|date=December 2024}}{{citation needed|date=December 2024}} Three months later, Pole returned home, arriving from France escorted by [[Thomas Lupset]]. He was appointed prebend of [[Knaresborough]] in [[York Minster]] on 22 April 1527. On 25 July 1527, Pole was presented a [[Canon (title)|canonry]] in [[Exeter Cathedral]], to be declared Dean just four days later.<ref name=":0" /> Pole was sent to Paris in October 1529, but returned home in the summer of 1530.  For some of his time in England he lived in [[John Colet]]'s former house at Sheen.<ref name=":0" />

== Pole and Henry VIII ==
Pole had most probably arrived back in England in 1527, but whatever political influence he had acquired was not documented until November 1528.<ref name=":0" /> By the following October, his being sent to Paris had been expressly to liberate from the university doctors an agreeable opinion on Henry VIII’s annulment.<ref name=":0" /> It is possible that Pole started learning Hebrew from Robert Wakefield after he returned home from France, which would suggest that Henry might have wanted to deploy Pole in the annulment project.<ref name=":0" /> Henry offered him the [[Archbishopric of York]] or the [[Diocese of Winchester]] if he would support the annulment of his marriage to [[Catherine of Aragon]]. It is likely that in May or June 1531 Pole furnished Henry with an analysis of the political difficulties with regard to a divorce, particularly the dangers this would bring to the succession.<ref name=":0" /> Pole withheld his support and went into self-imposed exile in France and Italy in 1532, where he continued his studies in Padua and [[University of Paris|Paris]]. After his return, he held the [[benefice]] of [[vicar]] of [[Piddletown]], Dorset, between 20 December 1532 and sometime around January 1536.<ref>{{cite book |first=Alfred Brotherston |last=Emden |title=A biographical register of the University of Oxford, A.D. 1501 to 1540 |year=1974 |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |page=453 |isbn=0199510083 }}</ref>

In May 1536, Reginald Pole finally and decisively broke with the King. Five years earlier, he had warned of the dangers of the Boleyn marriage; he had returned to Padua in 1532 and received a last English benefice that December. [[Eustace Chapuys]], the imperial [[List of Holy Roman Empire ambassadors to England|ambassador to England]], had suggested to [[Emperor Charles V]] that Pole marry Henry's daughter [[Mary I of England|Mary]] and combine their dynastic claims; Chapuys also communicated with Reginald through his brother [[Geoffrey Pole|Geoffrey]]. At this time Pole was not definitively in Holy Orders.

The final break between Pole and Henry followed upon [[Thomas Cromwell]], [[Cuthbert Tunstall]], [[Thomas Starkey]] and others addressing questions to Pole on behalf of Henry. He answered by sending the King a copy of his published [[treatise]] ''Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione'', which, besides being a theological reply to the questions, was a strong denunciation of the King's policies, refuting Henry's position on marrying his brother [[Arthur, Prince of Wales|Arthur]]'s widow and denying the royal supremacy. Pole also urged the princes of Europe to depose Henry immediately. Henry wrote to Pole's mother, the [[Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury|Countess of Salisbury]], who in turn sent her son a letter reproving him for his "folly".<ref>ODNB, "Reginald Pole"; "Geoffrey Pole". Pole and his hagiographers gave several later accounts of Pole's activities after Henry met Anne Boleyn. These are not consistent; and if&nbsp;– as he claimed at one point&nbsp;– Pole rejected the annulment in 1526 and refused the Oath of Supremacy in 1531, he received benefits from Henry for a course of action for which others were sentenced to death.</ref>

