What If Mary & Reginald Got Married?

I'm excited to announce that a new anthology is available from Historical Writers Forum! Each author was asked to answer a historical 'what if' question, and I considered a few before deciding to write a story about Queen Mary I choosing to marry Reginald Pole instead of Philip of Spain. You will love the alternate endings that other historical novelists came up with too!

Did I mention that it is only 99c?!

What if Mary and Reginald got married is a question I have written about before, but this was my first time expanding on it and what might have happened. Without the people rising up against a fear of Spanish rule, would Mary still be remembered as Bloody Mary? Might she have also been happier married to a man who might return her love instead of seeing her as a path to a crown? The fact that Mary and Reginald died on the same day, 17 November 1558, becomes heartbreakingly romantic if we imagine that they were married at the time.

In my Alternate Endings story, I got to think about a few other people who would be impacted by Mary & Reginald becoming co-monarchs. What would Princess Elizabeth think of this, and what would she do to ensure her own position as heir apparent? Perhaps, marriage would be a better path for her as well. How might the Tudor dynasty change?

Writing alternate history is thought-provoking, and I decided to keep some parts of Mary's story as they truly happened, but you'll have to read Tudors with a Twist to discover what stays the same and what is just a might-have-been. One big change alters the course of England's monarchy. Find out what happens in Alternate Endings from HWF!

Explore more Alternate Endings on the HWF Blog Hop Page!

What would you do if you could change history?

It's Who You Know

Cardinal Reginald Pole

While researching Reginald Pole in order to write his story in Prince of York, I was astonished by the number of famous friends he had. Lacking the ambition so prominent in most men of the sixteenth century, Reginald did not take advantage of the fact that he was well-known and respected by cardinals, kings (well, not THAT one of course), and men of all stations.

He had the perfect opportunity to do so when Pope Paul III died in 1549. Pole was expected to become the next pope. Vestments were tailor made for him and those who gambled found the odds heavily favored him. However, Reginald Pole refused to press his advantage. As others bribed, schemed, and negotiated, Reginald prayed that God would guide the outcome of the conclave. He fell short by one vote.

The throne of England was another possibility for Reginald Pole. His mother, Margaret Countess of Salisbury, was a friend and confidant of Queen Katherine of Aragon. Both women liked the idea of their children wed to one another. Later, after both women were dead, the idea was considered again by those who looked to the Tudor succession and found only women available. Reginald could be the perfect spouse for Mary, uniting York and Tudor blood and giving Mary an acceptable husband to rule the kingdom.

As far as we know, Reginald never seriously considered this possibility. He considered himself a man of God above all else, and never would marry. Instead, he returned to England when Mary became queen and was invested as her Archbishop of Canterbury.

Cardinal Pietro Bembo

Throughout his life, Reginald built fortuitous relationships but did not use them for his own advancement. Besides his royal Tudor cousins and fellow churchmen who wished to raise him to the highest earthly office, Reginald was a close enough companion to the artist Michelangelo that he had at least one portrait from him that he made a gift to the Bishop of Fano.

Reginald also had a close relationship with Vittoria Colonna who is not as famous as she should be. A devout Catholic who, like Pole, was not afraid to consider the worth of the tenets of faith brought forward by reformers, Vittoria was also a published poet. A feat in itself for her time, she was talented enough to be admired and consulted by the likes of Cardinal Pietro Bembo.

The fact that Pole spent his life surrounded by amazing historical figures is one of the many aspects of his character that made him a joy to write about. In the following excerpt, he shares a quiet evening with a man who was a scholar, Templar knight, poet, and cardinal: Pietro Bembo.

Excerpt from Prince of York

June 1543 - Rome

He realized the extent of the stress his brother’s presence placed upon him when he finally had the opportunity to relax for an evening with Cardinal Bembo. It was a beautiful summer evening, so they were seated on a rooftop veranda with a decanter of wine between them.

Reginald released a sigh as tension left his shoulders and the sun cast a riot of color into the sky.

“You have not been reading your Cicero,” Pietro observed.

Reginald had closed his eyes to soak up the peaceful feeling, but he opened them to peer at his friend. “How can you tell?”

“Ha! It is easy to see that you are far too filled with anxiety to have been studying the ancients. You are stuck firmly in the present with all its worries,” Bembo waved his hands as though this was all as clear to see as if Michelangelo had painted it on the wall.

With a grin, Reginald admitted, “As usual, you are correct, Pietro.” He took a deep draught from his glass and refilled it before speaking again. “It is my brother.”

Bembo nodded solemnly. “It can be a heavy burden to be our brothers’ keeper as is commanded by our Lord. Geoffrey has many demons.”

“He does,” Reginald agreed. “I must have greater patience with him.”

“Ah, Reynaldo,” Bembo said affectionately, leaning over to pat Reginald’s knee. “You would take on the world believing it was your duty.” Shaking his head, he continued, “The Bishop of Liege is in need of a man to see to duties of which I believe your brother would be capable.”

“Send him to Flanders?” Reginald asked, sitting upright, his muscles tightening with the discussion of his brother.

