Pole, Reginald 1500-58
English Roman Catholic churchman

Born in Stourton Castle, Staffordshire, he studied at Oxford, then in Padua, Italy. He was the son of Sir Richard Pole and Margaret, Countess of Salisbury (1473-1541). He received several Church posts, and gained Henry VIII's favour, but lost it after opposing the king on divorce and left for Italy, where he was made a cardinal by the Pope Paul III (1536). In 1549 he was on the point of being elected pope, but on the election of Julius III lived quietly until the death of Edward VI. In 1554, during the reign of the Catholic Queen Mary I, he returned to England as Papal Legate, became one of her most powerful advisers, returned the country to Rome, and became Archbishop of Canterbury in succession to Thomas Cranmer (1556). It is alleged that he was responsible for the hardening of Mary's attitude to the Protestants.