| His Eminence Reginald Pole |
|
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
| Province | Canterbury |
| Diocese | Canterbury |
| See | Canterbury |
| Enthroned | 1556 |
| Reign ended | 17 November 1558 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Cranmer |
| Successor | Matthew Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 March 1500 Stourton Castle, Staffordshire Kingdom of England |
| Died | 17 November 1558 (aged 58) London, Kingdom of England |
| Buried | Corona Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, Kent |
| Nationality | English |
| Denomination | Roman Catholic |
| Parents | Sir Richard Pole The Countess of Salisbury |
| Alma mater | Magdalen College, Oxford |
Reginald Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English Cardinal of the Catholic Church, and the last Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office during the Counter Reformation.
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Pole was born at Stourton Castle, Staffordshire, on 12 March 1500.[1][2] to Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury. His maternal grandparents were George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabella Neville, Duchess of Clarence; thus he was a grandnephew of kings Edward IV and Richard III and a great-grandson of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.
His nursery is said to have been at Sheen Priory.[3] He was educated at Charterhouse School, Godalming, Surrey, matriculated at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, in 1512, and at Oxford was taught by William Latimer and Thomas Linacre, graduating with a BA on 27 June 1515. In February 1518, King Henry VIII granted him the deanery of Wimborne Minster, Dorset; after which he was Prebendary of Salisbury and Dean of Exeter in 1527.[4]
In 1521, Pole went to Padua, where 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 condemned as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church, with Vermigli - as a well-known Protestant theologian - having a significant share in the Reformation in Pole's native England.
His studies in Padua were partly financed by his election as a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with more than half of the cost paid by Henry VIII himself[5] on 14 February 1523, which allowed him to study abroad for three years.
Pole returned home in July 1526, when he went to France, escorted by Thomas Lupset. Henry VIII offered him the Archbishopric of York or the Diocese of Winchester if he would support his divorce from Catherine of Aragon. Pole withheld his support and went into self-imposed exile in France and Italy in 1532, continuing his studies in Padua and Paris. After his return he held the benefice of Vicar of Piddletown, Dorset, between 20 December 1532 and about January 1535/1536.[6]
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.
The incensed king, with Pole himself out of his reach, took a terrible revenge on Pole's family. Though Pole's mother and his elder brother had written to him in reproof of Pole's attitude and action, they were not spared by the king. In November 1538, Pole's eldest brother Henry Pole, Baron Montagu, another son of Margaret Pole, and other relations were arrested on a charge of treason, although Cromwell had previously written that they had "little offended save that he [the Cardinal] is of their kin", they were committed to the Tower of London, and in January, with the exception of his brother Geoffrey Pole, they were executed. Pole was attainted in absentia in 1539.
Reginald Pole's mother Margaret was also arrested, kept for two years under severe conditions in the Tower, and finally executed (her execution was dreadfully botched and horrifying even for those brutal times) in 1541, protesting her innocence until the last - a highly publicised case which was considered a grave miscarriage of justice both at the time and later. Pole is known to have said that he would "...never fear to call himself the son of a martyr". She was beatified some 350 years later, in 1886, by Pope Leo XIII.
| Styles of Reginald Pole |
|
|---|---|
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Canterbury |
Aside from the aforementioned oppositional treatise, King Henry's harshness towards the Pole family might have derived from Pole's mother, Margaret Pole née Plantagenet, being considered the last member of the House of Plantagenet. Under some circumstances, that fact could have made Reginald - until he definitely entered the clergy - a possible contender for the throne itself. Indeed, in 1535 Pole was considered by Eustace Chapuys, the Imperial ambassador to England, as a possible husband for Princess Mary, later Mary I of England.
Pole was made a cardinal by Pope Paul III in 1536, over Pole's own objections. He also became Papal Legate to England in February 1536/1537. In 1542 he was appointed as one of the three Papal Legates to preside over the Council of Trent, in 1549 he was appointed by Pope Paul III Abbot of Gavello or Canalnuovo, and after the death of Pope Paul III in 1549 Pole, at one point, had nearly the two-thirds of the vote he needed to become Pope himself[7] at the papal conclave, 1549-1550.
