Reginald Pole
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| Reginald Pole | |
|---|---|
| Archbishop of Canterbury | |
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| Enthroned | 1556 |
| Reign ended | 17 November 1558 |
| Predecessor | Thomas Cranmer |
| Successor | Matthew Parker |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 12 March 1500 |
| Died | 17 November 1558 (aged 58) |
| Buried | Corona Chapel, Canterbury Cathedral, Kent |
Reginald Cardinal Pole (12 March 1500 – 17 November 1558) was an English Cardinal in the Roman Church, and the last Roman Archbishop of Canterbury, holding office during the Counter Reformation.
Contents |
[edit] To the reign of Queen Mary I
Pole was born in at Stourton Castle, Staffordshire, England on 12 March 1500[1][2] to Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury. His maternal grandparents were George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence and Isabella Neville, Duchess of Clarence.
He was a member of Magdalen College, Oxford from about 1512 until about 1519. He was taught by William Latimer and Thomas Linacre, and admitted BA on 27 June 1515. In February 1518, King Henry VIII granted him the deanery of Wimborne Minster, Dorset; after which he was Dean of Exeter[3] .
In 1521, Pole went to Padua, where he met such leading Renaissance figures as 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, Pietro Martire Vermigli (Peter Martyr) and Vettor Soranzo. The last three were eventually condemned as heretics by the Catholic Church, with Vermigli - as a well-known Protestant theologian - having a significant share in the Reformation in Pole's native England.
| Styles of Reginald Pole |
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| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Canterbury |
His studies were partly financed by his election as a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, (the majority financing was by Henry VIII himself)[4] 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.
The final break between Pole and the King Henry followed upon Thomas Cromwell, Cuthbert Tunstall, Thomas Starkey, and others addressing questions to Pole on behalf of Henry. He answered by sending Henry 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 upon Pole's family. Though Pole's mother and his elder brother had written to him in reproof of his attitude and action, they were not spared by the king. In November 1538, Reginald Pole's eldest brother Henry Pole, Baron Montagu, another son (of Margaret Pole) and other relatives were arrested on a charge of treason, though Thomas 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.
Reginald Pole's mother Margaret was also arrested, kept for two years under severe conditions in the Tower, and finally executed 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 400 years later, in 1886, by Pope Leo XIII.
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. In 1542 he was appointed as one of the three papal legates to preside over the Council of Trent, 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 [5] at the papal conclave, 1549-1550.
[edit] Later years
The death of Edward VI Tudor, on 6 July 1553, and the accession of Mary I to the throne of England hastened Pole's return from exile, as papal legate. In 1554 Cardinal Pole came to England to receive the kingdom back into the Roman fold. However, Mary and Emperor Charles V delayed him until 20 November 1554, due to apprehension that Pole might oppose the Queen's forthcoming marriage to Charles' son, Philip II of Spain.[6]
Pole's return was followed by an Act of Parliament, the Revival of the Heresy Acts. This revived three former Acts against heresy; the letters patent of 1382 of King Richard II, an Act of 1401 of King Henry IV, and an Act of 1414 of King Henry V. All three of these laws had been repealed under King Henry VIII and King Edward VI.[7] On 13 November 1555, Cranmer was officially deprived of the See of Canterbury.[8] Under Mary's rule, Pole was finally ordained as a priest on 20 March 1556 and raised to Archbishop of Canterbury, an office he would hold until his death. He was also Chancellor of both Oxford and Cambridge universities.[9] As well as his religious duties, he was in effect the Queen's chief minister and adviser. Many former enemies, including Thomas Cranmer, signed recantations affirming their religious belief in transubstantiation and papal supremacy.[10] Despite this, which should have absolved them under Mary’s own Heresy Act, the Queen could not forget their responsibility for her mother's unhappy divorce.[11]
In 1555, Queen Mary began pemitting the burning of Protestants 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.[12] As the reign wore on, an increasing number of people turned against Mary and her government,[13] and some people who had been indifferent to the English Reformation began turning against Catholicism.[14][15] 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.[13][15]
Reginald Cardinal Pole died in London on 17 November 1558, at about 7:00pm, nearly twelve hours after Queen Mary's death from illness.[16] He was buried on the north side of the Corona at Canterbury Cathedral.