Before he could disagree, Bembo cut him off. “Yes, Flanders would be ideal. You may send him an allowance if it eases your conscience, but you are not obligated to keep him at your own table.”

“What if he….” Reginald realized he did not know what he was afraid of Geoffrey doing. Saying the wrong thing? Ending up in prison?

“Reynaldo, your brother is his own man, not your child. You will arrange this agreeable position for him and consider your obligation fulfilled.”

He nodded and lifted his glass to his lips, the matter closed.

Prince of York is available on Kindle for only 99c. It is also available in paperback as part of a combined Plantagenet Embers Novellas volume.

 

New Release! Plantagenet Embers Novellas Paperback

Some of you have been very patiently waiting, but now it is here! Novellas featuring Margaret Beaufort, Elizabeth Woodville, and Reginald Pole had previously only been released on Kindle. Now, you can get all three in one paperback volume!

I really enjoyed having the chance to explore the stories and emotions of these characters from the Plantagenet Embers full length novels. I hope you enjoy them too. Happy reading!

Available now on Amazon worldwide.

This paperback volume includes the following ebook novellas:

New Release! Prince of York: A Story of Reginald Pole

Today is the day! Prince of York: A Story of Reginald Pole is available now on Kindle for only 99c!

This is my favorite novella yet, and I hope it will be yours as well. Reginald was a fascinating person to write about, and he has some pretty amazing friends, too!

After his elderly mother is executed for treason, Reginald Pole must outsmart the assassins of Henry VIII. Through the political and spiritual upheaval of the Reformation, Reginald strives for peace and compromise. Is it possible? With royal blood running through his veins, Reginald Pole could have been a Tudor king. His position as a respected Cardinal of the Catholic Church could have earned him the position of Supreme Pontiff. Reginald chose neither.

Instead, he chose to be a faithful friend to artists and churchmen alike, a man of God who could not be corrupted but was open to hearing opposing views, and a man who stood up to Henry VIII when others capitulated to the king's demands. However, he may have underestimated the Tudor tyrant's capacity for vengeance.

Get Reginald's story today on Amazon.

Defying Henry VIII: Reginald Pole

Few people dared to challenge the authority of King Henry VIII of England. Of those few, most did not live long enough to regret it. Henry's vengeance burned furiously and unrelentingly. One man, who happened to be Henry's cousin, was the object of his anger for more than twenty years and was clever enough to survive.

Cardinal Reginald Pole

Reginald Pole had not always been a target of Henry's fury. Born to Margaret Pole in 1500, Reginald was Henry's cousin, and the men shared interest in scholarship and theology. Henry's father had recognized great skill in Reginald and supported his studies from an early age. After the death of Henry VII, his son continued that support.With Reginald's mother the governess of Henry's only surviving child, Princess Mary, there was no reason to believe that Reginald need ever fear the wrath of his king.

Enter Anne Boleyn.

Once Henry VIII had been given the title Defender of the Faith by the Pope, but the middle aged king with an even older wife was tempted to break his marriage vows in order to satiate his lust and father a more worthy heir than the teenage daughter he already had. Reginald's faith, however, remained unshaken. Henry requested that Reginald write a defense of his plan to replace Queen Catherine with Anne, expecting that the years of friendship and support, not to mention their familial bond, would ensure Reginald's loyalty. Oh, if only he could have foreseen the drama he was unleashing throughout the Christian world.

Instead of supporting his king, Reginald wrote a fierce indictment of his plans to annul his marriage of more than twenty years. Without digging too deeply into the arguments over Henry's Great Matter, we can simply say that Reginald and Henry split, permanently and deeply. In 1526, Henry offered Reginald the Archbishopric of York to bargain for his loyalty. Reginald refused even that tempting bait.

Henry's battle to rid himself of Catherine took longer and had further reaching consequences than Henry could have imagined, but he was not a man to give in when he wanted something! He removed Reginald's mother, who was by this time Countess of Salisbury, from her position as Princess Mary's governess when Margaret too forcefully spoke up for Mary's rights. However, Henry seemed to carry on good relationships with Reginald's brothers, taking them on campaign in France and giving them positions at court. Meanwhile, Reginald remained safe in Italy.

Cappella di Reginald Pole, Rome

Maybe I should say that he was relatively safe. Reginald had to evade the efforts of English assassins on multiple occasions. One was a man more famous as a poet than diplomat or spy. Thomas Wyatt was no more successful than anyone else Henry sent to rid him of his turbulent priest. In 1536, Reginald was so thankful to have escaped another attempt on his life that he had the Cappella di Reginald Pole built near Rome. This small chapel stands there (now within city limits) to this day.

This peace did not last for the Pole family. In 1539, Reginald rejected Henry's offer of the Bishopric of Salisbury, knowing that returning to England would mean his imprisonment and probable death. Angered by this and his family's continued support of Mary (and whispered rumors that they wished to see her married to Reginald) and their continued adherence to the Catholic faith, Henry persecuted what members of the Pole family he could get his hands on. In a debacle that would become known as The Exeter Conspiracy, Geoffrey Pole was imprisoned and tortured and Henry Pole was executed. Margaret, in her sixties by this time, was also arrested.

