ground." According to contemporary accounts, Crashaw's sermons on this subject were powerful and well-attended, but no records of them exist today. Exile, conversion, and death Conversion to Catholicism In 1644, Crashaw and Collet settled in Leiden in the Netherlands. It is believed that he converted from Anglicanism to Catholicism at this time. According to the Athanae Oxoniensis (1692), antiquarian Anthony à Wood explains the reasoning for Crashaw's conversion as the result of fearing the destruction of his beloved religion by the Puritans: "an infallible foresight that the Church of England would be quite ruined by the unlimited fury of the Presbyterians". However, according to Husain, At some point in 1645, Crashaw appeared in Paris, where he encountered Reverend Thomas Car a confessor to English refugees. The poet's vagrant existence made a lasting impression on Car, as shown by "The Anagramme": He seeks no downes, no sheetes, his bed's still made. If he can find a chaire or stoole, he's layd, When day peepes in, he quitts his restlesse rest. And still, poore soule, before he's up he's dres't. Final years The writer Abraham Cowley discovered Crashaw living in abject poverty in Paris. Cowley sought help from English Queen Henrietta Maria, herself in exile in France, to help Crashaw secure a position in Rome. Crashaw's friend and patron, Susan Feilding, Countess of Denbigh, also lobbied the Queen to recommend Crashaw to Pope Innocent X. Crashaw travelled as a pilgrim to Rome in November 1646. He lived there in poor health and poverty while waiting for a papal retainer. Crashaw was finally introduced to Innocent X, being called "the learned son of a famous Heretic". According to Sabine, the Puritans who forced Crashaw into exile would have described him also as the heretical son of a learned performer. After repeated lobbying by the Queen, Innocent X finally granted Crashaw in 1647 a post with Cardinal Giovanni Battista Maria Pallotta, who was closely associated with the English College, a seminary in Rome. Crashaw was allowed to reside at the college. At the college, Crashaw witnessed immoral behaviour from some of Pallotta's entourage and reported them to the Cardinal. This action created such bitter enemies for Crashaw that Pallotta eventually removed him from the college for his own safety. In April 1649, Pallotta found a cathedral benefice for Crashaw at the Basilica della Santa Casa at Loreto, Marche. Crashaw left for Loreto in May