The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

6". (. . a^. 

LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 

PRINCETON, N. J. 

BX 955 .P3 5 1891 v. 17 

Pastor, Ludwig, 1854-1928 

The history of the popes, 

from the close of the

V 

'^.\f^

HISTORY OF THE POPES 

VOL. XVII

PASTOR'S HISTORY OF THE POPES 

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES. Translated from 

the German of Ludwig, Freiherr von Pastor. Edited, as to 

Vols. I. -VI,, by the late Frederick Ignatius Antrobus, and, 

as to Vols. VII -XVIII., by Ralph Francis Kerr, of the 

London Oratory. In i8 Volumes. 

Vols. I. and II. a.d. 1305-1458 

Vols. III. and IV. a.d. 1458-1483 

Vols. V. and VI. a.d. 1484-1513 

Vols. VII. and VIII. a.d. 1513-1521 

Vols. IX. and X. a.d. 1522-1534 

Vols. XI. and XII. a.d. 1534-1549 

Vols. XIII. and XIV, a.d, 1550-1559 

Vols. XV. and XVI, a.d, 1559-1565 

Vols. XVII. and XVIII. a.d. 1566-1572 

The original German text of the History of the Popes is published 

by Herder & Co., Freiburg (Baden),

^^b- -.«x 

'viAy 1929 

THE ^\0Glca3t»^^"^ 

HISTORY OF THE POPES, 

FROM THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES 

DRAWN FROM THE SECRET ARCHIVES OF THE VATICAN AND OTHER 

ORIGINAL SOURCES 

FROM THE GERMAN OF 

LUDWIG, FKEIHERR VON PASTOR 

EDITED BY 

RALPH FRANCIS KERR 

OF THE LONDON ORATORY 

VOLUME XVII 

PIUS V. (1566-1572) 

LONDON 

KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH. TRUBNER & CO.. LTD. 

BROADWAY HOUSE I 68-74 CARTER LANS, E.C. 

1929

Dedicated to 

His Holiness Pope Benedict XV., 

WITH PROFOUND VENERATION 

BY 

THE AUTHOR. 

Ubi Petrus, ihi Ecclesia, uhi Ecclesia, 

ihi nulla mors, sed vita aeterna. 

(St. Ambrose, in Ps. 40, v. 30) 

PKINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN BY THE DEVONSHIRE PRESS. lORQUAY

CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVII. 

Collections of Archives and Manuscripts referred to in 

PAGE 

Volumes XVII. and XVIII vii 

Complete Titles of Books frequently quoted in Volumes 

XVII. and XVIII. 

Table of Contents 

List of Unpublished Documents in Appendix . 

Pope Pius XI. to Baron von Pastor .... 

ix 

xxvi 

. xxxiv 

xxxv 

Pius V. i 566-1 572 

The Conclave and Election of Pius V. . . . . i 

Previous Life and Character of Pius V. ; his first Measures 

of Reform ........ 46 

Government of the States of the Church. Pius V. in 

relation to Literature and Art ..... 98 

Reforming zeal of Pius V. Reform of the College of Cardinals, 

the Curia and the Roman Clergy . . .136 

Reform of the Church on the Basis of the Tridentine Decrees 192 

The Reform of the Religious Orders .... 240 

The Roman Inquisition preserves Religious Unity in Italy 288 

The Trial of the Archbishop of Toledo, Bartolom^ Carranza. 

The Condemnation of Baius ..... 344 

Appendix of Unpublished Documents .... 383 

Index of Names ........ 427

COLLECTIONS OF ARCHIVES AND 

MANUSCRIPTS REFERRED TO IN 

VOLUMES XVII. AND XVIII. 

Alessandria—Library. 

Ancona—Communal Archives. 

Aquila—Dragonetti Archives. 

AsTi—Alfieri Archives. 

Avignon—City Library. 

Bamberg—Archives. 

Basle—Library. 

Berlin—State Library. 

Bologna—State Archives. 

Bregenz—Museum Archives. 

Carlsruhe—Library. 

CittA di Castello—-Graziani 

Archives. 

Dresden—Library. 

Faenza—Library 

Landau Library. 

Florence—State Archives. 

National Library. 

Library of the Villa 

alia Pietra. 

Frankfurt a. M.—City Archives. 

Geneva—Library. 

Innsbruck—Vice-regal Archives. 

London—British Museum. 

Lucerne—State Archives. 

Mantu.\—Capilupi Library. 

Gonzaga Archives. 

Milan—Ambrosian Library. 

Trivulzi Library. 

Trotti Archives. 

MoDENA—State Archives. 

Munich— State Library. 

VU 

Naples—State Archives. 

National Library. 

Palermo—State Archives. 

Paris—National Library. 

Perugia—Library. 

Pisa—State Archives. 

Ravenna—Archiepiscopal Archives. 

Seminary Archives. 

Classense Library. 

Rimini—Gambalunga Library. 

Rome— 

(a) Archives : 

Boncompagni. 

Campo Santo. 

Doria-Pamfili. 

Gaetani. 

Inquisition. 

The Capitoline. 

Ricci. 

Sapienza. 

Spanish Embassy. 

Briefs. 

Papal Secret Archives 

(Secret Archives of 

the Vatican). 

State. 

(b) Libraries . 

Altieri. 

Angelica. 

Anima. 

Casanatense. 

Chigi. 

Corsini. 

Vallicelliana. 

Vatican.

viii ARCHIVES & MANUSCRIPTS IN VOLS. XVII & XVIII 

Salzburg—Consistorial Archives. 

Siena—Library. 

SiGNA—Bonelli Archives in the 

Villa La Selve. 

SiMANCAS—Archives. 

Spoleto—Archiepiscopal Archives. 

Stockholm—Library. 

Strasburg—Departmental Archives. 

Toulouse—Library. 

Trent—City Library. 

Treves—City Library. 

Turin—State Library. 

Venice—State Archives. 

Library of the Correr 

Museum. 

Verona—Episcopal Archives. 

Chapter Library. 

Vienna—State Archives. 

Court Library. 

Wittingau—Archives.

COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS QUOTED IN 

VOLUMES XVII. AND XVIII. 

Abschiede, Die Eidgenossichen, ausdem Zeitraume von 1556-bis 

1586 (Der amtlichen Abschiedesammlung, Vol. IV., part 2, 

Ed. by Kriitli). Bern, 1861. 

[Acton.] The massacre of St. Bartholomew ; The North British 

Review, new series. Vol. XII., London, 1870. 

Adriani, G. B. Istoria de' suoi tempi. Vols. I., seqq., Prato, 1822. 

Albert, E. Le rclazioni degli ambasciatori Veneti al Senato 

durante il secolo decimosesto. 3 series. Florence, 1839-1855 

Amabile, L. II S. Officio della Inquisizione in Napoli, Vol. I., 

Citta di Castello, 1892. 

Ambros, A. W. Geschichte der Musik, Vol. II., 3rd Ed. by H. 

Reimann, Leipzig, i8gi ; Vol. III., 3rd Ed. by Otto Kade, 

1893 ; Vol. IV., 2nd Ed., 1881. 

Ancel, R. La disgrace et le proces des Carafa d'apres des docu- 

ments inedits 1559 k 1567. Maredsous, 1909. 

Roma, s.a. 

Angeli, D. 

Annovazzi, 

Le chiese di Roma ; 

V. Storia di Civitavecchia. Roma, 1853. 

Anquetil. L'esprit de la Ligue ou histoire politique des troubles 

de France pendant le XVIe et XVIIe siecle. Nouv. Edition, 

Vol. I., Paris, i8i-8. 

Archivio della R. Societa Romana di storia patria ; 

Roma, 1878 seqq. 

Vols. I. seqq., 

Archivio storico dell' 

Roma, 1888 seqq. 

Arte ; publ. per Gnoli ; Vols. I. seqq., 

Archivio storico 

Archivio storico 

Italiano ; 5 series ; Florence, 1842 seqq. 

Lombardo ; Vols. I. seqq., Milan, 1874 seqq. 

Archivio storico per le provincie Napolitane ; Vols. I. seqq., 

Napoli, 1876 seqq. 

Armellmi, M. Le chiese di Roma dalle loro origini sino al secolo 

XVI. Roma, 1887. 

Armstrong, E. The French Wars of Religion ; London, 1892. 

Arte, L'. Continuation of " Archivio storico dell' Arte ; Roma, 

1898 seqq. 

A strain, A. {S.J.). Historia de la Compania de Jesus en la 

Asistencia de Espana, Vols. I., II. , Madrid, 1902-1905. 

Atti e Memorie della R. deputaz. di storia patria per la prov. 

deir Emilia ; Prima serie, 1-8 ; Nuova serie, i seqq., Modena, 

1863 seqq. 

Aumale, Due d' . Histoire des Princes de Conde ; 8 vols., Paris, 

1869-1895. 

Bain, Joseph. Calendar of State Papers relating to Scotland 

and Mary Queen of Scots, 1547-1603 ; Vol. II., Edinburgh, 

1900. 

ix

X COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS 

Balan, P. Sioria d' Italia ; Vol. VI., Modena, 1882. 

Baluze, St. Miscellanea, Ed. Mansi ; 4 vols., Lucae, 1761. 

Baracconi, G. I. Rioni di Roma. Terza ristampa ; Torino- 

Roma, 1905. 

Bartoli, D. Dell' istoria della Compagnia di Gesii : L' Italia, 

prima parte dell' Europa (opere. Vol. V.) ; Torino, 1825. 

Bascapi (Carolus a Basilicapetri). De vita et rebus gestis Caroli 

S.R.E. Cardinalis tituli S. Praxedis archiepiscopi Mediolanensis 

libri septem ; Brixise, 1602 (also printed in " Acta 

ecclesiae Mediolan. Vol. III., Brixia, 1603). 

Bdumer, S. Geschichte des Breviers ; Freiburg, 1895. 

Baumgarten, H. Vor der Bartholomausnacht ; Strasburg, 1882. 

Baumgartner, A. Geschichte der Weltliteratur ; Vol. VI., Die 

italienische Literatur ; Freiburg, 1911. 

Beccari, C. (S.J.). Rerum Aethiopicarum Scriptores occidentales 

saeculo XVI. and XIX., Vols. V. and X., Rome, 1907, 1910. 

Beitrage zur Geschichte Herzog Albrechts V. und der sog. Adelsverschworung 

von 1563. Ed. by W. Goetz and L. Theobald 

(Briefe und Akten zur Geschichte des 16 Jahrhunderts mit 

besonderer Riichsicht auf Bayerns Fiirstenhaus, Vol. VI.), 

Leipzig, 1 91 3. 

Bekker, Ernst, Maria Stuart, Darnley, Bothwell. Mit einem 

Vorwort von M. Oncken (Giessner Studien aus dem Gebiet 

der Geschichte, Vol. I.), Giessen, 1881. 

Bellesheim, A . Geschichte der katholischen Kirch in Schottland 

von der Einfiihrung des Christentums bis auf die Gegenwart. 

Vol. II., 1560-1878, Mainz, 1883. 

Geschichte der katholischen Kirche in Irland, Vol. II., 

1509-1690, Mainz, 1890. 

Belloni, A. Storia letteraria d' Italia. II Seicento ; Milano, s.a. 

Benrath, K. Die Reformation in Venedig ; HaUe, 1887. 

Berga. Pierre Skarga, 1576-1612 ; Paris, 1916. 

Berliner, A. Geschichte der Juden in Rom von den altesten 

Zeiten bis zur Gegenwart. 2 vols., Frankfurt a. M., 1893. 

Bertani, F. S. Carlo, la bolla Coena Domini e Milano. Milan, 

1888. 

Berthier, J. J. L'eglise de la Minerve a Rome. Rome, 1910. 

Bertolotti, A. Artisti Francesi in Roma nei secoli XV., XVI., e 

XVII. RicercheestudinegliarchiviRomani. Mantua, 1886. 

Artisti Lombardi a Roma nei secoli XV, XVI., e XVII. 

2 vols. Milan, 1881. 

Artisti Modenese, Parmesi e della Lunigiana a Roma 

nei secoU XV., XVI., e XVII. Modena, 1882. 

Artisti subalpini in Roma. Mantua, 1885. 

Martiri del libero pensiero e vittime della santa Inquisizione 

nei secoli XVI., XVII., e XVIII. Roma, 1891. 

Repressioni straordinarie alia prostituzione in Roma 

nei sec. XVI. Roma, 1887. 

La schiavitti in Roma dal secolo XVI al XIX. Roma, 

1887. 

Biaudet, Henri. Les nonciatures apostoliques permanentes 

jusqu'en i6.|8 (Annales Academice scientiarum Fennicae, 

series B., Vol. II., i). Helsinki, 1910.

QUOTED IN VOLS. XVII AND XVIII XI 

Bibl. V. Die Organisation des evangelischen Kirchenwesens im 

Erzherzogtum Oesterreich unter der Enns von der Erteilung 

der Religionskonzession bis zu Kaiser Maximilians II. Tode 

(1568-1576). In Archiv fiir osterreichische Geschichte, 

Vol. 87, Vienna, 1899, pp. 113 seqq. 

Die Erhebung Herzog Cosimos von Medici zum Grossherzog 

von Toskana und die kaiserliche Anerkennung 

(1569-1576). 

1913- 

In Archiv fiir osterr. etc., Vol. 103, Vienna, 

Die Korrespondenz Maximilians II., Vol. I. Familiencorrespondenz 

1564 Juli 26 bis 1566 August 11 ; Vienna, 1916. 

Bicci, Marco Ubaldo. Notizie della famiglia Boccapaduli patrizia 

Romana. Roma, 17G2. 

Blatter, Historisch-politische, fiir das katholische Deutschland. 

Vols. I to 164, Munich, 1 838-1919. 

Blok, P. J. Geschichte der Niederlande. Vol. III., Gotha, 

1907. 

Bonanni, Ph. Numismata Pontificum Romanorum. Vol. II., 

Roma, 1699. 

Bonnet, Jules. Aonio Paleario. Eine Studie iiber die Reforma 

tion in Italien. Hamburg [1863]. 

Borgia, Sanctus Franciscus, quartus Gandiae dux et Societatis 

Jesu praepositus generalis tertius (Monum. hist. Soc. Jesu). 

Vol. IV. (1565-1568), Vol. V. (1569-1572), Matriti, 1910- 

1911. 

Boveriiis, Zach. Annales seu sacrae historiae Ordinis Minorum 

S. Francisci qui Capucini nuncupantur. Vol. I., II., Lugduni, 

I 632-1 639. 

Braunsberger, O. Pius V. und die deutschen Katholiken. Freiburg, 

1912. 

Brognoli, V. de. Studi storici sul regno di S. Pio V. 2 vols., 

Roma, 1883. 

Brom, G. Archivalia in Italic. Vol. I., s'Gravenhage, 1908. 

Bromato, C. Storia di Paolo IV. P.M. 2 vols., Ravenna, 1748— 

1753- 

Brosch, M. Geschichte des Kirchenstaates. Vol. I., Gotha, 1880. 

• Geschichten 

Geschichte Englands. Vol. VI., Gotha, 1890. 

aus dem Leben dreier Grosswesire. Gotha, 

1899. 

Bruzzone, P. L. Storia del commune di Bosco. 2 vols., Torino, 

1861-1865. 

Budinger, M. Don Carlos' Haft und Tod. Vienna, 1891. 

BuUarium Diplomatum et Privilegiorum Summorum Romanorum 

Pontificum. Vol. VI., Aug., Taurin, i860 ; Vol. VII., 

Neapoli, 1882. 

Bullarium Ordinis Praedicatorum. See Ripoll-Bremond. 

Bullarium Canonicorum Regularium Congregationis S. Salvatoris ; 

Romae, 1730. 

Kultur der Renaissance in Italien. 2 vols., 

loth Ed. by L. Greiger. Leipzig, 1908. 

Burckhardt, . J Die 

Calcnzio, Generoso. Document! inediti e nuovi lavori letterarii 

sul Concilio di Trento. Roma, 187^.

xii COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS 

Cambridge Modern History. Vol. IIL, The Wars of Religion. 

Cambridge, 1904- 

Cancellieri, Fr. Storia dei solenni Possessi dei Sommi Pontefici 

detti anticamente processi o processioni dopo la loro coronazione 

dalla basilica Vaticana alia Lateranense. Roma, 1802. 

Canisii, B. Petri. Epistulae et Acta. Vols. L-VL, Frib. Brisg., 

1896-1913. 

Cantu, G. Gli Eretici d'ltalia. 3 vols., Turin, 1864-1866. 

Capece, Galeota. Nunzii Apostolici di Napoli. Naples, 1878. 

Carcereri, Luigi. Giovanni Grimani Patriarca d'Aquileia imputato 

di eresia e assolto dal Concilio di Trento. Roma, 1907- 

Cardauns, Hermann. Der Sturz Maria Stuarts. Cologne, 1883. 

Cardella, L. Memorie storiche de' Cardinali della S. Romana 

Chiesa. Vol. V., Roma, 1793. 

Carinci, G. B. Lettere di Onorato Gaetani, Capitan generale 

della fanteria pontificia nella battaglia di Lepanto. Roma, 

1870. 

Carini, F. M. {S.J.). Monsignor Nicolo Ormaneto Veronese, 

vescovo di Padova, Nunzio apostolico alia corte di Filippo 

II. Re di Spagna, 1572-1577. Roma, 1894. 

Carmina illustrium Poetarum Italorum. Florence, 1 719-1726. 

Caruso, Giambait. Discorso istorico-apologetico della Monarcliia 

di Sicilia, pp. G. M. Mira. Palermo, 1863. 

Catena, Girol. Vita del gloriosissimo Papa Pio quinto. Roma, 

1586. 

Cecchetti, B. La republica di Venezia e la corte di Roma nei 

rapporti della religione. 2 Vols., Venice, 1874. 

Charavay, Et. Inventaire des autographes et documents historiques 

reunis par M. Benj. Fillon. 3 vols, Paris, 1879- 

1881. 

Charpenne. Histoire d 'Avignon. Paris, 1887. 

Charriere, E. Negociations de la France dans le Levant (Collect. 

des docum. ined. pour I'liist. de France, Vols. I., II.), Paris, 

1848. 

Chattard, G. P., Nuova descrizione del Vaticano. Vols. I. -III., 

Roma, 1 762-1 767. 

Ciaconiiis, Alph. Vitae et res gestae Pontificum Romanorum 

et S. R. E. Cardinalium. Vol. III., Romae, 1677. 

Ciappi. Compendio della attioni e vita di Gregorio XIII. Roma, 

1596. 

Cihrario, L. Lettere di Santi, Papi, Principi, etc. Turin, 1861. 

Clementi, F. II Carnevale Romano nelle cronache contemporanee. 

Roma, 1899. 

Colombo, Giuseppe. Notizie e documenti inediti sulla Vita di M. 

Giovanni Francesco Bonomi, vescovo di Vercelli. Turin, 1879. 

Commemoriali, I libri, della Republica di Venezia. Regesti, 

vol. VI., Venice, 1903. 

Conclavi de' Pontefici Romani. s.l., 1667. 

Constant, G. Rapport sur une mission scientifique aux archives 

d'Autriche et d'Espagne (Nouv. Arch, des Missions scientif. 

et litter., vol. 18) ; Paris, 1910. 

Contarini, Alvisi. Relazione di Francia 1502, in Alberi, Relazioni, 

I., 4 ; Florence, i860.

QUOTED IN VOLS. XVII AND XVIII. Xlll 

Corpo diplomatico Portuguez . 

. . desde o seculo XVI., pp. 

Luiz Augusto Rebello da Silva. Vols. 6-10, Lisbon, 1886 

seq. 

Correro, Giov. Relazione di Francia, 1569, in Albert, Relazioni, 

I., 4 

; Florence, i860. 

Correspondance du Cardinal Granvelle, publ. p. Poullet et Plot. 

12 vols., Bruxclles, 1878-1896. 

Correspondance de Philippe II. See Gachard. 

Correspondencia de Felipe II. con sus embajadores en la corte 

de Inglaterra 1558 a 1584, vols. IV. and V. (Coleccion de 

documentos ineditos para la historia de Espana, vols. 91 

and 92), Madrid, 1888. 

Correspondencia diplomatica entre Espana y la Santa Sede 

durante el pontificado de S. Pio V., por D. L. Serrano. 4 

vols., Roma, 1914. 

Cramer, L. La Seigneurie de Geneve et la maison de Savoie de 

1559 a 1603, 2 vols., Geneva, 1912. 

Cupis, C. de. Le vicende dell' agricoltura e della pastorizia 

nell'agro Romano e I'Annona di Roma. Roma, 191 1. 

Cyprianus, E. Tabularium ecclesiae Romanae saeculi decimi 

sexti, in quo monumenta restituti calicis eucharistici totiusque 

concilii Tridentini historiam mirifice illustrantia continentur. 

Francofurti et Lipsias, 1743. 

Daenell, Ernst. Die Spanier in Nordamerika, 1513-1824 (Historische 

Bibliothek, ed. by the Historische Zeitschrift, 

vol. 22), Munich and Berlin, 191 1. 

Ddndlinker, K. Geschichte der Schweiz. 2 vols., 3rd Ed., 

Zurich, 1900-1904. 

Degert, A. Proces de huit eveques franâis suspects de Calvinisme 

: Revue des Quest, Hist. ,vol. 76, Paris, 1904, pp. 61-108. 

Dejob, Ch. De I'infiuence du Concile de Trente sur la litterature 

et les beaux-arts chez les peuples catholiques. Paris, 

1884. 

DeH'Acqua, C. Di San Pio V. Papa insigne fautore degli studi 

e degli studiosi. Milan, 1904. 

Dengel, . J Geschichte des Palazzo di S. 

di Venezia. Leipsig, 1909. 

Marco, genannt Palazzo 

Dengel, Ph. Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland. 2nd part, 

vol. v., fasc. I, Vienna, 1920. 

Depeschen, Venezianische, vom Kaiserhofe (Dispacci di Germania), 

ed. by the Historische Kommission der Kaiserlichen Aka- 

vols, i to 3, ed. by Turba. 

demie der Wissenschaften : 

Vienna, 1889-1895. 

Desjardins, A. Negociations diplomatiques de la France avec 

la Toscane. Documents recueillis par Gius. Canestrini. 

Vol. I. seqq., Paris, 1859. 

Diana, Ant. {O. Theat.). Litterae, Decreta et Constitutiones recentiorum 

Pontificum, ad Tribunal S. Officii spectantes : in 

Diana, 

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Opera, ed. by Martin de Alcolea. Vol. V., Lyons, 

Dictionnaire de Theologie Catholique (Vacant-Mangenot). Vol. 

I. seqq., Paris, 1903.

xiv COMPLETE TITLES OF BOOKS 

Dierauer, Joh. Geschichte der Schweizerischen Eidgenossenschaft. 

Vol. IIL, 15 1 6-1648 (Geschichte der enropaischen 

Staaten. Ed. by A. H. L. Heeren, F. A. Uckert, W. v. 

Giesebrecht and K. Lamprecht, vol. 26). Gotha, 1907. 

Documentos escogidos del Archivo de la casa de Alba, pp. la 

Duqitcsa de Berwick y de Alba, Madrid, 1891. 

Ddllinger, J. J. Beitrage zur politischen, kirchlichen und Kulturgeschichte 

der sechs letzten Jahrhunderte. Vols. IL and 

IIL, Regensburg, 1863-1882. 

Ddllinger, J. J. and H. Reusch, Die Selbst biographic des Kardinals 

Bellarmin. Bonn, 1887. 

Duhr, B. (S.J.). Geschichte der Jesuiten in den Landern deutsche 

Zunge im 16 Jahrh. Vol. I., Freiburg, 1907. 

Ehrenberg, H. Urkunden und Aktenstiicke zur Geschichte in 

der heutigen Provinz Posen vereinigten ehemals polnische 

Landesteile. Leipzig, 1892. 

Ehses, S. and S. Merkle. Concilium Tridentinum, vols. I. seqq. 

Frib. Brisg., igoi. 

ermlandische Bischof und Kardinal Stanislaus 

Hosius. 2 vols., Mainz, 1854-1855. 

Eichhorn, A . Der 

Epistolae P. Alphonsi Salmeronis Soc. Jes. ex autographis 

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I., 

1536-1565 ; Vol. IL, 1565-1585, Matriti, 1906, 1907. 

Escher, Conrad, Barock und Klassizismus. Studien zur Geschichte 

der Architektur Roms. 

Eubel, see Gulik-Eubel. 

Leipzig [1910]. 

Faberi, Fr. S. Pio V. Studio storico. Siena, 1893. 

Fea, C. D. Storia delle acque in Roma e dei condotti. Rome, 

1832. 

Feller, R. Ritter Melchior Luss}^ von LInterwalden. Seine 

Beziehungen zu Italien und sein Anteil an der Gegenreformation. 

2 vols., Stans, 190 6-1 90 9. 

Fillon, see Charavay. 

Fleming, David Hay. Mary Queen of Scots from her birth to her 

flight into England. London, 1879. 

Folieta, Ubert. De sacro foedere in Selimum libri quattuor. 

In GrcBvius, Thesaurus antiquitatum et historiarum Italiae. 

Tom. I., pars II. Lugd. Batavorum, 1704. 

Forbes-Leith, W. {S.J.). Narratives of Scottish Catholics under 

Mary Stuart and James VI. Edinburgh, 1885. 

Forcella, V. Iscrizioni delle chiese e d'altri edifici di Roma dal 

secolo XL fino al giorni nostri. 14 vols., Roma, 1869-1885. 

Forneron, H. Histoire de Philippe II. Vol. I., Paris, 1881. 

Fouqueray, H. Histoire de la Compagnie de Jesus en France. 

Vol. I. (1528-1575), Paris, 1910. 

Frimy, E. Un ambassadeur liberal sous Charles IX. et Henri 

III. Ambassade a Venise d'Arnaud du Ferrier. Paris, 

1880. 

Frere, W. H. The English Church in the reigns of Elizabeth 

and James I. London, 1904.

QUOTED IN VOLS. XVII AND XVIII. XV 

Friedberg, E. Die Grenzen zwischen Staat und Kirche und die 

Garantien gegen deren Verletzung. Tiibingen, 1872. 

Friedldnder, W. Das Kasino Pius IV. Leipzig, 1912. 

Fumi, Luigi. L'Inquisizione Romano e lo Stato di Milano. 

Milan, 1910. 

Gabutius, Joh. Ant. Vita Pii V. Roma;, 1605. 

Gachard, L. P. Correspondence de Philippe II. sur les affaires 

des Pays-Bas. Vol. I., Brussels, 1848. 

• Relations 

des ambassadeurs Venitiens sur Charles V. 

et Philippe II. Brussels, 1855. 

Don Carlos et Philippe II. 2 vols., Brussels, 1863. 

La bibliotheque des princes Corsini. Brussels, 1869. 

Les bibliotheques de Madrid et de I'Escurial. Brussels, 

1875. 

Galluzzi, R. Istoria del Granducato di Toscana sotto il governo 

della Casa Medici. Nuova ediz. Vol. III., Florence, 1882. 

Gams, P. B. Series episcoporum ecclesiae Catholicae. Ratisbon, 

1873- 

Die Kirchengeschichte von Spanien. 3 vols., 2nd ed., 

Ratisbon, 1879. 

Garampi, G. Saggi di osservazioni sul valore delle antiche 

monete Pontificie, s.L, s.a. [Roma, 1766]. 

Gatticus, J. B. Acta caerimonialia S. Romanae Ecclesiae. Vol. 

I., Romae, 1753. 

Gatidentins, P. Beitrage zur Kirchengeschichte des 16 und 17 

Jahrh. Bedeutung und Verdienste des Franziskaner-Ordens 

im Kampfe gegen den Protestantismus. Vol. I., Bozen, 1880. 

Gaye, E. G. Carteggio inedito d'artisti dei secoli XV., XVI., e 

XVII. 3 vols., Florence, 1840. 

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Selira II., battaglia di Lepanto, e trionfo di Marc Antonio 

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Gcuev. Die Kirchenpolitik L'Hospitals. Leipzig, 1877. 

Giannone, P. Istoria civile del regno di Napoli. Vol. IV., 

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Gindely, A. Rudolf II. und seine Zeit, 1600-1612. 2 vols., 

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Giornale storico della letteratura Italiana. Vols. I. scqq., Rome- 

Turin-Florence, 1883. 

Gnoli, D. Vittoria Accoramboni. Florence, 1868. 

Goetz, W. See " Beitrage." 

Gdller, Eniil. Die papstliche Ponitentiarie von ihrem Ursprung 

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Gothein, E. Ignatius von Loyola und die Gegenreformation. 

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Gothein, M. Geschichte der Gartenkunst. Vol. I. Jena, 1914- 

Goubau, F. Apostolicse Epistolae. Libri V. Antwerp, 1640. 

Graevius, J. G. Thesaurus Antiquitatum Italia. 12 vols., 

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Gratiani, Ant. Marice. Episcopi Amerini Epistolarum ad Nicol. 

Thomicium libri decern, in Mai, Spicilegium, Vol. VIII., 

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De bello Cyprio libri quinque. Roma, 1624. 

Green, Mary Anne Everett. Calendar of State Papers. Domestic 

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Groen van Prinsterer, G. Archives ou Correspondance inedite 

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Guglielniotti, Alb. Marc Antonio Colonna alia battaglia di 

Lepanto. Florence, 1862. 

— Storia delle fortificazioni nella spiaggia Romana. Roma, 

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Guidicini, Gius. Miscellanea storico-patria Bolognesi. Bologna, 

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Gulik-Eubel. Hierarchia catholica Medii Aevi. Vol. III., Monasterii, 

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Gurlitt, Cornelius. Geschichte des Barockstiles in Italien. Stuttgart, 

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Hammer, J. V. Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches. Vol. III. 

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Hartig, O. Die Griindung der Miinchener Hofbibliothek durch 

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Hartzheim, L. Concilia Germanica. Vols. I.-X. Cologne, 1759. 

Havemann, W. Das Leben des Don Juan d 'Austria. Gotha, 

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Hergenrother, J. Katholische Kirche und christlicher Staat. 

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Herre, P. Europaische Politik im Cyprischen Krieg, 1570-1573. 

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Papsttum und Papstwahl im Zeitalter Philipps II. 

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Herzog. see : Real-Enzyklopadie. 

Hilgers, J. {S.J.). Der Index der verbotener Biicher. Freiburg, 

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Hilliger, B. Die Wahl Pius V. zum Papste. Leipzig, 1891. 

Hinojosa, R. de. Los despachos de la diplomacia Pontificia en 

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Hinschius, P. System des katholischen Kirchenrechts. Berlin, 

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Him, J. Erzherzog Ferdinand II. von Tirol. Vols. I., II., 

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Holzapfel, Heribert. Handbuch der Geschichte der Franziskanerordens. 


Holzwarth, F. J. Der Abfall der Niederlande, 2 vols. Schaffhausen, 

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Hopfen, O. H. Kaiser Maximilian II. und der Kompromisskatholizismus. 

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Hopfl, Hildebrand [O.S.B.). Beitrage zur Geschichte der Sixto- 

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Hosack, John. Mary Queen of Scots and her accusers. Edinburgh, 

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Htiber, A. Geschichte Oesterreichs. Vol. IV. Gotha, 1892. 

Hiibner, P. G. Le Statue di Roma. Leipzig, 1912. 

Hiirbin, J. Handbuch der Schweizer Geschichte. Stans, 1900- 

1908. 

Hitrter, F. Geschichte Kaiser Ferdinands II. Vols. I.-VII. 

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Hitrter, H. Nomenclator litterarius recentioris thcologice catholicae. 

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Ititra, G. B. Di Camillo Capilupi e de' suoi scritti. Milan, 1893. 

Inventario dei Monumenti di Roma. Vol. I. Roma, 1908-1912. 

Jahrbuch, Historisches, der Gorres-Gesellschaft. 

Miinster and Munich, 1880-1919. 

Vols. 1-39. 

Janssen, J. Geschichte des deutschen Volkes seit dem Ausgang 

des Mittelalters. Vols. I.-IV., 19th and 20th Ed. Freiburg, 

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Jorga, N. Geschichte des osmanischen Reiches. Vol. III. 

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Jurien de la Graviere. 'La, guerre de Chypre et la bataille de 

Lepante. 2 vols. Paris, 1888. 

Kallab, W. Vasari-Studien. (Quellen-schriften fvir Kunstgeschichte, 

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Kathohk, Der, Jahr. i seqq., Strasburg and Mayence, 1820-1919. 

Keller, L. Die Gegenreformation in Westphalen und am Niederrhein. 

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Kervyn de Lettevhove. Les Huguenots et les Gueux (i 560-1 585). 

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Kervyn de Lettenhove. Relations politiques des Pays-Bas et de 

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Kirchenlexikon oder Enzyklopadie der Kathol. Theologie . . . 

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Korzeniowski, J. Excerpta ex libris manuscriptis Archivii 

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Kraus, F. X. Geschichte der christlichen Kunst. 2 vols. Freiburg, 

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Kretzchmar, J oh. Die Invasionsprojekte der katholischen Machte 

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Labanoff, Prince Alex. Lettres, etc. de Marie Stuart. Vols. 

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Laderchi, J. Annales ecclesiastici, Vols. 35-^7. Bari Duels 

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Lagomarsini. see Pogiani. 

Ldmmev, H. Zur Kirchengeschichte des i6 und 17 Jahrhunderts. 


Meletematum Romanorum mantissa. Ratisbon, 1875. 

Lanciani, R. Storia degli scavi di Roma. Vols. I.-IV. Roma, 

1902-1910. 

Laugwitz. Bartholomaus Carranza, Erzbischof von Toledo. 

Kempten, 1870. 

Lavisse, E. Histoire de France. Vol. VL Paris, 1904. 

Lazzareschi, E. Le relazioni fra S. Pio V. e la Repubblica di 

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Lechat, Robert {S.J.). Les refugies Anglais dans les Pays-Bas 

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Le Bret, Joh. Fried. Staatsgeschichte der Republik Venedig. 

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Legazioni di A. Serristori, ambasciatore di Cosimo L a Carlo V. 

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Lingard, John. A History of England. Vols. VIL, VHL 

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Litta, P. Famiglie celebri Italiane. Milano e Torino, 1819-1881. 

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Lossen. see Masius. 

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Maffei, V. Dal titolo di Duca di Firenze e Siena a Granduca di 

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Magistris, C. P. de. L'elezione di Cosimo I. de' Medici alia 

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Mai, A. Spici'.egium Romanum. Vols. I.-X. Romae, 1839- 1844. 

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Manfroni, C. La Lega cristiana nel 1572. Con lettere di M. A. 

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Marcks, E. Die Zusammenkunst von Bayonne. Strasburg, 1889. 

Gaspard von Coligny. Vol. I., Stuttgart, 1892.

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Margraf, J. Kirche und Sklaverei seit der Entdeckung Amerikas. 

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Marini, G. Degli Archiatri pontifici. Vols. I., II. Roma, 1748. 

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Marocco, G. Monument! dello Stato Pontificio. Roma, 1833-1835. 

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Molitor, Raphael. Die Nach-Tridentinische Choral-Reform zu 

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Molmenti, P. Sebastiano Veniero et la battaglia di Lepanto, 


Moran, Francis. Spicilegium Ossoriense. Vol. I., Dublin, 1S74. 

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Mullbauer, Max. Geschichte der katholischen Missionen in 

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Mtintz, E. Histoire de I'art pendant la Renaissance. I., Italic. 

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Nau, Claude. Maria Stuart von der Ermordung Riccios bis zur 

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Nibby, A. Roma nell' anno 1838. Parte prima moderna, 

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Nicolai. Memorie, leggi e osservazioni sulle Campagne e sull' 

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Noailles, de. Henri de Valois et la Pologne en 1572. 2 vols., 

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Novaes, G. de. Storia de' Pontefici. Vol. VII., Roma, 1822. 

Opitz, Theodor. Maria Stuart. 2 vols., Freiburg, 1879. 

Orano, Domenico. Liberi pensatori bruciati in Roma dal XVI. 

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Otto, K. V. Geschichte der Reformation in Oesterreich unter 

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Palandri, E. P. Les Negociations politiques et religieuses entre 

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Paruto, Paolo. Historia Venetiana. Parte II. Venezia, 171 8. 

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Petvamellarius, J. Ant. Ad librum O. Panvinii de Summis Pontif. 

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Petrucelli delta Gattina, F. Histoire diplomatique des Conclaves. 

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Picot. Essai historique sur I'influence de la religion en France 

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Pierling, P. Rome et Moscou, 1 547-1 579. Paris, 1883. 

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Pometti, Fr. Per la storia della Marina Italiana. Roma, 1898. 

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Renazzi, F. M. Storia dell' universita degii studi di Roma, 

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Reumont, A. Bibliografia dei lavori pubblicati in Germania 

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Geschichte der Stadt Rom. Vol. III. Berlin, 1870. 

Geschichte Toskanas. Gotha, 1876. 

Reusch, H. Der Index der verbotenen Biicher. 2 vols. Bonn, 

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Revue Historique. I. seqq. Paris, 1876 seqq. 

Revue des Questions Historiques. I. seqq. Paris, 1866 seqq. 

Rieger mid Vogelstein. Geschichte der Juden in Rom. 2 vols. 

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Riezlev, S. Geschichte Bayerns. Vols. IV. and VI. Gotha, 

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Ripoll-Bremond. BuUarium Ord. Praedicatorum. Vol. V., Romae, 

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Ritter, M. Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Gegenreformation 

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Rocchi, E. Le piante iconografiche e prospettive di Roma del 

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Rocco da Cesinale. Storia delle Missioni dei Cappuccini. Vol. I. 

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Rodocanachi, E. Les Institutions communales de Rome sous la 

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Le Capitole Romain antique et moderne. Paris, 1904. 

Rome au temps de Jules II. et de Leon X. La cour 

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peuple ; Le Sac de Rome en 1527. Paris, 191 2. 

Romanin, S. Storia documentata di Venezia. 10 vols. Venezia, 

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Rosell, C. Historia del combate naval de Lepanto. Madrid, 

1853. 

Rosi, M. La riforma religiosa e 1' Italia nel secolo XVI. Nota 

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La riforma religiosa in Liguria e 1' eretico umbro Bartolomeo 

Bartoccio (Atti della Soc. Ligure di storia patria. 

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Ruble, A. de. 

Genoa, 1894. 

Antoine de Bourbon et Jeanne d' Albret. 4 vols. 

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Rundschau, Literarische. 

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Sacchinus, Fr. Historiae Societatis Jesu, Pars tertia sive Borgia. 

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Documenti circa la Vita e le gesta di S. Carlo Borromeo. 

Sala, A . 

3 vols. Milan, 1 857-1 861. 

Biografia di S. Carlo Borromeo. Milan, 

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San Carlo Borromeo nel terzo centenario della canonizzazione, 

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al Dicembre 1910. 

Santori, Giiilio Ant. Card, di S. Severina, Autobiografia. Ed, 

by G. Citgnoni (Archiv. della Soc. Rom. di storia patria, 

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Diario concistoriale. Ed. by P. Tacchi Venturi, S.J. 

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Sauii, Alessandro, S. Note e documenti. Milano, 1905. 

Schellhass, K. Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland. Vol. III. 

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Schiess, Traugott. BuUingers Korrespondenz mit den Graubiindnern, 

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Schmidlin, J. Die kirchlichen Zustande in Deutschland vor dem 

Dreissigjahrigen Kriege. Freiburg, 1908-1910. 

Schwarz, W. E. Der Briefweclisel des Kaisers Maximilian mit 

Papst Pius V. Paderborn, 1889. 

Die Akten der Visitation des Bistums Miinster aus der 

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Segesser, A. Ph. V. Ludwig Pyffer und seine Zeit. 2 vols. 

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Bern, 

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Sereno, B. Commentario della guerra di Cipro e della Lega dei 

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Serrano, L. La Liga de Lepanto entre Espafla, Venecia y la 

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[Serranus, J.] Commentariorum de statu religionis et reipublicse 

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Skibniewski, St. L. Corvin v. Geschichte des Romischen Katechismus. 

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Soldan, M. G. Geschichte des Protestantismus in Frankreich. 

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Sommervogel, C. (S.J.). Bibliotheque de la Cie de Jesus, 9 vols. 

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Soriano, Michele. Ritratto di Pio V. {Albhi, Relazioni, II. , 4). 


Specht, Thomas. Geschichte der ehemaligen Universitat Dillingen 

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Spezi, P. Pio V. Roma, 1905. 

Spicilegio Vaticano di documenti inediti e rari estratti dagli 

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Spillniann, Jos. {S.J.). Die englischen Martyrer unter Heinrich 

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Steinherz, S. Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland (i 560-1 572). 

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Steinhuber, Andr. Geschichte des KoUegium Germanikum Hungarikum 

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Streit, R. Bibliotheca Missionum. Monasterii, 191 6. 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS OF VOLUME XVlI. 

A.D. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE CONCLAVE AND ELECTION OF PIUS V. 

PAGE 

1565 Rome completely quiet after the death of Pius IV. . 

Preparations for the conclave. 

The state of the Papal treasury 

The principal candidates .... 

A long conclave probable .... 

The Cardinals go into conclave (December 19th) 

The number of the electors .... 

Parties in the conclave .... 

Strict observance of the enclosure . 

Very little interference on the part of the princes and 

ambassadors ...... 

The attitude of Cosimo de' Medici 

The policy of France ..... 

The attitude of Philip II. of Spain 

The report sent by Requesens to the Spanish king 

His recommendations ..... 

The influence of Spain upon the election of no great 

importance ...... 

i 

The Spanish Cardinals in the conclave 

The three party leaders : Borromeo, 

. 

Famese and 

Este ....... 

he refuses to use his 

influence at first ..... 

Borromeo's attitude of reserve ; 

The efforts of Este and Famese 

The attempts of Este to secure the tiara for himself 

The influence of Bon'omeo .... 

Attempt to elect Morone .... 

This attempt is very nearly successful . 

Morone 's opponents ..... 

The guidance of the conclave passes out of the hands 

of Borromeo ...... 

Famese 's hopes of success .... 

His great popularity in Rome 

The candidature of Ricci .... 

1566 The death of Gonzaga a blow to Farnese's hopes 

Various candidates put forward 

Rumour that Philip II. had nominated Ghislieri 

Borromeo once again takes a leading part, and puts 

forward Sirleto ..... 

Borromeo comes to terms with Farnese, and secures 

the election of Ghislieri .... 

XXVI 

19 

21 

22 

23 

24 

27 

28 

30 

31 

33 

33 

34 

35 

36 

37 

39

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXm 

The election of Ghislieri ; his acceptance of the 

dignity (January 7th) ..... 

He takes the name of Pius V. . . . . 

Unexpectedness of the election .... 

The decisive influence of Borromeo upon the election 

General rejoicing among the Cardinals and in the city 

CHAPTER II. 

PREVIOUS LIFE AND CHARACTER OF PIUS V. 

OF REFORM. 

1 AGE 

40 

40 

40 

43 

44 

HIS FIRST MEASURES 

1504 The birth of Michele Ghislieri ; 

1 52 1 He enters the Dominican Order 

Ghislieri as a Dominican friar 

Ghislieri as Inquisitor ; he is brought into contact 

with Cardinal Carafa .... 

1 55 1 He becomes Commissary-General of the Inquisition 

1556 And Bishop of Sutri and Nepi ... 

1557 Ghislieri created Cardinal by Paul IV. (March). 

1558 And Grand Inquisitor of the Roman Church . 

Cardinal Ghislieri not in favour with Pius IV. . 

His personal appearance .... 

1566 The character of Pius V. . . . . 

His sense of the responsibilities of his office 

His strict manner of life ; his great abstemiousness 

His health gives cause for anxiety . 

His great personal activity .... 

His delight in prayer ..... 

His regular attendance at ecclesiastical functions 

Visits to the Seven Churches 

His great devotion to the 

" The Pope is a saint 

Blessed Sacrament 

" 

His great strictness recalls the days of Paul IV. 

The opinion of the ambassadors 

He has little experience of political affairs 

Fears of the Pope's severity on the part of the Romans 

The Pope's allocution to the Cardinals (January 12th) 

He announces his policy : the extirpation of heresy, 

peace among the princes, and war against the 

Turks ....... 

His spirit of independence .... 

The Pope's popularity rapidly increases . 

His coronation (January 17th) . . . 

First reform measures ; the Dataria and Segnatura 

His zealous attendance at the Congregations . 

his home and family 

The influential Cardinals .... 

The Pope and his relatives .... 

Michele Bonelli created Cardinal (March 6th) . 

The Pope puts all his trust in spiritual arms 

Cardinal Bonelli's powers very restricted 

46 

47 

47 

49 

49 

49 

49 

50 

52 

53 

54 

55 

55 

57 

58 

59 

60 

61 

62 

63 

65 

66 

67 

67 

68 

68 

69 

69 

72 

72 

73 

74 

77 

79 

80

XXVlll TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

Pius V. and the Cardinals .... 

The Pope and Cardinal Bonelli 

1567 Paolo Ghislieri made Governor of the Borgo . 

His banishment ...... 

Ruthless severity of the Pope in offences against 

morality ....... 

The restriction of luxury .... 

Strict rules for physicians .... 

The Pope's war against public immorality 

The prostitutes banished from Rome 

Severe ordinances against adultery ; the death penalty 

threatened ...... the Swiss 

The Pope's strict watch over his household ; 

Guard ....... 

Religious instruction in Rome 

Rome becomes " a world-wide monastery " 

CHAPTER HI. 

PAGE 

81 

83 

84 

85 

GOVERNMENT OF THE STATES OF THE CHURCH. PIUS V. IN RELATION 

TO LITERATURE AND ART. 

Pius V. as a temporal sovereign 

Reform of the administration of justice 

Revision of the trial of the Carafa 

Many executions in the Papal States 

The Pope and brigandage 

Repression of feuds and factions 

The financial administration of Pius V. ; his personal 

economy ...... 

But new taxes are forced upon him 

The Pope's lavish almsgiving 

Charitable works in Rome 

the price of bread 

Protection of agriculture ; 

Pius V. in relation to Art 

The Belvedere collection 

The Pope and the treasures of antiquity 

But he can in no sense be called the enemy of antiquity 

Though his interests lie entirely in religious matters 

Restoration of the Sistine Chapel . 

The Torre Pia at the Vatican built by the Pope 

Building operations in the city ; restoration of 

churches ..... 

Pius V. and the building of St. Peter's 

Jacopo Vignola .... 

Buildings at Loreto and Assisi 

The water supply of Rome 

Fortification works in the Papal States 

Painters employed by Pius V. 

Pius V. and Literature . 

His interests entirely ecclesiastical ; the works of St 

Thomas and St. Bonaventure 

86 

87 

90 

93 

95 

96 

97 

q8 

98 

99 

lOI 

102 

103 

104 

105 

106 

107 

109 

no 

III 

112 

114 

117 

118 

121 

122 

123 

124 

125 

126 

127 

128 

129

A.D. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXIX 

Biblical studies 

The Vatican Library 

The Papal Archives 

The Roman University . 

A changed spirit in Rome 

CHAPTER IV 

REFORMING ZEAL OF PIUS V. REFORM OF THE COLLEGE OF 

CARDINALS, THE CURIA AND THE ROMAN CLERGY 

The Pope's zeal for reform 

The court officials 

Pius V. and Cardinal Borromeo 

Niccolo Ormaneto 

The reform of the Papal household 

The reform of the court 

The Pope urges the Cardinals to simplicity of life and 

the imitation of Christ .... 

He complains of electoral intrigues among them 

The Cardinals and the duty of residence 

Cardinalitial rights of presentation restricted . 

Cardinal Innocenzo del Monte 

Pius V.'s consideration for the Cardinals 

His condemnation of intrigues concerning the Papacy 

Plans for a renewal of the Sacred College 

1568 Four new Cardinals appointed (March 24th) 

Diego di Espinosa 

Jerome Souchier .... 

Paolo della Chiesa and Antonio Carafa 

Further creations expected 

The princes and the Sacred College 

1570 Sixteen new Cardinals created (May 17th) 

The new Cardinals 

1 571 General fears of a " terrible " reform 

The reform of the Curia 

The Dataria : " cessioni " and " renunzie 

Reform of the Penitentiaria . 

The College of Penitentiaries 

The Segnatura, Cancelleria and Apostolic Camera 

The Pope in person begins a visitation of Rome 

Reform of the Roman clergy ; the Apostolic Visitors 

They discharge their duties very strictly 

Examination of confessors ; sacerdotal conferences 

Ecclesiastical dress ..... 

The duties of parish priests .... 

The duty of residence ..... 

The Pope returns to this question again and again 

Visitation of the Papal States 

Plan of a provincial synod for the whole of Italy 

PAGE 

130 

132 

133 

133 

135 

136 

137 

138 

139 

140 

141 

144 

147 

148 

149 

150 

152 

153 

154 

156 

157 

158 

159 

160 

161 

162 

163 

170 

170 

172 

175 

178 

178 

179 

181 

183 

184 

185 

186 

187 

189 

190 

191

XXX TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

A.D. 

CHAPTER V. 

PAGE 

REFORM OF THE CHURCH ON THE BASIS OF THE TRIDENTINE DECREES 

The Tridentine decrees the Pope's guide in all 

work of reform .... 

The Roman Catechism .... 

his 

It is translated into several languages . 

Reform of the Breviary 

The Breviary of Pius V. . . . 

The Vulgate ...... 

Canon Law ...... 

1567 St. Thomas Aquinas declared a Doctor of the Church 

(April) 

Pius V. in relation to science and literature 

Hagiography and historical criticism 

The Congregation of the Index 

Pius V. and questions of dogma 

The Immaculate Conception ; the chalice for the 

laity ...... 

The question of bull-fights in Spain 

Church Music ..... 

The Pope's great zeal for the Council of Trent 

The establishment of seminaries 

Provincial synods ..... 

The duty of residence .... 

Diocesan visitations .... 

Apostolic Visitors sent throughout Italy 

Pius V. and the bishops 

Confraternities of Christian Doctrine 

Regulations concerning divine worship . 

Superstitious practices condemned . 

Caste prejudice in Spain 

Reverence for the Blessed Sacrament 

Pious confraternities .... 

Pius V. and simony .... 

" " 

Confidential simony 

The alienation of ecclesiastical property 

The right of presentation 

The efforts of the Pope supported by the presence of 

many saints ; Philip Neri, Charles Borromeo and 

Peter Canisius ....... 

Juan de Avila and Alessandro Sauli 

CHAPTER VI. 

THE REFORM OF THE RELIGIOUS ORDERS. 

192 

192 

193 

194 

195 

198 

199 

200 

202 

203 

203 

204 

205 

206 

208 

209 

211 

214 

216 

218 

219 

220 

223^ 

224 

225 

226 

226 

227 

229 

231 

233 

235 

236 

237 

Earlier attempts at the reform of the religious Orders 

in the XVth and XVIth centuries . . . 240 

Nevertheless the Council of Trent a turning point in 

their history . . . . . , .241

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXXl 

A.D. 

PAGE 

Reform of the Cistercians ; a general visitation begun 241 

Deplorable state of their houses in Italy . . 243 

The Order of the Humiliati ..... 

Borromeo attempts the work of reforming the Order 245 

Attempted assassination of the Cardinal . .246 

1571 Suppression of the Order (February 7th) . . 

In many cases Pius V. combines the various branches 

247 

of the Orders 248 

The religious Orders in Spain ; the Order of Calatrava 249 

The co-operation of the civil authorities in Spain 

necessary but dangerous . . . . .250 

Decadent state of the Spanish Conventual Franciscans 251 

They are placed under the Observants . 

The same done in the case of other Orders 

. 

. 

. 252 

.252 

Difficulties with the civil power in Spain . . 

The religious Orders in the Low Countries and Portugal 

255 

256 

General reform of the Conventual Franciscans . 256 

The Third Order of St. Francis .... 257 

Many other Orders reformed by the Pope . .258 

The Military Orders in Portugal .... 259 

Reform ordinances of Pius V. for the religious Orders 260 

He regards the vow of poverty as their foundation 

stone ........ 263 

Abuses in the Orders ; monks living outside their 

houses ........ 265 

The enclosure of nuns insisted upon ; prevalent 

laxity in this respect . . • .266 

Cardinal Borromeo and the nuns of Milan . .267 

The organization of the great Orders necessitates 

exceptions to the decrees of Trent . . .268 

Difficulties experienced by the Mendicant Orders in 

relation to episcopal jurisdiction . . .269 

Several further Orders declared to be true Mendicants 270 

The Pope's high esteem for the Mendicant Orders . 271 

His favours to the Dominican Order . . .272 

A great impulse given to the Benedictine Order. . 273 

New and stricter Congregations forming themselves in 

the Orders ....... 275 

Peter of Alcantara . . . . . .275 

Teresa of Jesus . . . . . . .277 

The question of solemn vows ; the Pope does not look 

with favour upon religious with simple vows . 278 

This affects the Society of Jesus ; the Pope's attempts 

to change their Constitutions . . . .278 

The decree making solemn vows necessary for ordin- 

ation ........ 

280 

But the Pope was in no sense hostile to the Society . 282 

He pays a ^Jowing tribute to their work . .283 

New constitutions given to the Somaschi, Theatines 

and Barnabites . . . . . .284 

John of God and the Fatebenefratelli . . .285 

The Pope's unflagging zeal for the Tridentine decrees 286

xxxu TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

A.D. 

CHAPTER VII. 

PAGE 

THE ROMAN INQUISITION PRESERVES RELIGIOUS UNITY IN ITALY 

The plans of Pius V. for a new palace of the Holy 

Office 288 

The first stone of the new building ; its completion . 289 

The Pope's great zeal for the work of the Inquisition 290 

New Congregation of the Inquisition . . . 292 

Many stern edicts concerning the Inquisition . . 294 

The Pope convinced that stern measures alone will 

save Italy from Protestantism . . . .297 

The underground methods of Protestantism in Italy 299 

Many public autodafes held in Rome . . . 300 

Bartolomeo Bartoccio ...... 306 

The case of Pietro Carnesecchi . . . .302 

The heretics for the most part make their abjuration 305 

The case of Paleario . . . . . -307 

Autodafes less common in the second half of the 

pontificate . . . . . . .311 

The Inquisition in the Papal States . . .312 

Heresy at Faenza . . . . . -313 

But heresy takes very little real root in Italy . . 314 

Great vigilance of the Inquisition . . . •315 

The Inquisition in Venice ; difficulties with the Senate 316 

. The Inquisition at Genoa . . . . .318 

And at Lucca ....... 

319 

Fear of the Spanish Inquisition in Milan 

Opposition to the Inquisition at Mantua 

Intervention of Cardinal Borromeo . 

. 

. 

. 

. 320 

.321 

.324 

Revolutionary tendency of heresy in Italy 

The vigilance of the Pope . . . 

The Italian princes and the Inquisition . 

. 

. 

. 

. 325 

.326 

.328 

Protestant students at the universities . . . 330 

The Pope's ruthless measures against sodomy . 331 

Sorcery and witchcraft . . . . . -333 

Pius V. and the Jews : their responsibility for many 

crimes leads to severe edicts .... 334 

Pius V. reverts to the laws of Paul IV., for the most 

part abrogated by Pius IV. .... 336 

1569 Edict of expulsion of the Jews from the Papal States 

(February 26th) ...... 338 

The Pope's efforts to convert the Jews . . . 340 

Notable converts from Judaism .... 341 

Personal part taken by the Pope in the work of the 

Inquisition ....... 342 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE TRIAL OF THE ARCHBISHOP OF TOLEDO, BARTOLOME CARRANZA. 

THE CONDEMNATION OF BAIUS. 

1^66 Pius V. successful in . getting the trial of Carranza 

transferred to Rome (December) . 

. 

, 344

TABLE OF CONTENTS. XXXlll 

A.D. PAGE 

The arrival of the archbishop in Rome . . . 345 

The composition of the tribunal 

1567 The trial begun (June) .... 

Public opinion in Rome favours Carranza 

An early end of the trial expected 

Nevertheless, the case drags on year after year 

Reasons for this delay ; efforts on the part of Spain 

to avert an adverse decision .... 

Philip XL's letter to the Pope ; his instructions to 

Zuiliga ........ 

The Pope accused of being predisposed in favour of 

345 

346 

348 

348 

349 

350 

351 

Carranza ........ 352 

Pius V.'s determination to be guided by justice alone 353 

Arrogant pretensions of the Spanish Inquisition . 354 

And of Philip II. . . . . , . . 355 

His characteristic letter to the Pope . . -357 

Pius V.'s courteous but firm reply . . . 358 

His warning to the king ..... 360 

about the case ...... 363 

The minute attention given to the case by the Pope. 361 

The unfair methods of the Spanish theologians . 362 

In spite of everything the Pope remains perplexed 

His labours and anxiety injure his health . . 

And undoubtedly hasten his death . . . 

The Pope's sternness prompted by his conviction of 

364 

365 

the necessity for strong measures against heresy. 

His strong sense of duty ; in the second half of his 

365 

reign his severity considerably relaxed 

A new form of heresy in the Low Countries 

. 

. 

. 

. 

366 

367 

The beginnings of Baianism ..... 368 

The doctrines of Baius ...... 369 

Baius and the University of Louvain . . . 370 

The spread of Baianism ; the mission of Commendone 371 

Silence imposed upon the disputants . . . 372 

Baius republishes some of his works ; Philip II. 

appeals to the Pope for a decision . . -373 

1567 Seventy-six of the propositions of Baius condemned 

(October ist) ....... 

374 

Baius, however, is not named in the bull, nor is the 

bull publicly posted . . . . -374 

Submission of Baius ; apparent end of the controversy 375 

Baius, nevertheless, contirmes to defend his doctrines, 

and addresses an apologia to the Pope . -376 

1569 Abjuration of Baius . . . . . -377 

He once more defends his opinions ; the bull of condemnation 

is published and accepted . . . 379 

Pius V. and Italian Protestantism .... 380 

Beneficial effects upon Italy of the Pope's severe 

methods ........ 381 

He undoubtedly saved his country from revolution 

and civil war . 

, . , . , .382 

VOL. XVII. c

LIST OF UNPUBLISHED DOCUMENTS IN 

APPENDIX. 

1 The Conclave of Pius V. according to the Diary of 

PAGE 

Cornehus Firmanus ..... 383 

2 Francesco Tosabezzo to the Duke of Mantua 

» 3 Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566 . 

4 

Cornelius Firmanus on the Coronation of Pius V. 

5 Niccolo Cusano to the Emperor Maximilian II. 

6 Johannes Sambucus to Cardinal G. Sirleto . 

7-8 Camillo Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua 

9 Avviso di Roma of April 13, 1566 

10-15 Buildings of Pius V. at Bosco 

16-25 Purification of morals in Rome, 1566 . 

26 Bernardino Pia to Camillo Luzzara 

27 Pope Pius V. to the Governor of the Campagna and 

Marittima ...... 

28-34 Avvisi concerning the purification of morals 

Rome in 1567 ..... 

35-47 Extracts from the " Diarium " of Cornelius Firmanus 

concerning the activity of the Roman 

Inquisition, 1 566-1 568 ..... 

387 

389 

391 

392 

392 

393 

393 

394 

395 

399 

400 

48 Pope Pius V. to the Duke of Mantua . . 404 

49 Avviso di Roma of May 29, 1568 . . . 405 

50 Bernardino Pia to Camillo Luzzara . . . 405 

51 Death of Cardinal Vine. Vitelli (November 19, 

1568) 405 

52 Niccolo Cusano to the Emperor Maximilian II. . 406 

53-57 Avvisi concerning the purification of morals in 

Rome in 1568 ...... 

399 

406 

407 

58 Niccolo Cusano to the Emperor Maximilian II. . 407 

59 Avviso di Roma of April 2, 1569. . . . 407 

60-65 Avvisi concerning the purification of morals in 

Rome in 1569 ...... 

66 For the History of the Church of St. Peter's under 

Pius V 408 

67 Cardinal Santori and his Audiences with Pius V. . 409 

68 The Briefs of Pius V. and the Archives of Briefs . 413 

69 The Biographers of Pius V. . . . . 420 

^xxiv

POPE PIUS XL TO BARON VON PASTOR 

PIUS pp. XI. 

DiLECTE Fill, salutem et apostolicam benedictionem.—Cum, 

exeunte hoc mense, integhs, mentis corporisque viribus septuagesimum 

acturus sis natalem tuam, quos in Oenipontana studiorum 

Universitate habuisti olim vel discipulos vel in docendo 

conlegas, ii parant, ut nuperrime accepimus, conspirantibus 

quidem ceteris quorum tibi amorem admirationemque conciliasti, 

praecipuis te venerationis laetitiaeque suae honestare testimoniis. 

Qua in meritorum tuorum commemoratione num 

Romanum Pontificem, num Nos, qui tanti te laboresque tuos 

facimus et vetere tecum necessitudine coniungimur, silere deceat 

aut primas partes cuiquam cedere ? Praedicent quidem ii 

omnes, quotquot te quondam in celebri Athenaeo multos annos 

audierunt, summam illam tuam rerum gestarum cognitionem 

cum peracuta iudicii subtilitate incorruptoque veritatis studio 

coniunctam, seque beatissimos putent quod idem studium 

eandemque vestigandarum existimandarumque rerum rationem, 

ductu tuo, hauserint ac veluti imbiberint. At vero opus tuum 

princeps omnibusque expletum numeris, quod est Historia 

Romanorum Pontificum, Apostolica Sedes, hac opportunitate 

data, per Nos publice dilaudat atque extollit veluti iure suo et 

tamquam rem suo fotam gremio, quandoquidem immortalis 

memoriae decessor Noster Leo XIII. Tabularium tibi primo 

patere iussit, unde litterarum monumenta paene infinita in 

lucem eduxisti, quibus narratio tua niteretur. Tu autem, Dilecte 

Fili, ad tam grande opus aem attulisti ingenii aciem exquisitaeque 

doctrinae copiam, ut nullus fortasse unquam instructior paratiorque 

ad eius generis laborem accesserit. In iis enim voluminibus, 

quae ad hunc diem aliud ex alio edidisti, praeterquam quod 

omnia, vel minima, ad tabularum auctoritatem fidemque exiguntur, 

certa tutaque causarum consecutionumque indagatione 

eventa quaelibet penitus dispicis et, si qua eorum dubia aut in 

controversiam deducta, recte acuteque interpretando explanas. 

Quid, quod singulares ac proprias uniuscuiusque aetatis notas 

complexu tam miro proponis, ut quasdam quasi tabulas plenas 

veritatis, plenas artis depingas ? Factorum praeterea expositionem 

iis verborum sententiarumque luminibus exornas, ut 

unum aliquid inde exsistat absolutissimum, quod in sui admirationem 

studiosorum legentiumque animos convertat ac rapiat. 

Nee profecto ignoramus, adeo immensam tibi adesse, ex aliis 

quoque paene omnibus Europae bibliothecis atque archivis, 

materiam, ut haec tibi cotidie crescat, et crescant item praeter 

exspectationem, scribendo, volumina. Quid igitur tibi, Dilecte 

Fili, fausta hac occasione cupiamus, nisi ut Ille, cuius vice furi- 

XXXV

XXXvi POPE PIUS XI TO BARON VON PASTOR 

gimur, prorogata tibi aetate diutissime, ingenii corporisque tui 

vires confirmet, immo etiam exacuat, ne totius operis conficiendi 

facultas te spatiumque deficiat ? Quod quidem opus quo magis 

procedit, eo clarius, rebus pro veritate exploratis, divina Ecclesiae 

virtus elucet ac splendet. Quamobrem perge, invicta qua soles 

alacritate, laboriosissimum persequi utilissimumque inceptum, 

cui nee Noster bonorumque omnium plausus nee caelestium 

deerit remuneratio gratiarum. Quarum interea auspicem paternaeque 

benevolentiae Nostrae testem, tibi, Dilecte Fili, apostolicam 

benedictionem peramanter impertimus. 

Datum Romae apud Sanctum Petrum die VIII. mensis lanuarii 

anno MCMXXIV., Pontificatus Nostri secundo. 

Pius pp. XI, 

Dilecto Filio Ludovico baroni de Pastor 

Legato apud Nos Extraordinario atque 

Administro cum lihevis mandatis 

Reipublicae Austriacae.

CHAPTER I. 

The Conclave and Election of Pius V. 

In the December of 1565, after a pontificate of less than six 

years, the dreaded time of a vacancy in the Holy See had once 

again come. This time, however, in strong contrast to what 

had occurred at the death of Paul IV., the quiet of the Eternal 

City remained undisturbed. No wild demonstrations of joy 

disturbed the streets, and no hand was raised to destroy the 

traces of the dead Medici Pope, whose body peacefully awaited 

in the Pauline Chapel its removal to St. Peter's.^ 

The usual accommodation for the conclave was prepared, 

with the addition of the apartments of Borromeo in the 

Borgia Tower.- Five companies of infantry, under the command 

of Hannibal von Hohenems, were held in readiness for 

the protection of the Cardinals, and after the daily mass for 

the repose of the soul of Pius IV., the Cardinals met in con- 

sultation each day for five hours. ^ Everything proceeded 

smoothly, and Pasquino could find scarcely any material for 

his spiteful comments.^ It was said that never in the memory 

of man had there been so peaceful a vacancy in the Holy See, 

so that men hardly seemed to realize that the Pope was dead.* 

^ *Fr. Tosabezzo to the Duke of Mantua, December 10, 1565, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of Dec. 15, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 152b, Vatican 

Library. Artists such as Ant. Labacco and Giac. Barozzi da 

Vignola took part in the preparation of the conclave ; see 

Bertolotti, Art, Mod. 20. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of December 15, 1565, loc. cit. 

* Ibid. p. 153. 

* *" Per Roma non si fa strepito nissuno, et vanno le cose 

tanto quiete, che dal no esserci la persona di Papa, in poi non par 

che il Papa sia morto " {loc. cit. p. 152b). *" Le cose passano 

quiete piu che mai in sede vacante a memoria di huomo," wi'ote 

Girolamo Oltramari on December 12, 1565. State Archives, 

Modena. 

VOL. XVII. I

2 

HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

In order to ensure the good bdiavioar of tbe populace strict 

r^nlations were issued ; no one was to oiter Rome from 

outade, all disputes were to be stepped, and anybody who 

drew his sword was to lose his hand.* The procnrator-fiscal, 

Pallantieri, and Frano^co Guarini Bishop of Imola, for the 

Borgo, were to act as governors for the maintenance of order.* 

The result was that the peace of the city was not broken during 

the whole period of the conclave. ^ 

The Collie of Car^nals was suddenly called upon to deal 

with the pressing qu^tion of rendering assistance to Malta, 

which was menaced by the Ttu"k5. Count Broccardo asked 

for the payment of the 10,000 ducats promised by Pius IV. 

The Cardinals were hesitating whether their powers would 

allow them to accede to this demand, when all at once Ippolito 

d'Este, as the representative of the Knights of Malta, came 

forward and declared that, should the new Pope not confirm 

the gift, he would be ready to guarantee the sum from his 

private means.* The State Treasi-uy, which was far from 

p)ossessing the large sums which it was supposed to contain, 

had already been called upon to pro\'ide 20,000 ducats, 

including 300 for each of the poorer Cardinals ;^ at the death 

of Pius IV., there was not more than 205,000 scudi in cash, 

and 300,000 in securities, at the Castle of St. Angelo.^ 

^ *" Chi pone mano all'armi, ne vadi la mano." Av\'iso di 

Roma, December 15, 1565, loc. cit. p. 153. 

* *Awiso di Roma, December 15, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 153. 

Vatican Library. 

* *" Roma sta quietissima " wrote Federigo Cataneo to Mantua, 

December 22, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

* *Avviso di Roma of December 15, 1565, loc. cit. p. 153. Immediately 

before the closing of the conclave Cardinal Pacheco 

recommended ^lalta to the protection of Philip II. Letter of 

December 20, 1565, in Corresp. dipl. I, 54. 

* *Avviso di Roma of December 15, 1565, loc. cit. p. 153b. 

* *" Si sono trovati in Castel S. Angelo ducento e cinque mila 

scudi in contanta solamente, et crediti per trecento mila, in 

poUici ; oltre i cinquanta mila scudi che si levarono gia di CasteUo 

ne se sono anco levati altri 25 mila." Fr. Tosabezzo to the Duke 

Oi Mantua, December 13, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.

CANDIDATES FOR THE TIARA. 3 

In the meantime Rome was gi\'mg itself up to speculation as 

to the result of the coming conclave. " Many are hoping for 

the tiara/' Arco wrote on the day of Pius IV. 's death, " but 

generally speaking onl}' eight or nine names are commonly 

mentioned, namely, the t^vo rehgious, Dolera and Ghislieri, 

Morone, Ippohto d'Este, Ricci, Ferreri, Boncompagni, Sirleto 

and Grasso ; 

it is the general opinion that whoever is supported 

b}' the nephews of the dead Pope and the Duke of Florence 

will be the successful candidate."^ Andrea Caligari- gives 

the same names, but adds five others, Famese, who was working 

for his own election, Mula, Scotti, Saraceni and Crispi, each 

of whom had several supporters. A few days later Caligari 

gives a longer list,^ adding to the above named Pisani, Ciisto- 

foro Madruzzo, Reumano and Sal\iati as aspirants to the 

tiara ; 

he could feel fairly sure of ha^^ng hit the mark, since 

his list of eighteen names included all the possible candidates. 

He saj-^ of Ghislieri that many well informed persons enter- 

tained great hopes of his success, for secret reasons which he 

had not been able to fathom.* Cahgari himself places Boncompagni, 

the Cardinal of Bologna, first ; all eyes are upon 

him, he 5a}-5, and nothing but the fact of his absence in Spain 

stands in his way ; 

his compatriots of Bolc^na have therefore 

sent messengers to recall him with all speed, and are prepared 

to pa}' all the expenses of his journey.^ In other letters 

1 *" Moiti aspirano al pontincato, ma qcelli che sono piii nomi- 

nati sono otto o nove, i due frati Araceli et Alessandrino, Morone, 

Ferrara, Montepniriano, Ferereo, Bnoncompagni, Sirleto et 

Crasso." Arco to the ArchdtLke Ferdinand, Dec. 9, 1565, State 

Archives, Innsbruck, Ambraser Akten. 

* *Letier to Commendone of December 12, 1565, Lettere 

di princ. XXIII 56 ^now 121;, Papal Secret Archive. 

*Letter to Commendone of December 19, 1565, ibid. 61 (now 

* *" Alcmu homeni di giudicio fanno gran caso di AlessaTidrino 

per cerd lispetti occulti che io no ho pwtuto sapere." Caligari 

to Commendone, Decem^ber 12, 1565, ibid. 

* Among the friends of Boixomeo* " \Tene messo in gran 

consjderatione Boncompagno ; ma perche e absente, si dubita.

4 


Caligari says that Morone is in much favour, and that his name 

is often mentioned.^ 

It is, however, very significant of the general uncertainty 

which existed that, in addition to the above-mentioned names, 

several others appear in some of the dispatches of the time. 

Tl.us Nosti Camaiani names among others the Cardinal of 

Lcrraine and Simonetta.^ Guido Ferreri names Corgna and 

Cicada among the older Cardinals ; the Cardinals created 

by Pius IV. would have liked their leaders, Borromeo and 

Mark Sittich von Hohenems, to work for the election of one 

of their own number, such as Crivelli, Sirleto, Paleotto, Bon- 

compagni, Commendone or the elder Ferreri.^ In the general 

uncertainty, one thing seemed fairly clear, namely that the 

conclave would be a long one, and that a decision would only 

be reached after many differences of opinion. The Bishop 

of Viterbo, Sebastiano Gualterio, circulated a memorandum 

in which he gave expression to these views. He was of opinion 

that, on account of the many different parties in the conclave, 

they should not attempt to form any preconceived ideas as 

to the person of the future Pope, since, even if two of the parties 

were to act in concert, they would not be in a position to secure 

the election of their candidate* Caligari wrote that the general 

opinion was that the conclave would last for six months ;^ 

I signori Bolognesi, dice 11 publico, volendo torre via questo 

obietto, per quanto ho inteso di bonissimo loco, hanno spedito 

corrieri a richiamarlo con ogni celerita, volendo essi pagare tutti 

le spese del viaggio." Ibid. 

* To Commendine, December 8 and 15, 1565, ibid. 

^ Dec. 5, 1565, in Petrucelli, 179. 

' On Dec. 20, 1565, to the Duke of Savoy, ibid. 181 seq. Cf. 

on this matter Hilliger, 90 n. 

* *Caligari to Commendone on December 19, 1565, loc. cit. 

* *" La comune opinione e che'l conclave habbia a durare sei 

mesi o poco manco et habbia ad esser molto garbuglioso per 

molti baroni che vi sono et di diversi pareri " (Caligari, December 

12, 1565, loc. cit.). *" Vanno in conclave domani mattina," wrote 

Lionardo Conosciuti, December 19, 1565, " et si tien per fermo 

che v'habbino a stare un gran pezzo " because there are many 

disagreements (State Archives, Modena). *" Quelli che piu sono

THE CONCLAVE BEGUN. 5 

Pacheco thought that Este would be able, by his scheming, 

to keep the electors in conclave for a whole year.^ The 

Venetians therefore took advantage of their audience on 

December 28th to urge the hastening of the election by caUing 

attention to the ever increasing Turkish danger and the 

approaching Diet in Germany. 

In spite of these anxieties the question was debated in the 

College of Cardinals whether they ought not spontaneously to 

postpone the beginning of the conclave, and with it any 

prospect of completing the election, so that the French 

Cardinals might have time to be present. Only a short time 

before, Pius IV. had confirmed the old regulation which 

ordered that the Cardinals should enter the conclave ten days 

after the death of the Pope, and Cardinal Borromeo successfully 

resisted the proposal to make an exception to this rule on the 

very first occasion that offered.^ 

The solemn funeral offices for Pius IV. were completed on 

Wednesday, December 19th ; they had been celebrated with 

greater magnificence than for any Pope since the time of Paul 

III.'* In the evening the electors went into conclave, which, 

however, was not 3'et closed.^ On Thursday, December 20th, 

in considerazione al Papato sono Morone, Ferrara, Araceli, 

Montepulciano, Ferrerio et Buoncompagno et alcuni vi aggiungongo 

anco Pisani et Trani, et si stima, che si tardara ad havere 

il Papa." (Avviso di Roma of December 15, 1565, loc. M. p. 

153b). *Tosabezzo expected a long conclave, especially on account 

of the number of Cardinals (to the Duke of Mantua, December 10, 

1565. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). 

1 Corresp. dipl. I 54. 

* Requesens on December 30, 1565, ibid, 67. 

' HiLLiGER, no. 

* *Avviso di Roma of December 22, 1565, loc. cit. p. 156. *Giov. 

Amadori, Decem.ber 19, 1565, State Archives, Modena. *Spesa ler 

il funerale . . . fatta nella sede vacante di Pio IV, Papal Secret 

Archives, Arm. XXXV., 79. 

* *" Ali XIX di decembre 1565 a hore XXII entrarono in con- 

clave 48 cardenali." On the 20th, as the infirm Cardinal Pisani 

was unable to do so. Cardinal Morone said the Mass of the Holy 

Ghost, which was followed by the reading of the various bulls

6 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

1565, Hfgh Mass was celebrated in St. Peter's, and in the 

evening the Cardinals assembled in the Pauline Chapel, where 

the conclave bull of Pius IV. v/as read, and was sworn to by 

those Cardinals who had not been present at the first congre- 

gation after the death of the Pope. After this the ambassadors 

swore to guard the conclave and to observe the regulations 

of the bull, and the same was done by the two governors of the 

city, the auditors of the Apostolic Camera, the auditors of the 

Rota, the caporioni, and lastty by Count Hannibal von 

Hohenems as Captain General of the Church, and by Gabrio 

Serbelloni as Captain of the Guard. The Cardinals then went 

in procession into conclave, though they afterwards left it 

for supper, and came back one by one. About midnight the 

conclave was closed and walled up.^ 

The number of Cardinals was at first forty-eight. ^ Only 

and then the first scrutiny. Thus state the introductory remarks 

to the list of the scrutinies for Maximilian II. in the State Ar- 

chives, Vienna, " Romana," Hofkorrespondenz fasc. 6, 1564- 

1567. For the conclave of Pius V, cf. above all, the useful monograph 

of HiLLiGER, published in 1891, where, p. 107, n. i, there 

is a good review of the sources, which, in our account, have been 

added to from a number of unpublished reports, among which 

special mention must be made of the *Diarium of Cornelius 

Firmanus and the *Report of Francesco Tosabezzo (see App. 

nn. I and 2). The account in Conclavi de' Pontefici, which Hilliger 

attributes to Cardinal Galli, more probably came from the pen 

of a confidential conclavist of that Cardinal. Besides Hilliger 

cj. Herre, Papsttum, 103 seqq. 

1 *Avviso di Roma of December 20, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 155 

seq., Vatican Library. 

* *List in the report of the Cardinals to Maximilian II., State 

Archives, Vienna. This list may be checked by the Usts of the 

Cardinals present on Dec. 24 and Jan. 7 in Cornelius Firmanus, 

Diarium, Arm. XII of the Miscell. 31, p. 25b, 35, Papal Secret 

Archives [cf. App. n. i). In the first instance Firmanus gives 

51 Cardinals, but the Vatican copy only names 50 ; CastigUone 

is missing, whose arrival was announced on the preceding day. 

Incorrect lists are given by Ciaconius, III., 992 (Sirleto is left 

out !), Petramell\rius, 131. (S. Croce is given as present and 

Este as absent) and Alberi, II., 4, 165 seq. (only 51 Cardinals 

are given as taking part in the conclave instead of 53).

PARTIES IN THE CONCLAVE. 7 

one of them, the Cardinal Dean, Francesco Pisani, had been 

created by Leo X., the other Cardinal Bishops who were 

present, Morone, Cristoforo Madruzzo, Farnese and Crispi, 

had received the purple from Paul III., as had the Cardinal 

Priests, Savelli, Gaetani, Ippohto d'Este, and the Cardinal 

Deacon, Rovere. Ten years had not passed since the days 

of Julius III., but there were only eight of his Cardinals still 

living, seven of whom entered the conclave on December 

20th, namely, Corgna, Saraceni, Ricci, Cicada, Comaro, del 

Monte, and SimonceUi. Death had also carried off many of 

the Cardinals of Paul IV., and only six took part in the election 

of his second successor ; these were Rebiba, Reumano, 

Capizuchi, Ghislieri, Dolera and Vitelli. AU the other electors 

owed the purple to the late Pope. No less than twenty-four 

Cardinals created by the Medici Pope went into the conclave 

on the evening of December 20th, namely, Serbelloni, Salviati, 

Simonetta, Pacheco, Mula, Gambara, Gesualdo, Gonzaga, 

Avalos, Colonna, Galli, Delfino, Bobba, Sforza, Orsini, Guido 

Ferreri, Lomellini, Sirleto, Grasso, Luigi d'Este, Luigi 

Madruzzo, Medici, Alciati and Paleotto.^ During the days 

and weeks that followed there arrived Niccolini,"- Luigi Pisani 

and Castiglione^, Correggio^, and Pier Francesco Ferreri-^, who 

had all received the purple from Pius IV. Thus the number of 

^ Thus the list prefixed to *that of the scrutinies prepared for 

Maximilian II. 

* *" Si face poi il prime scrutmio et dope pranzo aiTiv6 il 

card. Nicolino, il quale porto I'intiero de la mente del S. Duca di 

Ficrenza, et fece unire il card, de Medici col card. Borromeo. 

Report of the conclave for MaximiUan II. 

' They arrived during the night between Dec. 22 and 23, 1565. 

Firmanus, *Diarium p. 25, Papal Secret Archives. 

* He was present on the night of December 24 ; ibid. p. 25b. 

According to Camillo Luzzara (*letter of December 26) Gonzaga 

only arrived on that day. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

^ He arrived January. 2, 1566 (*Avviso di Roma of January 

5, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. i6ib, Vatican Library). Crivelli appeared 

only a quarter of an hour after the election had taken place. 

Requesens on January 7, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 98.

8 


Cardinals had risen to fifty-three, which was again reduced 

when Gonzaga died on the eve of the election. 

On this occasion the closure and walling up of the apartments 

set aside for the conclave was no mere formality. 

Even before the Cardinals entered the conclave, wrote Pacheco, 

they were firmly resolved to observe the rule of isolation from 

the outer world more strictly than ever before, since the bull 

of Pius IV. had closed the conclave in such a way and under 

such strict penalties, including that of excommunication, 

that no one would dare to receive even a note from outside 

or to enter into any written communication with the outside 

world. ^ Pacheco's estimate was verified. The entrances to 

the place of election were strictly guarded,^ and even though 

it was impossible to prevent stray items of information 

passing the barriers, it caused a considerable stir when on 

one occasion the guard discovered a note containing forbidden 

information in the cloak of Cardinal del Monte. ^ This time, 

too, the Cardinals' servants were much more severely restricted 

in their opportunities of receiving communications.* 

As a natural consequence of this strict isolation the ambassa- 

^ " En9errandonos oy en el conclave, muy determinados que 

sea mas estrecho que fue jamas." (To Philip II., December 20/ 

1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 52). 

" La Bula del Papa Pio fierra de 

manera el conclave y pone tan abominables excomunicaciones 

que ninguno osara tomar poliga ni corresponderse con hombre 

de fuera {ibid. 53). 

* *" Benche le cose vadino con molta stretezza, et che alia 

porte si facci per li deputati esatissima diligenza, perche non 

vi entrino ne eschino avisi di quel che passa, nondimeno hoggi 

si e detto che tutta questa notte havevano veghiato." Avviso 

di Roma, Urb. 1040, p. 155b, Vatican Library. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of January 5, 1566, ibid. p. i6ib. 

* *We manage to learn very httle, wrote Camillo Luzzara to 

Mantua, December 29, 1565, "essendo i nostri conclavisti scrupulosi 

tanto, che non osano ne di aprir la bocca, ne di scriverci due 

parole." Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. Nevertheless Requesens 

says that all the same they knew what was happening in the con- 

clave more than was right, but that the isolation was stricter 

than ever before, and that therefore he thought that many of

ATTITUDE OF THE PRINCES, 9 

dors of the foreign powers could not on this occasion exercise 

that influence upon the election which they had brought to 

bear at the elevation of Pius IV. Besides this, the princes 

themselves had become less inclined to interfere than in former 

days. It is true that the question of the most suitable candi- 

date for the tiara was freely canvassed in the correspondence 

of the ambassadors, but no definite policy was arrived at, nor 

was any actual interference attempted. Duke Alfonso of 

Ferrara, indeed, immediately after the death of Pius IV., sent 

Paolo Emilio Bemieri to the Emperor Maximilian II. to try 

and obtain the election of his uncle, Cardinal Ippolito d'Este,^ 

it being, in his opinion, ^ very advisable to secure the tiara for 

a Cardinal of princely birth, after the disastrous experiences 

they had had, under recent Popes, of upstarts and ambitious 

relatives ; 

the Emperor should therefore, said Duke Alfonso, 

write to the leading Cardinals, and to the whole Sacred 

College, to the Duke of Florence and Philip II., to support 

the candidature of Este.^ Maximilian, however, replied'* 

that, following the example of his father, who had not wished 

to interfere with the Papal election, he had contented himself 

with urging the Sacred College to make a wise choice, and that 

he could not now act in a different sense by espousing the cause 

of any definite candidate. 

As a matter of fact the Emperor had not been quite as 

neutral as he pretended. He had already, during the later 

days of Pius IV., asked Cosimo de' Medici to tell him which 

Cardinals were looked upon as probable candidates for the 

tiara, ^ and after the Pope's death he had announced that he 

the items of news which were supposed to have leaked out of the 

conclave were false. Letter to Philip II. of December 30, 1565, 

Corresp. dipl., I., 61. 

1 BiBL, Korrespondenz, I., 339. Instructions of Bernieri of 

December 15, 1565, ibid. n. 300 seq., p. 339 seq., 341 seq. 

* Instructions for Bernieri, ibid. 340. 

* Ibid. 341 seq. 

* December 24, 1565, ibid. 351. 

^ Cf. the reply of Cosimo of December 2, 1565, in Wahrmund 

265 ; HiLLiGKR, 96 ; BiBL, Korrespondenz, I., 331.

10 


intended to take a strong and decided interest in the election.^ 

However, except for Delfino, Maximilian could scarcely count 

upon a single reliable supporter in the Sacred College.^ He 

could indeed name, though as a profound secret, either through 

the Duke of Florence,^ or through his ambassador, Arco, four 

Cardinals, namely, Boncompagni, Grasso, Niccolini and Ricci,^ 

as being acceptable to him, but to promote the actual election 

of any one of them Arco had to turn to the Duke of Florence 

for help.^ Perhaps the reason why he made no micntion of 

Morone was that he was not in favour with the Duke, though 

he would have been most acceptable to the Emperor, who 

hoped to obta,in from him the concession of the marriage of 

priests.^ 

Cosimo de' Medici did his utmost to obtain a decisive 

influence upon the course of the election. In order to strengthen 

the hand of his ordinary ambassador in Rome, Serristori, he 

sent thither the crafty Bartolomeo Concini,' while another 

of his agents, Nosti Camaiani, managed to make his way into 

the conclave in the guise of a conclavist.*^ Cosimo could also 

count upon his young son. Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, 

and upon Niccolini, who had undertaken to promote the 

173- 

^ Giulio Ricasolito Cosimo, December 14, 1565, in Petrucelli, 

^ In a report of December 15, 1565, Arco says that among the 

Cardinals there were " Imperiales 6, Re Filippo 10, Re di Francia 

10, Duca di Firenze 8." But among these are counted the absent 

Cardinals (Wahrmund, 265). For the attitude of Maximilian 

11. towards the conclave cf. also G. Wolf in Gottinger Gel. An- 

zeigen, CLXXX. (1918), 442. 

^December 21, 1565, in Bibl, Korrespondenz, I., 347. 

* This secrecy was impressed a second time on Dec. 24, 1565, 

Bibl, Korrespondenz, I., 354. 

^ HiLLiGER, 105 ; cf. 89. The letter from the Emperor to 

Arco was of December 21 and reached Rome on the 31 ; ibid. 

106. Cf. Bibl in Archiv fur osterr. Gesch., CIIL, 21. 

* Requesens, December 30, 1565 Corresp. dipl., I., 67. 

'Petrucelli, 176. Hilliger, 95. Cosimo to Borromeo, 

December 11, 1565 in Sala, Docum., III., 370. 

* Petrucelli, i 76.

ATTITUDE OF COSIMO I. II 

Duke's wishes. The leader of the Florentine party in the 

conclave was undoubtedly Sforza. Cosimo had strongly 

dissuaded the Emperor from giving his support to any Cardinal 

of princely family, or to one of any great distinction, such as 

Este, Faniese, Madruzzo, or Morone, on the ground that such 

men, as experience had shown, were likely, if they became 

Pope, to sacrifice everything so as to enhance the splendour 

of their own family. Several others, in the opinion of the 

Duke, were not to be supported, Pisani and Mula, because 

they were Venetians, Reumano because he was a Frenchman, 

and Ghislieri because he was obstinate and unbending, though 

he was a man of exemplary life. On the other hand he recommended 

to the Emperor, Cardinals Cicada, Dolera, Boncom- 

pagni, Niccolini, Grasso, Ricci and Ferreri,^ though later on, 

in more particular negotiations with Arco, he decided in favour 

of Ricci, the Cardinal of Montepulciano.- Of the other 

Italian princes, the Duke of Urbino worked against Ricci, and 

the Duke of Savoy on behalf of the Cardinal of Vercelli, Pier 

Francesco Ferreri, as well as for Morone.^ 

French policy was not more likely to exercise much influence 

over the conclave than that of the Emperor. It is quite true 

that the power of France in the Eternal City had considerably 

increased under Pius IV. ;^ proof of this may be found in the 

controversy as to precedence between the French and Spanish 

ambassadors, which the Pope had decided in 1564 in favour 

of France, and had thereby caused the departure of the 

Spanish ambassador, Requesens, who had already pointed 

out to his sovereign that he would have to take serious steps 

^ BiBL, Korrespondenz, I., 331 seqq. 

^ BiBL, Korrespondenz, I., 333, 366. *Cardinal Gonzaga sent 

news to Mantua that the Duke favoured Ricci, Dolera and Nic- 

colini ; 

that the last named was really the most pleasing to him, 

but that Ricci was " piii riuscibile " (Fr. Tosabezzo to the Duke 

of Mantua, December 15, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). 

*" Non vorria [Cosimo] ne Morone ne Farnese." Cardinal 

Gonzaga in Tosabezzo, loc. cii. 

' Requesens, December 30, 1565, Corresp. dipL, I., 67. 

* Corresp. dipl., I., 66 seqq.

12 


if Spanish influence in Rome was not to disappear,^ while 

during the illness of Pius IV. in 1563, the leader of the French 

party among the Cardinals, Ippolito d'Este, had been in a 

position to aspire quite openly to the tiara, and had dared to 

say that this time his efforts would not be unsuccessful. ^ 

Catherine de' Medici would certainly have been quite satisfied 

with a Pope like Este,^ but the Queen Regent lacked the means 

of carrying her wishes into effect since, of the French Cardinals, 

only Reumano took part in the conclave. Catherine's 

daughter, however, Queen Elizabeth of Spain, tried to influence 

her husband in accordance with French policy.'* 

In spite of his many shortcomings Philip II. stiU had greater 

influence in the Sacred College than any other prince in 

Christendom,^ but he refused to make any use of it in the 

election of the new Pope. He had, however, on December 

i8th, 1562, sent to his ambassador, Luis de Requesens, certain 

instructions in which the election of the Pope was touched 

upon, and in which he stated that the one thing necessary 

was to elect a Pope who should be pious and a lover of peace, 

or in other words a Pope who would not make political com- 

plications for the Spanish king, and who would have the reform 

of the Church at heart. The election of Carpi, Puteo, Morone, 

^ Ihid. 62 seqq. 

" " . . . Ferrara, 11 quale, per quanto intendo, si lasciava 

intendere di tenersi per certo il Papato ; e pero S. S. Hl"^^ persona 

da conscere, se non in tutto, in parte almeno, le difficulta che ci 

haria, ma penso che lo faccia giudicando con questa opinione farsi 

favore, et mettere a qualcuno il cervello a partite. Intendo 

havere fatto anco professione che si creda che la riforina dispiaceva 

piu a lui che alcuno altro, et se ne e lasciato intendere, et tutto 

giudico sia fatto per piacere ai cardinali giovani et perch e sperino 

nella larghezza sua." *Serristori on December 3, 1563, State 

Archives, Florence, Medic, 3283, p. 171. 

* Destardins, III., 521 ; Hilliger, 79. 

* Cf. DouAis, Les dernieres aiinees d'filisabeth de Valois, 

reine d'Espagne, Toulouse, 1896. 

* " V.M., a quien oy se tiene mas respecto en el colegio que a 

ningun principe christiano." Cardinal Pacheco to Philip 1 1., 

December 20, 1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 51.

THE REPORT OF REQUESENS I3 

Ricci and Dolcra might be furthered, while the Cardinal of 

Ferrara and all Frenchmen must be excluded. 

When Pius IV. decided the quarrel about precedence 

between the French and Spanish ambassadors against Spain, 

Philip II. recalled his ambassador, but kept him at Genoa, and 

told him to draw up a statement on the next Papal election, 

and the prospects of all the Cardinals. Requesens complied 

with these instructions by giving a sketch of the whole College 

of Cardinals in a lengthy document.^ The outstanding 

personality, in his opinion, was undoubtedly Morone. 

Requesens describes him as a vigorous m.an, of but fifty-seven 

years of age, and he adds the following remarks : " Morone 

is a man of agreeable character and wide experience, and for 

thirty years the most difficult missions have been entrusted 

to him ; if he were Pope he would do honour to his office, as 

no one else could do. On the other hand he is quite inscrut- 

able, and no one can say whether in his heart he is well disposed 

towards the Spaniards, besides which, he lies under the 

reproach of having been in the hands of the Inquisition. 

Another very distinguished Cardinal, Alessandro Farnese, 

must be regarded with suspicion as far as Spain is concerned, 

on account of the whole history of his family. He is not more 

then forty-six, but has already some grey hairs ; 

he is already 

one of the six Cardinal Bishops, has many friends, and a 

great gift of making new ones ; 

thus the hope which he enter- 

tains of gaining the tiara is well founded. Ricci, too, who is 

already seventy, but very vigorous, has good prospects, since 

he is old and much liked, and has the support of the Duke of 

Florence. He has had much experience of Rome, is very 

prudent, and would be a friend to Spain. ^ On the other hand, 

the Cardinal of Ferrara, Ippolito d'Este, who is clever and well 

versed in politics, is altogether on the side of France. He 

will never give up his attempts to obtain the Papacy, of which 

^Letter of January 5, 1565, m Dollinger, Beitrage, I., 

571-588. 

^ Ibid. 573 seq. 

''Ibid. 578.

14 


indeed he is by no means worthy, though his chances are now 

greater than they have ever been, now that his old rival, 

Carpi, is dead. Five Cardinals are related to him, and there 

are others in the Sacred College who would be generously 

helped by him in their poverty ; he will be a source of much 

anxiety to the representatives of Spain at the next conclave. 

It would only be as a measure of desperation that the aged 

Pisani would be elected, since he is bound to die before long, 

and if he were Pope he would have to entrust the direction of 

affairs to others.^ There are others, such as Madruzzo and 

Corgna, who think they have a chance, but this is not really 

the case. 2 Cicada has just as little chance, though he might 

be put forward as a Spanish candidate for the sake of the 

honour. 3 Paul IV. bestowed the purple on several men who 

might very well attain to the supreme dignity. Rebiba, for 

example, is a good theologian, a distinguished man, and full 

of zeal for the cause of rehgion.""* Requesens accords similar 

praise, in an even higher degree, to Cardinal Ghislieri.^ In 

his opinion, Rebiba would be a very good Pope, but Ghislieri 

would be the Pope called for by the times. ^ Requesens, 

however, thought that these two would not receive any votes. 

He speaks less disparagingly of the prospects of the Franciscan, 

Dolera, whom he describes as learned and exemplary, the only 

objection to whose election might be the fact that a religious 

was not likely to be chosen.' Of the Cardinals created by 


2 Ibid. 575, 577. 

Îbid. 578. 

* Ibid. 

* Ibid. 579. It is also stated in a letter from Cosimo to Maxi- 

milian II. of December 2, 1565 : " L'Alessandrino e di vita 

esemplare, non di meno ha del cervicioso e del rigido " therefore 

Ghislieri is placed among the " sospetti " whose election is not to 

be favoured. Bibl, I., 331. 

* " Es teologo y muy buen hombre y de vida muy exemplar 

y de gran celo en las cosas de la rehgion, y a mi juicio es el Cardenal 

que en los tiempos de agora mas convendria que fuese Papa." 

DOllinger, loc. cit., 579. 

' Ibid. 579.

THE REPORT OF REQUESENS. * 15 

Pius IV., Mula and Correggio would have to be reckoned with. 

Mula, trained as a humanist, a man of prudence and experience 

of public affairs, is wished for by the nephews of Pius IV. ;^ 

Correggio is not personally known to the ambassador, though 

he has never heard anyone so highly spoken of by the world 

in general ; if Famese should be unable to effect his own 

election at the next conclave, he will put forward Correggio. 

It is necessary, too, to keep a watchful eye upon Vitelli, 

appointed by Paul IV. ; 

his youth precludes him from aiming 

at the tiara himself, but he is a clever man, who knows how to 

make himself agreeable everj^vhere, has unbounded energy 

and possesses many friends. He will have to be reckoned 

with at the next conclave. Philip would do well to try and 

win him over, the more so as he is much courted by the 

French.^ The remaining Cardinals need not be taken into 

consideration, either because they are too young, or for some 

other reason. 

As the result of this review of the Cardinals, Requesens 

advises the king to reco.gnize as acceptable candidates, Morone, 

who cannot be omitted from the former list without offence, 

Ricci, Ghislieri, Dolera, Farnese, Madruzzo, Cicada and 

Correggio, or, if this be too many, to omit the last three names. 

Among them Phihp should really exert himself on behalf of 

none but Ricci, GhisHeri and Dolera,'* though the ambassador 

himself was of opinion that it was impossible to effect anything 

in the case of Ghislieri. ^ Only Ferrara and the Frenchmen 

should be excluded. Philip would do well to send Cardinal 

Granvelle to Rome to act as the leader of his party. ^ 

Granvelle received orders to proceed to the Eternal City,' 

Îhid. 581. 


' Ibid. 583 seq. 

* Ibid. 586. 

^ " . . . Alejandrino, aunque salir este postrero lo tengo por 

imposible." Ibid. 586. Cf. 579 : " Pienso que no tendra veto 

para ello, porque lo tienen por riguroso." 


' October 22, 1565, in Hilliger, 75,

l6 


though he arrived too late for the conclave, since he only 

started on December 31st. ^ Requesens' lengthy recommen- 

dations were without result in other ways as well. Philip 

delayed in making up his mind, and when various letters of 

December 5th, 1565, warned him that the death of Pius IV. 

was at hand, and that. he must not delay any longer, even 

then he did not send any names to his ambassador. ^ As had 

been the case at the last conclave, so on this occasion he 

declared that his only wish was to see a Pope elected who 

was filled with zeal for the honour of God, and who would think 

of the general good of Christendom, the ending of the religious 

differences, the reform of the Church, and the preservation 

of peace among Christian princes, especially in Italy. He 

did not wish to point out any Cardinal in particular as accept- 

able to himself, because, as experience had shown, such a course 

would only lead to discord in the Sacred College, while he 

himself would be satisfied with any Pope whose election would 

be for the good of the Church. If Pacheco and Granvelle had 

already arrived in Rome they could see to it that votes were 

not wasted. The ambassador ought to keep in close touch 

with Farnese and the Duke of Florence. Personal letters to 

Mark Sittich and Serbelloni were enclosed. Vitelli had 

offered his services to the king ; the Cardinal would have an 

opportunity of giving expression to his good will at the coming 

election. Ferrara and all the Frenchmen must be excluded. 

A private letter from the king urged the ambassador to act 

very circumspectly with regard to Morone ; it would perhaps 

be wise to close the way to the Papacy in his case.^ 

Philip's letter did not arrive till ten days after the beginning 

of the conclave ; until then the Spanish Cardinals might in 

any case have felt themselves free to follow their own judgment 

1 Ibid. 

* Letter of December 21, 1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 55 seqq. 

Arco nevertheless claims to know that the ambassador had 

secret instructions to work on behalf of Ghislieri and Dolera, 

To Maximilian II. on December 22, 1565, in Wahrmund, 26^, 

* Corresp. dipL, I., 57 n.

THE SPANISH CARDINALS. 17 

without scruple, but the medieval ideas of loyalty to the 

sovereign were so deeply rooted in the men of that time, that 

the Cardinals hardly dared to use their liberty, and sought 

by every means to learn the king's wishes. Pacheco, who was 

in Florence at the time of the death of Pius IV., wrote at once 

to Philip when he heard the nev/s to send Requesens to Rome. 

Wlien Pacheco arrived in Rome, the other Spanish Cardinals 

had already sought information from Pedro de Avila as to 

the king's wishes, and they nov/ asked for further instructions 

from Pacheco ; 

since they both had to admit their ignorance 

on the subject, they anxiously wrote to Requesens, who could 

not possibly arrive before the beginning of the conclave, to 

send them in writing the information which they would no 

longer be able to receive orally once the Cardinals had gone 

into conclave.^ In his letter to the king^ Pacheco went so 

far as to say : " Among the chastisements with which we are 

threatened by God is the fact that it has seemed good in the 

eyes of your Majesty and the royal council to leave us our 

liberty, since, if a Pope were to be chosen who was unworthy 

and not sincerely Christian, I am convinced that all that 

remains of Christendom would fall to pieces." Since Requesens 

was unable to give any definite information, they held to the 

former royal instructions which the ambassador had left behind 

him in Rome on his departure in 1564, by which Carpi, who 

was since dead, Ricci and Dolera were named as candidates.^ 

Requesens arrived in Rome on December 21st,* and on the 

23rd he had an audience at the doors of the conclave, at which, 

in a long speech, he exhorted the Cardinals to choose a good 

Pope.^ He was able, by means of Correggio, who arrived 

late, and with whom he spoke in Florence, and again in Rome, 

to inform Borromeo and Mark Sittich of the exclusion of 

^ To Philip II., December 20, 1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 51 seq ; 

cf. 60 seq. 

2 Ibid. 54. 

' Ibid. 52. 

* Requesens to Philip II,, Dec. 30, 1565, ibid. 60. 


VOL. XVII, 2

l8 


Ferrara.i By December 30th it was no longer possible to 

send any news into the conclave or to receive any communi- 

cations from within. 2 As a matter of fact, the agents of the 

Italian princes were quite unable to give much information 

as to what was happening in the Vatican. In these straits 

Camillo Luzzara had to console himself with setting forth the 

reasons why the election was bound to be a long one ;^ he 

succeeded in finding eighteen such reasons, based on general 

principles,"* and eleven more which he based upon the character 

of individual Cardinals, and the like. 

Thanks to the strict enclosure of the conclave, and the 

attitude of reserve maintained by the foreign powers, the 

Cardinals on this occasion found themselves less subject to 

external influences than had ever been the case in the memory 

of man. Goings and comings such as Vargas had contrived 

at the previous conclave were out of the question now, and the 

decision lay entirely in the hands of the electors, and of the 

three party leaders, Borromeo, Farnese and Ippolito d'Este. 

Another circumstance of good augury lay in the great 

influence which Borromeo was likely to exercise as the leader 

of his party. It was customary that the Cardinals created 

by the late Pope should submit themselves in the conclave 

to the judgment of the nephews.^ If Borromeo, the most 

important nephew from the spiritual point of view, had taken 

1 Ibid. 63. 

2 lUd. 67. 

^ *To the castellan of Mantua, Dec. 29, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua. Requesens sent the same or exactly similar information 

to Philip II. (December 30). Corresp. dip]., I., 69. 

* " The number of the electors is large, and each of the parties 

among them is small ; some of -the Cardinals are old, others 

are noble ; some are rich, others are poor ; some are hostile, 

others friends. All these things are to him reasons which support 

his contention ; every foreign Catholic power and every Italian 

prince affords him a further reason." Loc. cit. 

^ " Se tiene por muy mal que en la primera election de Papa 

no acudan las creatures a sus sobrinos." Pacheco to Philip II,, 

Dec. 20, 1565, Corresp. dipL, I., 53.

THE ATTITUDE OF BORROMEO. I9 

advantage of this, he could have commanded more than twenty 

votes, which was enough to prevent the election of anyone 

he did not think suitable, but, as was only to be expected from 

a man of his character, he would only make use of this power 

for the good of the Church even at the cost of his personal 

predilections. It is very doubtful, however, taking into con- 

sideration his holiness and his strict conscientiousness, whether 

he would have made use of this power, and whether he would 

not have felt bound to leave the electors 'free to follow their 

own consciences.^ Pacheco foresaw this risk,- and he there- 

fore, before the conclave, urged Borromeo to be careful, above 

all things, to see that a good Pope was elected, saying that he 

would gain more merit in the sight of God by so doing than 

by giving himself up to fasts and disciplines for the rest of his 

life.^ It is clear that Borromeo did not follow this advice in 

the sense intended by Pacheco. Before the beginning of the 

conclave, he consulted several Jesuit theologians as to whether 

he could with a good conscience use the votes of his Cardinals 

in the customary way, and he received in reply the written 

opinion that he must exactly follow the bull of Pius IV., which 

forbade any such party action.* It would seem that in practice 

he left it free to the Cardinals to follow him or not as they 

pleased, and it is very difficult to explain in any other way the 

^ * ' 

Pare 

che il card. Borromeo non si vogli impacciar de voti, 

et che concorrera a persona idonea et buona." (Avviso di Roma 

of Dec. 15, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 153b, Vatican Library). *" S'in- 

tende che il S. card. Borromeo vuole hora, contra quello che fu 

detto prima, attendere a fare il nuovo pontifice, et per cio aspetta 

tutte le sue creature et in particolare Buoncompagno " Fr. 

Tosabezzo to the Duke of Mantua, December 13, 1565, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua. 