== Cardinal Pole ==
[[File:Perin del Vaga - Papa Paolo III con consigliere - Basilica Francesca Romana.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Pole with [[Pope Paul III|Paul III]] in a 1539 portrait by [[Perino del Vaga]]]]
On 22 December 1536, Pole, already a deacon, was created a [[Cardinal (Catholicism)|cardinal]]<ref name=Thurston>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12201b.htm Thurston, Herbert. "Reginald Pole." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 20 March 2018</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0211.xml|title=Cardinal Reginald Pole|website=obo}}</ref> over Pole's own objections.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mayer |first=Thomas F. |date=July 1987 |title=A Diet for Henry VIII: The Failure of Reginald Pole's 1537 Legation |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-british-studies/article/abs/diet-for-henry-viii-the-failure-of-reginald-poles-1537-legation/4BF1F884954141F69EFCC78FD848B715 |journal=Journal of British Studies |language=en |volume=26 |issue=3 |pages=305–331 |doi=10.1086/385892 |s2cid=145195155 |issn=0021-9371}}</ref>  He was the fourth of the five English cardinals of the first half of the sixteenth century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Murphy |first=John |date=2017-12-16 |title=Cardinal Reginald Pole: Questions of Self-Justification and of Faith |journal=Royal Studies Journal |language=en-US |volume=4 |issue=2 |pages=177 |doi=10.21039/rsj.v4i2.173|s2cid=158550919 |doi-access=free }}</ref>{{NoteTag|The other four Cardinals were [[Christopher Bainbridge]], [[Thomas Wolsey]], [[John Fisher]], and [[William Petow]].}} He also became [[papal legate]] to England in February 1536/1537.  [[Pope Paul III]] put him in charge of organising assistance for the [[Pilgrimage of Grace]] (and related movements), an effort to organise a march on London to demand Henry replace his ‘reformist’ advisers with more traditional, Catholic minds; neither [[Francis I of France]] nor the Emperor supported this effort, and the English government tried to have Pole assassinated. In 1539, Pole was sent to the Emperor to organise an embargo against England&nbsp;– the sort of countermeasure he had himself warned Henry was possible.<ref name="odnb"/>

The King, with Pole himself out of his reach, took revenge on Pole's family for engaging in treason by word against the King. This later became known as the [[Exeter Conspiracy]]. The leading members were arrested, and all their properties seized. This destroyed the Pole family.<ref>Ronald Fritze, ed., ''''Historical Dictionary of Tudor England, 1485-1603'' (1991) pp. 191-92.</ref>  Sir [[Geoffrey Pole]] was arrested in August 1538; he had been corresponding with Reginald. The investigation of [[Henry Courtenay, 1st Marquess of Exeter]] (Henry VIII's first cousin and the Countess of Salisbury's first cousin once removed) had turned up his name. Sir Geoffrey appealed to Thomas Cromwell, who had him arrested and interrogated. Under interrogation, Sir Geoffrey admitted that [[Henry Pole, 1st Baron Montagu]], and Exeter had both been parties to his correspondence with Reginald. Montagu, Exeter, and Lady Salisbury were arrested in November 1538, together with Henry Pole and other family members, on charges of [[treason]]. This was despite Cromwell having previously written that they had "little offended save that he [Reginald Pole] is of their kin". They were committed to the [[Tower of London]] and, apart from Geoffrey Pole, they were all eventually executed.

In January 1539, Sir Geoffrey was pardoned. Montagu and Exeter were tried and executed for treason. Reginald Pole was [[attainted]] [[trial in absentia|''in absentia'']]. In May 1539, Montagu, Exeter, Lady Salisbury, and others were also attainted, as her father had been; this meant that they lost their lands – mostly in the South of England, conveniently located (alleged the crown) to assist any invasion  – and titles. Those still alive in the Tower were also sentenced to death, and so could be executed at the King's will. As part of the evidence given in support of the Bill of Attainder, Cromwell produced a tunic bearing the [[Five Holy Wounds|Five Wounds of Christ]], purported to show Lady Salisbury's support of traditional Catholicism. This, supposedly, came to light six months after her house and effects had already been searched when she was arrested. It is likely to have been planted there.

Margaret Pole was held in the Tower of London for two and a half years under severe conditions; she, her grandson (Montagu's son), and Exeter's son were held together on orders of the King. In 1540, Cromwell himself fell from favour and was himself attainted and executed. Margaret was finally executed in 1541, protesting her innocence until the last – a highly publicised case considered a grave miscarriage of justice both at the time and later. Her execution was gruesome, botched by an inexperienced executioner, who delivered nearly a dozen blows before she was finally killed. Pole is known to have said that he would "never fear to call himself the son of a martyr". Some 350 years later, in 1886, Margaret was [[beatified]] by [[Pope Leo XIII]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://saintsresource.com/margaret-pole|title=Margaret Pole {{!}} Saints Resource|website=saintsresource.com|access-date=2018-12-30}}</ref> Aside from the hostile treatise ''Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione'', another contribution fuelling King Henry's brutality towards the Pole family might have been that Pole's mother, Margaret, was one of the last surviving members of the [[House of Plantagenet]]. Under some circumstances, that line of descent could have made Reginald – until he definitely entered the clergy – a possible contender for the throne itself.

