his mission was to sustain the King, but above all to help the Catholic people of Ireland in securing the free and public exercise of their religion, and the restoration of the churches and church property to the Catholic Church. Rinuccini had sent ahead arms and ammunition: 1,000 braces of pistols, 4,000 cartridge belts, 2000 swords, 500 muskets and 20,000 pounds of gunpowder. He arrived twelve days later with a further two thousand muskets and cartridge-belts, four thousand swords, four hundred braces of pistols, two thousand pike-heads, and twenty thousand pounds of gunpowder, fully equipped soldiers and sailors and 150,658 livres tournois to finance the Irish Catholic war effort. These supplies gave him a huge input into the Confederate's internal politics because the Nuncio doled out the money and arms for specific military projects, rather than handing them over to the Confederate government, or Supreme Council. Rinuccini hoped that by doing so he could influence the Confederates' strategic policy away from making a deal with Charles I and the Royalists in the English Civil War and towards the foundation of an independent Catholic-ruled Ireland. In particular, Rinuccini wanted to ensure that churches and lands taken in the rebellion would remain in Catholic hands. This was consistent with what happened in Catholic-controlled areas during the Thirty Years' War in Germany. His mission can be seen as part of the counter-reformation in Europe. The Nuncio also had unrealistic hopes of using Ireland as a base to re-establish Catholicism in England. However, apart from some military successes such as the Battle of Benburb on 5 June 1646, the main result of Rinuccini's efforts was to aggravate the infighting between factions within the Confederates. Faction fighting The Confederates' Supreme Council was dominated by wealthy landed magnates, predominantly of "Old English" origin, who were anxious to come to a deal with the Stuart monarchy that would guarantee them their land ownership, full civil rights for Catholics, and toleration of Catholicism. They formed the moderate faction, which was opposed by those within the Confederation, who wanted better terms, including self-government for Ireland, a reversal of the land confiscations of the plantations of Ireland and establishment of Catholicism as the state religion. A particularly sore point in the negotiations with the English Royalists was the insistence of some Irish Catholics on keeping in Catholic hands the churches taken in the war. Rinuccini accepted the assurances of the