[edit] Writings
Pole was the author of a book De Concilio and 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 (five volumes, Brescia, 1744-57).
He is known for his strong condemnation of Machiavelli's book The Prince, which he read while 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" [Dwyer, p. xxiii].
[edit] In fiction
Cardinal Pole is a major character in the historical novel "The Trusted Servant" by Alison Macleod ([1]). 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.
In Season 3 of Showtime's series The Tudors, Cardinal Pole is portrayed by Mark Hildreth.
[edit] Ancestors
| 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 |
[edit] Bibliography
- T. Phillips, History of the Life of Reginald Pole (two volumes, Oxford, 1764), the earliest English.
- A. M. Stewart, Life of Cardinal Pole (London, 1882)
- F. G. Lee, Reginald Pole, Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury: An Historical Sketch (London, 1888)
- Athanasius Zimmermann, Kardinal Pole: sein Leben und seine Schriften (Regensberg, 1893)
- James Gairdner, The English Church in the Sixteenth Century (London, 1903)
- Martin Haile, Life of Reginald Pole (New York, 1910)
- Dermot Fenlon, Heresy and Obedience in Tridentine Italy: Cardinal Pole and the Counter Reformation, Cambridge University Press, 2008.
- Cardinal Pole is a major character in the historical novel "The Loyal Servant" by Alison Macleod.
- This article incorporates text from an edition of the New International Encyclopedia that is in the public domain.
- This article incorporates text from the entry Reginald Pole in the public-domain Catholic Encyclopedia of 1913. [2]
[edit] References
- ^ History, Gazetteer and Directory of Staffordshire, William White, Sheffield, 1851
- ^ He was named after the now Blessed Reginald of Orleans, O.P.
- ^ Britannia Biographies
- ^ http://www.lambethpalacelibrary.org/files/Reginald_Pole.pdf
- ^ "Reginald Pole". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12201b.htm.
- ^ "Mary Tudor". http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/09766a.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ Documents Illustrative of English Church History. London: Macmillan. 1914.
- ^ "Marian Government Policies". http://englishhistory.net/tudor/monarchs/marygovt.html. Retrieved 2007-07-05.
- ^ Pole, Reginald in Venn, J. & J. A., Alumni Cantabrigienses, Cambridge University Press, 10 vols, 1922–1958.
- ^ The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church by F. L. Cross (Editor), E. A. Livingstone (Editor) Oxford University Press, USA; 3 edition p.428 (March 13, 1997)
- ^ Thomas Cranmer
- ^ Pogson, Rex H. Reginald Pole and the Priorities of Government in Mary Tudor's Church in The Historical Journal, Vol. 18, No. 1 (Mar., 1975), pp. 3-20
- ^ a b Schama, Simon (2003) [2000]. "Burning Convictions". A History of Britain 1: At the Edge of the World?. London: BBC Worldwide. pp. 272–273. ISBN 0 56 348714 3.
- ^ Winston Churchill (1958), A History of the English-Speaking Peoples
- ^ a b Churchill, Winston (1966). The New World p.99. Dodd, Mead.
- ^ p. 24 May 09 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
[edit] External links
- "The role of the Venetian Oligarchy" by Webster Tarpley (includes detailed discussion of Pole's activities in Italy)
- "Queen Mary" by Alfred Tennyson, "Enter Cardinal Pole"
- Henry Cole, Cardinal Pole's Vicar General, tries to restore Catholicism at Cambridge University
- Works by or about Reginald Pole in libraries (WorldCat catalog)
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