In 1542 Reginald Pole was appointed as one of the three papal legates to preside over the [[Council of Trent]]. In the [[1549–1550 papal conclave]] which followed the death of Pope Paul III in 1549, Pole, at one point, had 26 out of the 28 votes he needed to become pope himself.<ref name="odnb"/> His personal belief in [[justification by faith alone]] over works had caused him problems at [[Trento|Trent]] and accusations of heretical crypto-[[Lutheranism]] at the conclave. [[Thomas Hoby]], visiting Rome so as to be present in the city during the conclave, recorded that Pole failed to be elected "by the [[Ippolito_II_d%27Este|Cardinall of Ferrara]] his meanes the voice of manie cardinalls of the French partie, persuading them that Cardinall Pole was both Imperiall and also a verie Lutheran".<ref>[[Edward Chaney]], ''The Evolution of the Grand Tour: Anglo-Italian Cultural Relations since the Renaissance'' (London, 2nd ed. 2000), pp. 64, 92 and 109</ref>

== Later years ==
[[File:Reginald Pole from NPG.jpg|thumb|upright|Pole as a cardinal]]
The death of [[Edward VI]] on 6 July 1553 and the accession of [[Mary I of England|Mary I]] to the throne of England hastened Pole's return from exile, as a papal legate to England (which he remained until 1557) with a view to receiving the kingdom back into the Catholic fold. However, Queen Mary I and Emperor Charles V delayed his arrival in the country until 20 November 1554, due to concerns that Pole might oppose Mary's forthcoming marriage to Charles's son, [[Philip II of Spain|Philip of Spain]].<ref>{{CathEncy|title=Mary Tudor |url=http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09766a.htm}}</ref>  It was only after the marriage was safely out of the way, that the [[Parliament of England|English parliament]] finally set about repealing his attainder on November 22, 1554.  Pole opened his papal commission and presented his legatine credentials before Philip & Mary and the assembled members of Parliament at the [[Palace of Whitehall]] on November 27, 1554, delivering a notable oration before them.<ref>Cobbett (1806) ''Parliamentary History of England'', v.1, p.617-18</ref>  Among the dignitaries in attendance was [[Stephen Gardiner]], Bishop of Winchester and [[Lord Chancellor]] of England, the most prominent Catholic minister in England, who would steer the restoration of Catholicism through parliament in January 1555.

As papal legate, Pole negotiated a [[papal dispensation]] allowing the new owners of [[Dissolution of the Monasteries|confiscated former monastic lands]] to retain these. In return for this concession, Parliament then enabled the [[Revival of the Heresy Acts]] in January 1555.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Bucholz |first1=R. O. |last2=Key |first2=N. |title=Early modern England 1485–1714: a narrative history |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell |year=2009 |pages=110–111 |isbn=978-1-4051-6275-3 }}</ref> This revived former measures against heresy: the [[letters patent]] of 1382 of [[Richard II]], the [[Suppression of Heresy Act 1400]] ([[2 Hen. 4]]. c. 15) of [[Henry IV of England|Henry IV]], and the [[Suppression of Heresy Act 1414]] ([[2 Hen. 5. Stat. 1]]. c. 7) of [[Henry V of England|Henry V]]. All of these had been repealed under Henry VIII and Edward VI.<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Gee |editor1-first=Henry |editor2-last=Hardy |editor2-first=William John |title=Documents Illustrative of English Church History |year=1914 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London }}</ref> On 13 November 1555, [[Thomas Cranmer]] was officially deprived of the See of Canterbury.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/marygovt.html |title= Marian Government Policies|access-date=5 July 2007 }}</ref> The Pope promoted Pole to the rank of [[cardinal-priest]] and made him [[Diocesan administrator|administrator]] of the See of Canterbury on 11 December 1555.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://archive.org/details/reginaldpolecard00leef|title=Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury : an historical sketch, with an introductory prologue and practical epilogue|first=Frederick George|last=Lee|date=6 December 1888|publisher=London : J. C. Nimmo|via=Internet Archive}}</ref>

