After a neutral period from 1558 to 1570, Pope Pius V declared Elizabeth a heretic in his 1570 papal bull "Regnans in Excelsis". This complicated the conquest further, as her authority to rule was denied and her officials were considered by observant Roman Catholics to be acting unlawfully. Most Irish people of all ranks remained Catholic and the bull gave Protestant administrators a new reason to expedite the conquest. The Second Desmond Rebellion, from 1579 to 1583, was assisted by hundreds of papal troops. Religion had become a new marker of loyalty to the administration.