After his brother's execution, Reginald and was attainted in absentia. Henry even executed Reginald's elderly mother in 1541. No doubt remained that he could never return to his homeland.

Reginald was forced to travel separate of his fellow cardinals with a troop of 25 horseman guards when he participated in the Council of Trent in 1546. They took a secret route in order to avoid assassins. Those who lived in Viterbo, where Reginald governed as papal legate, knew to report any strangers in the area who might have been sent by the English king.

What finally allowed Reginald to move freely and eventually return to England was the death of King Henry in January 1547. During the short reign of Edward VI, Reginald exchanged letters with the Duke of Somerset and the king himself, but he was hesitant to return due to the religious reforms taking place. Of course, he also had his own work keeping him busy, which included the papal conclave of 1549-1550 that almost elected him Pope.

Reginald did finally return to England in 1554. He was not wed to Mary, now queen, as many had hoped. Instead, she made a disastrous match with Prince Philip of Spain and Reginald became Archbishop of Canterbury. Reginald died of natural causes (quite an accomplishment for a man with York blood in the Tudor era) on November 17, 1558, the exact same day as Queen Mary, ending the counter-reformation in England.



Don't miss the rest of the Defying Henry VIII series!

Read more about Reginald Pole in Prince of York.

Thomas Wyatt: Poet & Assassin

Thomas Wyatt the Elder

Say the name Thomas Wyatt and one of two things likely come to mind: poetry and Anne Boleyn. That the famous courtier was in love with Henry VIII's second queen is not doubted, but just how far their relationship ever went is a topic for another day. More interesting, at least in my opinion, is that Thomas Wyatt was one of several men sent by the tyrannical king on a mission to assassinate Cardinal Reginald Pole.

This is the sort of fun little tidbit I love to stumble across. I think many of us have a romantic impression of poor Thomas Wyatt, forced to step aside and leave his lady love to the desires of his king. (There are also rumors that Henry considered Wyatt's wife, Elizabeth, as his sixth wife!) The image of Wyatt as a sneaky murderer, albeit want-to-be murderer, was a bit more difficult to conjure up.

A good way to rid oneself of the presence of a romantic rival in the 1530s was to send him on a diplomatic mission. At that time, King Henry VIII just happened to have lots of need for diplomacy, and Wyatt's skill with words was more appreciated by the king in that arena than in writing poetry to his latest wife. Wyatt's initial goal was to convince Charles V of Spain that he should not invade England. Since Reginald Pole was one of the people arguing for that action, and he just happened to have as much (or more) royal blood than the king, he became a target.

Of course, Reginald Pole was not the only one encouraging those princes who remained loyal to the Papacy to invade England, but Henry heard Reginald's voice the loudest. It is often said that we are hurt most by those closest to us, and Henry and Reginald were close. Cousins with a common ancestor in Richard Duke of York, the men had grown up with a shared heritage. Reginald's mother was lady-in-waiting to Elizabeth of York, Henry's mother, and governess to Princess Mary, his daughter. Henry had also supported Reginald's education, as his father had done before him....up until the point Reginald turned against him.

It had been natural for Henry to request that Reginald write a defense of his desired divorce from Catherine of Aragon. What he didn't count on was Reginald having a mind of his own.

Cardinal Reginald Pole

In De Unitate Ecclesiastica Pole wrote at length about the evil that Henry was perpetrating against his kingdom, the church, and his God. This no-holds-barred attack was intended to bring the king to repentance, but it only served to bring his wrath against the entire Pole family. While Reginald was safe in Italy, Henry had Reginald's oldest brother, Henry Pole, and cousin, Henry Courtenay, executed under trumped up charges of treason supported by the forced evidence given by his younger brother, Geoffrey.

In the meantime, Henry sent assassins after Reginald multiple times during the final decade of his life. He was obsessed with proving that nobody could speak against the King and Head of the Church of England. When others failed, he sent Thomas Wyatt.

According to John PD Cooper in his Propaganda and the Tudor State, "Wyatt himself managed to creep up to the quarters of one of Pole's agents operating on French soil, only to trip haplessly over the threshold and damage his leg, allowing the man enough time to burn his letters."

In 1539, Pole was informed that Wyatt was openly "swaggering about telling everyone how rich he was and how he, personally, was going to murder Cardinal Pole." (Graven with Diamonds, Shulman) Several attempts were made to kill the cardinal on the road during his extensive travels, and Pope Paul III provided him with the protection of bodyguards. The Cappella di Reginald Pole in Rome is a small chapel built to give thanks to God after a thwarted assassination attempt on the road between Rome and Viterbo.

 Before too long, Wyatt's failure to capture or kill Pole was interpreted as conspiring with him by the suspicious king the poet served. In January 1541, Wyatt was arrested and sent to the Tower, where he expected to meet his end as so many before him had regardless of the evidence, or lack thereof, against them. While he was imprisoned there, Lady Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury and Reginald's mother, was executed without trial with notice of only a few hours.