Pole was finally ordained a priest on 20 March 1556 and consecrated a bishop two days later, becoming [[archbishop of Canterbury]].<ref name="odnb"/><ref>{{Cite book |last=Duffy |first=Eamon |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt1npq81 |title=Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor |date=2009 |publisher=Yale University Press |jstor=j.ctt1npq81 |isbn=978-0-300-15216-6}}</ref> an office he would hold until his death. In 1555 and 1555/1556 respectively he also became chancellor of both [[Chancellor of Oxford University|Oxford]] and [[Chancellor of Cambridge University|Cambridge]] universities.<ref>{{acad|id=PL556R|name=Pole, Reginald}}</ref> As well as his religious duties, he was in effect the Queen's chief minister and adviser. Many former enemies, including Cranmer, signed recantations affirming their religious belief in [[transubstantiation]] and [[papal supremacy]].<ref>{{cite book |editor1-first=F. L. |editor1-last=Cross |editor2-first=E. A. |editor2-last=Livingstone |title=The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church |publisher=Oxford University Press |location=New York |edition=3rd |year=1997 |page=[https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/428 428] |isbn=019211655X |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/oxforddictionary00late/page/428 }}</ref> Despite this, which should have absolved them under Mary's own Revival of the Heresy Acts, the Queen could not forget their responsibility for the annulment of her mother's marriage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.stpeter.org/cranmer.html |title=Thomas Cranmer |publisher=Stpeter.org |access-date=5 December 2011}}</ref>

In 1555, Queen Mary began permitting the burning of Protestants for [[heresy]], and some 220 men and 60 women were executed before her death in 1558. In the view of some historians, these so-called [[Marian persecutions]] contributed to the ultimate victory of the [[English Reformation]],<ref>{{cite journal |last=Pogson |first=Rex H. |title=Reginald Pole and the Priorities of Government in Mary Tudor's Church |journal=The Historical Journal |volume=18 |issue=1 |year=1975 |pages=3–20 |doi=10.1017/S0018246X00008645 |s2cid=159964116 }}</ref> though Pole's involvement in these heresy trials is disputed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ncregister.com/blog/stephaniemann/the-man-who-was-almost-pope-reginald-cardinal-pole |title=The Man Who Was Almost Pope: Reginald Cardinal Pole  |last=Mann  |first=Stephanie |date=30 November 2016 |website=The National Catholic Register |publisher=EWTN |access-date=25 October 2017 |quote="Pole is usually not blamed for the campaign of heresy trials and burnings that is such a blot on the reign of 'Bloody Mary'. Known for his gentleness and patience with those suspected of heresy, he regarded them as sinners rather than traitors, urging leniency, conversion, and forgiveness."}}</ref> Pole was in failing health during the worst period of persecution, and there is some evidence that he favoured a more lenient approach: "Three condemned heretics from Bonner's diocese were pardoned on an appeal to him; he merely enjoined a penance and gave them absolution."<ref name=Thurston/> As the reign wore on, an increasing number of people turned against Mary and her government,<ref name = Schama>{{cite book|last= Schama|first= Simon|author-link= Simon Schama|title= A History of Britain 1: At the Edge of the World?|orig-year= 2000|year= 2003|publisher= [[BBC Worldwide]]|location= London|isbn= 0-563-48714-3|pages= [https://archive.org/details/historyofbritain0000scha/page/272 272–273]|chapter= Burning Convictions|chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/historyofbritain0000scha/page/272}}</ref> and some people who had been indifferent to the English Reformation began turning against Catholicism.<ref>{{cite book | last =Churchill  | first =Winston  | author-link =Winston Churchill  | title =A History of the English-Speaking Peoples|year=1958}}</ref><ref name="wsc">{{cite book | last =Churchill  | first =Winston  | title =The New World | page=99  | publisher =Dodd, Mead  | year =1966  }}</ref> Writings such as [[John Foxe]]'s 1568 ''[[Book of Martyrs]]'', which emphasised the sufferings of the reformers under Mary, helped shape popular opinion against Catholicism in England for generations.<ref name = Schama/><ref name="wsc" />