The death of King Edward VI on 6 July 1553 and the accession of Mary I to the throne of England hastened Pole's return from exile, as Papal Legate to England (which he served as until 1557). In 1554, Cardinal Pole came to England to receive the kingdom back into the Roman fold. However, Mary and the Emperor Charles V delayed him until 20 November 1554, due to apprehension that Pole might oppose the Queen's forthcoming marriage to Charles's son, Philip of Spain.[8]
As Papal Legate, Pole negotiated a papal dispensation allowing the new owners of confiscated former monastic lands to retain them, and in return Parliament enabled the Revival of the Heresy Acts in January 1555.[9] This revived former measures against heresy: the letters patent of 1382 of Richard II, an Act of 1401 of Henry IV, and an Act of 1414 of Henry V. All of these had been repealed under Henry VIII and Edward VI.[10] On 13 November 1555, Cranmer was officially deprived of the See of Canterbury.[11]
Under Mary's rule, Pole, whose attainder was reversed in 1554, was finally ordained as a Priest on 20 March 1556 and raised to Archbishop of Canterbury in 1555, an office he would hold until his death. He was also Chancellor of both Oxford and Cambridge universities in 1555 and 1555/1556 respectively.[12] 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.[13] Despite this, which should have absolved them under Mary’s own Revival of the Heresy Acts, the Queen could not forget their responsibility for her mother's unhappy divorce.[14]
In 1555, Queen Mary began permitting the burning of Anglicans for heresy, and some 220 men and 60 women were executed before her death in 1558. Pole shares responsibility for these persecutions which - contrary to his intention - contributed to the ultimate victory of the English Reformation.[15] On the other hand, Pole was in failing health during the worst period of persecution, and there is some evidence that he favored 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."[7] As the reign wore on, an increasing number of people turned against Mary and her government,[16] and some people who had been indifferent to the English Reformation began turning against Catholicism.[17][18] Writings such as John Foxe's 1568 Book of Martyrs, which emphasized the sufferings of the reformers under Mary, helped shape popular opinion against Catholicism in England for generations.[16][18]
Reginald Pole died in London on 17 November 1558, at about 7:00pm, nearly twelve hours after Queen Mary's death from illness.[19] He was buried on the north side of the Corona at Canterbury Cathedral.
Pole was the author of De Concilio and of treatises on the authority of the Roman Pontiff and the Anglican Reformation of England, and of many important letters, full of interest for the history of the time, edited by Angelo Maria Quirini.[20]
He 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".[21]
Cardinal Pole is a major character in the historical novel The Trusted Servant by Alison Macleod.[22] The book's (fictional) protagonist is sent by King Henry VIII to assassinate Pole in Italy. He relents and saves the Cardinal from a fellow assassin, and is taken into Pole's service. As first presented to the reader, Cardinal Pole is a kindly, indeed almost saintly man, highly liberal and tolerant by the standards of the time, and the protagonist becomes very devoted to his service. But when Pole returns to England after King Henry's death and the accession of Mary, he is portrayed as becoming increasingly tyrannical and oppressive, exasperated with the recalcitrance of the English, their refusal to re-embrace Roman Catholicism and their sympathy for the underground Protestant sects. Macleod also suggests that Pole was subconsciously guided by vindictiveness against the English, for having failed to stand by his mother when she was put to death under Henry. Finally, the protagonist breaks with Pole and helps condemned Protestants to escape. When last seen in the book, Pole is presented as a tragic, broken man, whose dreams and ideals have all turned to ashes. While facing the hostility of the Protestants, he is also suddenly attacked by the Pope, his former friend Caraffa.
In the novel Q by Luther Blissett, while not appearing himself, Pole is mentioned many times as the book's subject in the upheavals caused by the Reformation and the Roman Church's response during the 16th century.
Cardinal Pole is a major character in Peter Walker's novel, The Courier's Tale, pub 2010. The years of Pole's exile in Italy and later return to England as Archbishop of Canterbury in the reign of Queen Mary iare told through the story of his confidential agent, Michael Throckmorton (an actual historical figure).
In Season 3 of Showtime's series The Tudors, Cardinal Pole is portrayed by Canadian actor Mark Hildreth.
| Catholic Church titles | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Thomas Cranmer |
Archbishop of Canterbury 1556–1558 |
Succeeded by Matthew Parker |
| Academic offices | ||
| Preceded by John Mason |
Chancellor of the University of Oxford 1556–1558 |
Succeeded by Earl of Arundel |
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