^ " Desde Florencia escrevi a V.M. que temia que Borromeo 

por sus escrupulos se havia de encoger en esta elec9ion y dexar 

ir a sus creaturas adonde quisiessen." Corresp. dipl., I., 53. 

* Pacheco, loc. cit. 

* False reports concerning the reply of the Jesuits were spread 

at Naples, for which reason Borgia published the whole matter 

in a letter to Salmeron of Dec. 30, 1565. Salmeron, Epist., 

II., 60 n. g.

20 


want of unanimity among his party. At the beginning of 

the conclave he actually made over the duty of leading the 

Cardinals of Pius IV. to Mark Sittich, though he resumed it 

when Morone pointed out to him that this would result in 

the election of Famese or Este.^ 

On his death-bed Pius IV. had advised his nephew to 

procure the election of one of the Cardinals created by himself 

if this should prove impossible he should give his support to 

those recommended by the Duke of Florence, and in that case 

he should lean in the first place to Morone, then to Ricci, and 

lastly to Dolera.- As a matter of fact, as he said in a con- 

versation with Pacheco before the beginning of the conclave, 

Borromeo would gladly have seen one of the Cardinals to 

Pius IV. elected Pope,^ probably because for the most part he 

sav/ in these younger members of the Sacred College more 

pious dispositions than in the older ones. In this conversation 

1 *" Egli ha represo Tassonto et il maneggio del voti in se, 

i quali havea gia renonciato ad Altemps, et questo per la co- 

scienza glien'ha fatto Morone, dicendo che sarebbe causa, che 

come pecore smarrite si venderebbero a Ferrara o a Farnese, 

a chi pill de lore offerisce." Federigo Cattaneo to the castellan 

of Mantua, December 29, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. The 

sam.e report is also substantially found in the *Avvisi di Roma, 

January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 167b, Vatican Library. " [Morone] 

ha rivolto Borromeo a ripigliar li suoi voti, li quali pareva che 

havesse posti in sua liberta, con raostrarle che altramente questo 

era un tirarsi sopra le spalle il Pontificato di Farnese o Ferrara, 

offesi I'un I'altro dal Papa suo zio, del quale egli poi portarebbe 

sopra di se gli odii et le inimicitie." *Avviso di Roma of 

December 20, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 155b, Vatican Library. Cf. 

HiLLiGER, 116. 

^ *" Perche finalmente il Papa nell'ultimo della sua morte ha 

iasciato per ricordo a Borromeo, che non potendo far venire al 

Pontificato niuna delle sue creature, debba concorrere con cui 

vorra il duca di Firenze et confidarsi nelle promesse di S. Eccel- 

lenza." *Avviso di Roma of December 22, 1565, Urb. 1040, 

p. 167b, Vatican Library. 

'Pacheco to Philip IL, December 20, 1565. Corresp. dipl.. 

I-. 53-

THE ATTITUDE OF BORROMEO. 21 

he suggested Boncompagni, Mula and Commendone, of whom, 

it would seem, Mula was the one wished for by Pius IV. ^ 

Pacheco was doubtful whether any of the younger Cardinals 

would have any chance of success, and said that in the event 

of Borromeo's chosen candidate meeting with insuperable 

difficulties, the wishes of Philip II. should be taken into 

account, pointing out at the same time that it would be easier 

to get votes for Dolera than for Ricci.^ 

We may question whether Borromeo let Pacheco fully into 

the secret of his own wishes. Later on his friends learned from 

him that he had from the first thought of the man who was 

actually elected, but that he had never made his idea known 

to anyone ; he also said that he had at first, in order to show 

them honour, put forward the names of those to whom he or 

his party were under an obligation. It was only later that 

he directed all his efforts to the election of a Pope of holy life 

and profound theological learning. ^ 

The decision, however, was by no means entirely in the hands 

of Borromeo ; there were opposed to him Este and Farnese, 

who both surpassed him in experience and political skill, and 

without whose help he could not attain his ends. The Floren- 

^ Giac. Soranzo, October 30, 1565, in Alberi, II., 4, 157. 

HiLLiGER, 115. 

* Pacheco, loc. cit. 

^ " Antequam ingrederetur conclave, plures ille quidem animo 

sibi proposuit, qui viderentur pontificatu digni, neque eum, qui 

postea electus est, ut eius intimi deinde cognoverunt, praeter- 

misit, sed tamen mentem suam patefecit nemini." (Bascape, 

I., I, c. 9, p. 21). It cannot be established whether Bascape, 

who was one of Borromeo's confidants, includes Morone among 

the number of those proposed, merely for the sake of the honour. 

For the rest it was very soon understood in Rome that Borromeo 

was bound to feel drawn to Ghislieri. Lionardo Conosciuti 

wrote on December 19, 1565, to Modena that in all probabihty 

Borromeo will make a " mina fratesca " that is to say either 

for Dolera or Ghislieri, " h quali ancorache si creda che non 

siano per giungere al segno, si tien per fermo almeno che darano 

da sospicare alii degni di questo grado." (State Archives, 

Modena).

22 


tine party under Sforza, and that of the Cardinals of Paul IV. 

under Vitelli, had also to be reckoned with. He could, however, 

with the help of the twenty votes and more of his own 

followers, at least exclude anyone who did not seem to him 

worthy of the supreme dignity in Christendom. The result 

was that several who aspired to the tiara, and who were much 

spoken of at the time, really had very little chance. Ippolito 

d'Este who, before the conclave, to the scandal of all Rome, 

openly tried to obtain the votes of the Cardinals, and boasted 

that he had already secured twenty,^ giving it to be understood 

that through the influence of Catherine de' Medici and the 

French ambassador, even Philip II. had given up his opposition 

to him, 2 had vainly tried to win over Borromeo to his side, 

and for this purpose had summoned his cousin Cesare Gonzaga 

to Rome.^ The partisans of Este imagined that a close under- 

standing had been arrived at between their leader and the 

strict nephew,^ but it was a priori impossible that Borromeo 

should lend his support to the worldly Cardinal. Altogether 

apart from the veto of Philip II. and Cosimo, Este's candi- 

dature was thus doomed to fail. The same was true in the 

case of the Cardinal of Montepulciano, Giovanni Ricci ; he 

was a man of great ability, and he had Spain and Florence 

^ Pacheco to Philip II., December 20, 1565 Corresp. dipl., 

I., 52. Cf. also the *report of L. Conosciuti of December 19, 

1565, loc. cit. 

" Requesens, December 30, 1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 61. 

' *" II signer card, di Ferrara ha mira d'esser Papa, et percio 

desidera il signer Cesare eccellentissimo se ne venga a Roma 

per aiutarlo col mezzo del signer card. Borromeo, et a questo 

fine Ferrara spedisce hera il Certese a Manteva per le peste et 

non vuole che si sappia parela di queste sue disegne." Franc. 

Tesabezze te the Duke of Mantua, December 8, 1565, Gonzaga 


* On December 19, 1565, *Gievanni Amaderi was of opinion that 

Este might easily become Pope on account of the " stretta in- 

telligenza che dicene aver fatto con Borromeo et Altaemps." 

Este arrived on Sunday evening (December 16) ; the first cell was 

allotted to him which was a good omen (State Archives, Modena.^.

THE INFLUENCE OF BORROMEO. 2$ 

on his side, but his hopes were bound to be disappointed, since 

Borromeo could nut lend his support to a candidate whose 

ideas were so unecclesiastical.' 

The great influence over the election which was generally 

attributed to Borromeo is shown in a report which Cardinal 

Gonzaga caused to be sent to the Duke of Mantua before the 

conclave, dealing with the prospects of the various candidates.^ 

In the case of almost every candidate Gonzaga mentions the 

attitude towards him adopted by Borromeo, and in many cases 

he looks upon this attitude as a decisive factor. He speaks 

especially of three Cardinals, Morone, Farnese and Ferreri. 

Morone stands first among those whom Borromeo does not 

wish for any more than he does, but if the French have not 

time to arrive before the election, and Este is unable to exclude 

him, there is great reason to fear that he will be successful. 

In order to gain time Gonzaga tried to persuade Borromeo 

that he would be well advised to await the arrival of those 

Cardinals of Pius IV. who were still absent, Boncompagni, 

Crivelli, and Commendone. Farnese is popular with the 

poorer Cardinals on account of his wealth ; nevertheless 

Gonzaga hopes to be able to keep Borromeo and Mark Sittich 

from supporting him. In the opinion of Gonzaga, Ferreri 

has the support of Borromeo, and therefore has a good chance 

though the older Cardinals look upon him as a man of but small 

importance and learning. 

In Gonzaga's opinion a large number of other candidates 

are far less to be reckoned with than the three already named. 

Farnese is supporting Ghislieri, not in order that he may 

become Pope, which would be difficult to bring about, but in 

order to open his own way to the Papal throne. So far 

Ippohto d'Este had no chance, since Borromeo will not support 

him on any terms. He will therefore have to wait for help 

1 " Montepulciano sarebbe Papa, si Borromeo lo volesse, 

ma lo abhorrisce come la paste." Opinion of Cardinal Gonzaga 

sent to the Duke of Mantua by Fr. Tosabezzo on December 15, 

1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

* *By means of Tosabezzo, December 15, 1565, ibid. ; see 

App. n. 2.

24 


from France, and see to it that Borromeo is involved in endless 

delays. In spite of the support of Cosimo, Dolera can hardly 

become Pope, and the sam.e is true of Scotti, in spite of 

Farnese's favour, since before his death Pius IV. recommended 

the Cardinal nephews not to elect a Theatine, which Scotti is, 

and still less any of the Cardinals of Paul IV. Mula would 

certainly have the support of Borromeo, but he is by no means 

in favour with the whole of the Sacred CoUege. The Duke 

of Florence favours Ricci, Dolera and Niccolini ; 

he is working 

for Ricci because he has the best prospects, though he himself 

prefers Niccolini ; he will have nothing to do with Morone 

and Farnese. In order to exclude those not acceptable to 

the house of Gonzaga, an attempt wiU be made to support 

one of Borromeo's candidates, either Boncompagni, Com- 

mendone, or CriveUi. Borromeo prefers Commendone, but 

Boncompagni would be better for the house of Gonzaga ; the 

Duke of Florence also wishes for him. Ricci could be Pope 

if Borrom.eo were wiUing, but the latter detests him like the 

plague. 

" In a word," the report ends, " everything is upside 

down, and nobody knows which party to support." 

It appears that Gonzaga was right in thinking that an 

attempt Vv'ould be made to elect Morone suddenly, and without 

formal voting ; even before the conclave began rumours of 

this had been current. ^ On December 19th, and during the 

following night Cardinal Simonetta went in secret to the fol- 

lowers of Borromeo and proposed to them that on the follovvîng 

morning, and therefore before the formal closure of the con- 

clave, there should be an assembly in the chapel in order to 

pay homage to Morone as Pope. He got together thirty votes, 

but Ghislieri discovered the plan, Ippolito d'Este, Farnese 

and the Cardinals of Paul IV. declared themselves against it, 

while the French ambassador entered a strong protest, and thus 

Borrom.eo's intentions were frustrated. Deliino in particular 

had supported Morone ; he claimed that in passing through 

Florence he had won over the Duke to his cause, and had 

1 *Avviso di Roma of December 22, 1565, Urb. 1040, p. 156b, 

Vatican Library.

ATTEMPT TO ELECT MORONE. 25 

written to the Emperor, by whose help he hoped to obtain 

seven or eight more votes. ^ GhisHeri, on the other hand, 

^" *L'istessa notte [from December 19 to 20] usci voce che 

Borromeo pensava di far papa la mattina seguente il cardinal 

Moron. Ma Ferrara et Farnese offersero al incontro tutti li voti 

loro per il cardinal d'Araceli, et in questo modo fu sedata la 

pratica " (List of the scrutinies for Maxmilian IL, State Archives, 

Vienna). *'' Mercordi [December 19] il giorno e la notte Simonetta 

ando segretamente a tutti li cardinali Borromeisti, et ordino loro, 

che il giovedi mattina [December 20] in Capella andassero ad 

adorar Morone in quel punto che ci sarebbe andato Borromeo, e se 

questa pratica non fosse stata scoperta da Ferrara, e fatta impedire 

tutta quella notte dell'ambasciatore di Francia, che fece protesti et 

il diavolo per romperla, certamente Morone giovedi mattina, inanzi 

che si fossero chiusi in Conclave, riusciva Papa ; pure passo quella 

furia ne la mattina di giovedi ne tutto il giorno infino alle 7 di 

notte, che all' hora si chiusero dentro tutti i cardinali fu fatto 

altro ; 

si e bene inteso, che il venerdi mattina (December 21), e piu 

il venerdi sera e stata rinforzata la medesima pratica di Morone, 

che ha havuto (December 22) a 29 voti . . . e questo e tutto quello, 

che s' e inteso hoggi, che e sabbato h XXIL del presente e stasera 

alle 2 di notte e fama che questa notte sono per far gran rumore, 

come I'avisano particularmente di man in mano alia giornata " 

(Report of December 22, 1565, inserted in the Avvisi di Roma of 

January 19, 1566, loc. cit. p. 167). 

" *Dicono che Alessandrino 

scoperse una prattica di forsi 30 voti, che volcano adorare Morone 

nella prima congregatione che si fa in capella post ingressum 

conclavis cantata missa Spiritus Sancti,et scoperta, fu disturbata da 

Ferrara et Farnese, che non ci vanno con molti altri et in particolare 

le creature di Paulo IV. In questi 30 voti era Borromeo con 

tutti i seguaci et alcuni altri, in particolare il Delfino, che dicono 

fa cose grandi per Morone et, passando per da Fiorenza, ha 

messo il cervello a partito al duca et ha scritto all' imperatore, 

et spera per suo mezzo di farsi patrone di 7 o otto voti, purche 

habbia spacio che venga la risposta dall' Imperatore, il quale 

spera haver a sua devotione, per quanto si dice qui, che potrebe 

esser falso, Trento, Mondovi, Augusta, Altaems, et quel di Fior- 

enza." Cahgari to Commendonc on December 27, 1565, Lett, di 

princ. XXIII. 65 (now 140), Papal Secret Archives. Cf. Delfino 

in HiLLiGER 121 n.


declared that he could not understand how anyone could 

support Morone with a clear conscience, knowing that he had 

been brought to trial for heresy. If some of the matters of 

the accusation were carefully examined he would not be 

acquitted so completely as had been done by Pius IV. ; in 

any case the mere suspicion of heresy was enough to exclude 

him from the Papacy. ^ 

The attempt to elect a Pope by a bold stroke of this kind 

was therefore frustrated. Borromeo thought that he had the 

electors in his own hands, but it now appeared that not all the 

Cardinals of Pius IV. were prepared to follow their leader. 

^ " *. . . che non vedeva, come con buona conscientia si 

potesse aplicar ranimo a Morone, sapendosi che centre di lui 

vi era un processo di heresia, nel quale non mancano alcuni 

capi, che quando fossero stati ben ventillati, et che si fosse havuta 

debita cognitione della causa, non sarebbe stato cosi facilmente 

assoluto, come precipitosamente fu nel principio di questo Ponti- 

ficato passato, et che I'esser stato solamente sospetto di heresia, 

questo bastava di ragione per escluderlo del Pontificato, sicome 

si offeriva di mostrare con i libri in mano et con il processo, che 

diceva di haver altre cose che haverebbe da dire ; et perche li fu 

detto, che Paolo IV. I'haveva processato perche li voleva male, 

rispose che se Paolo IV. I'haveva inquisito d'heresia, per male, 

che U voleva, Pio IV. I'haveva an co assoluto nulla habita causae 

cognitione perche li voleva troppo bene, onde si stinia, che questo 

habbia molto debihtato U dissegni et le speranze di Morone, se 

pero non siano ciancie sparse da malevoli come facilmente occorse 

in simili pratiche (Avisi di Roma loc. cit. p. 157). Lionardo 

Conosciuti *writes on December 22 to Modena that Ghisheri is 

very hostile to Morone, remembering the trial " quel si tien per 

fermo che porti continuamente nella sacchozza." Whether this 

is true or not, all Rome is talking of it. State Archives, Modena. 

* " El cardenal Borromeo entro en el conclave con el mayor 

sequito de cardenales que nunca tuvo sobrino de papa, porque 

los presentes, hechos de su tio, pasavamos de XXX. Ymagin6se 

que estava en su mano el hacer pontifice. . . . Quedo (in the 

attempt on behalf of Mula) con quexa de algunos de los suyos 

de no havellos visto tan dispuestos a su voluntad como quisiera." 

Pacheco to Philip II. on January 22, 1566, Corresp. dipl. I. 95.


Borromeo then fell back upon his own wish, of securing the 

success of one of his uncle's Cardinals. For this purpose he 

had conferences with each of the electors, at first naming 

Mula and Boncompagni as his choice,^ but afterwards, out of 

consideration for the older Cardinals, who wished to see one 

of their own number elected, Morone, Mula, Boncompagni 

and Sirleto.2 But Farnese at once gathered twenty-seven 

votes against Mula, which meant that he was cut off from any 

chance of success.'- On account of his absence Boncompagni 

had but little prospect of being elected, while Sirleto was not 

very popular. Nothing remained, therefore, but to make 

another attempt on behalf of Morone. ** 

During the night between December 22nd and 23rd they 

worked feverishly in the conclave both for and against 

Morone.^ Nobody thought of going to bed and rumours and 

excitement were rife throughout the enclosure. The Cardinals 

forgot to have torches carried before them by their conclavists, 

and themselves ran from one to another with candles in their 

hands, and only half dressed. An eye-witness, Cornelius 

Firmanus, says that the excitement passed belief, and that 

such behaviour had never been seen before on the part of any 

Cardinal. If, durhig that night, Morone had been taken to 

the chapel to receive homage, he would have become Pope, 

as his opponents were so taken by surprise and fear that their 

faces were white as sheets, and they did not know what to do. 

Many, as it were against their will, and on the verge of tears, 

went towards the chapel, thinking it impossible to prevent 

the election. 

As the opportunity was not seized at once, however, 

Morone's opponents plucked up courage. Este in particular 

^ Delfino in Hilliger, 121 n. 

^ Ibid. Pacheco, loc. cit., Corrcsp. dipl., I., 95. Conclavi de' 

Pontefici, 170. 

* Hilliger, 123. 

* Ibid. 124. 

^ See in App. n. i, the *report of C. Firmanus, Papal Secret 

Archives.

28 


worked like ten men to secure Morone's exclusion.^ Sermon- 

eta, Rovere and others were equally active, and they were 

successful in collecting the needful number of votes against 

Morone. 

Before day dav/ned the business of the election was recom- 

menced. Many insisted that the Master of Ceremonies should 

ring the bell for mass at once, so that they might get to the 

voting and finish the election as quickly as possible, but the 

Cardinals in charge of such matters protested, and mass was 

accordingly celebrated at the usual hour, and the voting then 

took place. It was soon obvious that Borromeo was mistaken 

in thinking that he could count on thirty-nine votes.- Only 

twenty-six electors declared themselves for Morone, nor did 

it m.ake any difference when Sforza, Orsini, and Guido Ferreri 

successively gave their accessus, for five votes were still 

wanting, since, with fifty-one electors, the two-thirds majority 

was thirty-four votes. 

The principal opponents of Morone were the two Este and 

their friends, all those who had received the purple from 

Paul IV., Morone's great enemy, some of Borromeo's Car- 

dinals, and lastly, though Farnese himself gave his vote to 

Morone, tifido honoris, Farnese's party, some of whom were, 

actuated by personal dislike, others because they would not 

give up their own hopes of the tiara, and others on account of 

religious scruples, and their recollection of the trial of Morone 

before the Inquisition.^ Twenty-one votes were thus cast 

against Morone, whereas eighteen were sufficient to exclude 

him.* Morone bore the shipwreck of his hopes with so much 

^ This refers to the young Luigi d'Este, '" qual'dtre I'ardir del 

sangue si faceva pronto per gli ammaestramenti del cardinal di 

Ferrara suo zio " (Conclavi de' Pontefici, 172). The elder Este 

was lying ill in bed. 

* Pacheco, loc. cit., 96. 

'Ibid. HiLLiGER, 125 seq. 

* *" A I'esclusione di Morone sono corsi questi : Ferrara, Man- 

tova Este, Savello, Pisa, Urbino, Crispo, Gambara, Correggio, 

Reumano. Padova, Simoncello, Capisucco, Saraceno, Alessandrino, 

Coruaro, Vitello, Araceli, Salviati, Aragona. Ritirati da Morone :


calmness and dignity, that it could not fail to increase the 

respect in which he was hcld.^ What had been most harmful 

to him was undoubtedly his trial before the Inquisition. " If 

his reputation had not been thus tarnished," says Requesens, 

" he would have had a greater following than any other 

Cardinal. I do not know how this can be, everyone admits 

Morone's great qualities, yet when an attempt was made to 

elect him there was general uneasiness, and much joy when 

he was excluded."^ The hostility of the Duke of Florence 

was very disadvantageous to him, and the Spanish ambassador 

was of opinion that Morone would have become Pope if the 

adherents of Cosimo had supported him.^ 

At first Borromeo tried to hold to the candidature of 

Morone, and to gain for him the votes still required. He was 

not successful in this, but even lost some of his twenty-nine 

Farnese, Trento, Madruzzo." (Letter of Camillo Luzzara to the 

Duke of Mantua, December 29, 1565, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). 

In HiLLiGER, 128, a list of the conclave adds to the twenty names 

given by Luzzara that of the elder Pisani. Cf. Concini, December 

29, 1565, in Petrucelli, 191 seq., where Crispi is missing and the 

name of Sermoneta is given instead of Saraceni, and Reims (!) 

instead of Reumano. In his *reports to Commendone Caligari 

states (December 29, 1565) that there were 22 steady votes against 

Morone, among whom were all the Cardinals of Paul IV., and 

especially Ghisheri. Simonetta, Cicada and Delfino were steadily 

for Morone. In the meantime everything will drag on because 

Farnese and Este are waiting for replies from Spain and France 

(Papal Secret Archives). After December 26 *Caligari states 

that Morone's success was impossible ; 

" La cosa e piu intrigata 

che fosse mai " {ibid). 

1 *" Mostro Moron is questa attione constantia notabile et si 

porto talmente che fu giudicato virtuosissimo " (anonymous re- 

port to Maximilian II. of January 5, 1566, State Archives, Vienna). 

" El lo pas6 todo con grandissima prudencia ye disimula9ion sin 

mostrar gana de ser Papa, antes de lo contrario." Pacheco, 

loc. cit., 96. 

* Requesens to Philip IL, December 30, 1565, Corresp. dipl., 

I., 65. 

^ Ibid.

30 


followers as the days went by. He then found himself in 

great dififtculties in choosing another candidate, since, if he 

decided upon one of the younger Cardinals, he would offend 

the older ones, while among the latter there was not a single 

one who seemed suitable both to him and to the other electors. 

He therefore asked the Dean of the Sacred College, Pisani, to 

call together Cardinals Farnese, Cristoforo Madruzzo, Este, 

Corgna, Pacheco and Vitelli, and asked them to nominate a 

suitable candidate from their point of view, promising that, 

if his conscience permitted, he would support him with all 

his party. 1 

Borromeo's proposal was received with suspicion. They 

feared that he was not in earnest, and that he only wished to 

lay the responsibility for the long duration of the conclave 

upon the shoulders of his colleagues, or else that he would only 

pretend to support the candidate thus nominated, and thus 

v/eary the electors, leaving the way open for his own sup- 

porters. ^ Corgna, however, nominated Saraceni, Ricci, and 

Cicada, while Vitelli put forward the Franciscan, Dolera. 

Borromeo rejected Ricci on the spot, and, in spite of the 

remonstrances of Delfino, persisted in so doing. He would 

have allowed himself to be won over to the candidature of 

Dolera, but Mark Sittich, whose views had to be respected 

as a nephew of Pius IV., flatly declared that he did not want 

a religious.^ Neither Saraceni nor Cicada seemed suitable 

to Borromeo, and thus the conference in Pisani's cell had no 

results as far as choosing a candidate was concerned. 

Thus the position of the man who had so far been the leading 

personality in the conclave was completely changed. Until 

now it had been Borromeo who put forward the proposals, 

while the others had been content to give their opinion as 

to their value, or to take steps to frustrate them. But now 

^ HiLLiGER, 129 seq. 

^ *" Fu sospettato da qualch'uno deli detti cardenali che 

Borromeo havesse fatto questo ofQcio per mostrare che per 

ipsum non stabat quin pontifex eligeretur." Report of the con- 

clave to Maximilian II. of January 5, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* HiLLiGER, 133.

THE HOPES OF FARNESE. 3I 

the leadership had passed to the other parties, and it was they 

who put forward the candidates, and if the proposals of another 

party were displeasing to him, he had no other course open to 

him than to take the defensive and work for their exclusion. 

Farnese thought that his time was come at last.^ He made 

great efforts to win over Borromeo, but in vain. Nor were the 

Spaniards favourable to him, and it was even rumoured, and 

it would seem that Pacheco lent his support to the rumour,^ 

that the Spanish ambassador had handed in a veto against 

him. It is true that Requesens denied the rumour, and sent 

for Farnese's secretary to tell him that he was ready to declare 

it false in a public audience in the presence of the whole 

conclave,^ but when the Florentine agents called upon him, 

and pointed out to him that, as was only to be expected from 

the whole history of his house, Farnese could not be an 

acceptable candidate to Spain, he asked his king for exact 

instructions as to the attitude which he was to adopt, saying 

that, though he was bound to support Farnese in pubHc, he 

could not be blind to the fact that his election to the Papacy 

would give very little guarantee of peace for Italy. * Requesens 

seems to have let himself be frightened by fictitious statements 

as to the great number of votes which Farnese and others 

were supposed to have obtained in the scrutinies.^ Moreover, 

^ *L. Conosciuti reported concerning his efforts on December 19, 

1565, adding that Farnese's hopes were vain. State Archives, 

Modena. 

* Diary of Delfino, December 30, 1565, in Wahrmund 267; 

HiLLiGER 133, n.2. 

' Requesens to Philip II., December 30, 1565. Corresp. dipl., 

I., 66. 

* Requesens to Phihp II., December 31, 1565. Corresp. dipl., I., 

72 seq. 

* Including the w-cessi the following figures were supposed to 

have Deen reached : Farnese, 32 votes ; Ippolito d'Este in the 

same scrutiny, 26 ; Morone, 28 ; Ricci, 29 ; Pisani, 30 ; Dolera, 

31 ; Corgna, 25 ; Saraceni, 23 (Corresp. dipl., I., 72). An 

*Avviso di Roma of December 29, 1565, gives similar figures (Urb. 

1040, p. 160, Vatican Library) : 

Fqrnesc 

and Morone, 24 each,

32 


the rumour of the exclusion of Farnese by Spam, which he had 

at first thought it his duty to deny so vigorously, Requesens 

later on stated to have probably originated from Farnese 

himself, with the idea of winning the support of France.^ 

Two days later the credulous ambassador had a fresh move 

to report, which had reached him from Cardinal Vitelli, through 

Marcantonio Colonna. He reports as follows : The adherents 

of Farnese are determined to make their leader Pope at aU 

costs. If they can get twenty-eight or thirty votes for him 

their plan is to place him on the Papal throne in the chapel, 

and to keep him there till everyone has paid him homage, even 

if it takes two days. In view of Farnese's strong prospects 

no one would like to be the last to declare himself for him, 

and thus he would win over all the electors by degrees. In 

and 4 accessi ; Ricci, 22 and 7 accessi ; Dolera, 25 and 7 accessi. 

Obviously this series of votes, rising with so great regularity, 

was intended to deceive the curious ambassadors and frighten 

them. According to the *report of the conclave for Maximilian 

II. (State Archives, Vienna) the true figures for the principal 

candidates from December 22, 1565, to January 5, 1566, were as 

follows : 

o* 

December January

THE CANDIDATURE OF RICCI. 33 

order to bring still greater pressure to bear upon the Cardinals, 

the Roman people were to take up arms on the appointed day 

and, after making a little disturbance acclaim Farnese as 

Pope.i It is a fact that during the night following January 

4th such cries were to be heard in the streets of Rome,^ The 

munificent Farnese was indeed very popular in Rome, and on 

his return from Parma after the death of Pius IV. he had been 

pubHcly hailed by the people as the next Pope.^ 

Cusano, the not very reliable Imperial agent, claims to have 

learned that Farnese was not very far from attaining his end, 

and that he only lacked two votes ; in order to frustrate him, 

he says, the Florentines set to work on behalf of Ricci,* whose 

hopes had run very high from the first. Requesens, too had 

for some time been recommending Ricci, who was not learned, 

but very capable, to Borromeo, besides the two religious, 

Dolera and Ghislieri.^ On the evening of December 30th there 

was much activity on behalf of Ricci, ^ and even many of 

Borromeo's Cardinals, especially Mark Sittich, would have 

declared themselves in his favour,' if their leader had allowed 

them to do so. It now appeared, however, that in spite of 

his piety and gentleness, Borromeo could be severe, when he 

deemed it necessary. He spoke openly of Ricci's defects, 

and injured his chances of election considerably.^ In order 

^ Requesens, January 3, 1566, ibid. For the rest Requesens adds 

that it rnust be admitted that Colonna had been deceived; ibid. 

* *Avviso di Roma of January 5, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 161. 


' " II popolo alia prima vista I'ha cridato publicamente per 

Papa " Cusano to Maximilian II., December 22, 1565, in 

HiLLlGER, 86, n. 2. 

* *Cusano to Maximilian II., January 5, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* Requesens to Philip II., January 22, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 96. 

* Corn. Firmanus ,*Diarium XII., p. 28b, Papal Secret Archives. 

' *Anonymous report on the conclave to Maximilian II., 

January 5, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* Requesens, loc. cit., 96. Ricci left an illegitimate son ; see 

ZufJiGA in Nueva coleccion de docum. ined., II., 243. 

VOL. XVII. 3

34 


to satisfy Mark Sittich, he promised him that he would not, 

for his part, work for either Dolera or Ghislieri. In spite of 

this, however, even without Borromeo's help, Ricci succeeded 

in collecting thirty votes for himself,^ and if he had had two 

days longer he might perhaps have attained the goal of his 

ambitions. In the meantime Famese had not given up hopes 

of winning the tiara. He sent a courier to Mantua in order 

to arrange a matrimonial alliance between his house and the 

Gonzaga and Este, and thus win votes. ^ On January 3rd, 

1566, he sent Cardinals Orsini and Paleotto ofl&ciaUy to 

Borromeo to beg his support in the election, but on the next 

day he received a reply from Borromeo and Mark Sittich that 

they considered it quite impossible to accede to his request.^ 

If Famese had hoped by means of his matrimonial plans 

to win over to his side Cardinal Gonzaga, who had been 

opposed to him so far, he was soon to be undeceived. Gonzaga 

had been very iU since the beginning of the conclave, and at 

' the end of 1565 his condition became so critical that on 

December 31st he received the last sacraments.* On January 

6th, 1566, though he was only twenty-eight years of age, he 

was dead.^ During the last days of his iUness the election 

proceedings were ahmost entirely suspended, out of respect for 

the dying man.^ 

Borromeo could hardly feel any more enthusiasm for his 

cousin, the Cardinal of Vercelli, Pier Francesco Ferreri, than 

^ Requesens, loc. cit., 96. *Cusano, loc. cit. speaks of 19 votes 

and 13 accessi. 

ibid. 

* Cusano, loc. cit. 

' *Report of the conclave to Maximilian II., January 5, 1566, 

* Requesens, January 3, 1565, Corresp. dipl., I., 74. The 

rumour that he had been poisoned was of course spread abroad. 

*Arco, January 5, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* Corresp. dipl., I., 74 n, 

« *" Le cose del conclave sono state assai quiete per dui o tie 

giorni attesa I'indispositione di Mantova, nella quale h stato 

molto assiduo Buorromeo." . 

Archives, Florence, Medic. 3285, p. 3. 

Serristori, January 2, 1566, State

VARIOUS CANDIDATES PUT FORWARD. 35 

he had for Ricci and Farnese. Ferreri had arrived in Rome on 

January ist, 1566, and went into the conclave with the highest 

expectations, based on the support of the Duke of Savoy, who, 

he beHeved, had already won over France to his support, and 

would do the same with Spain. ^ But Ferreri did not satisfy 

Borromeo's determination to have a holy Pope, while he found 

an enemy in Vitelli, who very soon succeeded in collecting 

thirty-two votes against him. 

The finding of a new candidate had now become a very 

serious problem, and attention was now turned to those 

Cardinals who had not been able to be present at the conclave. 

Thus the Theatine, Scotti, who would have been very acceptable 

to Borromeo, was spoken of,^ while the praises of Boncompagni 

were also sung, and it was thought that he would 

certainly have become Pope if he had been present ;* many 

deplored the fact that CriveUi, like Boncompagni, had not 

returned from his mission to Spain. ^ When, on January 2nd, 

1566, the Imperial ambassador delivered to the Cardinals his 

master's letter of December 21st, together with the usual ex- 

hortation to them to make a speedy and a wise choice, attention 

was once again drawn to the Imperial candidate, Morone.* 

^ Requesens to Philip II., January 3, 1566. Corresp. dipl., I., 

76. Delfino to Maximilian II,, January 4, 1566, in Hilliger, 140. 

*HiLLiGER, 137. 

' Requesens to Philip II., December 30, 1565, Corresp. dipl., 

I., 68. 

* " A Boncompagno tienen aqui per buen hombre ; y todos 

af&rman que si estuviera presente, tuviera mas parte que ninguno." 

Requesens to Philip II., January 3, 1566, ibid. 76. 

* Hilliger, 137. 

' Requesens to Philip II., Janaary 3, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 77. 

Arco gives an *account of his audience of January 5, 1566, and 

adds that Morone, Ricci and Dolera " multorum in se animos con- 

vertunt. Ferunt autem regem catholicum pro card. Alexandrine 

vehementer laborare." (State Archives, Vienna). A hst of 

the conclave which is attached, however, professes to show that 

Madruzzo, Este, and Farnese have been able to secure the ex- 

clusion of Cardinal GhisUeri.

36 


But Farnese now definitely declared himself against him, and 

thus rendered his election impossible.^ 

There was great excitement when, on January 4th, a 

Spanish courier arrived, and the rumour spread throughout 

Rome that Philip II. had nominated one Cardinal alone as 

acceptable to him, namely Ghislieri.- According to Requesens 

Este's party had spread this rumour in order to stir up feelings 

of resentment against Spain among the more influential 

Cardinals : with Borromeo, because his uncle had not been a 

special friend of the Dominican Cardinal ; with Morone, 

because Ghislieri had opposed him in the conclave ; with 

Ferreri and the older members of the Sacred College, because 

they thought they had a better right than one of the younger 

Cardinals.^ At the same time the rumour was prevalent that 

the King of Spain, in accordance with the advice of his ambas 

sador in Rome and the Viceroy of Naples, preferred a man who 

had been Grand Inquisitor, because he was himself thinking 

of introducing the Inquisition into all his kingdoms ; 

for this 

reason the three or four Neapolitan Cardinals took great alarm, 

^ HiLLiGER, 140. The efforts that were being made on behalf 

of Morone, however, caused a Florentine agent much anxiety, 

so much so that he even advised the support of Morone. *Serris- 

tori, January 2, 1566, State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3285, p. 3. 

2 Requesens to Philip II., January 11, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 

82 seq. According to *Arco " e stato detto, che porta commes- 

sione al commendatore [Requesens] perche favorisca Alessandrino 

et Araceli, ma il commendatore nega et dice che'l re cathoUco 

non vuole raccomandar alcuno. Nondimeno si sa che procura 

quanto puo di parlare al card. Borromeo." To Maximilian II., 


' Requesens, loc. cit. *" Le brigate tutte stupiscano che 

Alessandrino sia nominato et questa cosa ha messo il cervello 

a partito a molti." Este saw with satisfaction the disunion 

among the adherents of Borromeo, as showing how httle Philip 

II. took them into consideration. Farnese thought otherwise, 

" il quale e stato con Ferrara piii d'un hora et di mesto che vi 

entr6 ne usci lieto assai, essendosi visto piu lieto di lui Ferrara." 

List of the conclave of January 4, attached to a *letter of Arco 

of January 5 1566, State Archives, Vienna.

THE CANDIDATURE OF SIRLETO. 37 

and Requesens thought it necessary to ask an audience of 

the conclave and to make a pubUc declaration that Phihp II. 

had not nominated any Cardinal.^ 

In the meantime the choice of possible candidates had 

become so restricted that Borromeo thought the time had 

come when he must throw aside all reserve, abandon the 

defensive attitude, which he had so far adopted, and once 

again take into his own hands the management of the election. 

On the morning of January 5th he put forward the name of 

Sirleto as the man whose election should be attempted.^ 

This caused great excitement among the electors. Borromeo's 

suggestion met with approval in some quarters, but Ricci, 

for whom many were still working energetically, tried to 

exclude Sirleto. This time Borromeo again failed ; it was a 

disadvantage to him that he had omitted to give notice of his 

proposal to at least the party leaders. Sforza, the head of 

the Florentine party, was so annoyed that he openly informed 

Borromeo that he would not have co-operated with him, even 

though Sirleto was his friend, and worthy of the tiara. He 

immediately, however, gave solid proof of this friendship, 

for when Borromeo asked him at least to allow Cardinal 

Medici to support Sirleto, he at once gave his consent. In 

spite of this Medici's vote was lost, since, when Vitelli went 

to him to tell him that the Pope was already elected, and that 

Medici must come and pay him homage, he received the angry 

reply that it was no use trying to effect the election by such 

fictions, and he refused to go at all. Not even Farnese had 

been told beforehand of the efforts which were being made for 

Sirleto. Borromeo now went to him with fifteen Cardinals 

and begged him to accompany them to the chapel, and to 

elect Sirleto by paying him homage. Farnese replied that 

he must first consult his party, and suggested that a ballot 

would be the better way. Sirleto himself, who was ill in bed 

during these negotiations, showed no desire for the supreme 

dignity ; he even begged to be spared the burden of the 

^ Loc. cit. 83. 

^ Corn. Firmanus, *Diarium, XII., p. 32-325, Papal Secret 

Archives.

38 


Papacy, saying that his shoulders were not broad enough for it. 

In this connexion Cornelius Firmanus remarks : "I 

am 

convinced that he was speaking from his heart when he said 

this, for he was ever a man of exemplary Hfe, a great lover 

of poverty, and living almost in penury ; he had no pride, 

was very courteous in manner, and was, in a word, a man of 

very holy life."^ 

This first failure with Sirleto did not discourage Borromeo, 

but it led him to take a definite step as far as Farnese was 

concerned.^ In the afternoon of January 7th, he convinced 

^ *Diarium, p. 32b, Papal Secret Archives. 

* *" Borromeo fece sapere a Farnese, che non s'aggirasse piu 

il cervello in voler esser Papa, perche era risoluto di non lo voler 

questa volta, che per6 I'essortava come christiano a risolversi 

in far un altro. Farnese rispose, che non lo credeva cosi ingrato, 

che pensava si ricordasse che Pio IV. era stato fatto cardinale 

dall'avolo suo et che esso I'haveva aiutato a far Papa, dal che 

era nata tutta la grandezza d'esso Borromeo, ma poiche si mos- 

trava tal per non tener piu sospeso il mondo proponeva, 4, Trani, 

Araceli, Alessandrino et Montepulciano. Borromeo accetto 

Alessandrino perche Montepulciano era stato offeso da esso 

gravemente ; 

Araceli era nemico d'Altemps et Trani era absente ; 

cosi non passorno 2 hore del tempo che la prattica comincio, 

che d'accordo quei 2 con le loro sequele chiamorno tutti gl'altri 

et condussero Alessandrino dalla sua ceUa nella capella, et I'andororno 

Papa poi lo vestirno et lo portorno in chiesa la medesima 

sera rompendo il conclave " (Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, 

Urb. 1040 p. 163, Vatican Library. *Dipoi s' e inteso, chel 

cardinale Borromeo fece intendere al cardinal Farnese, che non 

pensassi al papato, perche non era tempo ancora che facessi 

questi disegni, et che doveva piii tosto pensare a convenire seco 

in un buono subiecto, che tener il mondo sospeso con tanto 

danno ..." [What follows is in complete agreement with the 

Avviso quoted.] Cosi il card. Borromeo convenne in Alessandrino, 

perche Trani non era in Roma, Montepulciano era stato ofifeso 

da esso [on account of his pubUc statement that Ricci was an 

ignorant man and had led a rather immoral life], AraceU era in 

odio ad Altaemps [on account of the suspicion that he had come 

to an understanding with Cardinal Cesarini, with whom Altemps 

bad been quarrelling about a rich Abbey] (Arco on January 12,1566.

BORROMEO AND FARNESE. 39 

him, through Alciati, that he must abandon all hopes of the 

Papacy on this occasion, since he, Borronieo, was determined 

to refuse him his support. Instead of keeping the whole world 

waiting, to its great injury, let him rather act in a Christian 

spirit, and join forces with Borromeo for the election of a good 

Pope. In his reply to this the grandson of Paul III. referred 

to the services rendered by the Farnese to the Borronieo ; 

was thanks to his grandfather that Pius IV. had been made a 

Cardinal, and he had become Pope by the personal help of 

Farnese himself ; the present greatness of the Borromei was 

the result of the pontificate of Pius IV. Since however the 

Cardinal nephew was determined to make no recompense for 

these services, he proposed four Cardinals, for whose election 

he promised his support ; these were Ricci, Scotti, Dolera 

and Ghislieri.^ Borromeo decided upon the last named, and 

thus was Ghisheri assured of the necessary majority, and 

more was accomplished in the two hours that followed than 

had been effected so far in three weeks' hard work.^ 

In the evening the Cardinals went to Ghislieri's cell, and 

almost by force and against his will, led him to the Pauline 

State Archives, Vienna). 

*" Havendo Borromeo mandate hoggi 

Alciato a Farnese instandolo che si risolvesse al fare del Papa ; 

egli rispose, Borromeo si risolvesse di ellegersi uno ch'egli gli 

haveva nominate, et che di questo modo il Papa si saria fatto. 

Nomino Farnese : Montepulciano, Araceli, Crispo et Alessandrino 

et a questo si attaco Borromeo, et con tutto che si creda certo 

che il disegno di Farnese fosse di voler balzare anco questo card'® 

pure il fatto e andato di modo che egli e riuscito Papa. Piti 

oltre non so per hora, ne in questi tumulti posso sapere piu oltre, 

ma domani sperer6 di saper meglio il fatto." Camillo Luzzara 

to the Duke of Mantua, on January 7, 1566, Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua. 

^ Other reports also include Pisani (Hilliger, 143 n. ). 

The three names of Ricci, Dolera, and Ghisheri appear in all the 

reports ; otherwise there is great diversity, 

* According to *Arco fear of the election of Ricci united Farnese 

and Borromeo ; before that they had left their adherents at 

liberty under the impression that they had excluded Ghislieri. 

To Maximilian II., January 12, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

it

40 


Chapel. At first there was considerable excitement and 

dispute as to the manner in which the election was to be 

effected. Some maintained that they should be provided with 

black and white ballot balls, and vote with them ; others 

desired that the chapel should be arranged in the usual way 

for the scrutiny, while others again wished that the Cardinals 

should merely declare themselves one after another and openly 

for Ghislieri. This last proposal met with general approval. 

When the excitement had abated, all took their seats in their 

accustomed places, when Pisani rose and said : "I, 

Cardinal Francesco Pisani, Dean of the Sacred College, 

elect as Pope my most reverend lord Michele, known 

as Cardinal Alessandrino." Morone followed, and gave his 

vote in similar terms, and then all the rest in their turn. 

Luigi d'Este and Guido Ferreri voted in the names of their 

sick relatives, Ippolito d'Este and Pier Francesco Ferreri. 

All then rose and approached the newly-elected Pope. When 

Pisani asked him if he accepted the election, Ghislieri stood 

for a moment in silence, while the Cardinals waited for his 

reply. At length he answered with the simple words : "I 

am willing."^ It would have been natural that he should 

have taken the name of his patron, Paul IV., but out of con- 

sideration for Borromeo he took the name of the dead Pope,^ 

even though he had met with little favour during the late 

pontificate. By this magnanimous act the new Pope dis- 

played a forgetfulness of self not unlike that of Charles 

Borromeo. 

The election was generally unexpected.^ Only a few days 

before the Spanish ambassador had written that, save for a 

miracle, the conclave would be indefinitely protracted, especi- 

ally as the arrival of the French Cardinals was imminent.* 

This was also the general opinion in the city, where Crispi 

^ *" Mi contento sii " Corn. Firmanus, loc. cit., p. 35b. 

*Requesens to Philip II., January 7, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 

78. Catena, 22. 

' " Cosa que no se pens6," Requesens, loc. cit. 77 ; " inaspet- 

tatamente " Serristori, January 23, 1566, Legaz. di Serristori, 420. 

* Requesens to Philip II., January 3, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 73,

THE ELECTION OF GHISLIERI. 4I 

was looked for as the next Pope.^ The Florentines, on the 

other hand, thought that they had skilfully arranged everything 

for the |[ election of Ricci,^ when suddenly and 

unexpectedly they began to work for Ghislieri, whom they 

like many others among the electors, had passed over. ^ Pacheco 

wrote that the election was evidently the work of the Holy 

Ghost, since many who, at their entry into the conclave, would 

have cut off their feet rather than support Ghislieri, had been 

the first to agree to his election.'* Among these was Mark 

Sittich, who had previously so brusquely rejected the idea of 

the election of a friar, but who now was all on fire for the 

elevation of the Dominican.^ 

^ *" Et cosi sono in tal disordine et discordio [after the failure 

with Sirleto], che per un pezzo non haveremo Papa, massime con 

la venuta de' Frances! " (Avviso di Roma of January 5, 1566, Urb. 

1040, p. i6ib, Vatican Library). Ibid. 161 : Crispi has the best ex- 

pectations.since Dolera and Ricci, who were proposed together with 

him to Cardinal Borromeo by Farnese have not attained success. 

^ *" Quando noi pensavamo d'haver condotto le cose in buon 

termine per la persona di Montepulciano, e venuta grida di palazzo 

che Alessandrino e stato adorato Papa in questo punto, et I'effetto 

e certissimo, perche di gia card. Capizucca di conclave e sceso 

in s. Pietro a render gratie a Dio. ..." Serristori and Concini 

to the Duke of Florence on January 7, 1566, " hore XXXIIL (!)," 

State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3285 p. 9. 

^ Card. Sforza to the Duke of Tuscany, on January 8, 1566, 

State Archives, Florence. 

* " Nos llevo el Spiritu Santo sin padecerse presion, como se a 

visto oy en muchos hombres, que quando entraron en conclave 

antes se cortaran las piernas que ir a hacer papa a Alexandrine, 

y corrieron a hazerle los primeros." Pacheco to Philip IL on 

January 7, 1566, Corresp. dipl. I. 80. 

* Catena 20. Hilliger 145. P. Tiepolo adduces the election 

of Pius V. as an example of the way in which a Papal election 

often takes the most unexpected turn : " quasi usciti da loro 

medesimi vanno dove mai non averiano creduti . . . corrono 

come persone prive di consiglio, dubitando ciascuno d'esser 

ultimo ; et pero si vede bene spesso riuscir pontefice chi meno 

si era creduto, come e successo nel presente." Report of 1569, 

in Alberi n, 4, 185.

42 


Ghislieri himself can hardly have expected his election ^ 

later on he confessed that he had only accepted it because 

otherwise the Papacy might have fallen to Morone, a thing 

which might easily have been harmful to the Holy See.^ In 

other respects, however, he had, even during the conclave, 

held out the hand of friendship to his former adversary.^ 

That Ghislieri had all the necessary qualities for a dis- 

tinguished Pope had often been recognized, but it had not 

been thought that he would ever obtain the necessary votes ;* 

what had been especially feared was the opposition of 

Borromeo, for it was hardly to be expected that the nephew 

of Pius IV. would ever give his support to a Cardinal upon 

whom his uncle had never looked with favour.^ As a matter 

of fact, as he wrote to Phihp II., ever since the death 

of Pius IV., Borromeo had had Ghislieri in mind, among 

others, as a suitable Pope ;® if he had not at once declared 

^ " Trovandosi il Papa posto in questa Sede inaspettatamente, 

credo senza averci mai prima pensato." Serristori, January 23, 

1566, Legaz. di Serristori 420. 

* " Lo avrebbe volontieri ricusato, e lo avrebbe fatto, se avesse 

pensato che fosse potuto cadere in una persona ragionevole, ma 

vedeva le cose disposte in modo che dubitava non venisse in per- 

sona di Morone o qualche altro soggetto, con molto danno di 

questa Santa Sede." Ibid. 422. 

^ Cf. the *report on the conclave of Clement VIII., Archives of 

the Spanish embassy in Rome. 

* Cf. supra pp. 3, i^, 21, 32, and Hilliger, 62, 65, 73. 

* *" Convenne dunque Borromeo in Alessandrino, et in spatio 

di due hore contro ropinioni si puo dire di tutti fu create papa, 

perch e pochi volevano credere, che Borromeo fosse mai per 

andare in una creatura di Paolo quarto et in uno ch'era stato 

offeso non poco da papa Pio." Arco to MaximiUan II., January 

12, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* " lo in questa attione ringratio infinitamente Dio che mi ha 

fatto gratia di attendervi da di de la morte di Pio IV, sino a 

quest'hoggi, spogUato d'ogni privata passione e rispetto, con 

la sola mira del servitio e gloria di Dio." (Borromeo to Philip 

II., January 7, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 79). 

*" Con determinata 

volontd mi diedi a far tutto quello che m'era possible per veder

THE INFLUENCE OF BORROMEO. 43 

himself in his favour, this was undoubtedly because, in so 

doing, he would have rendered him a very doubtful service.^ 

In any case the election of Pius V. must be attributed to him, 

and that not only in the sense that he succeeded in thwarting 

the artifices of Farnese and Este, and thus at length united 

all votes for Ghislieri. The Spanish ambassador^ and the 

astute Florentines^ had no great opinion of Borromeo's powers 

of dealing with tricks and subterfuges, and his confidant, 

Bascape,^ expresses the same opinion ; in the matter of the 

election of Pius V., as had so often happened to him before, 

his secret desires seemed to be fulfilled of their own accord, 

and from the force of circumstances. Borromeo's great merit, 

however, lay in the fact that he looked beyond the petty 

considerations of a short-sighted family policy,^ that he waited 

la sua esaltatione." (Borromeo to Philip II., January 27, 1566, 

Ambrosian Library, Milan, F.37, Inf. p. 7). Cf. Borromeo to 

King Sebastian and Cardinal Henry, February 25 and 26, 1566, 

in Baluze-Mansi, III., 529. 

^ Cf. supra p. 36. 

2 " El negocio de Moron y de Sirletto estuvo tan ferca que 

qualquiera dellos fuera Papa, si Borromeo supiera darse buena 

mana." To PhiUp II., January 11, 1566, Corresp. dipl. I. 84. 

* *" Basta che siamo fuori deUi scogU, i quali si sono schifati 

non gia per il buon governo di Borromeo." Serristori and Concini, 

January 7, 1566, loc. cit. {cf. supra p. 19, n. i). 

* " Minus sagaciter vel etiam prudenter eum curasse aliquid 

et ideo non obtinuisse putamus interdum, qui sibi aequo animo 

passus id fuerit eripi ; contra nee opinantem et pene coactum 

admisisse, quod consulto sit secutus ac non libenti solum, sed 

gaudenti etiam animo acceperit " (I. i c. 9 p. 21). In his report 

for 1569, Tiepolo gives the following description of Borromeo 

as the leader of the party : 

" sebbene nel conclave passato dasse 

a'cardenali malissima sodisfazione, e si governasse in modo che 

perdesse assai dell'amor loro." Alberi II. 4, 184. 

* " El cardenal Borromeo y Alteps an hecho a este, siendo 

mal tratado de su tio ; digo que le an hecho, porque estava en 

su mano el excluylle, y sino vinieran en ^1, fuera imposible sello ; 

es action con que Borromeo a dado muy buen exemplo al colegio " 

(Pacheco to Philip II. on January 7, 1566, Corresp. dipl. I. 80).

44 


for the right moment, and when that time came made his 

decision in favour of Ghislieri. 

Once the election was an accompHshed fact there was general 

rejoicing among the Cardinals that they had given to the 

Church the very Pope called for by the times. ^ In the Eternal 

City men learned with satisfaction of the unexpected elevation 

to the throne of St. Peter of a Cardinal of such holy hfe. As 

Caligari said, just as the rules of the Church had not been so 

strictly observed for many years past, so it was the general 

opinion of all good men that the election would bring about 

in a high degree the glory of God and the exaltation of the 

Holy See.^ Others, on the contrary, were much alarmed, 

because they knew they must expect little from the well 

known strictness of the newly elected Pope, and it would 

seem that for some time this was the prevailing opinion among 

most of the Roman people. The new Pope was not the man 

to allow himself to be turned from his purpose, but he said 

that with the help of God he hoped to govern in such a way 

" Fu fatto dal card. Borromeo davero, che altri rhavevano 

proposto de burla per escludere Sirletto. . . , Questo e notorio 

a tutto il mondo, che in mano del card. Borromeo era 

resclusione de tutti ch'erano in conclave " (C. Borghese to 

Cesare Borromeo on February 2, 1566, Arch. stor. Lomb. 1903, 

360 f). 

^ " Todos salimos los hombres del mundo mas contentos de 

ver en esta Silla una persona tan exemplar como los tiempos en 

que estamos lo requieren." Pacheco to Philip II. on January 7, 

1566, Corresp. dipl. I. 79. 

" *" Questa elettione, si come e stata la piu canonica et legitima 

che sia stata fatta molti anni sono, cosi da speranza di dovere 

resultare in grandissimo servitio di Dio et esaltatione di questa 

S** Sede ; et cosi credono et tengono per fermo tutti i boni. 

Bene e vero che molti licentiosi ne restano sbigottiti, in 

particolare ramico, al quale in questo non potra cadere cosa 

piu contraria a suoi disegni, li quali a che fine mirino V. S. 

jlima lo sa meglio di tutti." To Commendone on January 

9, 1566, Lett, di princ. XXIII. 160**— 161, Papal Secret 

Archives.

THE NEW POPE. 45 

that the grief felt at his death would be greater than that 

which was felt at his election.^ 

^ Catena, 24. When on January 15, 1566, the Emperor Maxi- 

milian II., from a letter of Cosimo de' Medici, learned of the 

election of a monk, he jeered at the news (Dengel, Nuntia- 

turberichte, I., 33). The Viceroy of Naples, on the other hand, 

showed extraordinary joy (excessiva consolaci6n) at the election, 

and celebrated it with fireworks and salvos of artillery, such as 

had never been known at Naples at the election of a Pope. 

Salmeron to Borgia, January 13, 1566, in Salmeron, Epist., 

II., 63.

CHAPTER II. 

Previous Life and Character of Pius V. His First 

Measures of Reform. 

It is easy to describe the previous life of the new Pope.^ He 

was born on St. Antony's Day (January 17th), 1504, at Bosco, 

near Alessandria, in the Duchy of Savoy, and he had received 

the name of that saint in baptism. His family had been 

settled in that place since 1366, ^ but had afterwards fallen 

into great poverty. The humble house in which the future 

Pope first saw the light is still preserved at Bosco. ^ From 

his early youth it was Antony's wish to give himself entirely 

to God. His father, Paolo, and his mother, Domenica Augeria, 

put no obstacles in his way, though they had not the means 

to educate their son, whose duty it became to tend the flocks. 

But a certain Bastone came to their aid, and he sent little 

Antony, together with his own son Francesco to the 

Dominicans at Bosco.'* The friars soon recognized the boy's 

^ Of the biographies {cf. App. n. 69) see especially Catena, 

2 seq. Cf. also P, Tiepolo, 169 seq. 

* See Bruzzone, Storia del comune di Bosco, II., Turin, 1863, 

265. Cf. the Roman periodical. Cosmos illustr., 1904, 59 seq. ; 

ibid. 1903, 138 seq., proof of the branch of the family at Pinerolo. 

The view held by all the older biographers, that the GhisUeri of 

Bosco went there in 1445, after their expulsion from Bologna, 

seems to be hardly tenable. It was only after the elevation of 

Michele to the Papal throne that the Bologna family thought 

itself honoured in recognizing him as a descendant of the same 

family. Cf. Claretta in Arch. stor. Lonib., X., 710 ; Riv. di 

Alessandria, X., 3 (1901), 69 ; Spezi, 12 n. i. 

' See Bruzzone in Cosmos illustr., 1904, 56 seq. ; ibid 36 a 

reproduction of the house where Pius V. was born. 

* This hitherto unknown episode of the youth of Pius V. is 

related by Cusano in a *letter of February 2, 1566 (State 

Archives, Vienna), printed in App. n. 5. 

46

GHISLIERI AS A DOMINICAN. 47 

abilities, and since the regulations of the Council of Trent 

were not yet in existence, Antony was able, when he was only 

fourteen years old, to enter the Dominican convent at Voghera,^ 

where he received the name of Michele. His superiors first 

sent him to Vigevano,^ where he was professed on May i8th, 

1521,^ and afterwards to Bologna for his scientific training, 

and lastly to Genoa, where he was ordained priest in 1528. 

For many years Fra Michele of Alessandria, as he was called, 

was lecturer in philosophy and theology in the convent of his 

Order at Pavia.* During this period of teaching, a duty 

which he discharged most conscientiously, he distinguished 

himself at the General Chapter held at Parma in 1543 by his 

defence of certain theses which boldly proclaimed the authority 

of the Holy See. Fra Michele was also commissary of the 

Inquisition in the city and diocese of Pavia, as vicar of his 

fellow Dominican, Sante of Padua. ^ He acquitted himself 

of all these offices so well that men compared him to 

St. Bernardine. The least rule of his Order was sacred to 

him ; he never travelled except on foot, with his wallet on 

his shoulder. He was a shining example to all his brethren 

by his great humility, his strict observance of poverty, his 

unwearied activity and his spotless purity of life. He could 

not avoid being twice elected Prior, but accepted the dignity 

most unwillingly, and this was still more the case when the 

^ When he was Pope Ghislieri showed his gratitude to this 

convent ; see A. Cavagna Sangiuliana, Dell'abbazia di S. Alberti 

di Butrio e del monastero di S. Maria della Plata in Voghera 

1865. 

" His cell is still shown : see C. Clerici, Vigevano, 1880, 82. 

' See the attestation in manuscript in Granello, Fra Michele 

Ghislieri, I., Bologna, 1877, 25. 

* See Majocchi, La chiesa e il convento di S, Tommaso in 

Pavia, Pavia, 1895, 82 seq. ; cf. Dell'Acqua, 33 seq. ; An incunabulum 

(Perottus, Cornucopiae seu Comment, linguae latinae, 

Venetiis, 1490) with annotations in the hand of Ghislieri was put 

up for sale in 1899 by the Roman antiquarian B. Benedetti 

(Catalogue 61, Nov. 1899, n, 2099), 

' See Riv. di scienzc storiche, IV., i, Pavia, 1907. 62 seq.

48 


provincial chapter of Lombardy elected him Definitor, the 

office next in importance to that of Provincial. 

In every way Ghislieri was the model of the true religious ; 

he refused to wear a mantle because he thought that one who 

belonged to a mendicant order should be content with his 

cowl. He was a great lover of cleanliness, and used to say 

that he had ever loved poverty, but never dirt. He allowed 

nothing to interfere with the performance of his duty, and 

when, as Prior of Alba, he found himself obliged, for the 

safety of his convent, to oppose the Count della Trinita, who 

threatened to have him thrown down a well, Ghislieri replied : 

" What God wills wfU be done."^ 

Ghislieri entered upon a very difficult task with his appointment 

as Inquisitor of the diocese of Como, which, on account 

of its proximity to Switzerland, was likely to be infected with 

the new religious ideas. When, in 1550, he confiscated twelve 

bales of heretical books, the booksellers affected managed to 

win over the bishop's vicar-general and the chapter, which 

obliged Ghislieri to appeal to the Inquisition in Rome. This 

tribunal summoned the accused before them, which caused so 

great a tumult in the city that Ghislieri was obliged to seek 

protection from his friend Bernardo Odescalchi. His position 

became even more perilous when the governor of Milan, 

Ferrante Gonzaga, took the part of his enemies. In order to 

clear up the affair, Ghislieri, at the end of 1550, betook him- 

self to Rome, where he was brought into contact with the 

Cardinals of the Inquisition, and especially with Carafa, who 

was quick to recognize in the Lombard a kindred spirit, and 

one who was prepared to maintain the purity of the faith with 

unbending firmness. 

As time went on, no threats and no dangers held any terrors 

for Ghislieri when it was a question of doing his duty. When 

he was given a mission to Coire, it was suggested to him that 

he would do well to travel through the heretical canton of the 

Grisons in disguise, but he vigorously refused, saying that he 

^ See Catena, 150. The incident is related somewhat differ- 

ently by Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 51.

THE PROMOTION OF GHISLIERI. 49 

would be glad to die as a martyr dressed in the habit of St. 

Dominic. Twice Ghislieri acted as Inquisitor at Bergamo, a 

very difficult office.^ In 1551, at the recommendation of 

Carafa, Julius III. summoned him to Rome as commissary 

general of the Inquisition. In this office he displayed the 

greatest zeal, and had many dealings with Marcello Cervini,^ 

who, after the death of Julius III., ascended the Papal throne 

as Marcellus II. After the death of the latter, which followed 

almost immediately,^ his patron Carafa became Pope, and he 

confirmed Ghislieri in his office of commissary general of the 

Inquisition, and on September 4th, 1556, appointed him 

Bishop of Sutri and Nepi, taking care at the same time that 

this indefatigable man should not be altogether removed 

from his previous activities, by making him Prefect of the 

Palace of the Inquisition.'* 

Michele fought hard against accepting the episcopal dignit}', 

but Paul IV. thought it well to attach a chain to his feet, 

lest he should again think of retiring to his convent.^ How 

highly the Pope esteemed the humble Dominican is shown 

by the fact that on March 15th, 1557, he appointed him 

Cardinal, and on December 14th in the following year Grand 

Inquisitor of the Roman Church.^ Ghisheri received as his 

^ See P. TiEPOLO, 191 ; Catena, 9 seq., 148 ; Gabutius, 9 seq. 

Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, p. 219. 

2 Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, pp. 220, 222 ; XIV., 

269 seqq. 

2 A letter of Fra Michele Alessandrino to G. B. Brunatello in 

Venice, dated Rome, June 8, 1655, refens to the trial of the 

surgeon of Marcellus II., who was accused of having poisoned the 

Pope; see Fillon, n. 2447. 

* See Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 271. Cf. Moroni, LXXI., 118. 

In the episcopal palace of Sutri, the door through which Ghislieri 

was accustomed to pass has been walled up, so that no one should 

use it any more. The episcopal archives at Nepi were destroyed 

during the French occupation. In the episcopal palace there 

nothing but a picture (Pius V. in prayer before the crucifix) tells 

of the former occupant of the see. 

* See Alb^ri, II., 4, 200 seq. 

* See Vol. XIV. of this work, pp. 262, 271. 

VOL. XVII. 4

50 

HISTORY OF THE POPES, 

titular church S. Maria sopra Minerva, which later on, in 

1561, he exchanged for S. Sabina. 

During the campaign of Paul IV. against heretical books, 

Cardinal Alessandrino, as Ghislieri was called from his native 

place, had repeatedly dissuaded his subordinates from too 

severe or hasty action. Towards the end of the reign of Paul 

IV. he had to face bitter reproofs from the Pope, who was 

daily becoming more gloomy and violent, on account of 

his conduct in the affair of the Spanish archbishop, 

Carranza.^ 

Ghislieri's position became even more difficult under 

Pius IV., whose more worldly outlook was in strong contrast 

to his own rigid views. ^ Several times the Cardinal, who 

since 1560 had been Protector of the Barnabites," and Bishop 

of Mondovi, where he laboured alike for reform,^ the promotion 

of learning, 5 and ecclesiastical liberty,^ boldly addressed 

severe rebukes to Pius IV., especially when, at the beginning 

of 1563, tv/o sons of princes were about to be nominated to 

the Sacred College. Ghislieri was not able to prevent these 

^ See Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 315 seqq. 

^ See the characteristic letter of Ghislieri to his nephew in 

Maffei, Pic v., 47 seq. ; Bruzzone, Bosco, I., 139 seq. That 

Ghislieri's nickname " fra Scarpone " (Santori, Autobiogr., 371) 

does not mean '' 

scorpion " as Herre (p. 204) thought, has been 

proved by Susta (Miiteil. des osterr. Instituts, XXX., 546) and 

ScHELLHAss {Zeitschrift fur Kirchengesch. XXX., 143 n. 2). 

^ See Premoli, Storia dei Barnabiti nel cinquecento, Rome, 

1913, 181. Cf. ibid., 24, for the early relations of Ghislieri with 

the Barnabites. 

* See Catena, 15. 

* By the erection of a university ; see Dell'Acqua, 38 seq., 

where there are also some particulars as to the traces of Pius V. 

preserved in the cathedral at Mondovi. Cf. Grassi, Mem. della 

chiesa di Monteregale in Piemonte, I., Tuiin, 1789, 87. The 

Library at Alessandria still contains a beautiful choir-book of 

Pius V. 

* Cf. the characteristic letter of Ghislieri to Emanuele FiUberto, 

Duke of Savoy, dated Mondovi, October i, 1561, in Bollett. Subalp. 

VI.. 255 seq.

GHISLIERI AND PIUS IV. 5I 

appointments, any more than he could the limitations set 

upon his powers as Grand Inquisitor by Pius IV. 

Since he was manifestly out of favour with Pius IV.,^ it 

can easily be understood that Ghislieri seriously thought of 

returning to his bishopric of Mondovi, in order to complete 

the reforms which he had begun there in 1560. Moreover, 

he was so seriously attacked by stone in 1564 that he caused 

his monument to be set up in S. Maria sopra Minerva.^ It 

is certain that no one in Rome at that time anticipated his 

elevation to the Papal throne, and least of all, in his simplicity 

and humility, the Cardinal himself, who, when he found himself 

faced with the fact of his election, which took him altogether 

by surprise, hesitated for a moment before he accepted it. 

The very sense of responsibility, which had always made him 

shrink from any dignity, was what at length decided him to 

obey the call of the Sacred College, for he dared not withstand 

the voice of God.'* 

Sprung as he was from a poor and obscure family, Pius V. 

1 Cf. Arch. stor. Ital., IV., 6, 372. 

* In his report on May 17, 1572, of the election of Gregory XIII,, 

Cusano, speaking of the way in which Bonelli had gone over to 

the side of Boncompagni, remarks : *" a lui e intervenuto come 

al card. Borromeo, il quale fece Papa Pio V., che era in tutto 

naturale di Paolo IV. et non v'cra cardinale in questo conclave 

di questo tempo che fosse stato piii dispregiato et vilipeso da 

Pio IV. suo zio che la manca parola che dicesse contra di esso 

di frate scarpone [see supra p. 50, n. 2] et che farebbe rotornar 

al refettorio, et non ostante questo elesse in pontefice come ha 

fatto I'Alessandrino." State Archives, Vienna. 

* See the inscription in Catena, 18 ; cf. Dell'Acqua, 37. As 

Cardinal, GhisUeri hved in lodgings in the Borgo ; see Avviso di 

Roma of Feb. 22, 1567 : *" II Papa ha comprata la casa, nella 

quale stava quando era cardinale et dice voler che la goda il card. 

Alessandrino mentre vive et dopo la sua morte sara dei suoi 

parenti." (Urb. 1040, p. 363b, Vatican Library.) Cf. Lanciani 

IV., 22 seq. For the famiglia of the Cardinal see the Rotulo in 

Moroni, XXIII., 76 seq. 

* See Legaz. di Serristori, 421-423. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of 

January 23, 1566, Urb. 1040, Vatican Library.

52 


had, so to speak, passed through every grade of the Church's 

army. It had not been on account of his birth, nor by the 

favour of princes, nor by intrigue, but merely in virtue of his 

zeal in the service of the Church, that the strict religious had 

become in turn Prior, Inquisitor, Bishop, Cardinal, and at 

last Pope. His life, spent in unwearied labours, and amid 

penances and privations of every kind, had left its manifest 

traces upon his bodily strength. Although he was only 

sixty-two, his emaciated figure, with bald head and his long 

white beard, gave the impression of an old man. He was of 

middle height, with small eyes, but a keen sight, an aquiKne 

nose, clear and healthy complexion, and strongly marked 

features.^ The general impression of asceticism, which made 

^ For the physical appearance and natural characteristics of 

Pius v., see the famous description by Tiepolo in 1566 (Relazione, 

169 seq.) according to which the new Pope stands out in contrast 

to the dead Pius IV. " in luminoso contrasto e meravigliosa 

richezza " (Andreas, 106), though his great spirituality seems 

exaggerated in more than one respect. Cf. also the Ritratto di 

Pio V. of M. Soriano (Albert, II., 200 seq.), the " Informatione 

delle qualita di Pio V. e delle cose che da quello dipendono," 

written in November, 1566, and July, 1567, and published by 

VAN Ortroy in Anal. Bolland., XXIII. (1914), 192 seq., and in 

App. nn. 7 and 8 the *report of C. Luzzara of Mar. 27, 1566, Gon- 

zaga Archives, Mantua. The markedly ascetic traits of Pius V.'s 

features are clearly shown in his medals, especially that of Giov. 

Antonio Rossi (see Vasari, V., 387 ; Armand, Medailleurs ital., 

Paris, 1879 ; M£jntz, III., 242 ; Mortier, S. Maria della Querela, 

161). For two other medals of Pius V. see De Foville, Medailles 

de la Renaissance in the Revue niimismat., XVIII. (1914), i. 

There is a beautiful cameo of the head of Pius V. in the Museo 

Cristiano at the Vatican. Of the many engravings on copper, 

which depict Pius V., special mention may be made of those by 

Beatrizet [cf. Hubner, Le statue di Roma, I., 35), by Niccolo 

Nelli (Pius V. aetat. LXIII. A. 1567 ; 

a copy in the collection of 

engravings in the gallery at Munich), that by Philippus Soius 

(Soye, died 1567) made for O. Panvinio, that of Moncornet and 

F. van Hiilsen (good copies in the Imperial Familien-Fideikommiss 

library at Vienna). The engraving in the " Imagines " of F. Zenoi

CHARACTER OF THE NEW POPE. 53 

him look, as an ambassador wrote, as if he were but skin and 

bones, ^ inspired awe. Everyone felt that he was in the 

presence of a man of unshakeable firmness, and of a profound 

seriousness, which, far removed from anything of this world, 

was fixed entirely upon spiritual things. 

Pius V. was so imbued with the responsibilities of his office 

that he looked upon it as an obstacle in the way of his salvation. 

It was, indeed, obvious how much his new dignity weighed 

down this man, who would have wished above all things to 

have remained a friar. ^ It was only in the quiet of his convent, 

he would say with many sighs, that he had known real peace 

of conscience, and that already before this, his dignities, both 

(Venice, 1569), is in Muntz, III., 33. Rome is very rich in oil 

paintings of Pius V. They are to be seen at S. Silvestro al Quirinale, 

at SS. Domenico e Sisto (first altar on the left, and probably 

from the monastery founded by Pius V. ; see Nibby, I., 209), 

in the Vatican Library and in the palace of the Holy Office. The 

best of these portraits, which shows a full length figure of the 

Pope, who is seated, is by Scipione Pulzone, and is in the Colonna 

Gallery, Rome. Another copy is in the Collegio Ghislieri at 

Pavia (reproduced in Dell'Acqua, Pio V, Milan. 1904), and a 

third in the convent of the Dominicans in Milan. In Bargellini, 

Etruria merid., Bergamo, 1909, 132, there is a reproduction of the 

fairly good portrait in the Cathedral at Sutri. The well known 

portrait of Pius V. by Dom. Muratori only dates from the beginning 

of the XVIIIth century ; the original is in his cell at S. Sabina ; 

see Cosmos illustr., 1904, 3. The marble bust of Pius V. at the 

Trinita dei Monti on the tomb of Cardinal Carpi, erected by the 

Pope in 1568 (see Forcella, III., 125) is no longer in existence. 

The statue at S. Croce at Bosco (see Dell'Acqua, 44) represents 

the Pope kneeling ; the seated figure on his tomb in S. Maria 

Maggiore is the work of Lionardo da Sarzana. A later, but 

excellent, portrait of Pius V. in profile (Italian work) is in the 

Museum at Copenhagen. For the arms of Pius V. see Pasini- 

Frassoni, Armorial des Papes, Rome, 1906, 38. 

^Report of Cusano of January 26, 1566. State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ See the *letter of Cusano of March 2, 1566. State Archives, 

Vienna. Cf. Polanci Epist. in Anal. Bolland., VII., 46.

54 


as bishop and cardinal, had sadly disturbed it ; this was 

now the case more than ever when he remembered the account 

which, as Pope, he would one day have to render to Almighty 

God.^ The supreme dignity seemed to him a heavy cross, 

under which he feared to fall. In a letter to the Grand Master 

of Malta he confessed that he had had thoughts of renouncing 

the tiara, and that the only thing which had held him back 

from such a step was his firm trust in the help of the Almighty.^ 

Both in pubUc and in private he begged people to pray much 

for him,^ while at the same time he redoubled his accustomed 

exercises of piety and mortification. 

Pius V. made it plain that now that he was Pope he still 

intended to remain the strict mendicant friar that he had been 

all his Hfe, for he refused to lay aside his rough shirt, ^ and as 

far as possible continued his former manner of life. He went 

early to bed so as to be able to rise early in the morning. He 

said mass every day,^ after which came prayers and medi- 

tation ; he also recited the Rosary every day.^ Immediately 

after he had broken his fast he devoted himself to the affairs 

^ See TiEPOLO, 201 ; Catena, 31 seq. ; Gabutius, 226-227. 

Cf. the saying of Pius V. related by Tiepolo, in Mutinelli, I. 

For the meaning of similar expressions see Laderchi, 1566, n. 6. 

* See the beautiful letter to Pietro di Monte of December 8, 

1570, in Catena, 290 seq. 

3 See Catena, 35 ; Gabutius, 199. 

* *" Sotto ai panni pontificii porta la camiscia di rascia come 

facea quando era frate et essendogli portata rascia fina et sottile 

per far camiscie, ne ha fatto pigliar della piu grossa dicendo che 

non vuol mutar quelle che non si vede dal vulgo." Avviso di 

Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. i66b. Vatican Library. 

* According to Tiepolo, 172, it might be supposed that he only 

celebrated mass frequently,but Arco,on January 12, i566,expressly 

states *" : Ipse bene valet et quotidie sacris privatim operatur." 

(State Archives, Vienna.) The same thing is stated in the 

*Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, printed in App n. 3, as 

well as in other reports, e.g. Polanci Epist., in Anal. Bolland., 

VII., 51, and the letter of Requesens of March 18, 1566, Corresp. 

dipl., I., 161. 

* Catena, 35,

ABSTEMIOUSNESS OF THE POPE. 55 

of State and granted audiences. He was indefatigable in 

this latter respect, and even when Rome lay under a heavy 

scirocco, he would not allow himself any rest.^ He said that 

the best cure for the oppressive heat was to eat and drink 

very little. The small quantity of food and drink that sufficed 

him was extraordinary. At noon he took some bread-soup 

with two eggs, and half a cup of wine, and his supper in the 

evening generally consisted of some vegetable broth, salad, 

shell-fish, and cooked fruit. Only twice a week did meat 

appear at his table. Before and after the meal long prayers 

were recited, and during part of it a book was read, after 

which he and his guests maintained a monastic silence. ^ 

Nor did he act differently all through the day ; only rarely 

did he allow himself any recreation, yet in spite of this he 

was of a naturally lively disposition, as Berna.rdo Cirillo, his 

majordomo, often had occasion to remark.^ 

The health of Pius V. had for many years suffered from 

stone ;* the doctors and diplomatists therefore thought that 

he would not live very long.^ Although he often felt very 

^ Cf. the *report of C. Luzzara of March 27, 1566, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua, the *letter of Requesens, supra p. 54, n. 5, 

and the *letter of Arco of August 31, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

' See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, L, 55 seq. (where instead oi fortaia 

is found toytaia). C . Marini, II., 320 ; Catena, 27 seq. On 

November 18, 1567, Arco *states that the Pope has still further 

reduced his table, on which he only spends three and a half scudi 

a day. State Archives, Vienna. 

'See the " Informatione delle qualita " in Anal. Bolland., 

XXXIIL, 195. 

* See Tiepolo, 181 ; Marini, II., 318 seq. and the *report of 

Arco on September 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

"See the letter of Granvelle of March 10, 1566 (Corresp., ed. 

PiOT, I., 155) and the *report of C. Luzzara of June 12, 1566 : 

*" La maggior parte di questi medici del Papa intendo che 

conchiudono che S.S*^ habbia la pietra et grossa, et che facciano 

mal giuditio de la vita sua, aggiunto a questo la magrezza et 

attinuatione ne la quale e, che non puo essere maggiore." Gon- 

zaga Archives, Mantua,

56 


unwell,^ the Pope would not hear of sparing his strength, 

all the more so because on the whole his health was better 

as Pope than it had been when he was a Cardinal.^ He 

continued his former practice of taking a great deal of 

exercise, and when, in November, 1566, he went to the sea 

coast to inspect the works of fortification, he made very 

little use of his litter. He generally went about on foot, 

and in spite of all his labours, never slept more than five 

hours. ^ 

As time went on all those who had hoped for the early death 

of the Pope were disappointed. As a remedy for the stone 

Pius used asses' milk, and though the physicians feared lest 

he should weaken his stomach, he persisted in the use of this 

remedy, which he had often found useful before.^ Speaking 

generally, his state of health was fairly satisfactory, even in 

1567. " He flourishes like a rose tree, and will live a long 

1 See the *report of Arco of May 25, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna and the *letter of C. Luzzara of June i, 1566 : *" E voce 

pubblica per Roma che il Papa sia molto debole et ch'egli 

medesimo diffidi de la vita sua." (Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). 

See also the *report of Serristori of November i, 1566 (State 

Archives, Florence). 

"See the *report of Cusano, February 16, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna, and *that of Babbi, November i, 1566, State 

Archives, Florence. 

* With the reports of Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 39 seq., 47 seq., 

cf. the *letter of Serristori, April i, 1566, State Archives, Florence, 

and the letter of July 13, 1566, in Masius, Brief e, 374. Cf. the 

*letter of Caligari to Commendone, September 21, 1566, Lett, di 

princ, XXIII, Papal Secret Archives ; *Avviso di Roma of 

December 28, 1566 (Urb. 1040, p. 330b, Vatican Library) ; 

*report of B. Pia of May 31, 1567 (sta tanto bene quanto si stesse 

mai), Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

4 *Avviso di Roma of November 23, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 305, 


^ Cf. Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 45 seq., the *report of C. Luzzara 

of May 29, 1566 (Gonzaga Archives, Mantua), and the *Avvisi di 

Roma of June 29, 1566 and June 19, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 248, 

526b, Vatican Library.

ACTIVITY OF THE POPE. 57 

time," wrote Serristori on March 15th, 1567.^ Even during 

the summer of the same year the reports continue to be 

favourable, 2 and during the procession of Corpus Domini in 

1567 the Pope seemed more vigorous than any of the Cardinals.^ 

In the December of the same year they wrote from Rome that 

though the Pope fasted and prayed during Advent Hke a monk, 

he looked very well.^ He continued his great activity ; often 

he walked eight miles in spite of the heat of summer, and they 

were afraid that he was doing too much for his age.^ In the 

autumn he went almost every morning to his little villa outside 

the Porta Cavalleggieri. In his visits to the churches, which 

he often made on foot, he tired out those who accompanied 

him.^ During the Holy Week of 1568 he fasted so strictly 

that he brought on a serious giddiness.' It was only the advice 

of a new doctor which was successful in the following year in 

persuading him to have more consideration for his health and 

his age,^ to sleep longer and to restrict his fasts to some extent, 

though he insisted in this last respect on doing as much as 

possible. He ordered the cook, under pain of excommuni- 

cation, not to put anything forbidden into his soup on days 

^ See the *letter in the State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3287, 

p. 77- 

2 See the *report of Arco of June 15, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna and the *letter of Caligari to Commendone of July 16, 

1567, Lett, di princ, XXIII., Papal Secret Archives. 

^ See the *report of Arco of May 24, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* *" Con tutto che osservi I'advento alia fratesca con digiuni et 

celebratione ha una buona ciera." Avviso di Roma of Dec. 13, 

1567, Urb. 1040, p. 460, Vatican Library. 

* See the *Avvisi di Roma of May 22, and August 21, 1568, Urb. 

1040, p. 520,567, Vatican Library. Cf. the *reports of Arco of 

June 21 and July 5, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. 

* See the *Avvisi di Roma of Octob:r 2, 1568, and October 

5, 1569, Urb. 1040, p. 590 ; 104 1, p. 158b, Vatican Library. 

'See *Avviso di Roma of April 17, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 503b, 

ibid. 

* See *Avviso di Roma of December 17, 1569, Urb. 1041 

p. 1 98b, ibid.

58 


of abstinence,^ and on Good Friday he would take nothing 

cooked at all.^ 

The Pope found his chief dehght in prayer, and his fervour 

often moved him to tears. ^ Every time that he had to come 

to an important decision he prayed with special fervour.* 

As soon as he had concluded his official duties he returned 

to his spiritual exercises,^ and during Holy Week he retired 

altogether, so as to give himself up entirely to mxcditation on 

the Passion of Christ,^ and since his special devotion was to 

the Crucified,' Pius V. is represented in most of his pictures 

with a crucifix in his hands. 

1 " *jj Papa fa grand' astinentia, fa la quaresima et digiuna ogni 

giorno et ha comandato espressamente a quelli, che hanno cura 

della bocca sua, che guardino per quanto hanno cura la sua gratia 

de non alterarli li brodi con istilati o altro, publicando che saranno 

escomunicati oltre le pene arbitrarie se uscirano del sue comandamento 

" (Awise di Roma of February 22, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 362b, 

Vatican Library). Cf. the *report of B. Pia of December 20, 1567, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. See also Marini, II., 319. As 

Pope, Pius V. kept the cook whom he had had as Cardinal ; 

Moroni, XXIII., 77. The title of " cuoco segreto di Pio V." 

was also borne by Bartolomeo Scappi, who, since he had no oppor- 

tunity of putting his office to practical use, used his skill theoreti- 

cally in a very widely sold cookery book (Opera, Venice, 1570, 

1596, 1605). Cf. HtjBNER, Sixtus v., II., 138 seq. ; Rodoca- 

NACHi, Rome, 48. 

* See in App. n. 9 the *Avviso di Roma of April 13, 1566, 


* TiEPOLO, 172. PoLANCi Epist. in Anal. Bolland., VII., 46. 

* See Gratiani Epist., 379. 

5 Cf. the *Avviso di Roma of January 26, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 

170b, Vatican Library. 

* Cf. Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 40. 

7 " *s. Pius V. una cum S. Carlo Borromeo coemiterium 

visitare et ante crucifixi imaginem, quae in capella Campi Sancti 

summa ab antiquis temporibus veneratione coUtur, preces 

fundere consuevisse vetera confraternitatis monumenta tradi- 

derunt," reports the Historia Campi Sancti, MS. in the Archives 

of that Confraternity. 

see

HIS ATTENDANCE AT FUNCTIONS. 59 

It is said of him that throughout his pontificate Pius V. 

never failed to be present at any of the ecclesiastical functions 

prescribed by the ceremonial, even when he was ill.^ He 

gave everyone a striking example by the recollection and piety 

he displayed on those occasions. ^ At Christmas he first 

assisted at matins and mass, then said two low masses, after 

^TiEPOLO 172. C. FiRMANUS, *Diarium XII., 31 p. 154: 

" S^^^ Dominus N"" a die sue assumptionis ad pontificatum usque 

ad banc diem (C/. February 20, 1567) semper celebravit missas 

et solum per undecim dies cessavit ; nunquam reliquit aUquam 

capellam nisi in cathedra S^' Petri in die subsequenti suam 

coionationem, quam reUquit pro cardinaUum commoditate, et in 

anniversario coronationis et cathedra S*' Petri precedenti propter 

maledictam differentiam precedentiarum ut supra " (Papal Secret 

Archives). Cf. the *report of Cusano of January 8, 1569, and *that 

of Arco of February 5, 1569 (the Pope often in the ceremonies 

"maximo cum labore et incommodo.quod tamen iucunda admodum 

facie et hilari animo pertulit "), State Archives Vienna. Sometimes 

he did more than he was obhged to do. For example, he attended 

the funeral offices for the Cardinals. When the master of ceremonies 

reminded him that the Popes were not accustomed to 

attend such ceremonies, he said : " Anco i monaci mal volontiere 

vedono I'abate in coro, ma noi vogliamo venire seben non e 

usanza, et cosi si ando " (Urb. 1040, p. 317, Vatican Library). See 

also the *Avviso di Roma of December 28, 1566 : *" Questi altri 

giorni sempre s'e trovato alle capelle con tanta sollecitudine che 

i cardinaU son stati sforzati levarsi avanti il giorno." (Urb. 1040, 

p. 330b ; cf. ibid. 338, *Avviso of December 8, 1566 : *" Passera 

questo tempo con soHtaria devotione ne resta mai di venir alle 

soUta capelle dell'Advento et altre et digiuna ogni giorno et dice 

messa e fa chel card. Alessandrino faccia il medesimo ") ; also the 

*Avvisi of April 5, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 375b, and of December 9. 

1570, Urb. 1041. p. 380b, Vatican Library. 

" See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 40. An *Avviso di Roma of 

April 17, 1568, refers to the reading of the Passion, " stete sempre 

in piedi con gran devotione come ha anco fatto in tutti U altri 

officii di questa settimana santa " (Urb. 1040, p. 502b, Vatican 

Library). Cj. the *report of Cusano of March 9, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna.

6o 


which he celebrated High Mass in St. Peter's.^ He also 

assisted regularly at the sermons in the Vatican. ^ Sometimes 

the Pope himself preached in St. Peter's, at S. Maria sopra 

Minerva, and at the Lateran.^ At Easter time, or when a 

jubilee had been proclaimed, he liked to give communion 

himself to his household.* On Ash Wednesday he would 

give it for perhaps three hours to many of the faithful,^ and 

during Lent he liked to visit the church of S. Sabina on the 

Aventine.® 

A pious exercise which was very ancient, and which Pius V. 

and Philip Neri especially revived,'^ was the visit to the seven 

basiUcas. At least twice a year, generally in spring at the 

time of the Carnival, when reparation for excesses seemed 

to be especially called for, and in the autumn, the Pope made 

this long and fatiguing pilgrimage,^ and in doing this, as was 

always his custom when he went about, he was accompanied 

by a small retinue, and distributed alms to the poor with his 



^ *" Ogni mattina S.S. va alia predica in palazzo dove predica 

il prior di S. Sabina " (Avviso di Roma of February 22, 1567, Urb. 

1040, p. 362). The Pope was always to be seen at the sermons 

of P. Benedetto (*Avviso di Roma of January i, 1569, Urb. 104 1, 

p. I, Vatican Library). Cf. the *report of Cusano of March 16, 

1566, State Archives, Vienna, and Polanci Epist. in Anal Bolland., 

VIL, 51. 

^ See PoLANCi Epist. in Anal. Bolland., VIL, 65. 

* See C. Firmanus, *Diarium, August 3, 1566, Papal Secret 

Archives. 

® See the *letter of Arco of March 6,1568, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ See *Avviso di Roma of February .15, 1567, Urb. 1040, 

P- 355. Vatican Library. 

' Cf. Meschler, Die Fahrt zu den sieben Kirchen in Rom, in 

Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, LVIIL, 20 seq. 

® See C. Firmanus, *Diarium, April 8 and October 10, 1566, 

April 3 and November 5, 1567, March 2, April 12, and October 29, 

1568, Papal Secret Archives ; *report of Zibramonti of March 4, 

1 57 1, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.

DEVOTION TO THE BLESSED SACRAMENT. 6l 

own hands. ^ No Pope had ever been known to make so 

wearisome a pilgrimage during the whole period of the Renais- 

sance, and it was therefore looked upon as something quite 

new. 2 But, as was the case with other things, Pius V. soon 

found imitators in this, and at Easter, 1571, it is reported 

that the Cardinals and almost all the prelates of the court 

made the visit of the seven basihcas.^ 

Pius V. always showed a great devotion to the Blessed 

Sacrament ; 

this was especially evident at the feast of Corpus 

Domini. In the first year of his reign he was one of the first 

to arrive for the function, and so early that they had to light 

lamps in order to see. First of all the Pope said a low mass, 

preceded and followed by long prayers and meditation. At 

the procession previous Popes had made use of a litter, and 

had worn a precious tiara, but he went on foot, carrying the 

eucharistic Saviour with bare head and the greatest devotion. 

With eyes fixed on the Blessed Sacrament, and with unceasing 

prayer, Pius V., in spite of the great heat, made the whole 

procession, which passed through the Borgo, which was all 

decorated for the feast ; men noticed his compunction, as 

well as the fact that he frequently burst into tears.'* In the 

years that followed the ambassadors could never say enough 

of the Pope's deep recollection, especially at the feast of 

Corpus Domini.^ It can clearly be .'êen from their letters 

^ See the *Avviso di Roma of April 13, 1566, in App. n. g ; 

Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 40 ; *report of Cusano of April 13, 

1566, State Archives, Vienna ; *letter of C. Luzzara of 

November 19, 1566, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

^ See the *report of Arco of April 13, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

' See the *Avviso di Roma of April 14, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 46, 


* See the report of Tiepolo of June 15, 1566, in Mutinelli 

I., 47 seq. and Polanci Epist. in Anal. Bolland, VII., 63. 

^ Cj. the *report of B. Pia of May 31, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua ; *Avviso di Roma of June 19, 1568 : *" And6 in 

processione con il Corpus Domini in mano et testa tutta scoperta 

con gl'occhi sempre affissi nel santissimo sacramento con molta

62 


what a deep impression his piety made.^ His behaviour, 

as even a man so given to criticism as Galeazzo Cusano admits, 

was faultless, and worthy of the successor of St. Peter. 2 In 

1566 so cold a diplomatist as the Spaniard, Requesens, 

gave it as his opinion that the Church had not had a 

better head for the past three hundred years.^ In the 

reports we constantly find the words : " The Pope is a 

saint."* 

" In consequence of his mortification," we read in an account 

devotione " 34 bishops and 26 cardinals took part in the procession 

(Urb. 1040, p. 526b, Vatican Library) ; *Avviso di Roma of 

June II, 1569 : *" N.S. sotto il baldachino a piedi con il capo 

scoperto con una grandissima devotione." (Urb. 1041, p. 91b, 

ibid) *Arco on June 15, 1566, reports concerning the part taken 

by the Pope in the procession on Corpus Domini that he went 

on foot with his head uncovered " humiliter et sancte, quod 

multo ex tempore nuUos ex Pontificibus ahos fecisse constat." 

State Archives, Vienna. 

^ Cf. Corresp. de Granvelle, ^d. Poullet, I., 124 and the letters 

of Giov. Polanco published by Delplace in Anal. Bolland., VII., 

46 seqq., which to some extent had appeared in a translation 

and somewhat altered in " Epistolae ... ex urbe ad Germaniae 

principes quosdam et alios primaries viros scriptae de gestis 

Pii V. P. M., Coloniae, 1567 ; see Anal. Bolland., XV., 77 seq. 

where, however, the earlier edition (catalogued by Pfleger, 

Eis-ngrein 127) of M. Eisengrein is forgotten, " Nova fide digna 

de rebus hoc anno a R. P. Pio V gestis ex epistoUs doctor, quorundam 

excerpta, Ingolstadt, 1566." 

* *Letter of April 20, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ Corresp. dipL, I., 203. 

* " The Pope appears to me every day more holy," is the judgment 

of so coldly calculating a diplomatist as Granvelle, on March 

10, 1566 (Corresp. ed. Poullet, I., 147 ; cf. 124, 345). Cf. the 

*Avviso di Roma of January 26, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 170b, 

Vatican Library ; Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 53. On April 

I J 1569, B. Pia wrote : *" Dio benedetto sia lodato che 

dadegno di voler sotto questo santo papa aiutar la sua 

navicella nel piti tempes-toso mare." Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua.

STRICTNESS OF THE POPE. 63 

based upon close personal observation,^ " Pius V. is almost 

entirely free from passions, and in this stands out in strong 

contrast to all other men. Nothing is so near to his heart 

as the wish to restore the Holy See to its former greatness and 

its ancient splendour, by the improvement of morals and the 

rooting out of abuses. When it is necessary, no trouble is 

too great for him, and no measures are too strict. Even when 

he grants a favour, like a good confessor, he adds thereto some 

good advice. As soon as he detects anything in the nature 

of a profanation of holy things he is seized with a righteous 

anger, his countenance is inflamed, and the culprit has to 

listen to many stern rebukes, though his heat disappears 

as soon as he sees signs of repentance. He is quite inexorable 

in the case of the smallest offence against the divine law, or 

against the precepts and teaching of the Church."^ 

Pius V.'s strictness in all that concerned reform, the admin- 

istration of justice, and the Inquisition, recalled the days of 

Paul IV. Himself as pious as he was humble, and as grave 

as he was severe, Pius V. expected much from others. Above 

all, he insisted on absolute truthfulness ; the man who had 

once told him a lie lost liis favour for ever.^ He Uked people 

to speak frankly to him and to tell him of his mistakes, but 

he had no opinion of those who always agreed with him or 

^ See the " Informatione delle qualita di Pio V." in Anal. 

Bolland., XXXIII., 192. When the secretary of State, Bonelh, 

was ill, an *Avviso di Roma of July 12, 1570, reports with what 

calm Pius V. bore adversities. Urb. 1041, p. 304, Vatican 

Library. 

* See the Informatione, etc., loc. cit. 193 ; Tiepolo, 175 seq. ; 

Soriano, 200 ; Catena, 28 seq. *" II papa " Serristori reports 

to Florence on February 7, 1567, " e di natura molto sensitiva et in 

un' tratto si accende et viene in collera, poi facilmente, come 

vede V.E., si lascia piegare de un poco di humilta et submissione." 

(State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3287, p. 40). Cf. also the 

reports of C. Luzzara of May 15, and June 12, 1566, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua, the *report of Arco of May 18, 1566, and *that 

of Strozzi of September 28, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

2 Soriano, 201. Catena, 31.

64 


flattered him ;^ he often gave proof that he was always ready 

to hear the truth, even when it was bitter. ^ He was exceedingly 

condescending to the poor and those of low estate, and 

plainly showed his disappointment when he was unable to 

grant any request. His charity towards the needy, and 

his generosity to those who served him well, were very great, 

indeed too great in the opinion of many.^ 

Pius V. did not allow himself to be led away by first im.pressions, 

but once he had formed a definite opinion on any 

subject, it was almost impossible to shake him. He was 

quicker to form a bad opinion of anyone than a good one, 

especially hi the case of people he did not know well.^ Neither 

worldly considerations nor violent threats could move him 

from what he thought to be right. He once said that he 

would rather retire into privacy at the Lateran with two 

chaplains than allow anything he considered wrong. The 

Venetian diplomatist, Soriano, was of opinion that it was 

necessary to know such a Pope in order to understand how it 

was possible for a man who had sprung from such lowly circumstances 

to feel so sure that he could forego all human 

considerations.^ 

^ For example, Arco, on August 31, 1566, *reports that when, 

sometimes, in a question of a dispensation, an appeal was made 

to the opinions of theologians, Pius V. replied " che molti theologi 

et canonisti erano adulatori de pontefici." (State Archives, 

Vienna). Cf. also Ciaconius, III., 1014. On November 25, 1567, 

B. Pia *reports that the Pope paid no attention to dottori (jurists) 

and that he governed his actions by his massime theologiche 

(Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). See also Santori, Autobiog- 

raiia, XII,, 340. 

* See the episode related by Cusano in his *letter of April 6, 

1566. State Archives, Vienna. 

' See the " Informatione delle qualita," etc., 193 seq. Cf. 

Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 58. 

* See ibid. 

^Soriano, 202. Cf. Polanci Epist. in Anal. Bolland., VII., 

57 ; Catena, 32. It is certain that several of the diplomatists 

were led by Pius V.'s great conscientiousness to think that he 

was very timid : thus *Khevcnhiiller on March 30, 1566, and

OPINIONS OF THE AMBASSADORS. 65 

Even those who judged merely in the light of worldly 

considerations paid tribute to the merits of Pius V. The 

ambassadors, who were bound to look at everything from a 

prejudiced point of view, and always to keep before their eyes 

the frequently excessive demands of their masters, mention 

as weaknesses in the Pope his readiness to believe bad tidings, 

his great scrupulosity, which they attribute to his sensitive 

conscience, the obstinacy with which he clung to any idea 

which he had formed, and especially his tendency to distrust 

people.^ Requesens is right in saying that the bitter 

experience which Pius V. had had of the selfishness of 

certain Cardinals was the reason why he did not dare 

to trust more than a few people.- But above all the 

ambassadors lament the Pope's lack of experience in pohtical 

matters. 

It is true that Pius V. had had as little to do with politics 

hitherto as with the affairs of the court, and he was certainly 

at a disadvantage in both respects, and that not only from 

his want of knowledge of men and of the world, but also 

*Cusano on February 2, in the same year. Arco's view was more 

correct; on Sept mber 7, 1566, he expressed the opinion that the 

Pope would make further mistakes " perch e e troppo fermo 

nelle sue opinioni et mostra di curare poco delli principi." State 

Archives, Vienna. On April 28, 1567, Vincenzo Matuliani wrote : 

*" La natura di questo principe e di non voler fare cosa a re- 

quisitione di persona che viva se non quello che viene dalla sua 

volonta governata con molta prudenza e retta da una mente 

santissima." State Archives, Bologna. 

^ See TiEPOLO, 175; cf. Soriano, 202. On May 16, 1566, 

Serristori complains : 

*" Non si fida di huomo del mondo et quello 

che e peggio fuori di queste cose della religione S.S*^^ non intende 

punto delle cose del mondo et manco di quelle della corte ; non 

si fida d'huomo che viva, non ha ministri che intendino, 

dair che le cose di qua vanno a mal camino." (State 

Archives, Florence, Medic. 3592). 

*" II papa non si fida 

d'alcuno " reports Khevenhiiller March 30, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* Corresp. dipL, I., 161. 

VOL. XVII. 5

66 


because he had not had the necessary experience.^ The 

consciousness that God had called him to the supreme dignity, 

and that he was ignorant of these less important matters, 

often led him to act, even in worldly affairs, with a determination 

that was quite wanting in consideration for others, and 

which refused to listen to any arguments suggested by human 

prudence. Starting from this idealistic standpoint, and looking 

at everything merely from the supernatural point of view, 

it was natural to him to pay too little attention to the actual 

conditions with which he was faced. 

Pius V. was no diplomatist, nor did he profess to be one. 

He was as sharply marked off from his predecessor, Pius IV., 

by his complete indifference to political considerations as he 

was by the strictness of his own life. It has rarely happened 

in a Pope that the sovereign has been so subordinated to the 

priest, as was the case with this son of St. Dominic, who now 

sat on the throne of St. Peter. One thing alone was dear to 

his heart, the salvation of souls ; to this he devoted all his 

energies, and he estimated the value of every institution 

and every act in accordance with its usefulness for that 

purpose. 

The reputation for ruthless severity which attached to Pius 

V. as a former Grand Inquisitor, roused the fear of the Romans 

during the days that followed his election, lest they should be 

entering upon a pontificate like that of Paul IV. The Pope, 

who fully realized this feeling with regard to himself, sought 

to calm men's minds by declaring that he knew very well 

that he had to deal with men and not with angels. ^ The 

generosity which the Pope displayed during the first days of 

^With the " Informatione," etc.. loc. cit., 194, cf. especially 

TiEPOLO, 179 and Soriano, 202. See also Corresp. de Granvelle, 

ed. PouLLET, I. 519, 595 

; Corresp. dipl., I., 161, and the *letter 

of Serristori of May 16, 1566, quoted supm p. 65, n. i. 

2 See the *report of Arco of January 12, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna, the *Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, Vatican Library 

(see App, n. 3), and Catena, 24. Cf. also the *letter of Babbi 

of January 8, 1566, State Archives, Florence. P. Paschini, Note 

per la biografia del card. G. Sirleto. Naples, 1918, 56 seq.

PIUS V. AND THE CARDINALS. 67 

his reign also helped to allay these fears. The conclavists 

and auditors of the Rota received gifts of money, as did the 

poorer Cardinals, among whom 20,000 scudi were distributed. 

Hannibal von Hohcncms, to whom Pius IV. had promised 

100,000 scudi before he died, received at least half that sum, 

and was confirmed in the offices which he had held.^ 

If, in spite of all this, the fears of the Romans were not 

quite allayed, the reason lay in the fact that, side by side with 

these proofs of his benevolence, Pius V. also displayed great 

severity. He refused all the petitions presented for his 

signature after his election \^ the Conservatori were not 

allowed to kiss his foot, because, during the vacancy they had 

taken from Paulus Manutius the house which contained his 

printing press. The fact that, at the distribution of offices, 

the friends of Paul IV., and not those of Pius IV., were selected, 

also pointed to increased severity.^ 

The allocution which the Pope addressed to the Cardinals 

at the first General Congregation on January 12th, 1566, was 

full of significance ; he said that he did not intend to treat 

them as his servants, but as his brethren, remarking at the 

same time that the evil life led by many ecclesiastics had played 

no small part in the beginning and spread of heresy. He 

exhorted them to reform themselves and their households ; 

if they would do that he would repay them by his favour and 

his confidence. He declared that it was his intention to carry 

^ Cf. the *report of Cico Aldrovandi of January 9, 1566 (liberaUtk 

degna di principe), State Archives, Bologna ; 

the *letter of Serris- 

tori of January 11, 1566, State Archives, Florence, and the *report 

of Arco of January 12, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. The *con- 

firmation of the gift to Hannibal von Hohenems, of January 11, 

1566, in the Archives of the Museum at Bregenz, n. 109. 

* *" Electus noluit signare ullam supplicationem." C. 

FiRMANUs, Diarium, in Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 36, Papal 

Secret Archives. 

' See the two *reports of Arco of January 12, 1566 (in Latin and 

Italian), State Archives, Vienna. For the question at issue 

between the Romans and P. IManutius see Rodocanachi, Capitole, 

iiS seq. ; cf. Mel. d'avckeol., III., 269 seq.


out the decrees of the Council to the letter, and especially 

the duty of residence. Turning to the Cardinals who were 

the Protectors of the various countries, the Pope said that they 

must seek for nothing for themselves or their relatives, but 

must be willing to meet the wishes of the princes in so far as 

they did not run counter to the Council and the work of 

reform. His own policy would be directed to nothing but 

the maintenance of peace among Christian princes, the 

extirpation as far as possible of heresy, and the obtaining 

of help against the Turks. Pius V. then listened patiently 

to the petitions of all the Cardinals, and granted them as far 

as possible, though he observed that it was not in keeping 

with the dignity of Cardinals that they should approach the 

Pope ten at a time ; they should seek an audience singly, and 

he would willingly receive them at any hour. The poorer 

Cardinals must come to him for help without any hesitation.^ 

From the first the new Pope gave signal proof of his inde- 

pendence in spiritual matters. His former brethren in religion, 

who made frequent appearances at the Vatican, were informed 

that they must remain in their own convents ; if his Holiness 

had need of them, he would send for them.^ Pius V. showed 

in like manner that he intended to be free from the influence 

of the Theatines and the Jesuits.^ He told the Imperial 

ambassador, Arco, that he would gladly give help to Maxi- 

milian n. against the Turks, but that the Emperor must spare 

him any requests for concessions to the apostates, such as 

he had made to Pius IV. The Pope definitely refused the 

request of the ambassador that he would confer the red hat 

^ With the report in Legaz. di Serristori 420, cf. the * letter 

of C. Aldrovandi of January 12, 1566 (State Archives, Bologna), 

also *report of Arco of January 12, 1566, and that of G. Cusano of 

January 19, 1566 (State Archives, Vienna). Laderchi (1566, n. 

the wrong 

28), wrongly describes this meeting as a consistorium ; 

date given by him (January 11) is taken from the *Diarium of 

Firmanus [loc. cit.) p. 39b, Papal Secret Archives). 