Despite being a lifelong devout Catholic, Pole had a long-running dispute with [[Pope Paul IV]], dating from before the latter's election as Pope. Elected in 1555, Paul IV had a distaste for Catholic humanism and men like Pole who pushed a softer version of Catholicism to win over Protestants, as well as being fiercely anti-Spanish and against Mary's marriage to [[Philip II of Spain]] and heavily against Pole's support for it. Because of this disagreement Paul first cancelled Pole's legatine authority, and then sought to recall Pole to [[Rome]] to face investigation for heresy in his early writings. Mary refused to send Pole to Rome, yet accepted his suspension from office.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Reginald Pole {{!}} archbishop of Canterbury|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Reginald-Pole|access-date=2020-11-06|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> In the will of Sir [[Robert Acton]] dated 24 September 1558 he is named as one of the Executors, despite the fact that Sir Robert expressed himself in terms consistent with his dying in the Protestant faith.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.historyofparliamentonline.org/volume/1509-1558/member/acton-robert-1497-1558#footnote4_kljjw2t | title=ACTON, Robert (By 1497-1558), of Elmley Lovett and Ribbesford, Worcs. And Southwark, Surr. &#124; History of Parliament Online }}</ref>

[[File:Tomb of Cardinal Reginald Pole at Canterbury Cathedral, August 2022.jpg|thumb|upright|Pole's tomb at Canterbury Cathedral]]
Pole died in London, during an [[influenza]] epidemic, on 17 November 1558, at about 7:00&nbsp;pm, nearly 12 hours after Queen Mary's death.<ref>p. 24 May 9 History Today, an excerpted article taken from Eamon Duffy's "Fires of Faith: Catholic England under Mary Tudor," published by Yale University Press- History Today Vol 59 (5) May 2009, pp 24–29</ref> He was buried on the north side of the [[The Corona, Canterbury Cathedral|Corona]] at [[Canterbury Cathedral]].

== Author ==
Pole was the author of ''De Concilio'', of a treatise on the authority of the [[pope]] and of a set of measures introduced by him to restore Catholic practice in England. He was also the author of many important letters, full of interest for the history of the time, edited by [[Angelo Maria Quirini]].<ref>five volumes, Brescia, 1744–57</ref>

Pole is known for his strong condemnation of [[Machiavelli]]'s book ''[[The Prince]]'', which he read in Italy, and on which he commented: "I found this type of book to be written by an enemy of the human race. It explains every means whereby religion, justice and any inclination toward virtue could be destroyed".<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ov1JAAAAIAAJ|title=Defense of the Unity of the Church|first=Reginald|last=Pole|date=6 December 1965|publisher=Newman Press|via=Google Books}}</ref>

== In popular culture ==
''[[Cardinal Pole (novel)|Cardinal Pole]]'' is an 1863 novel [[William Harrison Ainsworth]]. Cardinal Pole is a major character in the historical novels ''The Time Before You Die'' by Lucy Beckett, ''The Courier's Tale'' by Peter Walker and ''The Trusted Servant'' by Alison Macleod,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/04012101.html|title=The Papers of Alison Macleod (1920-)|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120717201356/http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/04012101.html|archive-date=2012-07-17|url-status=dead|publisher=Labour History Archive and Study Centre|access-date=2011-12-05}}</ref> and features in [[Hilary Mantel]]'s novel ''[[The Mirror & the Light]]'', the third and last of her novels on the life of [[Thomas Cromwell]].

In Season 3 of [[Showtime (TV network)|Showtime]]'s series ''[[The Tudors]]'', Cardinal Pole is portrayed by Canadian actor [[Mark Hildreth (actor)|Mark Hildreth]]. In the mini-series ''[[The Virgin Queen (TV serial)|The Virgin Queen]]'' he is played by [[Michael Feast]]; he is last seen leading Mary's servants out of [[Greenwich Palace]] as [[Elizabeth I]] arrives as queen.

Reginald Pole is a major character in ''Queen of Martyrs: The Story of Mary I'' by Samantha Wilcoxson.

Reginald Pole, along with his brothers, sister, and mother, are the central family in [[Philippa Gregory]]'s historical novel ''[[The King's Curse]]''.

Cardinal Reginald Pole is a major supporting character in Rosamund Gravelle's play appears as a main character in Rosamund Gravelle's debut play ''Three Queens'',<ref>[https://www.rosamundgravelle.com/productionsthreequeens  Rosamund Gravelle - Productions: ''Three Queens'']</ref><ref>[https://www.baronscourttheatre.com/pastproductions  Barons Court Theatre - Past Productions]</ref> with the role first played by Les Kenny-Green.