Fortunately for Wyatt, Queen Catherine Howard made an appeal for his life during her short tenure in favor. Her marriage to Henry turned out to be more beneficial for the poet than poor Catherine, as she soon found herself the king's second executed wife. Shortly after his release, Thomas Wyatt sickened and died at the age of 39. Reginald Pole went on to become Archbishop of Canterbury during the reign of Queen Mary I until he died on November 17, 1558.

Tudor Persecution of the Carthusian Monks

On February 1, 1535, King Henry VIII's Act of Supremacy came into force, and one of the first groups he proceeded against were the Carthusian monks. Although this order had long been a respected and peaceful group, Henry labeling himself 'Supreme Head on Earth of the Church of England' made it possible for him to charge them with treason for their failure to accept his self-proclaimed level of spiritual power. His retribution was fierce and intended to be an example of any who considered refusing to take the Oath of Supremacy.

Three representatives of a Carthusian house attempted to compromise with Cromwell regarding the oath, but on April 26, 1535, they were sent to the Tower. On May 4th, after a farce of a trial, they were dragged by hurdle to Tyburn where they were hanged while still wearing their religious habits. Taken down while still alive, they were disemboweled, beheaded, and dismembered. Far from traitors, the monks were seen as martyrs of their faith.

Roman broadsheet of the martyrdom of the English Carthusians

Persecution of the Carthusian order was far from complete. Three more monks who refused the oath were chained to posts around the neck and legs and left in this state for weeks. They continued to refuse the oath, but the king and Cromwell were aware that the savagery of the first execution had created public sympathy for the men of faith rather than the king. Efforts to convert the men continued through house arrest, threats, and lectures on the king's supremacy. The monks who continued to refuse the oath were chained to pillars in the dungeon of Newgate and starved to death. Two more were hanged in chains from the city walls at York until they died.

The Carthusian houses fell to King Henry as some took the oath in fear and others fled to Bruges for safety. A small community of English Carthusians remained in Bruges until the reign of Queen Mary. When they began to arrive, they were housed in the Savoy by Queen Mary's Controller, Robert Rochester, whose brother had been one of the monks martyred at York. Mary and her key counselor on religious reform, Cardinal Reginald Pole, wished to reestablish the Carthusians but had also made promises to the purchasers of dissolved religious property that it would not be confiscated.

On November 17, 1555, The House of Jesus of Bethlehem of Shene was reestablished with Maurice Chauncy as Prior. Unfortunately, the restoration did not last long. Queen Mary and Reginald Pole, who was by that time Archbishop of Canterbury, both died on November 17, 1558. Queen Elizabeth forced the Carthusians into exile once more on July 1, 1559. There would be no return to England for them this time.

Reginald Pole and the Papal Conclave of 1550

Reginald Pole
Cardinal, Archbishop, & almost Pope

Reginald Pole is possibly best known for daring to reprimand King Henry VIII with his De Unitate, in which Pole strongly protested the Tudor king’s break from Rome. It was a brave stance to take and resulted in Henry tasking Cromwell with hiring assassins to rid him of the troublesome cardinal. Clearly, these efforts were unsuccessful, because in 1549, shortly following Henry’s death, Reginald was a favorite to fill the role of pope after the death of Pope Paul III.

Cardinal Pole may have had royal blood flowing through his veins (his mother was Margaret Pole, daughter of George of Clarence), but he believed firmly in attending to whatever work God intended for him rather than seeking out his own glory. At a time when papal positions were lobbied and bribed for, he declined to actively seek the highest office. Instead, Reginald refused to campaign even as Inquisitors worked to blacken his name and factions within Rome took advantage of his inaction. Despite his lack of ambition, Pole missed being elected by only one vote.

Pope Paul III had been elected in 1534 to lead the Counter Reformation. His predecessor, Clement VII, had struggled to cope with his role as nations fell away at an increasing rate from Rome, a catastrophe that none before him had been forced to manage. Clement was indecisive and ineffective, as evinced by the sacking of Rome during his tenure. Before Clement, Adrian VI, had hoped to reconcile with Martin Luther and his followers, but by the time Paul was elected it was deemed necessary to change tactics. Cardinal Pole believed strongly in discussion and reconciliation between reformists and Catholics, and it was this open-mindedness that led to charges of heresy against him.

However, in 1549, Pole was considered the natural choice to lead Rome. Bankers, who openly took wagers on the outcome of the sacred process, placed Pole’s chances of obtaining the papal tiara between 90-95%. When Pope Paul died on November 10, 1549, forty-nine cardinals attended the conclave, which lasted an arduous seventy-two days, to elect his successor. During this time, the cardinals resided in hastily built wooden cells that were set up in the Sistine Chapel and other halls of the Vatican.