^ See the two reports of *Arco of January 12, 1566, loc. cit. 

^ See in App. n. 3 the *Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, 

Vatican Library,

GROWING POPULARITY OF PIUS V. 69 

on Diego Lasso at the first consistor}', saying that his pre- 

decessor had already increased the number of the Sacred 

College overmuch, and had thereby lowered its dignity ; he 

added that he was not thinking of making any new Cardinals. ^ 

When he heard that Paulus Manutius had received back his 

house, Pius V. at once extended his favour to the Conservator!, 

and promised that he would not burden the people with 

extraordinary taxation, since he himself could manage with 

very little, when a piece of bread and two eggs were enough 

for him. On January 12th, 1566, the Pope's intention of 

naming three Cardinals to attend to political affairs was 

announced, for he wished to devote himself as far as possible 

to spiritual matters. From motives of economy, and because 

he was convinced that the Popes would always be protected 

by the hand of God, he gave orders for the disbanding of the 

light cavalry, with the exception of two companies ; 

his arms, 

he said, were the Holy Scriptures, and his defenders the sons 

of St. Dominic. 2 He would have liked to have done without 

any troops at all.^ 

Popular opinion, at first so unfavourable, soon changed 

completely. At a public meeting of the senate, it was resolved 

that all the civil officials should receive festal robes for the 

Coronation, which was fixed for the feast of St. Antony, the 

Pope's sixty-second birthday. In the procession on this 

occasion, from which the Spanish ambassador and Marcantonio 

Colonna were absent on account of the dispute about prece- 

dence, the Caporioni carried the Pope to the crj^pt of the 

^ See the two *reports of Arco of January 12, 1566, loc. cit. 

* See the *letter of Cusano of January 19, 1566 (State Archives, 

Vienna), cf. *Avviso di Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 

166, Vatican Library. The complete disbanding of the light 

cavalry, however, had to be suspended on account of the disturb- 

ances at Ascoli and the Turkish peril (*report of Cusano of January 

26, 1566, State Archives, Vienna) ; cf. the *Avviso di Roma of 

Februarj' 2, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 173, Vatican Library (see infra 

p. 103, n. 1). 

^ See the *letter of Arco of January 22, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna.

70 


Prince of the Apostles. The coronation w;is performed by 

Cardinals Rovere and del Monte in front of St. Peter's, upon 

a tribune in full view of the great crowds of people, and which 

had been adorned with allegorical pictures. Filled with 

enthusiasm, the people cried : " Viva Pio V. ! 

" The cere- 

mony was so long that night was falling when the Cardinals 

went to the coronation banquet, which had been made ready 

in the apartments of Innocent VIII. The banquet was on a 

splendid scale, but not unduly lavish ; indeed the service 

and arrangements were somewhat deficient considering the 

number of the guests. The Pope himself ate as little as if he 

had been in the refectory of his own convent. " God grant," 

so runs a report from Rome, " that he may be preserved to 

us, because so far he has shown himself to be a true Vicar 

of Christ."^ 

At the coronation of Pius IV., several persons had been 

crushed to death in the crowds ; the new Pope, therefore, 

did not have money scattered among the people, but sent 

instead large alms to the poor and the religious houses. His 

first act after his coronation, and one which was in itself a 

sign of his strict views, was to give orders for the dismissal 

from the Vatican of Doctor Buccia, the court jester of Pius 

IV. 2 In 1567 the custom of celebrating the anniversary of 

the coronation by a state banquet was abolished, and the 

money which would have been spent was distributed to the 

poor.^ 

" The Pope," thus begins an account of the solemn ceremony 

^ *Avviso di Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. i66b-i67, 

Vatican Library, and C. Firmanus, *Diarium, in Miscell., Arm. 

XII., 31, p. 40b seq.. Papal Secret Archives, C/. App. n. 4. 

" See the *report of Cusano of January 19, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. According to the *Avviso di Roma of January 19, 1566 

(Urb. 1040, p. 166, Vatican Library), Buccia was a s'Mavone. 

For his life see Constant, Rapport, 222 seq. Naturally Pius V. 

did not wish to have anything to do with actors ; 

lett. Ital., LXIII., 298 seq. 

see Giorn. d. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of January 18, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 350, 

Vatican Library,. Cf. Cancellieri, Possessi, no.

FIRST REFORM MEASURES. 7 

of taking possession of the Lateran, whicli took place on 

January 27th, 1566, " perseveres in his holy life, and shows 

himself a true Vicar of Christ. The Romans love him as a 

father. On his way to the Lateran they hailed him with 

such manifestations of joy as have not been seen for ten 

pontificates." The news went round that as he was leaving 

his apartments he had patiently stopped to listen to a man 

who was seeking justice, saying that such simplicity delighted 

him. When, during the procession, he caught sight of his 

old school-fellow, Francesco Bastone, who had come from 

Alessandria, Pius V. called him to his side, and in grateful 

memory of the help which his father had once given him, 

appointed him Keeper of the Castle of St. Angelo. This][act 

showed all Rome from what a lowly family the Pope 

had come. It is a wonderful thing, wrote a diplomatic 

agent of the Emperor, that this man, who once tended the 

flocks, should now have become the chief shepherd of 

Christendom."* 

Four days before the taking possession of the Lateran, a 

consistory had been held, at which the Pope announced certain 

reforms for the clergy and people of Rome. A special com- 

mission of Cardinals was appointed for the reform of the 

secular clergy ; this was composed of Borromeo, Savelli, 

Alciati and Sirleto, and they were to inquire into the learning, 

life and morals of all priests. On this occasion the Pope 

exhorted the Cardinals to watch carefully over their households, 

and told them that he had abohshed the right of sanctuary, 

since justice must be able to lay its handj.upon the guilty 

everywhere, even in the Apostolic Palace. The bishops were 

reminded of the duty of residence, from which only those 

were to be exempt who, like the Datary, were directly employed 

^ See in App. n. 5 the *letter of Cusano of February 2, 1566, 

State Archives, Vienna. Cf. the *Avviso di Roma of Februr.ry 2, 

1566, Urb. 1040, p. 172, Vatican Library; Firmanus in Can- 

CELLiERi, III, seq. ; Rodocanchi, St. Angc, 170, and Capitole, 

113 ; Bruzzone in Riv. di Alessandria, XIV. (1905), 378 seq., 

where there are other instances of favours conferred by Pius V. 

on his compatriots.

72 


at the Papal court. ^ The Pope had reformed the Dataria 

immediately after his election. ^ At the beginning of February 

he also undertook the reform of the Signatura, the personnel 

of which was substantially reduced.^ Since no record could 

be found of many of the expenses of Pius IV., the late Pope's 

treasurer, Minale,* was called to account, and being found 

guilty, was condemned to the galleys for life.^ Under pain 

of excommunication, a motu proprio demanded from all the 

Cardinals a list of the revenues and benefices which they had 

received from Pius IV., since, so the new Pope declared, he 

did not wish to help rich Cardinals.^ 

The zeal with which Pius V. devoted himself to the sittings 

of the congregations, especially that of the Inquisition, and to 

giving audiences, knew no bounds.'' Every Sunday and 

Thursday he gave public audiences, when the poor people were 

given precedence. The patience which the Pope showed in 

listening to their complaints restrained the officials from any 

act of injustice, while it inspired the Romans with enthusiasm. 

It is said that on these audience days the Pope would listen 

to the people who presented themselves, without leaving his 

^ See the *report of Arco of January i6, 1566, and *that of 

Cusano of January 26, 1566, both in State Archives, Vienna. 

" See in App. n. 3 the *Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, 


^ See the ^letters of Cusano of February 2 and 16, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna. 

* See the *report of Cusano, March 16, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* See the *Avvisi di Roma of Septtmber 27, 1567, June 19 and 

Sept. 25, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 442, 527, 584, Vatican Library, 

and the *report of Arco of November 29, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna. Minale died in prison at Ostia ; see *Avviso di Roma 

of July 13, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 109, Vatican Library. 

* See the *reports of Arco and Cusano of February 16, 1566, 

State Archives. Vienna. 

' Concerning these audiences Arco wrote on February 23, 1566, 

that Pius V. granted them *" omni studio omnique conatu etiam 

supra vires " State Archives, Vienna.

INFLUENTIAL CARDINALS. 73 

throne, for ten hours at a time.^ He earnestly impressed upon 

the Conservator! the duty of seeing to a regular supply of 

provisions, and promised them every assistance in this respect, 

saying that if it were necessary he was ready to give them 

an audience at any time. He showed special marks of 

honour to the Cardinals, and when they came for an audience 

he made them remain covered, and begged them to be 

seated, which had not been customary in the time of Pius 

IV. 2 

At first the Cardinal who had the greatest influence was 

Alessandro Farnese, who had effected the election of Pius V., 

and was specially experienced in political affairs. As it was 

precisely in this respect that Pius V. lacked knowledge, he was 

all the more ready at the beginning of his pontificate to avail 

himself of that of Farnese ; it was thought that the latter 

would in this way pave the way for himself to the supreme 

dignity.^ 

Besides Farnese, Pius V. entrusted the direction of political 

matters to Cardinals Vitelli, Rebiba and Reumano, the 

administration of justice to Capizuchi, Niccolini and Gambara, 

and matters connected with benefices to Scotti, Rebiba and 

Reumano. Archbishop Marcantonio Maffei was appointed 

Datary.'* Of those who obtained positions of influence and 

^ Cf. the *letter of Cusano of January 26, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna, and the *Avviso di Roma of February 24, 1566, Urb. 

1040, p. 183b, Vatican Library. See also Catena, 28. 

" See the *report of Cusano of January 26, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna {infra, p. 152). 

^ The Pope, *wrote Serristori on Janu:.ry 8, 1566, hands over 

all memorials to Cardinal Farnese " essendo quello che adesso 

governa tutto " (State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3591). Farnese, 

reports Cusano on January 26, 1566, has a say in all important 

matters *" e in vero S-S-Ill*^' e quella che da la norma a tutti 

come meglio instrutta delle cose di governo di stati ch'ogno'altro 

cardinale et fino a qui tutto si e fatto con sua consulta." (State 

Archives, Vienna). Cf. Legaz. di Serristori, 421. 

* See the *Italian report of Arco of January 12, 1566, State 

Archives Vienna.

74 


authority, the majority were men belonging to the school of 

Paul IV. 1 

At first Pius V. was unwilling to have a Cardinal nephew 

to assist him. In the place of Tolomeo GaUi, who had been 

very influential during the last year of Pius IV., he appointed 

as segretario ivtimo his former secretary, Girolamo Rusticucci,^ 

whom he knew and valued as a man of few words, a retiring 

disposition, and entirely devoted to him.^ He entrusted the 

direction of his correspondence, and the carrying out of his 

orders, which was equivalent to making him Secretary of 

State, to a man of the strict school of Carafa, Cardinal 

Reumano,^ who occupied Borromeo's apartments in the 

Borgia Tower, ^ but the Pope retained the real control of the 

government in his own hands. His consciousness of his great 

^ *" Et in questi principii tutte le creature di Paolo IV. pre- 

tendono assai et si vede chiaramente che N.S^® le abbraccia." 

Caligari to Commendone from Rome, January 9, 1566, in Lett, di 

princ, XXIII., p. 73b, Papal Secret Archives. The majordomo, 

B. Cirillo, was also a " creatura di Paolo IV " ; see *report of 

Serristori of January 8, 1566, State Archives, Florence, Medic.3591. 

2 See ToRNE, Pt. Gallio, 48 sea. With Rusticucci were as- 

sociated the two secretaries of brief

INFLUENTIAL CARDINALS. 75 

position, and of the fact that he had never had any ulterior 

ends, gave Pius V. a great freedom of action, which from 

time to time showed itself in altogether unexpected decisions. 

And since this only came to be understood by degrees,^ the 

diplomatists at first tried to guess which of the Cardinals 

would attain to the greatest influence.^ For their part the 

Cardinals were filled with the deepest jealousy of Reumano. 

Pius V. was accustomed to give his confidence only to those 

who sought nothing for themselves.^ He very soon discovered 

that the ambitious Farnese thought more of his own interests 

than of those of the Church,* and his opinion of the dis- 

interestedness of Vitelli, whom he still trusted at the beginning 

of February,^ was also soon destroyed, and therefore Pius V. 

^ From a*report of Serristori of February 7, 1567, (State Archives. 

Florence, Medic. 3287, p. 40), it is clear with what dislike the Car- 

dinals viewed the independence of Pius V. On June 19, 1568, 

Cusano *reports that the Cardinals were complaining of the strictness 

of the Pope ; on July 10 he *announces that the Pope 

decides all important matters himself, and that only matters 

of small importance are raised in the consistory (State Archives, 

Vienna). In an *Avviso di Roma of January 4, 1570, we read : 

*" Le resolutioni cosi repentine del Papa fanno suspettare tutta 

la corte che si habbia da fare una promotione all'improviso senza 

saputa d'alcuno." Urb. 1041, p. 204b. Ibid, an *Avviso di 

Roma of May 13, 1570 : *" L'impenetrabil mente del Papa " 

causes the most divergent rmours in the court concerning a 

nomination of Cardinals. Vatican Library. 

" When Cardinal Scotti was assigned apartments in the Vatican, 

Cusano (*letter of March 2, 1566, State Archives, Vienna) was of 

opinion that he would attain to the most influential position. 

The Florentines were afraid of the influence of Farnese, and 

were working against him ; see Legaz. di Serristori, 421, 423 

seq. HiLLiGER, 151. 

" See the *letter of CaUgari to Commendone of February 2, 

1566, in Lett, di princ, XXIII. , n. 88, Papal Secret Archives. 

* *" S'intende che Farnese s'andava apparechiando la via al 

papato il che venuto alle orechie del Papa ha detto che fa male 

et che ce lo farti intendere." Arco on February 16, 1566, State 


* See the *letter of Caligari mentioned in n. 3.

y6 


found himself constrained to call to his assistance one of his 

relatives, in whom he thought that he could put absolute 

confidence. To have done this must have cost him a con- 

siderable effort, for he hated nothing so much as any kind 

of nepotism. When, during the first days of his reign, he was 

reminded that he ought to promote his relatives, he had replied : 

" God has called me to be what I am, in order that I may serve 

the Church, and not that the Church might serve me."^ 

He sent word to one of his relations, who had come to Rome 

without his knowledge at the end of January, that he must 

go away at once. ^ Two sons of Domenica Bonelli, the daughter 

of the Pope's sister, Gardina Bonelli, were inmates of the 

Germanicum, and studying under the Jesuits ;^ Pius V. sent 

them word through the rector that they Mere to go on with 

their studies, and that he would take care of them if they 

remained hidden and humble, but that they must not expect 

great things from him.^ 

While he was still a Cardinal, Pius V. had sent yet a third 

1 *Avviso di Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 166, 

Vatican Library. Cf. Caraccia in Laderchi, 1566, n. 34. 

^ See *Avviso di Roma of January ,1566, Urb. 1040, p. 170b, 

Vatican Library, and the *letter of Caligari of January 26, 1566, 

loc. cit., Papal Secret Archives. 

^ Gardina married first Marcantonio Manlio, and secondly 

Bartolomeo Gallina. She died in 1548. Cf. Bruzzone in Riv. 

di Alessandria, X., 2 (1901), 27. See also *Diversi appunti 

e notizie d. famiglia Bonelli, in the Bonelli Archives in the Villa 

Le Selve near Signa (Tuscany). In these archives, of which 

Prof. Dengel was the first to make use, the acta from the earlier 

Bonelli archives in Rome are not to be found, as was to have 

been expected from the date of Laderchi and Garampi. [In the 

Barberini Library (now in the Vatican Library), not only the 

codices 3615 and 3638 (see Serrano, Corresp. dipl. I., XXIX., 

but also 3613, 3614, 3635, 3636, 3637, come from the Archives of 

Cardinal Michele Bonelli, and the numbers by which Laderchi 

quotes them are still visible, though very imperfectly.] 

* See *Avviso di Roma of February 24, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 

185b, Vatican Library. Cf. Pqlanci Epist., in Anal. Bolland., 

VII., 61 ; Steinhuber, P, 62.

MICHELE BONELLI. "]"] 

son of Domenica Bonelli, named Antonio, to study at the 

Germanicum. This man had followed in his uncle's footsteps, 

and had entered the Dominican order, taking the name of 

Michele. At the time of the Pope's election this great-nephew, 

who was then twenty-live years of age, was studying at 

Perugia. At the very commencement of the pontificate it 

was said in Rome that Michele Bonelli would be made a 

Cardinal,^ and indeed, on March 6th, 1566, he was received 

into the Sacred College. ^ The Pope had only allowed himself 

to be persuaded to take this step at the urgent request of all 

the Cardinals and the Spanish ambassador, who pointed out 

to him the necessity of the appointment of a trustworthy 

confidant for the carrying out of his many duties.^ 

Cardinal Alessandrino, as Bonelli was called, remained. 

1 *Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, Vatican Library. See 

App. n. 3. In his *report of February 27, 1566, C. Aldrovandi 

describes Michele Bonelli as " giovane di buoni costumi." State 

Archives, Bologna. 

^ At first Bonelli stayed for some days in secret in the Dominican 

convent at the Minerva ; 

he presented himself at the Vatican for 

the first time on March 2 ; see the *letter of Cusano of March 2, 

1566, State Archives, Vienna, and the *Avviso di Roma of March 

2, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 187b, Vatican Library. Ihid. 185b, an 

Avviso di Roma of Februr.ry 24, 1566, according to which the 

envoy from Alessandria asked for the promotion of the Pope's 

nephew. The college of jurists at Alessandria also sent a special 

mission ; 

see Riv. d' Alessandria, XV., 483. 

^ For the nomination of Michele Bonelli on March 6, 1566, c/., 

besides Legaz. di Serristori, 424, and Tiepolo in Torne, 241 seq., 

the *reports of Babbi of March 5 and 7, 1566 (State Archives, 

Florence), the P.S. to the *report of Arco of March 5, with the 

account of the consistory of March 6, 1566 (State Archives, Vienna), 

and the report of F. Borgia to the Jesuit rector at Genoa on 

March 8, 1566, in Suau, II., 129 seq. See further Corresp. de 

Granvelle ed. Poullet, II., 154 

; Ciaconius, III., 1029 seq. ; 

LiTTA,, 80 ; Mazzuchklli, II., 3, 1593 ; Gulik-Eubel, 47 

Cardella, v., no seq. For the tomb of Bonelli see Berthier, 

Minerve, 259 seq. His portrait by Scipione Pulzone in Cosmos 

illusir., 1904, 25.

yS HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

by the Pope's desire, a member of the Dominican order ; he 

was given as his titular church, that of the Order, S. Maria 

sopra Minerva, with apartments in the Vatican,^ where he 

was very soon initiated into official business.^ It was his 

duty to direct the affairs of the Pontifical States,^ but Car- 

dinals Reumano and Farnese were associated with him as his 

advisers in matters concerning the foreign princes, though 

in such a way that they were to work under his orders.^ 

Reumano fell ill at the end of April, and, to the Pope's 

great sorrow, he died on the 28th of that month,'' so that the 

sole charge of affairs fell upon the shoulders of Bonelli, all the 

more so as since March, Farnese and Vitelli had gradually 

fallen into the background.^ 

^ The " Stanza nella galeria di Belvedere " reports an *Awise 

di Roma of March 9, 1566, which also states " fra pochi di fara 

facende come nepote." (Urb. 1040, p. 191, Vatican Library). 

Afterwards Alessandrino moved to the apartments of Borromeo ; 

see the *report of Arco of May 5, 1566. State Archives, Vienna. 

Âlessandrino, *reports Arco on March 16, 1566, has begun to 

attend the Consulta and the congregations ; 

he signs many letters ; 

it is thought that he will shortly have the government in his 

hands ; he has, however, only received 1000 scudi as salary 

(State Archives, Vienna). Cf. Serristori in Torne, 50, *Avvis6 

di Roma of March 16 and 23, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 194b, 197 (Vatican 

Library), and the *report of Arco of March 23, 1566, which makes 

mention of a brief giving the nephew power to take charge of 

the affairs of the Papal States. Alessandrino, *says Cusano on 

March 30, 1566, takes part in everything, although he has not got 

the same authority as has previously been enjoyed by the Pope's 

nephews. State Archives, Vieina. 

* See the *report of Arco of March 23, 1566. State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* See the postscript to the *report of Francis von Thurm, dated 

Venice, April 6, 1566 (State Archives, Vienna), and the *Avviso di 

Roma of April 6, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 203, Vatican Library. 

^ With Corresp. dipL, L, 2i7n. cf. the *report of Cusano of 

May 4, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ *" Farnese e Vitelli hanno perduto in fatto I'autorita " writes 

Serristori on April i, 1566, State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3592. 

On March 27, 1,566, C. Luzzara reports : *" U card. Alessandrino

SPIRITUAL ARMS OF THE POPE. 79 

Vitelli had become troublesome to the Pope because he 

wished to interfere in everything, and also because he was 

too intimate with Cardinal Boneili.^ He and Farnese were 

both of them too different in character from the Pope ever 

to be trusted advisers ; 

an example of the great divergence 

of their points of view may here be given. 

At the beginning of his pontificate Pius V. understood in 

such a literal sense the protection which Our Lord had promised 

to his Vicar on earth, that he would have hked to have 

done away with all human means of defence. When Vitelli 

and Farnese pointed out to him that a fortress of such im- 

portance to the safety of the Papal States as Anagni ought 

to be put into a better state of repair, the Pope repUed that 

the Church had need of neither cannon nor soldiers. Her 

arms were prayer and fasting, tears, and the Holy Scriptures, 

and he would prefer to follow in the footsteps of those Popes 

who had defended the dignity of the Holy See by spiritual 

arms. Moreover, there was no reason to fear that the 

Spaniards would seize Anagni, since Philip H. was allied to 

both the Emperor and France, and all three would defend 

comincia ad havere tutte le facende o poco manco." (Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua). Cf. as to this the already quoted *report of 

Serristori, of April i, 1566. *" II card. Alessandrino fa hora le 

facende come fanno li nepoti de Papi et e in caj)ite et il card. 

Reumanio sta mal alia morte." (Awise di Roma of April 27, 

1566, Urb. 1040, p. 2i8b, Vatican Library). Bonelli received a 

monthly stipend of 100 ducats (see ibid. p. 235b.). Later on his 

revenues were greatly increased, so that he was able to help his 

brothers, towards whom the Pope showed himself very reserved 

(see TiEPOLO, 177). On December 12, 1568, BoneUi became camer- 

lengo, but resigned the office on May 10, 1570, in favour of L. 

Cornaro for 70,000 scudi, which Pius V. seized for the Turkish 

war ; the nephew was compensated with the abbey of S. Michele 

at Chiusi, and the priorate of the Knights of Malta. See 

Cakdella, v., Ill ; cf. Garampi, 269. 

1 Thus *reports Cusano on March 16, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. When, a year later, VitelU's schemes to obtain the tiara 

for Este were discovered, Vitelli fell into complete disgrace ; see 

thft *report pf Arco of May 3 and June 7, 1567, ibid.

8o HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

the rights of the Apostohc See. Neither would Pius V. 

hear of keeping up the artillery, leaving this matter to the 

care of the citizens of Anagni. After this the Cardinals, 

as Cusano wrote, were convinced that if the Pope lived a long 

time he would get rid of all his troops, and would even do 

away with the Swiss Guard. 

Pius V. was but ill-satisfied with the way in which the 

Commission of State, which was at first composed of Farnese, 

Reumano, Rebiba and Vitelli, carried out its duties, and he 

added Granvelle to their number, which did not at all please 

the other four, Vitelli at once resigned, and Farnese thought 

of doing likewise ; it was generally thought that he would 

leave Rome so as to avoid an open quarrel.^ 

The importance of Bonelli's position was externally mani- 

fested by the fact that in May, 1566, he took possession of the 

apartments in the Borgia Tower vacated by the death of 

Reumano, and which were usually occupied by the Cardinal 

nephew.^ Cardinal Bonelli familiarized himself with his 

duties more quickly and far better than most people had 

expected.'* He was not, however, a personality of any great 

weight, for which reason the Pope did not allow him to do 

anything of importance without his consent.^ The same 

thing held good throughout the pontificate. The influence 

of the Cardinals tended to grow less as Pius V. realized that 

many of them were dependent upon the princes, and were 

^ *Report of Cusano of March 23, 1566, ibid. Cf. supra p. 69. 

^ *Reports of Cusano of March 30 and June 15, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna. For the complete disgrace into which Vitelli 

fell, see Herre, Papsttum, 152 seq. 

3 See the *report of Cusano of May 11, 1566. State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* According to the *report of Cusano of March 2, 1566 (State 

Archives, Vienna), Pius was in doubt, even then, whether Bonelli 

was fit for the duties of Secretary of State. Cf. Torne, 50. 

* See Tiepolo, 175-176 ; cf. Corresp. dipl., IV., 377. According 

to the *report of Strozzi of November 15, 1566, Bonelli said in com- 

plaint : " gh altri [nipoti] havevano autoritk dal Papa et ia 

non n'ho alcuna." State Archives, Vienna.

PIUS V. AND THE CARDINALS. 8l 

working for their own selfish ends ; his want of confidence 

in them became so great that he often acted in direct con- 

tradiction to their advice.^ 

In spite of his spirit of independence, ^ Pius V. did not 

altogether despise good advice, though he only made much 

account of those who belonged to the strict school, such as 

Scotti, Rebiba, Sirleto, Capizuchi, Mula, Dolera, Simonetta, 

Alciati,^ and Commendone, who for a time held the first 

place among the Pope's confidants.^ Granvelle, too, counted 

for a good deal from the first. ^ Later on Cardinal Chiesa 

took an important share with Bonelli in the work of ad- 

ministration.,^ The advice of Morone was especially sought 

1 See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 87. 

2 *" Vuol intendere tutte le cose Lei," wrote Serristori on 

April I, 1566. State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3592. 

3 These had apartments in the Vatican ; 

see *Nota di tutte le 

stantie de Palazzo et chi I'habita questo di 3 de Marzo, 1566, 

Varia Poht., LXXIX., 218 seq., Papal Secret Archives. A 

*letter from Rome of September 28, 1566, names Morone, Dolera, 

Rebiba, Gambara and Bonelli as the Cardinals of the greatest 

influence (State Archives, Vienna). Cf. the *letter of Strozzi of 

October 5, 1566, concerning Pius V.'s leaning to Sirleto {ibid). The 

influence of Rebiba is again mentioned in May, 1570 ; see 

VoiNOViCH, 554. 

* *" Commendone e hoggi il primo cardinale della corte et 

quello a cui il Papa crede piu che ad alcun altro " says B. Pia in a 

letter from Rome on Febru iry 7, i567,Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

Cf. ScHWARZ, Briefwechsel, 48, and the *report of Strozzi of 

February 8, 1567 (" Ha [il Papa] per molto favorito il card. Commendone," 

and often calls for his advice), State Archives, Vienna. 

After the nomination of Chiesa as Cardinal *Cusano states on 

May I, 1568, that Commendone was " caduto assai del favor del 

Papa." Ibid. 

" *" II card. Granvella e stimato assai dal Papa et e chiamato a 

tutte le consulte per le cose di Germania." Arco, March 30, 1566, 


« See *Avviso di Roma of April 3, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 499b, 


VOL. XVII 

6

82 


in political affairs, ^ as well as in matters of reform, in the 

carrying out of which Pius made use of such distinguished 

men as Ormaneto and Giovanni Oliva.^ For the conduct of 

all political affairs which concerned the princes, he appointed 

a congregation at the beginning of November, 1566, composed 

of Cardinals Morone, Farnese, Mula, Granvelle and Com- 

mendone.^ The Pope had also a high opinion of the Datary, 

Maffei. 

At the end of 1566 a well-informed correspondent gave it 

as his opinion that anyone could get an introduction to the 

Pope through his more intimate friends, but that to get 

any important business transacted it was necessary to have 

recourse to Cardinal Bonelli and the secretary, Rusticucci, 

through whose hands all business passed.* Yet Pius V. 

was not altogether dependent upon them ; in order to make 

it quite clear that his nephew did not exercise any undue 

influence over him, the Pope often found fault with him, 

^ The *Avviso di Roma of March 23, 1566, relates that the Pope 

had kept Morone in Rome because he thought " haver bisogno 

de pari suoi qua et lo stima et honora assai " (Urb. 1040, p. 197, 

Vatican Library). In his *report of May 29, 1566 (Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua), C. Luzzara remarks how much weight Morone 

had with the Pope. Zuniga also, in his letter of Decjmb>.r 29, 

1570, witnesses to Morone's influence in political matters, Corresp. 

dipl., IV., 156. Cf. also on this point the *Avviso di Roma of 

July 7, 1571. State Archives, Naples, C. Fames, 763. 

2 See the " Informatione," etc., in Anal. Bolland., XXXIII., 

188 seq., 194 seq. 

^ *" Creo una congregazione di 5 cardinali che attendano alle 

cose con li principi che sone," etc. *Avviso di Roma of 

November 9, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 318b, Vatican Library. 

* See " Informatione," etc., loc. cit. which brings out very fully 

the distinction between the old and the new confidants of the 

Pope, which continued to exist (see Mitteilungen des osterr. Instit., 

XIV., 544), and their relative position. Rusticucci obtained the 

rights of Roman citizenship (see Lanciani, IV., 23) and even 

though he accepted gifts, he managed to keep in favour with 

Pius V. (see Tiepolo, 175). For the majordomo of Pius V., 

Franc, de Reinoso, cf. Corresp. dipl., IV., li. seq.

CARDINAL BONELLI. 83 

and especially exhorted him to a strict and retired life. When 

he heard that the Cardinal often went out to the vigna, though 

in a perfectly innocent way, and in the company of ecclesi- 

astics, he reproached him, and held up before him as an 

example his own conduct when he was a young man.^ He 

himself selected the members of Bonelli's household, and 

limited their number, and he expressly forbade his nephew 

the use of silk attire and silver plate. ^ In a letter to Hosius 

on November 2nd, 1566, Francis Borgia relates how the Pope, 

when making a chance visit to Bonelli's apartments, noticed 

some silk hangings, and ordered their immediate removal. 

Later on he desired his nephew to live, not as a Cardinal 

but as a religious.^ From the first the stipend allotted to 

Bonelli was very small, and when the Cardinal asked the 

Pope to allow him some of the spoglie from Spain, Pius V. 

was very angry, and his wrath was even greater when he 

learned that it was Cardinal Vitelli who had given him this 

advice ; 

the Pope then forbade his nephew to have anything 

whatever to do with the said Cardinal. The scene was .such 

a violent one that Bonelli was made quite ill b}^ it.'' 

^ *" Havendo il Papa inteso che il card. Alessandrino andava 

troppo speso alle vigne et parendoli vita troppo licentiosa, gli ha 

commesso che non parta piu di Palazzo et che piglia esempio della 

vita de S.S**^ quando anco era giovane." (*Avviso di Roma of 

June 22, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 245b, Vatican Library). Cf. the 

report of Cusano of June 8, 1566, State Archives, Vienna, and 

the *letter of Caligari to Commendone of July 13, in Lett, di princ, 

XXIIL, n. 12, Papal Secret Archives, and that of July 20, 1566, 

in Anal. Bolland., XXXIIL, 210, n. i. 

2 See Laderchi, 1566, n. 37 ; cf. the *report of Babbi, March 13, 

1566, State Archives, Florence, and the *Avvisi di Roma of 

September 28 and October 26, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 289b, 311b, 


^ See SuAU, IL, 130 ; cf. Mutinelli, L, 50. See also *Avviso 

di Roma of May 3, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 390, Vatican Library. 

^ See the *reports of Arco and Cusano of May 18, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna. Ibid, a *report of Cusano of December 2, 

156S, according to which Bonelli's revenues, which at first only 

amounted to 3,000 to 4,000 scudi, were considerably increased.

84 


His other relations were treated with equal severity. 

Bonelli's father, who came to pay a visit to this son of his 

who had climbed so high, received orders to go back home 

as quickly as possible.^ The Cardinal's mother was only 

able to go to him at night, for Pius V. would not hear of such 

vanities as a public reception. ^ When Bonelli's sister mar- 

ried, she only received a small dowry, and in the same v/ay 

all his other relatives, whose hopes had run high, were com- 

pletely disillusioned. The Pope saw to it that they had a 

modest competence and could live decently ; he educated 

their sons with the Jesuits, but he did no more for them, 

and kept them at a distance as much as possible.^ 

Pius V. made an exception in the case of Paolo Ghislieri, 

his brother's son, whom he redeemed from captivity with the 

Turks, and first sent back to his own country, but afterwards, 

since he was a capable soldier, summoned to Rome, and in 

May, 1567, appointed Captain of the body-guard, and 

Governor of the Borgo.* Paolo had already several times 

drawn down upon himself the severe censure of the Pope for 

1 *Avviso di Roma of October 5, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 295, 


2 *Avviso di Roma of October 4, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 445, ihid. 

' See in App. n. 3 the *Avviso di Roma of January 12, 1566, 

ibid. ; the *report of Cusano of March 30, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna ; the *letter of C. Luzzara of August 3, 1566, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua. Cf. Tiepolo, 178 ; Corresp. de Philippe II., 

I., 596 ; PoLANCi Epist. in Anal Bolland., VII., 52 seq. ; Moroni, 

XXX., 193 ; Bruzzone, Bosco, 140 seq. and Riv. di Alessandria, 

XIV. (1904), 382. Girolamo Ghislieri, who felt no vocation to 

the ecclesiastical state, had to go back to his brother Michele 

{cf. Steinhuber, Collegium Germanicum, I., 62) and later on 

became governor of the Borgo ; see *Avviso di Roma of November 

6, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 596, Vatican Library. For the subsequent 

fortunes of the Pope's family, see the detailed accounts in Riv. di 

Alessandria, X., 3 (1901), XIV. (1904), 396 seq. 

* With Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I. 5.^, seq., cf. the *Avvisi di Roma 

of October 5 and 12, 1566, April 19 and May 3, 1567 (Vatican 

Library) and the *letter of Arco of May 3, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna. Cf. also Gabutius, 230.

PAOLO GHISLIERL 85 

the pomp which he displayed,^ but when Pius V. caught 

him in a He, he very nearly banished him in disgrace, and the 

young man had the greatest difficulty in appeasing the angry 

Pope.- His displeasure was again aroused when Paolo, by 

his display of pomp, offended against a recently issued edict 

for the reduction of luxury. Not only did Pius V. punish 

the offence, but he forbade his nephew, since he could no 

longer trust him, to leave the Vatican after the Ave Maria.' 

When, later on, it was discovered that Paolo was leading an 

immoral life, his fate was irrevocably sealed ; the Pope had 

him called before him in a civil court, and then, without 

looking at his nephew, caused his sentence to be read aloud, 

which ran as follows : Paolo Ghislieri is to forfeit all his goods 

and revenues, and under pain of death is to leave the Vatican 

within two days, the Borgo within three, and the Papal States 

within ten.* Ever}^ attempt to get the sentence of banishment 

revoked was in vain, although several very distinguished 

persons intervened on his behalf, and the Pope absolutely 

refused to send any help to the outlaw, as he wandered about 

from country to country.^ 

^ Tiepolo, September 21, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., 56 seq. *Avvisi 

di Roma of June 14 and 21, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 403, Vatican 

Library. 

2 See the *Avvisi di Roma of April 17 and May i, 1568, Urb. 

1040, p. 502b, 510, Vatican Library. 

• ^ See *Avviso di Roma of September 11, 1568, Urb. 1040, 

P- 579b, Vatican Library, and the *report of Arco of the same 

date. State Archives, Vienna. 

* See C. FiRMANUS, *Diarium, October 22, 1568, Papal Secret 

Archives, the *Avvisi di Roma of October 20 and 26, 1568, Urb. 

1040. p. 587b, 588b, Vatican Library, and the *report of Arco 

of October 28, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ See the *Avvisi di Roma of December 18, 1568, Urb. 1040, 

p. 616 ; February 5, July 23, August 24, and October 8, 1569, 

Urb. 1041, p. 19b, 117b, 138, 162, Vatican Library. In 1571 

Paolo took part in the Turkish war. When he came back after 

the battle of Lepanto, he could not remain in Rome, nor did he 

receive any assistance from the Pope. In February, 1572, we 

find him in Naples, where he was assisted by Don Juan ; see

86 HISTORY OF THE POPES 

The Romans had many other opportunities of reahzing 

with what ruthless severity Pius V. punished moral offences. 

As early as January 19th, 1566, Caligari informed his friend 

Commendone of the publication of a stern edict against the 

immorality prevalent in Rome.^ At the consistory of January 

23rd the Pope spoke, not only of the need of reform 

among the clergy, but also of his intention of taking action 

against blasphemy and concubinage. ^ To give effect to 

this intention he issued, on April ist, 1566, an edict which 

imposed the severest penalties for the disturbance of divine 

worship, the profanation of Sundays and festivals, simony, 

blasphemy, sodomy and concubinage.^ In July, 1566, an 

ordinance was issued for the limitation of luxury in dress and 

of excessive lavishness in banquets,* which was followed 

*Avviso di Roma of February 23, 1572, Urb. 1042, p. 41, loc. cit. 

That the Pope's severity was justified is shown by the condemnation 

of Paolo to death for homicide in 1577. He died 

in 1596. See Bruzzone in Cosmos illustr., 1903, 141 ; 1904, 

61. 

1 *Lett. di princ., XXXIII., n. 77, Papal Secret Archives. A 

copy of the *Bando generale concernente il governo di Roma, 

dated January 15, 1566, is in the State Archives, Vienna, Varia 3. 

2 *Report of Arco of January 23, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ See Bull. Rom. VII., 434 seq. The edict ordered also " ut 

cadaverum capsae in ecclesiis super terram existentes amoveantur 

" a thing which had already been ordered by Paul IV. The 

penalties were quite in the draconian spirit of the Carafa Pope ; 

cf. Vol. XIV. of this work, 239 seq. 

* In the collection in the Papal Secret Archives and in the 

Casanatense Library in Rome there is no copy of the " Bando e 

riforma sopra le immoderare spese et pompa del vestire et de' 

conviti " which is spoken of in the *Avviso di Roma of May 25 

and June i, 1566 (Urb. 1040, p. 220. 231b, Vatican Library) ; the 

same is true of the Bando of January 15, 1566 (see supra n. i). 

A copy is preserved in the State Archives, Vienna, Varia 3, and 

bears the date June 28, 1566, but according to the *report of 

Cusano of July 6, 1566 (State Archives, Vienna) it was only 

published at the latter date.

RESTRAINT OF LUXURY. ^J 

in October, 1566, by another edict concerning dress. ^ In 

June, 1567, there came a special law against excessive pomp 

at marriages, and the ruinous inflation of marriage dowries 

and settlements.'- Special regulations were made against 

games on festival days,^ and against the spreading of reports 

that were libellous and treasonable by means of written broad- 

sheets.'* Scandal-mongers, Pius V. said, ought to be punished 

1 See " Bando sopra la reforma del vestire," dated October 4, 

1566, Editti in MiscelL, Arm. V., 60, p. 229, Papal Secret Archives ; 

cf. *Avviso di Roma of October 5, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 294, Vatican 

Library. On November 9, 1566, Strozzi reports as to its rigorous 

*" Gli sbirri sono andati nella contrada del Pelle- 

carrying out ; 

grino, ch'e delle principal! di Roma, et hanno spogliato le botteghe 

degli orefici di lavori d'oro, di gioie et di perle dicendo che sono 

contro la pragmatica." (State Archives, Vienna.) See also the 

*Avviso di Roma of June 14, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 403b, Vatican 

Library. Calvi in A^ Antologia, 142 (1909), 593, speaks of a tax 

of 1568 on the use of carriages by ladies. 

277. 

^ Bull. Rom., VIL, 596 seq. Cf. Rodocanachi, Institutions, 

* *" Ha fatto andar un bando sotto pene gravissime che veruno 

non giuochi queste teste." Strozzi on December 21, 1566. He 

also ^reports on December 28, 1566, an order to " dar corda " to 

certain persons for having gamed on a feast day. State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* As early as October 27, 1566, Carlo Stuerdo reports from Rome 

to the Duke of Parma : 

*" Qua vien minacciato di carcere quelli 

che scrivono a Venetia mille baiate." (State Archives, Naples, C. 

Farrês. 763). The severe constitution of March 17, 1572, in 

Bull. Rom., VIL, 969 seq. Cf. Arch. sior. d. Soc. Rom., I., 406, 

408 ; Hist.-pol. Blatter, XXXVIL, 574 seq. ; Ciampi. Innocenzo X., 

p. 254 ; 

Bertolotti, Giornahsti, astrologi, e negromanti in Roma, 

Florence, 1878, i. The partisan work of PiccA, I martiri del 

giornalismo nella Roma papale, Rome, 191 2 ; the author is 

ignorant of the celebrated collection of Avvisi in the Vatican 

Library. Thdre (Urb. 1041, p. 316b) an *Avviso di Roma of 

II papa e in colera con alcuni che hanno 

July 22, 1570, states : * ' 

fatte alcune pasquinate contro alcune persone da bene : 

will go badly with them. 

" it


as murderers.^ That long-established pest of Rome, the 

beggars, was to be dealt with,^ and in 1567 all vagrants^ 

and gypsies* were banished from the Papal States. The 

amusements of the Carnival were purged of all unseemliness, 

and no one was allowed to dress up as a woman or a religious. 

Bull-fights were altogether prohibited, and the races restricted 

to the Corso, because such things seemed unfitting in the 

Borgo, where the head of the Church resided.^ To what 

an extent these ordinances went into detail is shown among 

other things by the fact that shop-keepers and artisans 

were forbidden to make use of the images of the saints as 

signs. ^ 

The Fourth Council of the Lateran had already laid upon 

physicians the obligation of immediately urging the sick 

to receive the Sacraments, but this very necessary and well 

meant law had been but Uttle observed. For this reason 

^ See the *Avviso di Roma of January i, 1569, Urb. 1040, 

p. I, Vatican Library. 

2 The Pope wishes *" ridur i poveri mendicanti della citt^ in 4 

quartieri con farli proveder di vitto necessario accio non vadino 

vagabondi e disturbando, per le chiese le orationi et che i curati si 

piglino fatica di ammaestrarli a viver christianamente et a darli' 

li s. sacramenti a tempi debiti " (*Avviso di Roma of March 12, 

1569, Urb. 1041, p. 41, Vatican Library. Cf. Bull. Rom., VIL, 

436, and Tacchi Venturi, L, 394. 

^ See *Avviso di Roma of June 12, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 421, 

Vatican Library. Cf. the *report of Arco of January 24, 1568, 


* See *Avviso di Roma of September 20, 1567, Urb. 1040, 

p. 437. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of June 14, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 290b, 

according to which some gipsies were also sent at that time to the 

galleys. Vatican Library, 

* See in App. n. 26 the *report of B. Pia of Januaiy 22, 1567, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. For the action taken by Pius V. 

against actors see Catena, Lettere, 481. This evidence has been 

missed by E. Re in his article Commedianti a Roma nel sec. 

XVI., in Giorn. stov. d. lett. Ital., LXIIL, 298 seq. 

* See *Avviso di Roma of June 28, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 407, 

Vatican Library.

RULES FOR PHYSICIANS. 89 

several provincial synods had made strict regulations on the 

subject. A synod held at Ravenna in 1311 had ordered 

doctors to withhold their services from the sick to whom 

they were called until they had first seen to the salvation of 

their souls. A synod held at Tortosa in 1429, and the pro- 

vincial synod held by Charles Borronieo at Milan in 1565 

had made similar laws. Fired with zeal to promote in every 

possible way, and by everj^ possible means, the spiritual wel- 

fare of all Christians, Pius V. returned to the attack, and on 

March 8th, 1566, issued a constitution which laid down that 

every physician who was summoned to a sick person who was 

confined to his bed was before everything else bound to exhort 

him to receive the sacrament of penance, and to suspend his 

visits after three days unless a confessor had attested in 

writing that the confession had been made, or else that for 

some good reason an extension of the time had been allowed.^ 

In spite, however, of the severe penalties imposed for the nonobservance 

of this regulation, it did not meet with much 

success. 2 

It is not surprising that so strict a Pope should have waged 

war against public immorahty in Rome, and should have 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 430 seq. ; cf. Kober in Tiih. Theol. Quarial- 

schrifi, LV., 660 seq. The extract in Ranke, Papste, P, 233, is 

partly inexact. An *Avviso di Roma of March 19, 1569, records 

the severe ordinance against doctors who gave persons in good 

health permission to eat meat on fasting days (Urb. 1040, p. 37b). 

Cf. in Urb. 1042, p. 29b, the *Avviso di Roma of February 24, 

157 1, Vatican Library. 

^ Theologians and canonists of repute maintained the view that 

the rigorism of the ordinaces of Pius V. went too far, and they 

accordingly declared that when the malady was dangerous the 

doctor was not obUged to suspend his care and aid, and that in 

such a case the ordinance was not binding. Other theologians 

namely that the doctor was bound 

made yet another limitation ; 

to make his exhortation to the reception of the sacraments, not 

in every illness, but only in the case of those which were dangerous, 

or where the issue was doubtful. See Benedict XIV., Instit., 

XXII. ; Kober, loc. cit., 666 seq.

go HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

tried to put an end to the evils of prostitution.^ As a first 

step, at the end of June, 1566, all women of ill-fame were 

driven out of the Borgo by the police, and the Conservatori 

were ordered to find some segregated locality for the others 

who lived in various parts of the city. The Trastevere was 

thought of as a place for this' purpose. An edict published 

on St. Mary Magdalen's day, July 22nd, 1566, ordered that 

the more notorious prostitutes (cortegiane) were to be ex- 

pelled from Rome within six days, and within a further 

period from the Papal States, unless they preferred to marry 

or enter the convent delle Penitenti. This edict caused great 

anxiety in Rome ; many complained that such rigour would 

depopulate the city, and that many tradesmen, who had 

supplied goods to these people on credit, would suffer 

seriously. The customs authorities asked for a reduction 

of their tax by 20,000 ducats^ on the ground that the expulsion 

of these people would mean a great reduction in the importa- 

tion of dutiable goods. ^ The city council met and decided 

^ The police measures, as far as morals were concerned, which 

were taken by Pius V., dealt principally with the increase of 

as to this see what 

prostitution dating from the XVth century ; 

has been said in Vol. V. of this work 98 seqq. With Graf (Attraverso 

il Cinquecento, Turin, 1888, 269 seq., 281) and Rodocanachi 

(Courtisanes et Bouffons, Paris, 1894, 82 seq., 174) Bertolotti 

has treated of the matter specially fully (Repressioni straordinarie 

della prostituzione in Roma nel sec. XVI., Rome, 1887) ; he has 

published valuable reports from Mantua, but has been as little 

fair to Pius V. as Brosch (I., 242 seq.). Altogether apart from 

the undignified treatment of so serious a matter, the reproaches 

which they both make against Pius V. are quite unjustified. It 

may be admitted that the means adopted by Pius V. did not 

altogether attain the end in view, but it must be remembered 

that our age is still in as great a state of perplexity as to how to 

deal with the evil of prostitution, and it is still a matter of dispute 

whether the means finally adopted by Pius V. were right or wrong. 

That the Church has the right to work for the extirpation of prostitution 

by every tneans is brought out by Penck in the Hand- 

worterbuch der Staatswissenschaften, V., 296. 

^ Cf. the *Avvisi di Roma in App. nn. 16 to 25 Vatican Library.

PIUS V. AND IMMORALITY. 9I 

to send to the Pope a deputation of forty citizens to ask 

for the recall of the decree, which had alreadj' been put into 

force. The deputation—and they could have expected 

nothing else—met with a stern refusal.. Such shame, the 

Pope said, could not be tolerated in holy Rome ; he would 

rather change his residence to some other less tainted place. 

A written protest^ was equally unsuccessful, nor was even 

the intervention of the ambassadors of Spain, Portugal and 

Florence of any avail. 

Pius V. remained inexorable on the subject of the ex- 

pulsion of the more notorious courtesans. By August loth 

most of them had already left Rome, and others were pre- 

paring to do so, though many had been converted. The fact 

that some of those who had been expelled had been killed 

by highwaymen told in favour of those who were still in Rome. 

These were accordingly not expelled, but had to put a stop 

to their public disorders, and a segregated quarter was 

assigned to them near the Ripetta, which they were not to 

leave either by day or night under pain of a public whipping. 

By this severity Pius V. hoped to induce them either to 

leave Rome or to be converted. For this purpose special 

sermons were arranged for them, as was also done in the case 

of the Jews. On September 5th, 1566, a fresh order for the 

expulsion of those who were quite incorrigible was issued.^ 

^ See ibid. There are many copies in manuscript (Berlin, 

Royal Library ; Inf. polit., XII., 230 seq. ; Paris, Bibliotheque 

Nationale [see Marsand, I., 630, 757 

seq.], Mazarin Library, 

Cod. 1779, p. 220 seq.) of an " Epistola a N.S^® P. Pio V. nella 

quale si esorta S.S*'^' a tolerare in Roma gl'Hebrei at le cortegiane," 

dated August 13, 1566, printed in Rev. des etudes juives, July, 1892, 

which among other things elaborates the argument that, by 

driving out the aforesaid persons " V-S*-^ non havra poi chi 

ridurre al bene ne che punire al male." If he drives them out 

now, they may all be lost, whereas it might be possible to convert 

them if they remained ! 

" See the *letter of Arco, August 3, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

' See *Avvisi di Roma in App. nn. 16 to 25, and in Bertolotti,

92 


How deep seated this evil was is clear from the fact that 

during the whole of his reign Pius V. was forced to take 

action against it year after year. Prostitutes who had left 

their quarters were ^constantly whipped, and others expelled. 

A proof of the anxiety which the Pope felt for the conversion 

of these fallen women is to be found in the fact that in August, 

1567, he persuaded six elderly ladies to devote themselves 

to this difficult task.^ Those who returned to a better man- 

ner of life received large alms, so that they might not relapse 

into their former state. The segregation of the incorrigibles 

was made even more complete in the autumn of 1569 by the 

erection of walls and gates round their quarter, like the 

Ghetto.^ Lodgings were subjected to a very strict police 

supervision, and since this constantly gave rise to incon- 

venience, in 1570 all women under forty years of age, even 

though married, were forbidden to let rooms. 

The Pope watched over the sanctity of family life very 

carefully and nothing escaped his attention. Thus he forbade 

young girls from being employed as servants,^ while an 

loc. cit., lo-ii. In his *Diarium (Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 143) 

Firmanus states : *" Die dominica 24 [Novembris] fuit praedicatum 

in multis ecclesiis Urbis, vicinis habitationibus meretricum, 

de ordine rev°" vicarii Suae S*^^^ , et solum meretrices iverunt at 

non aliae personae." Papal Secret Archives. 

^ See the *Avvisi di Roma of 1567-1569 in App nn. 28-34, 53-57. 

60-65, Vatican Library. For the last years cf. Bertolotti, 

loc. cit. 13 seq., where, however, the dates are often wrong 

(p. 13 the Avviso di Roma of May ly belongs to 1571, as does that 

of July 14 on p. 14.). 

^ See the *Avviso di Roma of October 17, 1569, in App. 

nn. 60-65, Vatican Library. 

3*Avviso di Roma of September 9, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 339; 

" 20 donne " who 

ibid. 342b and *Avviso of September 20, 1570 : 

kept " camere locande," are imprisoned (Vatican Library). 

According to an *Avviso of September 9, 1570, in the State 

Archives, Vienna, it was ordered that the married women who 

let rooms must be at least 50 years of age. 

* See *Avviso di Roma of June 5, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 525. 

According to an *Avviso of July 12, 1567, the following edict was

PIUS V AND IMMORALITY. 93 

edict published in the autumn of 1566 forbade, under severe 

penalties, aU Romans who had houses of their own to frequent 

taverns.^ 

The many cases of adultery which occurred in Rome filled 

Pius V. with indescribable grief, and ever increasing indigna- 

tion ; from the beginning of his reign he did all he could 

to bring about a change in this respect. The many difficulties 

which he met with^ forced him to take more and more strict 

measures. A report of August 25th 1568 states : " The 

threat of the death penalty for adultery is expected, so that 

everyone will either have to become moral or leave the city."^ 

People were constantly imprisoned without consideration 

of rank.^ In September, 1568, a noble Roman lady who 

had been found guilty of adultery was imprisoned for 

issued : no young married woman may keep " camera locande " ; 

ibid. p. 418b, Vatican Library. 

^ " Bando che niuno habitante in Roma et borghi possa andare 

air hostaria con la prohibitione delli giuochi, baratterie et altre 

cose illecite," a very rare pamphlet of Ant. Bladus, Rome, 1566. 

The exact date of this order is seen from the *Diarium of Firmanus 

(October 3, 1566), Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 130b, Papal Secret 

Archives. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of October 5, 1566, Urb. 1040, 

p. 294, Vatican Library. According to the *letter of Arco of 

September 14, 1566, the Pope had spoken of the matter in con- 

sistory on the 14th. State Archives, Vienna. 

" *" II continue metter prigione le donne in questa cittk causa 

errori grandi," one has committed suicide. *Carlo Stuerdo 

to the Duke of Parma from Rome, October 27, 1566, State 

Archives, Naples, C. Fames. 763. Cf. also Bertolotti, loc. 

cit. II. 

* *" Qui s'aspetta de di in di con gran terrore, che esca una 

bolla contra li adulteri, la qual si dice sara terribilissima, et che 

le pene saran capitali, si che sara necessario, ch'ogn' huomo 

diventi buono 6 se risolva abbandonar questa patria." Urb. 

1040, p. 570b. Ibid. 440b an *Avviso di Roma of September 13, 

1567, according to which such a bull was already expected. Vatican 

Library. 

4 *Avviso di Roma of September 17, 1568, State Archives, 

Vienna ; another of August 13, 1569, in App. nn. 60-63,

94 


life.^ One of the richest and most respected bankers in Rome, 

the Sienese de Vecchi, having been convicted of adultery, was 

pubhcly whipped in December, 1568, " as a salutary example 

for the nobles," says the chronicler. ^ In the following year 

it was rumoured that the Pope intended to expel from Rome 

all married women who fell into this sin^, and this penalty 

was often inflicted after the culprit had been whipped for 

the first offence.^ In June, 1570, the Governor of Rome 

had great difficulty in dissuading the Pope from inflicting 

the death penalty for adultery, but at length Pius V. agreed 

that adulterers should be punished by whipping, imprison- 

ment, or banishment.^ 

The Pope watched over the morals of his own servants 

with a special strictness.^ The Governor of Anagni was be- 

1 *Avviso di Roma, of September 25, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 585 


^ *" Dicta die [veneris 3 decembris] fuit fustigatus per Urbem 

nobilis Senensis dominus de Vecchiis, qui fuerat ditissimus et 

superbissimus banchcrius, postea decoxerat et propter quaedam 

adulteria fuit carceratus per multos dies et tandem favoribus non 

suffragantibus, sic mandante S°^° 1)^° N^", ad exemplum delinquentium 

nobilium, fuit, ut dixi, per loca solita fustigatus/' 

(FiRMANUs, *Diarium, loc. cit., p. 272b. Papal Secret Archives). 

Cf. Bertolotii, loc. cit, 11. 

' Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 80 seq. 

^ Soriano in Brosch, I., 243. In the lace of Pius V.'s strong 

sense of justice, one can only treat as uncalled for Brosch's remark, 

" We do not know what sort of proofs of this crime were obtained.' 

^ See the report of Capilupi of June 26, 1570, in Bertolotti, 

loc. cit. 12. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of June 28, 1570, Urb. 1041, 

P. 296 Vatican Library. 

" Giulio Orsini for example was forced to send away his con- 

cubine ; see the *reports of Arco of March 30 and April 4, 1566, 

State Archives, Vienna : 

*" Die XV. dicti mensis [ianuarii] 

pontifex creavit magistrum capelle r^^ dominum sacristam, qui 

eius pedes fuit osculatus, cui mandavit ut reformaret cantores, 

inter quos sciebat esse aliques concubinarios et discolos ; et 

verum dicebat." C. Firmanus, *Diarium in Miscall,, Arm. XII., 

31, p. 40, Papal Secret Archives,

PIUS V. AND IMMORALITY. 95 

headed in 1571 for violation.^ The Swiss Guards were forced 

to marry their concubines or leave them,^ and in order to 

effect a radical change among these old soldiers, Pius V. had 

sermons preached to them and their servants in their own 

language by a Jesuit.^ The cavalry were obliged to receive 

the sacraments regularly,^ and they were not allowed to go 

out in the evening without the permission of their captain. 

A list was kept of all who left the Vatican after dusk, and this 

the Pope caused to be submitted to him regularly.^ Women 

were not allowed to set foot in the Belvedere.^ 

Even unfriendly judges have recognised that Pius V. was 

actuated by the best intentions in his efforts to root out the 

moral evils of the day.' Very often his strictness was ex- 

cessive, because he punished with great severity, not only 

grave offences, but also smaller transgressions,^ so that the 

prisons were overcrowded.^ Moreover, looked at from the 

point of view of the evils that were actually stamped out, 

the results were far from satisfactory. This was due, among 

^ See the *report of Arco of August iSth, 157 1, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

2 See the *Avviso di Roma of June 5, 1568, Urb. 1040. p. 525, 

Vatican Library, and the *report of Arco of June 5, 1568, State 


^ PoLANCi Epist., in Anal. Bolland., VIL, 51. 

* See the *report of Arco of May 17, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

3 See *Avviso di Roma of September 25, 1568, Urb. 1040, 

P- 585, Vatican Library. 

*> *Avviso di Roma of June 12, 1568, ibid. 534. 

See Le Bret, VIII., 223. 

« See the *Avviso di Roma of October 20, 1568, Urb. 1040, 

P- 589, Vatican Library. 

« According to an *Avviso di Roma of August 31, 1566, the 

prison at Tor di Nona had already had to be enlarged on account 

of the number of prisoners (Urb. 1040, p. 278, Vatican Library). 

An undated *report of B. Pia in 1568 states that there were 1200 

persons in the prisons of Rome and " infinite donne." Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua.

96 


other things, to the peculiar character of Rome itself, as an 

international city, and one filled with foreigners.^ 

Knowing well that if any definite success was to be obtained 

the rising generation would have to be trained on better 

lines, Pius V. above all devoted himself to seeing that the 

young received systematic and easily mastered instruction 

in the truths of the Christian religion. In 1568 the parish 

priests of Rome were instructed to make it known to the 

faithful that they were bound, under grave penalties, to 

send their children on Sunday afternoons to the church for 

instruction in Christian doctrine, as had been laid down by 

the Council of Trent. ^ Wlien, later on, special associations 

were formed to assist the priests in this work, the Pope in 

1571 formed them into a regular confraternity called " della 

dottrina cristiana " enriched it with indulgences, and asked 

the bishops to set up similar confraternities everywhere.^ 

In this way a real improvement in moral conditions was 

bound gradually to be effected, and there is good evidence 

to show that this took place even during the life of Pius V.^ 

^ P. Tiepolo brings out this aspect of Rome in the introduction 

to his *report of 1569 ; see Cod. 6624, p. 317, Court Library, 

Vienna. 

^ See the *report of Arco of July 17, 1568, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ See Bull. Rom., VII., 945 seq. 

* P. Tiepolo, who says : " gli uomini, se non sono, almeon 

paiono migliori " (p. 172), also recognizes the change in Rome. 

This was already clearly to be seen in 1566 (see Pfleger, Eisengrein, 

50 seq. ; Braunsberger, Pius V., 108 seq.) *" Le teste " 

reports an *Avviso di Roma of January 3, 1568, " si non passate 

con prediche et altre divotioni, non s'e giocato in loco alcuno, 

prohibite le mancie, Hvree et ogni altra vanita." Urb. 1040, 

p. 446b. Ihid. December 4 

: the greater part of the people 

gained the Jubilee. Urb. 1041, p. i, January i, 1569 : 

*" Bandi 

sopra il gioco in queste feste assai ben osservati." In Urb. 1042, 

p. 48 (April 14, 1 571) there is mention of the extraordinary zeal 

with which the people frequented the churches in Holy Week 

(Vatican Library). Giulio Gabrielli of Guboio (died March iz,

" A WORLD-WIDE MONASTERY." 97 

Under the strict regime which had now been set on foot the 

Eternal City began to assume that pecuhar character, which 

has been given the name of the " world-wide monastery."^ 

^579) gave the following judgment : " Quis enim non videat, 

postquam ecclesiae gubcrnacalo Pius V. P.M. praepositus est, 

tantam et in urbe Roma et in aliis suae dictionis oppidis factam 

esse morum mutationem, ut libido in pudicitiam, luxuria in 

temperantiam, impietas denique, ipsius nomen sequuta, in pietatem 

versa videatur ? " (S. Gregorii Naz. Orationes tres, Antwerp 

1573. 1^63). Gianfrancesco Lombardo expresses himself in 

similar terms in a letter of November 11, 1568 ; see Cyprianus, 

484 seq. 

' The supposed intention of Pius V. to change Rome into a 

convent, was discussed by his contemporaries verj'^ shortly after 

his election ; 

VOL. xvn. 

see Masius, Briefe, 374.

CHAPTER III 

Government of the States of the Church. Pius V. 

IN Relation to Literature and Art. 

A MAN of such strictness, such untiring energy, and such 

stainless character as Pius V., was pre-eminently fitted for 

the task of introducing into the life of the Church the reform 

decrees of the Council of Trent, and thus to set the seal upon 

the labours of his predecessor. For this reason his pontificate 

is of the highest importance, while only less important were 

his unflinching struggle against the new doctrines, and his 

energetic revival of the old idea of a Crusade against the Turks 

in defence of the Christian faith and European civilization. 

In comparison with this threefold activity, which was to 

a great extent crowned with success, the work of Pius V. as 

the ruler of the Papal States^ falls into the background, aU 

the more as in this respect he was upon ground that was 

unfamiliar to him, and which to a great extent remained so 

to the end. He certainly had the wiU to remove abuses and 

to restore good order, though he lacked practical experience 

and did not know how to temper his severity. 

During the latter days of Pius IV. no branch of the temporal 

administration had been in such a bad state as that of justice. 

The exhortation which Pius V. addressed to the assembled 

judges in the Hall of Constantine on October 30th, 1566,^ 

1 A *list of the provinces of the Papal States, with particulars 

of the officials, revenues and troops in the time of Pius V., is in 

Varia Polit. 79 (now 80), p. 253 seq., Papal Secret Archives. Cf. 

also the introduction, not printed in Alberi, to the *report of 

P. Tiepolo of 1569, which is to be found in many collections of 

codices (Libraries at Avignon, Berlin, Gotha, Munich, Venice, 

Vienna, Vatican, etc.). 

* See *Urb. 1040, p. 313, Vatican Library. 

98

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. 99 

made it plain that he considered it his sacred duty to provide 

for a strong and impartial administration of justice. It now 

became as difficult for culprits to escape by means of bribery 

as it had been easy under his predecessor, and it was above all 

to seeing that the poor and the helpless should have justice 

that Pius V. directed his efforts. When a poor baker com- 

plained to him that Cardinal Simoncelli had owed him 36 

scudi for bread for six years, the nephew of Julius III. was 

forced to make immediate payment. On the last Wednesday 

of every month Pius V. held a public audience at which all 

were at liberty to make their complaints about the courts 

of justice. The Pope also turned his attention to the reform 

of the legal fraternity.^ What a deep respect he had for 

justice is certainty best shown by the revision of the trial of 

the Carafa which he caused to be made, and which ended on 

September 26th, 1567, in the annulment of the sentence 

pronounced by Pius IV., and the restoration of the house of 

Carafa. 2 By such procedure as this Pius V. showed that he 

did not hesitate to act in direct opposition to all the rules of 

^ See the *report of Arco of April 26, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna, and the *Avvisi di Roma of February 14 and December 18, 

1568, Urb. 1040, p. 486, 616, Vatican Library. Cf. Tiepolo, 173 ; 

Catena, 136 seq. ; Gabutius, 218; Laderchi, 1566, n. 113 seq. 

Pius V. took great trouble to secure a good administration of 

justice even in the provinces. An *Avviso of March 9, 1566, 

relates that power over criminal cases was withdrawn from 

Cardinal Mark Sittich at Terni, in consequence of which the 

Cardinal resigned civil cases as well, and went away " et nell'uni- 

versale li nipoti et parenti di Pio IV. par che restino mal sodis- 

fatti del Papa." Urb. 1040, p. 190b, Vatican Library. 

^ Cf. the authoritative account by Angel, Disgrace, 169-181, 

who makes it clear that the new trial, the acts of which have not 

so far been found, seems to have dealt almost entirely with the 

crimen laesae maiestaiis, and that the assassination of the Duchess 

of Paliano was not again brought under consideration. That 

Pius V. did not consult any Cardinal before coming to his decision 

(Angel, i 78) is also attested by Arco in his *report of September 27 

1567, State Archives, Vienna. See also Corresp. dipl., II., 218 

seq., 224.


prudence, or to compromise the reputation of his predecessors, 

he was 

even in the case of Paul IV., whom he had so revered ; 

also ready to trample on the interests of people whose assist- 

ance might be very useful to him.^ Even Alessandro Pallan- 

tieri, the procurator-fiscal in the Carafa trial, did not escape 

punishment. He had become governor of the March of 

Ancona at the beginning of 1567,^ and it seemed as though his 

great severity had won the Pope's favour to such an extent 

that men were prophesying the cardinalate for him,^ when 

all of a sudden, on September 17th, 1569, he was imprisoned 

by the Inquisition* on the charge of having, in the time of 

Julius III., obtained by bribery the release from prison of a 

relapsed heretic of Faenza, of having retained a considerable 

part of the Carafa property in spite of the order for restitution 

made by Pius V., and of having paid no attention to the 

excommunication which he had incurred by so doing. ^ The 

investigation of these charges brought to light the part which 

Pallantieri had played in the conduct of the Carafa trial. 

The trial of Pallantieri ended in his being condemned to death, 

and on June 7th, 1571, the sentence was carried out on the 

very spot where the Duke of Paliano had been beheaded.' 

^ See Ancel, loc. cit. 181. 

^ See Garampi, Sul valore, 293. 

* See the *Avviso di Roma of June 9, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 70, 


* See Marini, I., 428. 

® See *Avviso di Roma of September 27, 1569, Urb. 1041, 


* According to the *Avviso di Roma of October 8, 1569 {loc. 

cit. 159) all the acts of the Carafa trial were then taken to the 

Inquisition ; it is in those archives, therefore, that search must be 

made for the acts of the revision held by the orders of Pius V. 

' See *Avviso di Roma of June 9, 1571, loc cit. and the *report 

of Arco of June 9, 1571. The latter *relates on May 19, 1571, 

that on the Thursday the case of Pallantieri was considered in 

the presence of the Pope, who for three hours heard pro et contra. 

State Archives, Vienna. Ibid, an *Avviso of March 17, 15 71, 

according to which Pallantieri tried to save himself b}- paying 

30,000 scudi. In the opinion of Pallavicini, Palantieri deserved

THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE. lOl 

Pius V.'s interference with questions of justice, however, was 

not always just or reasonable ; he sometimes pronounced 

hasty sentences which he afterwards had to revoke. Tiepolo 

says that the Pope never tempered a criminal sentence with 

mercy, and that generally he would have liked to have made 

it more severe.^ No rank or dignity could obtain any mitigation 

of the punishment. A noble Roman lady who had 

committed homicide was executed, and that publicly, which 

was quite unusual, in spite of the intercession of the Con- 

servatori and many Cardinals. ^ A circular addressed to the 

governors of the Papal States in August, 1568, urged them to 

employ nothing but severity, and to show no mercy. It was 

estimated that more executions took place at that time in a 

single month than in four years under Pius IV. ^ Many, 

including light offenders, took to flight before this excessive 

severity, with the result that the bands of robbers who infested 

some parts of the Papal States, and especially the mountainous 

districts towards Naples,* were constantly on the increase, 

which was one of the reasons why the Pope's praiseworthy 

efforts to deal with this pest were only partially successful.^ 

the death sentence. Cf. Pastor, Dekrete, 16, n. See Rodo- 

CANACHi, St.-Ange, 173. Ibid. 175, the trial of Matteo Minale. 

^ TiEPOLO, 173. From Firmanus, *Diarium (Miscell., Arm. 

XII., 31 in Papal Secret Archives) it is evident how frequent 

death sentences were. 

2 See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 78-79. 

' See the *report of Cusano from Rome, August 17, 1568, State 

Archives, Vienna. Cf. Mutinelli, I., 92. 

* A *Ietter from Cardinal Bonelli to Francesco Ghislieri, gover- 

nor of Ascoli, dated Rome, April 17, 1566 (in 191 1 in the possession 

of the antiquarian Luzzietti) deals with the bandits who had 

taken refuge in the Abruzzi. For the bandits at Teramo, see 

Riv. Abrnzsese, XXVII., (1912) 458 seq. 

^ In his *report of June 7, 1567 (State Archives, Vienna) Arco 

tells of an expeditionary force against the bandits. For the 

outbreak of brigandage in 1570, see Hirn, Erzherzog Ferdinand II. 

von Tirol, I., 505 n. i. For the whole subject cf. Laderchi, 1566, 

n. 122 seq.


Another reason was to be found in the fact that the very 

proper attempts to act in concert with the neighbouring 

states in putting down brigandage led to frequent and bitter 

disputes with Naples.^ The bull which was issued on July 

13th, 1566, against those who harboured murderers and 

bandits, was made even more severe on August 15th, and 

enacted that the death penalty was to be inflicted on the 

offenders, and that of banishment on their relatives. ^ In 

order to stamp out brigandage, the Pope, in 1567, ordered 

the destruction of the forests in the neighbourhood of Rome,^ 

a thing which led to the spread of malaria, and contributed 

in no small degree to the deterioration of the healthiness of 

the Compagna, so that every year a large number of the 

foreign labourers who had come for the harvests died of 

fever. ^ 

Public safety in the Papal States was threatened, not only 

by the brigands, but also by the long established feuds between 

the cities, and among the nobles. At Ascoli, Anagni, Citta 

di Castello, Sassoferrato, Perugia, and elsewhere, disturbances 

broke out which caused the Pope much anxiety, and several 

times obliged him to send armed forces against them, a thing 

which was especially galling to him, whose high ideals would 

^ C/. TiEPOLO, 173; Catena, 51 seq. ; Brosch, I., 238 seq. 

See also Corresp. dipl., II., 368. An *Avviso di Roma of 

March 26, 1569, relates that two days previously at the 

Bridge of St. Angelo had taken place the execution of " Cecone 

da S. Lupidio, cappo de'banditi della Marca." Urb. 1041, 

p. 47, Vatican Library. 

^ See Bull. Rom., VII., 452 seq., 456 seq. 

'An *Avviso di Roma of April 26, 1567, relates that between 

Porta Prima and Romana the Venetian courier had been attacked 

and robbed, that the Pope had ordered him to be compensated, 

and had further enacted " che si leviao et abbrugino tutte quelle 

machie sino a Prima porta " (Urb. 1040, p. 385, Vatican Library). 

Cf. the * brief of December 5, 1567, Papal Secret Archives ; cf. 

App. n. 27. 

* 9 Sreports Tiepolo in the unpublished part of his *report for 

15.60 Cod. 6624, p. 319, Court Library, Vienna.

SEVERITY OF PIUS V. IO3 

rather have led him to disband all his troops.^ The rival 

factions made use, not only of those who had fled from Rome 

or been exiled, but also of soldiers who had deserted and of 

unworthy monks who had come into conflict with the reforming 

activities of Pius V., and even, in some parts of the March 

and in the Romagna, of heretics. When the Pope learned 

that Faenza was full of heretics, he thought of proceeding to 

the very limits of severity ; he wished to destroy the city, 

and transfer the inhabitants to some other place. ^ At the 

end of the pontificate, however, there was for the most part 

greater tranquillity in the Papal States than there had been 

before.^ 

On February 12th, 1572, the orders which Pius IV. had 

issued against the carrjdng of arms, and which applied to 

1 From the *report of Cusano of January 26, 1566 (State 

Archives, Vienna) it is clear how unwillingly the Pope made up 

his mind to take proceedings against Ascoli. In an *Avviso di 

Roma of February 2, 1566, it is stated that Pius V. had disbanded 

the cavalry with the exception of two companies, *" et dice che i 

pontefici sono guardati dalla man di Dio et non da archibugi. 

Non vuol guardia o cavalleria per esser necessitato a pagarli 

metter impositione of popolo." (Urb. 1040, p. 173) ; cf. supra 

p. 69. But as early as February g, Torquato Conti had to be 

sent to Ascoli with " 150 fanti " to suppress the rising [ibid., 169, 

Vatican Library). Cf. Brosch, I., 241 for the disturbances at 

Citta di Castello. For others at Anagni, see *Avviso di Roma 

of May II, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 225. Ibid. 1041, p. 127b, an 

*Avv]so of August 27, 1567, on the disturbances at Perugia, which 

annoyed the Pope very much. For Ascoh, see Saggio di cose 

Ascolane, Teramo, 1766, App. ccxcvi. On January 24, 1567. 

*" Alex. Pallanterius, gubernator Marchie," obtained " facultates 

contra bannitos Asculi et Firmi." Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

2 See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 79 ; cf. infra p. 313 seq. 

An *Avviso di Roma of September 19, 1571 (Urb. 1042, p. 117b. 

Vatican Library) reports the banishments which had taken place 

in the territories of Cardinal Farnese. 

'This is proved from *Tiepolo in 1.569 ; see Cod. 6624, p. 320, 

Court Library, Vienna.

104 


Rome and the whole of the Papal States, were renewed, and 

made more severe.^ 

The bull of March 29th, 1567, concerning the inalien- 

ability of the territory of the Roman Church, has attained 

great notoriety. ^ It was aimed at putting an end to 

nepotism, which had had such disastrous effects upon the 

Church. 

Pius V.'s financial administration of the Papal States calls 

for particular notice. Immediately after his election he 

abolished the duty on wine in Rome,^ revised t?ie other taxes, 

and caused the expenditure to be carefully examined.^ In 

the Patrimony he abolished the duty on flour in consideration 

of the payment of a sum of money, to be made once for all.^ 

The Pope hoped that his great personal economy^ would make 

it possible for him to give relief in other ways as well. To a 

bishop who submitted to him a scheme for improving the 

finances he replied that he had better help the Church by his 

prayers and his good life, and that she had no need of wealth ;' 

a sentiment which, though very idealistic, scarcely met the 

1 Bull. Rom., VII., 965 seq. 

^ See ibid. 560 seq. ; cf. Freiburg Kirchenlexikon VII., 599. 

Further particulars infra p. 233 seq. 

* The import duty was " 4 giulii per barilla ; " see *Awise di 

Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 166. Vatican Library. 

* *" Questo fa che la plebe ama molto S.S'^ " says the *Avviso 

di Roma of March 16, 1566, ibid. 194. 

^ See Tiepolo in Brosch, I., 245, n. i. 

® Thus for example the Vigna di Giulio III. was given "in 

governo " to the Cardinal of Aragon *" e cosi viene ad esser 

desobligato di recever grambasciatori e fare spesa, come si usava 

prima." (*Avviso di Roma of May 4, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 220b, 

Vatican Library). For the reduction of expenditure on the 

troops see Quellen u. Forschungen, VI., 84. 

' *Avviso di Roma of January 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 166. 

The Pope does not wish for taxes, even indirect ones, says an 

*Avviso of March 30, 1566, Urb. 1040, 199b, Vatican Library. 

The Florentine, Bartolomeo Bussoti was Thesaurarius of Pius V. ; 

see FiRMANUs, *Diarium in Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 47. 


Papal

TAXATION. 105 

needs ot the times. As early as November, 1567, the Pope 

found hunself in great financial difficulties ;^ he set himself 

to devise a way of meeting them without overburdening his 

subjects,^ but since he could not avoid having to give assistance 

to the French Catholics, to his great grief he at length found 

himself obhged to impose some extraordinary taxes upon his 

subjects,^ though he took care that they should fall principally 

upon the wealthy, and that the clergy should make a suitable 

contribution.'* 

Since the revenues steadily continued to decline—it was 

calculated in 1570 that the falling off since 1538 was as much 

as 400,000 scudi^—while the wider interests of the Church, 

the helping of the oppressed Catholics, especially in France, 

and the Turkish war, demanded ever greater and greater 

sacrifices, the Pope, in 1569, found himself obliged to impose 

a further extraordinary tax of 500,000 scudi upon imports, a 

^ See the *brief to the " dux Nivern." of Novembi r 15, 1567 (in 

summa fisci nostri inopia), Arm. 44, t. 13, n. 73b, Papal Secret 

Archives. 

^ *" Die noctuque cogitat quonam pacto pecunias reperire 

possit minimo cum populorum et plebis damno." (Arco on 

November 8, 1567, State Archives, Vienna). In the interest of 

his subjects Pius V. also issued severe enactments against the 

acceptance of presents by the state officials ; see Stiidien und 

Mitteilungen aus dem Benediktinev- und Zisterzienserordens, I., 

3, 213. 

^ The hopes which had been built upon the recovery of ancient 

coins at Civitavecchia were not fulfilled. (C/. *Avviso di Roma 

of March 22, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 372, Vatican Library ; cf. on 

this matter Spicil. Vatic, 83 seq.) ; see Gratiani Epist., 277. 

For the taxes cf. the *reports of Arco of November 8 and 15, 1567- 


* See Laderchi, 1567, n. 141 seq., 146 seq.; cf. Guillaume, 

L'abbaye de Cava, Cava de' Tirreni, 1877, 320. In order that it 

might be able to pay the tax, Ancona in a *brief of February 8, 

1568, obtained permission to increase the tax on slaughtering. 

Communal Archives, Ancona. 

* See Sereno, 398.

I06 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

thing which occasioned much surprise.^ Besides this, during 

the later years of his reign the permanent public debt was 

quadrupled by the establishment of the Monti. 

Although he was so parsimonious, the Pope nevertheless 

practised almsgiving on a grand scale. ^ He ijot only freely 

assisted the poorer Cardinals, and the bishops who had been 

driven from their sees, but also his needy servants. In Rome 

he contributed largely to the hospitals, especially that of 

S. Spirito, to which he gave 20,000 scudi, and several times 

personally visited the sick. When, in the summer of 1566, 

the city was visited by a pestilence brought on by the excessive 

heat, he dealt with the emergency in every possible way, sent 

for doctors, and especially concerned himself in relieving the 

poor by the help of the religious.^ The same thing happened 

when the pestilence recurred during the summer of 1568. 

The parish priests were instructed to draw up lists of the sick, 

^ See TiEPOLO, 174. In his *letter of January 22, 1569 (State 

Archives, Vienna) Cusano shows how difficult it was to obtain 

money. In order to ease the finances in June, 1569, all the 

notariships in the Papal States were sold, bringing in a sum of 

70,000 scudi (*Avviso di Roma of June 11, 1569, Urb. 1040 p. 91b). 

The *Avvisi of June 29 and July 9, 1569, Urb. 1040, p. loi, 107b, 

Vatican Library, mention other financial schemes. 

'^ Namely the Monti Novennale, Giulio, Religione and Pro- 

vincia ; see Coppi, Sulle finanze dello Stato pontificio, Rome, 

1855- Cf. Moroni, LXXIV., 291 ; Santori, Diario XXIII., 

330 ; XXIV., 106. According to Cerasoli Pius V. deposited 

467,000 scudi in the Castle of St. Angelo, and drew out on various 

occasions 288,000. Cf. Studi e docum., XIII., 305, as well as 

Serafini, Le monete e le bolle plumbee nel medaghere Vaticano, 

I., Milan, 1910. 

^ Cf. Catena, 25, 136, 149 ; Gabutius, 204 seq. ; Laderchi, 

1568, n. 48 seq. ; the periodical Cariias, 1898, n. 7. 

* See Catena, 50. For the cause of the pestilence in the summer 

of 1566 (heat " con un vento sirocale che abbruggiava il di et la 

notte ") see *Avviso di Roma of August 31, 1566, Urb. 1040, 

p. 278. Ibid. 284 and 287, *Avvisi of September 14 and 21, 

1566 : *" II Papa continua tuttavia in far visitar gl'infermi et 

sovenirli." Vatican Library.

WORKS OF CHARITY. I07 

and to send them to the Jesuits, whose duty it was to visit 

them and succour them with means furnished by the Pope.^ 

He increased the dowries for poor girls at the Minerva, and 

the Monte di Pieta received in January, 1567, a gift of 10,000 

scudi, so that the institution might be able to advance loans 

without interest, and at the same time it was ordered that the 

things pledged were not to be sold before 18 months had 

elapsed. 2 The Pope was also indefatigable in ransoming and 

helping the unfortunate people who had been enslaved by 

the Turks. 

It was the unanimous opinion in Rome that no Pope for a 

long time past had been so active in works of charity as Pius 

v.* The abolition of the excessive levy of duty at the city 

gates met with universal approval,^ as did the Pope's efforts 

to promote industries in Rome, as for example, the weaving 

1 See the *report of Arco of August 28, 1568, State Archives, 

Vienna. Cf. *Avvisi di Roma of August 14 and September 4, 

1568, Urb. 1040, p. 562-573, Vatican Library ; C. Firmanus, 

*Diarium, in Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 253. Papal Secret 

Archives. A *brief to Girolamo Mercuriani of November 10, 

1569, recalls him from Padua to Rome, where there was a lack 

of doctors ; see Arm. 44, t. 14, n. 287 and 288, ibid. 

2 Cf. with Gabutius, loc. cit. cf. the *report of Strozzi to Maxi- 

mihan II. from Rome, January 18, 1567, State Archives, Vienna, 

and the *Avviso di Roma of March 8, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 367b, 


3 See Gabutius, loc. cit. The other day, reports an *Avviso di 

Roma of August 10, 1566, the Pope received in the Sala grande of 

the palace of S. Marco 100 Christian slaves set free by Doria ; 

each received " I scudo, buon pranzo, camisa nova, capello et 

paio di scarpe." Urb. 1040, p. 269. Cf. ibid. 399 *Avviso di 

Roma of May 31, 1567 and Urb. 1041, p. 4 the *Avviso of January 

4, 1569. Vatican Library. See also Laderchi, 1569, n. 347 ; 

Santori, Autobiogr., XII., 346, and in App. n. 67 the *audiences 

of Santori with the Pope. Papal Secret Archives. 

* *" In effetto in operibus pietatis da un gran tempo in qua non 

e stato maggior Papa di lui." *Avviso di Roma of May 10, 1567. 

Urb. 1040, p. 392b, Vatican Library. 

^ See *Avviso di Roma of September 28, 1566, ibid. 290.

I08 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

of cloth. ^ Trade was also protected by special constitutions 

against usury on the exchange market, and against fraudulent 

banking. 2 A special constitution was directed against the 

robbery of shipwrecked mariners.^ The death penalty, 

already in existence for the crime of chpping the gold coinage, 

was extended in 1570 to the silver coinage as well.'* 

Just as in Rome itself efforts were made to improve the 

unhealthy districts, and steps were taken to prevent the 

pollution of the Tiber, which was generally used for drinking 

purposes,^ so Pius V. also directed his attention to the draining 

of the marshes in the Campagna^ and in other parts of the 

Papal States, as for example, in the neighbourhood of Ravenna 

and Foligno.'^ 

^ See Bull. Rom., VII., 612 seq. ; cf. the *Avvisi di Roma of 

September 27, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 442, Vatican Library, and 

July 3, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. In the first of these *Avvisi 

the subsidy for the weaving of cloth from the Pope is given as 

10,000 scudi (the 100,000 in Catena, 128 seq. is an exaggeration). 

2 Bull. Rom., VII., 862 seq. ; cf. de Cupis, 158. 

^ See Laderchi, 1566, n. 142 seq. 

* See Bull. Rom., VII., 861 seq. 

^ See Catena, 50 ; Lanciani, II., 26 ; IV., 13 seq., 24 seq., 28. 

In his *letter of April 27, 1566, Cusano (State Archives, Vienna) 

speaks of the order that the Cardinals must pave the street before 

their palaces. Cf. in App. n. 50 the *report of B. Pia to Luzzara 

of July 10, 1568. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. An *Avviso di 

Roma of August 21, 1568, also states that a monthly tax of " 3 

giulii " was imposed for the keeping clean of the streets on every 

possessor of a carriage (Urb. 1040. p. 567b, Vatican Library). 

In the inundation of the Tiber in January, 1567, when part of the 

passage between the Vatican and the Castle of St. Angelo fell in, 

Pius V. gave all the assistance that he could. See the *report 

of Strozzi of January 4, 1567, State Archives Vienna. See also 

Bacci, Del Tevere, Rome, 1576, 369 seq. 

' See the motu proprio " Dei nostri almae urbis." Cf. de 

Cupis, 149 and Lanciani, IV., 14. 

' See the *brief to " Franc, episc. Imolae, Romand. gubern." 

of March 21, 1566 (Ravenna) and the *other, to " loh. Bapt. 

Garganus, civis Rom., commits, noster," of November 2, 1567 

(Foligno), Archives of Briefs, Rome.

PROTECTION OF AGRICULTURE. IO9 

The greatest credit is due to the Pope for the improvement 

effected in agriculture in the Campagna, and the estabhshment 

of granaries in Rome. After he had, in September, 1566, 

set up the tribunal of agriculture, he issued, on October nth 

in the same year, a constitution which has deservedly become 

famous, which afforded protection and support of all kinds 

to agriculture in the Campagna, secured the importation of 

grain into Rome, and strictly forbade every kind of monopoly. 

Anyone who offended in this respect, be he baron, bishop, or 

even Cardinal, was subject to the severest penalties. In his 

care for the well-being of his subjects, the Pope constantly 

saw to it that the officials in charge of the supply of grain, 

who were partly municipal and partty subject to the Apostolic 

Camera, and who fixed the price of grain, should always supply 

it to the bakers at the same fixed price, however high might 

be the price at which it was purchased.^ Especially in times 

of famine, as for example in 1568 and 1569, the Pope made 

unwearied efforts to meet the scarcity, and to prevent any kind 

of usurious profit being made out of the crisis. The people 

must have bread at a fair price, since, as he was accustomed 

to say, it is written in the Bible : qui abscondii fnimenta, 

maledicetur in populis. (Prov. xi 26.)^ 

1 Cf. Catena, 53 seq. ; Gabutius, 206 seq. For these two 

ordinances see Bull. Rom., VII., 481 seq., 484 seq. Besides 

Nicolai, II., 37 seq., see also de Cupis, 151 seq., 153 seq., and 

the same author's Saggio bibl. degU scritti e delle leggi sulfagro 

Romano, Rome, 1903, 146, and Usi civili nell'agro Romano, 

Rome, 1906, 21 seq. ; also Ardant, Papes et paysans, Paris, 

1891, 147 seq.: Tomassetti, I., 215; Rodocanachi, Institutions, 

280. An *Avviso di Roma of July 6, 1569, announces 

that on the previous day the Pope had taken 30,000 scudi from 

the Castle of St. Angelo for the " abondanza," and had sent 

20,000 to the Marches for grain. Urb. 1041, p. 106, Vatican 

Library. 

2 Cf. Catena, 53 seq., and the *Avvisi di Roma of August 17 

and September 24, 1569, August 12, 1570, and September 12, 

1571, Urb. 1040, p. 133, 146 ; 1041, p. 318 ; 1042, p. 112, Vatican 

Library. See also Bull. Rom., VII., S48 seq.

no HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

Unfortunately, his subordinates did not always act up to 

the noble aims of the Pope/ who, moreover, was not always 

very happy in the steps he took in his capacity of temporal 

ruler. For example, an edict concerning the coinage which 

he issued in July, 1571, caused great consternation. ^ His 

true sphere was to be found in his care for spiritual matters, 

and, like Cardinal Bonelli, he was, in view of all that had to 

be done in that direction, unable to devote sufficient attention 

to the temporal administration. Therefore, in April, 1568, 

Cardinal Chiesa was appointed to assist the Cardinal nephew, 

and in the January of the following year, Cardinals Alciati 

and Paleotto were Hkewise appointed.^ In July, 1570, it was 

rumoured that the Pope intended to withdraw altogether 

from temporal affairs, and leave them to these four Cardinals.* 

The attitude of Pius V, towards art has been misjudged in 

more than one respect. He laid himself open to this by an 

enactment by which he placed himself in direct opposition 

to the Popes of the age of the Renaissance. On February loth, 

1566, it was learned in the city that the Pope had made over 

to the Roman people all the antique statues which were in the 

theatre of the Belvedere and its surroundings, and had 

charged some of the nobles to have them moved to the Capitol. 

It was further said that the priceless treasures which stood in 

the cortile of the Belvedere, and which had been protected 

from rain and risk of injury by screens in the time of Pius IV., 

were to share the same fate. The Pope's reason for this was 

that it was unfitting that the successor of St. Peter should 

1 Cf. RoDOCANACHi, Institutions, 280. 

^ See *Avviso di Roma of July 18, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 90, 


^ See the *Avvisi di Roma of April 3, 1568, and January 15, 

1569, Urb. 1040, p. 479, and 1041, p. 4, Vatican Library. 

* An *Avviso di Roma of July 8, 1570 (Urb. 1041, p. 307, 

Vatican Library) reports : " S'e sparso voce per la corte chel 

Papa non voglia piu intervenire alii negotii profani et secolari, 

ma deputarvi sopra 4 cardinali cioe Cesi, Thiano, Montalto et 

Piacenza, et che Sua S*^ voglia attender solamente alle cose 

spirituali et dell' inquisitione."

THE BELVEDERE COLLECTION. Ill 

have pagan images in his palace. In view of the enthusiasm 

for sculpture then prevalent in Rome it is not surprising that 

this proposal of the Pope should have aroused much opposition, 

even from many of the Cardinals, and it was due to their 

remonstrances that the famous antiques of the gallery of 

statues in the Belvedere were retained in the Vatican. Pius, 

however, gave wa}^ to the entreaties of the Cardinals on con- 

dition that the collection should remain closed to the public. ^ 

An inventory, compiled on February nth, 1566, of the 

antiques which were to be made over to the Roman people, 

includes 127 pieces, among which, it is worthy of note, was 

even the statue of St. Hippolytus. On February 27th a further 

list of about twenty busts and statues was added. ^ The 

^ See the *report of Cusano of February 16, 1566 (which escaped 

the notice even of Michaelis, the best authority on this matter), 

" che non 

according to which the words used by Pius V. were : 

conveniva a chi era successore di Pietro tener simili idoh in casa . . 

et perche ve ne sono alcune servate delle piu rare par pur' che ad 

instantia di molti cardinah che gUelo chiesero in gratia speciale 

S. S*^ si sia contentata ci restino ma con fatto stiano sempre 

chiuse." Cusano goes on to relate that when Cardinal Farnese 

pointed out to the Pope that it would be desirable to give to the 

Emperor the 12 busts (che sono per moderni cosa rarissima) which 

had been copied in the time of Pius IV. from antique busts of 

the Emperors, Pius V. assented (State Archives, Vienna). The 

letters of Arco on this subject were published by Michaelis 

(Statuenhof, 63) ; his doubt as to whether the last letter, which 

tells how the busts had been sent to Spain, belongs to 1568 or 

1569, is settled by an *Avviso di Roma of January 24, 1568, which 

states : *" Li 12 imperatori, che con tanta diUgentia erano 

custoditi in Belvedere da Pio IV., sono stati tutti incassati et si 

mandono per ordine del Papa a donare al re catholico." Urb. 

1040, p. 479b, Vatican Library. Ibid. 169b, an *Avviso of 

February 9, 1566, with the notice : *" II papa ha donato tutte 

le statue di Belvedere al popolo Romano con non poco dispiacere 

deUe creature di Pio IV." 

* These lists in Bicci, Boccapaduli, 115 seq., from which is 

taken the new edition of Michaelis, Statuenhof, 60 seq., with a 

note of those Mhich were sent to the Capitol, and of those sent 

+0 Florence.


senate and people of Rome at once took steps to take possession 

of this precious gift, and ordered that a mass of thanksgiving 

should be celebrated at the Minerva on St. Antony's day.^ 

They first received 17 statues and statuettes, a small group 

with putti, and 12 busts, which did not include any works of 

great importance, and which came for the most part from the 

stairs leading to the Belvedere, and from one of the rooms 

in the Vatican. In the meantime the Cardinals of Pius IV. 

were successful in dissuading the Pope from sending the 

remaining statues. The Romans, however, did not give up 

hopes of acquiring them, and in February, 1570, they made 

a claim for them, though without immediate success.^ 

The news that the Pope intended to purge his palace of 

antiques aroused in the mind of so great a connoisseur as the 

Emperor Maximilian II. the desire to obtain possession of 

some pieces for his own collection. Since, however, Pius V. 

had in the meantime made a present of some of the statues 

to the Cardinals, it was not easy to find any which would 

suit the Emperor's purpose. In July, 1569, two more than 

life-size statues were sent to him, a Hercules and an Aphrodite, 

which were followed some years later by three statues from 

^ *Le statue del Belvedere gia si levano e le conducono iii 

Campidoglio per haver 11 Papa fattone gratia al popolo Romano, 

et percio s'obligano in perpetuo far celebrar una messa nella 

Minerva nella capella di S. Tommaso d 'Aquino il giorno di S. 

Antonio e dare un calice con 4 torcie bianche ogn'anno, e mercordi 

cominciorno, eve furono tutti i cardinali Rom." (Avviso di Roma 

of February 16, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 182. Vatican Library ; cf. 

FiRMANUS, *Diarium, in Miscell., Arm. XII., 31, p. 56b, Papal 

Secret Archives). On March 2, 1566, Cusano *reports that the 

deputies of the city of Rome had been during the whole week 

transporting statues from the Belvedere to the Capitol (State 

Archives, Vienna). Of the inscriptions of thanks at the Capitol, 

one mentions no definite number, and the other mentions 30 ; 

see FoRCELLA, I., 61-62. 

^ *" Li conservatori hanno dimandato in gratia al Papa le 

statue di Belvedere per metterle nella bella fabrica di Campidog- 

lio," the Pope has postponed " il levarle." *Avviso di Roma o( 

February 4, 1570, Urb. 104 1, p. 231b, Vatican Library.

THE MONUMENTS OF ANTIQUITY. II3 

the Villa Giulia.i Several pieces from the same place were 

also sent to Florence, as a gift to Francesco de' Medici, the 

eldest son of Cosimo. The agent of the Medici in Rome 

obtained from the Pope in March, 1560, the gift of no fewer 

than 26 statutes taken from the villa of Pius IV. 2 

This generosity of the Pope, which had stripped tlie villas 

of Julius III. and Pius IV,, aroused the fear in Rome that Pius 

V. intended to make a clean sweep of all pagan remains. In 

the spring of 1569 the Imperial agent, Cusano, announced to 

his master that the Pope intended not only to destroy the 

theatre of the Belvedere, but also to lay hands on the Colosseum 

and the triumphal arches, in order to remove the temptation 

from visitors to Rome to pay more attention to pagan than to 

Christian things. The fear was expressed, as had been the 

case in the time of Adrian VI., that, in order to obtain the 

material for the restoration of the churches, Pius would make 

an onslaught on the grandest monuments of Roman antiquity 

and reduce the statues to lirae,^ though it was soon realized 

that these fears were exaggerated. The changes in the theatre 

of the Belvedere were limited to the removal of the tiers of 

seats, so that there might be no more public performances 

1 See the reports of Arco in Michaelis, Statuenhof, 63 seq., to 

complete which use may also be made of the *report of INIonti 

from Rome, July 28, 1569, which mentions the statues of Hercules 

and Aphrodite (8-9 palms in height) presented to the Emperor, 

" et sono stimate assai per la loro bellezza et antichita." State 

Archives, Vienna. Ibid, a *report of Arco, which escaped the 

notice of Michaelis, of March 19, 1569 

: Cardinal Colonna has 

presented to the Emperor a bust of Socrates and one of Antoninus, 

Famese a statue of Mercury. In Varia, fasc. 4 of the State 

Archives, Vienna, there is also a *letter from Fra Guglielmo della 

Porta to Maximihan II., of March 23, 1569 : he sends the Emperor 

?. sketch for a crucifix. 

2 See Michaelis, Statuenhof, 43 seq., 65 seq.; cf. Archdol. 

Zeitung, XXXIV., 152. 

' See in App. n. 58 the *letter of Cusano of March 26, 1569, 

State Archives, Vienna, and the *Avviso di Roma of April 2, 1569, 

Urb. 104 1, p. 50, Vatican Library (App. n. 59). 

VOL. XVII. 8

114 


there, a thing which, in the eyes of Pius V., was unseemly 

in the palace of the head of Christendom.^ The Colosseum 

and the triumphal arches were quite unharmed, while much 

of the magnificent statuary with which the Renaissance 

Popes had enriched the Vatican remained to excite the 

admiration of future visitors ; this was especially the case 

with the famous gaUery of statues which, though closed to 

the public, was placed under the care of the Pope's physician, 

Michele Mercati, who was director of the botanical garden 

estabUshed by Pius on the Vatican Hill.^ 

All this shows that the reproach which has been levelled 

against Pius V., that he was the declared enemy of antiquity, 

is unjust. 3 Granted his great strictness as to morals,^ it was 

only to be expected that he would be scandalized at the many 

nude statues, as indeed had previously been the case with 

northern visitors to Rome,^ but there is no evidence as to this, 

^ *" La destrutione del teatro di Belvedere si ridura a questo 

che quelle scale si levino via tutte et che si facino stanze habitabiU 

acci6 non ci resti comodit&, di far spettacoli publici." *Awise di 

Roma of April i6, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 54b, Vatican Library. 

2 See MiCHAELis, Statuenhof, 44. That of Cosimo I. served as 

a model for the botanical garden ; see Reumont, Toskana, I., 

273- 

* This has recently been set forth clearly by HtJLSEN {Gotiing. 

Gelehrte Anzeigen, 1914, n. 5, p. 271 n. 3). 

* In this connexion mention may be made of the hitherto 

unnoticed, but highly characteristic, comment, which is found 

in a letter from Archbishop Glaus Magnus of Upsala to Hosius, 

dated Venice, June 8, 1552. In this letter the strict northerner 

blames the freedom of Cardinal Crescenzi : 

" mentre egli viveva 

io vidi nel suo palazzo a Roma fauni, satiri e nudit^ femminiU, 

come se la carne ribelle non avesse forza sufficiente a indurre la 

debole natura umana in mille immagini e pericoli malvagi." 

Hosii Epist., II., 211. 

® Cardinal Ricci obtained in August, 1569, the busts, statues 

and bas-reUefs hitherto preserved in the villa of JuUus III. ; he 

sent them to Florence ; 

see *Avviso di Roma of August 6 and 13, 

1569 (" II residuo delle statue della vigna di Giuho III., che ha 

havuto il card, Montepulciano, si mandano a poco a poco al duca

THE MONUMENTS OF ANTIQUITY. II5 

and the very fact that the Pope presented such statues to 

the Romans, as well as to the cardinals and princes/ to be 

publicly exposed in their palaces, goes to show that he, in 

common with almost all Italians, felt no scruples on the 

subject. 2 If he had considered the exhibition of nude statues 

in his palace dangerous for himself, he would certainly have 

acted ruthlessly in the matter. All that can with truth be 

said of his hostility for antiquity is that, to Pius V., whose 

interests lay entirely in religious matters, the statues of 

antiquity, which were, in the eyes, not only of the learned men 

di Firenze et alcune sorte di pietre mischie bellissime "), Urb. 

1041, p. 117, 131, Vatican Library. Since the gift had only 

been made by word of mouth, Pius V. confirmed it in a *motu 

proprio of September 27, 1571, Ricci Archives, Rome. Cardinal 

Este also received presents before his quarrel with Pius V. (see 

Lanciani, III., 81 ; cf. Winnefeld, Die Villa Fladrians bei 

; see in App. n. 52 the *report of Cusano 

Tivoli, Berlin, 1895, 5) 

of December 18, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. The two examples 

of the Pasquino group which had been found near the Mausoleum 

of Augustus and outside the Porta Portese also went to Florence 

in 1570. The most important discoveries of antiquities in the 

time of Pius V. were the monuments and inscriptions of the 

brothers Arvali which came to light in 1570 outside the Porta 

Portese, and which for the most part went to the collection of 

Fulvio Orsini ; see Henzen, Acta (1874). An *Avviso di Roma 

of October 25, 1569, relates the discovery of an antique which 

had taken place in a rather curious way in the city : *" L'orso 

del card. Orsino che sta legato appresso Pasquino grafiiando 

I'altro giorno la terra sotto quella pietra di marmo, dove e fermato 

Pasquino cav6 fuori moti giulii antichi et alcune medagUe d'oro 

con una chiave d'argento." Uro. 1041, p. 169b, Vatican Library. 

^ Cf. supra p. 112 seq. In 1569 and 1570 Albert V. of Bavaria 

also received from Pius V. presents of antique statues ; see 

GoETZ, Beitrage, 508, n. 2, 733 n. i. In Bertolotti, Artisti 

Venez., Venice, 1884, 27, a permit to M, Soriano of July 14, 1571. 

to transport from Rome to Venice " 2 teste di marmo antiche." 

* Since scandal was given at Bologna by the nudity of the 

statue of Neptune on the fountain there, Pius V. approved of its 

being covered up ; 

see Patrizi, II Gigante, Bologna, 1897, 62.

Il6 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

of the time, but also of princes of strict Catholic principles 

" venerable relics of ancient days "^ were either matters of 

indifference, or else, as being idolatrous, unsuitable for the 

adornment of his palace ; 

his point of view was very similar 

to that of Adrian VI. 

Even though we may admit a want of understanding on his 

part of the great educational value of such artistic treasures, 

Pius V. was by no means indifferent, and still less, hostile, 

towards the arts. There exists an authentic document 

concerning the inventory made after his death of the objects 

which adorned his private apartments ; 

this shows that they 

were filled with all manner of works of art, bronzes, intarsia, 

cameos, medals, paintings on wood, among them a Last 

Judgment by Fra Angelico, miniatures by Giulio Clovio, and 

other precious objects.^ Since Pius V. did not allow himself 

the smallest luxury—he went so far in his parsimony that 

he at first used the robes worn by his predecessor before having 

new ones made for him.self^—one can only suppose that these 

objects of art were for the most part presents. Some of 

them, as for example the gifts of Requesens and Cardinal 

Ricci,^ and that of the Bishop of Portalegre, can even be 

^ In the *letter from Albert V. to his agent, Castellini. dated 

Munich, April 27, 1568, we read : " Literas tuas, quarum dies 

fuit 27 Martii, accepimus at ex lis pergratum nobis fuit intelligere 

quid de statuis ac antiquitatibus illis egeris, nee dubitamus quin 

rev. dom. card. Alexandrinus tantum officii ea in re in nostri 

gratiam sit positurus, tu nulli labori parcens omni labore, studio 

et diligentia in id totum incumbas, ut tandem etiam aulam 

nostram venerandae antiquitatis nionumentis secundum vota 

nostra conspicuam havere possimus." Grig, in Cod. B. 34, p. 5, 

Library at Faenza. For Castellini and the Duke's collection cf. 

the article of Christ in the Papers of the Academy at Munich, 

Phil.-hisi. Klasse, X., 357 seq. 

^ See Vol. VII. of this work p. 7 seq. 

3 See Lanciani, IV., 41 seq. 


^ " *I1 commendator di Castiglia ha dato a S. S^^^ un panno 

d' oro et di seta nel quale e ritratta I'historia de tre magi. 11 

card^^ di Montepulciano ha donato a S. B, una canna d 'India

THE SISTINE CHAPEL II7 

identified. In May, 1568, the Duke of Urbino presented Pius 

V. with some valuable majolica, which afterwards came into 

the possession of Cardinal Bonelli.^ 

The building operations of Pius V. in the Vatican must have 

cost 30,000 scudi.2 First of all he had to undertake a restora- 

tion of the Sistine Chapel, in the ceiling of which serious 

cracks had appeared as early as October, 1565. The state 

of the chapel was so bad that none of the functions could be 

held there on January i8th, 1566, the feast of St. Peter's 

Chair. Pius V. at once took the work in hand with so nmch 

energy that the chapel was soon fit for use again. The 

pictures on the ceiling were saved, and skilfully restored by 

the Modenese painter, Domenico Carnevale.^ 

In the Vatican Palace Pius V. completed the works begun 

by his predecessor,'* and he further erected a new building 

d'altezza d'un huomo, i cui nodi sono cerchiati d'argcnto ne 

quali e scritta la vita di S. Pietro." Strozzi to Maximilian II. 

from Rome, January 4, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. Cf. 

brief to Andreas de Noronha, August 22, 1569, Arm. 44, 

p. 191, Papal Secret Archives. 

t. 14, 

^ This gift of the " bellissima credenza de piati de maiolica 

historiata con figure " is noted in the *Awise di Roma of March 

13, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 487b, Vatican Library. The gift to 

Cardinal BoneUi is related by Cipriano Saracinello in a *letter to 

Cardinal Farnese from Rome, March 6, 1568, State Archives, 

Naples, C. Fames., 763. A majolica plate (Venetian work) with 

the cardinal's arms of the GhisUeri in the collection of R. Zschille 

is mentioned by O. v. Falke in his Katalog der itahen. Majoliken, 

Leipzig, 1899, n. 22, but in assigning it to the year 1550, he is 

certainly putting the date too early. 

