one of the last surviving members of the House of Plantagenet. Under some circumstances, that descent could have made Reginald – until he definitely entered the clergy – a possible contender for the throne itself. 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 26 out of the 28 votes he needed to become pope himself at the papal conclave of 1549–50. His personal belief in justification by faith over works had caused him problems at Trent and accusations of heresy at the conclave. Thomas Hoby, visiting Rome to be present during the conclave, recorded that Pole failed to be elected "by the Cardinall of Ferrara his meanes the voice of manie cardinalls of the French partie, persuading them that Cardinall Pole was both Imperiall and also a verie Lutheran". Later years The death of Edward VI on 6 July 1553 and the accession of Mary I to the throne of England hastened Pole's return from exile, as a papal legate to England (which he served as until 1557). In 1554, Cardinal Pole came to England to receive the kingdom back into the Catholic fold. However, Queen Mary I and Emperor Charles V delayed him until 20 November 1554, due to apprehension that Pole might oppose Mary's forthcoming marriage to Charles's son, Philip of Spain. 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. 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letters patent of 1382 of Richard II, an Act of 1401 of Henry IV, and an Act of 1414 of Henry V. All of these had been repealed under Henry VIII and Edward VI. On 13 November 1555, Thomas Cranmer was officially deprived of the See of Canterbury. The Pope appointed Pole a cardinal-priest and administrator of the See of Canterbury on 11 December 1555. Under Mary's rule, Pole, whose attainder was reversed in 1554, was finally ordained as a priest on 20 March 1556 and consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury two days later, an office he would hold until his death. He was also