upon anyone's conscientious convictions. Hereupon, minimizers began to maintain that the words of the oath might be interpreted by the intention of the law-giver that the oath might therefore be taken. If King James had made his subjects swear specifically "in the sense by him explained", the oath might perhaps have been endured, but when he made them "swear according to the plain and common sense, and understanding of the same words", to what was injurious to Catholic consciences, this could not be tolerated. Catholic views The new oath of allegiance was drafted in such a way that it was bound to create divisions within the English Catholic community as to whether it could be taken in good conscience. Following the Gunpowder Plot, archpriest George Blackwell, then head of the English Catholic secular clergy, wrote to Rome and obtained a letter from Pope Paul V condemning the plot and calling on English Catholics not to disturb the peace. Blackwell had at first disapproved of the oath, but citing the Pope's call for civil obedience, advised his priests that the oath could licitly be taken. The Pope, however, condemned the new oath soon afterwards. After the pope's Brief, he disallowed it once more. Blackwell was captured on 24 June 1607 and interrogated over the following ten days about his opinion of the oath. At the end of that period he was tendered the oath, which he took, relying on James's statement that no encroachment on conscience was intended, and recommended others do the same. The pope then issued a new Brief (23 August 1607), repeating his prohibition. Bellarmine wrote a letter (18 September 1607) to Blackwell, an acquaintance from Flanders many years previously, reproaching him for having taken the oath in apparent disregard of his duty to the pope. Blackwell's position satisfied neither the Pope, who condemned it within days of Bellarmine's letter and replaced Blackwell by George Birkhead (February 1608), nor the English government, who imprisoned him. In 1603, William Bishop, a secular priest, had drawn up a "Protestation of Allegiance" to Queen Elizabeth, signed by twelve other priests besides himself, in which they took up their stand against those who aimed at the conversion of England by political means. He was later examined on 4 May 1611, he said he was opposed to the Jesuits, but declined to take the oath of allegiance, as Blackwell and others had done,