* Cf. Catena, 135. 

' See Steinmann in Kunstchronik , N.S., XV. (1903-04), 570 

seq. and Sixtina, II., 779 seq. To the evidence there given must 

be added a payment of December 20, 1569, from the *Secondo 

libro d. Recettoria d. r. Camera Apost. del A^ 1567, State Archives, 

Rome. 

* Arco on April 12. 1567, reports : *" S.S^^ ha detto di volar 

far finire le fabriche principate da Pio IV. et principalmente quella

Il8 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

adjoining the Borgia apartments. The Torre Pia contains 

three chapels, one above the other, which were dedicated to 

St. Stephen the martyr, St. Peter Martyr, the Dominican, and 

St. Michael, and were richly adorned by Giorgio Vasari and 

Guglielmo della Porta. 

The chapel of St. Stephen, on the ground floor, and now 

adjoining the store-rooms of the Vatican Gallery, still bears 

the arms of Pius V. on the door. The frescoes on the walls 

represent scenes from the life of the protomartyr ; 

his preach- 

ing, the healing of a cripple, his distribution of alms, and his 

burial. On the frieze, besides the date, 1571, may be seen 

the words of the saint in the Acts of the Apostles : "I see 

the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right 

hand of God. Lord, lay not this sin to their charge." The 

painting on the ceiling shows the heavens opened, with the 

most holy Trinity and the choirs of angels. The altar-piece, 

which is the key to the other paintings, represents the stoning 

of St. Stephen. This latter work of Vasari is now in the 

chapel of Nicolas V.^ 

The chapel dedicated to St. Peter Martyr, and adjoining 

del Palazzo," and on October 4, 1567, *it seems that the Pope 

wishes to finish the " fabrica di Belvedere " (State Archives, 

Vienna). The arms of Pius V., among other things in the Cortile 

of the Belvedere, are noted in Chattard, II., 237, 242, 405, 407, 

433. One is still preserved on the inside of the doorway of the 

Mint. 

^ Cf. Vasari, VII., 715 seq. ; Taja, 95 seq. ; Chattard, II., 

XXVIII, 92 seq., 238 seq., 439 seq. ; Lanciani, IV., 8 seq. In 

the *books of accounts of the " Deposit, gen. della Camera 

Apost." there are entered for the years 1570-1572 many payments 

for the " fabrica delle stanze nuove in palazzo apost. acanto a 

Torre Borgia," and of the " capelle " there. In spite of the 

description, which is very incomplete, which has been given by 

Taja, Chattard, and Moroni {IX., 156 seq.), these chapels are now 

almost entirely forgotten ; 

the first and the third are only accessible 

by special permission. For the chapel painted by Vasari with 

the help of his pupil, Zucchi, see also Voss, Die Malerei der Sp8.t- 

Renaissance in Rom und Florenz, II., Berlin, 1920, 292.

THE TORRE PIA. II9 

the Borgia apartments, is also in a good state of preservation. 

The walls and ceiling are decorated in a very rich style in 

stucco, gold, and fresco. The altar-piece, also the work of 

Vasari, represents the martyrdom of the champion of the 

faith against the Cathari, who came from the Dominican 

order. The frescoes on the walls, still quite intact, and exe- 

cuted by Vasari and his pupils, depict scenes in the hfe of 

the saint. On the right the saint is seen driving away the 

devil who had appeared in the market place of Florence to 

disturb his preaching ; on the left is another of his miracles. 

On the small wall to the right of the entrance is shown the 

presentation of standards with red crosses to those who went 

to fight the heretics, and on the left the saint in prayer before 

the crucifix. The ceiling shows the triumph of the Church 

over the heretics, together with allegorical figures of the 

cardinal virtues and portraits of Dominican saints ; first the 

founder with the lily, two Popes, probably Innocent V. and 

Benedict XL, and three writers, Thomas Aquinas, Albert 

the Great, and Vincent of Beauvais.^ No less significant than 

the choice of subjects is the fact that the allegorical figures, 

which the artists would naturally have shown as naked, are 

clothed. It is also noteworthy that the builder of the 

chapel in his modesty has introduced nothing to record 

the fact. 

The chapel of St. Michael, adjoining the Stanze, has been 

completely changed by later decoration. ^ The altar-piece, 

by Vasari, showed the Coronation of Our Lady, while in the 

dome was seen the expulsion of Lucifer and the rebel angels 

from heaven. 

The chapel dedicated to St. Peter Martyr was intended 

for the use of the Pope himself, and the other two for 

his household, who were obliged to say or hear mass 

daily. For the same reason, a special little church, S. 

Martino e S. Sebastiano, decorated by Giulio Mazzoni, a 

^ C/. Chattard, IL, 303, 

' The lunettes are completely destroyed, and the paintings are 

by modem hands.


pupil of Vasari and Daniele da Volterra, was erected behind 

the bastion of Nicholas V. for the use of the Swiss Guard 

at the Vatican. 1 

At the ViUa Pia Pius V. only completed what was strictly 

necessary. In a very different spirit from the rather pompous 

way in which Pius IV. called attention to his own work, Pius V. 

very modestly marked the part which was due to him with 

a smaU tablet bearing the letters P.V.^ He ordered his 

physicians to grow pahns and exotic shrubs in the garden 

of the Villa, which rather interfered with the character of 

the building.3 During the summer of 1569 Pius V. often 

dined at the Villa ;* he only resided at the Palace of S. Marco 

during the first summer of his pontificate.^ Later on his only 

recreation consisted in walks to his beloved convent of S. 

Sabina on the Aventine,^ and to the modest little villa which 

^ Cf. Chattard, III., 334, Armellini, 463, Lanciani, IV., 9. 

The arms of Pius V. on the exterior are still preserved, but the 

inscription mentioned by Forcella (VI., 79) is destroyed. The 

frescoes over the altar represent God the Father, in the right hand 

niche is St. Sebastian, and in the left one St. Martin. The altarpiece 

is an Annunciation of the Madonna. On the right hand 

wall near the altar recess Christ is depicted on the cross with 

Peter and John, and on the left is the Madonna with St. Anne and 

the Bambino. 

^ See Friedlander, 88, who has not made use of the *Avviso 

: *Pius V. brought a water supply from 

di Roma of June 10, 1570 

the Vatican to the casino of Pius IV., which had been commenced 

by his predecessor. State Archives, Vienna. 

' Cf. A. GoTHEiN, Gartenkunst, L, 278. 

* See *Avviso di Roma of July 6, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 106, 


* Dengel, Palazzo di Venezia, 106 seq. 

* According to a *report of Arco of June 21, 1567 (State Archives, 

Vienna) the Pope visited the humble cell, which commands a 

splendid view, and contains memorials of himself, and adds that 

he had once lived there as a monk. The name of Pius V. occurs 

several times in inscriptions in the convent ; see Forcella, 

VII., 305.

RESTORATION OF CHURCHES. 121 

he had built as Cardinal outside the Porta Cavalleggieri on 

the Via Aureha.^ 

Pius V. once declared that the Popes ought to rejoice the 

world, not so much by their buildings as by their virtues, 

and accordingly his building operations in the city were 

confuied to what would either serve some religious purpose 

or would be for the public utility. ^ 

To the former class belong the completion of S. Maria degli 

Angeli,^ S. Maria in Traspontina,* and the ceiling of the 

Lateran basilica,^ the building of SS. Domenico e Sisto and 

the adjoining convent of Dominican nuns on the southern 

slope of the Quirinal,^ the Palace of the Inquisition,' the erec- 

^ There he sometimes recreated himself in the autumn with 

" caccia de tordi " ; see *Avviso di Roma of October 20, 1571, 

Urb. 1042, p. 135b, Vatican Library. For the " Casaletto di 

Pio v.," now a school of agriculture, see Fea, Storia delle acque, 

; 37 NiBBY, Dintorni, I., 405 seq. ; Lanciani, IV., 31 seq. ; 

Hist.-pol. Blatter, LXXXV., 137 seq. On the right of the entrance 

is the simple Idtchen, then comes the garden, and lastly the villa, 

with a large court-yard. No inscription nor coat of arms recalls 

Pius v., whereas the arms of the subsequent owners, the Chigi, 

are still to be seen. For the neighbouring chapel of the INIadonna 

del Riposo, see Tomassetti, II., 480. 

* See Gabutius, 208. Here, as in Catena, 132 seq., 135 seq., 

is a series of notes on the attitude of Pius V. towards art, w'hich, 

however, could be added to in many ways. 

* See the briefs of March 30, 1566, and February 7, 1568, in 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 70 and 1568, n. 28 ; Corresp. dipL, I., 182 seq. 

* See BoNANNi, I., 320 seq. ; Venuti, 130 seq. 

* See Rasponus, 16, 18 ; Rohault, 266, 519 seq. ; Berto- 

LOTTi, Art. Lomb., I., 136 ; Art. Francesi, X. (1907), 134 

Thode, v., 189; Lauer, 314 seq., 316, 318 seq. ; Lanciani, IV., 

28. Cf. Bibl. Corvisieri, II., Rome, 1901, 376. The constitution 

of Pius V. on the pre-eminence of the Lateran BasiUca in Laderchi, 

1569, n. 48. An *Avviso di Roma of October 30, 1568, states : 

Pius V. visited at the Lateran " la fabrica che S. S*^ fa fare per 

li penitencieri di S. Pietro." State Archives, Vienna. 

* See Catena, 25 ; Nibby, I., 209. 

^ Cf. infra, p. 288 seqq.


tion of a house for converted Jews near the church of the 

SS. Annunziata in the ruins of the Forum of Augustus,^ the 

conversion of the monastery of S. Basiho into a place of 

instruction for catechumens, the restoration of various 

churches and monasteries, ^ and lastly the continuation of 

the new building of St. Peter's.^ 

Pius V. rendered great service to the completion of the 

basihca of the Prince of the Apostles by devoting large sums 

of money to it.* The difficult question of the vaulting of 

the dome, which had already been a matter of anxiety to his 

predecessor, especially preoccupied him.^ This matter, 

together with others connected with the building, was discussed 

in the spring of 1567, when, as the result of the pressing and 

repeated invitation of the Pope, Giorgio Vasari came to Rome, 

where he was given lodgings in the Vatican close to the Pope's 

^ See NiBBY, I., 100 ; Angeli, Chiese, 49 ; Lanciani, IV., 25. 

On the gate of the convent (Via di Tor de' Conti, n. 1) may still 

be seen the inscription " Pius V. Pont. Max." ; the coat of arms 

which was above it has been destroyed. 

* See Armellini, 215,375 ; ibid, 298 seq. the assignment of 

S. Maria Egiziaca to the Armenians. Cf. Lanciani, IV., 12. 

Payments for the restoration of S. Sabina in the *Terzo libro d. 

Deposit, d. v. Cam. Apost. 1568, State Archives, Rome. On the 

two side entrances, now waUed up (facing the Via de'Penitenzieri) 

of S. Spirito in Sassia may be read the name " Pius V. P.M.'' : on 

the facade of the church of the Minerva his arms may be seen. 

On May 15, 1568, Arco reports : *on Monday the Pope went to 

S. Sabina and ordered that the ruined church of the Priory on the 

Aventine be restored ; on June 19, 1568, he reports : *the heirs 

of Cardinal Salviati were ordered to pay 3,000 scudi, as Pius V. 

wished " sgravar I'anima del cardinale con far riparare la chiesa 

del priorato alia quale non haveva mai fatto beneficio alcuno " 

(State Archives, Vienna), the arms of Pius V. on the Torre di 

S. Andrea at Orvieto also undoubtedly tell of some work of 

restoration. 

' Cf. App. n. 66. 

* S-e Laderchi, 1569, n. 50 ; cf. J. 

C. Vespignani, Compend. 

privileg. fabricae S. Petri, Rome, 1676, 6 seqq., 17 seq. 

^ Cf. Jahrbiich der Preuss. Kunstsamml., XXXIII., 152 seq.

JACOPO VIGNOLA. 123 

own apartments. Vasari takes to himself the credit of having 

determined Pius V. not to allow the smallest deviation from 

the plans of Michelangelo. Jacopo Vignola^ was appointed 

architect in chief of St. Peter's, at first by himself, and later 

with his son, Giacinto.- 

It was Jacopo Vignola who, in 1568 by the order of Cardinal 

Farnese, began the building of the magnificent church of the 

Jesuits, the Gesu, which was to attain to such importance, 

both from the artistic and the religious point of view.^ 

An especially beautiful trait of the character of Pius V. was 

his gratitude to all those who had ever conferred any favour 

on him. To this feehng of piety were due the monuments, 

so remarkable for their rich decoration in coloured marbles, 

which he erected to Paul IV. in S. Maria sopra Minerva, to 

Cardinal Alfonso Carafa in the Cathedral of Naples, and to 

Cardinal Ridolfo Pio di Carpi at the Trinity dei Monti.* For 

1 C/. D. Frey, Michelangelo-Studien, Vienna, 1920, iii seq. 

* See Frey in Jahrbuch der Preuss. Kunstsaniml., XXXVII., 

Beiheft, p. 50 seq. The " Deputati della fabrica di S. Pietro," who 

confirmed the mandate published by Frey, loc. cit. were : " Fr. Ar. 

Senensis, P. Narniensis, Alex. Casalis and Alex. Riarius." From 

a Bando concerning " beni alienati " of June 15, 1571, bound up 

with the Privilegia, auct., facult., indulgentiae fabricae princ. 

apost. S. Petri de Urbe, Rome, 1559, Barberini Library (now 

at the Vatican), stamp. TTT, II., 16, it appears that the deputies 

" A. Riarius, F. archiepisc. Senen., A. Casalius, 

at the time were : 

Dom. Pinellus." It is therefore incorrect to describe, as does 

Frey, Fr. Ar. as Arberinus ; we must read Fr[anc.] Ar'ichiep.] 

Senensis, that is Bandini, who was Archbishop of Siena from 

T529 to 1588. 

* See in App. n. 49 the *Avvisi di Roma of May 29 and June 3, 

1568, State Archives, Vienna. In 1567 there arose near the 

Torre delle MiHzie the church and convent of S. Caterina da Siena, 

in 1568 on the road leading to S. Paolo the chapel of the " Divisione 

degU ApostoU," and in the years 1 566-1 569 the fa9ade of S. Maria 

deirOrto ; 

see L'Arte. 1913. 

* See Catena, 54 seq. ; Bertolotti, Art. Lomb., I., too, 102 

seq. : Forcella III., 125 ; Ancel, Disgrace, 178, n, 2. For the 

tomb of Paul IV., see also Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 416. Pay-

124 


his own tomb he chose Bosco, his native place, where he built 

a richly endowed convent for the Dominicans. Vasari 

received the order to supply for this church of S. Croce a great 

high altar with a representation of the Adoration of the Magi 

he sent the painting to the Pope in the spring of 1567. In 

October 1568 Pius V. commissioned another sculptor, Gian- 

antonio Buzi, to erect his own tomb. The monument is still 

in a good state of preservation. Between two rows of colums 

there is shown the risen Christ, with the Pope kneeling at his 

feet. At the two sides, between pillars, are large statues of 

Faith and Charity. The monument is completed above by a 

niche surmounted by a cross, and containing a statue of the 

archangel Michael slajdng the dragon. 

His love for his own country, which also found liberal 

expression hi other ways,^ did not lead Pius V. to forget such 

venerated sanctuaries as Loreto and Assisi. At Loreto he 

had four magnificent bronze doors cast for the marble casing 

of the Holy House, while at Assisi, over the chapel where 

St. Francis died, he gave orders for the commencement of 

the great church of S. Maria degli Angeli, which is distinguished 

for its grand simplicity, and the lofty dome which can be seen 

for miles across the plain of central Umbria.^ 

meats for the tombs of Paul IV. and Carpi in *Secondo e terzo 

libro d. Recett. d. r. Cam. Apost. 1567 and 1568, State Archives, 

Rome. 

^ See Dell'Acqua; 44, where there is a good reproduction ; 

Catena, 133 seq. ; Thieme VI. 380. C/. Bruzzone, Bosco, I., 

131. 133; IT, 164 seq.: Riv. di Alessandria, 1902, and XIV., 

383, 395 ; Lanciani, IV., 44 seq. ; Jahrbuch der Pyeuss. Kunstsamml., 

XXXIX., 194 n. i ; Kallab, Vasari-Studien, 125, 129 ; 

Bruzzone in Cosmos illustr., 191 4, 43 ; L. Mina, Delia chiesa e 

convento di Bosco Marengo, Alessandria, 1904. For the altar of 

Vasari, cf. Kraus-Sauer, II., 2, 683. For the buildings of Pius V. 

at Bosco, see App. nn. 10-15. 

* See Bruzzone, Bosco, 1., 134 seq. ; Dell'Acqua, 29. 

^ See Beissel, Das hi. Haus zu Loreto, Freiburg, 1891, 18 ; 

Laspeyres, Kirchen dor Renaissance in Mittel-Italien, Leipzig, 

1882, Ft. 2, p. 37 ; GuRLrrx, Gesch. des Barockstiles, 56 seq. ;

THE WATER SUPPLY OF ROME. 125 

Rome also owes to Pius V. a number of foundations of great 

public utility ; 

an establishment for the manufacture of wool, 

the continuation of the University buildings, the erection of 

suitable quarters for sick prisoners near Tor di Nona, the 

construction of the Via Alessandrina, and the Via Bonelli, 

which still keep alive to-day his own name and that of his 

secretary of state, and lastly the restoration of the Acqua 

Vergine,^ by means of which Pius V. could boast that he had 

restored to the city a good water supply. 2 At first the Pope 

would hear nothing of fortitications, but the Turkish peril 

GuASTi, La chiesa di S. Maria degli Angeli, Florence, 1882, 76 ; 

Cavanna, L'Umbria Francescana, Perugia, iqto, 2 seq. Accord- 

ing to the researches of P. Giusxo, it was not Vignola but Galoazxo 

Alessi who sketched out the plan for S. Maria aigli Angeli. See 

Corriere d'ltalia, 1920, No. -185. 

1 With Gabutius and Catena loc. cit. Cf. also Fea, Stone 

d. acque antiche, 12 seq. ; Nibby, II., 14 ; Riv. Europ., 1880, 

375 

seq. ; Lanciani, IV., 12 seq. An *Avviso di Roma of August 

14, 1568 relates : *" S'e risoluto che la fabrica gia cominciata da 

Pio. IV. per condursi qua I'acqua di Salone si finischi secondo 11 

disegno a beneficio publico." On the following Friday there was a 

meeting of the street authorities and deputies under the presidency 

of Cardinal Ricci. Urb. 1040, p. 562b, Vatican Library. 

Ibid. 1041, p. 268, an *Avviso di Roma of June 20, 1570 : On 

Wednesday the Pope went to Salone to give orders " che 

quell'acqua sia tirata in Roma sino insu la piazza della Rotonda 

sicome e stato principiato da Pio IV." Ibid. 334b, an *Avviso 

di Roma of September 2, 1570 : The 

Pope went to the vigna and 

visited the acqua di Salone, which now goes to the fountain of 

Trevi. An *Avviso of September 9, 1570 (State Archives, Vienna) 

reports : " L'acqua di Salone e condctta in Roma alia fontana 

de Trevi e si tratta di condurla in piazza Navona." 

* Cf. the poems of Ludovico Cavani in Carmina illnstr. poet., 

III., 320 seq. Another project of Pius V.'s was not carried out ; 

Arco says of it in his *report of November 11, 1570 : *" Qui si 

tratta di far fontane su tutte le piazze et si fa conto che si spenderanno 

piii di 40 mila scudi." State Archives, Vienna. Ibid, an 

*Avviso di Roma of August 26, 1570, concerning the fountain of 

Cardinal Ricci at the " CoUis hortulorum " (Pincio),


soon made him change his mind. On account of this 

the city walls were repaired, the fortifications of the 

Borgo/ on which the Turks taken prisoner at Lepaiito 

were made to work, was completed, ^ the Castle of St. 

Angelo was strengthened,^ the sea coast of Latnim was 

protected by towers,^ and the works at Civitavecchia, 

Ancona, and Camerino were finished.^ Cesare Guasco,^ 

1 Cf. Lanciani, IV., 10 seq. ; Inventario, I., 317. Several 

coats of arms are preserved in the Via dalle Mura, near the Porta 

Cavalleggieri, among them a large one of Pius V. of 1568. 

^ See the *letter of Arco of December 15, 1571, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ See RoDOCANACHi, St.-Ange, tyi, according to whom the 

expenses came to 50,000 scudi. Nevertheless, in the museum of 

the Castle of St. Angelo there is only one inscription of the modest 

Pius V. He applied himself at once to the fortification of the 

Borgo ; see the *Avviso di Roma of January i, 1566, and the 

*report of Serristori of January 19, 1566, State Archives, Florence, 

Medic. 3285. An *Avviso of March 20, 1568, states that for the 

fortification of the Borgo, besides the 50,000 scudi taken from the 

treasure in the Castle, Pius V. intended to impose a fresh tax 

" alia mola " 

; Mons. di Narni supervised the works, which the 

Pope was anxious to hurry forward (Urb. 1040, p. 490)- An 

*Avviso of April 3, 1568, says • *" Si seguita la fortificatione di 

Borgo et Castello con tanta dilgenza che I'opera sara finita per 

tutto Giugno." {ibid. 499). But even by May 14, 1569, an 

*Avviso says that Narni is still going on " a far fabricare la 

fortezza di Borgo (Urb. 1041, p. 76, Vatican Library). Cf. 

RoccHi, Le piante icnografiche di Roma del sec. XVI., Turin- 

Rome, 1902. Reference to the same subject is also made in the 

*Discorso sopra la fortificatione di Castel S. Angelo et del Borgo 

di Roma I'anno, 1568, Stockholm Library, Ant. Coll. Donation, 

1742, Fol. Nr. 8, p. 341 seq. 

* See Vol. XVllI. cf this work. 

' See Gabutius and Catena, loc. cit., Bertolotti, Art. Subalp., 

72 seq., and V^l. XVIll. of this work. The fortification of Castel- 

franco, which was begun for the defence of Bologna, was not 

completed ; 

see Botero, Relationi VI., Venice, 1618, 40. 

^ See Bertolotii, Art. Subalp., 68 seq.

PAINTERS EMPLOYED BY THE POPE. I27 

Torquato Conti,^ and Paciotti^ were the engineers em- 

ployed by the Pope. According to Catena Pius V. 

spent 341,800 scudi upon his building operations. ^ Of the 

painters employed by the Pope, among whom was to be found 

a Netherlander, Bartolomaeus Sprenger,* Vasari is the one 

most frequently mentioned. Towards the end of the ponti- 

ficate of Pius V. he sketched the great mural paintings which 

were to decorate the Sala Regia ; 

besides the pictures of the 

return of Gregory XI. from Avignon to Rome, no less than 

three paintings were to celebrate the victory over the Turks, 

but only that of the Battle of Lepanto had been finished when 

the Pope died.^ 

^ See the *report of Cusano of May 18, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

* See the *brief of February 27, 1572. Archives of Briefs, 

Rome. Payments to the " Cavalier Paciotto " in *Deposit., 

t- 157 (^572), State Archives, Rome. 

105 .' 

* Catena, 226. 

* See Jahrb. der Kunstsamml. der dsterr. Kaiserhauses, XXVIII. 

cf- Jansen-Pastor, VI., 15-16, 113. Bidlett. de I'Institut 

hisiorique Beige a Rome, I., Rome, 1919, 309. Zuccaro fell a 

victim to the plague which raged during the summer of 1566 ; 

see *Avviso di Roma of September 7, 1566 ; the other day took 

place the burial of " Thadeo pittore tenuto in tal stima che 

I'hanno posto nella Ritonda vicino a Raftaello d'Urbino." (Urb. 

1040, p. 282b, Vatican Library). His exaggerated epitaph in 

Forcella, L, 297. In a *letter of May 29, 1569, Arco speaks of 

a " dipintore chiamato Uhsse da Volterra (la sua professione 

principale e di lavorare di stucho et di fontane) " whom he 

recommends to the Emperor (State Archives, Vienna). For the 

lack of painters in Rome (1568) see Gachard, Corresp. de Philippe 

II., II., 51. For the goldsmiths of Pius V. see Arch. sior. Lonib., 

1877, L, 295 seq. and Kunsthistor. Jahrb. des dsterr. Kaiserhauses, 

XII., 153 seq., where there is an illustration and reproduction of 

the sword and hat (now in Vienna) sent in 1568 by Pius V. to the 

Archduke Ferdinand of the Tyrol. Payments to Gio\^ Ant. de 

Rossi supra p. 52, n. i) " intagliatore della Zecca," in *Deposit., 

t. 157 (1572 If-xit., p. 16, 19, State Archives, Rome). 

* See Kallab, Vasari-Studien, 134 ; Orbaan in fahrbiich der 

Preuss. Kunstsamnd., XXXIX. (19x9), Beihett, p. 7.


Pius V. also took steps to promote learning, although— 

thing which in view of his whole character cannot Ije considered 

surprising—worldly and aesthetic considerations gave place 

entirely to those which were practical and ecclesiastical.^ 

The poetical effusions with which he was hailed immediately 

after his election, ^ and again and again later on,^ certainty 

made no appeal to him, any more than did the laudatory 

panegyrics of the various embassies for the obediential We 

do not know of any poets being rewarded by him, though it 

is recorded that one who had composed pasquinades was 

severely punished.^ It would appear that even the pcets^ 

^ While still a Cardinal Pius V. had been active in this sense 

with the Venetian academy or " della Fama," which elected him 

its protector ; see Hartig, Mii chner Hofbibliothek, 216 seq. 

^ See Ces. Sachetti, I tre conti per la nuova creatione di Pio 

v., Bologna, 1566. The Bavarian humanist, Johanii Anspach, 

also acclaimed Pius V. ; 

see Hist.-pol. Blatter, C, 501 seq. 

^ See the poems of Girol. and Cornelio Amalterio, of Girol. 

Catena, Lodovico Cavani and Tommaso Correa in Carmina 

illustr. poet., I., 136 seq., 178 seq. ; III., 314 seq., 317 seq., 319 seq. 

330 seq., 448 seq. Ibid, many poems on the battle of Lepanto. 

Cf. Vwl. XVIII. cf this wcrk. 

* The " Oratio ad Pium V.P.M. nomine ducis Alfonsi II. habita 

in Roma A, 1566," of M. A. Muret was at once printed in Rome 

by de Accoltis. Muret had also saluted Pius IV. in the name of 

Francis II. (Oratio, ed. Romae, A. Bladus, 1560). The *discourse 

of Poggiano to Pius V. in the name of the King of Poland in the 

Graziani Archives, Citta di Castello. 

* A poet, relates an *Avviso di Roma of January 4, 1567, asked 

the Pope for a vacant of&ce ; 

Pius V. had the matter gone into, 

^ poi li disse per esser authore et compositore di pasquinate in 

loco di gratia vi priviamo delli beneficii che tenete indegnamente 

aggiungendo che mai ne possiate havere et cosi se lo levo davanti." 

Urb. 1040, p. 343, Vatican Library. 

* A Caro was looked upon as the most eminent poet, on whose 

death Firmanus (*Diarium XII., 31, p. 142b) reports : " Die 

dominica 17 novembris [1566] obiit in via Julia . . . Hannibal 

Carus. . . . Hie 

erat poeta unicus ilUs temporibus in Italia, 

pulcherrimi aspectus, optimae vitae, exemplaris in omnibus suis 

actionibus et honor, decus ac principale ornarnentum totius nostri 

piceni." Papal Secret Archives,

THE POPE AND LEARNING. I29 

who sang the praises of the part taken by the Pope in the 

victory of Lepanto remained without recognition. ^ The 

fact that in spite of his parsimony he gave 5,000 scudi for the 

reprinting of the works of St. Thomas and St. Bonaventure 

shows in what direction the real interests of Pius V. lay. 2 

It is true that he never carried into execution the literary plan 

which he had once, while a simple religious, propounded to a 

learned German, namely, an edition of unedited Greek works,^ 

but on March 5th, 1571, he appointed a commission composed 

of Cardinals Sirleto, Hosius, Maffei, Montalto, Colonna and 

Giiistiniani to examine and refute in writing the Confession of 

Augsburg, and the attacks of the Centuriators of Magdeburg.* 

Clearly realizing the necessity of a solid defence against the 

attacks of the Protestants in the matter of Church history,^ 

the Pope in 1567 charged the learned Jesuit Canisius to show 

in the first place, with examples, how the Centuriators had 

distorted historical events.® Since Pius V. died hardly a 

^ See the poems of G. B. Albano, H. Catena, Lud. Cavani, and 

Tommaso Correa in Carmina illustr. poet., I., 456 seq. ; III., 316 

seq., 317 seq., 448 seq. Of the many poems which were occasioned 

by the Battle of Lepantu (see Vol. XVIII. of this work) there was 

dedicated to the Pope the very rare " Canzone supra la vittoria 

ottenuta dall'armata de principi christiani contra la Turchesca," 

Venice, A. Muschio, 1571, on the title-page of wliich there is a 

" Roma et Italia resurgens." Perhaps 

vignette with the motto : 

its author was the Venetian, Ottaviano Maggi ; cj. Melzi, 1., 171. 

Another very rare work is " Hier. Zo])])io, Laude del santiss. et 

grandiss. Pio V'.P. per la glorios. et lelic. vittona contra 'lurcho," 

Bologna, Aless. Benaccio, 1571. 


' See the *letter of Giov. Sambucus to Sirleto ol February 20, 

1566, Vatican Library ; set- A|>p. n. 6 

* See Ada consist, card. S. Sevennae, XXllL, 322. 

^ The Centenarius of Wilhelm Eisengrein (Ingolstadt, 15661 of 

which Pius V. accepted the dedication, certainly gave the first im- 

pulse to this ; see Pfleger in Histor. Jahrbuch, XXV., 782 seq.; cf. 

also Braunsberger, Pius V., 62 seq., and Corresp. dipt., II., 273. 

* See Canisii Epist., V., 480 6eq. ; cj. Braunsberger, Pius V., 

64 seq. 

VOL. XVIL 9

130 


year after the appointment of the commission, the plan of a 

great and exhaustive refutation of the Centuriators could 

not be carried out.^ The Pope, however, saw the publication 

of the new edition of the works of St. Thomas, which filled 

seventeen folio volumes ; this had been prepared by the 

Spanish Dominican, Tommaso de Manriquez, with the help of 

his brethren, and was dedicated to Pius V.^ A bull of April 

nth, 1567, ordered that henceforth the day of the death of 

the " angel of the schools," March 7th, should be kept 

throughout the Church in the same way as the feasts of the 

four great Doctors of the Church.^ The most celebrated and 

valuable work which was dedicated to Pius V. came from the 

pen of the great Biblical scholar, Sisto da Siena, whose life 

the Pope had saved when he was commissary-general of the 

Roman Inquisition. This was the Bibliotheca Sancta, printed 

at Venice in 1566, which has served as a rich mine to later 

students of the Holy Scriptures.'* The Dominican, Jacopo 

Nacchianti, a fellow-student of the Pope, dedicated to him 

his commentaries on the Epistles to the Ephe'sians and the 

Romans.^ A learned German, Doctor Georg Eder, also 

dedicated to Pius V. a kind of introduction to the Holy 

Scriptures.^ 

Certain other works dedicated to Pius V. are also character- 

istic. Besides a poem on the birth of Christ,'^ there is a dis- 

1 See ScHMiD in Histor. Jahrbuch, XVII., 83 ; Eichhorn, II., 

463 seq. Cf. also Corresp. dipl., IV., Ix. seq. 

^ See QuETiF-EcHARD, II., 230, and infra p. 200. 

3 Bull. Rom., VII., 564 seq. 

* Cf. Kaulen, Einleitung in die hi. Schrift, Freiburg, 1898, 

9 seq. 

5 See Lauchert, 587 seq. 

* For the " Oecononiia Bibliorum " oJ Eder, Cologne, 1568, see 

Paulus in Hist.-pol. Blatter, CXV., 25 seq. For his Vite dei Santi 

Surius received two briefs of praise. See Laderchi, 1570, n. 446 ; 

1571, n. 39. Martin Eisengrein also was repeatedly honoured by 

Pius V. ; see Pfleger, Eisengrein, 72 seq., 79 seq. 

' *Laevinii Torrentii, Hymni de partu Virginis ad Pinm Y., in 

Cod. Ottob. 886, Vatican Library.

THE POPE AND LEARNING. I3I 

sertation by Lorenzo Belo, who defends, quite in accordance 

with the mediaeval theory, the supreme power of the Pope 

even in temporal matters.^ There is also an Italian translation^ 

of the description of the seven basilicas of Rome by 

Onofrio Panvinio, an essay on the primacy of St. Peter by 

the same writer, and a new edition of the Vite dei Papi by 

Platina.3 When the envoy of the Duke of Urbino presented 

to the Pope in 1570 a work by Pandolfo Sansovino on the life 

of Christ, he received a gift of 200 scudi ; on the other hand, 

the Greek, Antonio Esparcho, who had been collecting manuscripts 

for the Vatican Library in his own country, and had 

been receiving a pension granted by Paul III. and continued 

by Paul IV. and Pius IV., tried in vain to secure the continut 

ance of this help.'* The reason why Paulus Manutius lef- 

^ *Laurentii Beli, De summa pontificia potestate creandi et 

destruendi dignitates et potestates in toto terrarum orbe ad Pium 

v., in Cod. Vatic. 5495 and Ottob. 815, Vatican Library ; also in 

*Carte Strozz. State Archives, Florence. For Belo cj. Marini, 

Lettera, 55 seq. In Cod. Vatic. 1107 *Petri Pontii Consultatio 

ad Pium V., quod super matriinonio rato Papa dispensare possit. 

^ Made by Marcus Ant. Lanfrancus Veronensis, in *Cod. Vatic, 

6432, Vatican Librarj'. 

^ O. Panvinius, De primatu Petri et apost. sedis potestate lib. 

II. ad Pium V., in Cod. S. 8, 9 of the Angelica Library in Rome, 

printed in a compendium at Verona, 1589, and several times 

afterwards ; see Narducci, Catal. Bibl. Angel., 528. For the 

new edition of 1568, dedicated to Pius V., of the Vite dei papi of 

Platina, see Vol. XV. of this work p. 421. The dedication 

of a work on canon law in Ciaconius, III., 1064. The Cod. 

Vatic. 3944, P- 48 seq. contains, *Capizuchus, Ad Pium V. super 

clericorum connubiis a Germanis petitis (Vatican Library). In 

Cod. Urb. 1235 is to be found a *Trattato della quiete civile e della 

sua causa da Niccolo Sergiusti Lucchese detto il Dirceo con lettera 

a P. Pio V. Vatican Library. 

* See Mel. d'archeol., XIII., 290 seq., an *Avviso di Roma of 

July 17, 1568, announces that Mons. Foglieta, who was writing 

the " Historia del mondo, s'e posto al servitio del card. Ferrara " 

(Urb. 1040, p. 549, Vatican Library). Cf. " U. Folietae Tyburtinum 

H. Estii card. Ferrariensis " in Graevius, Thes., I., 2. 

1228 seq. and Atli Mod., \., 204.

132 


Rome in 1570 was certainly not only his spiritual state, but 

also his need of support.^ With the exception of works of an 

ecclesiastical character, ^ Pius V. only showed any real interest 

in those concerned with his favourite subject, the war against 

the Turks. 

The use of the Vatican Library, of which Cardinal Sirleto* 

was made librarian for life in 1572, was made more difficult,^ 

though on the other hand Pius V. tried to acquire for it the 

famous collection of manuscripts belonging to Cardinal 

^ In his letters Paulus Manutius speaks in a confused and contra- 

dictory manner of his departure ; see Tiraboschi, VII., i, 165 

seq. The monograph which Mgr. Le Grelle is preparing will no 

doubt throw full light upon this matter. For the attitude of 

Pius V. towards the mysterious G. Cardano, see Bollet. Pavese, 

IV., 591 seq. 

- Pius V. encouraged Girol. Muzio to compose his " Risposta 

air Apologia anglicana " ; 

see Lauchert, 665. 

' PoMETTi, 66 seq. enumerates a series of these from the codices 

in the Papal Secret Archives. The *Discorso a Pio V. and the 

*Discorso of G. Selvago are also in Cod. Maggliabecch. XXIV., 

33, p. 258 seq., 226 seq. of the National Library, Florence. Ibid. 

XXX. -46 the discourse of P. Vettori. This matter is also dealt 

with by *Fr. Brochii civis Florent. Oratio de bello decernendo 

contra Turcas ad Pium V. (Cod. Vatic. 6153, Vatican Library) 

and Vine. Negusantius (architect. Arbensis), Pro bello in Turcas 

ad Pium V. oratio, Fano, 1595. 

* The *brief " Tuorum magnitudo meritorum " of March 18, 

1572, is in the Archivi s of Briefs, Rome. 

* CiAN in Giorn. stor. d. left. Ital., IX., 456, deals very well with 

this matter. G. Mercati is about to publish an article in Histor. 

Jahrbuch on the prohibition, mentioned on the authority of an 

*Avviso di Roma of April 29, 1570 (Urb. 1041, p. 269b) that 

" niuno," under pain of excommunication, " possia copiare scrit- 

ture nella hbreria Vaticana." This prohibition certainly only 

refers to the use of codices which were under suspicion from the 

ecclesiastical point of view by incompetent persons ; it is clear 

among other things from the particulars in Histor. Jahrb., XVII. 

81 ; XXV., 788, that learned Catholics, even Germans hke William 

Eisengrein, were allowed to work in the Vatican Library under 

Pius V.

THE PAPAL ARCHIVES. I33 

Vitelli/ and continued the transference of manuscripts from 

Avignon to Rome which had been undertaken by his prede- 

cessor. ^ In the spring of 1567 the Pope gave orders for tlie 

preparation of a place in the Vatican to serve as a secret 

archivium for the more important acta? while a special pro- 

vision of 1566 den It with the preservation of ancient docu- 

ments."* A motu proprio of August 19th, 1568, ordered the 

compilation of a full and detailed catalogue of all manuscripts 

relating to the Roman Church, but tlic plan, like that of 

Pius IV. of forming a central archivium, met with insuperable 

difificulties. Apart from the fact that the Church was at that 

time faced v/ith more pressing undertakings, the necessary 

conditions and powers were lacking.^ 

On the other hand the efforts which Pius V. made on behalf 

of the Roman University were crowned with success. 

Although, at the end of the XVIIIth century, Pavia showed, 

by the erection of a monument, its gratitude for the foundation 

of the Collegio Ghislieri, which was founded to receive 24 

students for the University there,*' no outward sign records 

the services of Pius V. to the Roman institution, which, 

* See the *report of Firmanus of November 19, 1568, Papal 


" See MuNTZ, La bibl. du Vatican, Paris, 1886, T15 seq. 

2 See Lanciani, IV., 8. 

* See Orbaan, Een pauselijk verbod tegen bet opgebruiken van 

handschriften, in Tydschrift van boek en bibliotheekwczen, 1907, 

Pius V. also insisted that the nuncios should keep a record of 

their dispatches ; see Niimiat. di Polonia, I., 18 (instructions of 

April 19, 1567). Papal Secret Archives. 

* Opinion of Sickel, Be'trage, I., 13 seq. ; 16 seq. ; II., 86 seq. ; 

Marini, Mem. d. archivi, 25 seq. ; Studi e dociim., VII L, 12 ; 

Merkle, L, xix., civ. 

* For the Collegio Ghislieri, which still exists to-day, though in 

a different form, see Ladercht, 1571, n. 159 ; Bonanni, I., 295 ; 

Venuti, 132 ; Bruzzone, Bjsco, II., io6 seq. ; 366 seq. ; Riv. di 

Alessandria, XIII., 6i seq. ; Uel Giudice in Rendiconti del R. 

Istit. Lomb., 2^ vSerie, XXIII. (1890) ; E. Galetti, II Collegio 

Ghislieri di Pavia, Pavia, 1890; Bibl. Corvisieri, II., 401; 

Dell'Acqua, 51 seq.

134 


however, are proved by the records in its archives. He not 

only took care that the new buildings made good progress, 

but he also saw to it that the internal requirements of the 

University were met by efforts to remove the abuses by reason 

of which its financial affairs had fallen into a state of confusion. 

If he was not completely successful in this, it is beyond question 

that his ordinances laid the foundations for the subsequent 

development of the " Sapienza " just at the time when the 

other Italian universities were beginning to lose their former 

splendour. The Pope showed what an interest he took in the 

affairs of the University by several times presiding in person 

at the meetings of the commission of studies formed by Julius 

III.i 

The number of the professors at the Roman University, 

which had been 34 in 1536, was increased to 37 in 1568 ;2 not 

a few of them were men of great distinction and repute, such 

as the jurists, Girolamo Pariseti and Camillo Plauto, the 

physicians, Francesco Ginnasi, Ippolito Salviano, and above 

aU, Marc Ant. Muret and Silvio Antoniano.^ What a change 

had taken place in men's ideas is characteristically shown 

by the decision of the commission of studies on October i6th, 

1569, to substitute for the formula, Quod honum faustum' 

felixque sit, which had been placed at the head of the register 

in the time of Leo X., the words, In nome delta santissima e 

indh isihile 

* 

Trinita . 

The spirit which had become paramount in the Eternal 

^ Cf. *Avvisi di Roma of November 2 and 9, 1566, and October 2, 

1570, Urb. 1040, p. 314b, 317 ; 1041, p. 357, Vatican Library ; 

Marini, Lettera, 128 seq. ; Renazzi, II., 140 seq. ; Laderchi, 

1566, n. 157 and the important contribution of Pometti in Scritti 

vari di filologia dedic. a E. Monaci, Rome, igoi, 70 seqq., 89 seqq., 

where, however, no notice is taken of the " Rotulus " of 1568, 

published in 11 Muratori, I., Rome, 1892, 77 seq. 

2 See in *Cod. H-III-62, p. 16 seq. of the Chigi Library, Rome, 

the catalogue of Carlo Cartari based upon the *Ruoli in the 

Sapienza Archives. 

^ Cf. Pometti loc. cit., 90. 

* See Marini, Lettera, 17.

A CHANGED SPIRIT IN ROME. I35 

City under Pius V. is shown no less dearly in the inscription 

over the principal entrance of the Palazzo del Conservatori 

" The senate and people of Rome entrust the protection of 

the Capitol, once sacred to Jove, to the true God, to the 

author of all good, Jesus Christ, with a prayer for the common 

good. In the year of salvation, 1568."^ 

* See Bicci, Notizie d. famiglia Boccapaduh, Rome, 1762, 132 ; 

FoRCELLA, I., 38 ; PoGATSCHER in Repert. fur Kunstwissenschaft, 

XXIX., 500 seq.

CHAPTER IV. 

Reforming Zeal of Pius V. Reform of the College of 

Cardinals, the Curia, and the Roman Clergy. 

Everyone who, even by repute, knew his fiery zeal, realized 

that with Cardinal Ghislieri the genius to reform and the 

spirit of the Council of Trent had ascended the Papal throne. 

The advocates of a radical ecclesiastical revival joyfully spread 

the news of the election of Pius V.,^ and of his first reforms, 

while, at the end of the first year of his reign, a correspondent 

summed up his impressions of him as follows ; " The new 

Pope, for whom his ill-vvîshers predicted a short pontificate,^ 

has strength for another ten years, and reform plans for 

another hundred or a thousand years."'* Pius V. himself 

made no secret of his intentions. On July ist, 1566, in im- 

ploring the Republic to abstain from any further plans of war, 

in order that no obstacles might be placed in the way of peace 

in Italy, and thus in that of an ecclesiastical revival, he wrote 

to Genoa that he wished to reform everything in the Church 

of God that stood in need of reform.^ On March 2nd, 1566, 

^ Circular in the name of Francis Borgia to the provincials of 

the Jesuits, January 15, 1566, S. Franciscus Borgia, IV., 162-167. 

^ Cf. circulars of Polanco to the Society of Jesus, of January 25, 

April 30, June 17, and October 21, 1566, Anal. Bollatid., VII. 

(1888) 46 seqq. These letters were published with some editions 

at Cologne in 1567 ; ibtd., XV. (1896), 77 seq. 

* Catena, 21. 

* *Ciregiola to Cardinal Medici, December 8, 1566 : 

" Non solo 

supera tutte le stravagante opinioni e umore e male mercantie di 

mercato nuovo, ma che havera vita per dieci anni e riforme per 

cento a per mille." State Archives, Florence. 

^ *[Reformare] sicut instituimus, in Ecclesia Dei quidquid 

reformatione indigere perspicimus. Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 12, 

n. 79, Papal Secret Archives. 

136

THE COURT OFFICIALS. 137 

Cardinal Granvelle declared that everything was changed in 

Rome.^ The new officials who had been appointed during 

the first days of the pontificate, for the ApostoHc Palace, the 

Dataria, the government of the Papal States, and other im- 

portant offices, were all significant of the new methods which 

the Pope intended to adopt. ^ In affairs of State, the Spanish 

ambassador says, when giving a list of the new officials, he 

will make use of Farnese, but for the administration of the 

city, and for the carrying out of the Council of Trent, which, 

it is said, he intends to do with full rigour, Borromeo will be 

his right hand.^ 

^ Corresp. de Granvelle, ed. Poullet, I.. 247. 

^ *" Ha create officiali : monsgr. Cirillo maestro di casa, msgr. 

governatore di 

Alessandro Casale Bolognese maestro di Camera ; 

Roma il vescovo d'Imola segretario de brevi Fiordibello et msgr. 

Cesare segretario delle lettere si e detto del vescovo di Cesena, ma 

non e anco stabilito. II datariu andara alia foggia di Paulo IV., 

assistendo Pisa, Trani et Reomano ; et questo datario seguitark 

va per detto, tanto che sia staf>ilito I'altro : non 

si piglieranno 

compositioni. Ms. Giovanni Battista Pistone fiscale e stato 

conlirmato et tuttavia si sta sul negotiare. Addesso de cardinali 

sono favoriti Farnese, Savello, Gambara, Correggio, Vitelli, Pisa, 

il quale si dice che havera Bologna et forsi il carico de negotii." 

Caligari to Commendone on January 9, 1566, Lett, di princ. 

XXIII. 73*^ (now i6o'^-i6i). Papal Secret Archives. " Ha hecho 

un muy buen datario que es el argobispo [of Chieti, latei i n 

Cardinal] jNIafeo, y puesto por superintendentes de la dataria los 

cardenales Trani, Reumano y Pisa que ya lo fueron en tiempo de 

Paulo IV. ; y pienso que se proveeran los beneficios por examen, 

como en su tiempo se hazia. Ha encomendado la superinten- 

dencia del govierno y justicia criminal de todo el estado eclesiastico 

a los cardenales S. Clemente, Gambaro y Nicolino." Requesens 

to Philip II. , on January 11, 1566, Corresp. dipl. I., 86. 

* " En todas las cosas de estado creo que se governara por el 

parescer del card. Fames, como lo ha comen9ado ; y creo que el 

y Vitello y Pisa seran los que mas podran con Su Beatitud, y tambien 

creo que se servira de Borromeo en lo que toca al govierno 

spiritual de esta 9iudad y execucion de las cosas del conciUo, el 

qual dizen que quiere guardar en todo rigor." Ibid.

138 


In all his reform work Pius V. allied himself closely with 

Cardinal Borromeo, who frankly made known to the Pope 

his own ideas for the renewal of the Church, and of the things 

that she chiefly stood in need of.^ There is no Cardinal holier 

than he, said Pius V., in July, 1566, nor one who tells me the 

truth more frankly than he does.- The other Cardinals have 

nothing but their own interests in view, whereas all Borromeo's 

counsels are directed to the common good. He wished him, 

therefore, to return to Rome and to have him always by his 

side.^ Indeed, in spite of his zeal for the observance of the 

duty of residence on the part of the bishops, it was only very 

unwilHngly, and on the condition of his early return in the 

autumn, that Pius V. at length gave the Cardinal of Milan 

permission to go to his diocese in April, 1566,'* and again later 

on it was rumoured that in spite of his reluctance Borromeo 

would be recalled to Rome.^ 

In order to make up for the absence of the Cardinal of Milan, 

immediately after the latter's departure from Rome, Pius V. 

summoned to his side the man who had so far been Borromeo's 

1 Bascape, I., I, c. 9, 9. 22. 

^ *Ciregiola to Cardinal Medici, July 19, 1566, State Archives, 

Florence. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of July 13, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 243, Vatican 

Library. " Esso [Pius V.] poco si consiglia, dubitando quasi di 

non poter trovar fedel consigliero, percioche in Roma in vero si 

parla a passione piia che in qualsivoglia altra parte, etc." Tiepolo, 

179. 

* Bascape, loc. cit. " II Papa fa difficolta dare licentia al 

cardinal de venire a Milano et lo ticne occupato ncle sue facende 

et negotii et die [one] che egli e uno Angello . . . Et cardinale 

Borromeo viene ogni giorno apresso questa corte in magior reputa- 

tione, stimandolo che possa cio che vuole dal Papa e cosi voresse 

domandare come haveria, ma lui fa con questo come faceva ancora 

con il suo passato." Camillo Borromeo to Cesare Borromeo, in 

Arch. stOY. Lomb., 1903, 361. Borromeo left Rome on March 11, 

1566 (*Avviso di Roma of March x6, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 194, 

Vatican Library), and reached Milan on April 5 (Sprotte, 2). 

5 *Avviso di Roma of Noveinber 12, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 152, 

Vatican Library. Cf. San Carlo, 113, 224.

NICCOLO ORMANETO. I39 

right, hand in the reform of his archdiocese, Niccolo Ormaneto,^ 

a priest of Verona who had been trained in the school of 

Matteo Giberti. After prolonged studies, especially in Canon 

Law, Ormaneto had at first had charge of the parish of 

Bovolone as archpriest. When he was sent as legate to 

England in 1553, Cardinal Pole chose this able man as his 

companion, and made use of his services for important missions 

to the Pope and the Emperor, ^ as well as for the reform of the 

English clergy and the University of Oxford.^ After the 

death of Pole, Ormaneto might have received the archbishopric 

of Avignon, but he preferred to return to his post as a simple 

priest in his parish of Bovolone, though he was soon to exchange 

this quiet work for a field of wider activity. His bishop, 

Navagero, took him with him to the Council of Trent, and 

when it became necessary to restrain Albert V. of Bavaria 

from precipitate action in the matter of communion under both 

kinds, this thankless task was entrusted to Ormaneto, who 

carried it out with complete success.^ As Valiero, Navagero's 

successor, attests, he next won considerable repute at the 

diocesan synod which was held at Verona after the conclusion 

of the ecumenical council. Cardinal Borromeo chose this 

prudent and experienced disciple of his master Giberti to hold 

the diocesan synod at Milan, and thus set on foot the work of 

ecclesiastical reform. 

A yet wider and more important field of work opened before 

Ormaneto when, in June, 1566, he was summoned to the 

capital of Christendom. ^ Borromeo let him go most reluct- 

antly ; I feel, he wrote,® as if my right hand had been cut off. 

^ Cf. F. M. Carini, Monsignor N. Ormaneto, Rome, 1894. 

C. Robinson, Nic. Ormaneto, London, 1920. 

2 Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, pp. 275, 278. 

^ Carini, 6. 

* Cf. Vol. XV. of this work, p. 331; Susta, IV., 23 seq. 28 118. 

^ For his arrival in Rome (July 8) and his first audience cf. 

VATS! Ortroy in Anal. Bolland., XXXIIL (1914), 189. 

^ To Cardinal Alciati, June 5, 1566, Anal. Bolland., XXXIIL, 

194, n. 4. At first Ormaneto was only summoned for two years. 

Borromeo to Pius V., June 26, 1566, in Baluze-Mansi, III., 531.

140 


Following Borromeo's example, Pius V. had taken in hand, 

before everything else, the reform of his immediate entourage ; 

the moral revival which was to spread from the court was to 

extend, in the first place to the Cardinals, and by their example 

spread to the rest of the clergy, and so to the whole of 

Christendom.^ He was therefore very particular in the choice 

of the pontifical household. It is true that at the beginning of 

his pontificate he had, as the result of pressure put upon him 

by important persons, to admit some whom he would not 

himself have chosen, ^ but it very soon transpired that he had 

limited his court to 500 persons, and that he did not intend to 

spend more than 50,000 ducats a year upon his household.^ 

Anyone who wished to remain in his service had to make up 

his mind to lead a strict life ; almost every day a Dominican 

held a religious conference in the Apostolic Palace, at which 

the Pope himself and the Cardinals assisted. When an in- 

dulgence on account of the Turkish danger was published, 

Pius V. insisted that the court officials must gain it, and dis- 

tributed Holy Communion to them with his own hands.* 

Even in the first year of his reign men wrote several times from 

Rome that the Apostolic Palace was like a monastery, and 

that there were no longer any traces of the old court life.^ 

^ Polanco, January 25, 1566, Anal. Bolland., VII. (1888), 47. 

Îlnd. 

^ *" Ritenne solo cinquecento boche perche non vuole si spenda 

ranno nella casa sua piu di 50,000 ducati." Cusano, January 26, 

1566, State Archives. Vienna. Cf. Polanco, April 30, 1566, Anal. 

Bolland., VII., 55. 

^ Ihid. 51. 

^ *" Nel palazzo del Papa non si vedono le gente se non in quel 

modo che si va alii monasteri de frati osservanti, niuna sorta di 

corte si vede." Camillo Borromeo to Cesare Borromeo, on 

February 23, 1566, Trivulzi Library, Milan. Cod. 551. 

*" Le 

cose de la corte passano in silentio al presente, et V. S. iacia conto 

che il palazzo dal' audientia in poi che da il ill. cardinale Alessan- 

drino la mattina, sia un convento quietissimo et solitario de frati." 

Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua, on August 10, 1566, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua.

REFORM OF THE COURT. I4I 

" Only monks and Theatincs go to the palace, and they think 

they can reform the world in a day," wrote the Imperial agent 

Cusano, in June, 1566,^ yet at that time they were only in the 

first stages of the reform. 

When Ormaneto had arrived in the Eternal City, even the 

Papal court was gradually brought under the watchful eye of 

that experienced reformer. On October 6th, 1566, the Pope 

himself addressed a stern allocution to his assembled household, 

exhorting them to lead exemplary lives, and giving them 

a number of rules, which were for the future to be binding upon 

the whole court. He ordered in the first place that a list 

should be made of all those employed about the court, showing 

their ecclesiastical rank, and the benefices enjoyed by each, 

so as to prevent an accumulation of benefices or the nonobservance 

of the duty of residence. ^ The priests were bound 

to say mass at least three times a week, and the rest were to 

receive the sacraments every two weeks. The court clerics 

were forbidden to use dresses with collars and cuffs, and wide 

sleeves, or velvet or silk ; henceforward they were to wear 

the customary dress of clerics, made of plain cloth. In order 

that the court gentlemen and their servants should not waste 

a great part of their day in idleness, lectures were to be 

dehvered at the palace on theological and philosophical 

subjects, and furthermore, books were to be provided so that 

the chamberlains and attendants might be able to occupy 

their time profitably. Ormaneto was given full authority 

to reprove and admonish the whole of the household, and to 

refer to the Pope if necessary. The maestro di camera, 

Cirillo, might dismiss all who were disobedient or incorrigible. 

In conclusion, the Pope pointed out that his duty as chief 

1 *Per palazzo non si vedono altri che frati et Chiettini, che 

pensono riformar 11 mondo in un giorno." On June 8, 1566, State 


2 Polanco, October 21, 1566, loc. at. 65. Cf. *Avviso di Roma 

of November 9, 1366, Urb. 1040, p. 318, Vatican Library. Later 

on Carniglia went back to all the Cardinals and prelates, exhorting 

them to urge their servants to residence. *Avviso of December 23 

1571, ibid. 1042, p. 167b.

142 


shepherd constrained him to make these rules, and he again 

urged Ormaneto to watch over the carrying out of his orders 

unless he wished to bring down punishment upon himself.^ 

Ormaneto waited before taking any drastic steps until 

he had completely mastered the conditions obtaining in the 

apostolic palace. Then, following the example of Cardinal 

Borromeo, he began his reform of the court in June, 1567, by 

dismissing about 150 of the gentlemen and minor officials. 

Of the six physicians only three were retained, and of the 

'>{] employed in the stable only 18. So that none should go 

away discontented the gentlemen received 200 scudi each, 

and the others 100. This reduction of the court personnel 

made possible a saving of 5000 scudi a year, which was devoted 

to the assistance of monasteries and pious foundations. 

1 PoLANCO, October 21, 1566, loc. cit. ; cf. Mutinelli I., 57. 

*." Die dominica, 6 Octobris [1566] Papa fecerat intimari omnibus 

familiaribus suis quod hora 19 omnes reperirentur in aula Con- 

stantini, in qua convenerunt infiniti offici .les, sed Papa, hoc forsan 

ignorans, hora 20^ in camera audientie fecit longum sermonem 

illis qui ibi reperiebantur circa morum reformationem, cum 

vellet Sanctitas Sua reformare mores depravatos aliorum, nemo 

posset dicere debuisse prius suos familiares deinde alios corrigere ; 

hortatus fuit omnes ad celebrandum sepe, dico presbiteros, et alios 

omnes quod communicarent saltern bis in mense. Dixit multa 

circa vestimenta ; 

prohibuit vestes de serico et rte velluto et caligas 

frappatas ac calciamenta et multa similia " (Firman us, Diarium 

XII. 31 p. 131, Papal Secret Archives). Cf. *Avviso di Roma of 

October 12, 1566, Urb. 1040 p. 300*^, Vatican Library. *S. S** 

per dar esemipo ad altri nella riforma, comincia sempre da se et 

dalla sua famiglia, et dicono che fa vestire tutti li suoi staffieri et 

officiali di negro simplicemente con le calce all'antiqua." Avviso 

oi October 19, ibid, 306. 

^ *" Per principio di nova rifforma della casa, instituta da 

monsignore Ormaneto a imitatione di queUa che fece gia Borromeo, 

si sono licentiati delle 37 parafrenieri che S. S*^' havea 19, et se 

gli sono prima dati cento scudi dono per ciascuno, a quelli che 

restano vuole S. Beatitudine che si proveghi in modo che tutti 

possino star in Palazzo, et questa spesa che si scema. dei detti 

licentiati et altri che di mano in mano come piu comodi si ripar-

REFORM OF THE COURT. I43 

While the court of Paul IV. had numbered 421 nobles and 

313 lesser officials, or 734 in all, with 247 horses, and Pius IV. 

had increased this numl^cr to 533 nobles and 529 others, or in 

all 1062 persons, with 358 horses, under Pius V. in 1571 the 

total was 319 nobles and 282 others, or in all 601 persons, with 

161 horses.^ 

In spite of all this he did not desist from his labours for 

the reform of the court in 1568 and 1569. We constantly 

hear either of an exhortation addressed by Ormancto to the 

chamberlains in the Pauline Chapel,- or that he was employed 

in other ways on the reform of the court, ^ or that the curiosity 

of Rome on the subject of a secret consistory had led men to 

guess that it was concerned with the reform of the apostohc 

palace.* Further regulations were also issued ; thus at the 

beginning of 1568 the Pope insisted that all the members 

of his household should reside in the Papal palace, and that 

the gates should be shut at night. ^ Then came the order that 

tarano, vuole che se ne aiutino i monasteri et luoghi pii " (B. Pia 

to Luzzara, on June 7, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). " *L

144 


all the doors of the palace should be walled up save two, and 

that of these two only one should be open at night, and that 

all the residents in the palace should be within by nightfall.^ 

Thus, although the Pope was constantly called upon to 

deliver exhortations and make new rules, the reform of the 

court had nevertheless made great progress, and the abuses 

and liberties which had formerly existed had disappeared. 

Cardinal Borromeo kept in constant and confidential touch 

with Ormaneto from Milan. On December i8th, 1566, 

he wrote to him about the need for the reform of the 

College of Cardinals, " a thing which " Borromeo adds, " I 

have already proposed to the Pope."^ During the course 

of the same year he sent his views on the subject to Ormaneto,"* 

and in November, 1566, Pius V. sought the latter's aid in the 

difficult task of the spiritual renewal of the great princes of the 

Church.^ 

In his first consistory, a few days after his election, Pius V. 

had exhorted the Cardinals to a manner of life in keeping with 

1 *'• Tutte le porte di Palazzo si murano ne staranno aperte se 

non quella che va in S. Pietro et quella de Svizzeii, ct da 24 here 

in su quella sola de Svizzeri, et chi abita in Palazzo havra da 

ridurvisi alle 24." B. Pia to Luzzara, on August 21, 1568, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. Cj. Arco, August 21, 1568, State 


^ *On the Wednesday the Pope made a speech in the consistory, 

tuttavia piu quests corte si va restringendo a] ben oprare at 

lassare li abusi et la hcentia del viver dannoso." (Avviso di Roma 

of March 5, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 35. Vatican Library). On October 

17. 1567 *Serristor] wrote from Rome that the Pope had already 

reformed his palace and reduced the expenditure. State Archives, 

Florence, Medic. 3287. 

' Ambrosian Library, Milan, F. 37, Inf. 475. 

* 1566, without date ot the day ; ibid. 356. 

* *" II Papa e ingolfato piu che mai in queste sue ritorme. II 

principal ministro e un gentilhuomo Veronese mons. Ormaneto," 

lately vicar of Borromeo at Milan. ' Hora si attende alia riforma 

de frati sfratati et de cardinal!, delli cjuali si mettono in ordine le 

bolle." Avviso di Roma of November 16. 1566, Urb. 1040, 

p. 320, Vatican Library.

THE POPE AND THE CARDINALS. I45 

their position, so that the lower clergy might take their lead 

from them.'^ What would have pleased the Pope most would 

have been if the princes of the Church would all have adopted 

a manner of life after the example of Borromeo. In August, 

1566, it is said that he expressed the view that the Cardinals 

should not have gold or silver plate at their tables, but only 

porcelain, 2 and on another occasion he urged them to have 

reading at their meals, ^ though there was no question of any 

precept on the subject being enjoined. The Pope, however, 

took every opportunity of recommending to the princes of the 

Church poverty and apostolic simplicity, and he tried to 

influence them in that direction by his own example. At one 

of his first consistories he had exhorted them to lead exemplary 

lives by pointing out that the heresies of the time had been 

brought into being for the most part by the evil Hves led by 

ecclesiastics,* and, fourteen days later, he returned to the 

same subject ; 

it was his wish to abolish the right of sanctuary 

exercised by the Cardinals. At the beginning of April he 

announced in consistory that it was his intention to reduce 

his own court for reasons of economy ; 

the Cardinals ought to 

follow his example, and be careful to lead exemplary hves, and 

wear ecclesiastical dress if they were in orders or in possession 

of benefices.^ When he conferred the purple on his nephew 

420. 

1 Laderciii, 1566, n. 28. Serristori, January 12, 1566, Legaz., 

2 *Avviso di Roma of August 17, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 274b, 


^ *Arco, January 19, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* Legaz. di Serristori, 420 (January' 12, 1566). Cf. supra, p. 67. 

"* *Arco, January 26 and April 6, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

Cf. *Caligari to Commendone, June 18, 1566, Papal Secret 

Archives; *B. Pia, June 5, 1568, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

The right of sanctuary in favour of the houses of the Cardinals 

and the foreign ambassadors had been revoked by the Pope on 

January 23 1566 (Acta consist, in Gulik-Eubel, II., 47 n.). A 

limitation of the right of sanctuary for assassins in Spain and 

Rousillon 

VIL, 617. 

made by a brief of October 6, 1567, in Bull. Rom., 

VOL. XVII. 10

146 


Bonelli, he turned in consistory to the newly-made Cardinal 

and spoke of the office and dignity of the cardinalate, making 

it clear that this high position called for a blameless manner of 

life ; let Bonelli, he said, look upon his undeserved dignity 

as an occasion for showing a greater gratitude to God, humility, 

meekness, fear of God, obedience, and charity to his neighbour. ^ 

For the most part, it must be admitted, the lofty tone of 

these pontifical allocutions had in the end to be adapted to 

very everyday requirements. Thus, in 1566, Pius V. took 

the opportunity of the approach of Advent to make " a 

magnificent speech " urging his hearers who bore the purple 

to sanctify the time of preparation for Christmas by prayer 

and fasting, but he had to end by reproving them for gossiping 

and disputing in the churches to the scandal of the people. 

He himself gave a shining example in the sanctification of 

Advent, and he insisted that Bonelli, and requested that the 

others, should do the same. As far as I know, wrote the 

Imperial agent, Pacheco and Gambara follow his example.^ 

A little before Christmas he exhorted the consistory to the 

imitation of Christ, as He had shown Himself when He came 

upon earth, by their obedience, poverty, sound doctrine, 

^ " *[Die mercurii 6 martii fuit consistorium secretum]. . . . 

In fine dicti consistorii . . . [frater Michael Bonellus creatus 

cardinalis] . . . genuflexus audivit quedam que S*"^^ Sua dixit 

circa officium et dignitatem cardinalatus et viram inreprehensi- 

bilem quam agere debebat hortans euni ut eo magis Deo gratias 

ageret essetque humilis, mansuetus, Deo serviens ac hominibus 

obediens et gratus, quanto quod nullis ipsius concurrentibus 

meritis ad tarn grande fastigium et tanti momenti dignitatem 

promotus fuisset, et alia similia." Firmanus, Diarium XII., 31, 

p. 63, Papal Secret Archives. 

* * Ciregiola to Cardinal Ferdinand de' Medici, November 29, 

1566, State Archives, Florence. *Strozzi, November 30, 1566, 

State Archives, Vienna. On November 30, 1567, when four of the 

Cardinals were gossiping during the mass of Advent, the Pope 

made them a sign ; see Firmanus, *Diarium, Papal Secret 

Archives, loc. cit. 

* *Strozzi, December 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna.


peace, charity to their neighbour, good example and holy life, 

but this time his speech wound up by complaints about the 

many intrigues being carried on about the next Papal election. 

" I have exact information," he said, " and I marvel at the 

indifference with which men view the things which are subject 

to excommunication. If many people desire my death, I 

conform myself to the will of God, but in the meantime I am 

quite prepared to go on living."^ He was unwearied, especi- 

ally in Lent, in exhorting them to fervent prayer and the 

worthy reception of the sacraments. ^ Pius followed up his 

exhortations by his example. On the Monday in Holy Week 

in 1571 he visited the seven basilicas of Rome, going on foot 

for four miles, and accompanied by six Cardinals. All the 

prelates of the court, and even the Cardinals, followed his 

example. 2 

The Pope was well aware of the difficulty of moving from a 

manner of life to which they had long been accustomed, a 

body of men of mature age, who all looked upon themselves as 

princes.* In spite of this, however, he never ceased from his 

exhortations and requests. In the August of 1568 he ex- 

pressed to Cardinals Morone and Ricci his desire that the 

Cardinals should cut down the expenses of their households in 

order that they might save money to help the French 

Catholics.^ At the beginning of 1571 " the reformers " had 

^ *Ciregiola to Cardinal IMedici, December 20, 1566, State 

Archives, Florence. 

* Cf. *B. Pia, March 12, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

' " *Con resempio di questa divotione del Papa non ci resta 

cardenale, che non habbia visitato o che non sia per visitare le 

dette sette chiese, et il simile fanno tutti 11 prelati di questa corte." 

Avviso di Roma of April 14, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 46*^, Vatican 

Library. 

* C/. the detailed *report of Serristori of January 17, 1567, 

State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3287. 

* *I1 Papa disse liieri a Morone et Montepulciano che voleva 

riformare la sua casa et che anco riformassero le loro i cardenali 

per dar quel che si spende nel sup rfluo de servitio a Francia per 

aiuto (B. Pia to Luzzara, August 28, 1568, Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua). Cf. *Cusano, August 28, 1568, State Archives, Vienna.


presented to the Pope their ideas as to the manner of life 

of the Cardinals, suggesting that it was not seemly that they 

should use silver plate at their tables, that their households 

ought to wear clerical dress, and that they should maintain 

a chaplain to administer the sacraments every month to their 

households.^ It was certainly not the fault of the Pope if 

these proposals were not made matters of strict precept, 

for he would even have liked to have simplified, as having 

somewhat too worldly an appearance, the terms in which the 

matter was laid before the Cardinals.^ 

Even in the case of the most exalted princes of the Church, 

Pius V. did not always restrict himself to exhortations and 

prayers, but spoke to them with all the authority of the Vicar 

of Christ, and reminded them of the strictness of the Church's 

laws. At the beginning of his pontificate he very plainly 

brought home to the bishops who were numbered among the 

senate of the Church their duty of taking up their permanent 

residence in their sees and among their own flocks.^ Many 

^ " *Si dice anco che li reformatori [i.e. Ormaneto and Bin- 

arini] hanno detto al Papa che sarebbe bene riformare li cardenali 

et le case lore, et non lasciare che magnassero in argento et che 

facessero andare le lore famiglie vestite di longo et tenessero un 

confessore in casa che ogni mese confessasse et comunicasse tutta 

la famiglia loro " (Aurelio Zibramonti to the Duke of Mantua, 

January 13, 1571, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). For Alfonso 

Binarini, the companion of Ormaneto, who died Bishop of Cam- 

erino, cf. Ughelli, I., 612. 

^ Cusano (*report of January 20, 1571, State Archives, Vienna), 

claims to have heard " da buona fonte " of a strict reforming 

regulation for the houses of the Cardinals, which was very shortly 

to be issued. On February 12, 1571, *B. Pia knew of a consistory 

concerning the reform of the Cardinals and their households. 

On February 9. 1572, he *announces that the Pope had exhorted 

the Cardinals in consistory to live piously together with their 

households, especially during the time of the carnival, which 

was then going on. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

^ They were only to be called Reverendissimi, and no longer 

Ilhistrissimi. *Arco, December 24, 1569, State Archives, Vienna. 

* Arco, January 26, 1566, ibid,


of the Cardinals obeyed, and sooner or later left the Eternal 

City,^ but the Pope often had to return to the subject and 

repeat his exhortations. ^ Pius V. himself, however, forbade 

some of the Cardinals to go to their dioceses, because their 

presence in Rome was necessary for the government of the 

Church. 3 

Up to that time the Cardinals had in various ways possessed 

the right of conferring parishes, convents and benefices at 

their pleasure, in such a way that the Pope found his hands 

tied when he wished to reward deserving men. On April 30th, 

1567, Pius V. caused the Cancelleria to revoke all the Papal 

edicts on which these rights of the Cardinals rested,* in such 

^ E.g. Mula, Dolera and Bobba (*Avviso di Roma of March 23, 

T566, Urb. 1040, p. 196b, Vatican Library), Sirleto (*Avviso of 

November 16, 1566, ibid. 320b), Santa Croce (*Arco, March 8, 

1567, State Archives, Vienna), Guido Ferrari (*B. Pia, February 21, 

1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). On January 13, 1567, the 

Pope had exhorted the Cardinals to send their dependents into 

residence, and to do the same themselves. Firmanus, *Diarium, 

loc. :it. p. 152, Papal Secret Archives. 

* Cf. *Arco, February 6, 1566, and December 20, 1567, State 

Archives, Vienna ; Serristori, December 20, 1566, State Archives, 

Florence, Medic. 3287 ; *Avviso of January 24, 1571, Urb. 1042, 

p. 12, Vatican Library. *" Par che li cardenali non sappiano 

trovar la strada di partir per la loro residentia, et che vi vadino 

mal volontieri a questi tempi," Avviso of February 7, 1568, ibid. 

1040, p. 485. 

^ Thus to Cardinals Santori (see infra, p. 1 66) and Delfino 

(Avviso di Roma of November 2, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 314, 

Vatican Library). Farnese, who received the pallium on January 

25, 1568, was exhorted to go to his bishopric of Monreale, but 

to come back shortly (* Avviso of January 31, 1568, ibid. 481b). 

For his departure cf. the *Avviso of February 14, 1568 {ibid. 486). 

In 1571 Sirleto wished to go to his diocese, but the Pope kept him 

(Avviso of April 14, 1571, ibid. 1042, p. 47b). On June 12, 1568, 

*B. Pia announces the forthcoming departure of Commendone 

for Padua and Verona to his abbey, Gonzaga Archives. Mantua. 

* Bull. Rom., VII., 571. 

Pius V. was planning this arrangement 

as early as October, 1566. *Strozzi, October 26, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna.

150 


a way that they were only able to exercise them in a very 

Umited degree. This ordinance was of great importance, for 

the Pope thus took into his own hands the full disposal of a 

great number of benefices in every diocese, and at the same 

time very greatly limited the influence of the Cardinals. 

It must have been especially painful to the noble soul of 

Pius V. that even his nephew BoneUi was not able to stand, 

like another Borromeo, the sudden change from the sheltered 

walls of a convent to the possession of great power, and that 

he should have found himself caUed upon to make strict 

provisions even in his case.^ 

It was the unhappy Innocenzo del Monte, however, who 

gave the Pope the greatest trouble. On mâny different 

occasions it had been made evident how inexcusable had been 

the action of Julius III. when he had raised such a man to the 

purple. 3 Pius IV. had kept this man, who had been depraved 

from his youth, a prisoner in the Castle of St. Angelo for 

sixteen months,^ and under PiusV., del Monte was again placed 

in the same prison on account ol further charges,^ though the 

^ *" Questa e stata una fatione notabilissima et tornara a 

molto servito di questa corte, poi che il Papa rit nera collatione, 

de benefici in tutte le diocesi, si che puoco piii havranno i cardenali 

dei vescovi ordinari." B. Pia to Luzzara on May 3, 1567, Gonzaga 


^ Cusano, June 23, 1571, State Archives, Vienna. Cf. *Avviso 

di Roma of July 4, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 78b, Vatican Library. 

' Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, p. 71. 

* Bruzzone published in the Messagero, an. XXXIII., no. 198, 

of July 18, 191 1, the request for pardon made by del Monte, with 

; Rodocan- 

a fuU confession of his guilt. Cf. Gulik-Eubel, 35 

ACHi, St. Ange, 165. For the fresh punishment of del Monte 

see *Avvisi di Roma of August 4 and 14, 1566, Urb. 1040, Vatican 

Library. 

5 *Avvisi di Roma of May 7, 14, 18, 21, 25 and 28, 1569, Urb. 

1041, p. 70, 76, 80, 87, 83, 84, Vatican Library. *Arco, Ma}' 25, 

1569, State Archives, Vienna. Cf. the *citation of del Monte of 

January 28, 1568, for a scandal committed in the territory of 

Siena, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 'X3, p. 132, Papal Secret Archives: 

charge given on January 30, 1568, to the Jesuit Rodriguez to get

CARDINAL DEL MONTE. 151 

commission of Cardinals appointed to try his case decided that 

his guilt was not deserving of death or degradation. ^ In 1569 

Pius banished him with some servants to ]\Iontecassino,- 

where two Jesuits were given the difficult task of trying to 

bring him to a better moral state. ^ At the end of July the 

abbot thought he could report an improvement in the 

Cardinal,'* and later on del Monte was allowed to take up his 

residence in a monastery at Bergamo.^ 

The conduct of Pius V. in the case of del Monte was cer- 

tainly not excessively stem, for it was evident that the un- 

fortunate man could not be held accountable for the mistake 

by which, without any fault on his part, he had been placed 

in a position for which he was totally unfitted. 

together information on the case, ibid. p. 134 ; 

*brief of February 

21, 1568, to the Duke of Florence, who had interceded on behalf 

of del Monte, ibid. p. 156. The Duke attests that del Monte 

was not guilty of rapine, of which he had been accused. The Pope 

consequently agreed that the Cardinal should still remain in 

Tuscany, provided that the Duke would take charge of him and 

give him a Theatine to instruct him (*Arco, February 21, 1568, 

State Archives, Vienna). A severe exhoilarion from the Pope 

to del Monte (*Arco, February 28, 1569, ibid.). Prohibition to 

del Monte to return to Florence : *Avviso di Roma of December 

II, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 615, Vatican Library. A room was 

assigned to del Monte in the Vatican, and t\vo Theatines were 

appointed to be his companions ; *Avviso di Roma of December 

18, 1568, in the reports of Cusano, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ *Awiso di Roma of June 14, 1569, Urb. 104 1, p. 90, Vatican 

Library. 

* *Avvisi di Roma of June 11 and 16, 1568, ibid. 91, 95b. 

*Brief of June 13, 1569, to the abbot of Montecassino, Brevia 

Arm. 44, t. 14, p. 125, Papal Secret Archives ; *another of June 

22, 1569, to the same (he is not to admit anyone to see del Monte 

who could interfere with his conversion), is in the Archives of 

Briefs, Rome. 

^ *Arco, May 11, 1569, Stite Archives, Vienna. 

* *Avviso di Roma of July 30, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 125, Vatican 

Library. 

' *A\-viso di Roma of March 17, 1571, in tlie reports of Arco, 

State Archives, Vienna.

152 


In other respects Pius V. honoured the Cardinals as the 

greatest princes of the Church, and his natural advisers. 

" The Pope," writes Cusano, " informs them of everything 

that concerns the Apostolic See, he listens to their opinions, 

honours them, and shows that he values them greatly. At 

audiences he treats them with the greatest consideration. 

Unless things change very much," he adds, " Pius V. will be 

the best-loved Pope we have had for many years."' A few 

weeks after his election Pius V. said that the poorer Cardinals 

must turn to him for help without hesitation, ^ and at the end 

of January, 1566, he distributed forty purses, containing in 

all 20,000 scudi, to the poorest Cardinals.^ All were made to 

hand in a list of their revenues, and those who had more than 

6,000 scudi had to give up a fifth part for the benefit of their 

poorer colleagues and for ecclesiastical purposes.* The 

attempt on the life of Cardinal Borromeo gave the Pope an 

opportunity of making the constitution of Boniface VIII. 

against all acts of violence against a Cardinal more severe.^ 

At the same time this zealous champion of the purity of the 

1 *" Buono che S. S*^ h risoluta di far participi d'ogni cosa 

pertinente alia Sedia Apostolica alii cardenali con pigliar nelle 

risolutioni il veto lore, i quali honora at mostra tenerli in molta 

stima perche quando li vanno a parlar, li fa coprir et sedere, cosa 

ch'era stata messa in abuse da Pic IV, che li strapazzava come 

ogni altro huomo." Cusano on January 26, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna, see supra, p. 53. 

* *Arco, January 19, 1566, ibid. Cf. supra, p. 72. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of January 26, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 171b, 


* *Avviso di Roma of February 6, 1566, ibid. 182b. Cf. *Arco, 

February 6, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. According to a 

report of Arco of February 9, 1569, at the consistory of February 

6, pensions of 1,000 scudi Mere granted to Santa Croce, Orsini, 

Lomellini and Boncompagni ; ibid. 

* Bull of December 19, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 792 seq. For 

the motuproprio of 1567 revoking all enactments contrary to 

the " capitula conclavis iurata," see Quellen und Forschungen, 

XII., 227.

ELECTORAL INTRIGUES. I53 

Church did not succeed, in spite of his affabihty and con- 

descension, in making them forget his strictness. As early 

as June, 1566, we hear of Cardinals who keep at a distance 

from the Pope, that he is very severe in matters of religion, 

that he has no respect for persons, and becomes more terrible 

every day.^ At the end of 1569 it was rumoured in Rome 

that the Pope had complained in consistory that the Cardinals 

did not form a circle round him when he vested for a function, 

and thus plainly showed how little they cared for him.^ 

Even more painful to Pius V. than these manifestations of 

dislike were the things he heard, even within a few months 

of his ascending the throne, of intrigues among the Cardinals 

concerning the next Papal election. On account of the broken 

health of Pius V. it was thought that there must soon be 

another conclave ; Farnese looked upon himself as already 

Pope and was seeking the support of Spain, while Vitelli was 

at the head of a French party. ^ When the Pope heard of 

these intrigues, in May, 1566, in the first outburst of his just 

anger, he declared that he would show the Cardinals that 

there had not been a more terrible Pope for two hundred 

years than he.* He did not, however, carry this threat into 

effect, and when, about Christmas, 1566, he spoke on this 

painful subject in the consistory, he did so in all seriousness, 

but at the same time very gently ; 

all that he did was to keep 

a watch upon the correspondence of the Cardinals.^ He 

adopted the same tone a few months later, when he had again 

to speak of electoral intrigues. At the consistory of June 4th, 

1567, just about the time when he had so drastically cut down 

his own court, he reminded his hearers of the sublime dignity 

^ *Priorato to the Duke of Modena, June 19, 1566, State 

Archives, Modena. 

' *" Si duolse S.S. con 11 cardinali che mentre lei si apparava 

non li facevano circolo intorno, come si conveniva, ma che demos- 

travano segno manifesto che poco lo stimavano." Avviso of 

December 17, 1569. Urb. 1041, p. 199, Vatican Library. 

' Herre, 138 seqq., 151 seqq. 

* *Cusano, May 25, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *Arco, April 5 and June 21, 1567, ibid.

154 


to which they had been called by God, and deplored the fact 

that the thoughts of sdme of the Cardinals were directed to 

nothing except intrigues to obtain the papacy either for them- 

selves or their friends. This did not grieve him so much in it- 

self as the fact that any of them should treat so lightly the 

buUs of Paul IV. and Pius IV. If they did but know how wrong 

and displeasing to God it was, they would certainly not act in 

such a way.^ It is said that while he was speaking the Pope 

kept his eyes fixed upon Cardinal d'Este.^ After the con- 

sistory Este several times asked the Pope for absolution from 

the censures which he had incurred by his conduct.^ Cicada, 

too, had taken part in the intrigues to obtain the tiara, a fact 

which specially roused the indignation of the Pope, since 

Cicada had been one of those who had been principally con- 

sulted in the drafting the the buU of Pius IV. ^ 

It would seem that for a time Pius V. contemplated the 

issuing of a bull for the reform of the conclave,^ but it was 

principally by taking care that there were worthy electors 

that the Papal election was to be safeguarded, and therefore 

the renewal of the College of Cardinals was one of the main 

objects of the zealous Pope. At a moment of physical illness, 

a few months after he had ascended the throne, he said that 

he felt his strength failing ; he regretted this, not for its own 

sake, since he was ready to appear before God at any moment, 

but because he would have to leave the CoUege of Cardinals 

1 Laemmer, Melet., 219. 

^ *Arco, June 7, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ *Arco, June 15, 1567, ibid. 

* *Arco, June 21, 1567, ibid. B. Pia as well (to Luzzara, June 7, 

1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua) had information that alcuni 

cardinals had asked pardon of the Pope, and had obtained it on 

condition of amendment. In another *letter of the same date 

{ibid.), Pia says that in his discourse the Pope had named Este 

and Vitelli. 

5 *Avviso di Roma of March 20, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 490b, 

Vatican Library. The powers of the Camerlengo were to be 

restricted, as well as the expenditure during a vacancy in the 

Ploly See.

THE SACRED COLLEGE. 1 55 

filled with ambitious and unconscientious men, and that he 

had not been able to effect any change.^ 

Death, however, was not so near to the zealous champion 

of the purity of the Church as he supposed, and he was able 

to set his hand to the reform of the supreme senate of the 

Church, and that not in any hurried way, but after long 

consideration. 

Pius V. had allowed two years of his pontificate to elapse 

without investing anyone with the purple, with the exception 

of his nephew, Bonelh. Attempts, however, to induce him 

to create new Cardinals had not been wanting. Those who 

knew the Pope's ideas, and the considerations which would 

have weight with him, pointed out to him into what unworthy 

hands the government of the Church might fall if he did no 

take steps in time to uicrease the number of the party of the 

Cardinals of strict ecclesiastical views by quickly making some 

appointments. But Pius V. refused to let himself be led 

into any hasty action, even by these considerations. Month 

after month went by, and men's expectations were still left 

unfulfilled.^ 

* *" Essendo apparecchiato ogni bora che Die lo chiamasse, ma 

gli doleva, clie lasciava il coUegio pieno d'huomini ambitioso et di 

poca consciencia, al che havrebbe rimediato se Die grhavesse 

date vita." Arco, May 25, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *" Si presentono pratiche di fare card^' nuovi, et perche 

rhumore del Papa non vi inclina, cercano di disponerlo con queste 

ragioni, et la pratica e giudicata da questi santocci et frati domes- 

tici del Papa, i quali vanno sforzandosi di dargli ad intendere che 

sapendo S. S*^ quai siano que card^* che fanno pratiche di papato, 

et in che male mani cascheria il governo de la chiesa quando cgli 

toccasse ad uno di questi tali, e opera degna et debita di lei di 

provedere a questo pericolo et danno de la sede apostolica. El 

mode de provederci e di fare sei over otto card^ che impedissero 

queste pratiche presenti, di maniera che se quest'humore sark 

pronto mosso et aiutato, o da la M*^ deirimperatore o da altro 

principe, et massimamente dal re cattolico, si pu6 tenere per fermo 

che a settembre, o poco piu la si haveranno card's vivendo per6 

il Papa, il che negano questi astrologi, i quali non vogliono che 

passi agosto." Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua May 25 1566, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.

156 


An addition to the College of Cardinals was looked for all 

the more eagerly at Ash Wednesday, 1568, because the next 

creation was likely to be of decisive importance at the next 

Papal election. The fact that no less than six friars were 

named among those upon whom his choice was expected to 

fall is very significant of the idea which men had of Pius V.^ 

The rumours, however, came to nothing. ^ Ash Wednesday 

had brought only disappointment, when suddenly, on March 

24th, there came news of the nomination of four Cardinals ; 

those chosen were the Spaniard, Diego de Espinosa, the 

Frenchman, Jerome Souchier, and the two Italians, Antonio 

Carafa and Paolo della Chiesa.^ The story was current in 

Rome that the Pope had told none of them of his decision 

but that only a few da5^s before he made up his mind he had 

ordered prayers in the churches and convents for an important 

matter concerning the Church.* The unexpected step did not 

fail to excite opposition ; Cardinal Mula made objections, 

while the French ambassador at once went to the Vatican, 

accompanied by Rucellai, to demand the withdrawal of the 

nomination of Souchier. The Pope, however, rejected the 

demand unhesitatingly, whereupon the French ambassador 

withdrew with the remark that Pius V. was too partial to the 

1 *Avviso di Roma of February 7, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 485, 

Vatican Library. Corresp. dipl., II., Ixxvii. seq. On January 

10, 1568, Arco showed himself on the whole well informed as to 

the candidates. For Germany, the Archbishop of Treves or of 

Salzburg, or Canisius, was to be nominated, for Spain Espinosa, for 

France Souchier or Pelleve, for Rome Carafa, Chiesa, Cesi, 

Melchiori (Bishop of Macerata). Peretti, Giustiniani, the General 

of the Augustinians, Paolo d'Arezzo, and Pavesi (Archbishop of 

Sorrento). On February 14 Arco added Aldobrandini and 

Rusticucci to his list. Canisii Epist., VI., 731 seq. 



* *Avviso di Roma of March 27, 1568, ibid. 493. Arco, March 

27, 1568, Canisii Epist., VI., 732. 

379. 

* Graziani to Tomicio, March 27, 1568 in Mai, Spicil., VIII,,

CARDINAL ESPINOSA. 157 

Catholic King.^ Otherwise the Pope's choice was received 

with general satisfaction, the reform party in particular re- 

joicing that the supreme ecclesiastical dignity had been con- 

ferred on men of their own way of thinking. 2 

No less great was the satisfaction of Philip II. when, on 

Maundy Thursday, 1568, a special courier from Bonelh informed 

him that the red hat had been bestowed upon his 

trusted servant, the first minister of Spain, Diego de Espinosa.^ 

Born in 1512 of a noble family which had fallen into reduced 

circumstances, Espinosa, after a distinguished course of 

studies in law at Salamanca, first received the post of judge 

in the court of appeals of the archiepiscopal curia of Saragossa, 

and afterwards, purely on account of his merits, passed from 

office to office until, at 43, he was appointed President of the 

Royal Council of Castille. Honour and position were hca];cd 

upon him, and the king's favour raised the President of the 

Royal Council to that of President of the Council of State and 

of the camera di grazia ; in 1558 he received the very rich 

bishopric of Siguenza, which had the enormous revenue of 

36,000 ducats a year. Later on, Pius V. regretted that he had 

consented to the appointment of Espinosa as Grand Inquisitor, 

because this office, united to all his other dignities, made him 

almost a Pope in Spain. In 1567, Philip II. asked for the 

cardinalate for his favourite in an autograph letter, in order 

that, during the king's projected journey to Flanders Espinosa 

might act with greater authority as regent in Spain. When 

the cardinal's hat was sent to him at the Ascension, 1568, 

Philip honoured him in every way as a prince of the Church. 

When Espinosa went to consult him the king went to meet him 

in the ante-chamber, saluted him with uncovered head, and 

made him sii; in a chair but little lower than his own. Espinosa 

retained his dignities till his death, but his health failed prc- 

cit. 

^ *Arco, March 27, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ *Avviso di Roma of March 27, 1568, loc. cit. Graziani, loc. 

^ For Espinosa cf. especially Serrano in Corresp. dipl., II., 

Ixxv-lxxxiv. See also Ciaconius, III., 103 1 ; Cardei.la, V,, 

114 seq.

158 


maturely under the heavy burden of his duties, and shortly 

after the death of Pius V. he, too, ended his life of labour on 

September 5th, 1572. 

If Espinosa owed his elevation to foreign influence, that of 

Jerome Souchier, the learned abbot-general of the Cistercians, 

came entirely from Pius V. himself, who had found in him a 

man after his own heart. ^ As had been the case with the 

Pope himself, learning and piety had been Souchier's only 

delight from youth. After he had entered the Cistercian 

Order, his superiors sent him to the University of Paris, whence 

he returned a doctor in philosophy and theology. His clear 

discernment and calm foresight brought him to the notice of 

the Cardinal of Lorraine, and through him to that of Henry II. 

and Charles IX. Having been made Abbot of Clairvaux he 

took part in the Council of Trent, where his learning and 

strong ecclesiastical views won for him the esteem of Cardinals 

Hosius and Borromeo. After his return from the Council he 

set to work to bring new life into his Order, as abbot-general 

of the Cistercians, The dignity of the cardinalate was not 

only unexpected by him, but was unwelcome, and he told the 

Pope that its weight would prevent him from labouring anj?more 

for his own Order, and that he did not possess the neces- 

sary qualifications for a prince of the Church. Pius V. suc- 

ceeded in reassuring the humble religious on both these points ; 

he nmst leave it to the Pope, he was told, who could not forego 

the services of such men as he in the discharge of his apostolic 

office, to decide who was fit to be a Cardinal and who was not.^ 

Souchier, however, did not bear the burden of the cardinalate 

for long. When the news of his death on November 23rd, 

" Would that I 

1571, was brought to the Pope, Pius V. said : 

could die the death of this just man ! 

" and at the next con- 

sistory he lamented that a great light of the Church had been 

extinguished.^ 

1 *Arco, December 24, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. Cia- 

coNias, III., 1033. 

^ Brief of May 8, 1568, in Goubau, yg seq. Ciaconius, III., 

1032 seq. 

^Ciaconius, III., 1034. Cardella, V., 117.

THE NEW CARDINALS. I59 

Just as with Souchier a doctor of the Sorbonne and a repre- 

sentative of theological learning had entered the Sacred 

College, so with Giovanni Paolo della Chicsa there came a 

representative of the celebrated school of law at Padua. Delia 

Chiesa, who was born at Tortona in 152 1, had been married, 

and had only entered later into the service of the Church. 

A distinguished jurist, and the most skilful advocate in the 

whole of Milan, he defended the rights of the Duke of 

Terranuova against Philip II., and was afterwards made a 

senator of Milan. After the death of his wife he was sent to 

Rome to maintain the claims of the senate of Milan in their 

dispute with Cardinal Borromeo. Pius V. drew this able 

man into the service of the Church, conferred benefices on 

him, made him Cardinal Deacon and Cardinal Priest, and 

entrusted to him the Signatura Justitiae. Della Chiesa only 

lived 55 

years, and died on January 13th, in the 3Tar of 

Jubilee, 1575.'- 

The fourth of the new Cardinals, the Neapolitan, Antonio 

Carafa, was distinguished in yet another branch of learning. 

He had become a profound Greek scholar in the school of 

Sirleto, and in that capacit}' later on rendered great services 

to the Church under Sixtus V. and Clement VIII., especially 

by his emended edition of the Greek version of the Old Testa- 

ment. Carafa only attained his thirtieth year the day after 

his nomination as Cardinal. He had already been destined for 

the Roman purple by Paul IV., but under Pius IV. he not only 

saw all hope of his promotion vanish, but he even lost his 

canonr}' of St. Peter's. Pius V. again reverted to the intention 

of Paul IV., obviously with the intention of restoring the 

good name of the Carafa Pope and his family in the person of 

Antonio Carafa.^ The later hfe of the Cardinal proved how 

^ See Cardell.\, V., 118. 

* See ibid. 119 seq. 

^ Albert V. of Bavaria showed his joy in a *letter to CasteUini 

of April 27, 1568, Cod. B. 34, Librarj'-, Faenza. Many *letters of 

congratulation to Carafa on his cardinalate are in Cod. Barb. 

LXI., 40, Vatican Library. Ibid. 41-48, *Lett. orig. ad A. Carafa. 

1568-1577.

l60 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

happy the selection was. All Rome was thrown into mourning 

when, on January 13th, 1591, he succumbed to heart disease. 

The master of ceremonies, Mucanzio, could hardly find words 

to express the great qualities of the dead man, who had made 

the Maronite College his heir, and had expressed the wish to 

be buried without pomp and in silence.^ 

After this first creation of Cardinals more than two years 

went by, and the Pope had taken no further steps to complete 

the number of the senate of the Church by fresh nominations. 

The state of expectancy at the Roman court grew greater and 

greater at the prospect that once again, without any notice or 

consultation, he would suddenly produce a new list of 

Cardinals. 2 Of the sixty-eight Cardinals at the beginning of 

the pontificate eight had died by the end of 1567, and eight 

more by 1569,^ and it had become necessary to fill the places 

of such eminent men as Reumano, Dolera, Scotti, Mula and 

Cicada. There was no lack of conjecture and rumour as to 

those who had been chosen by the Pope, and it was said that 

Pius V. had written to cause inquiries to be made in all the 

countries of the world, in order to discover learned and blame- 

less men, and that he would not give the preference to Italians 

over those of other nationalities.^ The nomination of eight 

Cardinals was looked upon as certain at Christmas, 1568, and 

^ *" Urbs tota at universa curia tanti viri iacturam moleste 

admodum tulit, spectatae enim probitatis, integerrimae vitae at 

sicuti a nonnuUis audivi virgo hababatur, religione, caritate 

animi, candore, humanarum rerum scientia, eruditione et usu 

cunctis amabilis in magna fuit hominum veneratione et aestimationa 

; eius etiam ultimum elogium quantus vir fuerit demon- 

strat ; instituit anim haeredem collegium Maronitanuni quod 

paupertate laborabat at reliquit, ut eius corpus sepelliretur sine 

pompa noctis tampore in acclesia s. Sylvestri in monte Quirinali." 

MucANTii Diaria caerem., Bibliotheque Nationale, Paris. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of Dacambar 14, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 196b, 


' CiACONius, III., 1066. For the death of Cardinal Vitalli, see 

App. n. 51. 

Cusano, August 7, 1568, Canisii Epist., VI., 732.

THE PRINCES AND THE NEW CARDINALS. l6l 

men thought that they could name six of them.^ Still greater 

expectations were raised at the Christmas of the following 

year, because, in the middle of December, 1569, the Pope did 

not give audience on matters of business for several days, and 

had unexpectedly summoned a consistory, at which he ap- 

peared with a roll of paper in his hand, and admitted none 

but the Cardinals.- But even this conjunction of circum- 

stances proved illusory, and men's curiosity was kept at 

breaking point for yet another six months. In the meantime 

France and Spain^ were naturally seeking to bring influence 

to bear upon the next appointment. PhiHp II. named several 

possible candidates as indifferent to him, and others who 

would be acceptable ; his ambassador was instructed to 

oppose the nomination of Burali and Santori, the former 

because he was a Lombard, and the later because he was a 

Neapolitan ; either of them, if he became Pope, might create 

* Cusano, November 13, 1568, ibid. " The name of Canisius has 

again been put forward as a candidate, but he has made counterrepresentations 

to the Cardinals." B. Pia too wrote on November 

13, 1568, to Luzzctra : *" N. Signore ha pensiero di far cardinale 

uno della natione Tedescha, et ha in consideratione tre persone, 

Treviri, et Salsburg Arcivescovi et il Canisio Giesuita. Ha anco 

molta inclinatione al frate fratello del commendator mayor 

ambasciatore di Spagna qui [Gaspare de Zuniga], et per essere 

molto edificato di lui et per rispetto del fratello, del quale S. S*'^ 

fa gran conto. Frances! fanno instanza per un tale de Amiens 

[undoubtedly Pellev6] . . . et da molte parti son fatte delle 

mosse anco da chi crede di piacere a S. S*^ cosi facendo, et seco 

se nominano Ceneda [IVIich. della Torre], Nami [Cesi], Macerata 

[Girol. Melchiori], Datario [Pietro Ant. Mafiei], et generale della 

Minerva [Vincenzo Giustiniani]. Ma del Datario et generale se ne 

crede puoco, I'uno per essere tanto creatura di Farnese et da vita 

difterente dall' humor de N.S., I'altro perche entranto. S. 

Beatitudine a far il generale, par che pace non possa restare di 

non far anco di altra religione, come di S. Agostino et S. Francesco, 

et se non generale almeno frate." Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 



3 Cf. supra n. I, the *letter of B. Pia of November 13, 1568. 

VOL. XVII. II


difficulties for the Spanish rule in Italy. ^ Zuniga pointed out 

to his master the risk of any political interference ; 

he was of 

opinion that under certain circumstances a Spanish recom- 

mendation might even prove absolutely fatal to the persons 

recommended, because the Pope would suppose that they had 

sought the intercession of the king, and would thus forfeit 

the good opinion of Pius V.^ Had not Pius plainly said that 

the Pope did not give his advice to the princes as to whom they 

should appoint as their officials or generals, and that there 

was, therefore, no reason for finding fault with him if he did 

not entertain the suggestions of the princes in the nomination 

of Cardinals ?^ 

After careful thought and inquiry Pius V. at last made up 

his mind on the subject of his candidates in the middle of 

May, 1570. This time the actual nomination was not made 

suddenly or without warning, for the Pope announced the 

creation for the Wednesday after Pentecost, May 17th, and 

revealed the names of the sixteen whom he had decided upon 

on the previous Sunday, so that all might have time to submit 

their difficulties and objections.* 

The Pope's choice caused widespread amazement. Men were 

prepared for eight or ten, or at the most, twelve new Cardinals, 

but to create sixteen at once seemed to many people to be 

subversive of all precedent. Many especially could not under- 

stand why the Emperor's candidate, Gianvincenzo Gonzaga, 

Prior of Barletta, was not to receive the red hat. In their 

opinion a man of such noble birth, related to so many princely 

German houses, and who had been so many times recommended 

by the Emperor, could not and should not be passed 

over, all the more so as both Spain and France had been taken 

into consideration in the nomination. Arco, therefore, as 

Imperial ambassador, Madruzzo and Otto Truchsess, as German 

Cardinals, and Urbino as a near relative, made incredible 

^ Corresp. dipl.. III., loi n. ; cf. 148. 

^ Letter to Philip II. of September 23, 1569, ibid. 147 seq. 

^ *Strozzi, December 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *B. Pia to Luzzara, May 16-17, 1570, Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua. Santori, Diario, 303.

THE NEW CARDINALS. 163 

efforts to get him nominated even at the last moment, but the 

day of the consistory arrived without their having met with 

any success.^ The Spanish ambassador met with no more 

success in the objections which he made to some of the chosen 

candidates. Pius V. plainly said to him that he was appoint- 

ing the Cardinals purely for their merits, and not on account 

of the recommendations of the princes, and he might rest 

assured that even the king would be satisfied by the choice 

which he had made.^ 

Immediately before the consistory of May 17th the Pope 

had to face a last attack. The Cardinals were admitted to his 

presence ten at a time, and for six hours they attempted to 

shake the Pope's determination. But Pius stood firm, and 

neither was the Prior of Barletta, nor any of the others who 

had been passed over, included in the list, nor were any names 

omitted.^ 

Although the recommendations of the Emperor and the 

King had not been allowed to weigh in the scales, the wishes 

of the princes had not been altogether disregarded. Of the 

two Frenchmen raised to the purple on May 17th, the Bishop 

of Le Mans, Charles d'Angennes de Rambouillet, who was the 

experienced counsellor of the French court in all the most 

difficult questions, and had been its envoy at almost all the 

courts of Europe, had been suggested by Charles IX.* Pius V., 

however, had had personal knowledge of him when he was 

ambassador in Rome, and had formed a high opinion of his 

loyalty to the Roman See.^ The other Frenchman raised to 

1 Ibid. 

2 " Que el hace cardenales a los que lo merecen, no a supplicacion 

de principes." Corresp. dipl., III., 358 n. 

3 *B. Pia to Luzzara, loc. cit. Santori, loc. cit. 

^CiACONius, III., 1047. Cardella, v., 134. 

^ " Dice [the Pope] que tiene hecha mucha experiencia del buen 

zelo deste ambaxador ; y a otros ha dicho que piensa tener en el 

otro cardenal Bordisera que le avisa de todo lo que passa en Francia 

sin perdonar a la Reyna ni a otro consistorio ninguno " (Zufiiga 

to Philip II.. May 17, 1570, Corresp. dipl., III., 157). In the 

brief of May 26, 1560, which announces to the King of France

164 


the cardinalate, Nicholas de Pelleve, had owed his appointment 

as Bishop of Amiens, Archbishop of Sens, and lastly as 

Archbishop of Rheims, to the favour of the French kings, 

Henry II. and Charles IX. Under Paul IV. he had been sent 

as envoy to Mary of Guise in Scotland, and had there done all 

he could to save the Catholic religion.^ Pelleve 's zeal for the 

Catholic faith, his theological learning, and his blameless life,^ 

clearly justified the honour now bestowed upon him. 

Like France, Spain too was represented by two Cardinals 

among the new creations. Of these, Gaspare de Zuniga 

Avellaneda, the son of the Count of Mirandola, was a cousin 

of the Spanish ambassador in Rome, who was much in the 

favour of the Pope. He had distinguished himself for his 

learning as professor of theology at Salamanca, and for the 

way in which he had governed his dioceses as Bishop of Segovia 

and Archbishop of Seville. Zuniga died before Pius V., on 

February 2nd, 1571, at Jaen.^ Gaspare Cervantes had also 

merited the red hat by the way he had discharged his 

duties as Archbishop of Tarragona.* Like Pellev^, he had 

taken part in the Council of Trent ; it is significant of his zeal 

for the carrying out of the decrees of the Council that he im- 

mediately afterwards held a diocesan synod, being at that 

time Archbishop of Salerno, ^ and later on, at Tarragona, 

established a seminary for boys. His friendship for the Jesuits 

is another proof of his ecclesiastical views ; in 1574 he established 

a noviciate for them at Tarragona, and when he had 

to go to Rome in connexion with the case of Carranza, he 

appointed a Jesuit, Alonso Roman, as visitor of his diocese.^ 

Like France and Spain, the east may be said to have been 

the elevation of the two French subjects, the assurance is given 

that there had never been a more trustworthy ambassador than 

Rambouillet. Brevia Arm. 44, 6. 15, p. 115b, Papal Secret Archives. 