Holy Roman Emperor Charles V and Henry II of France were each determined to see their own man elected. Reginald Pole was the choice of neither. While not a first choice, Reginald was said to be acceptable to Charles V, who shared Pole’s interest in continuing discussions that could lead to compromise with German Lutherans. Accepted by Imperials and esteemed by his fellow cardinals, Pole’s chances seemed good. Alessandro Farnese, who would go on to participate in several more controversial papal conclaves, called for a public vote believing that a majority would select the highly respected Pole if votes were not secret.

Instead, a secret vote was held in the Pauline Chapel on December 3, 1549. When the first two votes brought Pole up just short of the number he needed, the Imperialists pressed to continue before additional French cardinals could arrive, but Pole refused to be a part of this. Confidence in him remained high enough that Papal vestments were tailored for him.

Giovanni del Monte
Pope Julius III

On the third vote, Reginald was expected to gain the required votes. When he again fell short, it was determined that Giovanni del Monte, who had been expected to vote for him, had chosen not to due to a minor breach in etiquette, and three others held back with him. By the end of the conclave, the other cardinals would learn that del Monte had a very different plan in mind.

Although Pole seemed the clear choice to many, others saw flaws with the potential of his papacy for a variety of reasons. First, Reginald was not Italian. He was a close blood relation of England’s Tudors, and this was not seen by everyone as a strength. Second, he was young. At age forty-five, he had the potential for a very long reign indeed. Finally, there were some who believed the charges of heresy against him and were afraid they would be electing a reformer to Saint Peter’s chair.

After weeks of political intrigue, bribes, and negotiations, the conclave elected Giovanni del Monte on February 8, 1550. He was considered a compromise candidate and no one’s ideal choice. Sixty-three years old at the time of his election, Pope Julius III lived only five more years. By the time of del Monte’s death, Reginald Pole was serving in England where he became Queen Mary I’s Archbishop of Canterbury in 1556, two years before his death.

Was Queen Mary advised by a heretic?

Queen Mary I
Painting by Eworth

The reign of Queen Mary I is best known for her attempt at counter-reformation in England. Since we have the benefit of knowing that it did fail, it is easy to look back and wonder how she believed it could succeed. Yet at that time, Mary was able to take the crown that was rightfully hers through great popular support for her and her religion. Her partner in bringing the 'true faith' back to her kingdom was her cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole.

Reginald Pole was the son of Margaret Pole Countess of Salisbury who had served as Mary's governess. Margaret and Mary's mother, Queen Catherine, had been close friends and may have hoped that Reginald could be a potential suitor for the princess, but her father had other plans for her. In the meantime, Reginald grew up provided with the best education money could buy through the support of Kings Henry VII & VIII. By the time Mary became queen in 1553, Reginald was known as a great scholar and only his refusal to campaign on his own behalf had prevented him from being elected pope in 1550.

Instead, he returned to his homeland to assist Queen Mary in putting her religious house in order. Mary was a staunch Catholic. It was one of the things that had driven a wedge between her and her father and siblings. She assumed, of course, that the good Cardinal was of one mind with her in all church matters, but there was much more to Reginald Pole that met the eye.

The words of Matthew 10:16 were favored by Pole. He had them painted on a window when he lived in Lambeth Palace, and they appear on his tomb.

Be as wise as serpents and as simple as doves.

This line reveals a bit about the deep-thinking man who was more willing than most leaders of the Catholic Church to consider the arguments of the reformers. Reginald was devoted to rooting heresy out of England, but this did not necessarily mean to him what it meant to his queen. Like some men who were persecuted as heretics, he believed that Catholicism should be reestablished free of the corruption that had lead to the Reformation.

Cardinal Reginald Pole

Pole discussed religion with learned men throughout Europe from Thomas More to Niccolo Machiavelli. He was a friend of Michelangelo and Contarini, another Cardinal famous for wishing to be reunited with Lutherans. By reformers, Pole was considered a Papist but he later came under investigation by Inquisitors who called him a secret Lutheran. Pole's writing frequently seems to favor the Lutheran doctrine of justification through faith alone, and he scandalously proposed that church leaders should lead by example and bear the church's burden rather than setting themselves higher than their flock. He believed in a personal relationship with God, not solely through membership of a church, stating that all people are brides of Christ, not just the Catholic Church. These fine lines may seem insignificant to us today, but in the 16th century men had burned for less.

Yet Pole was a highly respected leader of the Catholic Church and was sent to bring England back into the fold. He believed in faith, discipline, and charity, but he also believed that it was vital to put a stop to heresy before it could spread and lead people to eternal damnation. This is what made him the ideal person to cope with the situation in Marian England.

While Pole had defended the right of Protestants to have their views heard, he also supported meaningful debate and edifying conversation that would (hopefully) end with all parties agreeing upon the truth. This gentle easing of people to faith was just what was necessary in a country that had been enduring religious changes - and not all for very religious reasons - for two decades. His position in England is also likely what saved him from more drastic encounters with the Inquisition. He was able to defend himself in writing while emphasizing that his continued presence was required in England.

He was nothing if not clever.

Pole's belief that all heretics should be given the opportunity to hear the truth and be healed before they were condemned coincided well with Queen Mary's merciful character. While we may know her as 'Bloody Mary', her council often accused Mary of not taking decisive enough actions against her enemies. The burning of heretic leaders, those with the most power to lead others astray, did not begin until 1555. As was the case with every previous English monarch, heresy was considered akin to open rebellion.

