Stukley's exploits had restored him to favor…

Stukley's exploits had restored him to favor at Madrid, and by the end of March 1572 he was at Seville, offering to hold the narrow seas against the English with a fleet of twenty ships.

He is said to have received in four years (1570-1574) over twenty-seven thousand ducats from Philip II of Spain but, wearied by the king's delays, he seeks more serious assistance from the new pope, Gregory XIII, who aspires to make his illegitimate son, Giacomo Buoncompagni, king of Ireland if the Catholic faith were to be restored to dominance there.

When his father was elected pope in March 1572, Giacomo had moved to Rome where, two months later, he had been appointed castellan of Castel Sant'Angelo.

His father had later named him also Gonfalonier of the Papal Army, and he had moved first to Ancona and then Ferrara, remaining in the latter until 1574.