1 Bellesheim, Scottland, L, 413. 

2 CiACONius, III., 1041. Cardella, v., 125 seq. 

' See Cardella, V., 123 seq. 

* See ibid. 124. 

*Laderchi, 1566, n. 182. 

*AsTRAiN, III., 41 seq.


also represented in the creation, since one of the new Cardinals, 

the General of the Dominicans, Vincenzo Giustiniani, a member 

of the well-known and celebrated Genoese family, had been 

born in the island of Chios, and had there entered the Dominican 

Order, attaining to its highest dignity by the time he was 

38 years old. He, too, was at the Council of Trent with 18 

bishops and 27 theologians of his Order. At the time of his 

nomination as Cardinal he was Papal envoy in Spain, where 

he defended the cause of the Pope and Cardinal Borromeo in 

the long Milanese controversy concerning jurisdiction, and at 

anyrate brought about " the beginning of the end " in that 

weary dispute. In the world of learning he had rendered 

great services in the preparation of the new edition of the 

works of St. Thomas.^ 

Besides Giustiniani, three others of the newly-appointed 

Cardinals belonged to the religious orders ; the first of these 

was the Dominican, Arcangelo Bianchi, who had long been 

the regular confessor of Pius V., his trusted companion when 

he was inquisitor, and who, when Ghislieri became Pope, had 

been made Bishop of Teano and Commissary General of the 

Inquisition. 2 Of the Franciscans, the purple was conferred on. 

Felice da Montalto, the future Sixtus V., whom Pius V. had 

already made General of his Order. Pius V. also gave the 

newer Orders a representative in the Sacred College by the 

nomination of the Theatine, Paolo Burali of Arezzo, a man of 

extraordinary sanctity. PhiHp Neri lamented the death of 

Paolo as a misfortune for the whole of Christendom. His 

canonization was seriously contemplated, and his fellow 

Theatine, Andrew Avellino, who was himself raised to the 

altars of the Church, ranked him with St. Charles Borromeo. 

Burali had at first been an advocate, and afterwards a judge ; 

his impartiaHty and incorruptibihty were especially remark- 

able, and it is related that in a certain trial, when he had to 

give judgment against a poor widow, he indemnified her out of 

his own means. He entered the Theatine Order at the age of 

1 See Cardella, V., 146 seq. 

2 See ihid. 135. The tomb of A. Bianchi, with a fine bust, at 

S. Sabina ; the inscription in P'orcella, VII., 306.


forty, and would have wished to remain a simple lay-brother, 

if his superiors would have allowed him to do so. Later on 

he was offered several bishoprics, which he refused, until, after 

the death of Cardinal Scotti in 1568, Pius V. obliged him to 

accept that of Piacenza. As a bishop he continued to live 

as he had done as a Theatine ; he built schools for the poor, 

in which the instruction was given gratis, a seminary, an 

orphanage, a home for girls and widows, a refuge for penitents, 

a convent for the Capuchins, and another for the Theatines. 

The acts of the synod which he held in 1570 were printed.^ 

Among the new Cardinals, Giuho Antonio Santori stood 

out on account of his extraordinary nobility of soul.^ A man 

of the greatest purity of life and vast learning, Santori led a 

life of great asceticism, slept very little, and did penance after 

the manner of the early saints ; 

his charity led him to expend, 

during the time of his cardinalate, 70,000 ducats on the poor, 

whose father he was called.^ Like Burali, he had originally 

been an advocate, though he soon gave up his career in order 

to enter the priesthood, and was soon made vicar-general of 

the Bishop of Caserta. Since he worked with all his energies 

against the Protestant movement, which was very powerful 

in that place, he had to bear many calumnies and attacks,, 

and was even in danger of his life.* In the autumn of 1563 

he had to flee before his enemies, and retired to Naples, where 

he helped Cardinal Antonio Carafa. But the persecution 

broke out anew in that place, and after the death of the 

Cardinal, Santori went into retirement, and gave himself up 

to works of charity and his studies ; it was at this time that 

^ CiACONius, III., 1053. Biographies of Burali were written 

by G. A. Cagnano, Rome, 1649 ; G. B. Bagatta, Venice, 1698 ; 

G. Bonaglia, Rome, 1732. Clement XIV. proclaimed Burali 

Blessed ; see brief of May 13, 1772, Bull. Rom. Contin., IV., 

Rome, 1841, 428. 

^ Cf. App. n. 67. 

* He is styled " Promotor delle opere pie et padre dei poveri " 

by the author of the *Relatione fatta aU'ill. sig. card. d'Este, in 

1599. Cod. 6619, p. 89b, Court Library, Vienna. 

* Cf. Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 285.


he wrote a book on the morals of the heretics.^ His great 

learning and his zeal for the faith were the things that recommended 

him to Pius V.,^ who summoned him to Rome, made 

him a consultor of the Inquisition, and Archbishop of Santa 

Severina. It was with great difficulty that Santori obtained 

from the Pope, in spite of the latter's zeal for the residence of 

bishops, leave to retire to his diocese, but he was still on his 

way thither when he received an order from the Pope to return, 

because Pius V. intended to make him a Cardinal, and employ 

him in the service of the universal Church. Santori was a 

scholar of great attainments, especially on all liturgical matters 

he read nmch, and remembered all that he read. He especially 

applied his learning to the reform of the Roman Ritual. Strict 

with himself, he was also strict with others,^ and in his zeal 

for the reform of discipline and for the purity of the faith, 

he was a kindred spirit to Pius V. 

Like those already named, so were all the others men on 

whose worth the Pope thought that he could rely, since for the 

most part he had himself known them for a long time. Thus 

Girolamo Rusticucci had been his secretary for nine years.'* 

Ghisheri had made the acquaintance of Giovanni Girolamo 

Albani, who, after distinguished studies in law had risen to a 

high military position in the service of Venice, when he was 

Inquisitor at Bergamo. After the death of his wife, this man, 

who was clever, and of quick and sound judgment, was summoned 

to Rome by the Pope, and employed in the administra- 

1 See Santori, Autobiografia, XII., 339. 

^ C/. Bentivogli, Memorie, Amsterdam, 1648, 62. 

^ See the *Relatione, p. 90, cited supra p. 166, n. 3. 

* Cf. supra, p. 74. For Rusticucci see the information in 

Cardella, v., 148 seq. The author of the *Relatione cited 

supra, p. 166, n. 3, describes Rusticucci thus : " d'ingegno posato, 

ma sagace, di moto tardo, ma diligente, di buoni sentimenti, ma di 

tardissima espressione. . . . Ha piu prudenza che dottrina. . . . 

£ officioso, amorevole." It is further stated : " Servi con molto 

amore per sottosegratario il card. Alessandrino, al quale ancora 

in una sua necessity, provedde di non so che picola somma de 

denari." loc. cit. 91.


tion of the Papal States.^ Giovanni Aldobrandini had made 

a great name for himself as Bishop of Imola, and later as 

Grand Penitentiary ; Marcantonio Maffei, Archbishop of 

Chieti, had done the same as head of the Dataria, and Carlo de 

Grassis, Bishop of Montefiascone and Corneto, as Governor of 

Rome.2 The Roman, Pietro Donato Cesi, Bishop of Narni. 

of whose diplomatic skiU the Pope made use later on, had 

been Prefect of Ravenna, and vice-legate of Bologna. His 

love for the poor was justly celebrated, and in a time of famine 

he looked after them Hke a father ; he also constructed an 

aqueduct, so as to obtain fresh water from the mountains. 

Later on Ravenna asked him to come and act as arbitrator 

in order to settle its disputes by his skill and sense of justice. 

All those mentioned were made Cardinal Priests. Giulio 

Aquaviva, who was only twenty-four years of age, a scion of a 

princely house, and a man of great piety, was made Cardinal 

Deacon.* Of Giulio 's six brothers, three entered the eccles- 

iastical state ; Ottavio also became a Cardinal, Orazio a 

Cistercian and a bishop, while Ridolfo entered the Society of 

Jesus, and died a martyr in India. 

The creation of Cardinals of 1570 was naturally viewed in 

many different lights in Rome.^ The Spanish ambassador, 

Zuniga, whose advice upon the question had been so often 

rejected by Pius V., was of opinion that the nomination had 

undoubtedly been made " somewhat hastily " and that persons 

of greater eminence and deeper learning should have been 

appointed,^ but such remarks only show how much public 

opinion had lost sight of the qualities required in a prince of 

^ See Cardella, V., 151 seq. 

^ Ibid. 122 seq., 133 seq. 



5 *Awise di Roma of May 20, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 281, Vatican 

Library. 

* " No ay deffecto notable en los italianos , 

pero deviera S.S. 

escoger mas raros subyectos y mayores letrados, porque no se 

puede negar sine que la promocion es algo desbaratada." To 

Philip II., May 17, 1570, Corresp. dipl. III., 357 seq.


the Church, though, in other things he says, Zuniga justifies 

the Pope's choice in the most surprising way. Even at the 

last moment he had raised objections to Aquaviva and Cer- 

vantes, though he himself says of the latter that he had never 

seen a man of less ambition or more exemplary life ;^ he 

speaks of Aquaviva as a virtuous young man, of good scholarly 

attainments. 2 According to the instructions of his master, 

he would, if it had been possible, have excluded Burali and 

Santori as well from the cardinalate, but when in 1570 there 

arose the question of appointing a legate for Germany, Zuniga 

wrote that they ought to choose a man of exceptionally 

virtuous life, and recommended Burali as one who had a great 

reputation in this respect, and who would be much esteemed 

in Germany.^ 

Pius V. was well aware of all this, because he had so long and 

so carefully sought for suitable Cardinals, and, in spite of every 

attack, had so firmly insisted upon the men whom he had 

chosen. If the Council of Trent had exhorted the chief shepherd 

of the Church to include in the ranks of its supreme senate none 

but the most eminent men, and if, in so doing, as well as in the 

appointment of distinguished bishops, it had put its finger 

on the thing most needed for the reform of the Church,* 

Pius V. had done his best to act up to that exhortation. The 

next Papal election seemed to be assured ; if the next Pope 

should walk in the ways of his predecessor, no longer would 

those scandals which had so often placed their best weapons 

in the hands of the enemies of the Holy See be found in the 

senate of the Church. For this reason the renewal of the 

Sacred College of 1570 was, in the best sense of the word, a 

great act of reform. 

The Pope, wrote Tiepolo on October 19th, 1566, does nothing 

but reform ;^ on the same day Strozzi states that on the 

Monday there had been a meeting of the Congregation of the 

1 Zuniga to Philip II., May 15, 1570, Corresp. dipL, III., 358 n. 

"^ Ibid. 357 (May 17, 1570). 

* Ibid. 363 seq. (May 19, 1570). 

* Sess. 24, de ref., c. i. 

^ MUTINELLI, I., 57.

170 


Council, on the Tuesday a meeting about the new scheme of 

studies, on the Wednesday one about the reform of the Brevi- 

ary, on the Thursday before dinner one about the Inquisition, 

and in the afternoon one about the reform of the clergy, and 

that the Pope had busied himself about all these matters.^ 

Since 1566, by the Pope's orders, a great scheme of reform 

of all the tribunals and officials of the Curia had been in pre- 

paration. ^ About Christmas, 1568, the reform commission 

was able to present its report,^ which the Pope went into 

very fully on January 5th, 1569. For four hours it was re- 

ported in Rome, the Pope listened to the reading of the report, 

and even then only a third part of the lengthy document was 

got through. But, just as had been the case when the scheme 

was first mooted, so now the head of the Church did not seem 

inclined to put it into execution forthwith. Pius V. had said 

that he did not wish to embitter the whole court against him, 

and therefore men comforted themselves in Rome with the 

hope that the reform which they all dreaded would not be so 

terrible after all."* Fear, however, was by no means allayed 

in those circles which were the first to be attacked. In June, 

1569, it was reported that Abbot Bonhomini, the agent of 

Cardinal Borromeo, had arrived with a thick volume of reform 

proposals. At the beginning of March, 1571, men once more 

expected a " terrible reform."^ At the same time, however, 

^ *" tal che s'occupa tutto in questi essercitii." State Archives, 

Vienna. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of December 25, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 619, 


* Ibid. For the nomination of the five deputies for the reform 

of the tribunals see *Avviso di Roma of August 2, 1567, ibid. 426. 

A *motu proprio (undated) " super reformatione taxarum, 

ofi&ciorum et tribunalium urbis " in Bandi V., 36, p. 10, Papal 

Secret Archives. *" Facultates concessae per Pium V. deputatis 

ad reformationem tribunalium et ofificiorum Urbis," ibid. p. 12. 

* *Avviso di Roma of January 8, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 624, 


5 *Avvisi of June 11, 1569, and March i, 1571, ibid. 1041, p. 92 ; 

1042, p. 23b.

REFORM OF THE CURIA. I7I 

there was no secret in Rome as to the difficulties which seemed 

to make any radical change of the existing conditions almost 

impossible.^ 

The chief obstacle in the way of any complete change in the 

Curia lay in the fact that for a long time past many of the 

offices therein had been sold for money. ^ More especially 

since the time of Sixtus IV. the Popes had often found them- 

selves in great financial difficulties, and in order to provide 

a remedy the number of official positions which were sold 

for large sums was increased ; for example, the position 

of clerk, which under CalUxtus III. had been obtainable for 

1000 gold florins, had cost twice that sum under Julius II., 

and three times as much under Leo X.^ Anyone who had thus 

obtained a post to which an income was attached, naturally 

sought to administer it in such a way as to enrich himself ; 

complaints that there were no hmits to the venality of the 

Roman officials, or to the corruption of the clerks, and indeed 

of the whole Papal court, were the inevitable consequence 

of such a state of affairs, which even the Popes deplored as 

intolerable, but which they were unable to remedy at a single 

blow.^ Once so many clerks, procurators, etc., had bought 

their offices in good faith they could not be dismissed without 

suitable compensation. But whence was to come the means 

for suitably compensating a whole army of officials P^ 

Pius V. had wished from the first to put an end to this un- 

seemly state of affairs at aU costs. The holy severity which 

animated him found almost ruthless expression when he 

replied in 1569 to the complaints of some officials who had 

1 * Avviso of July 30, 1569, ibid. 1041, p. 125. 

* Cf. GoLLER, II., I, 91 seq. 

* Ibid. 92 n. 

* For the attempts at reform in this respect, especially in the 

case of the Penitentieria, see Goller, II., i, 97 seqq., 145 seqq. 

* Cf. Goller, II., i, 94. In the time of Pius IV. we may learn 

from the notes on the draft of his bull for the reform of the Peni- 

tentieria that several persons had sacrificed their whole property 

in order to buy a post in that department ; ibid. 128 and II., 

2, 134. Cf. ibid. 103 a note from the time of Alexander VI.

172 


been dismissed from the Penitentiaria : It is always better, 

he said, to die of hunger than to lose one's soal.^ In reality he 

had no intention of condenming anyone to die of hunger, and 

therefore, in spite of his zeal, he had to proceed step by step. 

In the first months of his reign, Tiepolo wrote that the Pope 

was watching the Dataria very closely, and that he would no 

longer tolerate the slightest suspicion of simony. ^ Immedi- 

ately after his election he had set a very distinguished president 

over this department in the person of Archbishop Ma.ffei, and 

had placed it under the care of Cardinals Scotti, Reumano and 

Rebiba,^ ordering that for the future money was no longer 

to be taken for compositions.* A constant source of scandal 

and simoniacal intrigue were the many cessioni from benefices, 

made to the Pope, not unconditionally, however, but in favour 

of some third party.^ Pius V. forbade all such arrangements ;® 

the Datary must submit to him all requests for such resigna- 

tions, so that he might be sure there were no unjust conditions 

attached to them.' In 1566 he appointed several Cardinals 

to examine into the question how far such resignations could 

^ *Arco, February 19, 1569, State Archives, Vienna. 

"May 25, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., ^5. 

^ See Salmeron, Epist., II., 60. 

* Requesens, January 11, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 86. 

* *" [le renoncie], dalle quale precedevano infiniti scandali di 

simonie et altri errori " *Avviso di Roma of September 28, 1566, 

Urb. 1040, p. 291b, Vatican Library. 

* " *Nella medesima signatura ordino al datario che non passasse 

pill suppliche di quelle che parlano di rinuntie de benefici in mano 

del Papa, ma pero in favore di tale, percioche pare a lui che questo 

sia mode di appropriarsi troppo lungamente beneficii ecclesiastici 

et in se stesso non puo patire questa cosa, con tutto che per tanti 

et tanti anni sia stata accettata et usata dai pontefici et da la 

corte. Di mode che da qui innanzi chi vorra rinuntiare in mano 

del Papa bisognera rinuntiare liberamente, et non piu in favore 

di persona." Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua, May 15, 1566, 


' *Avviso di Roma of May 18, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 229, Vatican 

Library. These " profane conditions " might be, for example, 

the various forms of confidential simony.

REFORM OF THE DATARIA. I73 

be allowed without sin/ and in the following year theologians 

and canonists were appointed to discuss the matter. ^ The 

conditions under which such resignations or renunzie were 

lawful were laid down in detail, and were to be expressed in 

accordance with a dehnite formula in the briefs which granted 

them ;2 only in certain very limited cases could the bishops 

receive such permission ;* nobody who was not in major 

orders could renounce his benefice without making restitution 

of the fruits he had already enjoyed.^ In dealing with offices 

with a cure of souls attached to them, the Datary was not to 

allow the resignation of such an office except on the grounds 

of old age or illness.^ 

Pius V. not only issued these orders for others, but con- 

^ *Arco, May 25, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of February 22, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 362b, 


^ Motu proprio of May 13, 1567. Bull. Rom., VII., 552 seqq. 

The resignations, *states Arco on February 22, 1567, were allowed, 

but there must be no admission of unworthy candidates, or of such 

as had given rise to the least suspicion of simony (State Archives, 

Vienna). The acceptance of such resignations had been forbidden 

to the Roman authorities and to the ordinaries pending a definite 

regulation of the question. Bull of August 8, 1567, in Laderchi, 

1567, n. 4. 

* Bull of April I. 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 664 seqq. 

* *" S. B°^ ha prohibito al datario le resignationi di quelli che 

hanno beneficii et non sono in sacris, et vogliono lasciarli, volendo 

che col lasciarli restituiscono anco i frutti percepti accioche a 

piacer loro non habbino di quel della chiesa o fatto acquisto et 

pensino hora di scaricarsene." B. Pia to Luzzara, Rome, May, 

1568, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

* *" S.S continua a restringere anco un poco piu le cose della 

riforma et particularmente nella Dataria, non volendo che si 

possi piu far resegni de beneficii curat i per qual causa che sia, non 

amettendo ne vecchiezza ne infirmita " (Avviso di Roma of 

November 3, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 145b, Vatican Library). Age 

and illness are naturally recognised as a judicial reason for a 

resignation ; see Bull. Rom., VII., 665, 3. The *Avvisi frequently 

insist upon the Pope's strictness in the granting of matrimonial

174 


sidered himself bound by them as well. Through his am- 

bassador, the Duke of Florence had asked for his approval 

of the compulsory resignation of the aged Bishop of Pistoia 

in favour of Alessandro Pucci. Without a moment's hesi- 

tation Pius V. definitely refused the request, on the 

ground that such resignations made the bishops rulers 

of their dioceses even after their death. ^ On account of 

the position of the Church in Germany, however, he was 

at last forced, after long resistance, to allow the resignation 

of the Bishop of Freising in favour of the young 

Bavarian Duke Ernest. 

Even during the first year of the Pope's reign certain remark- 

able effects of these strict measures had made themselves 

felt. In September, 1566, the abbreviators presented a 

petition asking for compensation for the emoluments which 

they no longer received from the renimzie.^ In the October 

dispensations. The Spanish ambassador offered him 12,000 

ducats as a fee for such a dispensation ; Pius V. replied : *" che 

non ne vuole far altro a modo alcuno et che non era licito." 

(August 10, 1566, lo'. cit., 1040, p. 271b). Dispensations in the 

second and third degrees of kindred were done away with except, 

in the cases of great lords (November 22, 1570, ibid. 1041, p. 373b ; 

cf. Cone. Trid., sess. W4, c.5). Dispensations in the second degree 

which approached the first were refused by Pius V. even to these 

latter, as for example to Count Ferrata di Ladrone, who was 

recommended by the Emperor (*Arco, February 16, and August 3, 

1566), to the Marquis of Veles (*Arco, July 5, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna). When it was said to the Pope that according to 

theologians and canonists he could grant such dispensations, he 

replied that many of these had been flatterers of the Popes 

(*Arco, August 3, 1566, loc. cit.). No dispensation was granted 

without the attestation of the bishop (*Avviso of March 5, 1569, 

Urb. 1041, p. 34, Vatican Library). Cf. Schwarz, Briefwechsel, 

I., 63, 72. 

^ " Risposemi risolutamente senza pensarci punto ; non lo 

volere acconsentire." Legaz. di Serristori, 447. 

''Laderchi, 1566, n. 263 seq. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of September 28, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 291b, 

Vatican Library.

REFORM OF THE PENITENTIARIA. I75 

of the same year the complaint was made that the Dataria 

had not received a quarter of its usual revenue, because the 

Pope had entirely done away with compositions, namely those 

fines which had been customary in connexion with the 

absolution of certain offences, and that various other sums 

which had come to the Dataria under other pontificates had 

also been lost.^ These fines, however, were not in the least 

simoniacal, and thus it is easy to see why the Pope gave two 

Cardinals leave to impose such fines in connexion with certain 

offences in order to raise money for the league against the 

Turks. 2 The administration of the basilica of St. Peter's also 

received similar powers.^ 

Even more than the Dataria the Pope had at heart that 

tribunal which, according to its original purpose, dealt ex- 

pressly with matters of conscience, or for the peace of men's 

consciences, and which, for the most part, did its work in the 

confessional, the Apostolic Penitentiaria. This had come 

into being at the end of the Xllth century, principally to meet 

the need felt in Rome for a body of confessors who should be 

able, by Papal authority, to absolve from all reserves those 

penitents who flocked to the tombs of the Princes of the 

Apostles.* In course of time the Penitentiaria had acquired 

many powers and faculties which held good outside the con- 

fessional, and in public.^ Even in the Penitentiaria, however, 

some of the offices had become open to sale,^ and in this way 

* *" La Dataria non fa piu un quattrino, perche le compo- 

sitioni sono levate del tutto, et quelli emolumenti, che detta 

Dataria solea portare alii altri pontefici." Awise di Roma of 

October 26, 1566, p. 312b, Vatican Library. 

2 *Avviso of December 8, 1571, ibid. 1042, p. 150b. 

3 *Avviso of August 16, 1570, ibid. 1041, p. 327. 

* GoLLEK, I., I, 75 seqq., 81. For the old archives of the 

Penitentiaria see Goller in Festschrift Jiir A . de Waal, Freiburg, 

1 91 3, I seqq. 

* Goller, I, i, t seqq. 

'"'Goller, IT.. 2, Q3 seq. 146.

176 


the general blight had made its way into this, the holiest 

of the Roman tribunals.^ 

Attempts to bring about an improvement had not been 

wanting. All the Popes of the XVIth century except Pius III. 

had turned their attention to it, not even Alexander VI. and 

the three weeks' pontificate of Marcellus II. being exceptions. 

The bull of Pius IV. of May 4th, 1562, marked a notable ad- 

vance in the reform of the Penitentiaria,^ which, however, it 

was left to Pius V. to set upon an entirely new basis. 

A first step was taken at the end of 1566. With the object 

of obtaining dispensations from matrimonial impediments 

more easily some of the oihcials of the Penitentiaria had been 

making false statements in their supplicas ; this abuse was 

declared by the Pope to fall under the same penalties as 

forgery,'* It was not long, however, before he set his hand 

to effecting a radical change in the whole department, at the 

suggestion, and with the advice of Cardinal Borromeo and his 

confidant, Ormaneto.-^ We again hear of reforms and projects 

of reform during 1567 ;^ in the following year Cardinals were 

appointed to consider these projects,' and in 1569 definite 

1 It is therefore untrue that the fees demanded by the Curia 

were a payment for absolution ; 

they were nothing but the charges 

made for the drawing up of the documents. Ibid. 132 seqq. 

2 GoLLER, II., I, loi seqq. For Paul III. and Paul IV. see also 

Vol. XI. of this work p. 197 ; Vol. XIV., p. 203. 

2 GoLLER. II., I, 126 seqq. Cf. Vol. XV. of this work, p. 411. 

*Muto proprio of December 5, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 315, 

The date in Laderchi, 1566, n. 88. 

^ Letter from Ormaneto to Borromeo, February 7, 1567, on the 

reform of the Penitentieria, Ambrosian Library, Milan, F, 38, 

Inf. p. 85-91 b, with many other matters connected with this 

reform attached. 

* The reform of the Grand Penitentiary and other court dig- 

nitaries is announced as complete in an *Avviso of August 9, 

1567 (Urb. 1040, p. 413, Vatican Library) ; there is hardly any 

more business ; the employes can hardly support themselves. 

An *Avviso of August 9, 1567 [ibid. 427 b) speaks of a Papal decree 

according to which all the employes must be clerics. 

' *Arco, March 13, 1568, State Archives, Vienna.

THE PENITENTIARIA. I77 

action was taken. The Penitentiaria in its existing form was 

entirely suppressed with all its powers/ in order to come into 

being again in an entirely new form, in virtue of the bull of 

May i8th, 1569.2 Except in a few cases, the new Peniten- 

tiaria only had powers of absolution and dispensation in the 

internal forum, ^ everything else being in the hands of the 

Dataria and Cancelleria. There was also a considerable 

the clerks and 

change in the office of the Grand Penitentiary ; 

procurators, who had previously numbered 27 and 24 respect- 

ively, were reduced to two, in each case, while the offices of 

referendaries, correctors and revisors, were aboHshed,'* the 

superfluous clerks and procurators being employed in the 

Apostolic Cancelleria.^ The Grand Penitentiary and all his 

subordinates were to exercise their office in person ;^ the 

procurators were to be priests, or at least subdeacons,' and 

no fees were to be demanded for the issue of documents.^ 

The sale of offices was entirely done away with.^ 

1 *" Pubblicata la Bulla della penitentieria," and by this it is 

abolished, and there is no more business ; everything now goes 

to the Cancelleria and Dataria (*Avviso di Roma of March 5, 

1569, V.Tb. 1041, p. 34, Vatican Library). Bull of April 23, 1569, 

in GoLLER, II., 2, 98. As early as February 14, 1569 (Urb. 1041, 

p. 14) an *Avviso declares that the matrimonial dispensations 

of the Penitentiaria were suspended, because a dispensation had 

been granted, but that the Pope had refused it. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 746 sfqq., 750 seqq. 

^ Ibid., 750 §2. In GoLLER, II., 2, 15 seqq. there is a list of the 

faculties granted to the Grand Penitentiary by Pius V., and later 

on by Gregory XIII. 

*Bull. Rom., VII., 747 § 3. 

'^ Bull of May 19, 1569, ibid. 752. 

^ Ibid. 747, § 6 and 12. 

' Ibid. § 10. 

* Ibid. 749, 5 17. 

* " lUorumque omnium officiorum in ipso Poenitentiariae 

officio constltutorum venditionem, aut quamvis al am voluntariam 

tacitam vel expressam ea dimittentium dispositionem expresse 

prohibemus," and this under pain of invalidity. 

VOL. XVII. IZ

178 


The college of penitentiaries who, by commission of the Grand 

Penitentiary, were at the service of penitents in the three great 

basilicas of Rome, were also subjected to new regulations. 

According to the provisions of Pius IV., twelve of these so- 

called " minor penitentiaries," drawn from various religious 

orders and nationalities, were to work at S. Maria Maggiore ; 

Pius V. halved the number and ordered that they should all 

of them be drawn from the Roman province of the Dominican 

Order, assigning to them a suitable house near S. Pudenziana, 

and a sufficient revenue.^ Eight Franciscan Observants 

were to act as penitentiaries at the Lateran,^ and twelve Jesuits 

at St. Peter's, who also lived close by in a house of their own.^ 

The community life which he insisted upon for the peniten- 

tiaries was the reason for assigning this office to religious, 

and it was also obviously suitable that those who thus lived 

together should belong to the same Order ; 

at the same time, 

the Pope left the selection of capable men to the Provincials 

of the various Orders.* 

The other Papal tribunals and courts did not escape the 

zeal of the Pope, who was anxious to effect improvement 

everywhere. On February 15th, 1566, the reform of the 

Segnatura was effected,^ and since the officials of the Apostolic 

Camera had exercised their office with excessive strictness, 

^ Bulls of September i and 6, 1568. Bull. Rom., VII., 703 seqq., 

706 seqq. 

^ Sacchini, p. III., I, 6, n. 2. S. Franciscus Borgia, V., 371. 

' Sacchini, n. 1-8. Circular of Francis Borgia to the pro- 

vincials of the Jesuits, April 24, 1570, S. Franciscus Borgia, V., 

356 ; to the provincials of Spain, April 28, 1570, ibid. 371. Cf. 

Cardinal Alciati to Fr. Borgia, July 8, 1569, ibid. 121 ; GOller, 

II., I, 48 seq. 

* Sacchini, loc. ctt. n. 2. In GOller, II., 2, 139 seq. a list, 

dated March 16, 1568, of the sins withdrawn from the absolving 

power of the penitentiaries. 

' There only remained the four Cardinals, Reumano, Cicada, 

Simoncelli, and Vitelli with 34 referendaries ; 

only 12 of the latter 

had a consultative vote. *Cusano, February 16, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna.

THE VISITATION OF CHURCHES. I79 

the Pope took rigorous measures on May 29th, 1567.^ It 

was rumoured in June, 1567, that the powers of the Camer- 

lengo were to be hmited.^ The correctors of the Cancelleria 

were reformed on October 21st, 1569, ^ and after long discussion,^ 

the auditors of the Camera, by a decree of November 

20th, 1570.° Towards the end of 1568, it was reported in 

Rome that the Cancelleria had decided to meet only twice a 

week, on account of the reduction of its business.^ Lastly, 

the reforming zeal of the Pope was turned to the improvement 

of the archives of the Curia, which had hitherto been very 

much neglected. '^ 

The Council of Trent had entrusted the reform of the 

Church to the bishops ; it therefore seemed obvious to Pius 

V. that, as Bishop of Rome, he must set them an example 

in his own diocese. 

The Council had laid it down that one of the principal 

duties of a bishop was to make a visitation of all the churches 

and of all the ministers of the sanctuary. The Pope there- 

fore wished to fulfil this obligation of visitation in the Eternal 

City as far as he could in person.^ He began on Sunday, 

May 12th, 1566, with the basihca of St. Peter's, in order to 

^ Bull. Rom. VII. 601 seqq. On the other hand, however, 

Pius V. protected the rights of the Camera ; ibid. 609, 641 seq., 

646, 690, 697. 894. 

- *Avviso di Roma of June 14, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 403, Vatican 

Library. 

"Bull. Rom., VII., 785. 

* *Avviso di Roma of August 16, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 327, 


5 Bull. Rom., VII., 865. An *Avviso di Roma (Urb. 1041, 

p. 380, Vatican Library) reports on December 9, 1570, the publi- 

cation of the buU. 

*Avviso di Roma of November 6, 1568, ibid. 1040, p. 597. 

' Motu proprio of July 18, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 762. Order 

of August 19, 1568, for the registration of the documents belongmg 

to the Apostolic Camera, for the search for those which had been 

lost, etc., ibid. 697. 

* *Avviso di Roma of April 27, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 218b, 

Vatican Library.


ascertain for himself if everything was in good order for the 

administration of the sacraments, and for the worthy celebra- 

tion of divine worship. The baptismal font did not satisfy 

him, and he gave orders for a better one to be made, more 

in keeping with the dignity of the noblest temple of God on 

earth. In the sacristy he examined the rehqiiaries, the 

chalices, the sacred vessels and the vestments. After that, 

all laj^men were excluded, the canons and other priests, 

including the bishops, knelt down, and the Cardinals formed 

a semi-circle on the right of the Pope, who then delivered 

a long discourse on the things necessary for the sacerdotal 

life, and the due performance of the divine worship.^ After 

the visitation, the Pope turned to the Archpriest of St. Peter's 

Cardinal Farnese, and said to him that he hoped he would 

find all the other churches in as good a condition."^ On July 

1st, 1566, he visited the church and hospital of S. Spirito, 

and here again he satisfied himself minutely as to the custody 

of the Blessed Sacrament, the baptismal font, the chrism, 

the sacred vestments, the sacristy and the sacristans. He 

then went to see the sick in the hospital, " doing everything 

with all possible charity and love."^ He also personally 

^ *[" Die dominica XII. mail (1566) bora 17 . . . ivit ad 

ecclesiam S*' Petri] . . . ordinavit quod fieret fens [baptismalis] 

pulchrior, prout dicebat requirere nobilitatem et ecellentiam 

ecclesiae, quam dixit esse primam totius orbis. Vidit postea 

sacellum, reliquias sanctorum, caUces, vasa sacra et omnia super 

magna credentia parata, etc. Deinde sedens super sede ibidem 

parata, emissis extra sacellum omnibus laicis, fecit longum 

sermonem canonicis et aUis presbiteris, omnibus genuflexis etiam 

episcopis, et male dice quoad episcopos ipsos, cardinaUbus in 

circulum a dextro latere sedentibus ; et sermo fuit circa mores 

ipsorum et modum deserviendi m ecclesia et multa dixit da 

dignitate sacerdotali " (Firmanus, *Diarium, p. 87. Papal 

Secret Archives). Cf. *Cusano, May 18, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna, *Avviso di Roma of May 18, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 

229b, and *report in Cod. Vatic. 5514, p. 1-15, Vatican Library. 

- * Avviso di Roma of May 18, 1566, ibid. 

3 * Avviso di Roma of July 6, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 251 seq., 

Vatican Library : " il che tutto con tanta carita e amore quanto 

dir si possa."

THE VISITATION OF ROME. l8l 

visited the other patriarchal churches,^ going on July loth, 

1566, to the church and hospital of the Lateran,^ and on 

September 30th to S. Maria Maggiore.^ He had still further 

projects ; he wished to visit all the hospitals in Rome, as 

well as the convents of women and the prisons ;* he had a 

project of appointing a Cardinal to look after the prisoners, 

and expedite their trials.^ " His Holiness," wrote the 

Imperial ambassador to the Holy See," is always working 

to reform the state of affairs in Rome, which is very distasteful 

to many people."^ 

Naturally the Pope had not the time to carry out all these 

visitations in person. In January, 1566, he had appointed a 

special congregation, composed of Cardinals Morone, Farnese, 

Savelli, Borromeo, Alciati and Paleotto, for the reform of the 

Roman clergy.' The Cardinal of Milan, who was undoubt- 

edly the most important member of this congregation, soon 

left for his episcopal city, but in the middle of July the reform 

of the Roman clergy was committed to his intimate friend, 

Ormaneto,^ who was in constant correspondence with the 

* Laderchi, 1566, n. 63. 

^ *" 11 Papa e state questa mattina a S. Giovanni a visitare 

la chiesa et Thospitale et e andato per tempissimo et con pocchis- 

sime persone. A quest'hora ha visitato S. Pietro, S. Spirito et 

S. Giovanni." (Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua, July 10, 1566, 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). Cf. *Arco, July 13, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna ; *Avviso di Roma of July 13, 1566, Urb. 1040, 


^ *Strozzi on October 5, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *Arco, July 13, 1566, loc. cit. *Avviso di Roma of July 13, 

1566, loc. cit. 

5 *Avviso di Roma of July 13, 1566, loc. cit. For the visitation 

of the prisons cf. Bull. Rom., VII., 688, 696, 801. 

* *Arco, July 13, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

' *Cusano, January 26, 1566, ibid. 

* " Giovedi fu congregazione dellTnquisizione et dopo pranzo 

del Concilio dove si tratt6 de riforma del clero di Roma, la qual 

cura e data a monsignor Ormaneto." Avviso di Roma of July 

20, 1566, in Bertolotti, Martiri, 37.

l82 HISTORY OF THE POPES, 

Cardinal/ and thus acted as an intermediary, by whose means 

the Archbishop of Milan continued his work of reform even 

in Rome. 

The influence of Borromeo upon the renewal of the Roman 

church was universally recognized in other ways as well. 

The Pope, wrote Ciregiola, intends to hold a provincial synod, 

and to visit, either in person or by his deputies, all the churches 

in Rome, and it is thought that Borromeo will be recalled 

to Rome for that purpose, as he has had great experience in 

these matters. 2 When Bonhomini was expected in June, 

1569, as a member of the reform commission, it was thought 

in Rome that he would bring with him a large volume of 

reform proposals from Cardinal Borromeo.^ In December, 

1566, Poggiani wrote that it was weU known that the Roman 

reform was the offspring of that in Milan, and that its 

promoter had taken as his model a certain member of the 

Church.* 

Under the presidency of Cardinal Savelli, Vicar of Rome, 

the reform commission held a series of sessions, at which 

Ormaneto, the Prior of Fohgno, and Oliva di Perugia were 

^ Letters between the two are noted in San Carlo, indexed 

under Ormaneto. 

'^ Letter to Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, June 19, 1566, 

State Archives, Florence. *Arco expected the return of B.rromeo 

on account of the synod which was to be held in September 

(July 20, 1566, State Archives, Vienna) ; *Cahgari 

thought his recall was certain that he might take part in the 

reform of the Church (to Commendone, August 3, 1566, Papal 

Secret Archives). 

* *Avviso di Roma of June 11, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 92, Vatican 

Library. 

* " Non occorre, ch'io dica altro a V.S. ill. intorno alia stima, 

che si fa della sue constitutioni sinodali, vedendo ognuno, che la 

riforma romana e filgUuola della milanese, il che di giorno in 

giorno si va cosi dilatando, che cotesto membro entrara in molto 

maggior riputatione, poiche da quello a un certo modo ha 

preso esempio il capo." To Borromeo in Pogiani Epist. 

IL, XV.

THE VISITATION OF ROME. 183 

also present. 1 One result of these meetings was certainly 

the edict of October 30th, 1566, which enjoined upon the 

Roman clergy the rules for leading a truly priestly Hfe.^ 

In August four visitors were charged to fulfil that duty in the 

Roman churches, ^ and a visitation of even the titular churches 

of the Cardinals was ordered in September.* 

In the opinion of many members of the Curia, the visitors 

discharged their duties " very strictly."^ One of them 

wrote in December to Florence that the Pope " has a very 

strict minister, who is Monsignor Ormaneto, who has no 

respect for anyone, since that is the wish of the Pope " ;^ it 

was thought that a special motu proprio would permit him 

to take action and to inflict punishment without the usual 

legal procedure.^ The Canons of St. Peter's sought to shield 

themselves from the reform by appealing to an ancient privi- 

^ Caligari to Commendone, June 18, 1566, Papal Secret Archives 

Anal. Bolland., XXXIII. (1914), 195, n. i. OLiva was afterwards 

Bishop of Chieti. The " Prior of Foligno " must be Tommaso 

Orfino (his name is Orfino, not Orsini or Ursinus as written by 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 184 ; 1567, n. 64 and Gams, p. 696, 928 ; 

cf. infra n. 3 ; Ughelli, I., 773 ; IX., 733 ; Moroni, XXV., 

141 ; 

LXX., 200, and in the index). 

* Laderchi, 1566, n. 58, 

' *Arco, August 17, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. The names 

of the four visitors are in the letter in which SaveUi announces the 

the visitation to each of the churches : " Vobis per praesentes 

denunciare decrevimus, quahter die ... ad vos vestramque 

ecclesiam Nos seu RR. PP. DD. Thomas Orphinus episcopus 

Stragulen., Alphonsus Binarius utriusque Signaturae referendarius 

vicesgerens noster, Nicolaus Orraannettus et Joannes GUva 

visitatores a Nobis deputati veniemus seu venient, aut aliquis 

corum veniet." Anal, iuris Pontif., I., Rome, 1855, 2734. 

* Consistory of September 6, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 63. 

* *Ciregiola to Cardinal Ferdinando de' Medici, November 30, 

1566, State Archives, Florence. 

e *Avviso di Roma of December 8, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 337b, 

Vatican Library : 

" Ha un rigoroso ministro che h mons. Ormaneto 

che non ha rispetto a niuno perch d cosi e la mente del Papa." 

' *Avviso di Roma of September 25, 1568, ibid. 585b.

184 


lege, according to which they could only be visited by the 

Pope, but they only succeeded in getting their privileges 

annulled, and a report from Rome states that they had been 

visited, and were " in danger " of a startling reform. ^ When 

visiting S. Pietro in Montorio, Ormaneto and his colleague 

Binarini found that the guardian had not complied with 

the command to join the Observants of his Order ; he was 

thereupon imprisoned, even though he had been the confessor 

of Pius IV.* Great discontent was caused among the canons 

and beneficiaries of Rome by the fact that the commissioners 

obliged them to officiate in their churches all through Lent, 

whereas previously they had only been obliged to do so for 

ten days in the month. 

Another regulation, which was undoubtedly just and 

necessary, and which was made about the same time, could 

not fail to increase the discontent in many quarters. It 

had for some time been rumoured that it was the Pope's 

desire that all secular and regular priests should satisfy their 

bishop as to their fitness to hear confessions.'* In March, 

1 *Avviso di Roma of October 19, 1566, ibid. 308. Laderchi, 

1566, n. 62. On November 30, 1566, Strozzi *wrote that they 

wished to induce the Canons of St. Peter's to build themselves 

near the basilica a house where they could lead a community life, 

and constantly take part in the functions, and that Farnese as Arch- 

priest was working against this proposal. State Archives, Vienna. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of April 3, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 499, Vatican 

Library. In his visitation of St. Gregorio, Ormaneto found grave 

abuses in the matter of alms for masses, whereat the Pope was 

much displeased. *Avviso di Roma of October i, 1569, ibid. 

p. 159. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of March 8, 1567, ibid. 1040, p. 366. 

* *" S'intende che vuole che tutti li confessori come preti come 

frati vadino ad essaminarsi al vescovato, se sono idonei alia con- 

fessione, altramente saranno privati del confessare trovandosi 

inesperti." (Avviso di Roma of November 16, 1566, Urb. 1040, 

p. 321, Vatican Library). Already in the consistory of January 

23, 1566, Cardinals Borromeo, Savelli, Alciati and Sirleto had been 

appointed commissaries for the examination of parish priests 

in general. *Arco, January 26, 1566, State Archives, Vienna.

SACERDOTAL CONFERENCES. 185 

1567, Pius V. had all the confessors of the Roman churches 

examined, and those who were unlit removed ;^ at the be- 

ginning of 1 57 1 the approhatio of the congregation of reform 

was required for all confessors. ^ An attempt was made to 

put difficulties in the way of unsuitable candidates receiving 

the priesthood, and it was ordered that for the future orders 

were not to be conferred unless the candidate had been 

examined before the Pope's Vicar a month previously.^ 

Only by the express permission of the Pope could the Segnatura 

permit ordinations extra tempora, or the legitimatization of 

the illegitimate.^ Even the Cardinals could no longer confer 

benefices in the churches of Rome, except on those who had 

been accepted as suitable by the vicar-general.^ 

With a view to creating a good spirit among the clergy 

the reform commission introduced sacerdotal conferences. 

All the parishes of Rome were divided into six districts, 

and the priests of each district had to meet once a week in 

one of the churches for the discussion of the needs of the 

parishes, as though in a little synod. ^ 

The Pope also turned his attention to the exterior behaviour 

of the ecclesiastical body. In order to meet the evil custom 

by which even priests dressed as laymen, all clerics were 

obliged to wear the ecclesiastical dress ;' those who did not 

1 * Avviso di Roma of March 15, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 370, Vatican 

Library. 

^ *Zibramonti, January 20, 1571, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

Cf. *Avviso di Roma of January 20, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 7, Vatican 

Library. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of May 12, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 60, Vatican 

Library. 

* Order to Capizuchi. *Avviso di Roma of January 29, 1569, 

ibid. 1041, p. 13. 

^ Bull. Rom., VIL, 423. For the date see L.\derchi, 1566, 

n. 59- 

* *Avviso di Roma of March 8, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 366, Vatican 

Library. 

' Edict of Cardinal Savelli of October 30, 1566, in Laderchi, 

1566, n. 58 ; cf. ibid. u. 63. *Strozzi, November 11, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna.


comply with this regulation were to lose their benefices.^ 

Doctors, physicians and jurists were ordered to give up 

wearing the biretta.^ 

With a view to putting the care of souls in a better state 

the Cardinal Vicar issued more detailed regulations for those 

churches which exercised parochial rights. ^ Since some of 

the parishes were too large to allow of the efficient discharge 

of their parochial duties, a motu proprio erected in these 

parishes eleven new vicariates, which were subject to the 

Cardinal Vicar,* while the Cardinals were exhorted to provide 

vicars for their titular churches.^ 

By order of the vicar-general all parish priests were to be 

in their churches for two or three hours on feast days to in- 

struct the children in the fundamental truths of the Christian 

faith. ^ When many people had been struck down by the 

^ *Avviso di Roma of January 31, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 381b, 

Vatican Library. For the preparation of the hando relating to 

this matter, cf. *Avviso di Roma of April 27, 1566, ibid. 218b. 

2 *Arco, November i, 1566 ; cf. the *letters of April 27, 1566^ 

November i, 1567 and February 12, 1569. State Archives, 

Vienna ; *Avviso di Roma of October 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 309, 

Vatican Library ; Laderchi, 1567, n. 37. A general prescription 

on the dress of priests, laymen and women was issued on May 19, 

1566, at the Capitol (*Avviso di Roma of May 25, 1566, Urb. 

1040, p. 331b, Vatican Library) ; 

this was soon made less strict, 

but the household of the Pope and the Cardinals were obliged 

to observe it strictly (*Avviso di Roma of July 20, 1566, ibid. 

255). 

*Zibramonti reports a further constitution on ecclesiastical 

dress on September 15, 1571, to the Duke of Mantua (Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua). Cf. *Avviso di Roma of October 18, 1570 

(loc. cit. 357). A prohibition to clerics to wear beards was pro- 

posed (*Avvisi di Roma of August 17 and September 7, 1566, 

loc. cit. 275, 282b ; *Arco, August 3, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

'On September 13, 1569. Dengel, Palast und BasiUka S. 

Marco in Rom, Rome, 191 3, 85. 

* November 5, 1571, Bull. Rom., VII., 947. 

^ *Arco, September 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

' *Avviso di Roma of July 17, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 549, Vatican 

Library.

THE DUTY OF RESIDENCE. 187 

plague in the Borgo, the parish priests were urged to visit 

the sick, and then to make a report as to those in need, so 

that they might be provided for and helped.^ They were 

told above all to look after the poor, to exhort them to lead 

Christian lives, and to give them the sacraments at due 

times. 2 

If the Eternal City was httle by little to assume a new 

appearance in religious matters, it was necessary to purge 

if of many priests and prelates who, in forgetfulness of their 

duty, lived in Rome, far away from their dioceses and bene- 

fices. Even in the first weeks after his election, Pius V. 

ordered Cardinals Morone, Corgna and Rebiba to summon 

all the bishops living in Rome, and to send back to their 

dioceses all who were not excused for some urgent reason.^ 

At the congregation he again repeated this order in the presence 

of the three Cardinals. The excuses which were made were 

received by the Pope with a bad grace (or at least so it was 

said in Rome) ; 

the bishops, he said, had no other duty than 

to repair to their dioceses, and to see to it that the reforms 

and decrees of the Council were enforced there.* The parish 

priests received similar orders to those which the Pope had. 

already given to the bishops at an audience,^ and in order 

that it might be taken seriously he ordered the auditor of 

the Apostolic Camera, Alessandro Riario, to take legal pro- 

ceedings against those who disobeyed.^ The penalty of se- 

^ *Avviso di Roma of August 14, 1568, ibid. 562 b ; cf. ibid. 573. 

*Avviso di Roma of September 4, 1568. 

a *Avviso di Roma of March 12, 1569, ibid. 1041, p. 40. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of January 26, 1566, ibid. lop, p. 172. 

Acta consist, of January 23, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. ^6 ; 

GUILIK-EUBEL, 47. 

* *" Resideant, s'attenda alia riforma per mantener li decreti 

del Concilio." Avviso di Roma of February 16, 1566, Urb. 1040, 


6 *Avviso of February 24, 1566, ibid. 184b. 

* Motu proprio of June 10, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 46. 

Bull. Rom., VIL, 464. Riario was instructed to take summary 

proceeding against all " tam in Urbe quam alibi et ubique locorum 

existentes et in propriis diocesibus non residentes."


questration was actually laid upon the diocese of Vaison, 

because the bishop of that city never visited his diocese.^ 

The strict reformer did not give a thought to the fact that 

by these orders his own court would be shorn of its splendours. 

The Cardinals received orders to send back at once to their 

posts those members of their households who held benefices 

entaihng the care of souls, and also to go themselves to their 

own sees. 2 The Pope had already told a hundred Spaniards 

at the court that they must go back to their benefices. The 

correspondent who reports this fact was of opinion that very 

soon the city would be half emptied of all important 

personages.^ 

Naturally such expressions must not be taken quite Hter- 

ally. Even a Pius V. could not eradicate an inveterate habit 

by words and exhortations alone, and accordingly in the 

following year he began to take more stringent measures. 

Five or six parish priests, who had no business in Rome, 

1 *Avviso of November 9, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 318, Vatican 

Library, According to a * report of Strozzi of the same date 

(State Archives, Vienna) the bishop was deposed. The Bishop 

of Vaison in 1566 was Giacomo Cortesi, Patriarch of Alexandria, 

died 1570. His successor in the patriarchate was appointed 

November 8, 1570 (Moroni, LVII., 173). In 1569, Chisholm, 

the envoy of Mary Stuart, appears as Bishop of Vaison (Gams, 

648 ; Dictionary of National Biography, X., 262). 

" Consistory of September 6, 1566, according to the Diarium 

of Cardinal Farnese, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 63. *" Die lunae 

scilicet 13 ianuarii [1567] fuit consistorium sacretum, in quo 

inter alia S^^^^ d /^ hortatus fuit cardinales, quod mitterent 

eorum familiares habentes curam animarum ad earum curas 

quanto citius, quia volebat, quod omnes episcopi et curati in- 

dififerentur irent, etc. ; 

dixit etiam quod cardinales, qui poterant, 

irent ad eorum ecclesias simihter " (Firmanus, Diarium, p. 152, 

Papal Secret Archives). In the consistory of October 8, 1567, 

all prelates were again bidden to return to their churches 

(ibid.). 

^ *" Di modo che questa terra rimarra mezza dissoluta d'huomini 

di conditione." Avviso of December 8, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 338, 

Vatican Library.


were imprisoned,^ and at the end of the year Binarini and 

Ormaneto received an order, which they were to carry into 

effect with all their power, to take proceedings against the 

bisho{)s after having warned them, and against all other 

offenders without warning. ^ On Sunday, after the pontifical 

High Mass, the bishops were informed that the Pope did not 

intend any longer to exhort them to their duty,^ and in the 

following year, 1568, the Pope made inquiries as to how 

many bishops, who had not resigned their sees, were still 

in Rome, and sent some of them to the Castle of St. 

Angelo.^ 

The question of residence made its appearance once more 

during the last years of Pius V. This time the man in whose 

hands was placed the carrying out of this difficult task was 

Carniglia. In virtue of a Papal edict, which bound all priests 

living in the Curia to furnish in writing their names, together 

with their benefices and their native land,^ he drew up a 

list of all the possessors of benefices residing in Rome.^ These 

then received orders to repair to their benefices,'^ and those 

who failed to obey were forced by Carniglia, acting under 

1 *Avviso di Roma of March i, 1567, ibid. 365. 

2 *" g gta clomenica ordino a mons. Binarini et all Ormaneto 

che intimassero a tutti i vescovi che si trovano qui, la residenza 

et procedessero anco contro di loro, di maniera che a questo 

s'attende con ogni diligenza, et cosi anco per conto de curati, contra 

qualli prima si viene all' esecutione che a citatione come con- 

tumaci d' altre intimationi " (B. Pia to Luzzara, December 20, 

1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). Cf. *Arco, December 13, 1567, 


^ *Avviso of December 20, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 164b, Vatican 

Library. 

* *Avviso of March 20, 1568, ibid. 491. For the enforcement 

of the obligation of residence in 1568 cf. Gratiani Epist., 366 ; for 

the bull of July 8, 1568, see infra, p. 217. 

5 *Avviso of February 8, 1570, Urb. 104 1, p. 224b, Vatican 

Library. For a similar but earlier order cf. *Avviso of November 

9, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 318, ibid. 

* *Avviso of December 30, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 390, ibid. 

' *Avviso of January 24, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 12, ibid.

IQO HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

the Pope's instructions, to make restitution of the fruits. 

Carniglia was also instructed to exhort all the Cardinals 

and prelates to send away all the members of their households 

who held benefices with a cure of souls, ^ similar instructions 

having been already sent to all Spaniards holding such offices.^ 

This renewal of religious life was naturally not limited to 

Rome. At the beginning of 1571 four bishops were appointed 

to make a visitation of the dioceses in the Papal States, 

namely Pietro de Lunel of Gaeta for the Marches, Giovanni 

Francesco Sormanni of Montefeltro for Umbria and the Patrimony, 

Paolo Maria della Rovere of Cagli for the Romagna 

and Lombardy, and Vincenzo Ercolano of Sarno for the 

Campagna.^ They were to start at the beginning of Lent, 

and were especially to insist on the observance of the duty 

of residence, to regulate the granting of benefices, to see to 

the restoration of delapidated churches, and to examine into 

the proper distribution of revenues.^ Four Jesuits were 

appointed to accompany them to preach to the people and 

to act as their advisers.^ Sometimes the Pope himself acted 

1 *Avviso of January 27, 1571, ihid. 12b. A fresh warning to 

the bishops about residence : *Avviso of March 3, 1571, ibid. 25b. 

2 *Avviso of December 23, 1571, ibid. 168. 

* *" II Papa ha fatto intimare a tutti 11 Spagnoli che hanno 

beneficii curati, che debbano andare aUe loro residenze." 

(Zibramontl to the Duke of Mantua, January 13, 1571, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua). Cf. *Avvlso of January 13, 1571, Urb. 1042, 


* *Avviso of January 6, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 2, Vatican Library. 

The *briefs for the four bishops, of February 3, 1571, in the 

Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

5 *Avviso of January 24, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 12, Vatican Library. 

* *" S. S*^ ha deputato quattro vescovi et quattro di quest! 

padri del Giesu che vadino per lo State ecclesiastico visitando i 

vescovati. I vescovi visiteranno le citta et quei padri visiteranno 

le diocesi et ordineranno quello che giudicheranno esser servitio di 

Dio, et a disordini a quali non potranno remediare, si remetteranno 

aUa relatione che ne faranno a S. S*^' che poi riprenderanno quell' 

espeditione che le parer^ piu opportuna. ' 

' 

(Zibramonti, January 6, 

1571, to the Duke of Mantua, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). It

PLAN FOR A PROVINCIAL SYNOD. IQI 

as visitor in the neighbourhood of Rome. When he visited 

Porto to see to the erection of fortifications against the cor- 

sairs/ he also went to Ostia, and finding the church there 

very much neglected, he bitterly reproached Cardinal Pisani 

and took away 3,000 scudi from his revenues in order to make 

good the damage. 2 

Besides all this, Pius V., first in the autumn of 1566, and 

again in the following Lent, planned to hold a great provincial 

synod of all the bishops of Italy, which was to lay down in 

detail the line of reform to be adopted,^ but as the provincial 

synod of Milan held by Cardinal Borromeo had already 

covered this ground, we may reasonably suppose that it was 

on that account that the plan was allowed to lapse.* 

would appear that only two of these bishops were actually accom- 

panied by a Jesuit (Sacchini, P. III., i. 7, n. 16). *Decree of 

reform from Sormaani for Rimini in Cod. CP 5n. 24 of the Gam- 

balunga Library, Rimini. 

1 Laderchi, 1566 n. 63. 

^ Ibid. n. 64. *Strozzi, November 6, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. *Avviso of November 16, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 320b, 

Vatican Library. The Pope also intended to visit Civitavecchia ; 

ibid. 

® See supra, p. 182, and *Avvisi of September 17 and December 

8, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 148b, 338b, Vatican Library. *Strozzi, 

December 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* How highly Pius V. appreciated the provincial synod of Milan 

appears from a letter from Borromeo to the Bishop of Brescia 

dated December 27, 1566 : La Santita di Nostro Signore per la 

satisfatione che ha havuta di questro nostro concilio, et per il 

desiderio che ha di vider la riforma incamminata, ha fatto pro- 

hibere a i tribunaU di Roma che non faccino cosa alcuna contro a 

i decreti del suddetto concilio." In Sala, Docum. II. , 272.

CHAPTER V. 

Reform of the Church on the Basts of the Tridentine 

Decrees. 

In all his work for ecclesiastical reform in Rome and the 

Papal States the Pope always kept before him as his guide 

and rule the decrees of the Council of Trent, which he wished 

to see carried into effect with the minutest exactitude, and 

above all other places in his own immediate surroundings. 

The activities of Pius V. for the reform of the universal Church 

were planned upon the same lines. 

In the first place he set himself, in some sense, to complete 

the work of the Council by carrying to a happy issue some 

of those undertakings which the Fathers of Trent had handed 

over incomplete to the care of the Apostolic See. Already, 

under Pius IV., the Catechism, which it was the wish of the 

Council to make the basis of uniform instruction throughout 

the Church, had neared completion.^ Nov/, after a final 

revision made under the supervision of Sirleto,^ it was found 

possible, towards the end of 1566, to issue it at the press of 

Paulus Manutius in Rome in several Latin editions, as well 

as an Italian one, which had, by the Pope's orders, been pre- 

pared by the Dominican, Alessio Figliucci.^ The Pope also 

interested himself personally in the preparation of versions in 

other tongues. He entrusted the Jesuit, Paul Hoffaeus, with 

the translation of the Catechism into German, and Peter 

^ Cf. Vol. XVI. of this work, p 24 seq. 

^ " [Sirleto] modo incumbit negotio toC Kar-nxto'/J-ov cum 

archiepiscopo Lancianensi et magistro s. Palatii. Et spes est 

illorum cito editum iri typis Aldinis " (Lombardo to Hosius, 

April I, 1566, in Cyprianus, 413). For the part taken by Sirleto, 

cf. PoGiANi Epist., II., xxxviii. 

3 Skjbniewski, 58 seq., 134. Renouard, Annales, II., 57 seq. 

192

THE ROMAN CATECHISM. I93 

Canisius was ordered to assist him.^ The work of Hoffaeus 

was published at DiUingen at the beginning of 1568, with an 

introduction by Cardinal Truchsess.^ The Pope also en- 

trusted to the Jesuits the French translation of the Catechism.^ 

He placed the work of preparing the Polish version in the hands 

of Cardinal Hosius of Ermland,^ at the same time warning 

him to avoid a notable defect in the first Latin edition, which 

defect was also avoided in the German translation ;^ the first 

publishers had been careless in the matter of its division into 

chapters and sections. The Catechism met with difficulties in 

Spain. The permission which had already been given to 

print it there/ in spite of the privilege granted to Paulus 

Manutius, was withdrawn by the Pope'' when certain Spanish 

theologians took it upon themselves to find fault with a certain 

equivocal passage in the Catechism.^ Cardinal Espinosa 

had been charged with the preparation of a Spanish trans- 

lation, which was made by Funtiduena, but the censors ex- 

pressed the view that it would be wiser to give up all idea of 

any translation into the vernacular.^ 

^ Polanco to Hoffaeus, September 3, 1566, Canisii Epist., V.,8i6. 

Ubid. VI., 667. 

^ Sacchini, p. III., I, 2 n. 6. 

* Brief of September 28, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 343. 

^Canisii Epist., VI., loq, 121. 

"Of April 18, 1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 85 n. The same permission 

was given for Dillingen (Canisii Epist., VI., 660 seq.), and 

Poland (Laderchi, 1566, n. 343), etc. 

' July 19, 1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 85 n. 

^ From P. II., c. 2, n. 17, it appeared, in their opinion, that 

the precept of baptism in Matth. XXVIII., 18, did not apply to 

those who were damned. Corresp. dipl., loc. cit. 

^Corresp. dipl., II., 85 n. An opinion of February 14, 1570, 

unfavourable to the translation of the Catechism was found among 

from this it may be supposed that the 

the wr- tings of Carranza ; 

Catechism of Carranza had given rise to this doubt. Besides this 

there were, especially in Spain, many who were very nervous about 

theological works in the vernacular. In a letter to Castagna Rusti- 

cucci, on October 8, 1571, expressed the desire that the ti'ar.slation 

by Funtiduena should be printed. Corresp. dipl., IV., 453. 

VOL. XVII. 13

194 


The year 1568 saw the printing of the revised breviary, that 

is to say the book of prayers used in the recitation of the 

canonical hours. 

The custom of the recitation by the clergy, at certain fixed 

hours, of prayers in the name of the whole Church, could be 

traced back to the first centuries of the Christian era, and in 

its original form consisted of certain passages from the Holy 

Scriptures.! In course of time these hours of prayer had 

become seven, one for the night and six for the day, and the 

breviary was for the greater part made up of the psalms, 

arranged in such a way that the whole Psalter was recited 

from beginning to end once in a week, the psalms being 

interrupted, especially in the night hour, by lections from 

the Holy Scriptures, or, on the festivals of saints, by lections 

drawn from their lives. ^ 

Ever since the beginning of the XVlth. century more and 

more complaints had been heard of the departure of the 

breviary from its traditional form.^ It was objected that, 

as a result of the multipHcation of the feasts of the saints, 

which had proper psalms of their own, these few psalms were 

constantly being said, and that the recitation of the complete 

Psalter had become almost impossible ; it was also objected 

that not enough time was devoted to the lections from the 

Holy Scriptures, while those drawn from the lives of the saints 

contained many incredible things, and were, moreover, written 

in very barbarous Latin. ^ Moreover, so many secondary, but 

obhgatory prayers had been added to the breviary properly 

1 The prayer for example at the ninth hour in the Acts of the 

Apostles III., I. 

' Cf. S. Baumer, Geschichte des Breviers, Freiburg, 1895. 

Battifol, Hist, du breviare romain, Paris, 1911. 

3 Jos. ScHMiD in Theol. Quartalschr., LXVl, (1884), 467 seq., 

452 seq. 478 seq. ; Baumer 364 seqq. 

* A Papal permission attributed to Juhus II. allowed the use of 

special offices when they were not expressly prohibited by the 

Church or incompatible with the Roman rite. Such a permission 

opened the way to aU manner of vagaries. Cf. Mercati in 

.Rassenga Gregoriana, II. (1903), 419.

REFORM OF THE BREVIARY. I95 

so called, that, except on festival days, the recitation of the 

Divine Office took an unreasonably long time. The directions, 

moreover, for the prayers which were to be said each day 

were not arranged in any clear way, but entailed prolonged 

search in various parts of the breviary, and much loss of 

time. 

The breviary which Pius V., in continuation of the work of 

his predecessor, brought forward for discussion,^ and eventually 

placed in the hands of the clergy, accompanied by a bull of 

July 9th, 1568,2 sought to obviate all these difficulties.^ The 

Psalter and the Holy Scriptures were restored to their proper 

importance, and provision was made for due order and clear- 

ness. The changes now made were principally in the direction 

of a rearrangement of the breviary lections. Many things 

that were spurious or incredible were expunged, thus giving 

full recognition to the science of historical criticism which 

had been inaugurated by humanism ; even certain feasts, 

such as those of St. Anne and St. Joachim, and the Presen- 

tation of the Blessed Virgin in the Temple, were sacrificed out 

of regard for similar considerations.* The passion of the time 

for good latinity was taken into account in composing the 

historical lections, the compilation of which was the work of 

the first humanist of the day, Giulio Poggiani.^ The efforts of 

^ Every Wednesday there were consultations on the reform 

of the Breviary (*Strozzi, October 19, 1566, State Archives. 

Vienna). For the purpose of these meetings on the breviary 

Savelli proposed Sirleto to the Pope, but Pius V. made difificulties 

about this, as Sirleto was bound by his duty of residence in his 

own diocese (*Avviso di Roma of October 26, 1566, Urb. 1040, 

p. 312, Vatican Library). Cf. Taccone Gallucci, 40. 

2 Bull. Rom., VII., 685 seq. The bull was published on July 16 

(*Avviso of July 17, 1568, sent by Cusano, State Archives, Vienna). 

On August 17, 1568 Bonelli wrote to Castagna : " Si e dato fuori 

il Breviario riformato." Corresp. dipl., II., 433. 

^ SCHMID, loc. cit., 634. Baumer, 438. 

* ScHMiD, loc. cit., 647, 649. Baumer, 441, 450. 

* PoGiANi Epist., II., xxiii. For the time being the hymns of 

the Breviary remained untouched, though Seripando wished for 

their correction (letter of Capilupi, January 13, 1563, in Arch.

196 


Christian humanism to give the west the full benefit of the 

writings of the Greek Fathers were gloriously crowned with 

success by the fact that the breviary lections were now drawn 

from their works as well, and that now for the first time the 

four great Greek Doctors, Althanasius, Basil, Gregory Nazi- 

anzen and John Chrysostom were honoured by the Apostolic 

See with public cultus as teachers of the universal Church, 

and placed side by side with the four great Doctors of the 

west.^ 

Just as the Breviary of Pius V. was not a completely new 

work, but rather a restoration of the ancient usage of the 

Roman Church, with such changes as were called for by the 

times, 2 so the same thing may be said of his Missal, which 

was given the force of law by a bull of July 14th, 1570.' The 

introduction of this reform of Pius V. was made obligatory 

for all the churches of the west which had not possessed a 

liturgy of their own for at least 200 years.'* It was of great 

benefit to the Church that any changes in these two liturgical 

books were reserved to the Apostolic See, for this put an end 

star. Lomb., 1893, 116). For some of the hymns included at that 

time, see Delaporte in Rassegna Gregoriana, VI. (1907). 495 seq. ; 

Rivista storica, 1910, 329. 

^ This was shown for the first time by K. Kellner in Zeitschr. 

fur kath. TheoL, XL. (1916), i seqq. 

^ " I believe," wrote Sirleto on October 23, 1563, " that the 

first thing to be done is to remove all novelties, but in such a way 

that no further novelties are put in their place." Molitor, 4. 

^ Bull. Rom., VIII., 839 seq. Cf. J. Weale in Analecta litur- 

gica, I., (1888). A *bull " super breviario et missah novo " of 

August 14, 1571 in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. On March 11, 

1 57 1, all earlier versions of the of&ce of the Madonna were forbidden, 

because they contained much that was superfluous and 

had been filled with superstitions through the covetousness of 

the printers. Only the new and corrected edition was allowed 

and enjoined. Bull. Rom., VII., 896 seq. 

* Thus the breviary of Quinofies was especially superseded ; 

this, 

moreover, had already been prohibited by Paul IV. on August 8, 

1558. Bromato, II., 493.

REFORM OF THE BREVIARY. 197 

to the caprices of incompetent persons, who had introduced 

so many unsuitable things, even into the Mass itself.^ 

The Hturgical reforms of Pius V. made rapid progress in 

almost every diocese. Even many of those churches which 

might have retained their ancient breviary, nevertheless, with 

Pope's permission, drew largely upon the new breviary and 

missal.- The reforms, however, were not carried into effect 

everywhere without meeting with great difficulties. In Spain 

they caused great excitement,^ because there the churches 

used in the choir magnificently illuminated books of great 

size, which could only be replaced by new ones at great cost. 

The Spanish Hieronymites, who only fell short by six years 

of the 200 required by the bull of Pius V., declared that the 

change would cost them in Spain alone 200,000 ducats. The 

monopoly which gave Paulus Manutius the sole right to print 

the breviary, under pain of excommunication, gave rise to 

much complaint ; one single press, it was said, could not cope 

with the enormous demand, while the absence of competition 

led to both inferior printing and increased prices."* Pius V. 

very soon gave Spain leave to print the new breviary inde- 

pendently of Paulus Manutius.^ 

1 C/. A. Franz, Die Messe im deutschen Mittelalter, Freiburg, 

1902. 

* Jos. ScHMiD in Theol. Quartalschr., 1885, 468 seqq. ; B.\umer, 

457 seqq. Pius V. himself, however, allowed several exceptions to 

the obligation to use his Breviary, as for example to the Canons 

Regular of the Lateran (brief of December 18, 1570, Bull. Rom., 

VII., 875 seq.) and to the church of Toledo (brief of December 17, 

1570, in MoLiTOR, 294 ; cf. 15 seq.). 

^ " grandissimo moto " ; Castagna to Bonelli, October i, 1568, 

Corresp. dipl., 11,. 468. Pacheco had obtained leave from the 

Pope that only the second, corrected, edition of the breviary 

should be sent to Spain. *Arco, September 4, 1568, State 


* Cf. the memorial of Bandini to Clement VIII., published by 

Mercati in Rassegna Gregoriana, V. (1906), 18 seqq. 

* Bonelh to Castagna, November 3, 1569, Corresp. dipl., III., 

187 ; cf. II., 468 ; III., 102, 142. Complaints of Manutius' print- 

ing monopoly in general were specially made in Germany, where

198 


The bringing to perfection of the Roman Catechism, as well 

as of the two liturgical books was to a great extent due to the 

zeal and energy of Cardinal Borromeo.^ To the services which 

he had already rendered to the Church at the Council of Trent, 

he thus added the further one of having given effect, and that 

without any great delay, to a desire which the Fathers of the 

Council had expressed to the Holy See before they separated.^ 

It was more difficult to comply with another wish of the 

Council, namely the printing of an edition, which should be 

as far as possible free from errors, of the Holy Scriptures, and 

especially of the Latin version which had been in use in the 

Church from ancient times. But Pius V, set to work with 

great zeal on this matter as well.^ For this purpose, in 1569, 

the Pope appointed a commission composed of Cardinals 

Colonna, Sirleto, Madruzzo, Souchier, Carafa, and Morone ;* 

the Protestant printers paid no attention to such privileges and 

excommunications as the Catholic publishers had to do. Canisii 

Epist., v., 281, 282 ; Braunsberger, Pius V., 67. 

^ " Prius vero quam discederet [Roma], Catechismum, quam 

avunculi auctoritate iusserat inchoari, perficiendum, et Breviarium 

item, Missalemque librum restituendum curavit " (Bascape, 

I., I, c. 9, p. 22). In a letter to Sirleto of September 4, 1566, 

Borromeo urges him to hasten as much as possible the work on the 

breviary (Jos. Schmid in Theol. Qiiartalschr., 1884, 654 ; cf. 

Sala, Docum., II., 244). From Milan he also took steps to get 

Marini to compile a book of sermons (homiliarium) for the use of 

those having the care of souls. Sala, II., 244, n. 3, 246, 258, 

n. 117 and 120. 

- Sess. 25 contin. 

^ HoPFL, 77-101. C. Vercellone, Variae Lectiones, I., Rome, 

i860, XX seqq. 

*HoPFL, 78. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of March 12, 1569, Urb. 

1041, p. 40, Vatican Library. On November 11, 1568, Lombardo 

wrote to Hosius (Cyprianum 484) : " Manutius incumbit Breviario 

novo, et missale edetur in lucem in paschate. Marianus 

Rheatinus, Hieronymi schoUastes incumbit Bibhis, ut editio 

vulgata emendatior prodeat." An *Avviso of April 16, 1569, 

sent to Vienna by Cusano, records the beginmng of the labours 

of the Biblical commission. State Archives, Vienna.

THE VULGATE. I99 

the commission set to work with the help of twelve consultors. 

Learned men were found, even outside Rome, who placed their 

talents at the service of the commission. Thus the Benedic- 

tines of the Badia in Florence, at the command of the Pope, 

collated twelve Florentine codices, the monks of Montecassino 

thirty-four, while another member of the Cassinese Congre- 

gation, Ambrogio Ferrari, Abbot of S. Benigno at Genoa, 

furnished critical notes on certain passages of the Bible. 

The labours of the commission, however, made very slow 

progress ; thus Arias Montanus at Antwerp, produced more 

work on the Antwerp pol^'glot in a month than the Roman 

commission on the Vulgate in a whole year.^ In the opinion 

of Cardinal Colonna the reason for this was the diversity of 

views among the members of the commission, some of whom 

wished to change everything out of hand, while others wished 

to treat everything as authentic- However, the work on 

the Vulgate was never allowed to come to a complete stand- 

still in the time of Pius V. 

Steps were also taken in the time of Pius V. on the difficult 

task of preparing an authentic edition of the codex of Canon 

Law. The congregation set up in 1566 for the emendation 

of the decretals of Gratian was composed of Cardinals Colonna, 

Boncompagni, Sforza, Sirleto and Alciati, to whom Ferreri 

and Carafa were afterwards added ; these had at first twelve 

and afterwards fifteen lawyers to advise and assist them.'"* 

' Coleccion de docum. indd., XLI. (1862), 178. Hopfl, ioi. 

"Carafa to Salmeron, June 17, 1569, in Hopfl, 308 seq. 

' AuGUSTiNi Theiner disquisltiones criticae in praecipuas 

canonum et decretalium coUectiones, Rome, 1836, App. prima 

3 seqq. A *brief of February 18, 1567 " pro cardinalibus deputatis 

ad correctionem decreti Gratiani : facultas recipiendi e biblio- 

theca Vaticana quoscunque libros opportunos facto chirographo 

bibliothecario de iUis restituendis " in the Archives of Briefs, 

Rome, I., 2, 1867b. A *brief of March 26, 1568 to the Bishop of 

Plasencia renews the exhortation already sent to him under 

Pius IV. to send to Rome for the purpose of correcting the decretals 

of Gratian five unpubhshed councils of Toledo, and the most 

correct manuscripts in his possession, for those already printed


In this way, under Pius V., active measures were taken to 

lay new foundations in every direction, and to call into exist- 

ence the groundwork for the uniform instruction of the people, 

for the worthy celebration of divine worhsip, as well as for 

the development of ecclesiastical jurisprudence and theology. 

A further ordinance of the zealous reforming pontiff was of 

importance for ecclesiastical science. When, in 1568, he 

issued his Breviary, not only were the four Greek Fathers 

declared Doctors of the Church, but a fifth was added in 

Thomas Aquinas, who had been raised to this dignity by a 

special bull of April nth, 1567. ^ This honour conferred on 

the great theologian was also directly connected with the 

Council of Trent. During the long controversies of the XlVth 

and XVth centuries his teaching had stood all tests, and his 

victory was complete at the close of the Middle Ages ; 

at the 

Council of Trent the difficult task of formulating the doctrine 

of justification against the reformers had been solved by 

following St. Thomas,^ while the sovereignty of the great 

Dominican theologian had been unquestioned at the Council 

(ibid). At the Council of Trent (Theiner, Acta, II., 654) the 

desire had been expressed for the compilation of an entirely new 

ecclesiastical codex, a thing asked for by the Vatican Council, 

undertaken under Pius X., and completed under Benedict XV. 

by Cardinal Gasparri. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 564 seq. The complete edition of the works of 

St. Thomas which Pius V. caused to be prepared (see supra p. 130) 

was printed in an addition of only 1000 copies, so that the edition 

was already almost exhausted at the time of its appearance. 

Francis Borgia, October 28, 1569, in S. Franciscus Borgia, 

v., 223. 

^ Cone. Trid., sess. 6, c. 6 is taken from S. Tliom., S. th. 3, q. 85, 

a. 5 ; sess. 6, c. 7 from i, 2, q. 112, a. 4 and 2, 2, q. 24, a. 3. Cf. 

Mandonnet, Dictionn. de theol. cath., IV., 915. Pius V., in 

the above mentioned bull of April 11, 1567, says that thanks 

to the teaching of St. Thomas the errors which only made their 

appearance after his death were refuted " quod et antea saepe 

et liquido nuper in sacris Tridentini concilii decretis apparuit." 

Bull. Rom., VII., 564.

ST. THOMAS AQUINAS. 201 

in other matters as well.^ When, therefore, a Papal bull 

conferred upon him, the representative of scholasticism, an 

honour hitherto reserved for the mighty intellects of antiquity, 

not only did the Church herself take the science of the Middle 

Ages under her protection against the hostihty of the Pro- 

testants and even of some Cathohcs, bat she also recognized 

the teaching of Aquinas as the richest fruit of an earlier 

scientific evolution, and as an unperishable treasure, but at 

the same time she proclaimed that she recognized her own 

doctrines in those of the great schoolman. ^ At the same time 

^ In a speech made at the Council, delivered on March 7, 1563, 

the feast of St. Thomas, the speaker said that since the death of 

Thomas no council had been held without his help, and that 

" Vestra comitia perpen- 

this held good of the Council of Trent : 

dite. Ex plurimo eoque honorabili doctorum coetu quotus- 

quisque consultor accedit, qui d. Thoma auctoritate veluti splen- 

dente gemma, suam sententiam non exornet ? At in consultissimo 

patrum recessii, doctor pic sententiam rogatus, frequentis- 

sime censet, ad quem ut ad Lydium lapidem, si quid ambiguitatis 

aut controversiae fuerit exortum, communibus votis referendum 

existimetis, et qui eum sui placiti patronum obtinuerit, incertam 

indiciorum aleam non sit habiturus, quin secundum eum sententia 

ferenda sit." (loannis Gallio Burgensis Oratio in laudem ss. 

doctoris Thomae Aquin. in Le Plat, I., 625). In a brief of 

November 3, 1593, to the Jesuits, Clement VIII. says that the 

Council of Trent approved and adopted the works of St. Thomas 

(AsTRAiN, III., 580). Cf. Mandonnet, loc. cU. ; Franc Sylvii 

Opera, V., Antwerp, 1698, 386. 

2 In the bull of July 29, 1570, Pius V. says : " [D. Thomae] 

doctrinam theologicam ab ecclesia receptam aliis magis tutam et 

securam existere." (Bull. Rom., VII., 481). In consequence 

of the ordinance of the Council (sess. 5, de ref. c. i) that in every 

cathedral there should be a prebend for a teacher of theology, this 

bull assigns in perpetuity to the Master of the Sacred Palace a 

prebend at St. Peter's together with the obligation of expounding 

the doctrine of St. Thomas. Already in a consistory of March 6, 

1566, Pius V. had manifested his devotion to St. Thomas by 

inviting the Cardinals to attend the High Mass on the following 

day at the Minerva, the feast of the saint. Consistorial Archives, 

in GULIK-EUBEL, 47.


the line for further theological development was clearly traced 

out. Just as the raising of the four principal Greek Fathers 

to the dignity of Doctors of the Church signified ecclesiastical 

approval of the efforts which had been made to spread the 

knowledge of the Greek Fathers in the Latin Church, and to 

place them side by side and on equal terms with those of the 

west, so the conferring of the same honour on St. Thomas was 

an ecclesiastical approval and a solemn confirmation of those 

schools of theology which, ever since the beginning of the 

century had made the writings of Aquinas the basis of all 

theological teaching, and which, by following him, had paved 

the way for a further development of ecclesiastical science.^ 

All scientific and literary activity found, generally speaking, 

an intelligent patron in Pius V., a man himself of keen intellect. 

Wherever in the world any useful scientific work was produced 

by Catholics, the Pope was quick to help it with his encouragement 

and assistance. He found time to praise the canon, 

Martin Cromer, in far off Cracow,'^ and the Imperial councillor, 

Georg Eder,^ as well as the learned Augustinian, Panvinio, 

and Girolamo Muzio, who were close at hand. At the same 

time the light of his favour did not shine only on the champions 

of approved antiquity, or on behalf of those things which, 

like dogma and canon law, interested him personally. During 

the XVIth century there was a great activity in the theological 

sciences ; new branches of learning were springing up, and 

Pius V. gladly extended his protection to the tender plants. 

The name of his brother in religion, Sisto da Siena, the founder 

1 Modern scholasticism is distinguished from the old by the fact 

of its adherence to Thomas Aquinas, and by its closer union of 

positive with speculative theology (Chr. Pesch, Praelect. dogm., 

T^, Freiburg in Breisg., 1915, 26). These two things found expres- 

sion in the raising of Thomas Aquinas and the four Greek Fathers 

to the position of Doctors of the Church. 

^ *Brief of February 18, 1569, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 40, p. 26, 

Papal Secret Archives. For what follows cf. supra p. 129 seqq. 

'Brief of January 2, 1569, ibid. t. 13, \. 286, which is printed 

in the beginning of the later editions of Eder's book. N. Paulus 

in Hist.-polit. Blatter, CXV. (1895), 25.

CONGREGATION OF THE INDEX. 203 

of biblical criticism, is indissolubly linked with his own. 

He encouraged the efforts of the Cologne Carthusian, Surius, 

to lay the sound foundations of hagiography. Rudely 

awakened from its sleep by the Centuriators of Magdeburg, 

historical criticism began to attempt its first flights in reply, 

at the hands of Cathohc writers, and here too it was Pius V. 

who, in answer to the request of Hosius, sought to organize 

this form of defence against Protestant attacks.^ 

Pius V. also had a share in another way in laying the solid 

foundations of the structure upon which, under the influence 

of the Council of Trent, the life of the Church was to be built 

anew. To the already existing cardinalitial congregations 

of the Inquisition and the Council, he added a third in the 

Congregation of the Index of prohibited books. The first 

and eighth Tridentine prescriptions on the Index had called 

for the correction of certain classes of books, but so far no 

inquisitor or bishop had taken any steps to comply with this 

demand. On November gth, 1570, he gave instructions to 

Manriquez, the Master of the Sacred Palace, at the same time 

giving him the fullest powers to carry out his task.^ This act 

in itself implied the power to form a special congregation of 

the Index, but the actual congregation of Cardinals was only 

appointed in the March of the following year, and held its 

first meeting on March 27th, 1571.^ Yet another congregation, 

1 Cf. supra p. 129. EiCHHORN, Hosius, II., 463. On December 

16, 1567, Philip II. asked the Pope for permission to print the work 

of the Franciscan, Michele de Medina, against the Centuriators. 

Corresp. dipl., II., 273 seq. 

^ The motu proprio is printed in Hilgers, 510-513. 

^ Santori, Diario XXIII. , 322 (March 5, 1571). Report of 

Antonio Posio, the first secretary of the Congregation of the Index, 

in Hilgers, 513. *Avviso di Roma of September 9, 1570, Urb. 

104 1, p. 338b, Vatican Library : the censorship of theological 

and philosophical books is no longer to be in the hands of the 

Cardinals, but of the Master of the Sacred Palace. *Avviso of 

October 13, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 131b, ibid. ; the Pope has ap- 

pointed four Cardinals to draw up a new Index ; 

Martial, Proper- 

tius, etc. " si leveranno via." On July 17, 1568 (State Archives,

204 


that of the bishops, owed its origin to Pius V., who, in a brief 

of February 13th, 1572,^ charged Cardinals Ludovico Madruzzo, 

Santori, Burah and Aldobrandini to examine the petitions 

of the bishops, as well as any accusations brought against 

them, and to submit their decisions to the Pope for approval. 

This new congregation, however, had already held its first 

meeting in the autumn of the previous year.^ 

The congregation which had been formed for the inter- 

pretation of the decrees of the Council was kept specially 

busy with questions in the time of Pius V.^ These dealt for 

the most part with practical questions concerning benefices, 

the obhgation of making contributions to the seminaries, the 

education of girls in the convents of women despite the law 

of enclosure and the like. The French Calvinists gave 

occasion for a decision of greater dogmatic importance. 

According to Calvin baptism had not the power of taking away 

original sin, and the French preachers, in consequence, made 

it clear that in baptizing they had no intention of doing what 

the Roman Church understood by baptism. The Council 

had declared that the baptism of heretics was only valid 

if they intended to do what was intended by the Church of 

Christ,^ and the French Catholics therefore felt serious doubts 

Vienna). *Arco wrote that in accordance with the request of the 

Duke of Florence Boccaccio was being reprinted at Padua after 

the Roman Inquisition had purged it of its more scandalous 

contents. Cf. Dejob, De I'influence du Concile de Trente, 167, 

and Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 12. 

^ Published by J. Hilgers in Pastor bonus, XV. (1902-3), 238. 

That the " congregatio episcoporum " still existed in the time of 

Gregory XIII., see in Anal, iuris Pontif., I., Rome 1855, 2257. 

^ " *Alli 22 di settembre [1571], di sabato, nelle quattro tempora, 

intervenni alia prima congregazione della Consulta de' vescovi, 

instituta da Sua Santita accio i vescovi et anco i sudditi sapessero 

a chi ricorrere, per non infestare sempre 1' orecchi di Sua Beatitu- 

dine." Santori, Autobiografia XII., 352. 

^ The decrees of the congregation, edited by Poggiani, have been 

printed ; between February 2, 1566 and September 25, 1568, 

there were 257. Pogiani Epist., I., 372-496. 

* Sess. 7, de bapt. can. 4.

QUESTIONS OF DOGMA. 205 

as to the validity of Calvinist baptisms. ^ The Congregation 

of the Council decided in favour of their vahdity, on the ground 

that, in spite of their errors as to the effects of baptism and 

the true Church of Christ, the preachers steadily maintained 

their intention of administering true Christian baptism, and 

of doing what the Christian Church had always done in 

conferring it.- This decision was confirmed by Pius V.^ 

In the same way other decisions of the Pope which touched 

more or less directly on questions of dogma were based for 

the most part on the Tridentine decrees. Thus, in conformity 

with what had been done at the Council, he forbade too 

heated discussions of the Immaculate Conception of the Mother 

of God.^ With regard to the question of the chalice for the 

laity, which the Council had referred to the decision of the 

Apostolic See, he showed himself openly opposed to the 

attitude adopted by his predecessor, and when the Bishop 

of Passau addressed a question to him on the matter, he told 

him in the clearest terms that he was, under no circumstances, 

to allow the chalice in his diocese.^ Some of his decrees on 

1 Cj. the letters of the Jesuit, Joan. Maldonatus of June 28, 

1567, and October 5, 1568, to Cardinal Hosius, in Cyprianus, 

442 seq., 469 seqq. ; J. M. Prat, Maldonat et 1' universite de 

Paris au XVIe siecle, Paris, 1856, 202 seq. ; Maldonati Disputationum 

et controversiarum, torn. I., Lyons, 1614, 62 seqq. 

* P. Fagnanus in / Decretalium, I., Cologne 1704, 133. 

Benedict XIV, De synodo dioec. i. 7, c. 6, n. 9 (Opera, XL, 

Bassani, 1767, 128). Bellarmine, De sacram. in genere, I., i, 

c. 27 (Opera, III., Venice, 1721, 50). 

^ Sanctissimus auditis votis dixit, non esse rebaptizandos. 

Decree of the Inquisition of March 5, 1606 in Annul, eccles., II., 

140, MiRBT, Quellen", (191 1) 311 seq. 

* Decrees of August 7 and November 30, 1570, Bull. Rom., 

VII., 845 seq., 872 seq. *Avviso of September 23, 1570, Urb. 

1041, p. 347b, Vatican Library. 

^ Brief of May 26, 1568, in Goubau, 83 seq. It states, in reply 

to the bishop's observations : 

" in eadem sententia mansimus, in 

qua etiam tum, cum a praedecessore nostro ea licentia efflagitata 

atque expressa fuit, fueramus." Cf. Wiedemann, Reformation, 

I., 315 seqq. Already on February 2, 1566, Polanco had \\Tittcn


matters dealing with the rate of exchange^ and the payment 

of interest, 2 have no relation to the decrees of the Council, 

and still less was this the case with his renewal of the con- 

stitution of Paul IV., directed against those who denied the 

doctrine of the Most Holy Trinity and the principal truths of 

Christology.^ 

The Council itself had recognized the right of the Holy See 

to interpret, or where there was any doubt to define more 

clearly, the decrees of the assembly, and Pius exercised this 

right with regard to certain matrimonial impediments 

which had been formulated at Trent, the meaning and scope 

of which he now determined more exactly in special 

decrees.^ 

Several other questions which had been mooted at Trent, 

but which for various reasons had not been settled, were 

subsequently approved and sanctioned by the Apostolic See. 

Several Spanish bishops, for example, had proposed to the 

Council the prohibition of bull-fights,^ but in the time of 

Pius IV. it had been considered very doubtful in Rome 

to Hosius : " Non est, quod de coniugio sacerdotum, de calice 

vel aliis huiusmodi multum timeamus " (in Cyprianus, 405 ; cf. 

Braunsberger, Pius V., 41). Phillip II., however, in a letter to 

Cardinal Ricci of June 11, 1568 thought it opportune to take 

steps even with Pius V. to prevent the concession of the marriage 

of priests in Germany : *" Dovendo D. Pietro di Avila trattare 

con S. S*'^ da mia parte sopra vari affari e pregarla in primo logo 

di non accordare il matrimonio ai sacerdoti di Germania secondo 

r istanza fattane per esser un affare della piu grande importanza, 

gU ho commandato ancora di participarvi tutto. Ricci Archives, 

Rome. 

1 Bull of January 28, 1571, Bull. Rom., VII., 884 seq. 

^Decrees of January 19, 1569, and June 10, 1570, ibid. 736, 

738 ; cf. Laderchi, 1570, n. 164. 

3 Bull of October i, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII.. 722 seq. 

* The impediments of spiritual relationship and affinity (sess. 24, 

de matr. c. 2 and 4) in a brief of August 20 1566, and that of public 

honesty Ubid. c. 3) in a brief of July i, 1568. Bull. Rom., VII., 

476. 678. 

' Susta, II., 117, n. 53 seq.

BULL-FIGHTS IN SPAIN. 20/ 

whether such a decree would meet with any success.^ Pius V. 

showed greater courage. After, as had already been done 

by Thomas of Villanova,^ the Council of Toledo in 1566^ had 

expressed itself against this popular sport, which was so dear 

to the Spaniards, Pius V., through his nuncio in Madrid, 

begged the king to abolish a custom which the Pope had 

already done away with in the Papal States.** Philip II. 

resisted this proposal on the score of the great irritation and 

discontent which it would cause in Spain. ^ On the other hand 

Pius V. was of opinion that if the Council had forbidden duels, 

it was all the more necessary to combat the abuse of bullfights,^ 

and, acting on the advice of Francis Borgia, on Novem- 

ber ist, 1567, he issued a bull which strictly prohibited these 

spectacles " which were more suited to devils than to men."' 

Although the Papal nuncio was at pains to see that the Papal 

prohibition was made known far and wide by the Lenten 

preachers, the Spanish bishops had not the courage formally 

to publish the bull.^ The king begged that the old custom 

might be allowed to continue, at least under certain condi- 

tions ;^ it was maintained that as the bull-fighters were 

^ " Placerent [this and another proposal] nisi essent difficilis 

observationis." so it was said in Rome. Ibid. 

-Opera, Venice, 1740, 627. Cf. Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, 

LXV., 246. 

' Cone. Tolet. of 1566, n. 26, in Hardouin, X., 1169. 

' Bonelli to Castagna, January 31, 1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 31. 

* " grandissimo disturbio et discontento di tutti li popoli." 

Castagna to Bonelli, June 17, 1566, ibid., 137. 

^ Bone^li to Castagna, July 11, 1567, ibid., 155. 

' Bull. Rom., VII., 630. That this bull was obtained through 

the influence of Francis Borgia, see Borgia to Polanco, November 

19, 1567 (S. Franciscus Borgia, IV., 551). Borgia had been led 

to take this step by Juan Quiros de Sosa (his letter to Borgia of 

August 17, 1567, ibid., 51 y seqq.) and Pietro Camaiani, Bishop of 

Ascoli (Borgia to the latter, November 22, 1567, ibid., 552 ; cf. 

155). For the attitude of the Jesuits towards bull-fights, cf. 

JS'adal, Epist., IV., 390 seq. 

* Castagna to Bonelli, May 14, 1568, Corresp. dipl., II., 366. 

."Castagna to Bonelli, June J 6, 1568, ibid., 323.


mounted on horses there was no dangerJ In the end all that 

Pius V. obtained was that the bull-fights were forbidden for a 

time, on the pretext of the mourning in which the nation was 

plunged on account of the imprisonment of Don Carlos ;^ 

otherwise the bull had no effect in Spain, and Gregory XIII. 

found himself obliged to remove the penalty of excommunica- 

tion inflicted by his predecessor. ^ 

A warning of the Council may perhaps have lent strength 

to the intention of Pius V. to prohibit the use of figured music 

in divine worship, and to allow nothing but the Gregorian 

chant.* A brief directed against a kind of Church music 

which provoked sensuality rather than piety was issued by 

him a few years later, on the authority of what had been said 

at the Council, to the Bishop of Lucca, in whose city the 

musical performances during Holy Week occasioned all 

manner of scandals among the young people of both sexes, 

who flocked to them in great numbers.^ A prohibition of 

burials in the churches was also the outcome of a proposal 

1 Ibid. 366. 

^ Ibid. 323. 

Îheinek, Annales, II., 122, 590. 

^*Av\iso of July 5, 1567, Urb. 104c, p. 413, Vatican library. 

Perhaps the legend of the threat to figured music in Rome, and how 

it was saved by Palestrina, sprang from this statement and a 

confusion of Pius V. with his predecessor. It was in this same 

year 1567 that Palestrina thought of leaving Rome and entering 

the service of the Emperor : *" II cantore Giov. di Palestrina si 

contenta di venir a servire la M*^^ V* per quattrocento scudi 

d' oro r anno ; 

io ho fatto quanto ho potuto per ridurlo ancora a 

meno, ma non ho potuto ottener piii. Adesso aspetter6 che la 

yiik yra j^j command! quello ho a fare circa quest' huomo, il quale 

mi vien lodato da niolti " (Arco, November 8, 1567, State Archives, 

Vienna). *" Con Giov. di Palestrina non passer6 piii innanzi." 

(Arco, January 3, 1568, ibid.). 

^ Brief of April 4, 1571, in Laderchi, 1571, n. 165. In this, 

as the Council had done, Pius V. censured the " lascivia " of these 

performances. Two other briefs, of April 2, 1570, on ecclesiastical 

music in Mexico, ibid. 1570, n. 417.

THE POPE S ZEAL FOR THE COUNCIL. 2O9 

which had been put forward at Trent/ and for the future 

only the bodies of the saints were to find a resting place in the 

churches. 2 

If Pius V. was careful to observe the instructions of the 

Council in such secondary matters, much more did he prove 

himself its champion and defender the moment the more 

essential matters on which the assembly had built up its 

scheme of reform were called in question. 

In 1566 the Bishop of Cordova wrote to Pius V.^ that after 

the Council of Trent one hope alone remained to the adversaries 

of a radical reform of the Church, namely that more 

attention would be paid to its practical apphcation than to 

its wishes, and that Rome would be quick to dispense its 

stricter ordinances. But even this last hope met with bitter 

disappointment under a Pope of whom it had been foretold 

that he would be quite inexorable in all that concerned the 

Council,* and who, at the beginning of the second year of 

his reign could write that he thought his zeal for the carrying 

out of the Council was known to all the world, and that 

the office of the man who was entrusted with the care of the 

whole Church called for as much zeal as responsibility, since 

the decrees of a Council were useless unless they were carried 

into effect by the Pope and the bishops.^ 

Pius V. had certainly taken care that nobody should be 

left in the dark as to his own zeal for the Council. He con- 

tinued with all his energies that ordinance of his predecessor 

1 Thoiner, Annales, IJ., 590. Cf. supra p. 86, n. 3, and Vol. 

XVL of this work, p. 441 n. 

"Bull of April I, 1566, §5, Bull. Rom., VIL, 436. *Bandi, V., 

7, p. 2-3, Papal Secret Archives. Pecci, Storia di Siena, IL, 70. 

'In Theiner, Bildungsanstalten, 112. 

* *" In le cose di concilio, religione a iustitia sara inesorabile " 

(Serristori, February 15, 1566, State Archives, Florence). On 

January 12, 1566 *Camiani wrote to the Duke of Modena (State 

Archive?, Modena) that the Pope intended that the Council should 

be carried out in every respect. 

23- 

* To the Archbishop of Cambrai, January 26, 1567, in Goubau, 

VOL. XVII. 14


which enacted that the bishops-elect and the university 

professors in particular must swear to the Tridentine pro- 

fession of faith. 1 He perseveringly did all in his power to 

have the decrees of Trent accepted and recognized every- 

where. ^ He sent the decrees of the Council together with the 

announcement of his accession to the throne to the ends of 

the earth, as for example to the archbishops and bishops of 

Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras and Venezuela, as well as to 

Goa.3 He at once caused an exhortation to observe them 

to be sent to Spain,* as well as to Hungary and Poland,^ 

at the same time repeatedly expressing his conviction that 

1 *To the rector of the university of Macerata, January 5, 1569 ; 

the ordinance of Pius IV. was not observed there, and the Pope 

sends copies of the profession of faith (Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t. 13, 

p. 287b, Papal Secret Archives). Similar *briefs to Bologna and 

Perugia of the same date {ihid. p. 228b, 289b) ; to the Archbishop 

of Cologne, Frederick von Wied, of June 13, 1566, in Laderchi, 

1566, n. 269 ; to the university of Cologne in 1571, in Hansen, 

Rheinische Akten, 596 sea. ; cf. 589, n. i, 638, n. i ; to the Bishop 

of Eichstatt for the university of Ingolstadt on January 29, 1568, 

in Mederer, IV., 319 seqq., 322. Cf. Braunsberger, Pius V., 

12-19; Sacchini, p. III., I. 4 n., 130. Also an Arabic version 

of the Tridentine profession of faith was printed in Arabic char- 

acters Romae iussu SS. D. N. Pii V. in colleg. soc. lesu anno 1566 ; 

see Zenker, Bibliotheca orientalis, I.,. T91. 

^ Cf. supra, p. 192 seqq. 

^ Cf. in Laderchi, 1566, n. 500 the letter to the Archbishop of 

S. Domingo of February 3, 1566 ; ibid. n. 501 the Hst (incomplete) 

of the American bishops to whom similar letters were sent. The 

two letters to the Archbishops of Goa and Mexico, of October 7, 

1567, in GouBAU, 41 seq., 45 seq. 

* GouBAU, 2 seqq. Colleccion de docum. ined., IX., 395. 

5 To the Archbishop of Gran, February 11, 1566, in Goubau, 6 ; 

to the Archbishop of Gnesen and the Bishop of Cracow, January 17, 

1569, ibid. 125 seq., 129 seq. ; to the diocesan synod of Freising, 

February 28, 1567, ibid. 31 ; to the Archbishop of Prague, 

July 23, 1568, ibid. 93 ; to the Bishop of Ajaccio, May 4, 

1569, ibid. 177 ; to the legate of Avignon, June 25, 1569, ibid, 

185.

ESTABLISHMENT OF SEMINARIES. 211 

the observance of the Tridentine decrees was the one and 

only cure for the wounds of the Church. ^ 

If he exacted obedience from the bishops for all the pre- 

cepts of the Council, there was one in particular which he 

insisted upon in their regard, which was fully in accordance 

with the wishes of the assembly, namely the establishment 

of seminaries for the education of the future clergy. ^ He 

frequently wrote that among all the ordinances of the Council 

none was so useful or so much in keeping with the needs of 

the times as the decree about seminaries.^ It is true that in 

more than one diocese there was a long delay before the 

establishment of a seminary was brought about ; Pius V. 

therefore found himself obliged to send pressing exhortations 

to many of the bishops,* and to others, especially the ordinaries 

^ " Ad has igitur, quibus afflicta laborat ecclesia, tot tantasque 

plagas utcunque sanandas et ad iram Dei aliquo mode avertendam 

atque placandam unicum nobis remedium superest, diligens vide- 

licet ss. oecumenici concilii Tridentini decretorum custodia." 

(Christophoro episcopo Palentino, on February i, 1566, in Goub.\u 

3). 

" NuUum enim occurrit nobis, mentem nostram hue et illuc 

versantibus, aliud remedium ad ecclesiam ipsam in commodiorem 

et tranquilliorem statum redigendam, quam ut s. generale con- 

cilium Tridentinum . . . utique servetur " (to the Archbishop 

of Gran, February 11, 1566, ibid. 6). 

^ " Districte praecipimus ut ipsum concilium . . . observes ac 

praeter cetera illud de seminario in unaquaque ecclesia instituendo 

saluberrimum laudatissimumque decretum primo quoque tempore 

exequaris," (to the Bishop of Wiirzburg, January 23, 1566, in 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 223). 

" Obtestamur, ut officii vestri memores, 

cum alia, quae ... in ipso concilio statuta fuerunt, debita 

obedientia observare curetis, tum illud de clericorum seminario in 

unaquaque ecclesia instituendo," (to the Archbishop of Gran, 

February 11, 1566, in Goubau 7). 

* " Quo nihil utilius, nihil his temporibus ecclesiis opportunius 

neque accommodatius statui potuit " (Goubau 7). 

" Res ipsa 

declarat, nihil a concilio Tridentino providentius et utilius statutum 

fuisse," (to the Archbishop of Prague, July 23, 1568, ibid. 95). 

* Cf. the briefs to Prague and Gran already cited. *Exhortation 

on October 26, 1570, to the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order


and chapters of Portugal,^ stem rebukes. On the whole, 

however, the Council met with willing obedience. As the 

Pope himself recognized, in many places similar institutions 

had already been set up, while new ones were coming into 

existence every day.^ The Congregation of the Council had 

to answer many questions,^ especially from Italy, as to the 

to found a seminary, as he had many parishes under his care, in 

Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 15, p. 238, Papal Secret Archives. *Praise 

for the Bishop of Breslau for having erected a seminary ; 

t. 13, p: 187. 

ibid. 

^ Briefs to the Bishops of Guarda, Evora, Portalegre and Viseu 

of July 26 and 27, 1569, in Laderchi, 1569, n. 318, 321 ; to their 

respective chapters, ibid. n. 322-325 ; 

two of these letters are also 

in GouBAU, 193 seq., 200 seq. ; letters to the Bishops of Portalegre, 

Porto and Leiria, of July 27, August 9, and September i, 1569, 

Corpo dipl. Portug., X., 331, 335, 339. 

* " Et in aliis locis quam plurimis huiusmodi seminaria in- 

stituta fuerunt quotidie instituuntur," (to the Archbishop of 

Prague in Goubau, 95.) 

^ e.g. in 1566 : 

at Gravina (Pogiani Epist., I., 382), at Reggio 

{ibid. 394), at Turin (403) ; in 1567 : 

at Casale (404), Imola 

(405, 445), Nocera (411, 441), Marsico (414), Como (417, 428, 435), 

Naples (419, 450 seq.), Majorca (433), Benevento (430), Braga 

(439), Milan (439), Trani (440), Nicastro (441), Brescia (448, 462). 

Venice (453) ; in 1568 (up to September 25) : at Milan (454, 490), 

Cremona (445), Ravenna, " cardinali Urbinatensi " (460), Padua 

(461), Catanzaro (463, 465), Perugia (460), Nicastro (466), Naples 

(463, 480 seq., 488), Portugal, " cardinali Infanti " (467^ seqq., 

470, 489, 491 seq.), Braga (471), Coimbra (471), Rimini (472 477), 

Salerno (475), Gerace (476), Savona (484), S. Angelo de' Lombard! 

(495). The list in Theiner, Bildungsansalten 118 seq., is incomplete, 

and Bergamo, Messina (and Polizio) are wanting. Ex- 

hortation to Antonio, Bishop of Como, to found a seminary, 

April 24, 1567, in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. Ibid. * bulls of 

August 6 and December 8, 1567, for the seminaries of Eichstatt 

and Naples * Praise to the Bishop of Saint-Omer for the erection 

of a seminary, ibid. According to Siebengartner (p. 87) the 

earliest seminaries were set up at Rieti and Eichstatt in 1564, at 

Milan in 1565, at Benevento, Verona and Larino in Sicily in 1564, 

at Brixen ( ? certainly Brescia) in 1568 ; in the meantime France

ESTABLISHMENT OF SEMINARIES. 213 

duty of coDtributing to the seminaries. At first Germany 

rather lagged behind in the establishment of these institutes ;^ 

lagged behind ; in Spain the earliest seminaries are those of 

Mondonedo and Tarragona (1570). In the Low Countries the 

proposal of the council of Malines in 1570 to set up a seminary 

met with opposition because the three existing " convitti " were 

in accordance with the prescriptions of the Council. A. Degert 

(Histoire des seminaires franfais jusqu'k la revolution, Paris, 1912) 

mentions as the earliest seminaries those of Rieti 1564, Rome 1565, 

Milan 1566, Imola and Ravenna 1567, Rimini and Bologna 1568. 