Disputation of the Trinity
Andrea Del Sarto, 1517
(Web Gallery of Art)

Pole advised the English clergy 'to entreat the people and their flock with all gentleness and to endeavour themselves to win the people rather by gentleness than by extremity and rigour.' Bonner thought Pole was too lenient and found his positions on heretics disappointing. This paints a very different picture of the counter-reformation than has been brought to us by Elizabethan chroniclers.

By the end of 1558, when Reginald and Mary both died on the 17th of November, 284 Protestants had been burned for heresy. Pole felt treatment this harsh should be reserved for only the worst of criminals, those who did not only privately practice heresy but actively spread it. Reunification and peace were his goals, but he had run out of time to see those objectives reached.

But was Reginald Pole a heretic? Ironically, those on both sides of the 16th century religious debate accused him of being one, which just might make him a man who understood men and faith better than any of his accusers.

Additional Reading:

Reginald Pole: Prince & Prophet by Thomas F Mayer
The First Queen of England by Linda Porter

Reginald Pole Learns of his Mother's Execution

Why examine this little snippet of history? We know that Margaret Pole was horridly executed on Henry VIII's orders, and we know that Reginald Pole was safely away from England at the time. I think it is important to look at how Reginald took this news because I have read some opinions that Reginald was bitter toward his mother for his dedication to the church. Based on studying both of these historical figures, I have not found evidence of that. Yet even Hilary Mantel states it as fact.

If Reginald ever truly did harbor negative feelings toward his mother, he had certainly overcome them long before her death. He also was not formally dedicated to the church until he did so under his own power as an adult. In truth, Margaret had sent Reginald to be educated at the king's expense, both of them recognizing his unusual aptitude for learning. Long after he was out from under the rule of his mother, Reginald became a Cardinal, though he would not become an ordained priest until 1556, long after Margaret's death.

Having clarified that, Reginald was grief-stricken by the death of his mother, which closely followed the execution of his oldest brother, Henry Pole Baron Montague. Reginald was in Capranica, having recently left Regensburg, when he received the news. (The medieval center of Regensburg is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Now in Germany, during Pole's time it was in the Duchy of Bavaria.)  He had been there as part of a conference to discuss the Biblical issue of justification, a failed attempt based upon the city's conversion to Lutheranism by the following year. Pole was one of the few legates looking for compromise, a habit that would lead one contemporary to say, "He has been very unfortunate . . . being considered a Lutheran in Rome, in Germany a papist."

We do not know Pole's immediate reaction to his mother's death, but sometime later when he repeated the news to a friend he retreated into private prayer for an hour, leaving his companion to worry about the state of his health and well-being some weeks or months after the fact. Once he had composed himself, Pole attempted to maintain a strong public face emphasizing the fact that his private loss was a gain to the church, even his carefully controlled words reveal some of his grief.

Until now I have believed that the lord God has given me the grace to be the son of one of the best and most honored ladies of England and I have gloried in that and given thanks to His Divine Majesty. But he has wished to honor me more and increase my obligation, for he has also made me the son of a martyr, whom that king, because she was constant in the Catholic faith, has had publicly decapitated, even though she was more than seventy years old (she was actually 67) and his aunt. Thus he (King Henry VIII) has rewarded the efforts which she took for a long time in raising his daughter (Princess Mary to whom Margaret was governess). God be praised and thanked.

To the abundant letters of condolence received by Pole he would reply that they were blessed to have one more advocate in heaven. Reginald was a man of staunch faith and controlled emotions, but he could not completely hide his sadness at the harsh treatment of his mother.

Some of this may have been induced by guilt. One of the reasons the Pole family in England was targeted by Henry VIII was due to their refusal to abandon the Catholic faith in favor of Henry's new Church of England. Reginald had written to Henry many times criticizing his actions and begging him to return to God. Henry, never one to take criticism well, sent assassins after Reginald. Failing this, he turned to Reginald's family. It was not difficult to do something that could be construed as treason in Henry's England, but, in Margaret's case, she was never charged or given a trial during her two years of imprisonment before her execution.

Even Pope Paul III recognized the depth of Reginald's grief, giving him extra time away from Rome and saying that he would spare him discussion of the matter. Reginald wrote to a woman named Colonna that he looked to her now as a mother and that none had consoled him better than she. He also spent much of the summer of 1541 closeted with Psalms in study and meditation.

Reginald Pole spent the remainder of his life striving for reconciliation between the Catholic Church and the reformers. His position as a Cardinal made him untrustworthy to Lutherans, while his willingness to listen to opposition and concede that some of their arguments made sense put him under investigation by the Inquisition. The last years of his life were spent with Queen Mary I in England, assisting with her attempt at counter-reformation there. He died, a Cardinal of the Catholic Church and Archbishop of Canterbury of the Church of England, on November 17, 1558, the same day as Queen Mary.