== See also ==
*[[Nicodemite]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=note}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== Sources ==
* Phillips, T. (1764). ''History of the Life of Reginald Pole'' (two volumes, Oxford, 1764), the earliest English.
* Stewart, A. M. (1882). ''Life of Cardinal Pole'' (London, 1882)
* Lee, F. G. (1888). ''Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury: An Historical Sketch'' (London, 1888)
* Zimmermann, Athanasius (1893). ''Kardinal Pole: sein Leben und seine Schriften'' (Regensberg, 1893)
* [[James Gairdner|Gairdner, James]] (1903). ''The English Church in the Sixteenth Century'' (London, 1903)
* {{cite book|last=Haile|first=Martin|title=Life of Reginald Pole|url=https://archive.org/details/lifereginaldpol00hailgoog|year=1910|publisher=Longmans, Green, and Company|location=New York}} [pseudonym of Marie Hallé]
* {{cite book|last=Fenlon|first=Dermot |title=Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reformation|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s9Y9AAAAIAAJ|year=1972|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-20005-9}}
* Tellechea Idigoras, Jose Ignacio (1977). ''Fray Bartolome Carranza Y El Cardenal Pole: Un Navarro En La Restauracion Catolica De Inglaterra (1554–1558)'' Diputacion Foral de Navarra, Institucion Principe de Viana, Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas. 1977. {{ISBN|84-235-0066-7}}.
* {{cite book|last=Mayer|first=Thomas F.|title=Reginald Pole: Prince and Prophet|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OqaBq2QGrFEC&pg=PA380|year=2000|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-37188-9}}
* {{cite book|last=Edwards|first=John|title=Mary I: England's Catholic Queen|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=29478lLNh2cC|year=2011|publisher=Yale University Press|location=New Haven CT USA|isbn=978-0-300-17743-5}}
* {{cite book|last=Edwards|first=John|title=Archbishop Pole|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRsGDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA216|series=(American edition: New York 2016)|year=2014|publisher=Ashgate Pub. Co.|isbn=978-1-317-17971-9}}

=== Attribution ===
* {{New International Encyclopedia|wstitle=Pole, Reginald}}
* {{Catholic Encyclopedia|wstitle=Reginald Pole|first=Herbert|last=Thurston|volume=12}}

== External links ==
{{NIE poster|Pole, Reginald|Reginald Pole}}
* [http://www.members.tripod.com/american_almanac/tarp93b.htm "The role of the Venetian Oligarchy" by Webster Tarpley (includes detailed discussion of Pole's activities in Italy)]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070609191724/http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/T/TennysonAlfred/play/queenmary/queenmarya5s2.html "Queen Mary" by Alfred Tennyson, "Enter Cardinal Pole"]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070520070851/http://www.hrionline.ac.uk/johnfoxe/main/12_1570_2142.jsp Henry Cole, Cardinal Pole's Vicar General, tries to restore Catholicism at Cambridge University]
* T. F. Mayer, '[http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22456 Pole, Reginald (1500–1558)]', Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, Jan 2008, Reginald Pole.

{{s-start}}
{{s-rel|ca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Cranmer]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Archbishop of Canterbury]]|years= 
1556–1558}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Matthew Parker]]}}
{{s-aca}}
{{s-bef|before=[[John Mason (diplomat)|John Mason]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chancellor of the University of Oxford]]|years=1556–1558}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Henry FitzAlan, 19th Earl of Arundel|The Earl of Arundel]]}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Stephen Gardiner]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Chancellor of the University of Cambridge]]|years=1556–1558}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Lord Burghley]]}}
{{s-end}}

{{Deans of Exeter}}
{{Archbishops of Canterbury}}
{{Chancellors of the University of Cambridge}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pole, Reginald}}
[[Category:1500 births]]
[[Category:1558 deaths]]
[[Category:Alumni of Magdalen College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Archbishops of Canterbury]]
[[Category:Chancellors of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Counter-Reformation]]
[[Category:Deans of Exeter]]
[[Category:Diplomats of the Holy See]]
[[Category:16th-century English cardinals]]
[[Category:English religious writers]]
[[Category:Fellows of Corpus Christi College, Oxford]]
[[Category:History of Catholicism in England]]
[[Category:Participants in the Council of Trent]]
[[Category:Spirituali]]
[[Category:Younger sons of earls]]
[[Category:Burials at Canterbury Cathedral]]