In Italy the seminary of Orvieto dates from 1566 (Pardi, Guida 

di Orvieto, 100), Bonomi erected that of Spoleto in 1567 (Colombo, 

Vita di Bonomi, Turin, 1879, 15), Cardinal Giulio della Rovere 

that of Ravenna in 1567 (*Manuscript in the Seminary Archives 

there), and Cardinal G. Paleotto that of Bologna (Guidicini, 

Miscellanea Bologn., 52 ; Masini, III., 219 ; Omaggio del semin- 

ario di Bologna all'arciv. Giac. della Chiesa, Bologna, 1908), 

Bishop Valerio that of Verona {cf. *Costituzioni fatte per il Ag. 

Valiero et il capitolo sopra la schola degli accohti 1571, Capitular 

Library, Verona). In 1571 a seminary was also established at 

Padua ; see (L. Todesco and Seb. Serena) II seminaric di 

Padova, Padua, 191 1. Franc. Lanzoni (La fondazione del 

seminario di Faenza e S. Carlo Borromeo, Faenza, 1896, 41) 

places the date of the foundation of all the seminaries in the 

Romagna as follows : Imola, January i, 1567, Ravenna, May 23, 

1567 (or 1568), Rimini, May 18, 1568, Bologna, June 27, 1568, 

Faenza, July 15, 1576, Ferrara, 1584, Sarsina 1646, Folri, May 29, 

1650, Bertinoro (apparently) 1708, Cervia 1827 (there is no 

definite information as to a small earlier seminary), Cesena 1570, 

Comacchio 1779 (these last two dates from information courteously 

suppHed by Lanzoni). A brief of Pius V. of August 23, 1566, 

placed Swiss youths in the seminaries of Milan, Cremona, Pavia, 

Parma and Modena ; see Wirz, Materialen zur Schweizergesch., 

n. 405, p. 386 seq. For the foundation of the seminaries cf. 

Michaelis Thomasii, Disputationes ecclesiasticae, Rome, 1565, 

151 seqq.; De variis collegiis ad utilitatem publicam constituendis ; 

p. 192 seqq.; De seminario puellorum Deo dicandorum. 

' 

" For the most part the German bishops sent their clerics to 

the rapidly developing Jesuit schools, which were generally 

united to estabhshments for poor students. Such were soon set 

up at Graz, Olmiitz, Vienna, Innsbruck, Linz, Komotau, Dillingen

214 


the Bishops of Augsburg, Eichstadt, and a few more were 

willing to set them up, but they were rather hampered than 

helped by their cathedral chapters.^ 

A pontificial brief to the Bishop of Breslau added to praise 

for the foundation of a seminary, congratulations on the synod 

held there for the purpose of promulgating the Tridentine 

decrees. 2 A seminary and a synod were also the things 

which above all recommended to the Archbishop of Prague, 

in a letter which was sent to him by the Pope.^ What real 

importance the Pope attached to the holding of synods 

everywhere, in accordance with the decrees of Trent, is shown 

by a letter to the Archbishop of Salerno, who sought to excuse 

himself in Rome for having twice postponed his promised 

provincial synod. The Pope rebuked him for his delay, 

saying that the excuses which he had put forward were worth- 

less, that the archbishop must pay no attention to the dis- 

content of some of the bishops and lay judges, but go forward 

quietly with the work and that he, the Pope, now that the 

deliberations of the Council had at last, after such great 

labours and difficulties, and so many delays, been brought 

to a happy issue, was fully resolved to carry them into effect.'* 

Ingolstadt, Munich, Treves, Mayence. The bishops also sought 

to secure free places in the Papal seminaries. The synods of 

Augsburg 1566, Constance, 1567, Salzburg, 1569 . . . and others, 

had, however, decided upon the establishment of seminaries. 

Similar decisions were actually carried out, though on a very 

modest scale, at Eichstatt in 1564, at Wiirzburg in 1570, and at 

Breslau in 1571." (Siebengartner, loc. cit.). The Bishop of 

Wiirzburg on August 7, 1566, expressed to the Congregation of 

the Council his readiness to found a seminary. C/. the reply of 

the Congregation of March 25, 1567, in Pogiani Epist, I., 412. 

iTo Francis Borgia, April 5, 1568, Canisii Epist., VI., 181. 

2 *Brief of May 14, 1568, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 13, p. 186, Papal 


» Brief of June 23, 1568, loc. cit. p. 216, printed in Goubau 93, 

with the date July 23. 

* Brief of May 2^, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 182, where is also 

the letter of the archbishop. The provincial synod was held at 

Salerno in 1566, diocesan synods in 1565 and 1567. Laderchi 1566, 

n. 183. C/. ihid. 341 the exhortations to the Archbishop of Gnesen.

PROVINCIAL SYNODS. 215 

It would appear, however, that for the most part no special 

exhortations from the Pope were necessary in this matter, 

and that during his pontificate many provincial and diocesan 

synods were held without any dilftculties being made.^ The 

1 Calenzio (Documcnti, 577 seqq.) gives the following list of 

synods from 1564 (provincial synods in italics) : 

1564 : 

1565 

1566 

1567 

1568 : Ravenna, 

1569 : 

Rheims, Haarlem, Milan, Orvieto, Parma, Perugia, 

Sebenico. 

: Braga, Cambrai, Conipostella, Evora, Granada, Mexico, 

Milan, Prague, Saragossa, Toledo, Valencia, Utrecht, 

Modena, Naples, Ermland. 

: Lucca, Pavia, Tarragona, Toledo, Valencia, Vicenza, 

Cambrai. 

: Benevento, Manfredorda, Otranto, Augsburg, Cambrai, 

Capua, 

Constance, Naples, Narni and Terni. 

Luni, Sarzana, Milan, Olmiitz, Utrecht, 

Orvieto. 

Milan. Salzburg, Urbino, Faenza. 

1570 : Malines. Arras, Leeuwarden, Namur, Osnabriick, 

1571 : 

1572 : Granada, 

Benevento, 

Piacenza, Ravenna, Roermond, Salamanca, Treves. 

Besancon, Bruges, Bois-le-duc, Foligno, 

Ghent, Haarlem, Lucca, Osnabriick, Siguenza. 

Malaga, Milan, Seville, Vercelli. 

The list only includes councils of which Calenzio knew of the 

printed acta, either separately or in collections ; 

it is nevertheless 

incomplete. Thus synods were held at Tarragona in 1564, 1565, 

1566, 1567, 1569 (Gams, Series episc). According to information 

kindly supplied by Canon Lanzoni ten diocesan synods were held 

at Faenza between 1569 and 1580, of which those of February, 

1565, October 1569, and July 1571, come during the pontificate 

of Pius V. The Capitular Library, Verona, possesses the *acta 

of the Paduan synod of August 17, 1566, and the *decrees of the 

synod of Mantua of 1567 (Cod. DCCXC, lo. lac. Dionisii Col- 

lactanea, p. 262 seq., 267 seq.). In the archiepiscopal archives at 

Ravenna are *notices of the diocesan synods held there in 1564, 

1567 and 1571. A synod of Lucca in 1570 in Sinodi Lucchesi 

(Memorie e documenti per . . . Lucca, VII.), Lucca, 1834, 167 ; 

one of Bologna, 1567, in Le Bret, IX., 560, at Terni in 1567 in 

PoGiANi Epist., II., xxxi. Gams {loc. cit.) records the Portuguese 

synods of Braga 1566, Guarda 1565 and 1570, the two provincial

2l6 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

most important was the provincial s5mod held at Milan in 

1569 by Cardinal Borromeo, which, like that held in 1565, 

in the reign of Pius IV,, was confirmed by a brief from the 

Pope.i 

Another matter upon which Pius V. was insistent with the 

bishops was one which had so far been urged both by the 

Council and by recent Popes without much effect, namely 

the obligation, both of residing in person amid their flocks, 

and of exacting the same residence from priests in charge of 

souls. A great step was taken towards this important reform 

when Pius V,, by a series of ordinances, made the Eternal 

City, the favourite place of refuge, extremely uncomfortable 

councils of Lisbon in 1566 and Goa in 1567, the synod of Lima in 

1567, that of Syracuse in 1567, Lyons in 1568, and Avignon in 

1569. Laderchi records synods in Belgium : 1566, n. 440, 469 ; 

1570, n. 284 seq. ; those in Portugal and Spain ; 1566, 488 seqq., 

those of Goa ; 1567, n. 249 ; 1570, n. 429 ; the synod at Urbino : 

1569, n. 346 ; those of Salzburg, Lucca, Naples : 

1571, n. 66, 165, 

478. The synod of Ravenna, ibid. 1568, n. 47 (the acta printed 

in app. to t. XXXVI. of Mansi, Paris, 1882, 289). the confirmation 

of the council of Milan, 1566, n. 51, of that of Valencia, 1567, n. 

268. For the synod of Salerno, see supra, p. 214, n. i, for 

that of Manfredonia 1567 c/. Torne, Pt. Gallio 42 seq. For the 

synod of Constance 1567 cf. Lijtolf, in Kathol. Schweizerbldttern, 

X. (1894), 453 seqq. ; Sambeth in Freiburger Diozesanarchiv, 

XXL (1890), 50 seqq. *" Dis veneris 28 mail [1568] in sero rever- 

sus fuit ad Urbem rev. cardinalis Moronus, qui visitavit ecclesiam 

suam Mutinensem et fuerat in conciUo synodah sive provinciali 

facto per rev. dominum et protectorem meum cardinalem Urbinatensem 

in civitate Ravennatensi." (Frimanus, Diarium, p. 240b, 

Papal Secret Archives). An *Avviso di Roma of December 20, 

1567, Urb. 1040, p. 164b, announces that after Lent the Cardinals 

(Morone, Farnese, Sforza) would set out for their churches in 

order to hold provincial synods there, Vatican Library. 

^Briefs of June 6, 1566 and May 12, 1570, Bull. Rom., VII., 

458, 819. The latter brief corrects some decrees of the synod, 

as was also done by the brief of November 4, 1567, in the case of 

the synod of Valencia [ibid.) 631). Cf. the decrees on the synods 

of Rheims of October 27, 1566, and of Valencia of November 11, 

1567, in Pogiani Epist., I., 393, 442.


for the prelates and priests who were bound to residence.^ 

A further edict took av/ay from those who were still neglectful 

of their duty the last hiding places and refuges which the 

Council had been obliged to leave to them. In those cases 

where there was no recognized episcopal authority, the bishops 

were given power to act as the representatives of the Apostolic 

See, and there was to be no appeal from their sentence in the 

matter of residence, while all the existing Papal dispensations 

were revoked.- These general ordinances were followed 

by particular Papal directions addressed to individual bishops. 

Thus, immediately after he had ascended the throne, Pius V. 

charged the Bishop of Verona, in a special brief, to carry out, 

by force if necessary, the decree of the Council as to residence 

it having come to his ears that this matter was somewhat 

neglected in Verona.^ The Archbishop of Candia, who only 

found four of his nine suffragans in their dioceses, was ordered 

to confiscate their revenues and apply them to the restoration 

of churches.^ The Emperor himself, when he asked that one 

of his councillors might be excused from the duty of residence, 

had to be content with a refusal. ^ 


2 Bullof July 8, 1568, Bull. Rom., VIII., 68355^^. ; cf. *Bandi V. 

II, p. 94, Papal Secret Archives. Concerning a general monitorium 

threatening the loss of benefices to non-resident bishops and 

parish priests, see *Avviso di Roma of April 3, 1568, Urb. 1040, 

p. 496, Vatican Library. " All must go into residence ; those 

who wished to be excused must renounce the revenues they had 

already received." *Avviso of August 28, 1568, ibid. 565b. 

^ *Brief of March 14, 1566, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 12, n. 36, Papal 


* *Brief of August 3, 1569, ibid. t. 14, p. 165. In the Archives 

of the Sacred Congregation of the Council at the Vatican are 

preserved the acta of the visitations made by Lunel, Bishop of 

Gaeta, at Citta di Castello, Norcia and Narni (3 vols.) ; there 

are also four vols, for the visitation of Rimini and Cesena made by 

G. Fr. Sormanni, Bishop of Montefeltro, in 1572, and one volume 

for the visitation at Camerino made in the same year. 

* Brief of July 16, 1569, in Ladercui, 1369 n. 217. An ex- 

hortation of June 27, 1571, to the King of France to order the


This personal presente of the bishop in bis diocese was 

naturally desired both by the Council and by the head of the 

Church principally in order that the pastor might make him- 

self acquainted with the state of his flock by frequent visita- 

tions, and wherever good bishops were found they manifested 

their zeal in this way. ^ Above all others, that great champion 

of reform, Cardinal Borromeo, gave a splendid example 

in this respect, especially by his laborious visitation of the 

Swiss portion of his diocese. By means of the visitation of 

the Roman churches, which Pius V. began in person, ^ he 

aimed at inciting all the bishops to imitate him, while he also 

tried in every way to make their fulfilment of this duty of 

their office easy for them. In the case of parish churches 

no obstacles were to be put in the way of their examination 

and intervention into everything, even on the plea of Papal 

exemptions ; 

if their episcopal faculties were not wide enough, 

they were to make their inquiries as the representatives of 

the Apostolic See.^ 

In practice, however, the Pope found so few signs of the 

zeal he looked for in the discharge of this duty among the 

bishop " Ventiarum " (Vence) to go into residence and to provide 

for the lack of priests, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 16, p. 170b, Papal 

Secret Archives. *Brief of March 15, 1571, " Angelo [Giustiniani] 

Gebennensi " on account of his long absence from his church, 

which had given rise to scandal and harm, ibid. p. 35b. 

^ *Thus Cardinal Giuho Feltre della Rovere, Archbishop of 

Ravenna, visited his city in 1566 and again in 1571, and his 

diocese in 1567 (Archiepiscopal Archives, Ravenna). *Visitatio 

Veronensis diocesis sub. Aug. Valerio ep. Veronesni ab a. 1565 

ad a. 1573, in the episcopal archives, Verona, XIII. *Fragment 

of the acta of a visitation made by the " episcopus Feltriensis 

anno 1569," in Cod. Regin., 377, p. 105-108, Vatican Library. 

Abbot Bonhomini of Nonantola visited his district : Colombo, 

Vita di M.G.F. Bonomi, 15. 

^ Cf. supra p. 179 seq. 

^ Cf. the bull of September 22, 1571, Bull. Rom., VII., 943 ; 

Laderchi, 157T, n. 166, on -the visitation of the parishes belonging 

to the Gerosolimitani.

VISITATIONS. 219 

bishops of Italy, that he decided to send apostohc visitors 

to all the Italian dioceses to demand an account of the bishops 

and chapters as to how they fulfilled their duties.^ He began 

with the Kingdom of Naples, a Papal fief, which was to be 

visited by Tommaso Orfino, Bishop of Strongoli. Declaring 

that if the Archbishop of Naples had the right of visitation 

in all the dioceses under his jurisdiction without the royal 

exequatur, the Pope, as the head of the bishops, had the same 

right in a higher degree, Pius V. brushed aside the difficulties 

raised by the Viceroy of Naples in claiming that the royal 

exeauatiir was necessary for the apostohc visitor. ^ Orfino 

was therefore able to carry out the task imposed on him 

in the churches of Calabria, at Otranto and Bari and the 

neighbouring districts, and even in Naples itself.^ A similar 

duty to that which had been laid on Orfino for the south, 

was entrusted to the distinguished Dominican bishop, Lionardo 

Marini, in north and central Italy. In the autumn of 1566 

Pius V. appointed Marini Bishop of Alba in Monferrato, and 

empowered him to make on his way there a visitation of 24 

churches in northern Italy. ^ Marini did not altogether 

come up to the hopes of the zealous Pope, and two years 

later he rebuked him because he had not as yet visited all 

the places in his district. ^ We have proof that during 1571 

and 1572 apostolic visitors were sent to several of the cities 

1 Laderchi, 1566, n. 184. 

Ibid. 1567, n. 64. Cf. Bonelli to Cristoforo Rodriguez, S.J. 

(who was to accompany Orfino), December 30, 1566, S. Franc 

Borgia, IV., 691 ; Bonelli to Orfino, December, 1566, ibid. 692 ; 

Rodriguez to Pius V., January 7, 1567, ibid. 693 ; Salmeron to 

Rodriguez, August 18, 1566, Salmeron Epist., II., 95 seqq. For 

the name of Orfino, cf. supra p. 183, n. i. 

^Laderchi, 1567, n. 65. 

* Namely Sulniona, Marsi, Chieti, Penne and Atri, Ascoli, 

Ancona, Sinigaglia, Fano, Pesaro, Rimini, Cesena, Forli, Berti- 

noro, Faenza, Imola, Modena, Reggio, Mantua, Lodi, Vigevano, 

Casale, Asti, Acqui. Brief of October 24, 1566, in Ughelli, IV., 

422. 

5 Brief of August 19, 1568 in Laderchi, 1568, n. 43.


of Italy. ^ Commendone made a visitation of the monas- 

teries of South Germany in 1569 as Papal legate, 2 while 

Bartolomeo Porzia did the same in the diocese of Aquileia, 

with the consent of the Archduke, Charles of Austria. ^ The 

Pope intended to extend to Spain, ^ and even to the whole 

Church, 5 the visitation which he had ordered for Italy. 

The unfortunate experience which Pius V. had had of 

some of his episcopal brethren made him seek with all the 

more anxiety for means of excluding unworthy candidates 

from the episcopate, at least for the future. In a secret 

consistory on April i8th, 1567, he enacted that henceforth 

every Italian bishop must be examined in Rome by a commission. 

« On May 3rd three archbishops were charged with 

the duty of examining all those who were proposed in con- 

sistory for bishoprics and abbacies.' As far as he could, 

1 *Decreta a rev. D. visitatore apostolico facta de anno 1571 

pro ecclesia parochiali S. Michaelis de Arimino : Barb. L 152, 

Vatican library. *Appunti e decreti della sacra visita di Pietro 

de Lunel vescovo di Gaeta deputato del Papa come legato apos- 

tolico a visitare le diocesi di Spoleto : Cancellaria arcivescov. at 

Spoleto. Cf. Sordini in Bollet. per TUmbria XIII. (1908). 

2 Laderchi, 1568, n. Qo. M. Mayr in Stiidien u. Mitteil. aus 

dent Benediktiner-und Zizterzienserorden, XIV. (1893), 385 seqq. 

A. Starzer in Blatter des Ver'eins fur Landeskunde von Niederos- 

terreich, 1892, 156 seg. 

» Laderchi, 1569, n. 222. A *command to the Archbishop of 

Avignon, of July 17 1569, to begin the visitation of the legation 

as soon as possible, in Brevia, Arm. 44. 

31- 

Papal Secret Archives. 

* Requesens to Philip II., February i, 1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 

^ Letter from the Cardinal of Portugal to Francis Borgia, of 

October 25, 1569, S. Franc. Borgia, V., 222. 

" *B. Pia to the Duke of Mantua, April 19, 1567, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua. *Arco, on the same date. State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ *" Furono deputati tre arcivescovi sopra 1' esamine di quelU 

che da qui innanzi havranno da esser proposti in concistorio a 

vescovadi et abbadie, et sono I'arcivescovo Maffeo, I'arcivescovo 

S. Severina et I'arcivescovo Ferufi&na " (B. Pia to the Duke of

PIUS V. AND THE BISHOPS. 221 

Pius V. also took strong measures against unworthy prelates,^ 

though he knew well, at the same time, how to find words 

of comfort and encouragement whenever a good bishop was 

in danger of losing heart under the stress of the difficult 

conditions of the time and the weight of his responsibilities. 

He was never sparing of letters of exhortation and encouragement 

to the bishops of the whole world. ^ It was with manifest 

joy that he bestowed his praise on the Bishop of Verdun, 

the Premonstratensian, Nicholas Pseaume, for his loyalty 

to the Catholic religion and the Holy See, saying that Pseaume, 

almost alone among the bishops, had kept his flock free from 

the heresy which surrounded it on all sides, and that God 

Mantua, May 3, 1567, loc. cit.). For the part taken by Santori in 

the examination of bishops see his. Autobiografia, XII., 350, and 

*Audienze del card. Santorio from 1566 to 1579, Papal Secret 

Archives, Arm. LI I., 17, where there is a list of " persone di 

consideratione " suited to fill episcopal sees. 

1 The Bishop of Rimini ended his days in the Castle of St. 

Angelo in 1569 for immorality, and the Bishop of Bovino for 

simony (Rodocanachi, St. Ange, 175). *Zibramonti, February 2, 

1572 

Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. For the action taken by Pius V. 

: action taken against Archbishop Verallo for immorality. 

against the Archbishop of Besanôn, Claude de la Baume, see 

Febvre, Philippe II. et la Franche-Comte, Paris, 191 1, 580 seq., 

590 seq. De la Baume had to pledge himself to the publication 

of the Tridentine decrees, and to follow this by putting the Catholic 

reforms into force. Cf. ibid. 584 seq., the attempt to introduce 

the Roman Inquisition into Besan9on. 

-Letter of September 21, 1569, to Juan de Ribera, Archbishop 

of Valencia, who wished to resign '" ob praesentium temporuni 

calamitates episcoporumque ignaviam " in Laderchi, 1569, n 

316 ; GouBAU, 227 seq. In Laderchi, 1571, n. 146, intervention 

by Pius V. on behalf of the Bishop of Lausanne. 

* *Exhortation to the Spanish and French bishops in Brevia, 

Arm. 44, t. 12, n. 24. Ibid. t. 16, p. 66b : 

of April 23, 1571 : he 

" Episcopo Conensi." 

is praised because he has published the 

decrees of the Council, and had improved the morals of his clergy : 

he is exhorted to persevere, and not to overlook the Zwinglian 

part of his diocese. Papal Secret Archives,


had shown by this how much can be accomplished by a good 

pastor who, without any human help, and armed only with 

his own zeal, is ready to expose his life to all risks, to shoulder 

every burden, and who will not admit into his city even royal 

officials, if they are objects of suspicion. ^ When he bestowed 

the title of patriarch of Antioch on the distinguished Juan 

de Ribera, who had been Bishop of Badajoz since 1562, and 

Archbishop of Valencia since 1568, Pius V. used even stronger 

terms of eulogy, styling him the " light of all Spain " and a 

model of sanctity, before whose humility and strictness 

of life the Pope felt himself quite ashamed ; he recalls 

the way in which Ribera himself took the sacraments 

to the sick, and states that he led the life of a monk 

rather than of a bishop, and that his example had been 

a mighty influence for good upon many of the Spanish 

bishops. 2 

By his regulations concerning examination for orders and 

parochial office,^ and on the choice of parish priests,^ Pius V. 

had seen to it that the bishops should have good priests to 

assist them in the care of souls. In his capacity as Bishop of 

Rome he issued a series of ordinances on the sacerdotal 

manner of life for those holding office in the Eternal City,^ 

but he left it to the bishops to make their own provision for 

this elsewhere ; very few constitutions of the kind which 

^ *Brief of May 7, 1569, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 14, p. 107b, Papal 

Secret Archives. Cf. brief of July 5, 1569, in Laderchi, 1569, 

n. 193. Praise for Valeriano Protaszewicz, Bishop of Vilna, 

September 6, 1567, in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

2 In Nic. Antonio, BibUotheca Hisp. nova, Madrid, 1783, 767. 

Pius VI. beatified Ribera (died 161 1) on August 13, 1796 (Barberi, 

Bull. Rom. contin., X., Rome, 1845, 34) 

Escriva wrote his hfe, Valencia, 1612. He was the son of the 

Viceroy of Naples, Pedro Afan de Ribera. 

^ See supra, p. 184 seq. 

; the Jesuit Francesco 

* Editti of March 18 and August 19, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 

555, 605. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of May 17, 1567, Urb. 1040, 


5 Cf. supra, p. 183,

RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 223 

were applicable to the whole Church were issued in the reign 

of Pius V.i 

Pius V. interested himself greatly in the religious instruction 

of the people, and in their edification bj^ means of the worthy 

celebration of divine worship. A custom had already grown 

up by which, on Sundays and festivals, even pious laymen 

gathered together the children of the poor in the churches 

and instructed them in the fundamental truths of Christianity. 

Now, in accordance with a recommendation of the Council 

of Trent, 2 Pius V. exhorted the bishops to promote and 

encourage this pious custom, and to set up confraternities 

of Christian Doctrine, to the members of which he granted 

an indulgence.^ Such confraternities had been formed at 

Milan about 1560 by a simple hat-maker, Marco Sudi, and 

had spread rapidly, as far as Rome, where they received a 

great impetus from the protection extended to them by the 

Pope.^ Even for the island of Corsica, which was in such 

a low moral state, Pius V. urged with great insistence, as 

one of the principal remedies to be adopted, the instruction 

of the children and young people in the fundamental truths 

of religion, Christian doctrine, and a catechism in the ver- 

nacular.^ He addressed a similar exhortation to Avignon, 

1 On August 30, 1567, Pius V. confirmed the ordinance of 

Pius IV. of November 9, 1560, that all that a cleric might have 

gained by illicit trading should pass to the Apostolic Camera 

{Anal, iuris Pont., VIII., 1430, seq.). He declared null {ibid. 1799) 

the wills made by clerics in favour of their natural children. Cf. 

* B. Pia to the Duke of Mantua ; *Avvisi di Roma of January 31, 

1568, and March 3, 1571, Urb. 1040, p. 481b ; 1042, p. 25b, 

Vatican Library. According to the *Avviso of November 2, 

1566 {ibid. 1040, p. 313) on that date a bull was issued on the 

reform of priests in accordance with the Tridentine decrees. 

- Sess. 24, de ref. c. 4. 

'Bull of October 6, 1571, Bull. Rom., VII., 945 seq. 

» Laderchi, 1571, n. 170 seq. 

'•" " Omnibus viribus ac dihgentia eniti debes, ut instituendorum 

in tua dioecesi puerorum . . . quam maxiraam curam suscipia§." 

To the Bishop of Ajaccio, May 4, 1569, in Goubau, 178.

224 


where heresy was threatening to take a stronger and stronger 

hold.i 

Pius V. watched with special care over all that pertained 

to the proper celebration of divine worship. An abuse had 

crept in in Rome by which the churches and their porticoes 

were disfigured by all kinds of buildings, by the setting aside 

for dwelHng purposes of the more remote parts of the churches 

themselves, and by the opening of windows from the adjoining 

houses which looked into the interiors of the churches. An 

edict of the Cardinal Vicar, Savelli, on November 28th, 1566, 

ordered the removal of all such constructions within fourteen 

days ; at the same time a stop was put to all burials under 

the pavements of the churches. ^ The Romans at that time 

were far from strict in their behaviour in church and during 

the services,^ and Pius V. found himself obliged to order by 

a bull, that which is generally taken for granted among good 

Christians, namely, that they should go to church modestly 

and reverently, speak in a low voice, pay attention to the 

services, and always bend the knee before the Blessed Sacra- 

ment. If we may judge from another prohibition contained 

in the bull, disturbances and quarrels, and even acts of violence 

were by no means uncommon in the churches ; very often 

ladies of ill fame held their court there with their admirers, 

amid much chattering and laughter, while beggars pestered 

the worshippers during the functions and sermons ; the 

courts, too, made use of the precincts of the churches for 

their business.^ For example, the disputations with which 

the judges who were entering upon their term of office, were 

accustomed to prove their worth were usually held in the 

church of Sant'Eustachio.^ Festival days were profaned 

in all sorts of ways b}' servile work, markets, etc.® Hitherto, 

^ May 18, 1569, ibid. 179. 

2 Laderchi, 1566, n. 68. 

* C/. Tacchi Venturi, I., 177 seqq. 

* Bull of April I. 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 435 seq. 

^ *Strozzi, December 21, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 66. 

« Bull. Rom., VII., 436. *Avviso di Roma of November 2, 

1566 Urb. 1040 p. 315 Vatican Library.

SUPERSTITIOUS PRACTICES. 225 

from the vigil of All Saints onwards, the church of S. Maria 

ad Martyres, the ancient Pantheon, had remained open all 

night for the purpose of gaining an indulgence, giving rise 

to grave scandals.^ Both the ecclesiastical and the civil 

authorities had already on previous occasions issued ordin- 

ances against the profanation of the House of God,^ but no 

one set himself against it with so much resoluteness or with 

such grave threats as Pius V.,^ who found a powerful ally 

in the reformed Orders, whose churches were for the most 

part only frequented by those people to whom piety was a 

matter of deep reality.'* In his fight against superstition 

the new Pope was again helped by Ormaneto who, for example, 

caused to be cut off from the Chair of St. Peter the cords which 

some women, probably from superstitious motives, had tied 

to it. 5 It is clear that almost all these ordinances were 

suggested by the decrees of the Council of Trent on the worthy 

celebration of mass.^ 

In the diocese of Calahorra, a remarkable exhibition of the 

proverbial Spanish class feeling had led to disturbances and 

damage even in the churches. There were two parties, the 

hidalgos, who were exempt from taxes, and the pecheros, 

who were not thus exempt. The hidalgos claimed precedence 

over the others and the first places, even in the churches, 

at mass, at the reception of the sacraments, and in processions. 

This gave rise to endless strife and quarrels, and in the little 

city of Oslo, during the procession of Corpus Domini, the mayor 

^ Laderchi 1566. n. 65. *Avviso di Roma loc. cit. 

- Tacchi Venturi I., 184. 

•'' In 

the bull already cited. 

* Tacchi Venturi, I., 186. 

^ *Avviso di Roma of Januarj^ 24, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 479, 


•' 

Sess. 22, " de observandis et evitandis in celebratione Missae." 

This decree is supported by the ordinance that Mass is to be 

celebrated at a suitable time, and by a motuproprio forbidding its 

celebration during the evening hours of the day preceding the 

midnight mass of Christmas, and of the early morning mass of 

Easter. Published March 2Q, 1366, Bull. Rom., VTI., 433. 

VOL. XVII. 15


and others were killed, and several persons severely injured. 

The provincial synod of Saragossa in 1565 attempted to 

suppress the evil, but in vain. The intervention ol the civil 

authority, which divided the churches into two, lengthways, 

assigning the right half to the hidalgos and the left to the 

pechcros, only made matters worse, and embittered the state 

of feeling. Pius V. then intervened with aU his energy 

against these exhibitions of an " Indian spirit of caste " ; he 

revoked the decision of the civil authorities as inadequate, 

and declared that anyone who claimed a special place in 

church would incur excommunication.^ 

The Pope also addressed a severe rebuke to the priests of 

many dioceses in Spain, who were wanting in respect for the 

Blessed Sacrament especially during the celebration of the 

divine mysteries. ^ On the other hand, Pius V. did aU he 

could to keep alive among both priests and people reverence 

for the Most Holy Sacrament. When it was carried through 

the streets of Rome to the sick, the Pope ordered that even 

the Cardinals who met It must get off their horses, or from 

their carriages and accompany It, as the King of Spain and 

other princes were accustomed to do.^ The Franciscans 

1 Brief of February 14, 1571, in Laderchi, 1571, n. 168. 

* To the Archbishop of Tarragona, January 8, 1571, ibid. n. 167. 

Briefs to the same effect sent to eight other Spanish bishops, 

ibid. n. 168. 

^ *" In consistoro lunedi S. S^'^ ordino doppo un longo esordio 

che sempre che sera portato per Roma il s° sacramento per 

communione tutti queUi che lo incontrano anco cardenah o aJtri 

signori personaggi smontino di cocchio o cavalli dove si trovino 

et vadino ad accompagnare il s°^° sacramento, lasciando da canto 

ogni negotio, et allego in questo proposito quello che il re cattolico 

et altri principi religiosissimamente hanno usato di fare." (B. Pia 

to Luzzara, July 10, 1568, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). Cf. 

consistorial acta of Cardinal Famese, in Laderchi, 1568, n. 19, 

Ormaneto thought of issuing an ordinance that during the pro- 

cession of Corpus Domini made by the Pope, women should not 

stand at their windows, but should take part in the procession. 

*Avviso di Roma of June 12, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 534, Vatican 

ILibrary.

PIOUS CONFRATERNITUS. 227 

obtained the privilege of venerating the Blessed Sacrament 

during the recitation of the breviary.^ A sacrilege committed 

against the Blessed Sacrament by a Protestant who 

had broken into a Catholic parish church at Tarvis in Carinthia, 

led to a special brief from the Pope to the Archduke 

Charles, asking for the condign punishment of the offender. ^ 

On the other hand, he refused his approval to the custom 

existing in some districts of refusing to give the Blessed 

Sacrament, through a mistaken sense of reverence, to those, 

condemned to death. ^ In accordance with the decrees of 

Trent,'* Pius V. sought to jH-omote the frequentation of the 

sacraments, especially among the clergy. Clerics in minor 

orders were to go to confession and communion at least once 

a month, and those in major orders twice a month ; priests 

were to say mass at least once a week, even those who had 

no care of souls. ^ 

Pious bodies for the encouragement of prayer and works of 

charity, especially those which originated from the Dominican 

Order, found a strong protector in Pius V. ; such were the 

Confraternity of the Rosary," that of the Name of God for the 

healing of feuds,'^ that of the Beheading of St. John the Bap- 

tist, which took charge of those condemned to death, ^ the 

' Brief of January 8, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 647 seq. 

Brief ol January 21, 1568, in Goubau, 66. 

^ To Castagna, January 25, 1568, ibid. 68 seq. L.\derchi, 

1568, n. 200. For the immediate occasion of the brief, cf. 

Sacchini, p. III., I., I, n. 22. The brief, it is true, caused much 

displeasure to the King of Spain and his counsellors " per essere 

cosa molto nova in questi regni " (Castagna to Bonelli, March 8, 

1568, Corresp. dipl., II., 321). Later on Phihp II. ordered that in 

every prison there should be a chapel where those who were 

condemned to death could receive communion. Sacchini, loc. cit 

* Sess. 23, de ref., c. 11, 13, 14. 

*To the chapter of Valence, October 14, 1569, in Goubau, 

234 seq.; cf. Polanco, October 21, 1566, Anal. Bolland., VII., 66. 

* Brief of September 17, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 774. 

' Briefs of September 20, 1569, and June 21, 1571, ibid., •jjj, 921. 

"Brief, without date, ibid., 768.


Confraternity cf the Most Holy Trinity, founded in 1549 

by Philip Neri, which housed poor pilgrims for three days, 

and gave assistance to those who were dismissed from the 

hospitals, until they were recovered,' and that of the Annun- 

ciation of Mary established at the Minerva to give dowries 

to poor girls. ^ The Pope personally took part in this last 

named good work, which saved so many girls in danger of 

dishonour. On April 5th, 1567, he went to the churcli of his 

Order and gave dowries to 80 poor girls ;^ the Imperial am- 

bassador wrote that the Pope intended to spend as much as 

10,000 scudi for this purpose.* Pius V. also showed his 

high esteem for virginity and the honour of wom.en by the 

care which he took of the convent of S. Caterina della Rosa 

for the education of the daughters of the poorer classes who 

vv'cre exposed to risk,^ as well as by the severity with which 

he proceeded against offenders in this respect.^ He strove 

with special zeal against blasphemy, which at that time had 

become almiost habitual.' and sent to the bishops a bull 

v.'hich, amiong other things, visited this offence with heavy 

penalties, begging them to call in the help of the secular 

arm in carrying it out.^ When Benevento made difficulties 

about accepting the bull, the Pope called upon the assistance 

of the Neapolitan troops, under the command of Hannibal 

von Hohenems, against the city.'' As he had done in the 

' Brief of March 21, 1571, ibid., 901. Laderchi, 1571, n. 172. 

2 Without date. Bull. Rom., VII., 962. 

^ *Arco, April 5 and 12, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *Arco, March 8, 1567, ihid. 

^ Brief of February 10, 156S, Bull. Rom., VII., 655. 

" Strict action against a concubinist taken " in flagranti " : 

*Avviso di Roma of October 19, 1566,. Urb. 1040, p. 307, Vatican 

Library. A very strict bull against concubinists : *Avviso di 

Roma of May 14, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 76, ibid. 

' " Blasphemiae scelus (quod nunc) supra moduni invaluit." 

Bull of April I, 1566, BuU. Rom., VII., 437. Cf. *Bandi, V., 7, 

p. 2 seq.. Papal Secret Archives. 

* Brief of April 16, 1566, to the Duke of Ferrara, in sending him 

ths bull of April i, 1566, to be carried out with the help of the 

secular arm. Laderchi, 1566, n. 84. 

^ *ArGO, August 3, 1566, State Archives, Vienna.

PIUS V. AND SIMONY. 229 

case of blasphemy, so did the Pope take action against slander 

among the Romans. Defamatory pamphlets against princes, 

prelates, officials, and anyone else were prohibited under grave 

penalties, as being a source of hatred and feuds, which sometimes 

even led to murder. The first beginnings of the Roman 

newspapers also fell under this ban, namely, those " Avvisi " 

which were spread abroad in manuscript, at least when the 

good name of anybody was attacked, or any matter which 

was being dealt with by the Pope in private was divulged.^ 

By the advice of Ormaneto Pius V. contemplated throwing 

the statues of Pasquino and Marforio into the Tiber. ^ 

Just as he sought to strengthen religious feeling everywhere, 

and thus renew the life of the Church from within, so did this 

zealous reformer who was now seated on the chair of Peter 

set himself to remove all those things which hitherto had 

done harm to the Church, and had given her enemies cause 

for accusations and calumnies. He therefore inaugurated 

a ruthless war against every kind of simony. From the first 

Pius had displayed an almost morbid fear of soiling his hands 

with money, and could hardly bring himself to discuss finan- 

cial questions. When Grassi, a cleric in the Apostolic Camera, 

wished to lay before him a scheme for adding to the fâpal 

revenues without burdening the people, the Pope replied 

that he had no wish to amass wealth, and that Grassi v/ould 

do better to devise some means of bringing back to the Church 

the nations that had broken away from her.^ Pie condoned 

in the case of the Archbishop of Trtves the payment of annates, 

with the exception of a fifth part, and it would seem 

that he would have liked to condone them altogether in the 

case of the Archbishop of Cologne, and contrary to all custom 

the bulls were issued before the money was paid.* When 

the Archbishop of Naples received the pallium the question 

was urgently raised as to whether it was lawful in such cases 

1 Brief of March 17, 1572, Bull. Rom., VII., 969. 

^ *Cusano, July 17, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ *Cusano, July 6, 1566, ibid. 

* Br.\unsbergek, Pius V., 12.


to demand the fees which had hitherto been paid for the 

support of the officials of the Curia. Paul IV. had wished 

that it should be done gratuitously, and accordingly Pius V. 

had the question examined anew by Cardinals Morone, Corgna 

and Dolera. When these Cardinals reported that some fee 

should be demanded, Pius V. was not satisfied with their 

opinion, and in the consistory he spoke in severe terms of 

such payments as an abuse which has long been tolerated, 

but which he forbade for the future ; 

henceforth the consis- 

torial advocates were not to receive more than four scudi 

from an archbishop who asked for the pallium.^ In Poland, 

where the clergy had a bad name for being covetous of money, 

the inter-nuncio Vincenzo Portico was ordered to grant 

Papal dispensations entirely gratuitously ; he must recieve 

no payment whatever for the drawing up of the documents. ^ 

The Pope had granted an indulgence in favour of Philip 11. 

to all those who assisted the king with money in his warlike 

undertakings against the Moors and Turks, but he firmly 

rejected the proposal to keep part of the funds raised in this 

way for the needs of the Holy See, and this he did so as to 

avoid any appearance of having made the concession in his 

own interests.^ Pius V. entirety abolished the faculty of 

sending out preachers of indulgences which had belonged to 

certain churches and hospitals, a thing which had given, 

and stiU gave, occasion for many justifiable complaints.^ 

^ *Arco, February and April 6, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

Consistorial acta of February 15 and April 26, 1566, in Gulik- 

EuBEL, II., 47 n. Laderchi, 1566, n. 44. 

^ Laderchi, 1569, n. 24, from Gabutius. 

^Laderchi, 1566, n. 72. 

* Bull of February 8, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 535. 

*" N.S. ha 

rivocato tutte le indulgenze si puo dir del mondo che 

la Spagna con essa revocatione havra gran negotio." (B. Pia 

to the Duke of Mantua, sending him the bull, February 22, 

1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). Laderchi, 1567, n. 25. 

Bull of January 2, 1569 against unauthorized letters of confession 

and indulgences of Spanish bishops, in Bull. Rom., VII., 735. 

The prescriptions of the Council concerning preachers of indul- 

gences, see in sess. 21, c. 9 ; sess. 25, de indulg.

" CONFIDENTIAL SIMONY." 

23I 

In accordance with the warning of the Council, the Pope was 

very cautious in granting new indulgences. ^ 

The zealous reformer fought with special vigour against 

the so-caUed "confidential simony," by which a benefice 

was taken in charge {confidentia) , 

generally by a bishop or a 

Cardinal, on behalf of somebody else, either because the latter 

had not yet reached the canonical age, and was perhaps still 

a child, who could only obtain the actual possession {accessîs) 

of the benefice much later, or else because he intended at a 

later date to resume the benefice {regressus) which he had 

to all appearance resigned. These " confidenze " made it 

possible for certain bishoprics and benefices to become practi- 

cally hereditary in famihes, passing from one relative to 

another, and as often as not were in quite unworthy hands. 

The Council of Trent and Paul IV. had prohibited this abuse ;2 

Pius V. expressly declared that before everything else, and 

more than anything else, he had from the first had at heart 

a determination to root it out.^ Nobody but the Pope was 

in a position to act with the necessary authority against this 

plague, because the principle delinquents, the so-called 

" custodini " were for the most part Cardinals and bishops, 

against whom it was not easy to take judicial proceedings.^ 

For this reason Pius V., as a first step, reserved to himself 

the decision of all disputes which had arisen on the subject of 

" confidenze."^ There then followed a careful investigation 

1 *" Non concede piu indulgentie plenarie di colpa et di pena, 

ma solo concede indulgentie per 7 anni, per un giorno solo." 

Avviso di Roma of Mcarch i. 1567. Urb. 1040, p. 364b. Vatican 

Library'. 

- Sess. 25, de ref., c. 7. For Paul IV. see Vol. XIV. of this work. 

p. 197 seq. 

^Motuproprio published on January 5, 1567. §5. Bull. Rom. 

510. Laderchi (1568, n. II) wrongly assigns the edict to 1568. 

As early as May, 1566 the Pope declared that on account of the 

bull of Paul IV. forbidding further " regressi," those granted by 

Pius IV. could not be allowed. *Arco, May 18, 1566, State 


» Motuproprio of January 5, 1567, §4- 

"Ibid. §5.

232 


^ 

of every case in which confidential simony was proved ; 

next came an express declaration that even the Cardinals 

were included in the prohibition which had already been 

issued,^ and lastly the revocation of all the " confidenze " 

which had so far been allowed, and a prohibition of any 

being allowed in the future.^ After this the Council's prohibition 

of the reservation of any part of the revenues when 

a benefice was granted, was renewed.* Outside Rome, it would 

seem that confidential simony was especially prevalent in the 

Low Countries, for which reason a severe rebuke was addressed 

to the bishops there by the Apostolic See as early as 1568.^ 

The prohibition of " confidenze," and even more, the 

restrictions in the matter of renunciations, cut off a rich source 

of revenue from the Apostolic Camera, and struck a severe 

blow at the Papal finances. But though the Pope was often 

urged to relieve his pecuniary straits by once more allowing 

the regressi,^ it was impossible to induce him to do so. On 

1 On June i, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 754. Here are adduced 

some of the reasons why certain persons were unwilling to take 

immediate possession of their benefices : some do so because they 

do not wish to be forced to take orders, or to go into residence, 

or to wear ecclesiastical dress, others because they are thinking 

of taking part in war, or having recourse to lawsuits, and others 

again because they have not yet obtained absolution from crimes, 

etc. {ibid., 755). 

^November 14, 1569, ibid., 758. 

^ September 12, 1571, ibid., 939. He issued the bull " volentes 

omnem haereditariam beneficiorum ecclesiasticorum successionern 

de ecclesia Dei toUere " and to facilitate the free conferring of 

benefices on worth)^ persons. Cf. *Avviso di Roma of September 

8, I57r, Urb. 1042, p. 115, Vatican Library. 

* June I, 1570, Bull. Rom., VII., 827 ; cf. Cone. Trid., sess. 24, 

de ref. c 14. 

* To the Archbishops of Malines, Cambrai, and Utrecht, to the 

Bishops of Bois-le-duc, Ypres, JMiddelburg, Haarlem, Tournai, 

Arras, Saint-Omer and Namur, July 5, 1568, in Goubau, 91 seq. 

* Letter of November 16, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 59. 

*Avissi di Roma of April 19, 1570, and July 25, 1571, Urb. 1041, 

p. 267b ; 1042, p. 95, Vatican Library.

CONFIDENTIAL SIMONY. 233 

one occasion it was said to him that his strictness in the 

granting of benefices was ruining the Curia, but he replied 

that it was better that the Curia should be ruined than that 

the service of God and the very existence of Christianity 

should suffer the same fate. 

\êry often the " confidenze " were nothing but a device 

to alienate ecclesiastical property from its original purpose ; 

the benefice was placed in custody with the condition that the 

fruits should be given over to a layman.^ There were many 

such devices. In these latter days, so runs a complaint in one 

of the bulls of Pius V., "in these latter days, the making 

over of ecclesiastical property to the laity has come to such a 

pass that little by little the better part is being devoured by 

strangers ; what was intended for the maintenance and 

training of the ministers of the Church, for the establishment 

of seminaries, the assistance of the poor and the sick, the 

building of churches, the restoration of buildings that are 

falling down, the education of good and learned men—all 

that is being appropriated by hordes of la5'-men."2 Naturally 

it was out of the question to eliminate at a single blow so 

widespread and deeply rooted an evil, but Pius V. issued a 

series of special regulations which at least limited it and 

prevented its further growth.^ 

A constitution of Pius V, concerning the sale of places and 

territories in the Papal States is specially important.* In 

this we read : Previous Popes had forbidden the alienation 

of ecclesiastical goods by declaring it invalid, but people who 

1 Bull. Rom., VII., 755. 

' Bull of September 9, 1568, ibid. 709. 

' Revocation of certain privileges of officials of the Curia, etc. 

ibid. ; protection of the rights of the Apostolic Camera over the 

inheritance of ecclesiastics ; edict of January 5, 1568, ibid. 646. 

In controversies concerning prebends the fruits must be deposited 

with some trustworthy person named by the judge ; brief of 

March 30, 15G8, ibid. 663. During the vacancy of bishoprics all 

the benefices are reserved to the Pope : brief of March 9, 1568, 

ibid. 659. 

• Bull of March 29, 1567, ibid. 560 seq.

234 


were ambitious and greedy of power had under all manner of 

pretexts suggested to the Popes that it was more advantageous 

to the Church that certain cities, territories and fortresses 

in the Papal States should be held either permanently or 

temporarily in fief. Several Popes had consented to this, 

but since the inviolable loyalty towards the Holy See of the 

cities and territories of the Papal States was of great import- 

ance in these days, he intended to put an end to such ahena- 

tions ; this was his definite intention for the period of his 

reign, and he wished at any rate to prove to his successors 

that he could not consider it right to look upon such things as 

lawful, and he hoped that they would remember that the 

Popes must render an account of their administration before 

the tribunal of Jesus Christ. He wished also, as far as possible, 

to remove even the occasion of such alienations, and he accord- 

ingly declared that all the territories of the Papal States, 

including those which had hitherto been held in fief, were 

now, in virtue of this his present declaration, incorporated in 

the Apostolic See and restored to it, and he ordered that in 

future no one must even propose to make a fief of any city 

or territory in the Papal States under pain of excommunication 

and treason. Gregory XHI., Sixtus V., Innocent IX. and 

Clement VIII. confirmed and amplified these prescriptions. 

It was in virtue of this constitution that the Duchy of Ferrara 

was restored to the ApostoUc See under Clement VIII., and 

that of Urbino under Urban VIII. 

As had been the case with Church property, so several of 

the preceding Popes had proved themselves too easy-going 

with other ecclesiastical rights. Specially harmful had been 

the concession to the civil princes of the right of presentation 

to several bishoprics and important benefices. In the election 

capitulation drawn up after the death of Paul IV., the decision 

that the future Pope should only grant such rights with the 

consent of two-thirds of the Cardinals had been expressly 

accepted and sworn to by all the Cardinals, but Pius IV. had 

thought himself at liberty to dispense himself from the oath 

in a number of cases. Pius V. thought very differently. At 

^ Laderchi, 1567, n. 12.

THE RIGHT OF PRESENTATION. 235 

the very beginning of his pontificate he pubUcly called atten- 

tion to this principle of the election capitulation,^ and a short 

time afterwards took away from the Duke of Mantua the right 

of presentation to the bishopric of that city which had been 

granted to him by Pius IV., ^ and later on he extended the 

same thing to all the rights of presentation which had been 

granted by his predecessors, except such as had really received 

the required consent of the Cardinals.^ It was in vain that 

the princes protested. The Mantuan agent in Rome wrote 

to the Duke that the Pope was so determined in his opposition 

to such rights of patronage that he did not even dare to speak 

to him on the subject ; there was no hope whatever of making 

him change his mind, where the liberties of the Church were 

concerned.^ The Pope courteously but firmly rejected all 

the complaints of the princes.^ 

1 BuU. Rom., VII., 427. 

-Acta consist, card. Gambarae, July 19 and December 23, 

1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 197 seqq. 

* *" Aspetti V. S. R^'^di veder presto bolle di riforme di molte 

cose, le quali N. S. vuol dar fuori. Ha fra I'altre rivocato tutti 11 

iuspatronati, etiam ducum at regum, che sono ex privilegio, onde 

il re di Portogallo havra qui che fare." (B. Pia to the Bishop of 

Mantua, September 17, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). *The 

Pope has abolished all rights of patronage except those " ex 

fundatione et dotatione " (Arco, December 13, 1567, State Archives 

Vienna). *Abolition of the Portuguese right of patronage by a 

brief of February 7, 1567, Corp. dipl. Portug., X., 237. *Arco, 

August 23, 1567, State Archives, Vienna ; cf. *Arco, March 23 and 

29, 1567, ibid. See also Acta consist, card. Fames, February 7, 

1567, in Laderchi, 1567, n. 14. 

^ *" II card^® mi rephco ch' egli credeva che tutto questo fosse 

vero et che averebbe anco fatto opera di fame capace N. S., ma 

che sapesse certo che S. S*^ stava tanto mal disposta contra questi 

iuspatronati che restava offeso solo a sentirne parlare, et che diffi- 

cilissima cosa, per non dire impossibile, pareva a lui che fosse il 

sperare di poter vincere il Papa in queste materia ne le quali si 

tratta de la hberta de la chiesa." Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua, 

June 12, 1566, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

^ Two letters to the Cardinal of Lorraine and his mother

236 


It was doubly fortunate for the Church that she should 

have found at her head so wise and vigorous a leader in the 

wa}' towards a complete renewal of her life, and that that 

leader should have presented himself just at the right moment. 

In the time of Adrian VI. even such an eagle as Pius V. would 

certainly have found his wings clipped, but now the way lay 

open before him, and this was especially ovving to the labours 

and sacrifices of those great men who, by their foundation of 

the great reforming Orders had found a way of multiplying 

themselves, and producing innumerable more or less faithful 

copies of themselves. Besides this, the great reforming Pope 

found among his own contemporaries many men of a like 

stamp with himself. Philip Neri with his band of disciples 

was working close at hand for the moral regeneration of the 

Eternal City.^ In north Italy it was under Pius V. that the 

great Archbishop of Milan began by means of his provincial 

councils to become the disciplinary law-giver for the whole 

Church. Germany had its Peter Canisius and France at least 

its Cardinal of Lorraine and its Possevino. These men 

formed the mountain tops, which, visible to the eyes of all 

the world, shed their light far and wide, but the historian, if he 

looks a little deeper, can see that they were neither isolated 

nor alone, but only the highest peaks of a whole mountain 

range, yet showing at the same time that side by side with 

these heights of sacrifice and energy there were still to be 

found the lowest depths of decadence and immorality. 

According to the sa3dng of Borromeo,^ in the XVIth century 

it was the clergy of Spain who especially proved themselves 

the " nerve centre of Christianity. "^ Among them must be 

Christina, of October 16, 1567, in Laderchi, 1567, n. 15 seq. ; 

two others to King Sebastian and Cardinal Henry of Portugal, 

of October 27, 1567, ibid., n. 17 seq. 

1 Further particulars in Vol. XIX. cf this wcrk. 

^ " II clero . . . di Spagna che e 11 nerve di tutta la Christ- 

ianity." Borromeo, August 18, 1565, in Steinherz, IV., 436. 

2 The following Spaniards of the XVIth century were deemed 

worthy of canonization : John of God (died 1550), Francis Xavier 

(died 1552), Thomas of Villanova (died 1555), Ignatius of Loyola

JUAN DE AVILA. 237 

numbered that simple priest who, before the time of Pius V., 

had for forty years travelled about in voluntary poverty, 

preaching from one city to another, and by his eloquence 

working miracles of moral regeneration ; this was Juan de 

Avila. His original intention had been to go as a missionary 

to America, but at Seville, whence he was preparing to set 

sail, the archbishop persuaded him to devote himself to his 

archdiocese. Avila's eloquence sprang from his very soul. 

His only preparation for his sermons consisted in spending 

the preceding night in meditation and prayer ; 

him that he studied on his knees ; 

it was said of 

when he was asked how to 

become a good preacher, his answer was that it was only 

necessary really to love God. His own discourses, to quote 

an eye-witness, kindled a fire in the hearts of his hearers ; 

not only did the common people flock to him, but noble lords 

and ladies gave up lives of sin, or dedicated themselves to 

lives of high perfection. In many ways his ideas coincided 

with those of Ignatius Loyola, whom he greatly venerated. 

Avila, too, realized that the true foundation for a lasting 

renewal of the Church was to be sought specially in the 

instruction of the young, and the training of good priests. 

The Apostle of Andalusia died at Montilla at the age of 

seventy, on May loth, 1569.^ 

That thing which was so often manifested in the work of 

Avila, namely that a small impulse is sufficient to call into being 

a deep religious life, even in a community that is to all appear- 

ances quite depraved, was also proved by another great 

popular missionary, Alessandro Sauli, the Apostle of Corsica, 

in a much more neglected field of missionary labour. ^ Born 

(died 1556), Peter of Alcantara (died 1562), Francis Borgia (died 

1572), Louis Bertrand (died 1581), Teresa of Jesus (died 1582), 

John of the Cross (died 1591), Paschal Baylon (died 1592). 

^ Beatified by Leo XIII. in 1894. Louis of Granada wrote his 

life (Opere, VI., Madrid, 1787, 611 scqq.). Other special hterature 

in Kirchenlexikon of Freiburg, P, 1766. 

-Life by Gabutius in Acta SancL, October, V., 806-831. Cf. 

S. Alessandro Sauli, Note e documenti, Milan, 1905. His corres- 

pondence with Bascape was edited by Premoli in Riv. di science 

storiche, igoy and 1908.

238 


of a noble family at Milan, the fifteen year old Sauli knocked 

one day, dressed in cloth of silver, at the doors of the Barnabite 

convent in that city, and asked to be received into the Order. 

In order to test his firmness of purpose, he was ordered to go 

in broad daylight, with a cross upon his shoulders, to the 

market place and there preach a sermon on penance. Sauli 

did as he was told, and found men ready to listen to him, which 

is certainly a striking proof that, in spite of all their licentious- 

ness, a true Christian spirit was still to be found in the great 

cities of Italy. Ordained priest, this young man, who was so 

full of talent, was first given a cure of souls at Pavia, where 

he also taught philosophy and theology ; in 1567 he was 

elected General of his Order, and in 1570 was made Bishop of 

Aleria in Corsica by Pius V.^ 

Sauli found appalling conditions existing in the island. 

After the insurrection of Sampieri (died 1567) the country 

had become a desert, the people greatly reduced in numbers, 

and in a state of absolute barbarism. Pestilence and famine, 

too, were rife, agriculture was at a standstill, and men sub- 

sisted on acorns and herbs. Filippini, the historian of Corsica, 

gives the names of sixty places which were laid waste and 

entirely deserted ; within a period of thirty years 28,000 

murders had been committed.^ After his arrival in the island 

Sauli wrote to Borromeo that in his whole diocese he could 

not find two habitable rooms, and that he had not the materials 

to build even a Capuchin's cell. In his episcopal city only 

the walls of the cathedral and a fort were standing, everything 

else had been destroyed by fire and pillaged. For the time 

being, therefore, Sauli took up his residence at Corte, and 

courageously began his episcopal labours. The means by 

which he sought to repair the religious devastation were those 

recommended by the Council of Trent. The first thing he 

sought for was a supply of priests to instruct the people ; 

gathered them together in synods to instruct them in their 

1 By a bull dated " anno dell' incarnatione 1569, 4 id. 

febr., i.e. February 10, 1570, printed in S. Alessandro Sauli, no 

seqq. Cf. Premoli, Barnabiti (191 3), 231 seqq. 

^F. Gregorovius, Corsica, I., Stuttgart, 1854, 54-56. 

he

ALESSANDRO SAULI. 23Q 

duties, he established a seminary, urged catechetical instruc- 

tion, and with incredible privations and labour carried out 

an episcopal visitation. Time after time he fell ill, as the 

result of his toil in that pestilent climate, but he persevered 

none the less. In the most desolate part of his diocese, at 

Argagliola, his fellow workers deserted him, and left him alone 

at his post. Besides the duties of his episcopal office he under- 

took all the labours of a simple priest ; in the seminary he 

himself delivered the lectures, and on his journeys he himself 

taught the catechism, visited the sick and heard confessions. 

His influence over the people was so great that, in the quarrels 

which were always breaking out, he dared to throw himself 

between the combatants, in order to prevent the shedding 

of blood, and thus to obviate those consequences which, on 

account of the appalling prevalence of the vendetta, followed 

upon a marder. He continued his unwearied activities for 

more than twenty years, until Gregory XIV. in 1591 trans- 

lated him to the see of Pavia, where he died in the following 

year. Pius X. canonized him in 1904. 

Pius V. had his part in the reform of Corsica by addres.sing 

briefs of encouragement to Alessandro Sauli and the other 

four bishops of the island, in v/hich he strongly urged upon 

them above all things the religious instruction of the common 

people, the reform of the clergy, and the strict observance 

of the Tridentine decrees.^ He exhorted the Republic of 

Genoa to assist the Corsican bishops in their laborious task.^ 

Just as Sauli, Uke the Pope himself, had come from a 

rehgious Order, so was it to fall to such bodies in the future 

to take an immense part in the renewal of ecclesiastical life. 

Pius V. fully realized the importance of this, and from this 

conviction sprang his anxiety to give back their full vigour 

to these valuable instruments of reform. 

^ Briefs of May 4, 1569, onwards, in Laderchi, 1569, n. 81 seq. 

The Bishop of Sagona, Girolamo Leonio, received a special brief 

praising him for having worked with success for the establishment 

of peace. The other four briefs are in the same strain. For 

.Blessed Burali and Ribera see supra pp. 163, 222. 

•'Brief of May 4, 1569, in Laderchi, 1569, n. S3.

CHAPTER VI, 

The Reform of the Religious Orders. 

The Council of Trent also forms a landmark in the history 

of the religious Orders, which were able to raise themselves 

from the low state into which they had fallen, on the basis 

of its decrees. It is true that even in the first half of the 

XVIth century the monastic Orders still retained their import- 

ant place in the Church ;^ they still gave to her a number of 

good bishops, while they gave the Holy See its nuncios and 

Cardinals, and the universities their professors of theology ; 

at the Council of Trent they had been represented by dis- 

tinguished and influential doctors and bishops. The Domini- 

can Order in particular had distinguished itself in the years 

immediately preceding the Council by a band of men who 

were illustrious alike in ecclesiastical learning and adminis- 

tration, and in his many rescripts in favour of his own Order, 

Pius V. professed himself its grateful son and disciple, and one 

who owed everything to it.^ Another proof that not every- 

thing in the monasteries was corrupt and spoilt is to be found 

in the many attempts made to awaken the old ideals to a new 

life by the formation of reformed congregations ; the whole 

of the XVth and XVIth centuries are filled with such attempts 

and foundations.^ 

But it is plain that, although individual members of the 

^ Tacchi Venturi, I., 43 seq. 

^ " Unde, licet imparibus meritis, Nos etiam tamquam ex fonte 

profluximus." Constitution on St. Thomas Aquinas, §2, Bull. 

Rom., VII., 564 ; cf. 801, 904. 

3 Tacchi Venturi, I., 45. Pius Schmieder in Studien unci 

Mitteil. aus den Benediktiner-und Zisterzienserorden, XL (1890), 

580 seqq. ; XII. (1891), 54 seq. For the good convents in Germany 

see Braunsberger, Pius V., 70. 

240

REFORM OF THE CISTERCIANS. 24I 

Orders could, if they so wished, keep themselves free from the 

general decadence, these shining exceptions could not disguise 

the fact that the decadence existed, and it was these very men 

who so eminently represented their Orders who made the fact 

clear. ^ To this matter the Council had set its hand. In its 

decrees on the reform of the religious, both men and women, 

it struck a mortal blow at the principal existing abuses, and 

wherever these decrees took effect and vv-ere carried oat the 

Orders took on a new lease of life. In reality, during the 

century that followed the Council, all the ancient Orders were 

reformed, while some of them attained to a state of perfection 

such as had never been seen even in the best period of religious 

life. 

In the case of several of the Orders the difficulties in the 

way of a renewal were so great as to seem almost insuperable, 

even with the best will in the world. By order of Pius V. 

in 1569 the procurator-general of the Cistercian Order, Nicholas 

Boucherat, and his companion, Dionigi de Laceronis, made a 

visitation of all their convents in south and central Italy, 

as well as in Sicily. ^ In the 27 Cistercian houses on the 

mainland they only found 56 Cistercians, distributed over 

^Testimony of Musso, Seripando, etc., in Tacchi Venturi, I., 

46 seq. 

^Cf. A. PosTiNA in Zisterzienser-Chronik, XIII. (igoi), 193 

seqq. Postina (p. 196, n.) attributes the report of the visitation 

to 1561, but it bears the date 1569, though in another hand ; 

moreover, the * brief giving faculties for the visitation is dated 

January 28, 1569 (Nicolao Boucherat, proc. gen. ord. Cist, de 

Recluso Trecensis dioec, ac Dionysio de Laceronis de Morimondo 

Mediolanensis dioec. Monasterii dicti ordinis Cist, prioribus com- 

missariis : Archives 

of Briefs, Rome) ; 

lastly, in the bull of 

March 8, 1570, the visitation is spoken of as having taken place 

recently (recenti visitatione). Nor is any proof to the contrary 

furnished by the mention, made in the report, of Cardinal Taddeo 

Gaddi (died 1561), because it does not state that Gaddi was still 

alive. For the reform of the Cistercians at Florence, cf. Guil- 

LAUME, L'abbaye de Cava, Cava de' Tirreni, 1877, 324. A brief 

of September 7, 1566, on the reform of the Cistercians in Tuscany 

in Wadding, XX., 429. 

VOL. XVII, l5

242 


eleven centres, while the remaining abbeys and priories were 

either completely abandoned, or inhabited by monks of other 

Orders, and in some cases by a few secular priests in order to 

provide for the bare necessities of divine worship. The report 

of the visitation of the famous Abbey of Fossanova, says that 

the church indeed was very spacious, but was stripped of all 

adornment, that the ancient stalls of the choir had absolutely 

disappeared, that the roof of the church was full of holes, so 

that the rain came in everywhere, and the monks could not 

remain in choir near the altar. A fourth part of the house 

of the monks was in ruins, and here too the rain came in 

everywhere, so that what was left of the house was falling into 

ruin. The chapter-house was still intact, but the windows 

had no glass or protection of any kind, so that the cold and 

wind came in unchecked ; it was the same with the windows 

of the church, so that in the winter the monks could not sing 

office there, nor even say mass because of the danger of the 

wind blowing away the sacred host. The chapel and the 

room in which St. Thomas Aquinas had died were without 

a roof, and on the verge of falling down. In the dormitory 

the rain came in so badly that very often the monks had to 

leave their cells on account of the water that poured in, and 

move their beds to some other place. Things were no better 

in the other monasteries ; of some we are told that no one any 

longer dwelt within their tottering walls, and where we do 

hear of monks being in residence it is often added that they 

lacked the necessary means of support. Conditions were, 

comparatively speaking, best in the monastery of S. Maria del 

Sagittario, in the diocese of Anglona. There there were ten 

monks, says the report, but they had not the means to support 

and clothe themselves. The monastery was falling down 

and they had no refectory. The dormitory was still standing, 

however, and the church was intact and well equipped, but 

even this was due to the fact that the monks were for the most 

part carpenters by trade. 

The seven Cistercian houses in the island of Sicily were in 

rather a better state. Some of them were still either com- 

pletely or partially in a good state of repair, but taken

REFORM OF THE CISTERCIANS. 243 

altogether they only contained thirteen monks, and aU of 

them lacked the books and vestments necessary for divine 

worship. 

It is uncertain whether the monasteries in question had 

come to be held in commendam because they were ruined and 

deserted, or whether the commendatory abbots were respons- 

ible for the ruin, but so long as the revenues of the abbeys 

passed into ahen hands it was impossible in every case to bring 

about a revival of their religious life ; even zealous and 

energetic men, who were likely to give them a new impetus, 

could not but feel but httle inclination to enter half ruined 

monasteries. In these desperate circumstances Pius V. did 

all that he could. In a bull of reform for the Cistercians,^ 

he not only assured them of his own sympathy, declaring that 

one of the most pressing of all his many pressing anxieties 

was that so many religious houses had been stripped of their 

rights and left to fall into ruin, but he also forced the com- 

mendatory abbots to leave a sufficient number of religious 

in the monasteries, to provide them with all that was necessary, 

and to restore the ruined buildings. He further gave the 

monks themselves a number of regulations, the observance of 

which was calculated to produce a revival of religious life. 

In the circumstances of the times Pius V. did not dare to abohsh 

the system of commendams itself. This had become wide- 

spread, especially in France, where no less than 1040 monas- 

teries were held in commendam, ^ but a conference in con- 

sistory on this deplorable state of affairs only resulted in 

everything being left as before.^ 

Pius V. had been asked for help by the Cistercian abbots, 

but in many cases he took action without waiting to be asked, 

driven thereto by the burning zeal which he felt for the restora- 

tion of the religious Orders. There is nothing in the Church 

^ Of March 8, 1570, Bull. Rom., VII., 813 seqq. On October 23, 

1567, Pius v., had granted a brief of protection against the commendatory 

abbots ; ibid. 622. 

^Theiner, Acta, II., 679. 

^ " Decretum est, nunc quidem nihil innovare." Consistory of 

Pecember 11, 1570, in Gulik-Eubel, II., 47.

244 


of God, he wrote on one occasion, ^ which we consider more 

glorious and more useful than the flourishing of true discipline 

among those who, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, have 

dedicated themselves to the monastic life. In the case of 

those houses which through their own fault persisted in a state 

of decadence, he showed both his zeal and his ruthlessness, as 

was the case with the Abbey of Fonte Avellana in the diocese 

of Gubbio, once famous on account of St. Peter Damian. In 

the first instance the Pope sought, through the agency of the 

Archbishop of Ravenna, Cardinal GiuHo della Rovere, to 

bring back the monks, who had fallen into a very bad state, 

to a better manner of life,^ but when they rejected his reforms 

on the pretext that their vows only bound them to the more 

or less easy life then prevalent, Pius V. suppressed the abbey 

and gave it to the Camaldolese ; the former monks of Fonte 

Avellana were obhged either to join the latter or enter some 

other Order. ^ 

The suppression of the Order of the Humiliati caused a 

greater stir.^ This Order, which owed its origin to a body of 

men of noble birth who had been taken to Germany as hostages, 

and had there devoted themselves to a zealous religious life, 

had adopted as their form of manual labour the manufacture 

of cloth, and had in this way attained to a wealth which 

brought about their ruin. About the middle of the XVIth 

^ Bull of April 23, 1568 (for the Knights of the Cross), Bull. 

Rom., VII., 666. 

* *Brief to the Cardinal, March 26, 1568, Archives of Briefs, 

Rome. 

^BuU of December 10, 1569, in Laderchi, 1569, n. 52, and in 

Bull. Rom., VII., 788. Cf. Alb. Gibelli, Monografia deU'antico 

monastero di S. Croce in Fonte Avellana, Faenza, 1896 ; Mit- 

TARELLi, Ann. Camaldul., VIII., Venice, 1764, 130 seqq. 

* Sala, Documenti, I., 195 seqq., 215 seqq., 220 seq., -z^j seqq., 

248 seqq., 254 seqq.; III., 339, 383 seqq. Bascap^, i, 2, c. 4 and 10, 

p. 34 seqq., 44 seqq. Sylvain, II., 17 seqq. *De reformatione 

Humiliatorum in Cod. Ottob. 2519 (varia diversorum, t. XII. 

cardinalis Ludovisii) p. 146--156 ; 

ibid., p. 152-154, sopra le cose de 

Frati Humiliati a Ms, Ormaneto, Vatican Library,

BORROMEO AND THE HUMILIATI. 245 

century it comprised less than 200 members/ who, Hving in 

magnificent palaces, and surrounded by servants, squandered 

the great possessions of the Order in banquets and worldly 

pleasures. 2 It needed some courage to interfere for their 

reform, because the nobles of Lombardy looked upon the rich 

houses of the Humiliati as places of retirement for the members 

of their famihes, and because the Order had at its command 

the influence of powerful friends and relatives.'^ Cardinal 

Borromeo, however, who had been Protector of the Humiliati 

since 1560,* possessed this courage. He had already, in the 

time of Pius IV., made some attempts to reform them through 

the agency of Ormaneto, but in vain. After the death of 

his uncle he went into the matter with Ormaneto and with 

the Pope himself, and asked for a brief ordering all the 

superiors to resign their office, limiting their term of office to 

a short period, placing in other hands the administration of 

the property, and obhging all the members to a true monastic 

and common hfe.^ Armed with this brief, in June, 1567, 

Borromeo took the Humiliati by surprise at their chapter at 

^ According to Bascap^, i, 2, c. 13, p. 54, in the 94 provostships, 

of which many were vacant, there were 174 monks, with revenues 

of 25,000 ducats ; 

another 30,000 ducats of revenue were given 

in commendam. In Milan alone the Humiliati possessed eight 

churches. The bull of February S, 1571. mentions only 84 priests 

and 17 lay brothers (Bull. Rom., VII., 891). According to 

Tiraboschi (Vetera Humil. monumenta, I, Milan 1766, diis. VIII) 

the order in the middle of the XVIth century had 1G2 members, 

including the novices and lay brothers, 97 houses, of which 39 were 

commendams and 58 provostships, and 60,000 gold florins. Sala, 

Dissertazioni e note (for the biography of Borromeo), 413, n. 3. 

2 Thus the bull of reform of May i, 1567, in Laderchi, 1567, 

n. 74. 

* Bascape, 3, 2, c. 4, p. 35. 

* Sala, Docuni, 1., 41^. 

* Brief of May i, 1567, in Laderchi, 1567, n. 74. Sala, 

Docum. I., 195 seqq. Cf. Bascap±, loc. cit. A *brief " Duci et 

dominio Venetiarum " of June 20,, 1567, invites him to assist the 

Cardinal in the reform of the Humihati. State Archives, Venice, 

Bolle.

246 

Cremona ; 


they had had no suspicion of what was impending 

when he declared the recently held election of a new General 

invalid, and in virtue of his plenary powers from the Pope^ 

conferred that office on a more worthy man, who, under the 

influence of the Barnabites, had adopted a stricter manner of 

Hfe.2 . 

Borromeo had been quite prepared to have to secure the 

acceptance of the brief by force, but the Humiliati did not 

venture on armed resistance until it came to a question of 

imposing new superiors.^ They maintained that the brief 

had been obtained by means of misrepresentations, and was 

therefore invalid ; they appealed to the Pope, and at the 

same time sought to secure the protection of the secular 

princes. These steps having proved unavailing,^ and as 

Borromeo continued his efforts to impose the reform,^ the 

exasperation of many of the members of the Order grew 

beyond all bounds. On the evening of October 26th, 1569, 

the Cardinal was taking part in some devotions in the little 

chapel of his palace when a shot was fired at him from a distance 

of some four or five paces. The ball struck him on the spine, 

but only penetrated his dress, and was afterwards found on 

the ground ; some small shot pierced his dress and reached 

the wall without doing any damage. In the midst of the 

general confusion Borromeo remained quite unmoved, and 

ordered that the function should be quietly proceeded with, a 

thing which facilitated the escape of the assassin.^ 

^ Of May 10, 1567, in Sala, Docum., I., 201. 

" For the latter see Bascape, t, 2, c. 4, p. 36. 

* Cf. the five letters of Borromeo of June 26, 1567, in Sala, 

Docum., III., 383 seq. 

* Brief of June 28, 1567, ibid. 1., 205. 

* *Brief to Borromeo of September 10, 1568, with faculties for 

the reform (it includes the notice : " S.D.N, mandavit fieri reformationem 

etiam per viros alterius ordinis a cardinali deputan- 

dos). Archives of Briefs, Rome. Cj. the *brief of May 22, 1567, 

to the General of the Humiliati, ibid.; Bascape, i, 2, c. xo, p. 44 ; 

bull of July 23, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 695. 

* Letter from Borromeo to Pius V., October 29, 1569, m San 

Carlo Borromeo, 366 (in Giussano, 176 the letter has been altered

SUPPRESSION OF THE HUMILIATE 24" 

Soon afterwards the responsibility for this crime began to 

be attributed to the HumiUati. Before long Borromeo 

learned further particulars when a provost of the Humiliati, 

named Bartolomeo, struck with remorse, secretly informed 

the Cardinal that he had actually heard some of the HumiHati 

planning his assassination. If the matter had been dealt with 

in accordance with Borromeo's wishes, a judicial inquiry 

would have been held, but Pius V. was determined upon the 

punishment of the assassins. The bishop who was sent to try 

the case declared that all who did not inform him of what they 

knew about the matter were excommunicated. At this point 

Borromeo thought it a matter of conscience to urge Bartolomeo 

to comply with this demand. With the help of several con- 

fessions made before the Papal commissary, the full truth 

was at length discovered, namely that the affair had been 

carried out by one of the Humiliati, and had been planned by 

three dignitaries of the order, the provosts of Vercelli, Cara- 

vaggio and Verona.^ 

Pius v., who had previously had thoughts of abolishing the 

Order, now determined to expiate the crime by the suppression 

of the whole institute. At a consistory which he held on the 

subject on February 7th, 1570, none of the Cardinals spoke 

openly in favour of its continuance, and Pius V. declared that, 

with the exception of the General, he did not know of a single 

worthy man in the whole order. ^ A bull of February 7th, 

1571, suppressed the Order,^ and another of the following day 

in style). Contemporary report in Sala, Docum., III., 418. Cf- 

BASCAPfe, I, 2, c. 12, p. 50 ; E. Anfosso, Storia dell' archibugiata 

t'rata al card. Borromeo in Milano, 1569, INlilan, 1913. 

1 Bascape, loc. cit., p. 50 seq. A *brief of July 13, 1570, on the 

attempt in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

2 Saniori, Diaro, 320 seq. For the steps taken by the General 

an behalf of his Order *Avvisi di Roma of September 23 and 27, 

1570, Urb. 1041, p. 343, 348, Vatican Eibrary. There was also 

on idea of incorporating the Humiliati with the Barnabites and 

thus helping their reform. Cf. Sala, Docum., E, 263 :>eq.: S. 

Alessandro Sauli, 104 seqq. 

*Bull. Rom., VIE, 885. On March 6 the bull was puLlicly 

posted : 

see *Avviso di Roma of March 7, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 28, 

Vatican Eibrary.

248 


made over its possessions to various ecclesiastical purposes.^ 

The female branch of the Order, however, was allowed to 

continue. 2 

In the case of some of the Orders, in order to simplify their 

government, and thus conduce to their reform, Pius V. 

reunited the various branches to their parent stock. For 

example, with the original intention of reintroducing a stricter 

monastic life, a special congregation of Servites had been 

formed alongside the original Servite order, and in the same 

way the Amadei, and to some extent the Clareni,^ had sprung 

up within the Franciscan Order, but with the lapse of time 

decadence had crept into even these congregations, and Pius 

V. therefore, in these two cases, did away with their separation 

from the main Order,'* Borromeo in particular worked for 

the reform of these Franciscan congregations, though it was 

only after a long time, and after having to overcome an 

1 Bull. Rom., VII., 888 ; cf. Sala, Docum., III., 248. Sums 

were also distributed among the Cardinals : see *Avviso di Roma 

of February 14, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 22, Vatican Library. A 

letter of August 5, 1573, on the punishment of the guilty Humiliati 

in Arch. stor. Lomh., 1908, 187 seq. The brief of March 13, 1570, 

which asks the Duke of Savoy to hand over the aggressor, in 

Laderchi, 1570, n. 156. For the use made of the Humiliati 

houses of Lugano and Locarno cf. Reinhardt-Steffens, Doku- 

mente, 21 

- A *brief of July 6, 1571, to the Bishop of Verona approves his 

plan of adding to the nuns of S. Cristoforo at Verona four ex- 

perienced nuns, who would be able by their example to lead the 

others to a better manner of life. The bishop received the 

power to change at will the habit and office of the HumiUati 

nuns. Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 16, p. 189 seq., Papal Secret 

Archives. 

* The Clareni began in 1294 ; the founder of the Amadeisti died 

in 1482. 

* Bull concerning the Servites, May 5, 1570, Bull. Rom., VII., 

817 ; on the Amadeisti, etc., January 23, 1568, ibid. 651. Sala, 

Docum., I., 190 ; cf. Holzapfel, 138 ; Wadding, XX., 445, 447, 

461, 476.

TP{E ORDERS IN SPAIN. 249 

obstinate resistance, that he succeeded in reuniting them with 

the Observants.^ 

Immediately after his election Pius V. displayed special 

anxiet}^ in the case of the Spanish Orders. This was the result 

of representations laid before him by Philip II. Even before 

the Council of Trent had issued its decrees on religious com- 

munities, the Spanish king had had their reform under con- 

sideration. His particular object was to make the Orders in 

his kingdom independent of superiors residing abroad. The 

reasons which prompted this desire had their root in a genuine 

zeal for religion. In the case of the Order of Calatrava, for 

example, the superior was appointed by the Cistercian abbot 

of Morimond, and his choice almost always fell upon a Frenchman, 

who did not know Spanish, did not understand the 

conditions of his subjects, and who therefore could not remove 

the evils which had crept in. The French monasteries, 

moreover, were decadent in various ways, and in some cases 

were even infected with the ideas of the new religion, to such 

an extent that Philip very reasonably could not look for any 

good results from this close union with France. It must be 

admitted, however, that considerations of quite another kind 

also influenced the king. Some of the monasteries in Navarre 

and Aragon had to make contributions to the mother houses 

in France, which gave the French king an excuse for inter- 

ference in Spanish affairs. ^ 

In 1560 the king obtained from Pius IV. for the Order of 

Calatrava its independence from Morimond. He had similar 

plans for the Cistercians in Navarre and Aragon, and later, 

in 1564, for the Trinitarians, and in the same year for the 

Carmelites, who were all to be only nominally dependent upon 

their Generals in Italy. It was also the king's wish that the 

Grand Master of the Mercedarii should always be a Spaniard, 

though he was never to hold his office for life. When in 1563 

1 Laderchi, 1568 n. 34. BASCAPfe, i, 2, c. 5, p. 36. loanni de 

Stronconio O. Min. on the reform of the Clareni, August i, 1567, 

in Wadding, XX., 445. 

* Serrano in Corresp. dipL, IV., xxix.

250 


the Cortes suggested a reform of the Order, Philip conceived 

a far-reaching plan. His ambassador in Rome, Requesens, 

was instructed to ask that the king might appoint visitors ; 

until they had completed their work, and new rules had been 

published for the Order, no more novices were to be accepted, 

and after the visitation new superiors were to be appointed ; 

it was also provided, as part of the proposed reform, which 

was to be carried out under the supervision of the archbishops, 

that all the small houses were to be suppressed, and the 

superiors were only to remain in office for three years. 

All these proposals were shipwrecked, partly on account 

of the protests of the French king, and partly because of the 

opposition of the superiors of the Orders. When he went as 

legate to Spain in 1565,^ Cardinal Boncompagni took with him 

briefs for the reform of the Trinitarians, Franciscans, Car- 

melites, Augustinians and Isidorians, but he made no use of 

his powers because, at the death of Pius IV., which occurred 

soon afterwards, he returned hurriedly to Italy. 

Better days for the reform of the Spanish Orders came with 

the accession to the throne of Pius V. Even in the first days 

of his reign the new Pope said to the Spanish ambassador that 

in this matter he would grant the king more than he had asked 

for ; let them send him from Madrid their proposals as to how 

the necessary faculties should be drawn up, but let them at 

the same time keep the matter secret, because in such cases 

passions were likely to be sharply divided, and the Orders had 

their agents everywhere.^ In spite of this, however, the sending 

of the necessary briefs was delayed for a time. In Rome 

they were convinced that the reform could never be carried 

into effect without the co-operation of the civil power, but 

at the same time it seemed dangerous to give such wide powers 

over ecclesiastical affairs to the king and his nominees. Pius 

v., moreover, did not wish to place the reform of the Orders 

^ Ibid. XXX seq. For Calatrava cf. ibid. I., 306. 

2 See Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 334. 

^ Corresp. dipl., IV., xxxiii ; cf. I., 9. 

* Requesens to Philip II., January 25, 1566, ibid. I., 112.

THE ORDERS IN SPAIN. 25I 

in the hands of bishops who were not themselves religious, and 

had no experience of monastic affairs.^ For all these reasons 

the briefs had to be written and rewritten several times befora 

they were thought to comply with all the existing require- 

ments.- 

The reforming zeal of the Pope specially had in view the 

Spanish Conventual Franciscans, who had a bad name with 

him ; 

the same thing applied to those other religious bodies 

which, following the example of the Franciscans, had divided 

into two branches, one more strict, and known as the Observ- 

ants, and the other more mitigated, and called Conventuals. 

Pius V. now sought to counteract that tendency to decadence 

which followed upon the extension among the Spanish convents 

of the less strict branch, by putting an end altogether to this 

division in the Orders, and making them all Observants. 

The bull which was issued for this purpose on December 2nd, 

1566,^ complains in its preamble of the bad state of so many 

Orders which for a long time past had been drifting away from 

their original rule, and especially of the scandalous life of the 

Franciscan Conventuals, with regard to whom King Philip 

had asked for the intervention of the Pope."* The Pope there- 

fore ordains that the bishops, together with the Provincial 

of the Observants, and another religious of the stricter manner 

of life, shall introduce the reform into all their convents. 

Those who had hitherto been Conventuals must make over 

their houses to the Observants, and suffer themselves to be 

1 Requesens 13 (18 ?) September, 1566, ibid. 339. 

^ Requesens, December 8, 1566, ibid. 409. 


•* 

Cf. *Fragmento d' una lettera del Re di Espagna [d. d. 15 Nov 

1563] con un Memoriale circa gl' abusi de Regolari : Cod. Ottob 

2519 (Varia diversorum t. XII cardinalis Ludovisii) p. 200-209 

The Memoriale ibid. 202b-204. Ibid. 204-205 : De reformatione 

regularium et conventualium. (" Rex catholicus petit revocari 

omnia privilegia " etc.) ; p. 205-209 : 

Memoriale 

d' alcuni capi 

occurrenti sopra la reformatione di Espagna (" Che si representa 

a S. S*'^ la necessity che e di riformare nelU regni di CastigUa, 

Aragon, Valencia "). Vatican Library.

252 


scattered among the various convents. For the future no 

one was to be superior of a convent unless he belonged to the 

stricter branch. What was thus ordered in the case of the 

Franciscans was to apply equally to all the other Spanish 

Orders which were divided into Conventuals and Observants, 

such as the Canons Regular, the Benedictines, the Cistercians, 

the Dominicans, the Augustinian Hermits, and the Carmelites. 

Where more grave defects had occurred severe penalties 

must be inflicted, and, in case of need, even condemnation 

to the galleys and imprisonment for life. The convents 

of nuns, which had hitherto been under the direction 

of the Conventuals, must also be reformed by the bishop 

and his colleagues, and placed under the care of the 

Observants.^ 

Naturally the bishops were unable to visit all the houses of 

their dioceses at the same time, and it was therefore possible 

for the religious who were unwilling to change their manner 

of life, to fly to another house of their Order before the arrival 

of the commissioners and thus perpetually escape the notice 

of the bishop. Several of the Conventual houses, moreover, 

were not conveniently situated for the purposes of the 

Observants, and could only with great difficulty be taken 

over by them. As the result, therefore, of some represen- 

tations made to him by the king, the Pope declared^ that the 

visitation could also be carried out by other persons com- 

missioned for this purpose by the bishops and the provincial 

superiors, and that the bishops and provincials might decide 

^ Edict of December 12, 1566. Bull. Rom., VII., 496; of. 

Wadding, XX., 435. 

* April 16, 1567, ibid. 565 seqq. A *bull for the reform of the 

Spanish nuns, July 15, 1567, in the Archives of Briefs, Roma ; 

cf. Laderchi, 1568, n. 38. In the Archives of Briefs, Rome, there 

is another *bull of November 9, 1568, on the extension of the 

reform of the convents of the Franciscans and Poor Clares to the 

kingdoms of the crown of Aragon. A *brief of January 7, 1571, 

to the Bishop of Urgel, who is unwilling to assist the provincial 

in the reform of the recalcitrant nuns, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 15, 

p. 2 86. Papal Secret Archives.

THE ORDERS IN SPAIN. 253 

what was to be done v/ith monastic houses which were not 

suitably situated for the Observants.^ 

In the same brief the Pope also made provision for those 

Orders which had no houses of the stricter observance, and 

which could not therefore be reformed by removing their 

members to such houses. Pius V. placed these under the care 

of other religious of a similar manner of life, as for example 

the Franciscan Conventuals of the Third Order under the 

Observants of the Premonstratensians, and the Hermits of 

St. Jerome under the Observants of the Order founded by 

the same saint. ^ The Carmelites, Trinitarians and Mer- 

cedarii were to be led to a better manner of life by the bishops, 

with the assistance of two Dominicans.^ 

The Franciscan Conventuals wilhngly submitted to the 

reform, and as early as November 5th, 1567, the Pope was able 

to express his satisfaction at what had been accomplished.* 

The attempt to subject the Spanish branch of the Premon- 

stratensians to a reorganization met with greater difficulties. 

The Hieronymites were appointed as their visitors. Phihp II. 

would have liked them to adopt the rules and habit of the 

visitors, and thus end their days in the Order which he himself 

favoured ;^ a pontifical ordinance to this effect had already 

been issued,^ but now, in response to the protests of the 

^ Edict of April 16, 1567, §3, 5, loc. cit., 568 seq. 

^ Ibid. §6-7, ibid. 569. Cf. Requesens to Philip II., March 16, 

1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 72. Castagna had called attention to the 

conditions existing among the Spanish Premonstratensians, in 

the Third Order, and in a branch of the Hieronymites : 

Bonelli, January 2, 1567, ibid, i seq. 

^ Edict of April 16, 1567, §8, loc. cit., 570. 

* Corresp. dipl., IV., xxxiv, n. 

to 

* Ibid, xxxviii. As a reason for the suppression Philip II. brings 

out the fact that in the greater part of the 18 Spanish houses 

of the Premonstratensians there were not more than from four to 

eight religious, who were ignorant and not very edifying. Letter 

to Zuniga of May 14, 1568, Coleccion de docum. 'ined., VII., 531. 

* Corresp. dipl., IV., xxxix : "Mandamus, quod dicti fratres 

Praemonstratenses ad obscrvantiam fratrum s. Hieronymi de 

observantia Hispaniarum cum effectu reducantur,"

254 


Premonstratensians, Pius V. revoked his brief and turned in 

great displeasure on the Hieronyrriites because, it would seem, 

they had begun to carry out the brief too hterally,^ but though 

he no longer contemplated the total suppression of the Order, 

the Pope did not cease to insist upon the reform, and fresh 

brief:-, drawn up by Ormaneto,^ were dispatched, which were 

very strict, and aimed at the removal of the existing disorders. 

The nuncio was ordered to examine the acts of the visitations 

and to proceed against the more serious abuses with the 

greatest severity. A reform bull from the Pope then sought 

to secure a better state of affairs for the future.^ 

The reform of the Franciscan convents of the Third Order 

met with similar difficulties. These were true rehgious, 

because the inmates of these houses for the most part took 

true vows, but their manner of life was so far from edifying 

that the Pope thought of suppressing them. At first, as the 

result of insufficient information, Pius V. had looked upon 

them as people living in the world, and had arranged for the 

total destruction of their communities. On the representation 

of the Provincial, Gordillo, he withdrew this ordinance and 

substituted for it an exhortation to embrace the rule of the 

Franciscan Observants, placing at the disposal of those who 

did not wish to do so certain convents where they could end 

their days, but without the right of taking novices. This 

arrangement of the Pope's did not please Philip TI., and he 

endeavoured to postpone its execution in the hope that he 

^To Castagna, March i8, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 661 seq. 

Philip II. said that the acts of violence of the Hier. nymites against 

the Premonstratensians referred to in §2 of this brief were an 

invention. To Zuniga May 14, 1568 : Bull. Rom., VII., 530 ; 

cf. Corresp. dipl., II., 270, 382, 416, 450. 

2 From December 8, 1569, to January 4, 1570, Corresp. dipl., 

III., 234 n. 

^ Cf. Corresp. dipl., IV., xxxviii-xU. For the reform of the other 

Orders cf. * brief of July 13, 1568, on the Augustinians in Aragon, 

of November 3, 1569, to the Bishops of Valencia and Segovia on 

the convent of nuns of Las Huelgas in the diocese of Burgos, etc, 

Archives of Briefs, Rome,

T?IE ORDERS IN SPAIN. 255 

might eventually succeed in winning over the Pope to the total 

suppression of the Tercerones, but Pius V. would not give 

way, and at last, after many negotiations, the affair was 

settled in accordance with his plan.^ 

Although he had himself asked for the Pope's intervention 

in the case of the Spanish Orders, Phihp II. was far from 

satisfied with all the Papal provisions. Thus, in a letter to 

ZuSiga, his ambassador in Rome, he bitterly complained that 

the Pope had given neither him nor the ambassador any previ- 

ous notice of the briefs concerning the Premonstratensians,- 

nor did he approve of the Carmelites, Trinitarians and Mer- 

cedarri being brought back to better ways by the Dominicans. 

Pius v., however, adhered to his arrangement on the ground 

that the bishops already had enough to do in the administra- 

tion of their dioceses, and that, moreover, they knew nothing 

of the religious life or rule.^ When, too, the king reverted to 

his former wish that the Spanish Cistercians should be separ- 

ated from the main body of the Order and formed into a special 

congregation, the Pope would not agree to this.'* In other 

matters as well there was good reason for complaint in Rome 

as to the excessive and usurping interference of Philip in the 

affairs of the Orders ; 

he had, for example, sent a layman to 

preside at the provincial chapter of the Mercedarii, a pro- 

ceeding which Pius V. was not slow to censure.^ 

The arrangements which Pius V. had made for the Third 

Order and the Conventuals in Spain soon came into force for 

the Low Countries as well.^ In Portugal, too, at the request 

1 Corresp. dipL, IV., xli-xlv ; cf. Wadding, XX., 459, 467, 469. 

" Letter to Zuniga from Cordova, March 30, 1570, ibid. III., 283. 

^ BoneUi to Castagna, December 16, 1569, ibid. 201 ; cf. 262, 323. 

* Bonelli to Castagna, April 29, 1570, ibid. 263. Attempts had 

already been made in the time of Pius IV. to separate the Spanish 

Cistercians from Morimond ; ibid. I., 305. 

^ BonelU to Castagna, September 6, 1569, ibid. III., 138. 

* The Bull. Rom., VII. , 624, n. mentions the brief of November 

2, 1567 (Angelo Aversano). A * brief on the reform of the Obser- 

vants (to the same) of October 23, 1567, in Archives of Briefs, 

Home.


of King Sebastian, the same prescriptions were made binding 

in 1567.^ In the preceding year a request had been addressed 

to the Pope in the name 'of the king that he would unite all 

the Benedictine houses in Portugal after the manner of the 

Castilian and Cassinese congregations. Archbishop Bartolomeo 

a Martyribus, the Bishop of Oporto, and two Benedictines 

of the congregation of Valladolid, had introduced this reform 

which Pius V. confirmed on April 30th, 1566.2 He also united 

the Cistercians in Portugal to the congregation of Alcoba9a 

in 1567.^ Immediately after this an exhortation was sent 

to Cardinal Henry to bring back the monks and nuns of the 

order of Vallombrosa to a true religious life.* 

The care which Pius V. had shown for the Franciscan 

Conventuals in the Iberian peninsula was soon afterwards 

extended to the whole Conventual Order. At the beginning 

of June, 1568, he released them from the direction of the nuns 

of their Order, ^ and set himself to revive the full severity of 

the Franciscan ideal of poverty by forbidding them once more 

the possession of private property.^ This ordinance on poverty 

found a ready welcome among the Conventuals, and the Order 

of its own accord began to set about the work of reform. A 

^ Brief of October 30, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 624 ; *brief on the 

reform of convents. May 28, 1568, to Gaspare, Bishop of Leiria 

in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. *Brief of December 13, 1569, 

regretting that the liing has entrusted the visitation of a convent 

to a young cleric, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 14, p. 301, Papal Secret 

Archives. The reform had already been begun under Pius IV. : 

*letter from King Sebastian of Portugal to Cardinal Ricci of 

February 20, 1565, Ricci Archives, Rome. 

^ The brief was repeated in an edict of Gregory XIII., Bull. 

Rom., VIII., 3. Cf. Corpo dipl. Portug., X. (1891), 208 seq.; 

ScHMiEDER in Studien und Mitteil. aus dem Benediktiner-und 

Zisterzienserorden, XII. (1891), 73. 

* SCHMIEDER, loC. cit. 

* * Brief of July 4, 1568, Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

^ June 3, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 674. The reform had already 

begun under Pius IV. ; cf. Holzapfel, 589, and supra p. 251. 

481. 

« June 8, 1568. Bull. Rom., VII.. 676 ; Wadding, XX., 474,

THE FRANCISCAN ORDER. 257 

general reform was inaugurated at the general chapter of 1568, 

and this was, in accordance with the wishes of the Pope, made 

more strict and comprehensive by the General and Provincials, 

and then confirmed by a bull.^ The Pope charged the Pro- 

tector of the Order, Cardinal Borromeo,- with its execution, 

and the latter took great pains with the introduction of community 

life among the Conventuals of his diocese.^ In 

Borromeo's name, and through the agency of the visitors 

and the commissary-general, Girolamo Curti, of Milan, the 

new constitution was also accepted in Germany by the chapter 

of the Order at Ueberlingen in 1572. The zealous Provincial 

of the Franciscan Conventuals in Upper Germany, Jodocus 

Schliissler, had already, previously to this, been appointed 

apostolic visitor by Papal brief ; in 1571 a chapter, also held 

at Ueberlingen, had introduced several useful reforms, 

especially one which provided that in future no one should 

have the office of superior conferred upon him by the civil 

power.* 

The Congregation of the Third Order of St. Francis was also 

committed to the care of Borromeo. Before this. Cardinal 

Carpi had already worked on behalf of the Order, and on 

April 28th, 1569, he had issued some ordinances for its use, 

which aimed at the revival of its religious hfe, which had 

fallen into a lax state. ^ The success which these provisions 

1 July 23, 1568, ihid. 6gi seqq. 

" Ihid. §3. 

^ Bascape, I, 2, c. 5, p. 36. 

* K. EuBEL, Gesch. der oberdeutschen (Strassburger) Minoriten- 

provinz, Wiirzburg, 1886, 118. For the part played by the future 

Sixtus V. in the reform of his Order cf. Tempesti, I., 70 seqq. and 

Corresp. dipl., I., 113. *Brief to the senators of Savoy and the 

Bishop of Geneva, January 7, 1570, on the reform of the Francis- 

cans at Chambery and of the Augustinians of the convent of 

S. Pietro de Albignaco, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 14, p. 327b, Papal 


« Bull of July 3, 1568, Bull. Rom., VIL, 679. On November 

15, 1567, a *brief was sent to the Observant, Angelo da Stronconio, 

on the reform of the Brothers and Sisters of the Third Order in 

Italy. Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

VOL. XVII. 17

258 


met with, however, was but small. Pius V. himself then 

intervened with so much severity that it was said in Spain 

that he wished to make an end of the Third Order. This 

report was declared to be false in a special letter from the Pope,^ 

but the prescriptions of the Papal bull, later on mitigated by 

Sixtus v., were certainly very drastic. The government of 

the congregation was regulated, private property was pro- 

hibited, enclosure was enforced, and obedience to the ordin- 

ances of Carpi was prescribed. 

Similar exhortations and ordinances were sent under Pius V. 

to a number of religious comimunities. Such were the Knights 

of the Cross, who had fallen into a bad state on account of 

the system of commendams,^ and the Canons Regular of San 

Salvatore, to whom a new General, visitor and procurator- 

general were given.* Two Dominicans were sent to the 

Camaldolese to satisfy themselves as to the conditions pre- 

vailing in the order, and to take what steps were necessary ;^ 

new statutes, which paid special attention to the matter of 

studies, received the Papal approval in 1571.^ Pius recommended 

the monks of Vallombrosa to the care of Cardinals 

Ricci and Bobba.' Even the Cassinese congregation of the 

iTo Castagna, July 15, 1568, in Laderchi, 1568, n. 36. 

2 Bull of July 3, 1568, loc. cit. 

3 April 23, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 666. 

* Edict of December 7, 1571, ibid. 953. Bull. Congr. S. Salva- 

toris, I., 139 s^?- 

** Briefs " Archangelo de Tonsis de Soncino O. Praed." of 

March 8, 1568, and " Eliseo Veneto Ord. Praed." of May 3 1568, 

the latter on reform in the Veneto (Archives of Briefs, Rome). 

Mittarelli, Ann. Camald., VIII., 128. 

^ Mittarelli, loc. cit., 134 seq. Schmieder in Studien und 

Mitteil. aus dem Benediktiner- und Zisterzienserorden, XII., 69. 

The Pope ordered them to resume the monastic habit ; hitherto 

they had worn the dress of secular priests (*Avviso di Roma of 

June 18, 1569, Urb. 10 ji, p. 96 Vatican Library). Suppression 

of the Camaldolese Conventuals, May 26, 1569 : Mittarelli, loc. 

cit. 135. 

' *To Cardinal Ricci, April 10, 1568, to Cardinal Bobba for the 

reform of the convent of Pinerolo, June 30, 1568, Archives of

THE MILITARY ORDERS. 259 

Benedictines, which on the whole was able to point to many 

worthy members,^ received an exhortation to restore their 

former purity of observance, since, through the neglect of 

superiors, the Order had fallen away from its former eminence.^ 

The Pope addressed a similar reproof to the General of the 

Carthusians, saying that he had learned with great sorrow 

that even there there was reason to fear the loss of discipline, 

unless attention was paid at once to repairing the damage 

done, and that holy men must be placed at the head of their 

houses, whose whole care must be devoted to the maintenance 

rather than the weakening of discipline.^ Pius V. was 

specially dissatisfied with the Carthusians in Spain.* 

Several apostolic letters were sent to Portugal complaining 

of the state of affairs in the military Orders there. The 

struggle with the Moors, on account of which these bodies 

had been founded and endowed with property and ecclesiastical 

privileges, had lost its importance as far as Europe was con- 

cerned, but Pius V. could not understand how the heirs of 

those heroes of the Moorish wars could live in ease on their 

Briefs, Rome. *Brief of March 10, 1570, " Nicolao praesidenti 

generali congregationis Vallumbrosae," with powers to carry out 

a reform, ibid. 

1 SCHMIEDER, loc. cit. 69. 

^ *Brief of April 7, 1571, " Capitulo generali Congregationis 

S. lustinae de Padua O.S.B." in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 16, p. 23. 

*" Ivlemoriale ad Pium V. pro reformatione congregationis Casin- 

ensis " in Archives of S. Angelo, Arm. 12, caps, 4, n. 10, Papal 

Secret Archives. A brief with faculties to absolve, June 13, 1571, 

in Bull. Rom., VII., 919. 

^ *Brief of March 19, 1571, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 16, p. 40, Papal 


*Laderchi 1568, n. 28. *Brief of June 11, 1571, to Basilio 

d'Urbino, on the reform of the Certosa of Pisa, Archives of Briefs, 

Rome. *Brief to the King of Poland, July 5, 1568, against his in- 

terference in the administration of the Certosa "Paradisus Mariae," 

in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 13, p. 225, Papal Secret Archives. For the 

reform of the Augustinians see *Avvisi di Roma of September 27, 

1570, and April 14, 1571, Urb. 1041, p. 343 

Library. 

; 1042, p. 47b, Vatican

26o HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

rich benefices and in the enjoyment of their ecclesiastical 

privileges, without ever drawing a sword. If they could no 

longer win laurels on Portuguese soil, let the Knights go to 

Africa and there measure themselves against the infidel in 

warfare in defence of the Christian faith. It would seem that 

his first exhortation to this effect, addressed to the Order of 

Christ,^ did not fall on deaf ears. 2 When similar appeals to the 

Orders of S. Giacomo della Spada and di Avis^ had no effect, 

Pius V. withdrew from them their ecclesiastical privileges,* 

and ordered that no one be allowed to put on the habit of the 

Knights of these Orders unless they had served for three years 

in the wars in Africa, and that the offices which had a revenue 

of more than 100,000 reals should not be conferred on account 

of seniority, but solely for merit. A seminary must also be 

established for the training of the young Knights in Africa. 

Pius V.'s anxiety for the revival of the religious life was by 

no means exhausted with the ordinances already mentioned. 

On July 3rd, 1568, he wrote^ that in virtue of his office it was 

his duty to exact from the religious Orders, even more than 

from any other part of the Church, that they should keep 

themselves in a high state of efficiency, or return to it, and to 

this end, especially in the years 1567 and 1568, he issued a 

number of ordinances aimed at removing abuses in the Orders.^ 

^ Of May 29, 1566, Corpo dipl. Portug., X., 214. 

^ In a brief of June 28, 1569, it is held up as an example to the 

other military Orders. Laderchi, 1569, n. 330. 

* Of June 28, 1569, which mentions another of September 13, 

1568 ; 

ibid. 

Âugust 28, 1570, in Laderchi, 1570, n. 135. Cf. Corpo dipl. 

Portug., X., 355. For the reform of the Order of St. Lazarus cf. 

bull of January 26, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 516-533 ; Laderchi, 

1567, n. 26. 


* Many such letters e.g. in Wadding, XX. ( = W.) and specially 

in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. Thus, in addition to those 

already quoted or to be quoted later on, we find : 

For 1567 : *January 15, to the Capuchin nuns at Naples 

concerning the wise administration of their convent ; *January

REFORM OF THE ORDERS. 261 

The ambassador of the Duke of Modena had just arrived when, 

on February 20th, 1566, the Pope again wrote that in matters 

24, to the Cardinal of Lorraine : 

faculties 

to reform the nuns in 

the dioceses of Metz and Verdun ; *February 15, to Cardinal 

Giulio della Rovere for the reform of the Poor Clares at Ravenna ; 

*March 7, to Carafa, Archbishop of Naples : " there must not be 

a greater number of nuns in a convent than the revenues can 

support " ; *March 11, bull concerning the direction of the 

convents of women at Milan ; *March 13, to Cardinal Savelli, 

Archbishop of Benevento, on the visitation of convents ; *April 12, 

to the Bishop of Tournai on the reform of the Benedictines ; 

May 10, to the Minister-General of the Observants concerning 

the reform at Ragusa (W. ; 443) May 22, to the Bishop of Assisi : 

" youths under 16 not to be allowed in the convents " (W. 444) ; 

*May 28, to Cesare Gambara, Bishop of Tortona ; *June 11, to 

Cardinal Bobba, on the Augustinian nuns of the convent of 

S. Caterina at Aosta in the province of Tarantais.^ ; *July 2, 

to the Bishop of Mileto on a convent at Squillace ; 

* July 8, to the 

Bishop of Tournai ; August i, to the Observant, Paolo Ariguccio, 

Provincial of Tuscany (W. 447) ; *August 6, to the Bishop of 

Montefeltro : 

Durantis." 