For more on Reginald Pole, I recommend Thomas F Mayer's Reginald Pole: Prince & Prophet.

Another Henry in Trouble over Becket

Henry II and Thomas Becket

'Who shall rid me of this meddlesome priest?'

Whether Henry II truly uttered these words in 1170 or not, by 1538, the trouble with Thomas Becket had not been concluded. Lacking patience with his subjects looking to anyone but himself as a higher power, Henry VIII, a distant grandson of Becket's antagonist, destroyed the shrine of Saint Becket to put an end to prayers directed toward the king-defying martyr.

Just as Henry II's actions were not without consequence, Henry VIII found his irreverent treatment of religious relics and saints' remains under fire. He did not, however, model his reaction upon that of his ancestor. Where Henry II had done penance for his part in leading knights to believe he wished Becket dead, Henry VIII was not one for humbling himself.

Becket's assassination from
De Grey Book of Hours

Before destroying the Canterbury shrine, Henry VIII sent a commission to charge the saint with violating the newly enacted laws of supremacy. As if baiting his Catholic subjects, Henry ordered that Thomas Becket be given ten days to appear in his own defense against the charge of treason before the shrine would be destroyed. When the dead man predictably missed his day in court, the king ordered the grave decimated and Becket's bones burned and the remains scattered that they might not be collected for worship.

Canterbury had been the center of Christianity in England long before the martyrdom of Thomas Becket, but its popularity as a destination for pilgrims surged almost immediately after the famous priest's death. Even 368 years later, Henry VIII was offended and threatened by the people's love for the saint. He may not have anticipated the consequences of his attempt to rid himself of the cult dedicated to Saint Becket.

Condemnation for Henry came from a familiar source, his own cousin, Cardinal Reginald Pole. He had regularly written to the king to advise him in spiritual matters. It was advice that Henry did not appreciate. Pole attempted to point out that Henry II had received praise and forgiveness because of his humility and repentance after Becket's death. If he hoped that Henry Tudor would follow suit, Pole would be disappointed. But he was used to that with Henry. Pole had attempted to advise Henry on a multitude of issues related to his Great Matter, and had been repeatedly ignored. Rather than consider the Cardinal's advice, Henry called him a traitor, and Pole's family remaining in England paid the price for his words.

Pole's voice was not a lone one. Pope Paul III excommunicated Henry for his stunning actions, a step that had little effect upon the man who had already convinced himself that no one, not even the pope, had power greater than his own.

While Henry's desecration of Becket's tomb may not have silenced the voice of those who worshiped the saint any more than his break with Rome rid his country of Catholics, he could take some comfort in the estimated £1,000,000 in spoils retrieved from the shrine and given a new home within the king's treasury.

Not-so-Illustrious Marriages of the Pole Children

Margaret Pole, Countess of Salisbury
Coat of Arms

When Richard Pole died in 1504, Margaret was left with five small children. The youngest, Geoffrey, may have never even met his father. Many a woman in her position would have lost little time looking for their own next spouse to assist with this large brood and provide a comfortable income. Margaret was thirty-one and possessed a wealth of royal blood if not actual riches.

Choosing the road less traveled, Margaret Pole devoted herself to raising her children and arranging advantageous matches for them, rather than one for herself. Each of these marriages appeared to be wonderful choices at their outset. Margaret may not have been interested in challenging her cousin for the throne, but she would have her children recognized with the noble titles and status that she felt they deserved.

Margaret's oldest child and the one who would find the most success within Henry VIII's court was Henry. He became Lord Montague and enjoyed favor from the king despite the increasing suspicion directed at those with old Yorkist blood. Married to Jane Neville, daughter of Baron Bergavenny, he was expected to inherit wealth through her that his mother could not provide. Bergavenny did not have a son and his wife had died, leaving Jane an heiress. This was the understanding at least until the wily Duke of Buckingham, Edward Staffford, convinced the old widower to marry his daughter, Mary. Once Mary gave birth to a son, Jane's hopes of inheritance disappeared.

The marriage of Mary Stafford and George Neville also created a (not-so-uncommon at that time) dual family link. Edward Stafford's oldest son, Henry Stafford, was married to Margaret Pole's only daughter, Ursula. Therefore, Edward Stafford's own wealth would one day enrich one Pole child, while his daughter stole that of the other. At least that was his plan.

Ursula Pole

Edward Stafford was very proud of his ancestry. He traced his family tree back to Edward III, and his Woodville mother had been the queen's sister. Proud and arrogant, Buckingham was not afraid to point out that his own bloodline was more impressive than Henry Tudor's. When it appeared that the king may die without fathering a son, Stafford was too quick to put his own name forward as the obvious one to follow him.

When Buckingham was executed for treason in May 1521, his son's future, along with that of Ursula Pole, was much diminished. The dukedom was forfeited to the crown, and Henry Stafford would never enjoy the same status his forefathers had. Much later, in 1547, he would be raised to be Baron Stafford, but this fell far short of the future that Margaret thought she had secured for her dear Ursula.

