Reformation Cardinal at the Lambeth Palace Library

Reputation can lead a life of its own and damned are those who are stripped of a chance to even try and interfere. Reginald Pole – remembered for breaking with Henry VIII’s – is one such poor, unfavourably reputed soul. Though by no means was he poor, but rather rich in experience, knowledge and equipped with a great love for books. An (online) exhibition at Lambeth Palace Library is presenting a selection of books that shaped him and shines a light on the lesser known parts of his life; a promising attempt to rehabilitate Cardinal Pole’s reputation.

Some people’s reputation does them justice; with others, it simply does not. The latter tends to be the case when someone is remembered merely for a single decision in their life, whether a big achievement or a major mistake that resonates in history forever. Reginald Pole falls in this category. Despite dying young (1500-1558), he lived many lives, most of them in the highest circles of influence and power. However, he was for centuries primarily remembered for breaking with King Henry VIII over the monarch’s antipapal policies and therefore ending up on the ‘wrong’ side of history.

The exhibition ‘Reformation Cardinal. Reginald Pole in Sixteenth-Century Italy and England’ at Lambeth Palace Library (or Bibliotheca Lambethana) tells us a different story – one of a man with strong links to the continent, that were not merely built around his ecclesiastical career or his opposition to Henry VIII’s decision. His learning and his love of books stand out prominently. In fact, the whole exhibition revolves around books: books he owned and others he studied, books inherited by him and those bequeathed by him to others, books he collected and others he wrote, books that shaped his thinking and others inspired by him, books that he categorically opposed and others that vilified him, books that recount his life and others that rehabilitate his memory. In summary, books are the matter that portrays Cardinal Pole in the exhibition and guides us on a fascinating journey through his biography.

Pole was a man of books, with superb erudition, educated by humanists and of an extremely fine intellect. In his early years, he was dedicated to his studies – first in Oxford, then in Padua – a period that the exhibition portrays through his humanistic bibliophilia, his copies of the Latin and Greek classics he studied.

Having established this foundation of Pole’s character, the exhibition unfolds chronologically. It begins with Pole’s initial reaction to Henry’s attempt to divorce Catherine of Aragon – which he did not oppose, as long as it was done following Rome’s directions – before moving to his self-exile following the monarch’s decision to break away from the Church of Rome. The books illustrating Pole’s shock at the schism are carefully chosen. They pinpoint, on the one hand, Henry’s statement of the schism and its impact on the treatment of historic figures like Thomas Becket, while on the other hand exploring the cardinal’s reaction through his writings, both in manuscript and print. Finally, we witness Henry VIII’s violent response, from negative propaganda to issuing a bounty on the heads of Pole and his family.

After this crucial point in the political and religious history of England, the Cardinal gravitated more and more towards Rome. It was then that Pole met poet Vittoria Colonna and Michelangelo as part of the group known as the spirituali. Their mutual artistic and religious interests converge, respectively, in their books, poems and paintings, as is illustrated with a reproduction of a Michelangelo painting inspired by Pole – one of the few non-bookish elements in the exhibition apart from the Cardinal’s portrait.

His own position and first-hand knowledge of matters in England were considered essential for yet another historic event, the Council of Trent, where the Church of Rome reflected on the causes of Protestantism and sought to make reforms that would prevent it from spreading further. In 1545, Pole was sent there as one of the three papal legates, where he displayed a moderate reformist attitude rather than a radical opposition. One of the decisions resulting from the council was the reinforcement of priests’ education through seminaries. Thinking of his countrymen, Pole started to prepare the English hospice in Rome to become a seminary, one that is open to these days and well known as the Venerable English College. Several volumes in the exhibition come from this historic institution, whose survival after medieval times was largely due to Pole.

The last years of the Cardinal’s life were however spent in England. After the death of Edward VI, his half-sister Mary I – who was also Pole’s cousin – became the new ruler. She called the Cardinal back to help with the restoration of the country to Catholicism. In his mind, though, that did not mean returning to the Middle Ages. Rather, he looked at it with the eyes of a moderate reformist that had gone to Trent. His attitude becomes clear through some of the works in the exhibition: from the absolution pronounced by him to Parliament in 1554, to the ‘primers’ in English and Latin for helping in pastoral tasks. His efforts, however, were suddenly brought to a close four years later by the queen’s and his own death in 1558. The exhibition closes with some instances of the aftermath of such an unexpectedly early end of his endeavors. Having spent so much of his life in positions of preeminence, his legacy could not leave anyone indifferent: following the religious divide, some considered him a martyr and others an agent of ‘Bloody Mary’. However, as the exhibition contends, he was ‘a complex and agonized individual, someone of sincerity and of evident charm, a connoisseur, a man of strong faith, a European statesman—and a battler for moderation within the limits of the possible.’

The volume published to supplement the exhibition is a highly recommended read for those wishing to know more about Reginald Pole. In it, some of the most reputed experts on this figure and his period have written on his life, his connection with Italian humanists and the spirituali, his falling-out with Henry VIII, his role in the Marian restoration and later his influence on the English mission. One more essay would have, in my opinion, rounded it off: a piece on Pole’s books would have been a perfect brooch for such a brilliant exhibition.

For those who could not make it to London before 15 December 2023, a virtual exhibition is available, giving a very good sense of what the material in Lambeth shows.

Reformation Cardinal. Reginald Pole in Sixteenth-Century Italy & England was on show at Lambeth Palace Library from 5 October to 15 December 2023 and realised in collaboration with New College, Oxford, and the Venerable English College at Rome. The Exhibition continues to exist online. Visit lambethpalacelibrary.info

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ANA SÁEZ-HIDALGO is Associate Professor of English literary and cultural studies at the Universidad de Valladolid. Her research focuses on Anglo-Spanish cultural and literary relations, exploring the cross-cultural dimensions of textual and material exchanges between Spain and England and the circulation of knowledge, ideas, and objects through English Catholic exiles. Her books include Exile, Diplomacy and Texts: Exchanges between Iberia and the British Isles, 1500–1767 (2021), The Routledge Research Companion to John Gower (2017) and John Gower in England and Iberia: Manuscripts, Influences, Reception (2014).

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Edited by MARTHE LISSON & IGOR ROGELJA

Proofread by IGOR ROGELJA

Standfirst by MARTHE LISSON