"he 

must make a visitation of the abbey Castri 

For 1568 : * January 19, to Federico [Cornaro], Bishop of 

Bergamo : reform of nuns ; * January 28, on the enclosure of the 

Carthusians in France ; February 2, to Cardinal Giulio della 

Rovere on reform at Ravenna (W. 464) 

; *April 8, to Cardinal 

Morone on the Hieronimites of the rule of St. Augustine ; 

to the convent of St. Ursula at Louvain : 

*May 28, 

" let them keep the 

enclosure " ; July 14, reform of the convent of Cuneo, in the 

diocese of Mondovi (W. 474) ; *July 17, to the General of the 

Franciscans : 

" they are to send some monks from Lombardy to 

reform the Poor Clares of Naples " ; *July 21, to the Dominican, 

Dom. della Rovere (Astensis dioecesis) : reform of nuns ; *July 

*August 10, to the Cassinese abbot 

27, to the Bishop of Sulmona ; 

on the nuns at Capua ; *August 11, to Bonelli (Autograph of the 

Pope) ; * September i, to the nuncio, Vincenzo Portico : reform 

of the convents in Poland ; *September 10, to Giov. Franc. 

Bonhomini, a cleric of Verona : faculty for the visitation of his 

monastery at Nonantola ; *October i, to Cardinal Borromeo ; 

* October 15, to the Cardinal of Aragon on the visitation of the


of religion, and in all that concerned friars and priests, there 

he 

convents in his diocese of Mileto ; *December 7, to Federico, 

Bishop of Bergamo : 

monasteries. 

For 1569 : *June 

is to make a visitation of churches and 

10, to the Bishop of Fiesole ; *June 18, bull 

for the reform of the convent of the Observants, S. Montani at 

Gaeta. 

For 1570 : April 4, to Stefano Mohna, Franciscan Observant, 

on the reform of the Poor Clares at Naples (W. 495) ; *April 12, 

to Tommaso (Orfino), Bishop of Foligno, on the reform of the 

Benedictines ; *July 14, to Cardinal Borromeo ; *July 15, to the 

Archbishop of Prague ; *December 4, 

" Rufiino Campaniae 

archipresbytero ecclesiae Veronensis, commissario nostro," on a 

scandal in the convent of nuns, of the Carmenirio at Mantua ; 

*December 8, to Stefano Molina : " he is to transfer 4 nuns from 

Aquila to the convent of the Augustinian nuns of S. Maddalena 

at Naples, in order to reform it " ; *December 15, " episcopo 

Mazariensi " on the nuns of Trapani. 

For 1571 : *January 

25, Bonifacio [de Stephanis], episcopo 

*February 8 and March 

Stagnensi on the Observants in Bosnia ; 

10, to Niccolo [Ormaneto], Bishop of Padua ; *February 13, to 

[Boldrino Gregorio], Bishop of Mantua, on the enclosure of nuns ; 

*March 10, to Cardinal Borromeo ; *May 28, bull on the Francis- 

cans ; *June 12, to the Bishop of Padua on apostates ; *July 2, 

to the archpriest, Rufhno, on the punishment of nuns in the 

convent del Carmenino at Mantua ; *July 2, " Episcopo Car- 

thaginensi " on the reform of nuns ; *August 15, to the King of 

France : " may God help in the reform of the Dominicans at 

Paris " ; *August 22, to the Archduke Charles on the reform of 

convents ; * September 8, to Cardinal Borromeo on the Cluniac 

nuns of the convent of S. Maria de' Cantuani ; *to Cardinal 

Morone on the reform of S. Chiara at Mantua; *September 17, 

to the Cardinal of Vercelli, G. Ferreri, on a Benedictine monastery 

" nullius dioecesis " ; * September 18, to [Antonio Altoviti], 

Archbishop of Florence, to the Prior of the Ospedale degii Inno- 

centi there, and to the Provincial of the Franciscans of the province 

of Tuscany, on the reform of the nuns in the diocese of Volterra ; 

November 10, to [Pietro de Lunel], Bishop of Gaeta, on the 

reform of the nuns of S. Chiara at Monte falco ; *Novemb8r 29 

" Episcopo Carthaginensi " on the reform of nuns.

THE VOW OF POVERTY. 26o 

was no need to press him, and that there, if anywhere, he must 

act with extreme care.^ 

In all his enactments concerning the Orders the Pope 

adhered strictly to the prescriptions on which the Council of 

Trent had built up its legislation for monastic hfe.^ Like 

the CounciP he started with the principle that their preser- 

vation as well as the guarantee of new life was not to be sought 

in new expedients, but in a return to the manner of life traced 

out for the Orders by their founders ; 

therefore all his ordin- 

ances were carefully adapted to the peculiar character of each 

congregation. The great stress which Pius V. laid upon the 

vow of poverty as the foundation stone of the Orders was 

quite in keeping with the spirit of the Council."* In vigorous 

terms he condemned the abuse which had crept in in so many 

ways, which allowed to individual monks and nuns a kind of 

private possession and thus undermined the community life, 

and destroyed the sense of homogeneity among the members 

of a rehgious house ; this abuse, he said, is the root of all 

evils in any convent where it has crept in, and not even the 

For 1572 : *February 

gregation : he 

8, to the abbot of the Cassinese con- 

must reform the Benedictines at Capua ; *March 

12, to the Prior-General of the Carmehtes, Giov. Batt. de Rubeis : 

faculties to reform the convent at Mantua ; *April 12, to the 

Archbishop of Palermo [lacopo LomeUini] ; he is to excommunicate 

those who have seized the property of the monastery 

of S. Martino (State Archives, Palermo). L. lacobilli, *Croniche 

di Foligno, in the possession of Mgr. Faloci PuUgnani at Fohgno, 

relates the reform of the Dominican convent at Foligno in 1566- 

1567. For the " Constitutioni delle venerabiU monache con- 

vertite di Napoli " which were corrected bj/ Pius V. himself, see 

Padiglione, La Biblioteca del Museo Nazionale nella Certosa di 

S. Martino in NapoU, Naples, 1876, no seq. 

1 *" Nelle cose della religione, delli frati e delh preti non bisogna 

toccarU et averli tutti li rispetti possibili si mai s' ebbero," Rosetti 

to the Duke of Modena, State Archives, Modena. 

^ Sess. 25, de regularibus et monialibus. 

^ Ibid, C.I. 

* Sess. 25 de reg. et mon. c. 2-3.

264 


holiest monastic rule can prevent its ruin.^ The Tridentine 

decrees had carefully sought to prevent the government of 

monastic houses falling into improper hands, and quite a third 

part of its reform prescriptions is devoted to this very matter. ^ 

In this, too, Pius V. showed himself in complete agreement 

with the views of the Council. Who does not know, he wrote 

to the Carthusians, that the neglect of superiors is the ruin of 

their subjects ?^ In order that those who had no claims 

should not insinuate themselves into the ofhce of superior, 

Pius V. threatened severe penalties against all intrigues of 

this kind.^ He further limited the tenure of office by superiors 

in most cases to a few years, ^ and obliged them to sliare in 

the common Hfe of their subjects, while as regards their rooms, 

table and dress they were to be in no way different from the 

others.^ By this he secured two further points : if the superi- 

ors of religious houses no longer made their appearance as 

great nobles, their office would no longer offer such attractions 

for ambitious men, and this in its turn was bound to produce 

a reaction in the direction of a rule that was tempered by 

humihty and charity. 

A crying evil throughout the Church were those monks who, 

under the pretext that they had only taken the vows of religion 

out of fear, or while they were still boys, and without fully 

realizing what they were doing, had surreptitiously obtained 

^ " Omnium malorum radix, ubicunque gliscit, omne bonum in 

regula quamvis bene instituta pervertit " (to the Cistercians § 19, 

" cum omnis religio privatae proprietatis 

Bull. Rom., VII., 816) : 

usa labefactetur et corruat " (to the Servites, § i, ibid. 821). Cf. 

ibid. 693, § 16 (to the Conventuals), 671, § 19 (to the Knights of 

the Cross), etc. 

^ Loc. cit. c. 6 seqq. 

^ *" Quis enim nescit, negligentiam praepositorum esse sub- 

ditorum ruinam ? " * brief of March 19, 1571, Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t. 16, p. 40, Papal Secret Archives. 

* Bull. Rom., VII., 677, § 8 and 693, § 24 (for the Conventuals), 

823, § 5 (for the Servites), 670, § 18 (for the Knights of the Cross). 

^ Ibid. 692, § 10, 824, § 17, -669, § 15. 

« Ibid. 677, § 4, 693, § 17, 824, § 22.

ABUSES IN THE ORDERS. 265 

permission from the Penitentieria to lay aside their habit, 

and had then obtained a cure of souls. Italy was full of such, 

and they provided heresy with its ablest preachers.^ The 

Council had set up a barrier against this fatal tendency by 

making it very difficult to leave an Order, and by declaring 

that for the future all vows of religion taken before the age of 

sixteen were invahd.^ The Pope carried the matter a step 

further by fixing the age of nineteen as that necessary for 

religious profession in several Orders.^ Paul IV. and Pius IV. 

had already issued ordinances against monks living out of their 

monasteries, and it only remained for their successor to put 

these laws into force, a thing which Pius V. proceeded to do 

in the first months of his reign.'* He also removed another 

abuse which had in various ways given occasion for apostasy 

from the religious life. It often happened that monks, on the 

pretext of seeking a higher state of perfection, passed to 

another Order, and then easily obtained permission to live 

outside their monastery, when they began to lead an unsettled 

life, and even to put aside the religious habit altogether. The 

Council of Trent had already taken steps against this abuse, 

but several superiors of Orders, on the strength of certain 

pretended privileges, continued to accept such monks who 

had left their monasteries. Pius V. put an end to this by 

declaring all such privileges invalid.^ 

In the case of the convents of nuns, the decrees of Trent, 

besides securing freedom of entry into an Order, had strongly 

insisted upon enclosure, by which no nun, once she had taken 

her vows, could leave her convent, and no stranger could enter 

^ Cf. infra, p. 299. 

^ Sess. 25, de rag. et men, c. 15 and 19. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 692, § 5 

(for the Servites : 

convents to their home.") 

(for the Conventuals), 825, § 23 

" youths under 15 must be sent back from their 

* *Avvisi di Roma of March 23 and December 8, 1566, Urb. 

1040, p. 197b, 337b, Vatican Library. 

^ Bull of October 14, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 783 seqq., issued 

on December 2, 1569. *Avviso di Roma of December 3, 1569, 

Urb. 1041, 193b, Vatican Library.


it without the permission of the bishop. Pius V. strengthened 

this law in both respects, ordering that the enclosure must be 

set up even when this had not been contemplated in the rule, 

or had not been observed from time immemorial.^ It was 

Borromeo and Ormaneto who had asked for this bull.^ A 

further edict declared that abbesses and prioresses came under 

the law of enclosure, even when they were of royal blood. 

The Pope adhered strictly to what he had laid down,^ and it 

was only with great difficulty that Serristori was able to 

obtain leave for the Duchess of Florence to be admitted to 

convents with two or three ladies when she was travelling in 

places where she could not find a lodging elsewhere.^ 

Since the co-operation of the secular arm was necessary 

for the enforcement of his bull on the enclosure, Pius V. 

addressed briefs on the subject to several of the Italian 

princes.^ In Rome Ormaneto and the other reformers began 

at once to make strict use of their powers.'^ The nuns were 

obHged to set up the enclosure, and small convents were 

united to large ones i^ 

thus, for example, five convents were 

1 Bull of May 29, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 447. Cf. *Avviso di 

Roma of May 25, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 231b, Vatican Library. 

2 Bascape, I, 2, c. I, p. 26. 

=> Of January 24, 1570, Bull. Rom., VII., 808 ; cf. 450. B. Pia 

*reports a new bull to enforce the enclosure on April 29, 1570, 


* Examples in Corresp. dipl., II., 105, n. 2. 

® Serristori on September 29, 1568, Legaz. di Serristori, 455. 


' *" Attendono hora li riformatori a voler serrar le monache." 

(*Avviso di Roma of June 7, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 399b. Vatican 

Library). *" Alphonso Binarino vicepres. vicarii almae arbis et 

Nitolao Ormaneto notaria nostro et loanni Olivae et Leoni 

Carpano comrnissariis nostris " November 12, 1567, on the 

visitation and reform of the rehgious women in Rome ; 

* brief of 

January 20, 1568, on the reform of S. Maria di Campo Marzo, 

ibid. *of July 7, 1568, and February 22, 1570, on the convent of 

Poor Clares at S. Silvestro in Rome, ibid. 

8 *Avviso di Roma of March 8, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 366, Vatican 

Library.

THE ENCLOSURE OF NUNS. 267 

formed of the eleven belonging to the Franciscan nuns of the 

Third Order, and the Dominican and Augustinian nuns were 

treated in a like manner. ^ In order to cultivate a better spirit 

in the convents the Pope caused some of the older sisters from 

other cities to be transferred to the houses in Rome.- Natur- 

ally such a method was only of use where there was already 

good will, and where the only cause of trouble had been the 

lack of knowledge, but too often this good will was wanting ; 

it was said in Rome that some of the nuns had poisoned 

themselves at the prospect of reform at the hands of 

Carniglia.^ 

As had been the case in the Eternal City, the enclosure was 

enforced in the Papal States,* and in the rest of Italy and in 

Spain.^ A beginning had already been made under Pius IV. ; 

the correspondence of Cardinal Borromeo gives some idea of 

the difficulties which had to be overcome.^ At Milan the law 

of enclosure had been so completely lost sight of that even 

dances were held in the convents ; the nobles of the city would 

not hear of the shutting up of the religious houses because they 

did not wish for any interference with their intercourse with 

their relatives who were nuns, while the religious themselves 

looked upon the enclosure as a mark of want of confidence. 

Cardinal Borromeo had to send long letters to the three sisters 

1 *Avviso di Roma of May 3, 1567, ibid. 390b. 

^ " They are expecting eight experienced nuns from Perugia 

for the reform of the Roman convents," says an *Avviso di Roma 

of March 16, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 37, ibid. 

3 -Avviso di Roma of February 7, 1571, ibid. 46. For the 

corruption in the convents of women see Tamassia, FamigUe 

itahane, Milan, 1910, 322 seq. (for the years 1554 and 1555). 

* Reform of the convents of women in the Roman province of 

the Dominicans : *brief of May 15, 1568, Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 13, 

p. 189, Papal Secret Archives ; enforcement of the enclosure at 

Perugia in 1571 ; Pellini, Storia di Perugia, II., 807. 

5 *Avviso di Roma of June 5, 1568, on the reform of the Con- 

ventual women. State Archives, Naples, C. Fames., VI., i. Brief 

to Spain of January 15, 1568, in Laderchi, 1568, n. 38. 

•^ Sylvain, 

81. 

I., 267 seqq. Cf. S. Aless. Sauh, Note e documenti,


of Pius IV., who had taken the veil at Milan, in order to overcome 

their opposition to the law of enclosure. 

Pius V. was also responsible for the first Papal law of 

universal obligation forbidding women to enter the monasteries 

of men,^ and abolishing all contrary privileges which 

had hitherto been granted. This law was issued in response 

to a request of the Carthusians, and later on was published in 

greater detail by Pius V. at the request of the Benedictine con- 

gregation of Monte Vergine.2 In Germany, however, it was found 

difficult to carry the law into effect immediately or everywhere.^ 

Before long various objections and disagreements made 

themselves felt with regard to some of the Tridentine decrees. 

The Council had based the reform of the Church principally 

upon the authority of the bishops,^ who were to have full 

power in their own dioceses, and in ordinary circumstances 

had all matters in their own hands. But the whole organization 

of the great Orders, which extended, under their own 

superiors, over many dioceses, rested upon the principle that 

in some respects they nmst form an exception to this rule ; 

to such reUgious bodies as the Dominicans, the Franciscans, 

and the Jesuits it would have been fatal if they were to be 

broken up into as many divisions as there were dioceses, and 

if each of these divisions were to be placed under independent 

superiors. Differences of opinion were therefore both possible 

and even probable, nor in practice were they wanting. Even 

a man like Cardinal Borromeo thought that he was acting 

entirely in accordance with the spirit of the Council when he 

disposed of the regular clergy of Milan with a greater freedom 

than even a Philip Neri was willing to allow, and for that 

reason he himself founded a special congregation of priests, 

the Oblates of St. Ambrose, who were to be absolutely under 

obedience to the Archbishop of Milan. ^ The so-called " men- 

373- 

1 Brief of October 24, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 4S7. 

^ Brief of July 16, 1570, ibid. 488. 

* Braunsberger, Pius V., 73 seq.; cf. 100. 

* Cf. Vol. XV. of this work, p. 337. 

^ San Carlo, 76. Van ORXROvin ^mo/. Bolland., XXIX. (1910),

THE MENDICANT ORDERS. 269 

dicant " orders found themselves in a specially difficult 

position ; 

these were those religious bodies which were devoted 

to the care of souls, and which, according to their original 

constitution, could not possess property-, though more than 

one such Order had been dispensed in that respect. Several 

of the bishops, after the Council, were unwilling any longer to 

recognize the existing privileges of these congregations. The 

result was that the Mendicants could no longer preach even 

in their own churches in virtue of the mere approbation of 

their own superiors, while several bishops would no longer 

give them permission to do so gratuitously, and even in some 

cases unreasonably prohibited this or that member of an Order 

from preaching at all. Other bishops would not allow their 

flock to receive communion in the churches of the Mendicants, 

or else publicly declared that all who assisted at Mass except 

in their own parish churches were excommunicated. Others, 

again, claimed for themselves, either wholly or in part, the 

legacies made to the Mendicants ; 

in a word, as the Pope said' 

they laboured with might and main to subject the Mendi- 

cants to themselves, and were of opinion that the care of souls 

was not the concern of religious, but belonged only to the 

secular clergy. ^ Since almost all these infringements of rights 

which had been guaranteed by the Church were based upon 

ill-understood passages in the decrees of the Council of Trent, 

the Pope in a bull dealing with the subject, gave an explanation 

of 26 such passages, which had given occasion for as many 

interpretations which were prejudicial to the Mendicants. 

The prescriptions of this bull were later on extended to a 

number of other Orders,^' while the Dominicans were once more 

specially protected against certain infringements of their 

1 Bull of May 16, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 573 êqq. 

2 Ibid. 

=> To 

the Canons of the Lateran, of S. Salvatore, and of S. Croce 

di Olimbria, to the Cassinese, the Olivetans, the \âllombrosans, 

the Cistercians, the Carthusians, the Spanish Hieronymites, the 

Camaldolese and the " Fratres Militiae lesu Christi reformati " 

in Portugal. Bull of August 16, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 584.

270 


rights.^ In one respect, however, the Pope afterwards 

adopted a stricter attitude towards the Mendicant Orders ; 

he had declared that their members could be authorized to 

hear confessions by their own superiors without the appro- 

bation of the bishops, 2 but as the result of some unfortunate 

experiences he withdrew this privilege.'^ 

It might have been supposed that the ancient privileges of 

the Mendicant Orders, which Pius V. himself added to,"* had 

been fully defined and explained by these bulls, but suddenly 

a fresh difficulty arose. The Council, it was said, had granted 

to all the Orders, with the exception of the Capuchins and the 

Franciscan Observants, the right to possess real estate ; 

result of this, it was claimed, was that, except for these two 

bodies, there were no longer any Mendicant Orders, and that 

the erstwhile Mendicants were bound to contribute to the 

seminaries. Pius V. accordingly declared^ that the aforesaid 

dispensation of the Council had in no way altered the character 

of those orders, and that the Dominicans, Franciscans, 

Augustinian Hermits, and Carmelites, to v/hom he added the 

Servites, must be considered to be Mendicant Orders as before ; 

that the noviciates of these Orders were nurseries for capable 

preachers and confessors, and were deserving of the name of 

seminaries no less than those which were established by the 

bishops, and must therefore be held to be exempt from contributions 

to the episcopal seminaries.® Once this buU had 

expressly placed the Servites on the same footing as the four 

older Mendicant Orders, the same privilege could no longer 

be withheld from other Orders, and the Minims of St. Francis 

of Paula,' the Gesuati^, and the Jesuits,^ obtained a declaration 

^ BuU of September 23, 1567, ibid. 586. 

2 Ibid. 574. 

^ Bull of August 6, 1571, ibid. 938 seq. 

* Bull of July 29, 1566, ibid. 468 seq. 

^ October 3, 1567, ibid. 614 seq. 

* ' eorumque demos, non minus quam ea, quae per ordinaries 

erecta sunt, seminaria vocari pesse." Bull. Rom., VII., 614, § 2. 

' November 9, 1567, ibid. 633. 

^November 18, 1567, ibid. 636. 

" July 7, 1571, ibtd. 923. 

the

THE MENDICANT ORDERS. 27 

that they were true Mendicant Orders and shared in their 

privileges. Other bodies as well obtained a share in these 

privileges, even though they were not by their constitution 

Mendicant Orders ; such were the Congregation of S. Giorgio 

in Alga, near Venice, ^ and the Hermits of St. Jerome''^, but in 

these cases the concession extended only to spiritual and not 

to temporal privileges.^ 

In several of these bulls the Pope expressed his satisfaction 

at the work being done by the Mendicant Orders. He speaks 

of " the rich fruits which they daily produce in the vineyard 

of the Lord " and of " the purity of their zeal for religion and 

their voluntary poverty, by means of which they devotedly 

serve the Most High in a spirit of true humility," and he 

therefore exempts them from imposts, and from the obhgation 

of supporting the troops that pass their way.^ He bestows 

special praise on the Franciscan Observants, which Order, he 

says, is " founded on humility, and on joy in the midst of 

sorrow," and which hitherto " has produced such abundant 

fruit, and continues to produce it in full measure day by day."*^ 

^September 11, 1569, ibid. 772. 

^ March 30, 1571, ibid. 908. 

^ Brief of July 30, 1570, ibid. 837. The Knights of St. John 

to some extent shared in certain exemptions of the Mendicants 

from taxes : November 29, 1568, ibid. 726 seq. 

^ Bull of July 20, 1566, Bull. Rom., VIL, 468. On exemption 

from miUtary charges cf. ibid. 507, 971. The abolition of the 

" gabelle " for the Mendicant Orders was under consideration 

from the beginning of 1567 ; when the Pope was told that they 

brought in 15,000 scudi, he replied that in spite of that he was 

abolishing them hi order to give a good example to the princes. 

*Avviso di Roma of January 18, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 349, Vatican 

Library. 

® Bull of May 28, 1571, Bull. Rom., VIL, 917. For the privileges 

granted by Pius V. to the orders cf. Ant. Maria Bonucci, Com- 

pendio delle grazie e favori, conferiti dalla somma beneiicenza 

deir ottimo, e massimo Pontefice San Pio Quinto agli ordini e 

specialmente aUa Compagnia di Gesii, Rome, 1713. For the 

rights of precedence of the Canons of the Lateran and the Canons 

Qj S. Giorgio in Alga, cf. Bull. Rom., VIL, 877, 915.

272 


The great degeneracy of many Orders, which is blamed in 

the strongest terms in the edicts of Pius V., was not of universal 

application. If the Pope spoke in words of bitter reproach 

of the Spanish convents of the Conventuals, a testimony to 

the generally healthy state of the Observants is to be found 

in the fact that he was able to call upon them to reform the 

more mitigated branch of their Order. ^ In Italy, at any rate, 

the Franciscan Conventuals were, according to the testimony 

of Pius IV., " learned and zealous."- Pius V. expressly 

praised the stricter Hieronymites,^ and if King Sebastian of 

Portugal could not speak well of the Benedictines in his kingdom, 

the Papal bull of reform repeats the eulogies pronounced 

by the king on the congregations of Montecassino and Valla 

dolid.* The briefs issued by the Pope in favour of the Order 

to which he himself belonged are very numerous ; these 

documents do not give the impression that he found much to 

find fault with or to reform in the Dominican Order ; the 

paternal love which, as he himself often confessed, he felt for 

his Order,^ moved him, not to find fault, but rather to grant 

new favours and privileges.^ He sought above all to keep the 

1 See supra, p. 251. 

^ " sables y celosos en Italia ... no asi in Espafia," Corresp. 

dipl., I., 112 n. 

^ " ubi [in Spain] multa et insignia sunt monasteria ipsorum 

fratrum s. Hieronymi, qui sub segulari observantia et religiosa 

vita degentes devotum Altissimo famulatam continue exhibent " 

(Bull. Rom., VII., 569). Castagna wrote to Bonelli on October 11, 

" Los Jer6nimes tienen muy buena fama en Espafia y les 

1568 : 

distingue el Rey." Corresp. dipl., II., 416 n. 

* Bull. Rom., VIII., 3. 

^ Ibid. VII., 801, 904. 

* Edict of February 14, 1567, Bull. Rem., VII., 544 (for Majorca) ; 

of February 16, 1567, ibid. 546 (for the Irish province) ; 

of August 

27, 1568, ibid. 699 (since they were the first confirmed by the 

Pope, the Dominicans have precedence over the other Mendicant 

orders) ; of September i, 1568, ibid. 703 

(on the penitentiaries of 

S. Maria Maggiore) ; of September 23, 1568, ibid. 714 (for the 

college of recently converted Moors at Tortosa) ; 

of January 18, 

1570, ibid. 801 (on the privileges of the whole Order) ; of June 27, 

1570, ibid. 833 (the same) ; of July 21, 1571, ibid. 931 (of thq

THE BENEDICTINES. 273 

Dominicans in the front rank in the matter of learning ; he 

therefore ordered in the case of the Dominicans of Aragon that 

no one should take a bachelor's degree unless he had taught 

theology and philosophy for four years, and that no one should 

attain the degree of master unless he had been appointed by 

the General of the Order or the chapter-general to interpret 

Peter Lombard, had taught for four years, and had been 

proposed for the dignity by the provincial chapter.^ 

The prescription of the Council of Trent which ordered the 

grouping into congregations of those monasteries which were 

isolated and independent of the bishops was of great import- 

ance to the Benedictines. The fresh imipulse which that Order 

experienced during the post-Tridentine period coincided with 

the formation of such groups, as had already been the case 

in the XVth century and even earlier. The grouping of five 

abbeys in Flanders into the Congregation of the Exempts of 

Belgium (1569) took place in the time of Pius V.^ Before the 

close of the century two of its abbots had been appointed 

Bishops of Cambrai and St. Omer respectively, while the 

Society of Jesus owed various colleges to it.^ The day of the 

faculty for absolution of the " bolla crociata ") ; of March 21, 

157T, ibid. 904 (superiors may nominate their subjects as notaries). 

Pius V. issued several bulls of reform for the female branch of the 

Order, as well as one for the Dominicans of Paris ; 

see supra p. 267 ; 

in Spain he abolished the Dominican Conventuals; see supra. p.2o2. 

^ Edict of July 7, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 760. 

'^ 

Cf. ScHMiEDER in Stiidien iind Mitteilungen aiis dem Bene- 

dictiner- und Zisterzienserorden , 

XII., 78. 

3 The abbot of Saint-Bertin as Bishop of St. Omer set up a 

college there " e pecunia, quam sacerdotali frugalitate ac par- 

simonia ad alendos pauperes studiosos seposuerat." 

Sacchini, P. 

III., I, 3, n. 151. Brief of Pius V. of November 3, 1569, on the 

college at Douai, ibid. 1, 4. n. 208 (with wrong date 1568 ; cf. 

Previa, Arm. 44, t. 14, n. 276b, Papal Secret Archives) : " Collegium 

vestrae Societatis sumptibus monasterii Aquicinctensis 

[Anchin] eiusque abbatis [Jean Lentailleur] nuper illic institutum 

esse cognoscentes . . . et monachorum eorum, qui in opere tam 

egregio perficiendo de religionc quam optimc meruerunt, pietatem 

caritatem devotionem vchcmenter in Domino commendavimus." 

VOL. XVII. x8

274 


election of Pius V. saw the death of the celebrated ascetic 

Louis of Blois (Blosius), who had brought his abbey of Liessies 

in Hainaulfi to a very flourishing condition, and who was 

himself a zealous supporter of the Jesuits and their work. 

The union of the Benedictine abbeys in the diocese of Constance 

was decided upon at a meeting of the abbots at Ravensburg 

in 1568, but at first had to endure much opposition from the 

bishops. =* In Switzerland the abbeys gradually began to 

recover from the injuries inflicted upon them by the religious 

innovations ; 

at Einsiedeln, Abbot Eichhorn won for himself 

the name of second founder of that ancient centre of learning 

by his services to the economic improvement of the abbey, 

and his zeal for monastic discipHne.^ At St. Gall, where 

Protestantism had even made its way among the monks, 

Cardinal Borromeo, when he visited it in 1570, found in the 

abbot, Othmar Kunz, a man who was full of good intentions 

to bring about a better state of affairs ;5 Pius V. sent him a 

brief to encourage him and urge him forward.^ The abbot 

1 Opera omnia, Louvain, 1568, Antwerp, 1632 (in the latter at 

p. xxxvii-lxxxvi his biography). Cf. Ziegelbauer, IV., 144 ; 

HuRTER, Nomenclator, IIP., 133 seqq. 

2 O. Manarei de rebus See. lesu commentarius, 18. 

3 ScHMiEDER, loc. cit., 8i. For the visitation of convents made 

by Commendone cf. Vol. XVIII. of this work. 

* Meier von Knonau in Allgeni. Deutsche Biographie, V., 730. 

* Borromeo, September 30, 1570, in Reinhardt-Steffens, 

Doc. I., 12. 

« ScHMiEDER, loc. cit., 82. Mayer, Konzil von Trient, II., 155. 

How much he had it at heart that the Benedictines should be 

united in a congregation appears froni the attitude of Pius V, 

towards the monastery of Farfa and the German monks there, 

Cf. ScHMlDLiN in Hist. Jahrbuch, XXIV. (1903). 258 seqq. Already 

under Julius III. a reform had been attempted at Farfa by the 

Jesuit Bobadilla (a thing which has escaped the notice of Schmid- 

hn). For the state of the monastery cf. Polanco, Vita Ignatii, 

IV., 133 : " Fere viginti monachi germani ibi versabantur, qui 

et vivebant, et ut ipse [Bobadilla] scribit, bibebant germanice ; 

et eos ad arctiorem vitae rationem traducere nihil alius esse, quani 

vel sepelire eos, vel dimittere." Cardinal Alessandro Farnese on

PETER OF ALCANTARA. 275 

of Dissentis, Christian von Kastelberg, both as head of his 

venerable monastery, and as leader of the League of the 

Orisons, laboured in all things " in accordance with the spirit 

of Borromeo."^ 

While among the Benedictines the congregations were 

formed by the grouping of several independent abbeys, in 

other Orders a similar formation of congregations took place 

owing to the fact that members of different monasteries, who 

were desirous of a stricter manner of life, joined together 

within the Order, generally under a provincial of their own. 

Since the middle of the XVIth century quite a number of 

these congregations testified to the formation of a stricter 

party, which subsequently stood for the reform section of 

each order. It was above all the rule of St. Francis of Assisi, 

which, over and above what was strictly enjoined, contained 

so much that was only a matter of counsel and represented an 

ideal, which opened the way to the formation of such special 

congregations. One such had come into being in the houses 

of the so-called Recollects, whither those friars who aimed at a 

stricter manner of life could betake themselves. Pius V. gave 

encouragement to these establishments by enjoining that in 

each province of the Franciscan Observants there must be 

two such houses.^ 

One Franciscan congregation of extreme severity began to 

take a wider extension under Pius V. Its founder was Peter 

of Alcantara, who imitated the penance and poverty of St. 

Francis so literally that he himself did not advise it in the case 

of others, and which seems almost inconceivable.^ According 

to the account of St. Teresa;* who knew him personally, for 

July ig, 1566, asked for two German Jesuits for the reform of 

Farfa (S. Franc. Borgia, IV., 285 seq.), and got them (Borgia to 

Farnese, July 27, 1566, ibid. 291). 

1 Wymann, 241. Mayer, loc. cit. 166. 

2 March 9, 1569, Bull. Rom., VII., 742. 

^ Acta Sanct., October VIII., 623 seqq. 

* Autobiografia, c. 27 and 30 (Ocuvres, cd. M. Bouix, I., Paris, 

1859, 3305^(7., 364; German translation, Aachen, 1868, 358 sey., 394). 

Cf. Rene de Nantes in Etudes franciscaines, X. (1903), 162 seqq.

, time 

276 


forty years he never slept for more than an hour and a half 

a day, and that standing with his head leaning on a piece of 

wood fastened to the wall ; he could not lie down because his 

cell was only four and a half feet in length ; 

often he ate only 

once in three days, and " when I expressed my wonder at 

this," says St. Teresa, " he said that it was very easy once he 

had got accustomed to it ; his body was in consequence 

extremely emaciated." 'xVith all his sanctity, he was very 

gracious, he only spoke when he was spoken to, but then the 

holiness and grace of his soul gave to his words an irresistible 

power and attractiveness. His whole life was one unbroken 

prayer, in which he attained to the highest degree of mystical 

contemplation. 

When he was a student of 16 at the University of Salamanca 

in 15 1 5 Peter entered an already very strict congregation of 

Franciscan Observants, which had come into existence in the 

of Alexander VI., and had one so-called ciistodia in Spain, 

and another in Portugal. Peter himself and his whole life 

is an eloquent witness to the spirit which prevailed in this 

body. In spite of his overwhelming austerity he was elected 

guardian, and in 1538 provincial of his custodia, which had by 

this time been formed into a province. His constitutions, in 

which he still further increased strictness to its utmost limits, 

were immediately accepted in 1540 by the chapter-general at 

Plasencia. Soon afterwards Peter was called to Portugal 

to introduce his reform there. There, too, disciples flocked 

to him, so that it was possible to form a new custodia, that 

of Arabida, which in 1560 became a province. He was able 

at last to satisfy his desire of leading a life given over entirely 

to meditation in' a lonely convent, but once again he felt 

himself irresistibly drawn to the foundation of a manner oi 

life of even greater severity and self-denial. Since this time 

he met with opposition, he travelled bare-foot to Rome, in 

1555, and after many difficulties won over Juhus III. to his 

plan, and then founded at Pedrosa, near Plasencia, a convent 

in accordance v/ith his ideals. In spite of its severity the new 

life met with such success that in 1561 an entire province of 

the Order followed its example, and after the death of the

TERESA OF JESUS. 277 

founder in 1562, it gradually spread through no less than 20 

provinces of the order. Clement IX. proclaimed Peter of 

Alcantara a saint in i66g. 

A little later than the Spanish Franciscans, a reformed congregation 

was set up among the Carmelites in Spain. The 

convents of women in that Order contained many members, 

but there was hardly any enclosure and their manner of life 

was far from strict. Yet it was precisely there that the fire 

was smouldering beneath the ashes ; 

when Teresa de Ahumeda, 

a Carmelite nun ol great abihty in the convent of the In- 

carnation at Avila, went with four sisters of like mind with 

herself to a small house at Avila, in order to devote herself, 

in complete segregation from the distractions of the world, 

entirely to prayer and penance, the enthusiasm for a like 

life of sacrifice spread rapidly. In 1567 Teresa began to found 

other convents of a hke spirit in other places, while by means 

of the Carmelite friar, John of the Cross, the movf-ment spread 

to the male branch of the Order, and became of great importance 

to the Church in the centuries which followed.^ Both 

Peter of Alcantara and Teresa were guided in the exercise of 

prayer and self-denial by the desire to make atonement, after 

the example of Christ crucified, for the sins of the world, and 

to sacrifice themselves for the salvation of others and the 

reform of the Church. Looked at in this light, the congrega- 

tions which they founded belong to the period of Catholic 

restoration ; they differ from the contemporary Orders which 

were devoted to the care of souls only in the means which 

they adopted, and not in the end they had in view. 

If Pius V. restored their religious life to many of the Orders, 

in others he reformed the rule itself, or for the first time gave 

them a rule and constitution. The congregation of the Canons 

Regular of S. Giorgio in Alga, near Venice, the Hermits of 

St. Jerome, and in general all those religious bodies which 

led a community life, and were distingnislied by their dross 

from the secular clergy, but which had hitherto retained their 

property and taken no vows, were now obliged to take the 

1 Particulars in Vol. XIX. of this work.

278 


three solemn vows of religion, and adopt a definite religious 

rule, and were forced to expel those of their number who would 

not agree to this.^ Of no less vital importance for the religious 

without solemn vows was another regulation concerning 

ordination to the priesthood. In order that priests, to the 

lowering of their dignity, should not have to beg for alms 

publicly, or provide for their support in some other undig- 

nified way, the Council of Trent had ordered that in the case 

of the secular clergy only those should receive priests' orders 

who either possessed a benefice or were able to live upon their 

own patrimony. 2 Pius V. now extended this order to all 

religious who had not taken solemn vows.^ Solemn vows 

are distinguished from simple ones by their almost indissoluble 

character ; dispensation from the simple vows of religion 

can be easily obtained, but solemn vows, on the other hand, 

are hardly ever dispensed, not even if a person leaves his 

Order. Moreover, certain special canonical effects are at- 

tached to solemn vows ; marriage, for example, is invalid in 

the case of those bound by them, whereas, in se and per se, 

it is only illicit for those who have taken simple vows. The 

ancient monasticism did not recognize the solemnity of vows, 

but St. Thomas Aquinas considers them an essential part of 

the religious state. 

That Pius V. did not look with favour upon religious with 

only simple vows is made clear by the bulls already spoken of, 

and still more by his attempts to change the constitution of the 

Society of Jesus. 

Ignatius of Loyola and his first companions had all passed 

through the complete course of philosophy and theology at 

Paris, at that time the fi.rst university in the world, and had 

obtained the degree of master. When they gave their hitherto 

free company the form of a religious Order with solemn vows, 

they aimed at maintaining the high standard of learning 

which they had thus attained, and they therefore decided 

^ Bull of November 17, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 725 seq. 

^ Bess. 23, de ref. c. 2. 

=> October 14, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 723.

PIUS V. AND THE SOCIETY OF JESUS. 279 

that only those should become members of the Society of 

Jesus who had in like manner proved their capacity for learn- 

ing by means of searching examinations. Since, however, 

the number of the members would have to remain very small 

as the result of this decision, and it would be impossible to 

carry on their work on any large scale, they also admitted 

other capable priests, but only as coadiuton, that is to say as 

fellow-labourers with the Society proi)erly so-called. The 

coadiuton only took the simple vows of religion ; 

they could 

fill almost all the offices in the Order, but were not represented 

in its legislative assemble, the General Congregation, and 

thus could not pass laws which would have lowered the 

scholarly status of the Order. 

Since a sufficient number of fully quaUfied priests did not 

enter the Order, and Ignatius had in consequence decided to 

receive youths and educate them in the Society, he only granted 

solemn vows to those who had given proof of possessing 

sufficient learning, and that onty after a long noviciate, gener- 

ally of sixteen years. Until then these young religious on their 

part, were only bound to the Order by simple vows, while 

the Order, on its part, was not bound to them at all ; 

should 

they show themselves unsuited to the purposes of the Society 

of Jesus, the General could dispense their vows and dismiss 

them. 

The bulls of Paul III. and Julius III. bad approved this 

arrangement, but Pius V. thought that there was a certain 

want of equity in the fact that with these simple vows the 

Order was not bound in the same degree as were those who 

entered it.^ He did not, however, interfere immediately, 

but in 1567 he ordered the Jesuits to lay before the Congrega- 

tion of the Council a justification of these simple vows for the 

scholastics ; 

at the same time he once again reverted to the 

intention of Paul IV. of forcing the Jesuits to adopt the use of 

the memorial which he now asked for was 

prayer in choir ; 

to deal with that matter as well. 

The arguments put forward by the Jesuits did not meet 

1 Sacchini p. III., I, 3, n. l seqq. Astrain, II, 317 seqq.


with complete success ;^ with regard to the simple vows of 

the scholastics the Pope declared himself satisfied, nor did he 

insist any further on this point ; the reasons adduced also 

convinced him that solemn office sung in choir was not com- 

patible with the active work of the Jesuits in their care of 

souls, but he felt that it was his duty to hold them to prayer 

in choir, though without singing, and allowing the students 

and colleges to be exempt ; in the case of the other churches of 

the Order he said that he would be satisfied if, in the case of 

necessity, the choir was formed of two persons only.^ Even 

this obligation was only imposed orally, without any formal 

annulment of the earlier Papal concessions, and with a further 

grant of a delay pending the publication of the new breviary.^ 

In the professed house in Rome the choir was commenced in 

1568,* but did not continue for long, since Pius V.'s successor, 

Gregory XIII., revoked the order of his predecessor. 

A much deeper blow was struck at the constitution of the 

Society of Jesus by the decree of October 14th, 1568, which 

made solemn vows a necessary condition for sacerdotal ordina- 

tion in the case of religious. This decree had been in readiness 

for some time ; as early as the Christmas of 1566 the Pope had 

ordered his vicar-general not to admit to the priesthood any 

religious who had only taken simple vows. The General of 

the Jesuits, Francis Borgia, accordingly had recourse to the 

Congregation of Cardinals to ask whether the Society of Jesus 

was affected by this order notwithstanding the bulls of Paul III. 

and Juhus III. The Congregation replied that the Jesuits 

might continue to do as they had hitherto done, but that if a 

priest was dismissed from the Order and found himself in 

need, they must provide for his support. Neither the Jesuits 

nor the Pope were satisfied with this reply ; 

Pius V. ordered 

the congregation to re-examine the question, and when it had 

decided to abide by its decision, he still thought it better that 

1 Extract in Sacchini P. III., i, 3, n. 1-22 ; cf. Astrain, II., 

318 seq. 

^ Sacchini, loc. cit., n. 23. 

« Ibid. 

* Ibid. I, 4, n. 144.


in the case of the Jesuits as well, sacerdotal ordination should 

only be allowed after the taking of solemn vows.^ On 

May 26th, 1567, Cardinal Alciati informed the General of 

the order of the Pope's decision, which was to apply, not only 

to Rome, but to the whole Order. ^ The decree of the following 

October revoked all contrary privileges possessed by the 

Jesuits. 

With this act one of the essential fundamental principles 

of the Jesuit Order, as hitherto constituted, was destroyed, 

and the Society of Jesus, as conceived by Ignatius of Loyola, 

was bound to disappear within a few years. The long period 

of probation before definite admission into the Order could 

no longer be retained, since ordination could not be put off 

for so long, and Loyola's principle of strict selection of those 

to be accepted became impracticable for the future. 

In these circumstances Borgia addressed a circular to the 

provincials and the more eminent Jesuits, asking them how 

it would be possible to adhere to the constitutions of the 

Order without in any way faihng in obedience to the Pope.^ 

At last recourse was had to the expedient of making all with- 

out exception to take the vows of religion solemnly before 

ordination, but reserving the right to take part in the General 

Congregation to those who were subsequently admitted to 

the fourth solemn vow of obedience to the Pope. 

Even so, the change v/hich Pius V. had introduced into the 

constitutions gave rise to disturbances within and hostility 

without. Ignatius had introduced many things into his 

Order which later on proved their wisdom, but which at that 

time seemed altogether novel. Hitherto, in reply to the 

difficulties which might arise, it could be answered that these 

1 Borgia to Nadal, June 7, 1567, in Nadal, Epist., III., 480 scqq.; 

Sacchini p. III., I, 3, n. 26 seqq.; Astrain, II., 321 seqq. 

^ Sacchini, loc. cit. 

* Canisii Epist., v., 487. Sacchini, loc. cit. n. 38. The letter 

to Nadal in his Epist., III., 480 seqq. The reply of Nadal from 

Liege, August 14, 1567. ibid. 521 seqq. The reply of Salmeron 

of June 22, 1567, in his Epist., II.. 121. Cf. Sacchini P. III., i. 

4, n. 122 seqq.


things had received the approval of the Popes, and rested 

upon the authority which Ignatius enjoyed among his fol- 

lowers as a saint and a man enlightened by God, but now these 

two pillars on which the Order rested had been severely shaken 

when Pius V. withdrew the concessions of his predecessors, 

and declared an essential point in the conception of the founder 

to have been a mistake. ^ The enemies of the Order made 

the most of this reform o-f Pius V. ; the Pope, so they said, is 

opposed to the Jesuits, he intends to change the Order com- 

pletely, or to suppress it,^ etc. 

In reality Pius V. was in no sense hostile to the Society 

of Jesus. He valued their services,^ endowed their colleges 

with revenues,'* added to their privileges,^ and helped them in 

^ " Infirmantur in fide instituti animi omnium, quotquot ad 

banc religionem vocati sumus ; 

si enim duas illius partes videmus 

abrogatas, quo pacto iDoterimus reliquis confidere ? " Nadal in 

his memorial to Gregory XIII., in Nadal, Epist. IV., 171. 

* Cf. a letter of the Jesuit, Gonzales Davila, of December 18, 

1567, in S. Franciscus Borgia, IV., 576 n. Borgia sent a letter to 

Spain on March 7, 1568 in answer to these insinuations ; ibid. 

575 seqq. 

' Cf. the account in Sacchini P. III., i, 2, n. 4 seqq.; Astratn, 

II., 326 seq. 

* (Delplace) Synopsis Actorum S. Sedis in causa Societatis 

lesu 1540-1605, Florence, 1887, 44-58 (52 numbers, for the most 

part permissions for colleges). *Motuproprio di S. Pio V sotto il 

di 26 febbr. 1566 con cui concede la facolta al coUegio dei Gesuiti 

di Roma di poter ricevere la rassegna di 120 luoghi del monte 

Giuho e Pio detti del soccorso di Avignone, o tutti di un solo 

monte, o il prezzo per la compra dei medesimi e di tenerli per lo 

spazio di 10 anni, il quale terminato possano rendere, transferiie e 

dovendo reprindere la primiera loro istituzione di vacabili (Estratti 

de Hbri instrument. esLstenti nell' arch, segreto Vatic. 1374 seqq. 

Serie 4 dell' Inventario, p. 122, State Archives, Rome). *Brief 

of April 22, 1567, for the college of Olmiitz (handing over of a 

Conventual convent), Archives of Briefs, Rome. Cf. Gregory 

XIII., January 22, 1572, in Synopsis, 63. 

^ Institutum Societatis lesu. I : BuUarium, Florence, 1892, 

38-49.


their difficulties with letters of recommendation. The Order, 

he wrote to Toulouse in 1566, is doing so useful a work in the 

Church by its colleges that anyone wlio loves and supports it 

thereby proves himself a true and pious Catholic.^ He ex- 

horted the University of Cologne^ to put no obstacles in the 

way of the Jesuits, for their colleges were nurseries of Catholic 

doctrine and of a life led in the Christian spirit, and had been 

called into existence by the providence of God ; he himself 

embraced with paternal love the colleges and all the priests 

of the said Order. In another edict Pius V. speaks of the 

incalculable fruits produced in the Christian world by the 

Society of Jesus, which had trained such teachers, preachers, 

and missionaries, men distinguished alike for learning and 

piety, and for their exemplary life and holiness.^ He paid 

another equally glowing tribute to the Jesuits in the last year 

of his life, when he spoke of them as men who had truly renounced 

the attractions of the world, and who, despising 

earthly riches, had united themselves so closely to their 

Saviour that, girt about with poverty and humility, they 

^ *" ut qui illam diligunt et fovent, plane ostendant, vere se 

pics esse et catholicos et utilitatis publicae studiosos." Ordini 

civium nobilium Tolosae (s.d.), Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 12, n. 132, 

Papal Secret Archives. 

- " Societatis lesu collegia, quae quasi quaedam catholicae 

doctrinae christianorumque morum seminaria Dei providentia per 

diversas orbis provincias calamitosis hisce . . . temporibus 

excitavit, atque adeo Patres omnes praedictae Societatis ea 

benevolentia paterna prosequimur etc." Brief of July 3, 1570, 

in Reiffenberg, I.: Mantissa, p. 50. 

2 " Innumerabiles fructus, quos benedicente Domino christiano 

orbi Societas lesu, vires litterarum praecipue sacrarum scientia, 

religione, vita exemplari morumque sanctimonia perspicuos, 

multorum religiosissimos praeceptores at verbi divini etiam apud 

longinquas et barbaras illas nationes, quae Deum pcnitus non 

noverant, optimos praedicatores et interpretes producendo, 

felicissime haetenus attulit." Brief of April 29, 1568, Bull. Soc. 

lesu, 42.

284 


went to the very end of the world to preach the Gospel at 

the peril of their lives. ^ 

If the decree making solemn vows a condition for sacerdotal 

ordination was a blow to the Jesuits, it was an advantage to 

the Somaschi, founded by Jerome EmiUan. This Order had 

not as yet fully worked out its constitutions, and the Pope's 

decree put an end to several canonical uncertainties. The 

Order now adopted the rule of St. Augustine. ^ 

As far as the other Orders were concerned Ormaneto laid 

before the Pope proposals for the reform of the Capuchins.^ 

The Theatines were confirmed in their former privileges, and 

received new ones.^ So far the Barnabites had not spread 

very widely, and in 1552 and 1559 steps had been taken to 

merge the Order into that of the Jesuits.^ Under Pius V., 

however, the Order received a new life owing to the merits 

of the man who may be considered its second founder, 

Alessandro Sauli.^ 

Pius V. gave its first Papal approbation to a religious congregation 

which had only recently come into existence, and 

thus greatly assisted its progress towards becoming a true 

1 Brief of July 7, 1571, Bull. Rom., VII., 923. The Venetian 

ambassador wrote on April 12, 1567, that the Pope favoured the 

Roman Jesuits, who devoted themselves zealously to the service 

of God and the instruction of youth ; 

they have four houses in 

Rome, their churches are always full, and many receive the sacraments 

there. Mutinelli, I., 72. 

2 Brief of December 6, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 729 seqq. 


Vatican Library ; cf. *Avviso of June 14, 1370, ibid. 290b. Pro- 

hibition of passing from the Capuchins to the Minims and vice 

versa : brief of October 6, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 617. 

"February 13, 1568 (year of the Incarnation 1567), Bull. Rom., 

VII., 537 ; cf. Laderchi, 1568 n. 17. *Motu proprio of July 12, 

1566, which grants exemption from " gabelle " to the Clerks 

Regular of S. Silvestro in Rome, in Estratti de libri instrument, 

esistenti nell' arch, segreto Vatic. 1374-1557, serie 4 dell' Inventario. 

State Archives, Rome. 

^ Arch. stor. Lomb., XXXVIII. (191 1), 152 seq. 

« Ibii. PREMOLI, Barnabiti, 206. Cf. supra, p. 237 seq.

JOHN OF GOD. 285 

religious Order ; this was the congregation of the Fatebene- 

fratelU. After a long life spent as a shepherd and as a soldier, 

its founder, John of God, had been suddenly filled with the 

deepest sorrow for his past life by a sermon of the Apostle of 

Andalusia, John of Avila. By Avila's advice he began to 

devote himself to the service of the sick. He first estabUshed 

a small house at Granada, and then a large hospital, of which 

he took charge with a few companions until his death in 1550.^ 

Most likely John of God had no thought of founding a new 

Order ; 

he and his companions, however, wore a special dress, 

but they took no vows of religion, and thus remained seculars. 

They only adopted a definite rule through the efforts of 

Rodrigo de Siguenza, who also had been a soldier, and had 

then devoted him.self to the service of the sick in the hospital 

at Granada, and was soon afterwards elected Superior of the 

little company. Rodrigo then sent his predecessor in that 

office, Sebastian Arias, to Rome, to obtain from the Pope his 

approval of their pious fraternity, and leave to wear a religious 

habit, which could not then be worn by others, since the one 

which they had hitherto used had been made use of by impostors 

in order to obtain alms. The bull in which the Pope 

granted this request, and placed the brotherhood under the 

Augustinian rule,^ gives some particulars as to the extent and 

activities of the congregation. In the hospital at Granada 

more than 400 incurables, lunatics, cripples and aged persons 

were maintained. The annual cost was more than 16,000 

ducats, gathered by the Brothers as voluntary alms. Besides 

the one at Granada, the congregation had similar hospitals 

at Cordova, Madrid, Toledo and Lucena. The bull of Pius V. 

did not as yet give the Fatebenefratelli the right to elect a 

superior for the whole congregation, nor did it oblige them to 

take the three vows of religion. 

Pius V. had only a short span of life left to him when he 

signed the bull in favour of the Fatebenefratelli, but at the 

close of his days he could truly say that the work of reform 

^ Cf. Vol. XI. of this work, p. 529 seq. 

2 Of January i, 1572, Bull. Rom., VII., 959.


of the Church in its head and in its members had been sub- 

stantially accomplished. 

If we attempt to form a general idea of the reforming 

activities of Pius V. we can only wonder that he should have 

been able to accomplish so much in his comparatively short 

pontificate. In versatility and zeal he surpasses all the reforming 

Popes of the XVIth century. It was characteristic of him 

that he was never satisfied with what he had done. The 

Imperial ambassador wrote that when the Pope was entering 

upon the second year of his pontificate, it seemed that his 

Holiness had become " terrible," and was stricter and more 

fixed in his purpose, and without consideration for any of the 

princes. Only now, so he himself said, was he beginning to be 

Pope and to understand all that that implied. ^ A year later 

the Pope declared in consistory that he had not done his duty 

completely, that he begged God to pardon him for his neglect, 

and promised that he would be more full of zeal henceforward. 

At the beginning of March, 1571, the Romans were expecting 

in terror from hour to hour a reform which, as a news-sheet 

that was secretly passed from hand to hand put it, would be 

" terrible."^ 

Yet how unfavourably had the secular ambassadors, 

especially those of the King of Spain, expressed themselves 

as to the goodwill of the Roman court in the matter of the 

carrying out of the decrees of the Council ! 

It is the special 

glory of Pius V. that he gave the lie to these doubts and fears. 

By his unflagging zeal the dead letter of the Council graduall\^ 

became a livmg force and changed the whole appearance of 

^ *" che sia divenuta [S. 8'^''^] terribile e piu dura e pertinace 

nelle sue oppinioni senza haver rispetto a principe alcuno et ha 

detto c' hora comincia a esser papa e a conoscerlo." Strozzi, 


^ *" conoscer di non haver fatto tutto quelle gli conveniva con 

tutto cio ch' haveva fatto molte riforme, per6 pregava Dio a 

perdonarci, perche da qui innanzi sarebbe piu diligente." Arco, 

January 24, 1568, ibid. 

3 *Avviso di Roma of March i, 1571, Urb. 1041, p. 23b, Vatican 

Library.

PIUS V. AND THE TRIDENTINE DECREES. 287 

the Church. It is with deep emotion that one may see to-day 

in the church of S. Maria Maggiore, among the rehcs of the 

great Pope, the printed copy of the Tridentine decrees which 

he used.^ This little book became in his hands the lever by 

means of which he uprooted from its bed a whole world of 

disorders. 

^ Venice, 1565.

CHAPTER VII. 

The Roman Inquisition preserves Religious Unity 

IN Italy. 

The wish that his works might be buried together with the 

great champion of the tribunals of the faith had found ex- 

pression at the time of the death of Paul TV. in the destruction 

of the Palace of the Inquisition. But the futility and im- 

])racticability of any such idea was manifest to all when the 

former Grand Inquisitor of Paul IV., as soon as he had as- 

cended the throne of St. Peter under the name of Pius V, 

proceeded to build a new and even more secure home for the 

Holy Oihce. On May i8tb, 1566, the palace of the deceased 

Cardinal Lorenzo Pucci, situated in the Leonine City, close 

to the German cemetery, passed, mainly by purchase, into 

the hands of Pius V., and the building, where the Inquisition 

was ahead}' carrying on its business, was made over to it 

as its permanent abode. ^ In the July of that year we find 

it stated that the Pope was thinking of erecting a new building, 

that three plans had been prepared, and that 50,000 scudi 

had been assigned for the purpose from the Papal treasury. 

In the opinion of the architect, Pino, however, this sum was 

insufficient. The projected palace would have to be very 

large, must have room for the prisons in its upper storeys, 

and must be built in such a way as to be safe from attacks 

such as that which had taken place at the death of Paul IV. ^ 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 445 seqq.; cf. Fontana in Arch. Rom., XV- 

(1892), 462. A *bull " Cum nos " of August 15, 1567, contains 

the " confirmatio emptionis palatii ipsius inquisitionis." Archives 

of Briefs, Rome. 

^ *Ciregiola to Cardinal Medici, Rome, July 19, 1566, State 

Archives, Florence, Medic. 5096. *Arco on August 10, 1566, 

wrote to Vienna that the money for the building had been taken 

288

NEW PALACE OF THE HOLY OFFICE. 289 

The Pope, our iiiforinant adds, is occupying himself on the 

subject of the Inquisition more anxiously than anything else.^ 

On September 2nd, 1566, the first stone of the new building 

was laid witii great solemnity, amid salvos of cannon from 

the Castle of St. Angelo,- and then was pushed forward with 

all speed. The builders of St. Peter's were instructed to 

interrupt their labours on the basilica, and assist with the 

building of the new palace of the Holy Office.^ In July, 

1567, the Pope paid a visit to the building,'* but it was not 

until 1569 that he was able to place over the iron doors of the 

completed edifice his own coat of arms, together with those 

of Cardinals Pacheco. Rebiba, Gambara and Chiesa, with an 

inscription proclaiming that the palace was to be used for 

the warfare against heresy, and the spread of the Catholic 

religion.^ Even before the first stone was laid the Pope 

from the revenues of St. Peter's (State Archives, Vienna). The 

*Diarium of C. Firmanus on July i, 1566, gives as the names of 

the architects " domini " Pino and Sallustio. Papal Secret 

Archives. 

^ * " A niuna cosa piu attende S. S*^^ che all' inquisizione." 

Ciregiola, loo. cit. 

^ *Avviso di Roma of September 7, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 282, 


^ * " La fabrica della Inquisizione tuttavia si soUicita, et per 

formarla presto, hanno levato li muratori et scarpellini di S. Pietro, 

nel qual hora si fa niente." (Avviso di Roma of October 5, 1566, 

loc. cit. 295). The Imperial secretary, Francesco Strozzi, also 

wrote on October 26, 1566, to Maximilian II. that in spite of his 

poverty and niggardliness (towards the Emperor) the Pope was 

pushing forv/ard " gagliardamente " the building of the palace of 

the Inquisition ; 

all the builders in Rome had been made to assist 

and it was becoming like a fortress. State Archives, Vienna. 

* *Report of B. Pia of July 19, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

® " Pius V. P.M. Congregationis sanctae inquisitionis domura 

banc qua haereticae pravitatis sectatores cautius coercerentur a 

fundamentis in augmentum cathoUcae religionis erexit anno 

J569." (CiACONius, III., 992. BucHELius, Iter Italicum [1587- 

1588], in Arch. d. Soc. Rom., XXIII. [1900], 49). For the palace 

of the Inquisition c/. Lanciani, IV., 21-23. 

VOL. XVII. 19

290 


had taken steps for the formation of well-arranged archives 

in the new building, ordering all that the minutes of the trials 

of the Inquisition should be collected and placed in the Holy 

Office, and that they were only to be made use of there. 

Pius V. then took steps to provide the necessary revenues 

for the Roman tribunal of the faith. 

If Pius IV. had imitated the mildness of Paul III. and 

Julius III. in his administration of the Inquisition, it was only 

natural that one who was so stem and so zealous for the purity 

of the faith as was Pius V., should once more adopt the policy 

of Paul IV. It was an expression of his holy zeal when, 

making use of the very words of Paul IV., he declared that 

questions of faith must take precedence of all other business, 

since the faith is the substance and groundwork of Christian- 

ity,^ and he stated in a solemn constitution that it would 

be his first care to see that heresies, false doctrines, and errors 

were removed and banished as far away as possible, for that 

^ Decree of January 31, 1566, n. 102 ; Pastor, Dekrete, 28 seq. 

- On April 3, 1566, the tenure of Conca (as to this see Tomas- 

SETTi, Campagna, II., 387 seqq.; Abbate, Provincia di Roma, II. 

[1894], 215), hitherto belonging to Grottaferrata, was assigned in 

consistory to the Holy Office (Diarium of Cardinal Farnese, in 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 94. *Bulla dismembrationis tenutae Conchae 

etc., tertio nonas April, 1566, registered on May 20, Arm. 52, 

t. 5, p. I seqq., Papal Secret Archives. Cf. Bull. O. Praed., V., 

124 ; Lanciani, IV., 23). An *Avviso di Roma of July 7, 1571 

(Urb. 1042, p. 84, Vatican Library) announces that the Pope in 

spite of his financial straits has assigned 12,000 scudi to the 

Inquisition from the sale of the property of Pallantieri. *" Notifi- 

catio facta S.D.N. P. et consensus Suae S*''^, quod scuta 3000 

partis palatii s. Inquisitionis exponantur seu investiantur in tot 

locis montis fidei per M. Lor. Puccio," of July 27, 1569, Arm. 52, 

t. 3, p. 198, Papal Secret Archives. A *mandate of January 11, 

1570, assigns a salt mine " pro usu familiae et pauperum carceratorum 

" in the palace of the Inquisition ; ibid. Arm. 29, t. 242, 

p. 189. A *mandate of November 19, 1567, orders that the 

exemption of the Inquisition from taxes is to be strictly observed ; 

ibid. t. 232, p. II. 

^Bull. Rom., VII., 4^^. CJ. Paul IV. in Pastok, Dekrete 16.

PIUS V. AND THE INQUISITION. 29I 

only thus could security and peace be restored to the Church.^ 

After an audience with Pius V., the Inquisitor of Brescia 

gave it as his opinion in March, 1566, that in all that con- 

cerned the tribunal of the faith the Pope stood in need of the 

bit rather than the spur ;2 a short time afterwards the 

Venetian ambassador, Tiepolo, wrote that nothing lay so 

near the heart of the Pope as the Inquisition.^ Under his 

government all appearance of any readiness to offend against 

it or to favour heresy had to be carefully avoided. Cardinal 

Sirleto, a few weeks after the election of Pius V., thought it 

advisable to send a special warning to Commendone on the 

subject. The Pope, so he wrote by Caligari, is very scrupulous 

in matters of faith ; Commendone must be on his guard 

against having any private conversation with the heretics, 

or, like Cardinal Este at Poissy, attending their sermons, 

for Pius V. would take any such act very ill."* When, in the 

last year of the Pope's life, the case of the Count of Cajazzo 

was being considered by the Holy Office, Cardinal Rambouillet 

dared to say a word on his behalf, but Pius V. silenced him 

abruptly, saying that it ill beseemed one who wore the Car- 

dinal's robes to speak on behalf of anyone accused by the 

Inquisition.^ 

^ Bull of December 21, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 499. 

- Tiepolo on March 9, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., 37. For Pius V.'s 

great strictness in all that concerned religion, see also the *report of 

the Este ambassador of February 23, 1566, State Archives, Modena. 

'Tiepolo on July 20, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., 50. In like 

manner *Arco, June 29, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

* *" che Nostro Signore e molto scrupuloso nelle cose della 

fede. . . . Nostro 

Signore haveria malissimo e qui sono raolti 

osservatori delle sue attioni." Caligari to Commendone, February 

2, 1566, Lett. d. princ, XXIII., Papal Secret Archives. 

* *" Mai vi si conviene, Monsignore, a parlare in difesa d' uno 

inquisito havendo I'habito che havete." (Avviso di Roma of 

Januarj- 31, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 15, Vatican Library). Cajazzo, 

however, after a " canonical purgation " was dismissed by the 

Inquisition (*Avvisi di Roma of September 15 and 27, 15 71, ibid. 

120, 123). On September S, 1571, Arco *announces that his 

liberation was imminent. State Archives, Vienna.

292 


PYom the first no one expected anything else from Pius V. 

The new Pope, so wrote Cardinal Cicada in announcing the 

election to the Republic of Genoa, will be a distinguished 

pastor, who will above all things set his heel upon the heretics 

and the enemies of the faith. ^ As early as the beginning 

of February, 1566, the Imperial ambassador Arco wrote 

that there was talk of reorganising the tribunals of the In- 

quisition ;- a few days later he speaks of the reform as an 

accomplished fact ; an entirely new congregation had been 

set up for the administration of the Inquisition, composed 

of the four Cardinals, Scotti, Pacheco, Rebiba and Gambara^ 

In a motu proprio the Pope justified this step by saying that 

he wished to facilitate a more speedy decision of the trials 

then pending befoiê the Holy Office, and that the nine mem- 

bers of the old commission were too busy with other matters ; 

the ordinance of Pius IV. held good in the case of the new 

^ " Bonissimo pastore, el quale sopra tutto sara acerrimo 

jêrsecutore delli heretici at altri nemici della nostra fede." Cicada, 

January 11, 1566, in Rosi, Riforma in Liguria, 63. 

- * Arco, February 2, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ * Arco, February, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. *Semstori, 

February 6, 1566, State Archives, Florence. The names of the 

same four Cardinals are given as Inquisitors on the occasion of the 

autodafe in Rome on June 23, 1566 (Firmanus, *Diarium, p. 10 ib. 

Papal Secret Archives ; cf. App. nn. 35-47) as well as in an edict 

of July 4, 1567, in Hilgers, Index, 504. On the death of Scotti 

in 1568, Chiesa took his place (*Arco, April 3, 1568, loc. cit.; a 

list of the Cardinals of the Inquisition in Firmanus, *Diarium, 

on November 30, 1568, loc. cit., 272 ; cf. supra, p. 289). On 

February 28, 1568, the *Avvisi di Roma (Urb. 1040, p. 484 Vatican 

Libraiy) report that Borromeo as well was to be summoned to the 

Inquisition. Santori was appointed consultor to the Inquisition ; 

see his *notes on his audience with the Pope on February 5, 1566, 

Papal Secret Archives, Arm. LII., 17, and his Autobiografia, XII., 

340. 

" Arcangelus Blancus, episc. Theanensis," became " com- 

missarius generalis Inquisitionis " in T566 ; Brevia, Arm. 29, 

t. 224, p. 7b, Papal Secret Archives. For the important services 

of Gambara to the Inquisition cf. Albert, II., 4, 186 ; Corresp. 

dipL, II., 76.

PIUS V. AND THE INQUISITION. 293 

commission, namely that the consensus of even two of its 

number gave legal force to its decisions.^ 

About the middle of February, 1566, it was feared in Rome 

that in the administration of the Inquisition the new Pope 

would follow in the footsteps of Paul IV., the more so as the 

procurator-fiscal of the tribunal had taken up his abode 

at the Vatican, and held long consultations with the head 

of the Church. 2 It was a fact that the Pope, following the 

example of Paul IV., was frequently present at the meetings 

of the Inquisition, and that in his decrees on matters con- 

cerning the tribunal of the faith he closely imitated those of 

the Carafa Pope.'^ A decree of July 28th, 1569, according 

to which an accused person, once he had been convicted of 

heresy or had confessed to it, was to be forced to fuUer con- 

fession by means of torture, is directly reminiscent of Paul 

IV. ^ When he enacted that all the decisions arrived at at a 

meeting of the Inquisition were to be issued in the name of 

the Cardinal Inquisitors, even though they resulted from 

a Papal order,'' or when he laid it down that participation 

in the acts of the tribunal of the faith carried with it no sort 

of irregularity,^ or that heresy involved the immediate for- 

feiture of all ecclesiastical benefices,' Pius V. was using the 

very words of the edicts of Paul IV. An edict of Pius V. 

^Motu pro]Drio "Cum felicis " (without date), Bull, Rom., 

VII., 502. 

- *Cusano, P'ebruary 16, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

'^ The contrast with Pius IV. is shown in the decrees which 1 

have published, even as regards their exterior form. While those 

issued under Pius IV. all appear under the names of the Inquisitors, 

of the 14 issued under Pius V., 7 bear the name of the Pope at 

their head ; 

see Pastor, Dekretc, 28. 

* Ibid. 31. Diana, 580. 

' Decree of March 14, 1566, in Pastor, loc. cit., 29 ; it is in 

literal conformity with that of Paul IV. of May 28, 1556 ; ibid. 19. 

•^ Decree of December 9, 1567, ibid. 30 ; cf. the decree of Paul IV. 

of April 29, 1557, ibid. 21. 

'The corresponding decree of Paul IV. of June 17, 1556, ibid. 

19 (in Diana, 178, with the date July 18, 1556) was renewed by 

Pius V. (Diaxa, 579 ; cf. Pastor, loc. cit. 23, n. 2).

294 


of June 6th, 1566,^ is merely a fuller statement of the ideas 

of Paul IV. ; this edict is an exhortation to the princes, 

and a command to all other Christians to obey the Cardinals 

of the Holy Ofhce in all that concerns the Inquisition, and 

it gives the Inquisition precedence over all other tribunals 

in its right to pronounce judgment on offenders. The opening 

words of the decree in which Pius V. orders that matters 

concerning the faith, which is the substance and basis of 

Christianity, must take precedence of all other matters, 

are copied literally from the decree of Paul IV. The obliga- 

tion of secrecy concerning all matters treated of by the tribunal, 

which had been imposed by his two predecessors, was in- 

sisted upon even more strictly by Pius V. ; 

any infringement 

of this secrecy was to be considered as a personal affront to 

the Pope.^ The advice of the consultors was taken under 

Pius V. with regard to the old custom of not making known 

to one who was accused before the Inquisition the names of 

the witnesses, and of taking precautions against their becoming 

known ; as the result of their advice the existing custom 

was retained.^ 

Probably the contrast between Pius V. and his predecessor 

comes out most clearly in a constitution upon the procedure 

of the Inquisition which he issued towards the end of the 

first year of his reign.* He appeals in the first place to his 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 422, without date ; with date in Cod. Barb. 

Lat. 5195, p. loob-ioib, Vatican Library. The decree was only 

issued at the beginning of October, 1566 (*Avviso d' Roma of 

October 5, 1566, where the decree is also assigned to June ; Urb. 

1040, p. 294, Vatican Library). Cf. the decree of Paul IV. of 

October i, 1555, in Pastor, loc. cit. 15 seq. 

^ Decree of January 31, 1566, in Pastor, loc. cit. 28 seq. ; 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 2. On June 10, 1569, Pius IV's prohibition 

of making copies of the acta of the Inquisition was renewed (see 

Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 315). Pastor, loc. cit. 31. 

^ Decree of March 14, 1566, in Pastor, loc. cit. 29 ; Diana, 579 ; 

Amabile, I., 291. Cf. HiNSCHius, VI., 346, n. 10. 

* Of December 21, 1566, -Bull. Rom., VII., 499 seqq.; cf. 

Laderchi, 1566, n. 95.


own long experience as Grand Inquisitor ; this had shown 

him that many of those summoned before the tribunal of 

the faith brought false witnesses to speak for them, and that 

in their depositions accused persons helped each other, and 

by means of cunningly devised excuses and artifices deceived 

their judges and even the Popes. ^ Several accused persons 

had even succeeded in obtaining from the tribunals of the 

faith and from the Popes documents in their own favour, 

as for example certificates in which they were declared to be 

good Catholics, both in their life and their beliefs, or else 

Papal briefs and consistorial decrees which ensured to them 

the protection of the Pope, and prevented the Inquisition 

from taking any further action against them. Their former 

errors were thus maintained and even more widely spread 

under the aegis of such declarations. In order to obviate 

this abuse Pius V. then proceeds to give the Inquisition a 

free hand to take steps against heretics in spite of such docu- 

ments, especially when they had given fresh signs of heresy. 

Even when a trial had been decided by the authority of the 

Council of Trent itself, the Inquisition has the right to reopen 

the case and re-examine it. Finally, the Pope renews the 

bull of Paul IV. of February 15th, 1558, against heretics and 

schismatics.^ It is obvious to whom the Pope refers when he 

complains that even some of the Popes had been deceived by 

the heretics. 

Some of the decrees of the Cardinal Inquisitors form a 

corollary to this stern edict. It was certainly in order to 

foil the intrigues of the prisoners of the Inquisition in the mat- 

ter of mutual assistance, that it was enacted that except 

when they were making their defence, those who were im- 

prisoned might only confer with other persons, or read or 

write, with the permission of the Inquisitors. Anyone who 

broke this rule might be subjected to torture. Even the 

^The printed version of the bull in Bull. Rom., VII., 499 is 

very much mutilated at this point ; it may be completed from the 

text in Laderchi. 

- For this bull see Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 303.

296 


governor of the prison could only visit a prisoner if he was 

accompanied by somebody else.^ 

If Pius V. sought to put an end to cunning intrigues against 

the Inquisition, he also took steps to protect his officials 

from violence. Acts of hostility and actual violence against 

the Inquisitors were not unknown in the XVIth century. 

On August 27th, 156T, Pius IV. complained that, from fear 

of the heretics, few persons offered their services as notaries 

for the tribunal of the faith,- and that at Avignon nobody 

dared to take action against the heretics from fear of the 

consequences.^ Pius V. had learned by his own experiences 

of early days that it needed courage to be an Inquisitor.* 

In a constitution of April ist, 1569,^ he complains of the influence 

which was daily being gained by wicked men, who 

sought in every way to overwhelm the Inquisition and to 

obstruct the labours of its officials ; 

the very gravest penalties 

were accordingly to be inflicted upon anyone who should 

kiU, maltreat or intimidate an Inquisitor, or any of his as- 

sessors and assistants, as well as those who should attack, 

set fire to, or rob the churches, houses, or property of the 

Inquisition and its officials, or burn, steal or disturb the docu- 

^ Decrees of June 7th, 1567, July 13 and October 26, 1569, in 

Pastor, loc. cit. 29, 31. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 138. 

^ Ibid. T46. 

* Catena, 7 seq., 10. For another case of violence, against 

Santori at Naples, see the latter's Autobiograna, XII., 335, 337 

and supra p. 166. cf. FuMi, L'Inquisizione, 204. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 744 seqq. Cf. the *Avviso di Roma of May 7, 

1569 (Urb. 1041, p. 68b, Vatican Library) and the *report of Arco 

of the same date, State Archives, Vienna. For the probable 

occasion of this constitution (a decree for the Orisons, which, on 

account of the arrest of the heretic Cellaria, had set a reward on 

the head of the Inquisitor, Pietro Angelo Casanova) cf. Laderchi, 

1569, n. 57. The proposed publication of the bull at Naples 

proved to be unnecessary ; ibid. n. 76. Another *bull of 1569 

contra molestantes ministros S*'® Inquisitionis," in Arm. 8, 

caps. 4, n. I, Papal Secret Archives.


ments belonging to the Holy Office, or should abet such 

offences ; and lastly those who should forcibly break into the 

prisons of the Inquisition, set free its prisoners, or rescue 

the imprisoned from their gaolers, or give them sanctuary. 

Anyone who was guilt}^ of such acts of violence at once in- 

curred excommunication, was held guilty of high treason, 

forfeited his benefices and property, and was to be handed 

over to the secular arm. A special brief, on the other hand, 

again confirmed in its privileges a confraternity which, since 

the middle ages, had undertaken the defence of the In- 

quisition.^ Another edict was specially directed to the safe- 

guarding from molestation of those religious who had recourse 

to the tribunal of the faith or were cited by it as witnesses.^ 

Pius V. appealed to his own long experience as Inquisitor 

in justification of his stern measures against the follov/ers 

of the new religion. If we may judge from his decrees it 

certainly cannot be held that his experience had given him 

any respect for the Protestant movement in Italy. Judging 

from what he says in these decrees the Italian Protestants 

were in his opinion a sect which was groping in the dark ; 

they had sufficient courage to spread their doctrines secretly 

and unseen, but once they were discovered and brought to 

judgment, in the great majority of cases their boldness miser- 

ably crumbled away, at the very moment when it was called 

upon to prove that the movement really inspired constancy 

of opinion and the courage that makes martyrs ; 

on the con- 

trary, they denied their Protestantism and recanted. For 

this reason, as he often said, in his opinion sternness was the 

^ Brief in favour of the " cruce signati " of October 13, 1570, 

Bull, Rom., VII., 860. In his early activities as Inqnisitor 

Ghislieri had been helped by a member of the Compagnia della 

C: ore against the heretics in the Swiss part of the diocese of Como 

(Catena, 6). For the Crocesegnati cf. Fumi, L'Inquisizione, 

19-26. The Duke of Florence quickly dissolved a confraternity 

of Crocesegnati which was set up in Siena in 1569. Canti^, 

Eretici, II., 452. 

580. 

^ Decree of August 7, 1567, in Pastor, Dela-ete. 30 ; Diana,

298 


true remedy for heresy.^ If they did not hesitate to inflict 

the severest penalties in a few cases, Italy would be saved 

from a civil war, which, as had already happened in France,^ 

would drown the countr}^ in blood, while the religious divisions 

would only grow worse ; whereas by acting as he suggested 

the punishments with which God would otherwise visit the 

world would be averted.^ 

The Pope's viev;s of justice, however, afforded the heretic 

some excuse, even though they did not justify them ; he 

often recognized that the low state of morals among the clergy, 

a thing which he fought against with all his strength, was the 

starting point and foundation from which the Protestant movement 

drew its force.* This, however, was far from giving the 

^ " Omai I'esperienza, che in case di erectici si e fatta atiche 

in altre citta d'ltalia, mostra, giusta ropinione del Pontefice, che 

il rigore sia la vera medicina di questa paste." (Cardinal Cicada 

tp the Doge of Genoa, June 4, 1568, in Rosi, Riforma in Liguria, 

90). 

" Quo lenius cum illis [Hugonottis] agitur, eo magis eorum 

corroboratur audacia " (Pius V. to Catherine de' Medici, June 27, 

1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 423). 

^ Catena, 68 seq. 

^ So wrote Pms V. to Charles IX. on April 13, 1569, after having 

enumerated the crimes of the Huguenots : 

" nam si qualibet 

inductus causa (quod non putamus) ea de quibus Deus offenditur 

msectari atque ulcisci distuleris, certe ad irascendura eius patientiam 

provocabis, qui quo tecum egit benignius, eo debes acrius 

illius iniurias vindicare." Goubau, 166 ; cf. 163. 

* " che il principio e origine delle eresie nella maggior parte era 

stato il mal esempio che avevano dato gU ecclesiastici ; pero li 

confortava [i cardinali] e pregava al ben vivere." (Pius V. in the 

consistory of January 12, 1566, in Serristori, Legaz. 420 ; cf. 

GouB.û, 2, 12, 24, 28, 109, 127 seq., 132, 143, etc.). The prin- 

cipal objection which he had met with from the Italian 

Protestants when he was Inquisitor was the " scandalo delle 

meretrici di Roma " and, in connection with that, the corrupt 

life of clergy and laity, whereas it was Rome which should have 

set an example to the world (C.\tena, 49). For moral and religious 

conditions in Italy cf. the picture drawn by H. Bohmer, Studien zur 

Geschicte der Gesellschaft Jesu, Bonn, 1914, 177 seqq.

ITALIAN PROTESTANTISM. 299 

reformers any right to undertake the foundation of an en- 

tirely new Cliurch. There has always been on earth, so Pius 

V. wrote, only one true religion, and there can be only one 

which is the religion which the Apostles preached, which the 

early martyrs attested by their blood, and which has been 

handed dow^n from the time of the Apostle Peter to 

later times by means of his successors.^ In the opinion 

of the Pope, therefore, it is obvious where the true 

Church of Christ is to be found, and if the new believers 

still resist it after they have been sufficiently instructed, 

their conduct could only be looked upon as obstinacy and 

pride. 

In Italy, Protestantism did not come forward, as it did in 

Germany, more or less openly, but made use of underground 

wa3's to propagate its doctrines. From his own experience 

in this matter, Pius V. was borne out in his view as to the 

altogether treacherous character of the religious innovators. 

Books containing the new doctrines were secretly dissemi- 

nated ;- preachers of the new " Gospel " travelled about the 

country disguised as merchants or in other ways,^ and, what 

was worse, ecclesiastics who had secretly lapsed from the faith 

appeared in Catholic pulpits, dressed as Catholic priests, and 

covertly spread the opinions of Luther and Calvin under the 

^ To Sigismund Augustus of Poland, December 17, 1568, in 

GouBAU, 114 seq. 

-"Ho inteso dire che gli eretici hanno consertato di mano in mano 

tra di loro di fare ogni opera adesso per infettare Italia con mandarvi 

homini secret! con libri et con ogni sorta d'industria " (Castagna' 

June 5, 1568, Corresp. dipl. II. 381). " Ha Qerca de un ano que el 

Papa fue avisado por el Duque de Florentia y por otras personas 

que estuviesse sobre aviso ; 

que de Alemania, Flandes y Francia 

y otras partes donde ay hereges se embiavan cartas y libros contaminados 

a muchas personas de Italia, donde avia artas danadas 

en lo de la fee." The Pope charged Cardinal Gambara with the 

task of watching over heretical books (Requesens to Philip II., 

March 16, 1567, ibid. 76). 

' Rosi, Riforma in Liguria, 68.

300 


guise of Catholic doctriiie.^ The honesty of a Pius V. could 

only see in such folk dishonest hypocrites and traitors to 

the Church. 

It would then have needed outstanding instances of the 

courage that makes martyrs, as well as deep religious con- 

victions, and what is more, many such instances, to have led 

the Pope to have formed a higher opinion of Italian Pro- 

testantism, but any such examples of strength of character 

were altogether lacking during his pontificate. The new 

believers almost aU made their abjuration at the sight of 

the stake, or in any case returned to their allegiance to the 

Church at the last moment. 

The first autodafe took place on June 23rd, 1566, at the 

Church of S. Maria sopra Minerva,^ when fifteen sentences 

were pronounced, and fourteen of the condemned were 

present, seven of whom were sentenced by false witness to 

scourging and the galleys, and seven made their abjuration. 

Two of these were specially notorious. One, a heretic whose 

name is not known, had had himself circumcised in order 

to be able to marry a Jewess, although he already had a wife 

in Spain. The other, Pompeo de'Monti, a Neapolitan noble, 

and a relative of Cardinal Colonna, was handed over to the 

secular arm as a relapsed heretic. As we learn from the 

sentence,^ Pompeo, since his relapse was weU known, had 

1 Tacchi Venturi, I., 330 seqq. The first preachers of the 

reformation in Italy, Fra Galateo, Fra Bartolomeo I'onzio, and 

Fra Ubaldo Lupetino, were all apostate monks. Benrath in 

Real-Enzyklopadie of Herzog, IX ^., 529 seq. Examples from 

the time of Pius V. see infra 301, 306, 311 seq. 

^ Attempts to effect conversions were not wanting at this time. 

: *Fra Lattantio Arturo, Raggionamento 

Cf. Cod. Vatic., 6317 

fatto ad un carcerato inquisito d'heresia (on the worship of the 

saints), 1570, Vatican Library. 

^ Tiepolo on June 29, 1566, in Mutinelei, I., 48 ; Firmanus, 

*Diarium, see App. nn. 35-47. Corresp. dipl., I., 288. *Arco, 

June 29, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. Santori, Autobiografia, 

XII., 342. 

* Preserved in Dublin, and published by Benrath in Rivista 

cristiana, VII. (1879), 503-505, and in Allg. Zcitung, 1877, n. 76, 

BeilaRe.

AUTODAFfis IN ROME. 3OI 

spontaneously given himself up to the Inquisition. At first 

he denied that he had ever held or abjured heretical opinions, 

and then, in spite of all the proofs to the contrary, he main- 

tained that at any rate after his abjuration he had not again 

fallen into heretical opinions, but under torture his courage 

proved unequal to further denials. After his abjuration 

Pompeo de'Monti was beheaded and burned on July 4th, 

1566 ; 

he died with every sign of repentance.^ 

In the time of Pius V. the autodafes were conducted with 

greater solemnity than under previous Popes -^ the Cardinals 

and all the Papal court attended, and a great concourse of 

people assembled, especially when some one who had hitherto 

been held in high repute had been discovered to be a secret 

heretic and had been condemned as such. On account of 

the great crowd the Cardinals could hardly obtain seats at 

the first autodafe of 1567, which took place at the Minerva 

on February 24th ; among those who made their abjuration 

there was a well known preacher who, in the previous year, 

had set up his pulpit amid great crowds in Florence and 

even in Rome, and had been condemned to imprisonment 

in his convent as a convicted heretic.^ The second autodafe 

of the same year, on June 22nd, caused a similar demon- 

stration, when the distinguished Neapohtan noble, Mario 

Galeota, made his abjuration with nine others.^ 

^ FiRMANUs, *Diarium, see App. nn. 35-47. S.\ntori, loc. cit. 

Orano, 15. Bertolotti (Martiri, 36) quite wrongly and without 

any proof says that he was burned alive. Cf. the information from 

the Archives of S. Giovanni DecoUato in Amabile I. 296 : 

297 seq. for the sending of heretics from Naples to Rome. 

^ Requesens, July 4, 1566, Corresp. dipL, I., 288. 

ibid. 

=• Firmanus, *Diarium, see App. nn. 35-47.' An *Avviso di 

Roma of September 21, 1566 (Urb. 1040, p. 2S7, Vatican Library) 

is able to tell us that the preacher in question (Basilio) had 

admitted his heresy. Cf. *Avviso di Roma, without date, sent 

by Arco with his letter of March i, 1567. State Archives. 

Vienna. 

* Firmanus, *Diarium see App. nn. 35-47. B. Pia in Berto- 

lotti, Martiri, 43. For particulars as to the relapsed heretic

302 


Even greater excitement was caused by the autodaie of 

September 21st, 1567.'^ Among the seventeen condemned 

there was a prelate who was a well-known figure in Rome, 

the protonotary-apostolic, Pietro Carnesecchi,- at one time 

principal private secretary to Clement VII., and held in high 

esteem by the Duke of Florence and the Queen-Mother of 

France. After having been brought several times before the 

Inquisition, Carnesecchi had, in the time of Pius IV., obtained 

a discharge,^ but Pius V., in consequence of fresh signs of 

mentioned by Pia, who was condemned and burned on the 

following day, see *Avviso di Roma of June 28, 1567, Urb. 1040, 

p. 410, Vatican Library. Cf. Scipione Volpicella, Mario 

Galeota letterato Napoletano del secolo XVI. (Memoria letta all'- 

Accademis di Archeologia, lettere e belle arti), Naples, 1877, and 

Appendice alia mem. su M. Galesta. Benrath in Hist. Taschenhuch, 

VI. (1885), 169-196. An apostate Dominican, Perini, who 

had married and become a professor in Calabria, made his abjura- 

tion as a relapsed heretic (*Avviso di Roma of June 28, 1567, Urb. 

1040, p. 4T0, loc. ciL). The Bishop of Policastro made his abjura- 

tion before the Pope {ibid, and *Arco, June 21, 1567, State 

Archives, Vienna). 

1 FiRMANUs, *Diarium see App. nn. 35-47. *Avviso di Roma 

of September 27, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 442, Vatican Library. 

Report of B. Pia in Davari in Arch. stor. Lomb., VI. (1879), 795. 

Bertolotti, Martiri, 38-43. 

- L. WiTTE, Pietro Carnesecchi, Ein Bild aus der italienschen 

Martyrergeschichte, Halle, 1883. Leon. Bruni, Cosimo I de' 

Medici e il processo d'eresia del Carnessecchi, Turin, 1891. A. 

Agostini, Pietro Carnesecchi e il movimento valdesiano, Florence, 

1889 {cf. Arch. stor. Ital., Ser. 5, XXVI., 1900, 325 seq.). A. Dal 

Canto, Pietro Carnesecchi, Rome, 191 1. Mutinelli, I., 52, 73. 

Palandri, it6. Giac. Manzoni, Estratto del processo di Pietro 

Carnesecchi {Miscellanea di Stoy. Ital., X), Turin, 1870. Hase in 

Jahvb. fiir protest. Theol., 1877, 148. 189. Cantu, Eretici, II., 

422-434 and Arch. stor. Ital., Ser. 3, XIII. (1871), 303 seq. *Arco, 

September and October 4, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. Cf. 

Rivista stor., 1912, 41 ; 1913, 187. For the proceedings against 

Carnesecchi, see also, Amabile, I., 148. 

''See Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 308 seq.

PIETRO CARNESECCHI. 303 

heresy, had had his case reopened.^ Cosimo de' Medici 

did not dare to refuse to hand over his protegf^.^ Confidence 

in his powerful patron encouraged the inconstant man in the 

mad idea of trying to save himself again on this occasion by 

an obstinate denial of the charge. The Florentine ambassador 

in Rome soon learned that for this very reason, and in spite 

of all the efforts of the Duke of Florence and other powerful 

friends, the trial was taking a very ugl}^ turn.^ Carnesecchi 

had to appear at the autodafe on September 21, 1567, and 

receive sentence. 

The reading of the minutes of his trial lasted for two hours, 

and with increasing surprise the hearers learned how a man, 

who had always, as far as outward appearances went, been a 

minister of the Church, and who had apparently without any 

scruple enjoyed the richest ecclesiastical benefices, had had 

secret relations with almost all the heretics, had accepted a 

number of doctrines contrary to the faith, and had succeeded 

by impudent lies and subterfuges in deceiving his judges.* 

The Florentine and Mantuan envoys describe the impression 

made by the reading of the acts of the trial by speaking of him 

as " a very wicked man " and " the most loathsome and villan- 

^ A letter of Carnesecchi found among the papers of Giulia 

Gonzaga gave the excuse (*Arco, June 29, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna). On May 15, 1566, Camillo Luzzara wrote to the Duke 

of Mantua that it was said at the court that many people would 

have to do with the Inquisition, " massime quelli che hebbero 

stretta practica con la S. Donna Giulia, contro la quale vogliono 

che si sian de male cose, et che se fosse viva che dovesse essere 

chiamata a Roma infallibilmente. L'arcivescovo d'Otranto fu 

molto amico suo." Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

-For his handing over cf. Laderchi, 1566, n. 195 êq. (briefs 

of June 20 and August i, 1566). 

•' " Risposemi [Cardinal Pacheco] che le cos^ del Carnesecchi 

erano in mal termine . 

. ., e mi torno a dire che non ha cervello, 

ed essersi governato molto male, e che portava gran pericolo della 

vita non si mostrando penitente. . . . Crcde 

il cardinale che la 

speranza ch'egli ha havuto nell' EE. VV. gli abbia nociuto." 

.Sorristori, May 16, 1567, Legazioni ^35 seq. 

* A list of his heretical opinions in Ladekcfii, 1567, n. 34.

304 


ous heretic " who had been heard of for many years. ^ His be- 

haviour during the autodafe was not calculated to help popular 

opinion in favour of the unhappy man. At first Carnesecchi, 

relying on his powerful patrons, listened to the accusation with 

a lofty air, but he suddenly collapsed when, contrary to his 

expectations, he was condemned to be handed over to the 

secular arm. On his return to his prison he sought consolation 

from the Capuchin, Pistoja, who was wont to care for the 

unhappy sinners. ^ Once more the Pope postponed the carry- 

ing out of the sentence for ten days, in order to give the blinded 

man an opportunit}^ for the contrite confession of his errors, 

which would have saved his life.^ On October ist, he, 

together with another, was beheaded and burned, but to the 

end he was so vague and confused in his statements that, as he 

himself had said, neither the CathoHcs nor the heretics could 

feel satisfied about him.* 

^ " Gl'inquisitori e tutti dicono essere malissimo uomo (Serristori 

September 21, 1567, Legaz. di Serristori 441). In ristretto non 

f u udito da molti anni in qua il piu brutto, 11 piu scelerato heretico 

di cestui. . . . Ogniuno di passo in passo stupiva d'udir tanta 

scelerato heretico di cestui. . . . Ogniuno di passo in passo stupiva 

d'udir tanta sceleragine " (B. Pia to the Duke of Mantua in 

Bertolotti, Martiri 39). 

- B. Pia, loc. cit. For Pistoja cf. Arch. Rom., XIII., 156. 

^ Legaz. di Serristori, 443. 

* " Egli medesimo in ultimo confess6 non aver satisfatto ne 

alii eretici, ne alii cattolici " (Tiepolo, September 27, 1567, in 

CANTtr, Eretici, II., 434). Giov. Antonio de Taxis wrote on 

October 11, 1567 : " II Carneseccha se confesso et comunico il di 

inanzi, pero con tutto questo dicono che mori non del tutto 

repentito " (in Lassen, Briefe des Masius, 396). It may be supposed 

that Taxis confused Carnesecchi with his companion, who 

was really converted. But Firmanus (*Diarium p. 195, Papal 

Secret Archives : see App. nn. 35-47) on October i, 1567. says 

of the two victims : " Isti die praeterita acceperant ss. sacramentum 

Eucharistiae " although he calls him " impoenitens " (that is, 

impenitent while there was still time). *Arco on September 29, 

" Esso mostra curar poco di vita o 

1567, writes of Carnesecchi : 

di morte " (State Archives, Vienna). On October 4 he *relates

AUTODAFES IN ROME. 305 

It must be pointed out that in 1568, among more than sixty 

persons condemned by the Inquisition, we find only two who 

persisted in their opinions until death. At the first autodafe 

in that year, on January 4th, aU the twenty-two who were 

summoned made their abjuration.^ On May 9th, five out 

of the twenty-five who had to appear at the solemn autodafe 

were handed over to the secular arm ; three of these, who had 

been condemned to the stake as relapsed heretics, showed 

themselves repentant and were exempted from the death 

penalty. Among them was an old man of seventy who, taking 

his stand under the gallows, delivered a truly Christian discourse 

to the people, so that all who were present were much 

moved. Two, however, who were quite impenitent, remained 

firm in their ojnnions, and perished at the stake. '^ At the third 

autodafe of this year, on November 30th, sixteen of the 

accused recanted ; 

three, who had relapsed, were handed over 

that Carnesecchi was burned on the Wednesday, and with him a 

Minorite ; it is doubted whether he repented, since before he was 

beheaded he wished to make a speech, but was not allowed to do 

so. The friar died repentant {ibid.). 

1 FiRM.\NUS, *Diarium, see App. nn. 35-47. According to the 

*Avviso di Roma of January 10, 1568 (Urb. 1040, p. 473, Vatican 

Library') there were 23. Among them was Niccolo Orsini, Count 

of Pitigliano, who had occasioned doubts as to his Christian faith 

by keeping a harem of Jewesses (Litta, Famighe celebri Italiane, 

Fam. Orsini, tav. XVIII) : 

he 

was condemned to pay a 

thousand scudi and to do penance for a time with the 

' Theatines " (i.e. according to Eduardo Fugger, Arch, 

stor. Ital., Ser. 5, XLII. [1908], 371, the Jesuits). Cf. *Avvisi, 

loc. cit. ; Laderchi, 1567, n. 89 

; Corresp. dipl., II., 108 

seqq. Flis safe conduct of June 14, 1566, in Fontana in 

Avch. d. Soc. Rom., XV. (1892), 466 seqq. The baron Bernarcedo 

of Naples was condemned to perpetual imprisonment 

(*Avvisi, loc. cit.). 

2 *Avviso di Roma of ^May 15, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 517b, Vatican 

Library. *Arco to MaximiUan II on the same day, State Archives, 

Vienna. Orano, 23-25 (where only the names of those who died 

penitent are given). 

VOL. .XVII. 20

306 


to the secular arm, but died on December 6th with every sign 

ot repentance.^ 

The following" year, 1569, produced just as few obstinate 

heretics. On February 28 an " obstinate Lutheran " was 

executed by hanging ; it was found impossible to the end to 

induce him to return to the Church. ^ Another solemn 

autodafe took place on May 22nd ;^ four of the ten who were 

sentenced were handed over to the secular arm ; 

of these only 

one, Bartolomeo Bartoccio, remained steadfast in his opinions 

even to the terrible death at the stake. ^ One of his companions 

in misfortune, a rich man of noble birth, and a skilled lawyer, 

v/ho had several times previously been brought before the 

Inquisition, but had recanted, seemed likely on this occasion 

to display a greater firmness of purpose at the autodafe. 

When his sentence had been read he attempted to make a 

discourse to the people, but was prevented by a gag.^ Before 

his execution he too confessed " with great devotion, and in 

the Catholic way "^ One of the four who were condemned, 

who was not a relapsed heretic, received a pardon, of which, 

1 FiRMANUs, *Diarium, see App. nn. 35-47. *Avviso di Roma 

of December 4, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 612, loc. cit. For the execution 

of the repentant see Orano, 27-9 ; B. Pia in Bertolotti, 

Martiri, 50 ; *Arco, December 8, 1568, loc. cit. 

• Orano, 30. 

^ C/. the printed copy of the Avvisi of May 27 and 28, 1569, in 

Bertolotti, Martiri, 54 ; 

*Avviso di Roma of May 25, 1569, Urb. 

1041, p. 83, Vatican Library. " Domani si fata nella Minerva 

una grossa abiuratione, dove saranno da sei o otto comburendi." 

(B. Pia to Luzzara, May 21, 1569, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua, in 

Bertolotti, Martiri, 49, printed with the doubly erroneous 

date of May 27, 1568). Tiepolo, May 28, 1569, in Mutinelli, 

I., 80. 

* M. Rosi, La riforma religiosa in Liguria e I'eretico umbro 

Bartolomeo Bartocci, Genoa, 1894. A. F.\lchi, Un eretico 

Castellano (Bart. Bartoccio) bruciato in Roma, Citta di Castello, 

1908. 

^Bertolotti, loc. cit. and *Avviso di Roma of May 25, 1569, 

loc. cit. 

" Orano, 30 ; cf. Rosi, loc. cit., 171.

PALEAKIO. 307 

however, he was not informed until he was actually on the 

gallows, and there showed himself to be steadfast in his pro- 

testations of repentance.^ 

Much more notorious than Carnesecchi and Bartoccio was 

Antonio della Paglia da Veroli, or as he preferred to call 

himself in ancient Greek form Aonio Paleario, a professor of 

belles lettres at Siena, Lucca, and after 1555 at Milan, who, 

especially at a later date, was held up as a martyr and a saint 

of the Protestant faith.- The works of Paleario, a didactic 

poem on the immortality of the soul, and various discourses 

and letters, show him to have been a talented humanist ; a 

satirical work against the Papacy, which was only printed 

after his death, but had been sent to Germany by Paleario in 

1566, belongs to the time while he was still at Siena, and proves 

that he had then thrown himself headlong into the cause of 

1 Bertolotti, loc. cit. The apostate Franc'scan and protestant 

preacher Cellaria was executed at this time ; he had 

already recanted in 1557, and before his death became a Catholic. 

For his " ex abdito Archive " see Laderchi, 1569, n. 57 seqq. 

Guido Zanetti da Fano, a heretic of long standing, but not relapsed 

was condemned to imprisonment ; ibid. n. 66 seqq. 

^ GuRLiTT, Leben des Aonio Paleario, eines Martyers der 

Wahrheit, Hamburg, 1805. Later biographies by M. Young 

(pseudonym of the authoress), London, i860 ; J. Bonnet, Paris, 

1862, trans, into German by Merschmann. Hamburg, s.a. (1863) ; 

Des Marais (Marchese Bisleti in Veroli), Rome, 1885 ; G. 

MoRPURGO, Un umanista martire, Citta di Castello, 191 2. For 

the appointment of Paleario as professor at Lucca cf. Giov. 

Sforza in Giorn. stor. d. lett. Ital., XIV. (1889), 50-71 : for his 

family and his relations with them Leon. Dini in Arch. stor. Ital., 

Ser. 5, XX. (1897), I seqq.; cf. ibid. Ser. 5, XXIV. (1899), 35^- 

An extract from his trial at Rome published by Fontana in Arch, 

della Soc. Rom., XIX. (1896), 151-175. A. Ronchini, Due Icttere 

inedite di A. Paleario in A tti e Memorie della Deputazione di storia 

patria per le provincie Moden. e Parm., VII., 4, Modena, 

1874. Cf. Cant^, Eretici, II., 452-462 ; Benrath in Real- 

Enzyklopddie of Herzog, XIV.', 602 seqq.; Reumont, Bibliografia, 

98 seqq., 307. A portrait of Paleario in the episcopal seminary 

at Veroli,

308 


the religious innovators.^ The year 1542 saw him summoned 

before the Inquisition at Siena, the principal matter of accu- 

sation being a small work in Italian on the Passion of Christ. 

Paleario replied to the questions that v/ere put to him, mainly 

concerning the power of the Pope, to the satisfaction of the 

judge, so that he was released without condemnation.^ Undoubtedly 

in order to remove the bad impression caused by 

his summons, Paleario then published a letter to a friend, and 

more especially an apologia to his judges, in which, however, 

the true facts are quite differently stated.^ The clever human- 

ist later on himself confessed that his discourse had never 

been delivered, and that he had made use therein of statements 

that were quite fictitious.^ By the advice of Sadoleto Paleario 

^ For the time of his apostasy from the Church ( 1535) cf. 

Stahelin, Briefe aus der Reformationzeit (Schriften der Univer- 

sitat Basel, 1887), 33 seq., where other sources concerning Paleario 

are given. 

^ ' Later confused with the treatise De beneficio Christi " ; 

cf. Vol. XII of this work, 496. 

^ " Ad singula respondit recte, quamvis in aliquibus capitibus 

not satis clare." Fontana, 164. 

* Bonnet-Merschmann, 128-150. 

^ " Haec oratio non fuit habita, sed scripta, et multa sunt 

efificta, imo vero pene omnia in peroratione, neque enim concursus 

ille tot civium senensium verus fuit ulla ex parte, etc." Thus 

Paleario himself at his trial in Rome, Fontana, 175. 

It is strange 

therefore that Benrath, loc. cit. IX.*, 603, acquits the humanist 

on the strength of that very speech ! With all its pathetic statements 

and its obvious evasions of the matter in question. Bonnet 

takes it as true gold. The conscientious historian on the other 

hand can only attach importance to the stern coldness of the acta 

of the Roman trial. It is true that Paleario in his discourse 

declares that he could not attain a happier lot than martyrdom, 

and that " in times like ours I believe that no Christian ought to 

die in his bed," etc. (Bonnet-Merschmann, 141), but Paleario's 

actual behaviour before his judges makes it quite impossible to 

attach the full meaning to these and other such high-sounding 

phrases. For the trial at Siena cf. Grottanelli de' Santi in 

MisceU. stor. Senesi, II., (iSQ'i),

PALEARIO. 309 

then abstained for a time from all tiieological discussion. 

In 1559, however, Paleario was again accused, this time 

before the Inquisition at Milan ; he voluntarily appeared 

before the judge, and on January 23rd, 1560, was able to obtain 

an acquittal.- In spite of this, in 1567 the Milanese tribunal 

had once more to inquire into his opinions, the matter of the 

accusation this time being his Sienese apologia, which had now 

been printed.^ In the following year, by order of the Pope, 

his trial was transferred to Rome.^ At the Roman inquiry, 

the excitable but vague and credulous rhetorician cut a sorry 

figure. He maintained in all seriousness that the reigning 

Pope had bought the Papacy by a gift of 30,000 and 8,000 

scudi. He saw a serious fault on the part of Pius V. in the 

fact that the new edition of the Roman breviary no longer 

contained an office of the Holy Name of Jesus which had been 

approved by Clement VII. and Paul III., and for this " grave 

public sin " as well as on account of the strictness of the Pope 

against the heretics, he maintained that Pius V. was not the 

true Pope, and that anyone who lives in grave public sin 

cannot be the Vicar of Christ. But on the other hand he was 

so far from being a true Protestant that he accepted the 

authority of the Fathers, especially St. Augustine, and of the 

Council of Trent. ^ He refused from the first to admit any 

1 BoNNET-MeRSCHMANN, 151. FONTANA, I75. 

- FoNTANA, 165 seq. 

^ FoNTANA, 166. For the other charges against Paleario cf. 

Ladekchi, 1568, n. ô seqq. Ladcrchi had at his disposal the 

acta of the Roman Inquisition. 

* F. Gabotto in La Cultura, 1891, tries to prove from a letter 

of Paleario of May 17, 1568, " non esser vero che da questa citta 

[Milan] il Paleaiio fosse tratto a forza." This letter, with the 

date May 11, 1568, was already published by Cantu in Arch. star. 