Arthur, Margaret's second son, was wed to a well-off widow, Jane Lewkenor (Pickering). When Arthur died young and left behind small children, Margaret attempted to secure the inheritance for her grandchildren by having Jane enter a convent. The scheme was unsuccessful, however, and Jane rescinded her vows in order to remarry.

Margaret's youngest child, Geoffrey, was also married to an heiress of a rich man without sons. Constance Pakenham was the long suffering wife of the Pole child who would assist the king in bringing down his entire family. Weak and irresponsible, Geoffrey gave testimony that led to the execution of several of his extended family members. Geoffrey was spared but attempted suicide at least twice. When he died during the reign of Queen Mary, he left Constance with little besides the many children he had fathered.

Cardinal Reginald Pole

Though he never married, a discussion of Margaret's children is not complete without mentioning the best known of her offspring. Reginald Pole lived his life dedicated to the church, though the marriage mentioned for him several times over the years was one that would have made him king. His mother and her good friend, Katherine of Aragon, believed the match between their children would further unite the houses of York and Tudor. Long after both women were dead, the marriage of Princess Mary and (by that time) Cardinal Pole was considered after Henry VIII's death and again upon her own rise to the throne. Instead, Mary chose to marry another cousin, Philip of Spain, and made Reginald her Archbishop of Canterbury. In 1550, Reginald fell one vote short of becoming Pope, but he proudly served the Catholic restoration England for the rest of his life instead. Reginald and Mary died on the same day, November 17, 1558.

Who Remained after the Battle of Stoke?

The Battle of Stoke is widely considered the end of the Wars of the Roses. Most who had battled for supremacy in England had died by the time this battle took place on June 16, 1487, and one that had the most potential for the future, John de la Pole, fell on the field at Stoke. Henry Tudor cemented his place on England's throne on this day by proving that Bosworth was no fluke. He was prepared to defend his right to call himself King of England.

John de la Pole, an organizer of rebels and leader of troops at Stoke had good reason to believe that he had a better claim to the crown than Henry VII. At one time named the heir of Richard III, de la Pole was son of Elizabeth, duchess of Suffolk and sister to Edward IV and Richard III. When he was killed, it was believed that the hope of the Plantagenets died with him.

However, a few remained.

At the time of John de la Pole's death, he had two younger brothers, Edmund and Richard. Both were forced into exile by Henry's wrath. Edmund would later be imprisoned and executed, but Henry's assassins failed to rid him of Richard.

Richard de la Pole

Sometimes referred to as the White Rose, Richard successfully raised troops and gained support in Europe. Circumstances were never quite in his favor though, and his army failed to reach English shores. Instead, Richard outlived many of his family members but never made a serious move for Henry's throne. He died in 1525 at the Battle of Pavia, where he led troops for Francis I of France.

When Richard de la Pole died, there still remained a Plantagenet remnant. The three de la Pole boys had not managed to leave behind a living male heir, but other families lived on with more than a drop of royal blood in their veins.

George of Clarence, the brother of Edward IV and Richard III who had been executed for treason in 1478, left behind two living children, Edward and Margaret. Edward was executed by Henry VII in 1499 for the crime of having a better claim to the throne than the king and to clear the way for Prince Arthur's marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon. Margaret, however, had been married to a loyal follower of the Tudors, Richard Pole, with whom she had several sons. When the Battle of Stoke occurred in 1487, they were little more than children but they too would eventually be persecuted for their royal blood.

The eldest of Margaret's children was Henry Pole, Lord Montegu. As the greatest threat to Henry VIII's crown and a staunch Catholic, Henry was executed in 1539 along with Edward Neville and Henry Courtenay, two more men with potential power to give Henry VIII trouble. (Courtenay, as the son of Catherine of York, was the last of the male offspring of Edward IV's children, besides Henry VIII.) Henry Pole's young son, another Henry, was also kept in the Tower until his death.

The youngest of Margaret's sons, Geoffrey, was not a threat to Henry VIII, but was his own worst enemy, giving evidence against his brother in order to save his own skin. Feelings of guilt plagued him and sent him to Reginald, begging for forgiveness. He would continue to ride on Reginald's coattails until his death in 1558.

Cardinal Reginald Pole

It was Margaret's son Reginald that gave Henry VIII the most grief. Reginald Pole was a Catholic cardinal and had fled to the continent to evade Henry's form of justice. It is widely believed that the persecution of the Pole family, including Margaret's execution in 1541 at age 67, was formulated to force Reginald to return to England and face Henry. This ploy was unsuccessful, and Reginald managed to outlive the violent king. Rumors abounded that Reginald would be married to Princess Mary, the two of them forming the perfect union to bring England back to the church. These plans never came to fruition, but Reginald remained close to his cousin Mary, returning to England upon her ascension to the throne and dying on the same day as her in 1558.

Did the Wars of the Roses end on a bloody battlefield near Stoke? Maybe, but there were a few Plantagenets remaining who would be the bane of the Tudor dynasty for years to come.

For more on the fate of the Plantagenet remnant within the Tudor era, read Desmond Seward's The Last White Rose.