 It explains every means whereby religion, justice and any inclination toward virtue could be destroyed".Cardinal Pole is a major character in the historical novels "The Time Before You Die" by Lucy Beckett and "The Trusted Servant" by Alison Macleod, and features in Hilary Mantel's novel "The Mirror and the Light", the third and last of her novels on the life of Thomas Cromwell.In Season 3 of Showtime's series "The Tudors", Cardinal Pole is portrayed by Canadian actor Mark Hildreth.