Stephen Gardiner no relation Roman Catholic Archbishop of Canterbury
Later years
The death of Edward VI on 6 July 1553 and the accession of Mary I to the throne of England hastened Pole's return from exile, as a papal legate to England (which he served as until 1557). In 1554, Cardinal Pole came to England to receive the kingdom back into the Catholic fold. However, Queen Mary I and Emperor Charles V delayed him until 20 November 1554, due to apprehension that Pole might oppose Mary's forthcoming marriage to Charles's son, Philip of Spain.  It was only after the marriage was safely out of the way, that the English parliament finally set about repealing his attainder on November 22, 1554.  Pole opened his papal commission and presented his legatine credentials before Philip & Mary and assembled parliamentarians at Whitehall palace on November 27, 1554, delivering a notable oration before them.  Among the dignitaries in attendance was Stephen Gardiner, Bishop of Winchester and Lord Chancellor of England, the most prominent Catholic minister in England, who would steer the restoration of Catholicism through Parliament in January 1555.
As Papal Legate, Pole negotiated a papal dispensation allowing the new owners of confiscated former monastic lands to retain them, and in return Parliament enabled the Revival of the Heresy Acts in January 1555. This revived former measures against heresy: the letters patent of 1382 of Richard II, an Act of 1401 of Henry IV, and an Act of 1414 of Henry V. All of these had been repealed under Henry VIII and Edward VI. On 13 November 1555, Thomas Cranmer was officially deprived of the See of Canterbury. The Pope appointed Pole a cardinal-priest and administrator of the See of Canterbury on 11 December 1555.Under Mary's rule, Pole, whose attainder was reversed in 1554, was finally ordained as a priest on 20 March 1556 and consecrated as archbishop of Canterbury two days later, an office he would hold until his death. He was also chancellor of both Oxford and Cambridge universities in 1555 and 1555/1556 respectively. As well as his religious duties, he was in effect the Queen's chief minister and adviser.  Many former enemies, including Cranmer, signed recantations affirming their religious belief in transubstantiation and papal supremacy. Despite this, which should have absolved them under Mary's own Revival of the Heresy Acts, the Queen could not forget their responsibility for the annulment of her mother's marriage.In 1555, Queen Mary began permitting the burning of Protestants for heresy, and some 220 men and 60 women were executed before her death in 1558. These persecutions contributed to the ultimate victory of the English Reformation, though Pole's involvement in these heresy trials is disputed. Pole was in failing health during the worst period of persecution, and there is some evidence that he favoured a more lenient approach: "Three condemned heretics from Bonner's diocese were pardoned on an appeal to him; he merely enjoined a penance and gave them absolution." As the reign wore on, an increasing number of people turned against Mary and her government, and some people who had been indifferent to the English Reformation began turning against Catholicism. Writings such as John Foxe's 1568 Book of Martyrs, which emphasised the sufferings of the reformers under Mary, helped shape popular opinion against Catholicism in England for generations.Despite being a lifelong devout Catholic, Pole had a dispute with Pope Paul IV. Elected in 1555, Paul IV had a distaste for Catholic humanism and men like Pole who pushed a softer version of Catholicism to win over Protestants, as well as being fiercely anti-Spanish and against Mary's marriage to Philip II of Spain and heavily against Pole's support for it. Because of this disagreement Paul first cancelled Pole's legatine authority, and then sought to recall Pole to Rome to face investigation for heresy in his early writings. Mary refused to send Pole to Rome, yet accepted his suspension from office.
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