Reginald Pole was born at Stourton Castle,…

Reginald Pole was born at Stourton Castle, Staffordshire, on March 12, 1500, to Sir Richard Pole and Margaret Pole, 8th Countess of Salisbury, and was their third son.

His maternal grandparents were George Plantagenet, 1st Duke of Clarence, and Isabella Neville, Duchess of Clarence; thus he was a great-nephew of kings Edward IV and Richard III and a great-grandson of Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick.

His nursery is said to have been at Sheen Priory.

He matriculated in 1512 at Magdalen College, Oxford, and at Oxford was taught by William Latimer and Thomas Linacre, graduating on June 27, 1515 with a B.A.

His cousin King Henry VIII in February 1518 granted him the deanery of Wimborne Minster, Dorset; after which he was Prebendary of Salisbury in 1527 and Dean of Exeter.

He is also a canon in York, and has several other livings, although he had not been ordained a priest.

Assisted by Bishop Edward Foxe, he had represented Henry VIII in Paris in 1529, researching general opinions among theologians of the Sorbonne about the annulment of Henry's marriage with Catherine of Aragon.

Pole went in 1521 to the University of Padua, where he met leading Renaissance figures, including Pietro Bembo, Gianmatteo Giberti (formerly pope Leo X's datary and chief minister), Jacopo Sadoleto, Gianpietro Carafa (the future Pope Paul IV), Rodolfo Pio, Otto Truchsess, Stanislaus Hosius, Cristoforo Madruzzo, Giovanni Morone, Pier Paolo Vergerio the younger, Peter Martyr (Vermigli) and Vettor Soranzo.

The last three will eventually be condemned as heretics by the Roman Catholic Church, with Vermigli—as a well-known Protestant theologian—having a significant share in the Reformation in Pole's native England.

His studies in Padua had been partly financed by his election as a fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, with more than half of the cost paid by Henry VIII himself on February 14, 1523, which allowed him to study abroad for three years.

Pole returned home in July 1526, when he went to France, escorted by Thomas Lupset.

Henry VIII had offered him the Archbishoing his support, Paul had gone into self-imposed exile in France and Italy in 1532, continuing his studies in Padua and Paris.

After his return, he held the benefice of Vicar of Piddletown, Dorset, between December 20, 1532, and about January 1535/1536.

Pole in May 1536 had finally and decisively broken with the King.

He had warned in 1531 of the dangers of the Boleyn marriage; he had in 1532 returned to Padua, and in December had received a last English benefice.

Chapuys had suggested to the Emperor Charles V that Pole marry the Lady Mary and combine their dynastic claims; Chapuys also communicated with Reginald through his brother Geoffrey.

The final break between Pole and Henry follows upon Thomas Cromwell, Cuthbert Tunstall, Thomas Starkey, and others addressing questions to Pole on behalf of Henry.

He answers by sending the king a copy of his published treatise Pro ecclesiasticae unitatis defensione which, besides being a theological reply to the questions, is a strong denunciation of the king's policies, which denies Henry's position on the marriage of a brother's wife, and denies the Royal Supremacy; Pole also urges the Princes of Europe to depose Henry immediately.

Henry writes to the Countess of Salisbury, who in turn sent her son a letter reproving him for his "folly."

The incensed king, with Pole himself out of his reach, takes a terrible revenge on Pole's family.

Although Pole's mother and his elder brother had written to him in reproof of Pole's attitude and action, he does not spare them.

He has Pole’s brother executed on January 1539 and his mother imprisoned in the Tower of London and later beheaded.