On Reginald Pole' Apological Activity In Tudor England

Late 1540s,Henry ?'s divorce brought a contradiction between the Pope and the King.As a devout Catholic,Reginald Pole challenged Henry ? openly and questioned the legality of king,s divorce case at the beginning of the English Reformation.Pole became a full-time Cardinal dealing with the British issue,with the appreciation from Pope Paul ?.Since then,Pole has uphelds the "Counter Reformation" of the Holy See and maintain the unity of Catholic Church.In general,Pole's apological activity can be divided into the following three stages.Firstly,at the King's request,Pole participate in the Theological Seminar atParis in 1529.By 1537,Pole get a fail in the legation between Rome and England,which is the beginning of his apological activity.During in this period,Pole,apological activity directly against Henry ? to launch religious reform.Secondly,"Pilgrimage of Grace",the riots in Northern of England broke out in 1536.From then on till 1553,Edward VI passed away,and political situation in England was in chaos.Pole's apological activity advanced to the second stage.During this time,Pole's apological activity manifested as supporting the riots "Pilgrimage of Grace",representing the Holy See to negotiate with the King and to try to persuade Edward VI to return to the Roman Catholic Church.Thirdly,Pole returned to England and supported Mary ? to restore Catholicism in 1553.Mary ? and Pole passed away by 1558.This is the third phase which is also the climax and end of Pole's apological activity.During this period,Pole admitted England church returned to Roman church representing the Holy See and reached his goal of apological activity.In addition,Pole and Mary ? resumed the "Inquisition law" and burned heresy so that a large number of Protestants died or left their homeland who began to go to the extreme of creating religious panic.In 1558,Mary ? and Pole died,meanwhile Catholic restoration was also buried.Pole's apological activity failed completely after short success.Pole's apological activity is the stressful reaction of unified Catholic world facing to Reformation fell apart.His activities had much influence on the Roman Catholic Church,the English Reformation and construction of national states.This can be understood from the following aspects.Firstly,as for Catholicism,Pole's apological activity not only realized the return of the England Church to the Holy See briefly,but also started the internal reform of Catholic Church.Therefore,Pope has confirmed Reginald Pole as a saint.Secondly,from the perspective of the process of Reformation,Pole and Mary ?'s restoration of Catholicism were the extremely discordant counter-current in English Reformation.Thanks to Henry ?'s hard working,England Church has been changed into a church without Pope.During the reign of Edward ?,the English Reformation had been continuously deepened,while Mary ? who was a faithful catholic inherited the throne.She quickly push into the restoration policy and forced her subjects into returning to the Catholic faith.Finally,from the national state construction process in England,Pole and his apological activities,as well as Mary's restoration were undoubtedly failed,narrow,and anti-nationalist.The following reasons can account for their tragedy.Neither Pole or Mary,did not build up a sense of identity with the England in the process of the development of England nationalism.In general,Pole's apological activity which based on the Christian universalism was anti-nationalist,which was a true portrayal of the old British aristocrats and devout Catholics during the social transformation of Reformation and nationalism development process.On the one hand we can know the longevity and complexity of the English Reformation;on the other hand,it can also reveals the historical inevitability of the British nationalism.