Lonib., VL (1879), 481, n. 

* " Subscripsi mea manu quod dictaverunt mihi theologi . . ., 

qui allatis codicibus divi Augustini [perhaps this refers to the 

passages on the punishment of heretics] ostenderunt mihi multa 

quae ignorabam et propterea fuimus Concordes. Item, allatis 

concilii Tridentini decretis, sententiis Patrum, a quibus mens mea 

numquam soluit dissentire, ut dixi in prime meo responso etc."


formal error on his part, saying that there could be no error 

in the love of one's neighbour and of the honour of Christ ;^ 

he again renewed his often expressed assurance that he was 

ready to die " for Christ "^ but at the same time he subscribed 

to a retraction, proposed to him by the Jesuit Ledesma, in 

which he accepted the Council of Trent, and the faith of the 

" holy, Catholic, and Roman Church," and retracted his views 

as to the unlawfulness of punishing heretics, and the forfeiture 

of the Papal power on account of grave sin.^ The sentence of 

the Inquisition only took the form, of making him promise 

no longer to appear in the dress of a heretic. When he refused 

to accept this Paleario was treated as impenitent and was 

handed over to the secular arm.^ He was strangled, and his 

body was consigned to the flames on July 3rd, 1570 ; before 

he died he confessed, invoked the Madonna and the saints, 

and made a profession of the faith of the " holy Roman 

Church."^ 

(FoNTANA, 174). For the reassembly of the Council of Trent 

under Pins IV. Paleario had composed an " Epistola de concilio 

universal! et libero " (republished by Ii.lgen, Programm der 

Leipziger Universitat, 1832). 

1 FoNTANA, 172. 

2 Laderchi, 1568, n. ^2. 

^ Published by Daunou, Essai historique sur la puissance 

temporelle des Papes, II., Paris, 1818, 278. An extract in Fontana 

172 : " Credo et confiteor, quidquid s. concilium Tridentinum 

definivit et quidquid sancta Ecclesia catholica Romana credit et 

confitetur." 

* Fontana, 175. 

^ Thus the register of the Confraternity of S. Giovanni Decollate 

(in Orano, 38 seq.; Fontana, 158), which took charge of those 

condemned to death. The notice oi Paleario, published for the 

first time by Lagomarsin' (Pogiani Epist., II., 188), was called in 

question or rejected by protestant writers, as for example by 

Bonnet-Merschmann, 265 n., by Mendham, Life of Pius V., 117, 

by MacCrie, etc. But it is incontestibly genuine (see Orano, 

38 seq., and Fontana, 158), nor is it possible to see why the book 

of the confraternity should have invented it. In that book 

obstinate heretics are either not mentioned at all or else are entered

AUTODAFES IN ROMK. 311 

Although during 1567 the autodafe was held three times iu 

Rome, and the same number of times in the following year, 

during the second half of the pontificate of Pius V. we only 

have records of two such solemn spectacles.^ After the above 

as such. Benrath (Joe. cit. 605) is right in saying : " this re- 

tractation was not in any case made officially," but the register of 

the confraternity does not claim that there was any retractation 

before the tribunal, and only speaks of a simple declaration made 

before his death, as occurs in many other instances : 

such 

a 

belated repentance would at the utmost only entail that the death 

by fire was changed to strangulation, with the subsequent burning 

of the body, but not a pardon : 

" it is proper to bear in mind that 

repentance after sentence was of use for the salvâtion of the soul, 

but made no difference for the saving of the body " (Fontana, 

159). 

It is quite impossible to see how the last letters of Paleario 

to his family, which were entrusted to the said confraternity for 

transmission, prove the report to be a falsehood (as Bonnet, 

loc. cit. claims). For that matter Paleario lived quite cut off 

from his strictly Catholic family, and it would appear that this 

separation was not merely local. (Dini in Arch. stor. Ital., Ser. 

5, XX., 1897, 16). Thanks to De Thou the view got about that 

Paleario died the true death of burning which was. reserved for 

heretics. Cf. Laderchi, 1569, n. 71 seqq. 

^ As neither the Avvisi di Roma nor the reports of the embassy 

to Vienna mention any solemn autodafes for the years 1570 and 

1 571, and no information is to be found in the lists of the con- 

fraternity of S. Giovanni Decollato, it may be concluded that 

there were none. For 1570 Orano (p. 36-40) besides Palearic 

mentions as being executed for religion a certain Porroni of Rome, 

who was in the prisons of the Inquisition, but, it is expressly 

stated, not as a heretic (" non come luterano "), and also the poet 

Xiccolo Franco, who according to a false entry in the book of the 

confraternity was executed for heresy, and according to three 

other witnesses (Bertolotti, Martiri, 51) for Ubel [cf. Scritti in 

onore di A. d'Ancona, 1901, 543 seq.; Cantu, Eretici, II., 435). 

and lastly a Frenchman, whom Orano himself does not dare 

definitely to call a^heretic. For 1571 Orano (p. 40) has nothing in 

particular to report and Bertolotti (p. 57-60) has no executions to 

report. The *Avviso of July 8th, 1570, says that Altinio Paltoni 

was burned on that date ; he had been a lector at Pavia. Urb. 1041, 

p. 307, Vatican Library.

312 


mentioned autodafe of May 22nd, 1569, the Cardinals and 

prelates did not assemble again in any numbers at the Minerva 

until February 3rd, 1572, in order to assist at the abjuration 

of thirteen heretics, one of whom was handed over to the 

secular arm and was burned on February 9th, together with 

four women ; all five were reconciled before they died.^ 

During 1571 it is true that the abjuration of five of the common 

people took place on February i8th, but this occasion was not 

published in advance, and took place without any solemnity 

in the Sistine Chapel, it being feared that the fact that even 

members of the lower classes had been condemned on so grave 

a charge might give scandal. ^ It would seem that heresy 

among the true Romans was looked upon as something 

extraordinary ; the records of the Confraternity of the 

S. Giovanni Decollato do not number a single person of Roman 

birth among the heretics who were put to death up to the time 

of the death of Pius V. and even later. ^ 

Among the cities of the Papal States none was called upon 

to send more of its inhabitants for judgment before the Roman 

Inquisition than Faenza.^ It is reported in April, 1567, that 

many persons had been arrested there and taken to Rome 

on the suspicion of heresy together with a Servite preacher, 

and that at the same time the bishop was called upon to give 

1 *Avviso di Roma of February gth, 1572 (Urb. 1053, p. 31, 

ibid.). *Arco, Februar}^ 9, 1572, State Archives, Vienna. Ber- 

TOLOTTi, Martiri, 61 seq. Orano, 40-44. See also Amabile, L, 

315 seq. The four women, according to the *Avviso already 

quoted, were " streghe." Orano (p. 45-52) mentions four other 

executions in 1572, on February 22, Maixh 15, and July 19, but 

in all four cases the reason for the capital punishment is not 

sufficiently clear. 

2 Bertolotti, Martiri, 58. 

2 Cf. the lists of those who abjured in Arch. d. Soc. Rom.. XII. 

(1889), 342 ; Bertolotti, Martiri, 45, 55. That the " Porroni 

romano " of Orano (p. 36) is wrongly included among the heretics, 

see supra 311, n. i. 

* Cf. Orano, 25-27, 30, 32 ; Bertolotti, Martiri, 41, 55.

THE INQUISITION AT FARNZA. 313 

an explanation of his negligence.^ At Faenza, so states a 

report of the following year, thirty-seven heretics had recently 

been imprisoned, and the whole district had been infected by 

a teacher who had now fled to Geneva, and that probably 

the only remedy was the free use of the stake.- In September, 

1568, Tiepolo reported that at Amandola, a small town in the 

Marches, brigands and escaped monks had set fire to the 

churches and destroj-ed the sacred images, and that the Pope 

intended to take severe measures with Amandola and the 

neighbouring S. Ginesc, since he had heard that there were 

many heretics there. No place in the Papal States, however, 

had a worse name in this respect than Faenza ; the Pope even 

thought of destroying the city and transferring its inhabitants 

elsewhere ; many persons from that city had recently been 

handed over to the Roman Inquisition.^ 

The Pope, who had already had experience of that place as 

Inquisitor, set up there a commissariate-general of the In- 

quisition, whose jurisdiction extended over the dioceses of 

Faenza, Ravenna, Imola, Cervia, Cesena, Bertinoro and 

Sarsina.* The choice of the first commissary-general, however, 

was not a happy one ; this was Angelo Gazini da Lugo. The 

Inquisitor was too severe ; 

a chronicler wrote that even the 

stones trembled before his terrible rigour. A contemporary 

^ *" In Faenza sono stati presi molte persona havute per 

heretiche con un frate de Servi predicatore che si conducono qui, 

at il vescovo e chiamato per la negligenza usata." B. Pia to 

Luzzana, April 12, 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua. 

^ *" . . . et si scuopre qualla terra tutta infetta per opara di un 

maestro di scuola che se n'e poi fuggito a Genevra che si dubita 

che non bisogni andarvi col fuoco." Cipriano Saracinello to 

Cardinal Farnese, February 28, 1568, State Archives, Naples 

C. Fames, 763. 

=* Tiepolo, September 25, 1568, in Mutinelli, I., 79. Cf. 

Canix), Eretici, II., 408 ; *Avviso di Roma of September 17, 1568, 

among the correspondence of Cusano, State Archives, Vienna. 

* What follows is taken from the kind information of Prof. 

Giuseppe Donati of Florence, who is preparing a work on the 

Riforma e Contrariforma a Faenza nel sec. XVI.

314 


names 115 persons who had been accused of heresy, and even 

so the list was not complete. About half the accused had to 

be released for lack of proof, but the others were visited with 

the severest penalties, such as death, the galleys, and imprison- 

ment. A painter named Giovanni Battista Bertucci was sent 

to prison merely for having said that indulgences which 

had been bought with money were of no value. ^ It would 

seem that at first Pius V. was well pleased with the Inquisitor 

of Faenza, for on November 20th, 1570, he made him Bishop 

of Polignano in Apulia. But this satisfaction of the Pope 

had been based upon false information, and quickly evaporated 

when he was better informed. A contemporary writer says 

that if Gazini had not died the Pope would have ignominiously 

deprived him of his bishopric. 

In spite of the wide extent which the Protestant movement 

seemed likely to attain at Faenza, it was soon evident that 

even there, as in the rest of Italy, it had taken no real root 

among the masses of the people. In a great fire which had 

broken out in the city an image of the Madonna remained 

unharmed amid the flames. Everyone saw a miracle in this 

occurrence, and at once the daily diatribes of the Protestant 

preachers against the worship of the saints and of their images 

failed to have any effect. The clergy, the city council and 

the populace ran to witness the miracle ; pilgrimages came 

in great number from the surrounding country to the miracu- 

startling cures were effected to the amazement 

lous image ; 

of the physicians ; a little church was erected by popular 

subscription to contain the image, and finally Pius V. in a 

brief which gave the city the assurance of the Pope's forgive- 

ness, approved the religious celebrations which were held in 

celebration of the event. Later on Gregory XIII. condoned, 

in the case of those persons who had been condemned by 

Gazini, those penalties which had not already been complied 

1 From Donati. Cf. P. Beltrami, L'atto d'abiura deU'eretico 

faentino G. B. Bertucci (1564) in Romagna, II., 6 seq. According 

to Marcello Valgimigli, *Notizie storiche, for the year 1567, 200 

persons were condemned at Faenza under Pius V. Library, 

Faenza. 

I

VIGILANCE OF THE INQUISITION. j^:) 

with. Gazini's successor administered the inquisition with 

so great mildness that none of the records have anything to 

say about his activities. Protestantism at Faenza was 

practicaDy at an end.^ 

On July 20th, 1566, Tiepolo tells us how, during the pre- 

vious conclave a casket containing notes for the Inquisition 

had been stolen from Cardinal Ghislieri, the reigning Pope ; 

this was later on recovered, to his great satisfaction, because 

it would have entailed many imprisonments, both in and 

out of Rome. 2 This casket may have been a fiction of the 

popular imagination, but it is at any rate a fact that the Pope 

watched with the greatest care for every sign of heresy, 

especially in Italy, and his vigilance extended even further 

than that. It was said, so Arco wrote after the Pope had 

read to him a letter received from German}^ which stated 

that the government in Austria was composed of ten Pro- 

testants and two Catholics, that the Pope had his spies everywhere 

;^ that if the former Grand Inquisitor had eyes and 

ears even beyond the Alps, in his own country he did not 

altogether trust to the vigilance of the tribunals in the various 

cities ; that when he did not receive information from any 

place concerning heretical tendencies he thought that the 

^ There were also heretics in other parts of the Papal States. 

Cf. Tiepolo, September 25, 1568 (Mutinelli, I., 79), for the 

disturbances and destruction of the sacred images at Amandola ; 

Cantu, Eretici, III., 719, for the heretics executed at Bologna in 

1567 and 1568 ; Bertolotti, Martiri, 41, for the heretics from 

Bologna and Forli condemned in Rome in 1567 ; cf. Wachler, 

G. Rehdiger und seine Buchersammlung in Breslau (1828), 14 ; 

*brief of February 2, 1569 " Thomae de Arimino O. Praed. depu- 

tato in inquisitorem in Arimin., Pisaur. et Fanens. civitatibus," 


- Mutinelli, I., 49. 

^ " *Mi vien ancora detto, che ha non solo in Italia, ma anco 

fuori dTtalia per tutti i regni et .stati spie, che gli danno minuto 

raguaglio della vita et costumi de'principi, de ministri loro, et di 

quelli che sono loro appresso." Arco, July 13, 1566, State 

Archives, Vienna.


Inquisitor there was not doing his duty.^ In such cases, 

and more especially when the said tribunals found themselves 

opposed by apparent^ insuperable difficulties, he was wont 

to intervene directly ; more than one of the haughty princes 

and nobles of Italy had in the end to yield to the undaunted 

resolution and persistence of this man, who was universally 

venerated as a saint. 

Venice in particular was looked upon as the starting point 

and refuge of heresy in northern Italy. The Venetian am- 

bassador in Rome exerted himself to convince the Pope that 

in spite of isolated cases of heres)^ in his native place all was 

well in Venice, and that Rome could rely upon the vigilance 

of the Council of Ten,^ but Pius V., who had had distressing 

experiences as Inquisitor in Venetian territory, did not trust 

the Republic.^ During the first months of his pontificate 

he sent as nuncio to the city of the lagoons Giovanni Antonio 

Facchinetti, the future Innocent IX., to labour there for the 

reform of the clergy and the convents of nuns, and against 

the new religionists.^ However unwillingly the Venetians 

accepted this supervision of their own Inquisition, and how- 

ever much they disliked the zeal of Facchinetti,^ they did 

not quite dare to oppose the will of the Pope ; 

while, during 

the pontificate of Pius IV. only forty-one trials concerning 

questions of faith had taken place in Venice, we have record 

of eight)^-two during the reign of his successor.^ It caused 

^ Tiepolo in Alberi, II., 4, 172. 

^Tiepolo, March 2 and 9, and April 27, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., 

35. 37. 41 s^l- / ^/- CANxtj, Eretici, III., 140. 

* Cf. the report of Tiepolo for 1569, in Albert, II., 4, 191. 

*Tiepolo, March 2, 1566, in Mutinelli, I., 35. 

* *The Florentine ambassador to Venice, Cosimo Bartoli, to 

Cosimo I., August 2, 1567, State Archives, Florence, Medic. 2978. 

^ Cf. CoMBA, Elenco generale degli accusati di eresia dinanzi il 

Sant' Uffizio della inquisizione di Venczia A. 1 541 -1600, in 

Rivista Crisiiana, III. (1875), 28 seqq., 71, 100 seq., 158, 207, 235, 

297, 326, 366 seq., 411 seq., 447. The list is arranged according 

to the native places of the accused. Vicenza heads the list with 

23 names. Particulars in Benrath, Gesch. der Reformation in

VENICE AND THE INQUISITION. 317 

great excitement when the Pope demanded—a thing that 

often occurred in the time of Pius V., when it was hoped that 

such a course would yield fuller information as to the spread 

of the Protestant movement—that a heretic, Guido da Fano, 

should be handed over to the Roman Inquisition. At first 

the Senate refused its consent absolutely and repeatedly, 

saying that Venice was not accustomed to send its accused 

before foreign tribunals, but in spite of this Pius V. remained 

immovable in his demand, and in the end the proud Signoria 

had to yield him the victory ; by the end of August, 1566, 

Guido had arrived in Rome.^ 

As was the case with Venice, the Pope also distrusted 

the Republics of Lucca and Genoa, both of which were brought 

into contact with the Calvinists by their commercial relations 

with Lyons and Geneva.^ 

Hitherto the Genoese had shown themselves quite docile 

Venedig, Halle, 1887, 70 seqq. Cf. also L. G. Pelissier, Les 

archives des inquisiteurs d'etat a Venise, Besan9on, 1899. See 

also the learned dissertation by P. Paschini Una umanista, 

disgraziato nel Cinquecento, Public Francesco Spinola (executed 

on January 31, 1567), Venice, 1919. 

1 Benrath, loc. cit. 68 seq. " El papa los ha apretado de 

manera que se resolvieron en embiarle " wrote Requesens to 

Philip II. on September 18, 1566. Corresp. dipl., I., 347. Lader- 

CHi, 1566, n. 194. *Arco, August 3, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

Pius V. had already made it a condition for his receiving the 

Venetian embassj' for the " obedientia " that Niccolo da Ponte, 

who had been withdrawn from the Roman Inquisition, should be 

handed over. *Cusano, February 2, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. The two letters to the Doge and the nuncio in Venice, 

dated July 27, 1566 (Nunziat. de Venezia 17, 10 and 11, Papal 

Secret Archives), in which Pius V. asked for the handing over of 

Guido Zanetti da Fano, belong to the so-called " Lettere di 

proprio pugno." Different from these are the completely 

autograph letters of Pius V., at the head of which the 

Pope placed the name of Jesus. *Some of these are preserved, 

though unimportant as to their contents, in the State Archives, 

Florence. 

* Tieplo in Albert, II., .\, 190.


to the spiritual authority,^ but their obedience was put to a 

hard test when, in October, 1567, Bartolomeo Bartoccio was 

imprisoned at Genoa, when he was passing through the city, 

as a propagator of Protestant doctrines in Italy. ^ Cardinal 

Cicada demanded the handling over of the heretic to the 

Roman Inquisition,^ but the Senate of Geneva, where Bar- 

toccio had resided for twelve years, threatened to break off 

commercial relations if the prisoner were not set at liberty.* 

A long correspondence ensued, both with the Swiss republics 

of Geneva and Berne, and with Cardinal Cicada. In Rome 

Genoa pointed out that all its trade with Flanders and Germany 

passed through Switzerland, and that the people in 

the latter country were " but little versed in the usages of 

civilisation " ;^ that Berne had already kept back 24,000 

scudi of Genoese money ;^ Rome should at least allow them 

to pacify the irritation of this barbarous people.' but Pius 

V. would not suffer himself to be turned from this purpose 

by any of these considerations, and at length induced the 

mercantile Ligurian republic to bend to his wiU, even in a 

matter that so much concerned their trade and finances, 

and Bartoccio was tried in Rome.^ 

Soon after Bartoccio had been taken away fresh difficulties 

for the Senate of Genoa made their appearance. It would 

seem that the Eucharist had been celebrated in Genoa accord- 

ing to the Calvinist rite for the first time, and the mildness 

with which the Inquisitor had dealt with the case had caused 

surprise and even consternation in Rome. It availed the 

1 Rosi, Riforma, 17 seqq. From 1540 to 1583 there were 366 

trials before the Inquisition at Genoa, which, however, must not 

be counted as cases of heresy ; ibid. 43. 


* Ibid. 70. 

" Ibid. 73. 

* " Per la Svizzera, dove habita una nazione assai incolta di 

costumi civili " ; ibid. 74. 

* Ibid. 75. 

^ Ibid. 74. 

* See supra, p. 30O,

THE INQUISITION AT GENOA. 319 

Senate nothing that it sought to show that the matter was 

of no real importance ; the Pope sent Bianchi, Bishop of 

Teano, as judge-extraordinary, and when the latter proceeded 

with the utmost rigour, condemned some of the offenders to 

the galleys and insisted on their making a public recantation 

in penitential dress, contrary to all previous usage in Genoa, 

of just as little avail were the protests which were made, to 

the effect that it would be better to spare such Spanish procedure 

in a city which was " all zeal, good-will, and piety " 

and that the very publicity of the recantation only served to 

call attention to the heresy. The Senate resigned itself 

to what had been done when the Pope paid tribute in a brief 

to Genoa as a city of long proved Catholic loyalty, but went 

on to show that for that very reason the city ought not to 

take exception to the wiping out of the recent stain upon its 

honour by means of the same penalties as were used in 

Florence, Venice, Rome and elsewhere.^ Two years later 

Pius V. himself, in answer to a request from the Senate, 

mitigated the penalties which had been inflicted as far as 

possible.^ 

Immediately after receiving news of the election of Pius 

v., the Republic of Lucca had hastened to renew its edicts 

against any dealings with the exiles from Lucca at Lyons. 

and thus, even before paying its homage to the new Pope, 

the city had met his wishes. In the following year all dealings 

with their exiled fellow-citizens at Lyons were even more 

strictly prohibited.'* But in spite of all its loyalty to the Holy 

See, the Republic, in its instructions for the paying of homage 

had charged its representative to do all he could in Rome 

1 Brief of June 5, 1568, in Laderchi, 1568, n. 44. Rosi, loc. 

cit. 158 seq. 

^ Brief of October z-], 1570, in Rosi, 159 scq. 

'See Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 347. 

* Edicts of January 11 and 15, and March 27, 1566, 1567 and 

1568, given by EuG. Lazzareschi, Le relaziono fra S. Pio V. e la 

repubblica di Lucca, Florence, 191 1, 6-8. The Pope soon lost 

his distrust of Lucca, Requesens to Philip II., November 21, 1567, 

Corresp. dipl., II., 262 seq. ; cf. 158.

320 


to prevent the Pope from introducing the Inquisition into 

Lucca. ^ 

Similar fears were also felt ia other cities of northern Italy 

in the time of Pius V., at any rate of that form of the In- 

quisition which was customary in Spain. At Milan where, 

only a short time before, such strong and heated opposition 

had been offered to the introduction of the Spanish Inquisition, 

the Papal bull against irreverence in church, simony, sodomy 

and concubinage,^ once m.ore caused anxiety lest this edict 

should pave the way for the introduction of Spanish methods.* 

This time it was the archbishop himself. Cardinal Borromeo, 

who laid before the Pope the fears of the city. Nothing is left 

undone in Milan, so he wrote, in the matter of the punishment 

of the guilty, but the bull allov/s judicial proceedings 

to be taken on the strength of a mere secret accusation,^ 

whereas, according to the Imperial code, secret accusations 

are not permitted. The real cause, however, of all the anxiety 

which is felt is to be found in the suspicion that it is intended 

to introduce the Inquisition on the Spanish model, not so 

much out of love for religion, as for political reasons, and be- 

cause some of the municipal authorities wish to enrich themselves 

at the expense of the citizens. All attempts to remove 

this fear from the minds of the Milanese are vain ; 

they tell 

me that the Pope himself is guided by the purest motives, 

but that in practice the ordinances of the bull can be in- 

terpreted by the officials in their own way, and that thus all 

kinds of novelties will be introduced by degrees.^ 

^ Lazzareschi, loc. cit. 7 n. i. 

2 Cf. Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 336 seq. 

^ Of April I, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 501 seqq. 

* Verga, 30 seqq. 

* ' Ut praemissorum delictorum . . . notitia facilius habeatur, 

volumus quod in singulis casibus, non solum per accusationcm et 

inquisitionem, sed etiam ad simplicem et secretam denuntiationem 

procedatur." Bull. Rom. V.. 437, § 13. 

* " Et accioche N. S. sappia una volta la radice ed il fondamento 

ove s'appoggiano tutte queste difficolta, bisogna che habbia questo 

per una massima verissima, che in questo popolo e universale

THE INQUISITION AT MANTUA. 32 

The same bull of Pius V. met with similar opposition at 

Mantua as well ; it was thought by the priests and monks 

that it would lead to malicious accusations, and pave the way 

for the Inquisition. The publication of the Latin text 

occasioned a great deal of murmuring, and efforts were made 

to induce the Duke to protest against the proposed Italian 

version.^ 

At that time Duke William was alread}' annoyed with Rome 

because the Pope was disputing the right of presentation 

to the bishopric of Mantua which had been granted to him 

by Pius IV., and which had been finally taken away from him 

by a decree of December 23rd, 1566.- The Pope had gone 

so far as to send the Duke a citation ; when, subsequently 

the citation was taken away from the envoy together with his 

suspicione che si cerchi di mettere in questo stato rinquisizione 

alia foggia di Spagna, non tanto per zelo di religione qiianto per 

interessi di stato et per voracita di qualche ministro o consigliere 

che per questa via disegnasse di arricchirsi colle facolta di questi 

gentilhuomini e cittadini " (in Verga 31). At Milan there were 

hardly any condemnations to the stake for Lutheranism. Fumi, 

L'inquisizione Romana, 301. 

1 Stefano Davari in Arch. stor. Loinb., VI. (1879), 773 seqq., 

787 seqq. The Spanish Inquisition was feared and hated at that 

time not only in Italy. When in 1569 the Jesuit, Antonio Posse- 

vino, returned to Rome from a journey to Avignon, the report 

that he had been charged by the Pope to introduce the Spanish 

Inquisition there caused a riot and an attack on the Jesuit college 

(Laderchi, 1569, n. 180 seq. Sacchini, P. III., i. 5, n. 139 seq. 

FouQUERAY, I., 443-446). The energetic measures taken by 

the Pope, however, were successful in keeping Avignon safe from 

Protestantism in spite of the dangerous proximity of Orange 

(Laderchi, 1566, n. 414 seqq. ; 1567, n. 163 ; 1568, n. 171 ; 

1569, n. 176 seqq. ; GOUBAU, 133, 135, 169, 179, 184, 217). 

The Pope himself in a letter to Philip II. of October 26, 1569 

(Corresp. dipl.. III., 168 seqq.) had to defend himself against the 

charge that he did not pay enough respect to the privileges of 

the Spanish Inquisition. 

"Laderchi, 1566, n. 197 ; c/. 1567, n. 22. Tiepolo in Alberi, 

II., 4, 180, 190. 

VOL. XVII. 21

322 


ambassadorial credentials, the Pope thought of forcing the 

Duke to present himself personally in Rome, and of deposing 

him if he did not appear. ^ In Mantua the Inquisition had 

to bear the brunt of the displeasure of the prince, whose 

irritation was shared by the whole city. When in 1567 the 

Inquisition imprisoned some Mantuan citizens, the Duke's 

representative, Francesco di NoveUara, made a protest 

against any further action being taken by the tribunal until 

the prince had had satisfaction. ^ 

Pius V. had no intention of quietly allowing any such 

violation of recognized ecclesiastical rights. On May 31st 

he had recourse to the Duke with a request that, for the 

sake of peace and quiet, he would refrain from any such 

usurpations of the rights of the Church, and would allow the 

guilty parties to be punished. He informed him at the same 

time that he had removed the Inquisitor, Ambrogio Aldegati, 

as being too easy-going, and had appointed in his place the 

Dominican, Camillo Campeggio.^ 

The irritation felt both at the court and in the city 

was by no means allayed by this appointment, the more so as 

Campeggio made some further arrests, and arranged auto- 

dafes for August 3rd and October 26th, at which several 

persons made their abjuration.* Besides this, several of the 

^ Requesens to Philip II., September 18, 1566, Corresp. dipl., 

I., 346 ; cf. 388. 

^ Davari, loc. cit. 774, 788. 

^ Ibid. 775. The *brief of nomination. May 31, 1567, in the 


* " Si dice che hoggi i frati de S. Domenico doppo il vespero 

fanno ahiurare dieci di queUi loro prigioneri et che si faranno 

saUre in pulpito imitrati a chiamarsi in colpa " (L. Rogna, August 

3. 1567, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua). So runs the text, as I am 

assured by the keeper of the Archives, A. Luzio. Davari, who 

published it, loc. cit. 790, besides unimportant changes, has read 

abbrucciare instead of abiurave ! On October 26, 1567, L. Rogna 

wrote : " Oggi su un palco eminente fatto in S. Domenico si 

abiureranno alquanti di quelU reputati eretici. " Even here Davari, 

loc. cit. has changed abiureranno into abbruciarono. According to 

the records that have so far come to Hght no heretic died at the 

stake in Mantua.

THE INQUISITION AT MANTUA. 323 

Duke's counsellors were themselves heretics, ^ and heresy had 

assumed a revolutionary and political character at Mantua. ^ 

A canon of Mantua, whom Pius V. demanded should be sent 

to Rome on October 31st, 1567,^ openly maintained that the 

human soul perished with the bod3^* The convent of the 

Dominicans was violently assaulted," and the Duke summoned 

the Inquisitor before him and rebuked him for having 

imprisoned respectable citizens without the knowledge of the 

prince.'' An attempt to obtain from Rome, by means of a 

special envoy, the recall of the Inquisitor, was rendered hope- 

less b\^ a fresh act of violence which occurred immediately 

after the departure of the envoy. On Christmas night, two 

brothers of the Third Order, who were on their way to the 

midnight service, were kiUed in the pubhc streets.' As was 

only to be expected Pius V. refused the request of the envoy, 

saying that if the Duke persisted in his leniency towards the 

heretics, he would witness even worse crimes ; 

that the Pope 

could not aUow himself to be frightened or turned aside from 

his course of action against the heretics even if all the 

Dominicans were cut to pieces.^ The envoy returned home 

in January, 1568, without having accomplished his purpose. 

All that he had obtained was that the Inquisitor was to make 

his excuses to the Duke.^ 

In order to put an end to this state of confusion, Pius V., 

^ " Qui [a Roma] si sa molto bene . 

. . che 

rEcc. V. e male 

consigliata et ingannata, e che ha tre o quattro consiglieri heretici 

marci." The Count of S. Giorgio to Mantua, December 24, 1567, 

in Davari, 793. 

- Campeggio, October 14, 1567, ibid. 791. 

' See the *brief to the Duke of Mantua in the Gonzaga Archives, 

Mantua. 

^ Bertolotti, Martiri, 45. He was an Averroist or follower 

of Pomponazzo. 

* Davari, 776. 

« Ibid. 

' Ibid. 792. 

« Ibid. 777 ; cf. 793. 

9 Ibid. 777 seq. ; 795, 

'

324 


at the beginning of 1568, sent the Archbishop of Milan, 

Cardinal Borromeo, to Mantua.^ What a serious view the 

Cardinal took of his difficult task is shown by the fact that in 

order to obtain a happy issue he ordered continuous prayers 

by day and night in all the churches and convents of Milan, 

arranged in such a way that as the hour of prayer ended in one 

church, it was taken up in another. ^ As a matter of fact 

Borromeo's skill and prudence were successful in February, 

1568, in appeasing the Duke and restoring the authority of 

the Inquisition. The more important offenders were to make 

their abjuration in private, and on April 4th a public autodafe 

took place, at which three natives of Verona were handed 

over to the secular arm, and on April 12th were beheaded and 

burned.^ The reconciliation with the head of the Church was 

completed by a brief of April 21st, in which the Pope returns 

thanks for a communication which the Duke had addressed 

to him concerning the public autodafe.* 

At the end of 1567 Cardinal Correggio had written to the 

Duke that those who made light of the old religion were also 

the enemies of their hereditary prince, quoting as an example 

the machinations of the French Protestants.^ Events at 

1 Bascape, I. 2, c. 6, p. 37. 

- In this way Borromeo was the first to order the so-called 

perpetual prayer, a thing which he often employed later on. 

Bascape, loc. cit. 

^ Letter from Capilupi and Amigone in Davari, 796. 

* Gonzaga Archives, Mantua : see App. n. 48. Already on 

March 8, 1568, the Pope had praised the Duke for his devotion, 

and for doing what he had promised Borromeo (*Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t. 13, p. 164, Papal Secret Archives). Rome continued to keep 

a close watch on Mantua after this, sending warnings as to here- 

tical tendencies, and asking for the handing over of those who, 

in any specially dangerous degree, were propagating them. Cf. 

the letters from Rebiba to Mantua of September 11 and 

November 6, 1568, and of June 16, 1571, in Bertolotti, Martiri, 

48 seq., 58. 

* " ne hanno altro fine che di fare in ogni luogo quello che 

hanno fatto et fan del continuo in Francia " Correggio, December 

20, 1.567 in Davari 791,

THE INQUISITION AT MANTUA 325 

Mantua seemed to bear out the Cardinal's words ; 

the sending 

to Rome of one of the Mantuan heretics led to a conspiracy 

against the sovereign. Pius V. gave the Duke all the hclj; 

he could in the investigation of the plot. The Bishop of 

Casale was given the necessary powers to imprison and examine 

even the clergy, and when a certain Flaminio Paleologo 

appealed from the bishop to his privileges as a Knight of 

the Order of Santiago, Pius V. had a letter written to the 

King of Spain to beg him not to extend his protection to the 

criminal.^ Speaking generally, the new religion at Mantua 

did not fight with religious weapons only. In March, 1568, 

manifestos were discovered which held up as meritorious acts 

before God and man the nunder of Cardinal Borromeo, the 

bishop and the Dominicans.'- A preacher who had leanings 

towards the innovators dared to condemn from a public 

pulpit the methods of procedure adopted by the Inquisition, 

but the Pope had him summoned to Rome and 

punished.^ 

Revolutionary ideas were also disseminated by the innova- 

tors in the district of Tenda in the Maritime Alps. Many of 

their adherents no longer believed in one God, while others 

held that any acts of violence against clergy who possessed 

property were lawful. In 1566 a widespread insurrection 

against Count Honoratus II. broke out, but this was easily 

1 Brief to Philip II. of June 28 1569 in Laderchi, 1569, n. 64. 

Bonelli to Castagna, June 29, 1569, Corresp. dipl., III., 94- 

F. Valerani, Prigionia e morte di Fl. Paleologo, 1568-1571, 

Alessandria, 191 2 (Extract from Rivista di storia ed arte della 

provincia d' Alessandria). 

' *Arco, March 29, 1568, State Archives, Vienna. Cardinal 

Rebiba in a letter to the Bishop of Mantua of March 27, 1568, in 

Bertolotti, Martiri, 46, mentions a " bando " which the Duke 

" ha fatto fare per trovare et castigare gli autori di quei cartelli 

contro il santo ofiitio." 

' Roberto Novella da Evoli. Cf. Bertolotti, loc. cit. 51 seqq. 

and the trial of Paleario in Arch. d. Soc. Rom., 1896, 171, 173 seq. ; 

*Avviso di Roma of June 17, 1570 (his removal to the prison of 

Ostia), Urb. 1041, p. 295, Vatican Library.

o 26 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

suppressed.^ It was not only Protestant errors, properly 

so called, which had to be dealt with in Italy at that time. 

In 1568 sixteen heretics, who among other things had revived 

monothelism,^ were arrested at Ferrara, and condemned to 

the gaUe3'^s and quarries, while at Naples a sect made its 

appearance in 1567 which had adopted the rites of Judaism.^ 

Moreover, a great number of the Italian Protestants belonged 

to that purely rationalistic sect known as the Anabaptists,* 

not because its condemnation of infant baptism was its principal 

doctrine, but because in the eyes of the world at that time, 

that was their most monstrous belief. From time immemorial 

men had been admitted into the Church by baptism almost 

exclusively as infants ; if the sacrament had been adminis- 

tered to such invalidly, it followed that for many centuries 

there had been no Christians and no Church, and that the 

foundation of Christ had long since disappeared. This ex- 

plains the great horror that was felt for the Anabaptists. 

Rome kept a watchful eye upon all these many forms of 

heresy. At the beginning of his reign Pius V. formed the 

project of sending to aU the Inquisitors of Italy orders to 

furnish reports to Rome of all who were suspected of heresy.^ 

^ Report of the Franciscan Conventual, Eojero of Nice, who by 

the orders of the Bishop of Ventimiglia gave missions in Tenda in 

1566 (GiOFFREDO, Storia delle Alpi marittime, V., Turin, 1839, 

ad an. 1566. Cf. P. Degiovanni, Gli eretici di Tenda-Briga- 

Sospello nei secoli xv. e xvi. Florence, 1881, 9 seq., extract from 

Rivista crist.). In a *brief of August 7, 1566, Pius V. praises 

the zeal of the Count for the repression of hei-esy, Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t. 12, p. 99, Papal Secret Archives. 

^Cantlt, Eretici, II., 98. 

''Ibid. 332. Laderchi 1567, n. 61. Little is known of the 

heretics in Sicily {cf. V. La Mantia, Origini e vicende dellTnquisizione 

in Sicilia in Riv. sior. Ital., 1886, 481 seq.) ; in 1568 and 

1569 an autodafe took place at Palermo [Arch. sior. Sicil., 

XXXVIII. , 1914, 306, 309. For the heretics at Verona cf. 

Riv. stor. Ital., 1912, 241. 

^ Cf. Benrath in Studien und Kvitiksn, 1S85, i seqq. 

^ Babbi, the Tuscan envoy to Rome, July 2, 1566, in Cant^, 

II., 431.

THE POPE AND THE INQUISITION. 327 

Even though it is true that such reports arrived in great 

numbers, the Inquisitors in the various Italian provinces had 

to submit to constant admonitions and even to deposition 

when they were negligent in fuliilling their duty.^ A whole 

series of letters was addressed to the secular princes on behalf 

of the Inquisition, either to recommend to them a new In- 

quisitor,2 or to demand the handing over of some specially 

dangerous heretic,^ or to threaten punishment to the princes 


* Camillo Campeggio, appointed Inquisitor at Mantua (see 

supra p. 322) was, by a *brief of May 31, 1567, also recommended 

to the Duke of Ferrara for his dominions, on the ground that 

there were heretics there, who were causing the Pope much 

anxiety. Archives of Briefs, Rome, and State Archives, 

Modena. 

^ Brief of March 30, 1566, to the Duke of Ferrara, in Fontana, 

Arch. d. Soc. Rom., XV. (1892), 461. *Brief to Luigi Birago, 

Governor of Saluzzo, of December 29, 1567. Archives of Briefs ; 

a brief of June 3, 1566, to the same, urging him to drive out the 

Huguenots, who were wont to escape from Piedmont to Saluzzo, 

in Fontana, loc. cit. 463 ; to LeUo Orsini, Lord of Ceri, May 9, 

1566 : he is to hand over to the bearer of the brief his agent Baldo 

Fabii, in order that he may take him to the Roman Inquisition, 

ibid. 461 seq. ; to the Count of Tenda, December 30, 1569, with a 

request to hand over to the Bishop of Ventimiglia two heretics, in 

Laderchi, 1569, n. 74 ; Fontana, loc. cit. 473 ; cf. Laderchi, 

1570, n. 145 seq. ; to the Duke of Savoy, April 29, 1570, on a similar 

occasion, in Laderchi, 1570, n. 143 ; Fontana, 474. In a *brief 

of August 30, 1567, Lodovico Pico Count of JVIirandola is asked to 

deal with the imprisoned heretic Lanzoni as the Inquisitor, 

Campeggio, shall order (Archives of Briefs). By order of the 

Pope, Cardinal Rebiba wrote on September 11, 1568, to the Duke 

of Mantua that a heretic who had already been condemned by 

the Inquisitor was continuing his activities in the Duke's terri- 

tory : he must be handed over to the Inquisitor, and the officials 

must be told that the Duke intends to be obeyed in these matters. 

There was a further admonition on November 6, 1568, on account 

of certain heretics who thought themselves safe at Pavia and 

Monferrato under the protection of certain influential persons 

(Bertolotti, Martiri, 48 seq.) ; in like manner on June 16,

328 


themselves in the case of undue interference. Ercole, Lord 

of Sassuolo, in the Duchy of Modena, who had allowed two 

heretics into his territory, was placed in the Castle of St. 

Angelo, until he had caused both of them to be delivered to 

the Roman Inquisition.^ When he had on his own authority 

mitigated the punishment of a relapsed but repentant heretic, 

Pius V. threatened the Duke of Savoy with excommunication, 

September 15, and December 8, 1571, concerning a heretic who 

lodged at Monferrato and Leghorn, and who was finally captured 

by brigands, who sought to obtain their pardon on the score of 

this capture {ibid. 58 seq.). Cardinal Bonelli wrote by the Pope's 

command on April 26, 1566, to the Duke of Savoy, concerning a 

school master who had already been condemned, but who was 

continuing to spread his doctrines, and whom the civic officials 

would not hand over to the Inquisitor {ibid. 34). On January 30, 

1570, on February 13 and April 24, 1571, Cardinal Bobba had 

recourse to the Duke for the handing over of a Franciscan heretic, 

who had spontaneously surrendered to the Inquisition at Turin 

{ibid. 56 ; cf. 57). For the vigilance of the Roman Inquisition cf. 

also the information in Battistella, II S. Officio e la riforma 

religiosa in Bologna, Bologna 1905, 65, seq. ; ibid. 97 seq., 100 

seq., 105, for the execution of heretics at Bologna in 1567, 1568, 

1570- 

^ " *La cosa, ch'io scrissi a V. S. 111"^^, che Nostro Signore 

haveva intentione di mandar un commissario a Modena per le 

cose della inquisitione, non essendo quella citta la piii netta del 

mundo pare che si vada credendo et crescendo perche a questi 

giorni N^^^ Sig^'*^ fece mettere qui in castello il sig^ Hercole de li 

signori di Sassuolo per havere, come dicono, toUerato dui heretic! 

Modenesi, un Rangone et uno Castelvetro, in detta terra sua. Ma 

perche scrisse subito questo signore a'suoi agenti che prendessero 

questi tali et li consegnassero a chi ordinava Sua Santita, e stato 

rilassato con segurta di presentarsi et fare ogni sforza perche 

questi tali effettualmente siano dati nelie forze di Sua Beat"®. 

Tutta questa istoria dicono che da molto di pensare a Morone, et 

pero il povero signore ha una chiera molto afflitta, o sia per il male 

passato del corpo o per I'infirmita presente dell'animo." Caligari 

to Commendone, June 29, 1566, Lett, di princ. XXIII. 270, Papal 

Secret Archives. Cf. *Arco, June 22, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna.

THE PRINCES AND THE INQUISITION. 329 

and the Duke had to give way.^ The Duke of Florence 

showed himself most favourable to the Roman Inquisition, 

but on the other hand Alfonso, Duke of Ferrara, the son of 

that Renee of France who had Protestant leanines, behaved 

very differently.^ Under the influence of his wife, Emanuele 

Filiberto of Savoy had more and more tolerated the 

Protestants^ Again and again Pius V. urged him to take 

steps against the religious innovators,^ and at last had the 

satisfaction of seeing the Duke turn dcfmitely against them, so 

that about 1570 they were driven out from Cuneo and Caraglio, 

the two principal centres of their activities, and in this way 

their power was broken.^ 

^ Letter from Rome of January 22, 1567, in Bertolotti, 

Martiri, 34 seq. 

^ " Es grande essecutor de lo que se ordena en la Inquisicion de 

Roma " (Zuniga to Philip II., September 17, 1568, Corresp. dipl., 

IT., 460). Cf. Bollett. Senese, XVII., 160, 197. At Siena as 

well the Florentine government was very vigilant agamst the 

heretics {ibid. 171) ; for the trials of heretics held there, ihid. 171 

and Cantit, III., 449 seqq.; for the Sienese heretic Benvoglienti 

summoned to Rome on March 10, 1569, Cantlj, 450 and Bollett. 

Senese, XVII., 183. In 1569 Pius V. still entertained suspicions 

of heresy at Siena. 

' Alberi, II., 2, 415. Bihl. in Archiv fiir osierr. Geschichte, 

cm. (1913), 26. 

* Zuniga wrote on April 7, 1568, that in the opinion of the Duke 

of Florence a descent of the French heretics upon Italy would not 

meet with much opposition in Savoy " o porque no querria 

declararse contra Francia porque le governava su muger, la 

qual no acogeria de mala gana los hereges." Corresp. dipl., II., 

339- Cf. Albert, II., 4, 189, and Vol. XVI. of this work, p. 351. 

* Cf. the report of the " abbate di S. Solutore " to the Duke, 

Rome, December 9, 156O, in Cibrario, Lettere inedite di Santi. 

Papi, Principi, Turin, 1861, 394 seq. In Cod. K. 20 of the Valli- 

cella Library, Rome, there are accounts *" de comprehensione 

loh. Honorati Marini haeretici opera Pii V. a duce Sabaudiae 

permissa eiusque causa in Taurinensi Inquisitione agitata 1566." 

" A. Pascal, Storia della riforma protestante a Cuneo nel sec. 

XVI., Pinerolo, 191 3.

330 


The edicts addressed by Rome to the provincial Inquisitors, 

however, did not always contain exhortations to greater 

activity. When complaints reached Rome about the Inquisi- 

tor at Pavia, Fra Pietro da Ouintiano, who had imprisoned a 

certain Miliavacca, the Roman Inquisition had the minutes 

of the trial sent to it, and as a result, on October i8th, 1568, 

ordered the Inquisition of Pavia to acquit and release the 

condemned man from his imprisonment. ^ The unjust In- 

quisitor was informed that the Cardinal Inquisitors had been 

very much astonished at the trial, that the witnesses were 

not worthy of credence, that their depositions were negligible, 

and in no way proved the charge of heresy, and that it had 

been suggested to the witnesses, by the way in which the 

questions had been put, what answers they v/ere to make.^ 

The Cardinal Inquisitors sought to lay the principal blame on 

Fra Pietro 's subordinates,^ but he had nevertheless to resign 

his office.* 

The German students at the University of Padua, many 

of whom were Protestants, remained for the most part un- 

disturbed, so long as they did not rouse the hostihty of the 

^ The decree (of Cardinal Ribiba) is printed by Ettore Rota 

m Bollett. della Soc. Pavese di storia patria, VII. (1907), 27-29. 

^ ' Questi signori miei sono restati molto scandalezzati di detto 

processo, e gli e parse che si sia date a' testimoni esaminati piu 

fade di quelle che conveneva, attenta maximainente la qualita 

lore e detti suoi, e I'interessi ch'havevano con il Miliavacha; 

oltrache, la maggior parte delle cose che dicono sono frivole, et 

anco non pertinenti alia heresia, et in quella che potevano toccarla, 

poco verisimili ; 

sono stati interrogati di mal modo et con interro- 

gatori suggestivi ; et il mettere prigione quel testimonio et fare 

alii altri precetti penale pecuniarii in simil caso non e stato laudato, 

et in somma non s' e proceduto con quella saldezza e gravita che 

conviene a tanto tribunale." Although Miliavacca may not be 

the best man in the world, the Inquisition must nevertheless con- 

fine itself to inquiring into heresy, or at least into those offences 

which smack of heresy. Bollett. Pavese, loc. cit. 27 seq. 

^ Ibid. 28. 

* Ibid. Tlie gravest accusations of abuse of his office were also 

brought against him {ibid. 23 seqq.).

REPRESSION OF SODOMY. 331 

people by provocative behaviour in liie churches and by 

making fun of CathoUc things.' An exception to this general 

tolerance occurred in the time of Pius V. when, in 1570, the 

German professor, Weydecker, was brought before the In- 

quisition, and only released when he had abjured Protestant- 

ism. ^ At Padua they contrived to evade the making of the 

Tridentine profession of faith, which Pius IV. had made a 

necessary condition for taking a doctor's degree, by conferring 

the academic degrees without any public ceremony, at the 

hands of the so-called Counts-Palatine,^ a right which Pius V. 

took away from the said Counts as far as he could. 

According to Arco two things especially occupied the Pope 

in the middle of the first year of his pontificate,^ namely, his 

care for the Inquisition, and his struggle against " that terrible 

sin on account of which the dreadful judgment of God burned 

the cities that were infected by it "—sodomy.^ On April ist, 

1566, he gave orders that those guilty of sodomy were to be 

handed over to the secular arm,' and under Pius V. there was 

1 BiAGio Bruni in A Hi del R. Istituto Veneto di scienze, lettere ed 

arii, Ser. 7, V. (1893-94), 1015-1033. Between 1550 and 1599, 

5083 German students of law, and 977 of philosophy (" artisti ") 

were lodged at Padua ; ibid. 10 16. 

^ Cf. A. LuscHiN VON Ebengreuth in Zeitschvift fiir allgem. 

Geschichte, III. (1886), 805-817. 

^ Bruni, loc. cit. 1030 seqq. It is also related of the students at 

Pisa in 1567 that they made vile mockery of the Catholic religion 

(Cantu, Eretlci, II., 437). At Siena, in April, 1566, the making 

of a profession of faith was demanded of the students {Bollett. 

Senese, XVII, 167). The governing body there kept a special 

watch on the German students {ibid. 167, 189 seqq., 195). 

* Edict of June i, 1568. Bull. Rom., VII., 673. *Avviso di 

Roma of July 17, 1568, Urb. 1040, p. 549, Vatican Library. As 

early as March 20, 1568, the *Avvisi {ibid. 491) report that it had 

been decided " che tutti che si vogliono addottorare passino per 

ignem et aquam." 


® Pius V. in a brief of August 30, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 702 seq. 

' Bull. Rom., VII., 43 ; among the *Editti, 205, there is one 

against blasphemy and sodomy, dated 6 Kal. apr. 1366, Casana- 

tense library, RoTne.

332 


no fear of such a bull remaining a dead letter. A number of 

imprisonments for sodomy^ during July, 1566, filled Rome 

with fear, especially the nobles, who well knew that the Pope 

would apply his law in the case of great and small alike ;^ 

it is a fact that the punishment of burning was used in cases 

of crimes against nature all through the reign of Pius V.^ 

In October, 1571, the complaint made by a preacher in the 

Apostolic palace, that justice was only employed against the 

poor and not against the rich, called forth a Papal edict ordering 

the strict enforcement of the laws against sodomy.* A 

brief had already been issued by which clerics who were guilty 

of that offence lost all their benefices, dignities and revenues, 

and, after degradation, were to be handed over to the secular 

arm.^ 

Since the Inquisition had the power to deal with crimes 

against nature, as giving ground for the suspicion of incredulity 

and heresy, the same thing held good, and for the same reason, 

of attempts to invoke the assistance of the evil spirits for any 

1 Tiepolo, July 20, 1566, in Mutinelli, L, 50. 

^ *' che fa giusticia anco per i grandi " (Arco, July 20, 1566, 

State Archives, Vienna). An *Avviso di Roma of July 20, 156 

(Urb. 1040, p. 255, Vatican Library) states : " Roma e quasi 

tutta sbigottita per le gagliarde provisioni et essecutioni, che si 

fanno contro li maledetti sodomiti ne si guarda in faccia a 

persona." 

^ Cf. the *Avvisi di Roma of April 2, 1569 : 

burned," September 3, 1569 : 

" 

"a sodomite was 

the servant of a sodomite was 

May 13, 

actually burned, and his master, who had fled, in effigy " ; 

1570 : "a man was burned for bestiality " ; October 6, 1571 : 

" to-day four sodomites were burned " (Urb. 1041, p. 51, 143, 

274 ; 1042, p. 129, Vatican Library). Cf. Mutinelli, L, 50 ; 

Bollett. Pavese, IV., 591 seq. 

cit. 

4 *Avviso of October 20, 1571, Urb. 1042, p. 135, loc. 

Âugust 30, 1568, Bull. Rom., VII., 702 seq. A *brief of 

March 15, 1569, to the vicar of the Archbishop of Tarragona, 

which orders the carrying out of this edict, in Brevia Arm. 44, 

t. 14, p. 33, Papal Secret Archives.

SORCERY AND WITCHCRAFT. 333 

purpose whatever.- During the humanist period, when the 

study of the occult played so great a part,^ this side of the 

activities of the Inquisition must have been speciall)' import- 

ant, but we know very little about it. In 1568 the tribunal of 

the faith at Pavia was engaged upon the case of a magician 

who, by means of astrology, divination and alchemy, claimed 

to be able to discover hidden treasure, and was engaged in 

compiling, together with other people, a manual of magic. 

In that same year five other persons were accused before the 

Inquisition of witchcraft.^ During the reign of Pius V. 

several witches were condenmed in Rome,"* Milan, ^ and else- 

where.^ 

'It is evident from various sources that. even under Pius V. 

the Inquisition did not confine itself to questions of faith alon^. 

Ciregiola on September i&, 1568, *wrote to Cardinal F. do' Medici 

that the Cardinal Inquisitors had persuaded Pius V. that it was 

his duty to undertake some far-reaching enterprise against the 

Huguenots, and to add some new saints to the Breviary (State 

Archives, Florence). An *Avviso di Rcma of April i, 1570 (Urb. 

1041, p. 251, Vatican Library) tells of a meeting of the Inquisition 

on account of the Emperor's protest. An adulterer was handed 

over to the Inquisition : *Cusano, INIarch 2, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna. 

^ FUMI, L' Inquisizione, 72 seqq. 

^ Ettore Rota in Bollett. Pavese, VII. (1907), 20 seq. 

• See sitpra p. 3 1 2, n. i . A sorceress was imprisoned by the Roman 

Inquisition in 1569 for having foretold to the Pope his coming 

death and to Cardinal Mula the tiara (*Avviso di Roma of Decem- 

ber 24, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 206b, Vatican Library). *" Frustrate 

5 vecchie in Roma fattucchiate " (August 6, 1569, ibid. ii6b). 

^ *Brief of September 10, 1569, to the Senate of Milan concerning 

witches condemned by the archiepiscopal tribunal. Brevia, Arm. 

44, t.14, p. 224, Papal Secret Archives. 

" A woman was accused of witchcraft at Cocconato in Piedmont 

" Margaritam Allamanam . . . deviasse a 

on August 31, 1569 : 

fide Christi catholicaque religione et ministeriis sacrosanctae 

ecclesiae, retro post satanam conversam daemonum illusionibus et 

fantasmatibus seductam eius iussionibus obedire, ad eiusque 

servitium revocari ad cursum ; et publice vociferatur, ut vulgo 

dicitur, eam esse mascham." (Ferd. Gabotto, Valdesi, Catari e

334 


A bull of Pius v., dated February 26th, 1569, expressly 

states the fact that the Jews, in particular, made use of 

" divination, conjuring, magic arts, and witchcraft," and 

led many persons to believe that by such means it was possible 

to foretell the future, trace thieves, discover hidden treasure, 

and in general obtain knowledge otherwise beyond the reach 

of mankind.^ It is well known that Juvenal, in his 14th satire, 

speaks of the divination practised by the Jews in Rome. 

The Jews often appear as magicians and wizards during the 

period of the Renaissance. In Ariosto's comedy, II 

Negromante, the hero is a Jew who had been driven out of 

Spain, who makes use of his magic arts at the expense of 

disappointed or infatuated lovers." 

The same bull accuses the Jews of many other crimes, as 

well as of dabbling in magic. It states that they are usurers 

and are bleeding needy Christians. They afford a refuge to 

robbers and brigands, and enable them to dispose of their 

streghe in Piemonte dal sec. XIV. al XVI., Extract from n. 18 

of the Bulletin de la Soc. d' hist. Vaudoise di 1 owe Pellice, 

Pinerolo, 1900, 17). A trial for witchcraft in 1567 is related by 

Bertolotti in Rivista Europea, XXIII. (1883), 625. 

^ BuU. Rom., VII., 740. Several examples are given by the 

*Avvisi di Roma. Gabriele Pianer, dean of the pontifical chaplains, 

was imprisoned with a Jew becaiise they were making 

calculations as to the length of the Pope's life, the Jew making 

use of a phial, in which devils were shut up ; 

he was condemned to 

the punishment of scourging (*Avvisi of June 12 and July 31, 

1568, Urb. 1040, p. 533, 556, Vatican Library : cf. *Arco, June 12, 

1568, State Archives, Vienna). A Jew was imprisoned, who made 

predictions with the " bolla de' spirit! " about the Pope's life. 

(*Avviso of July 23, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 117, loc. cit.). For the 

" Processi per ebraismo in NapoU " see Amabile I., 306 seq. 

^ Cf. BuRCKHARDT, Renaissance, 11.^", 268, 275 seq., 373. 

See also the example in the time of Paul III., mentioned in Vol. 

XIII. of this work, p. 215. Gregorovius (Wanderjahre in 

ItaUen, i^., Leipzig 1864, 75) in explaining the bull of Pius V. 

mentions the fact that " oggi pure donne ebree a Roma portano 

segretamente nelle case arti magiche e filtri amaforii."

PIUS V. AND THE JEWS. 335 

booty as receivers of stolen goods. Going about the city 

in the guise of itinerant pedlars, they act as procurers, and 

have thus brought about the ruin of many innocent women. 

In general, they hate the name of Christian, and seek treacher- 

ously to ruin all who bear it.^ 

Several of the edicts of Pius V. against the Jews are more 

easily understood, both as regards their occasion and their 

purpose, if the above-mentioned accusations are borne in 

mind. When, in 1569, Cardinal Bonelli caused all their books 

to be confiscated in order that a better idea might be formed 

of their privileges in the matter of demanding interest,^ and 

when, a year later, these privileges were declared void and the 

Jews were subjected to the ordinary laws concerning usury. 

these measures speak for themselves, and it is equally obvious 

why the Jews were forbidden to enter the houses of prostitutes, 

or to admit them to their houses, shops, or work-rooms,^ 

and why licenses to ply the trade of pedlar were only to be 

granted for the future to Jews whose moral character was 

above suspicion.^ It is also plain that it was useless to expect 

from the Jews a conscientious observance of the ecclesiastical 

1 BuU. Rom., VII., 740. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of January 15, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 4b, 

Vatican Library. Decrees of Cardinals Saraceni and Sirleto of 

October 11 and 16, 1567, in Rieger, II., 167. 

^ *Avviso di Roma of September 20, 1570, loc. cit. 342 seq. A 

Papal decree of October 8, 1566, allowed them an interest, which 

according to our reckoning would be 12 % . (Vernet in Universite 

catholique, 1895, II., 108 n.). For the enormous charges for 

interest among the Jews in the XVth and XVIth centuries cf. 

Erler in Archiv fiir kathol. kirchenrecht, LIII. (1885), 5, 11, 37. 

Even in 1569 the profits averaged 20 % (Rieger, II., 167). The 

Jews, says Sadolet, in 1539, are the masters of the Christians 

and every day take away from them their property and force them 

to emigrate (Erler, loc. cit. 41). 

* Ferraris, Prompta Bibliotheca, IV., s. v. ' Hebraeus 

n. 25. Erler, loc. cit. 52. 

* *Awiso di Roma of August 17, 1.566, Urb. 1040, p. 273b, 

Vatican Library.

336 


laws as to books, and accordingly they were only allowed to 

buy and sell books by special license.^ 

The strict laws of Paul IV., according to which the Jews 

were not allowed to live among the Christians, to go about 

without a distinctive mark, to acquire landed property, or 

keep Christian servants,- had been almost entirely repealed 

by Pius IV. on February 27th, 1562,^ as being a source of 

trial and vexation to the hated children of Israel. Pius V., 

it is true, caused the Governor of Rome, Pallantieri, to publish 

an edict on April loth, 1566, which ordered that any offence 

committed against the Jews should be punished by flogging,^ 

but in other respects he reverted to the laws of Paul IV. In 

the middle of February it was reported that the wall surround- 

ing the Ghetto had been restored, and that those who were 

forced to remain within vainly attempted to obtain the en- 

largement of the space allotted to them for their habitation.^ 

They were all forced to go to the Ghetto, nor was any attention 

1 Edict of the " Magister s. Palatii " Tommaso Manriquez of 

January 19, 1566, printed in Hilgers, Index, 501 ; cf. Laderchi, 

1566, n. 28 ; Erler, loc. cii. 52 ; Catena, 51. Rieger (II., 164) 

without any justification limits this prohibition to buying and 

selling Jewish books. 

2 Cf. Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 272. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 167 seqq. For Pius IV.'s indulgence towards 

the Jews cf. Erler, loc. cit., 49 

; Vernet, loc. cit., 1891, II., 642 

seq. *" Sono molto travagliato per conto degli Hebrei i quali 

hanno grandissimi favori per ritornare le cose loro nel stato che 

erano innanzi la boUa di Paolo IV." (T. Cospi, January 18, 1561, 

State Archives, Bologna). Even Cardinal Borromeo showed 

himself very indulgent towards the Jews (Lanciani, IV., 16). 

* Laderchi, 1566, n. 107. *Avviso di Roma of April 13, 1566, 

Urb. 1040, p. 210, Vatican Library. Erler, loc. cit. 52. 

5 *Avviso di Roma of February 16, 1566, loc. cit. 182. With 

reference to the consistory of January 23, 1566, Arco announces : 

*" Vuole S.S*^^ che li Giudei ritornino tutti nel seragUo deputato 

loro al tempo di Paulo quarto " (State Archives, Vienna). Under 

Pius IV., as *Cusano writes on February 2, 1566, the Jews were 

scattered all over the city," having paid many ducats to the Pope 

for that permission {ibid.).


paid to their request to be allowed to wear a red distinctive 

mark instead of the yellow one which had been ordered for 

the Jews.i A little later on the Pope forbade them to take 

part in the market hitherto held on Wednesdaj's—that day 

having been chosen for their sake—and transferred it to the 

Saturday. 

By April igth, 1566, all the prescriptions of Paul IV. 's 

bull concerning the Jews had been renewed, and extended to 

the whole Church, while Pius IV. 's mitigation of it had been 

expressly revoked.^ Since the Jews evaded the prohibition 

of possessing landed property by means of fictitious sales, a 

new ordinance was issued according to which all such property 

which had not been actually handed over within a fixed time 

reverted to the house of catechumens and the Monte di Pieta."* 

On the strength of certain briefs of Paul III. and Pius IV., 

however, an exception was made in the case of the Jews of 

Ancona.^ 

It was not to be expected of the Jews of the Middle Ages 

or of the modern era that was just beginning that they should 

grow up side by side with a Christian nation, or look upon a 

Christian land as their home. Staff in hand, they constantly 

wandered from one Christian country to another, and were 

1 *Avviso di Roma of April 13, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 210, Vatican 

Library. Laderchi, 1566, n. 112. Even in this respect Pius IV. 

had been more lenient with them (Lanciani in Arch. d. Soc. Rom., 

XVII. [1894], 229 seqq.). 

^ *Cusano, May 11, 1566, State Archives, Vienna. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 439. The *brief of May 17, 1566, with which 

it was s nt to Cardinal Borromeo, says that the bull had become 

necessary because of the intolerable freedom allowed to the Jews. 

Borromeo must publish it, and as at that time the Christians at 

Milan were oppressed by the usury of the Jews, let him enact that 

no other interest is to be demanded but such as is customary in the 

Papal States, and never compound interest. Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t. 12, n. 79, Papal Secret Archives. 

*Motuproprio of January 19, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 514. 

'" 

Brief of April 5, 1567, Bull. Rom., VII., 32 (in the bull of 

Gregory XIII. of February 23, 1573). 

VOL. XVII. 21

338 


convinced, deeply hating the Christians as they did, that they 

could make use of their knowledge of Christian affairs for 

felonious purposes among the Turks and infidels.^ It was 

said as early as July, 1566, that the Jews felt that under the 

stem regime of Pius V. it was no longer any use for them to 

remain in the Papal States. ^ A year later 300 Jews from 

Rome actually accepted the invitation of a renegade who 

claimed to have obtained from the Sultan the city of Tiberias 

and certain islands of the Archipelago for the purpose of 

colonizing them with members of the chosen people.^ It was 

reported in Rome in April, 1567, that the Pope intended to 

drive the " Hebrews," as they were called, from his dominions.^ 

In a bull of February 26th, 1569,^ Pius V. actually took this 

extrem.e step, which had previously been taken by Ferdinand 

the Catholic in 1492, and by Charles V. in Naples in 1539. 

In this edict the Pope first sets forth the grievances against 

the Jews.® Since the gravity of their offences was increasing 

every day, to the injury of the state, and since the Jews con- 

tributed nothing of importance to the common good, they 

1 Laderciii, 1569, n. 78. Erler loc. cit. 36. 

2 *Avviso di Roma of July 20, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 255b, Vatican 

Library. *Arco wrote on July 20, 1566, that the Pope wished 

that the Christians should not in any way help the Jews, for which 

reason some had themselves baptized and others v/ent away. 


3 *Avviso di Roma of July 5, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 413, Vatican 

Library. *B. Pia wrote on July 19, 1567, that every day Jews 

were leaving for Tiberias, which had been given to them (State 

Archives, Mantua). On July 5, 1567, *Arco reports that more 

than 40 Jewish families had left for Tiberias during that week 


* *Avviso di Roma of April 19, 1567, Urb. 1040, p. 3S2b, Vatican 

Library. 

^ Bull. Rom., VII., 740, An *Avviso di Roma of February 14, 

1569, reports that the bull had been " spedita " (Urb. 1041, p. 14b, 

Vatican Library). *Cusano speaks of it on March 5, 1569, 

State Archives, Vienna, 

" Cf. supra p. 334.


must within three months leave the whole of the Papal States, 

with the exception of Rome and Ancona ; if any of them, 

after that period, were found within Papal territory, they were 

to forfeit their possessions and become the serfs of the Roman 

Church. The Jews left the Papal States in May, and went for 

the most part to Asia Minor. ^ 

Feliciano, the Archbishop of Avignon, had the courage, in a 

letter of April 6th, 1569, to intercede for the Jews in his diocese, 

on the ground that they had lent money to the Catholics in 

the war against the Huguenots, and that their exile would lead 

to disturbances. The Pope repHed that, according to the 

testimony of the Bishop of Carpentras, no decree had given 

so much satisfaction in the Venaissin for many years as the 

bull against the Jews.^ At the request of the syndics, how- 

ever, he extended the time fixed for their departure until 

1 Erler, loc. cit. 54. RiEGER, III., 168. According to the 

*Avviso di Roma of March 19, 1569, they asked for a delay in 

their departure in order that they might collect the debts owing 

to them (Urb. 1041, p. i8b, Vatican Library'). In various places 

the bull was either not obeyed at all or only for a short time ; 

Fabretti, Sulla condizione degli ebrei in Perugia, Turin, 1891, 

9 seqq. Of the Jews in Rome it is stated in May, 1569 : *" Si 

dice che S.S. vuole che li Hebrei vadino ad habitare al Coliseo, 

onde per le quotidiane restrintioni questi poveri se ne vanno piii 

tosto che obligarsi a cosi dure novita " (*Avviso di Roma of May 

ij\, 1569, loc. cit. 76). At Bologna, where the Jews were enclosed 

in the Ghetto in 1566 (Giudicini, Miscell. Bologn., 56), several 

pious foundations were trying to get the house of catechumens 

left to them, on the ground that with the departure of the Jews 

there was no longer any need for it ; against this the governing 

body of the house pointed out in a *petition on April 13, 1569, 

that it was just the time when many Jews would be converted 

(Cod. Vatic, lat. 6184, p. 82, Vatican Library). In a *brief of 

March 26, 1568, Pius V. had given the catechumens of Bologna a 

synagogue which had come into the possession of the Apostolic 

Camera. Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

- Brief of May 3, 1569, in Laderchi, 1569, n. 187. In this brief 

we read : " Scimus perversissimam banc gentem omnium fere 

haeresum causam seminariumque semper fuisse." 

see

340 


August 15th. 1 Venice, too, thought of banishing the Jews 

in 1569, on account of their felonious relations with the 

Turks. 2 

Notwithstanding all these strict ordinances, Pius V. had a 

certain feeling of kindhness for this unhappy people ; above 

all, he sought as far as possible to win them to Christianity, 

nor, as he himself says, were his efforts altogether unsuccessful. 

Many Jews and Jewesses were baptized ; 

whenever any of the 

more eminent among the Roman Jews showed themselves 

ready for conversion, the Pope performed the sacred rite 

with his own hands, and in this way many were led to follow 

their example. At the end of November, 1566, the house of 

catechumens, built by Paul III., was almost quite full, and 

about the same time, the convent of the Annunziata, where 

recently-converted Jewish girls could take the veil, was found 

to be too small for the numbers that entered, so that the 

convent had to be transferred to a larger house. ^ Pius V. 

also furnished revenues for the catechumenate, which he 

placed under the spiritual care of the Jesuits.* He soon gave 

up his idea of purchasing a special palace for the use of the 

converted Jews,^ and later on he thought it better not to have 

1 Brief to Cardinal Armagnac on May 4, 1569, in Laderchi' 

1569, n. 190. According to the *Avviso of July 26, 1570 (Urb. 

1040, p. 312, Vatican Library) the Jews at Avignon vainly offered 

large sums of money to the Pope to be allowed to remain. Accord- 

ing to Charpenne, Avignon, II., 453, the Jews of that place 

nevertheless succeeded in remaining. 

" Laderchi, 1569, n. 78. 

^ Bull of November 29, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 489. 

* Laderchi, 1566, n. 109. Sacchini P. III., i, 2, n. 70. The 

Jesuits very soon gave up the house of catechumens. 

5 Negotiations were made for the palace of the former abbre- 

viator, Chirinotto, " che e sotto la Trinita " (*Avviso di Roma of 

August 31, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 278b, Vatican Library). Pius V. 

abandoned the plan because he feared to be cheated in the price 

{*ibid. 301, October 12). A *" Bulla pro domo catechumenorum 

Urbis," of August 28, 1568, is in the Archives of Briefs, Rome. 

According to the *report' of Strozzi on January 18, 1567, the 

Pope gave the catechumens 10,000 scudi (State Archives, Vienna).

CONVERTS FROM JUDAISM. 34 

any special place for the catechumens, preferring to place the 

sons of the converts either in the houses of craftsmen or in 

seminaries.^ 

Among the more notable Jewish converts mentioned above, 

whom the Pope baptized with his own hands, the place of 

honour belongs to the seventy-year-old president of the syna- 

gogue, Elias, and his three sons. They received the sacrament 

with great solemnity, in the presence of the Cardinals, and a 

great crowd of people, including many Jews, in St. Peter's, 

on the third day of Pentecost, June 4th, 1566.'- " Moved by 

the great pity, goodness, and holiness which they daily saw 

in the life of the Pope," in August, 1566, twenty-six Jews, 

and twelve more in October, of the same year, followed the 

example of Elias. ^ In each case it was arranged that baptism 

should be conferred with great solemnity by a Cardinal.^ 

Cod. Vatic, lat. 6792, i, 94 seq. contains an estimate of the *" In- 

trata tanto ordinaria quanto extraordinaria della casa di cate- 

comini " from January to April, 1568, Vatican Library. 

1 *Avviso di Roma of May 28, 1569, Urb. 104 1, p. 84b, Vatican 

Library. An *Avviso of August 16, 1567 {ibid. 1040, p. 431b) 

speaks of 10 catechumens who wished to escape to Tiberias in 

order to return to Judaism. The Pope had them arrested. *Arco, 

August 16, 1568, tells the same tale (State Archives, Vienna). 

- Laderchi, 1566, n. 108. *Avviso di Roma of June 8, 1566, 

Urb. 1040, p. 135, Vatican Library. *Avviso di Roma of June 8, 

1566, State Archives, Vienna. Description of the ceremonies of the 

baptism in Firmanus, Diarium, pubhshed in Rieger, IL, 423 seqq. 

^ *Avvisi di Roma of August 17 (the baptism is announced for 

the following day) and October 19, 1566, Urb. 1040, p. 274b, 

306b, Vatican Library. Baptism of a learned Jew : 

*ibid. 225, 

July 2C, 1566. " Arbitror " wrote Poggiani to Otto Truchsess on 

September 21, 1566, " hoc pontifice, amplius centum iudaeos 

homines lesu Christo nomen dedisse, et ex illis ditissimum et 

doctissimum quemque. Transeunt ad christianam religionem 

viri cum coniugibus et Uberis, neque urbani modo, sod pro- 

vinciates et externi." (Epist., IV., 121). 

4 *Avvisi di Roma of August 17 and October 19, 1566, loc. cit. 

There was a case of a Jew who had himself baptized twice over, 

and was therefore burned (*Avviso of November 26, ^569, ibid. 

1041, p. T9ob, Vatican Librar>\

342 


The sermons, too, which after the beginning of 1568 were 

preached for the Jews on all feast days,^ led to several con- 

versions.^ In the middle of 1569, twenty-seven Jews asked 

for Baptism at Benevento.^ 

The attraction exercised by Judaism in Spain, even in the 

XVIth century, is shown in a remarkable way by a brief of 

Pius v., of September 6th, 1567. 

In this brief the Pope says 

that he has already conferred on Cardinal Espinosa, the 

Spanish Grand Inquisitor, faculties to absolve from their sin 

those Christians who had made use of Jewdsh religious rites ; 

he goes on to declare that in the case of priests and clerics 

who had been guilty of such things, it was not possible to 

remove all the canonical consequences of such an act. The 

Grand Inquisitor must no longer allow anyone who, having 

received any ecclesiastical order, had taken part in Jewish 

rites, to enjoy ecclesiastical benefices ; he must not advance 

them to a higher order, nor must he under any circumstances 

allow priests who had been guilty of that offence to say 

mass.* 

The Pope took part in person in all the many activities 

of the Inquisition. If we have constant record of his activity 

in this respect during the first months of his pontificate,^ the 

same thing is true of the whole of the first half of his reign. 

On June 14th, 1567, Bernardino Pia wrote to Mantua that it 

was not possible to give greater pleasure to the Pope than 

by helping him in things concerning the Inquisition.^ A 

little later, the Imperial ambassador, Arco, was of the opinion 

that Pius V. was more full of zeal against the heretics than 

1 *Avviso of January 17, 1568, ibid. 1040, p. 477. 

2 *Avviso of May 7, 1569, ibid. 104 1, p. 68b, (4 conversions). 

' Petition from the " consoli et citta di Benevento " June 

29, 1569, that a jubilee might be granted to all who were 

present at the baptism, in Cod. Vatic, lat. 6184, p. 14, Vatican 

Library. 

*To Didacus de Spinosa, Cod. Barb. 1502, p. 221 seqq. ; 1503, 

p. 120 seqq. Vatican Library. 

* See supra p. 170, 291. 

* *A. Luzzara, Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.

THE pope's zeal FOR THE INQUISITION. 343 

against the Turks ;^ the prisons, he says, are full of them,^ 

so that they are far too small,^ and again in September Arco 

repeats that the Pope is extremely scrupulous about all 

that concerns the Inquisition.* The Spanish ambassador, 

Requesens, also wrote in July, 1566, that the Pope had not 

so far been absent from a single session of the Inquisition,^ 

although these were held at least once a week, and sometimes 

two or three times ;^ moreover, the Pope's view is always 

most practical and severe,' and carries the day even against 

the votes of all the Cardinals.^ It was said in Rome in 

February, 1568, that the Pope was thinking of following the 

example of Paul IV. by appointing a Grand Inquisitor ;^ 

during Lent he would not hold consistories in order that an 

extra session of the Inquisition might be held each week. 

These extraordinary sessions had been called for by the case 

of the unhappy Archbishop of Toledo, Bartolome Carranza,^" 

whose trial Pius V. had called to Rome. 

1 *Aico, October 13, 1567, State Archives, Vienna. 

- *ibid. May lo, 1567. 

^ *ibid. November 22, 1567, 

* " *scrupolosissimo " ; ibid. September 11, 1568. 

^To Philip II., July 4, 1566, Corresp. dipl., I., 288. 

" To Philip II., September 18, 1566, ibid. 350. 

" Ibid. See also the following note. 

* " Eu las cosas de Inquisicion se haze siempre lo que el Papa 

vota aunque sea contra el parecer de los cardenales, y el vote de 

S.S. diz que es el mejor y mas riguroso que ninguiio de los otros." 

To Phihp II., May 17, 1567, Corresp. dipl. II. 115. 



^'^ Ibid. On June 7, 1567 *B. Pia wrote to Luzzara : 

"Due 

congregationi si fanno hora ogni settimana inanzi a N. S. di 

ordinario per la S' Inquisitione. II lunedi et questa sola per 

la causa de I'arcivescovo di Toledo. II giovedi I'ordinaria, non 

si potria dire con quanta ansia et diligenza S. B"^ attenda a 

questo." (State Archives, Mantua). Cf. *Serristori, February 

13, 1567. State Archives, Florence, Medic. 3287.

CHAPTER VIII. 

The Trial of the Archbishop of Toledo, Bartolome 

Carranza. The Condemnation of Baius. 

The removal of Carranza to the Eternal City is certainly one 

of the most striking proofs of the great impression which the 

personality of Pius V. had made even upon the greatest men 

of his time. It had been in vain for Pius IV. to attempt to 

intervene in the discussion of the case of the disgraced arch- 

bishop.^ King Philip was of opinion that the authority of 

the Spanish Inquisition would suffer if a trial were to be 

removed from its jurisdiction, and perhaps decided in a con- 

trary sense by the Papal tribunals, while he was convinced 

that he could not do without the help of the Inquisition in the 

government of his kingdom. ^ He had therefore strained every 

nerve, even with Pius V., to keep the trial of the Archbishop 

of Toledo in the hands of the Spanish Inquisition. But when 

the Pope persisted, the apparently impossible took place, 

and the might}' Spaniard gave way. To the amazement of aU 

Spain, on December 5th, 1566, the archbishop left Valladolid 

in the litter which was to convej^ him to Cartagena. There he 

had to wait until April 1567, for the Duke of Alba, who was to 

1 See Vol. XVI of this work, 370 seq.. 

^ Serrano in Corresp. dipl. II. xi : "El 

secreto de toda la 

resistencia de Felipe II. en este asunto, estaba en hallarse 

convencido . . ., que yendo la causa a Roma sufria un golpe 

mortal la autoridad de la Inquisicion Espanola." Requesens 

pointed out to the Pope that it was the conviction of Philip, 

" que non podia guardar sus reinos en la religion y obediencia de 

la Sede Apostolica, non conservando la autoridad del Santo 

Officio, a quien seria gran nota no confiar S. B. del este negocio." 

To Philip II. June i, 1566, ihid. I. 256 ; cf. II. xi. seq. 

344

THE CASE OF CARRANZA. 345 

convey him to Rome, so that it was only on May 28th, that 

Carranza reached the Eternal City.^ 

The Spanish Inquisition had a bad name with the Roman 

people." The archbishop was universally looked upon as 

innocent,^ and it was commonly said that the trial would be 

over in a few weeks, and that Carranza would go back to 

Spain a Cardinal. His supporters hoped that he would have 

entered Rome amid popular acclamations, and would be 

received by the Pope before the trial commenced. In reality, 

the day after the arrival of Carranza at Civitavecchia, the 

Spanish ambassador, Requesens, set out to go there to receive 

him accompanied by two companies of cavalry under the 

command of Paolo Ghislieri, but the latter had had orders to 

receive the archbishop merely in the name of the Spanish king, 

and not of the Pope, and when on the return journey the 

cavalcade neared the gates of Rome the great crowd of people 

sought in vain for the archbishop. Requesens took him 

secretly, accompanied only by a few horsemen, in a litter as 

far as the gates of the Castle of St. Angelo, where, to Carranza's 

disgust, his former jailor. Lope de Avellaneda, took charge of 

him in Rome as he had done in Spain.* 

In the composition of the tribunal the Pope had every 

consideration for the Spanish king. If among the assessors 

of the four Cardinal Inquisitors there were to be found the 

Master of the Sacred Palace, Tommaso Manriquez, and other 

declared friends of Carranza, there were also Giulio Santori 

1 Corresp. dipL, II., vi, xviii. Pogiani Epist., IV., 262. 

^ " Todo el pueblo esta mal con la Inquisicion de Espana de 

gracia, 6 per mejor decir, malicia 6 de falta de celo de la fe y 

religi6n." Dr. Simancas to Busto de Villegas, November 5, 

1568, Corresp. dipl., IV., vi. 

^ Zuniga to Philip II., March 9, 1568, ibid. v. 

* Requesens to Phiiip II., May 31, 1567, Corresp. dipl., II., 

124 seqq., cf. xix. seq. *B. Pia, May 31 and June 4, 1567, Gonzaga 

Archives, Mantua. Cf. also the volumes, from the legacy left 

by Santori, bearing the title " Processus in causa Toletana," in 

Miscell. Arm. X., 1-4, Papal Secret Archives, the use of which 

would be of value for a special work on the subject.

346 


and Felice Peretti who, as Neapolitan bishops, acknowledged 

Philip as their sovereign. Among the Cardinals of the In- 

quisition, Pacheco was a Spaniard and devoted to the king. 

Philip, too, was allowed to nominate as many persons as he 

chose as auditors and assessors.^ 

The tribunal began its work at the beginning of June, 1567 ; 

at least one meeting was held every week to deal with the case 

of Carranza.^ First of all the minutes of the Spanish trial 

were read, which drove the Italians to desperation by their 

endless prolixity.^ Very soon the Spanish acta were set aside, 

and they devoted themselves entirely to the writings of the 

accused man, in so far as they did not feel satisfied in Rome 

with the verdict of the Spanish theologians as to his doctrine ; 

many of the propositions which in Carranza's own country 

had been stigmatized as heretical or at least suspect of heresy, 

seemed to learned men in Rome to be quite harmless.'* The 

Pope himself formed an unfavourable opinion of the views of 

the Spanish theologians.^ Moreover, he found fault with the 

fact that so few questions had been put to the archbishop, so 

that he might have had the opportunity of explaining in what 

sense he had meant- statements which might seem erroneous 

when spoken or written. That is not just, he said to the 

Spanish ambassador, when he tried to justify the proceedings 

of the Spanish Inquisition, because heresy lies in the intellect 

' List of the members of the tribunal in Corresp. dipl., II., 

xxi. seq. 

^ According to the *Avviso di Roma of August 2, 1567, every 

Monday. Urb. 1040, p. 425b, Vatican Library. 

^ Corresp. dipl., II., xxiii. 

^ Cardinals Pacheco and Gambara told Zufiiga : " Muchas da 

las proposiciones que alia [in Spain] se dieron por hereticas y 

sospechosas, se ha declarado aqui de comun consentimiento de 

todos los teologos de esta congregacion y de ortos que eran 

cat61icas." Zufiiga to Philip II., April 29, 1570, Corresp. dipl. 

IV., xvi. 

^ " Dijome [the Pope] mucho mal de las calificaciones que se 

habian hecho en Espaiia." Zuniga to Phihp II., Corresp. dipl., 

IV., xiv.


and in obstinacy, and not in words or letters. ^ The Pope had 

assumed control of the trial with the idea that the accusations 

made against Carranza were only too well founded, but when 

he came to examine the matter at first hand he reaHzed that 

several of the accusations were groundless ; he began to 

hesitate, 2 and remained undecided to the end. Not even his 

friends, however, were able to clear the ground from all the 

charges against the archbishop. Carranza's zealous advocate, 

the distinguished moral theologian Azpilcueta, who had come 

to Rome to defend him in spite of his age and weak state of 

health.3 considered that the charge of heresy against his client 

was without foundation, but admitted that the Inquisition 

had only done its duty in imprisoning him.* Cardinal Chiesa, 

to whose opinion Pius V. attached much importance, thought 

^ " que agora havia side mcnester tornarle a examinar, porque 

en Espana hubo en esto gran descuydo, porque dixo que quisieron 

hacer mucho case de lo que se hallava dicho y scripto del ar9obispo, 

y no trataron tanto de saber del come entendia y estava en todas 

aquellas materias en que parescia que habia errado. . . . Dixome 

que no se havia de hacer assy, porque la heresia estava en el 

entendimiento y en la pertinacia y no en la escripto." Zufiiga to 

Philip II., August 17, 1568, Corresp. dipl. II., 439 seq. 

- Dixo [the Pope] que ante que viesse el processo del ar9obispo 

lo tenia por muy culpado ; que despues havia stado algo suspense, 

porque havia visto que no se verificaban algunas cosas de las que 

le havian referido (Zuiiiga to Philip II., July 13, 157J, Corresp. 

dipl., IV., 388). Just then Zufiiga had reproached the Pope 

for having come to the trial with the conviction of the innocence 

of Carranza {ibid. ; cf. the letter to Philip TI. of October 21, 1569, 

ibid., viii.). 

^ Corresp. dipl., IV., vii, 

• " Concebi, crei, y confirme muchas veces dos cosas, la una que 

el dicho Reverendisimo estaba bien preso ; y al cabo, los que le 

prendieron quedar ian honrados por haber hecho su debar contra 

un tan gran var6n." (Memorial a Felipe II., in Ciencia Tomista 

VII., 407 

to Rome on October 21, 1567. A very laudatory letter of recommendation 

of him from the nuncio in Spain, in Corresp. dip., II., 

94. 

; Serrano in Corresp. dipl. II., xxix.). Azpilcueta came

348 


that a strong suspicion of heresy attached to Carranza's name.^ 

The same view was expressed by the Jesuit, Toledo, who had a 

great reputation for learning in Rome,^ and who, in January, 

1570, was called in to assist at the discussions, and often had 

interviews with the Pope on the subject.^ The archbishop's 

friends could only set against this that the erroneous proposi- 

tions had been corrected elsewhere in his writings.^ If Carranza 

had been willing to ask pardon for his imprudent propositions, 

it would certainly have been granted, but he continued to make 

complaints of his opponents and to attempt to justify himself, 

so that the Pope sent him a severe rebuke.^ 

In the meantime opinions and rumours, both for and against 

the accused, were making themselves heard in Rome. Often 

enough, says an eye-witness, one can in a single day see the 

wind blowing from all four quarters in this matter.^ For the 

most part, however, public opinion favoured Carranza. In 

July, 1567, it was rumoured that the case was almost settled 

in his favour, and that very soon the task of passing a judgment 

on his doctrines would be referred to the ordinary Roman 

courts, and that the archbishop would be given quarters in 

one of the monasteries of Rome instead of in the Castle of 

St. Angelo. When none of these things came to pass a fresh 

rumour was current that a decision would be arrived at before 

Christmas." while similar reports recurred again and again 

during the years that followed.^ The Pope himself wrote to 

1 Ihid. IV., xvi. 

^ Ibid, xvii., n. 

^ Ibid, xiii, xxi. Zuniga thought that Toledo, and the Jesuits 

generally were predisposed in favour of Carranza ; ibid. xiii. 

* Zuniga to Philip II., July 13, 1571, ibid. 389. 

* Corresp. dipL, IV., ix., n. 

® Ibid. viii. 

' See the extracts from the Avvisi di Roma, ibid. II., xxiv. 

* For 1568 ,:/. ibid. xxvi. According to the *Avviso di Roma of 

August 17, 1569 (Urb. 1041, p. 133, Vatican Library) the Spanish 

ambassador went to Carranza to congratulate him on his release. 

On September 24, 1569 {ibid. 146b) we are told that the decision 

had been come to. On December 10, 1569 {ibid. 195) it is again


the chapter of Toledo on July 20th, 1567, that the trial would 

end " very soon."^ 

As a matter of fact, however, the decision was by no means 

at hand. On November 7th, 1567, the tribunal asked to be 

allowed first to examine the writings of Carranza which had 

been left in Spain. On March 27th, 1568, it wrote to Spain 

for further information as to the various statements of the 

archbishop. On August 2nd in the same year, the Pope, in a 

brief to the Cardinal Espinosa, asked to have the writings of 

Carranza on the Epistles of St. Paul, and his sermons which 

were in the possession of private individuals. ^ The case had 

not really been ripe for judgment when it had been transferred 

to Rome. On December 31st, 1564, the day when the Papal 

demand to take over the case took effect, the trial in Spain 

had been abruptly stopped and no further steps had been taken 

there to continue it.^ About the middle of 1569, however, 

the deliberations were so advanced that everyone was of 

opinion that a decision was imminent. In October the sessions 

and deliberations of the commission came to an end, the Pope 

took possession of the minutes of the trial, and together with 

Cardinals Peretti and Aldobrandini subjected them to a close 

examination in order that he might form his own opinion on 

the matter. It was thought that the final judgment would be 

pronounced about Easter, 1570.* 

This time, too, the general expectation was at fault ; 

events 

stated that the archbishop will soon be set at liberty. On August 

12, 1570 {ibid. 318) it is reported that the end of the case had been 

proposed, but very secretly, at a meeting of the Inquisition. On 

July 18, 1571 (Urb. 1042, p. 89b, loc. cit.) it is stated that the case 

is very near its end. 

^ PoGiANi Epist., IV., 260 seq. 

^ Corresp. dipl., II., xxiv. Cf. Zuniga to Philip II., August 17, 

1567, ibid. 439 seqq. ; Philip II., October 11, 1568, on the appoint- 

ment of further Spanish assessors, ibid. 474 seq. The *br'.ef of 

November 7, 1567, to Cardinal Espinosa in Brevia, Arm. 44, 

t.T3, p. Gob, Papal Secret Archives, 

^ Corresp. dipl., II., xxvii. 

' Ibid. IV., X., xiv.

350 


were tending in the direction of trying to find further reasons 

for putting off the decision to the Greek Kalends. For a 

long time it had been no secret that the Pope's decision would 

not be in accordance with that of the Spanish Inquisition, 

and this gave rise to great excitement in Madrid as well 

as at the Spanish embassy in Rome. If the ApostoHc See 

should decide against the Inquisition, and Carranza had 

to return to Toledo, and resume his former position as first 

bishop of the kingdom a terrible blow would, in the opinion 

of Philip, have been struck at the Inquisition, and this its 

Thus the con- 

royal protector wished at all costs to avoid. ^ 

troversy as to Carranza's guilt or innocence had developed 

into a struggle between the cesaropapaHsm of Madrid and the 

interference of Rome, and also into a struggle between the 

Roman and Spanish schools of theology. If in the Eternal 

City an unfavourable judgment were passed upon the captious 

pedantry of the Spanish view of Carranza, then the Roman 

theologians would find themselves overwhelmed with re- 

proaches, with the object of showing that the self-opinionated 

Spaniards knew better than Rome itself what was Catholic 

and what was not. The letters of the Spanish ambassador, 

ZuSiga, in 1569, are filled with complaints of the Roman 

judges. According to these letters the Pope was prejudiced 

in favour of the archbishop, and let himself be influenced by 

his friends. The officials who had charge of the trial were all 

suspected by Zuniga ; 

they had allowed themselves to break 

through the proper procedure, and had not the necessary 

learning to enable them to pronounce on theological questions. 

Things would have gone very differently if a greater number 

of theologians had been sent from Spain to act as assessors, 

and the Romans would not have been able to forget the respect 

due to the Spanish Inquisition. Let new opinions on 

Carranza's writings be prepared in his own country, so that 

men might be able to form a truer judgment as to the meanmg 

and consequences of bis propositions.^ 

^ 

Cf. supra p. 344, n. 2. ' 

2 Corresp. dipl. II., ix.


As far back as July 28th, 1568, in an autograph letter to 

the Pope, PhiUp II, had made complaints of the direction 

in which the discussions of Carranza's case had seemed at 

that time to be tending.^ He now renewed his protests 

in a stronger form. His letter of October 26th, 1569,2 ad- 

dressed to the Spanish ambassador in Rome, but really 

intended for the Pope, to whom it was to be presented, bears 

at its head the name of the king, but it is really the Inquisition 

which is speaking by the mouth of the king, and its language, 

as though conscious of its power even against the head of 

Christianit)^ is in striking contrast to the reverence otherwise 

shown to the Vicar of Christ. In the first place we find 

enumerated the departures from the usual procedure which 

had been allowed in Rome, in order to favour Carranza and 

to keep from the Pope a full understanding of his errors, 

and this, moreover, in an affair which had become " the 

spectacle of all the nations." Trials of bishops in Spain had 

always come before the Inquisition, and the exception m.ade 

for Carranza " contrary to the privileges and authority of 

the Holy Office " had been founded upon the firm confidence 

that ttie pnidence, secrecy and due order to which they were 

accustomed in Spain would be observed in his case.^ In a 

covering letter* the ambassador had further supplementary 

instructions. In this we read : Carry out the task with all 

the diligence and zeal which I look for in you, and which 

the nature of the case, as you will see for yourself, demands ; 

you must ask the Pope to listen to you attentively and without 

interruption, as the nature of the communication demands. 

He was then to point out that no one ought to favour the 

Inquisition or strive so much for the preservation of rehgion 

in the Spanish dominions as the Pope, in obedience to whom 

that realm had been kept by the Inquisition and by true 

religion ; 

^ Ibid. vii. 

that the Pope's attitude had ruined the Holy Office, 

^ Extract, ibid. xi. This important document, however, is not 

given in its context. 

* " la cautela, secrete y orden acostumbrados en Espana ' ibid, 

? Extract, ibid. xii.

352 


but that as far as the king was concerned, he could not and 

would not cease to favour the Inquisition, as he had done 

all his life. 

At first ZuTiiga did not dare to comminicate these rebukes 

and threats to the Pope ; 

Cardinal 

Pacheco, too, as well as 

Simancas, the Bishop of Badajoz, and later on Cardinal 

Granvelle, dissuaded him from doing so.^ Now that Philip 

—so ran the opinion of Granvelle—has handed over the archbishop 

and his trial to the Roman tribunals, and the Pope 

has examined the acta so carefulty, he will not be able to 

persuade the world that the royal tribunals, which do not 

possess the complete acta and have not heard all the parties, 

can still be better informed as to the true state of the case. 

As far as he personally was concerned, Granvelle adds, he 

would never have given his approval to the king's allowing 

the case to be taken out of Spanish territory. This had 

proved a serious blow to the Inquisition, and it afforded very 

good grounds for a breach of relations if the Pope did not mend 

his ways ; such a breach would compel him to do so. Zufiiga 

did not dare to take Granvelle's advice and urge violent 

measures. He wrote to the king that as soon as he heard 

that there must be no question of Carranza's going back to 

Spain, he would endeavour to win over the judges to consent 

to that. 

When, a little after Easter, 1570, the decision of Carranza's 

trial was thought to be imminent, Zuniga thought that the 

time had come to inform the Pope of the principal points in 

the royal instructions. In questions of smaller moment 

Pius V. had often felt it right to resist, even with considerable 

heat, the demands of the princes, but now the strong-willed 

man remained outwardly calm. With characteristic brevity 

he assured Philip in a few stiff autograph lines, that he was 

always glad to receive the observations of the ambas- 

sador and the king concerning the trial, and that if his office 

permitted even greater concessions in the case of trials of 

bishops he would have been quick to make them. The 

Îbid. Ubid. IV., xiii.

THE CASK OF CARRANZA. 353 

king, liowever, must remember that his warnings concerned 

matters which either formed part of the trial or did not ; 

if they did not, they could not influence the decision, while 

if they did, they were quite well known to the Pope.^ 

Some time after Zuiiiga had thus communicated to the 

Pope the principal points of the king's memorial, he read to 

him the complete document. This time, too, the Pope 

remained perfectly calm. He even condescended to reply 

to the accusations : some of the complaints, he said, rested 

on a false basis, while others were of no importance. Then 

Zufiiga touched upon the matter which had specially wounded 

the sensibilities of the Spaniards, namely that the opinions 

of their theologians had been set aside in Rome. With 

regard to this, Pius V. openly told the ambassador that he 

did not think very highly of those opinions, and that in the 

matter of Carranza's Catechism, which had been so violently 

attacked, the book indeed contained many things that were 

not suited for the populace, and that for that reason it had 

quite rightly been prohibited, but he let it be understood 

that he considered it quite orthodox as far as its doctrine was 

concerned. God knows, he said, that there was no pre- 

disposition in favour of the archbishop on his part. If 

Carranza were guilty he could not have fallen into worse hands. 

The king might rest assured that the Pope would be guided 

by the dictates of justice alone. If the archbishop should 

be reinstated, that would not prevent the king from banish- 

ing him if he feared disturbances for his kingdom from his 

return. The Pope would consent to this if the fear were shown 

to be well grounded. Zufiiga replied that the king did not 

fear disturbances, but was only afraid of the scandal that 

would be caused by Carranza's return, and that his fear sprang 

from his zeal for religion. 

While the ambassador was doing his best in Rome to avert 

1 " que si las advertencias que de alia pueden venir son fuera 

del pro9esso de la causa, que no pueden servir a la deterrninacion 

della ; y que si estan eo el professo, nos son notissimas." Letter 

of April 19, 1570, ibid. III., 295. 

- Corresp. dipL, IV., xiv. seq. 

VOL. XVII. 23

354 


the dreaded blow, they were not inactive in Spain. The 

Inquisition sought in the Orders and universities, and among 

the bishops, for learned men to examine the doctrines of 

Carranza anew.^ and opinion after opinion was sent to Rome.'^ 

Many suggestions were submitted to the king as to how he 

could evade a final decision by the Pope. Zuniga advised 

definite resistance ; let the king declare that he would only 

accept the Papal decision if it were expressed in such and such 

terms, and be in accordance with the views of the Spanish 

theologians ; if this could not be obtained, let him apply 

for the right to decide the case in Spanish territory.^ The 

Bishop of Badajoz was more moderate ; 

he advised that the 

Papal decision be accepted, but that the archbishop be induced 

to resign.^ The secret Council of State, on the other 

hand, held that the best course would be to obtain, with the 

Pope's approval, the appointment of a reliable administrator 

of the archdiocese with the right of succession, ^ as this would 

prevent Carranza from returning with his former power. 

The strangest advice was that given by the supreme council 

of the Inquisition ; the Pope must be given to understand 

that the King could not co-operate with him in letting the 

hands of justice be tied, and still less in allowing the arch- 

bishop to return, or to receive the revenues of the bishopric 

in his absence.^ The Holy Office apparently claimed the 

right of surveillance even over the Vicar of Christ. It is true, 

however, that it only looked upon its own proposal as an 

extreme step, to be taken if the Pope refused to accept the 

representations of the king. In the meantime let fresh 

1 List of the names suggested to Cardinal Espinosa, February 3, 

1570, ibid, xvi., n. 2. 

2 The first in June, 1570, ibid., xvii, cf. 385 ; others on May 11, 

June 14 and 29, 1571, ibid, xxiv, n. 4. 

68. 

^ Ihi'i. XX. seq. 

•* Ibid. xxi. 

5 Ihid. and Castagna to Rusticucci, November 2, 1570, ibid. 

« Ihid. xxi. ; 

justicia." 

" no podia el Rey dar lugar que se deje de hacer


consultors be sent to Rome, and steps be taken to see that the 

Pope listened to them. 

The letters of Philip II. to his ambassador as well as to 

the Pope himself bring out clearly the pretensions of the 

Spanish supremacy. To the few lines in his own hand which 

Pius V. had addressed to the king about Easter, 1570, in 

answer to the communications made to him by Zufiiga,^ 

the ambassador was instructed to reply by a long defence 

of the Spanish condemnation of Carranza ;2 eminent men of 

learning, of unblemished reputation and great authority, 

had expressed themselves as to his case, above all the two 

Dominicans, Domingo de Soto and Melchior Cano ;3 on the 

other hand the learned Romans were quite unknown in Spain, 

while Manriquez was looked upon as the declared friend of 

the archbishop, and as for Toledo, every sort of report was 

current concerning him ;4 if the archbishop were reinstated 

and came back to Spain, he would be able to teach and preach 

as he liked with greater authority than ever, so that it would 

have been better never to have taken any proceedings against 

him. 5 If Pius V. had written to the king saying that he must 

leave the question of Carranza's guilt to his, the Pope's, 

conscience, Zufiiga must, by the king's orders, inform the 

Pope in return that PhiUp's conscience with regard to his 

royal duty was not satisfied to do so. The ambassador must 

then put forward two demands : in the first place the decision 

must be left to men of knowledge and experience, and they 

must be in sufficient numbers, and secondly the final sentence 

^ See supra p. 352. 

= Philip II. to Zufiiga, Ubeda, June 6, 1570, Corresp. dipl., III., 

383-386. 

^ It is significant of the attitude of Pius V. that in his eyes the 

eccentric Cano was no authority, notwithstanding his learning : 

" que el [Pius V.] tenia en ruin opJni6n a Melchor Cano," Zufiiga, 

July 23, 1570, ibid. IV., xix. 

^ They maintained that he was of Jewish origin : "Si es verdad 

que es confeso, como algunos piensan, tengolo por de mucho 

inconveniente." Zufiiga wrote on October 21, 1569 ; ibid, xiii., n.. 

^ Ibid. III., 384 scq.

356 


must be submitted to the king before it was published. If 

it should happen that " extraneous considerations and private 

ends " entered into the trial, the king would be " constrained " 

for the safeguarding of the " common good " to remedy this 

by " the means best suited to prevent a scandal."^ 

The same ideas and demands recur several times in other 

letters from Spain. What was bound to hurt the Pope most 

was the fact that, notwithstanding his assurances, both 

Zuniga and the king persisted in making out that he was 

predisposed in Carranza's favour, and that he was not allow- 

ing justice to take its course. ^ Nor were threats wanting. 

Zuiiiga openly declared that his master found himself con- 

strained for the safeguarding of the common goood to take 

steps to prevent the return of Carranza, as, for example, 

by calHng together a conference of prelates to consider the 

matter, on the plea that in Spain, as in other countries, 

princes who were strongly Catholic, and most obedient to 

the Holy See, had not infrequently held such conferences in 

order to obviate difiiculties which were feared as the result of 

certain Roman ordinances, and which might have disturbed 

the peace of their countries.^ 

1 " Advirtiendo a S. B. que si enteiidieremos que se tiene 

consideracion a otros respectos y fines particulates, nos seria 

for9ado . . . acudir al remedio per el beneficio universal por 

los mejores medics que conviniesse para el buen exemplo." Ibid. 

38. 

- Zuniga to Philip IL, July 13 1571 (report of his audience 

with Pius v.), ibid. IV., 388 : 

" Dixele que en el mode que havia 

procedido, havia dado muchas occasiones a que V. M. tuviesse en 

esta parte alguna sombra ; y que Su Santidad havia entrado a ver 

esta causa con opinion que el Ar9obispo stava siu culpa, y habia 

nombrado consultores muy apasionados y sospechosos, etc." 

Cf. Zuniga to Philip II., October 12, 1571, ibid. 472. 

3 ' Como seria hacer junta de prelados sopra esta causa, pues 

en estos reinos y en otros han acostumbrado principes muy 

catolicos, y muy obedientes a esta Santa Sede hacer semej antes 

juntas para resistir a los inconvenientes de algunas cosas de las 

que en Roma se han proveido, que parecian podrian disturbar la 

quiete de sus estados," Zuiiiga, July 23, 1570, ibid. IV., xix.


In this way a complete net-work—in which the web was 

the national sense of superiority^ and the woof specious 

maxims, rebukes and threats—enfolded the Pope more and 

more, so as to tie his hands complete^ and remove the de- 

cision to Madrid. Very characteristic is an autograph letter 

of Maj'' nth, 1571,^ in which the king " the devoted and loving 

son " of the Pope, sought to deprive him of all freedom of 

action. First Philip lauds his own zeal in the affair of 

Carranza, a zeal which he says befits " his own duty to the 

service of Our Lord, the defence of his Catholic faith, his 

Church and his religion." He has not been able to forego 

taking the steps he has taken, or undertaking the course in 

which he still persists, that is to say his determination to 

set his hand to the measures best suited to ensure that the 

world, which is watching the affair so closety, shall realize 

and understand his intention. This intention is nothing 

but the wish and the aim that justice shall be done on the 

basis of the manifest truth. Since the unhappy business 

has dragged on so long, it has seemed good to Philip, as the 

devoted and loving son of the Pope, to warn him that his 

authority and good name would be greatly jeopardized if 

the idea got about that His Holiness intended to reinstate 

the archbishop out of any considerations of favouritism or 

affection ; at present, however, as the ambassador has already, 

by the king's orders, pointed out to the Pope, the methods 

and procedure of the Roman trial seemed to suggest that that 

was the case.^ He therefore implores the Pope to treat an 

affair of so great importance with the care, freedom of judgment 

and zeal which men looked for in him, taking counsel 

with learned men who were inspired with zeal for religion, 


que tanto amor 

" " Me ha parecido como devote hijo de V. S. y 

le tiene, advertirle quanta autoridad y reputacion aventuraria 

V. S. en que se pensase, que de algun genero de pasion o aficion 

queria librar al Arzobispo, como lo ha dado a entender en el raodo 

y orden con que se ha procedido como de my parte se lo ha referido 

my embaxador " (Corresp. dipl., IV., 274). The ambassador 

renewed this complaint again later on ; see supra p. 356, n. 2.

358 


and above suspicion that they would suffer themselves to be 

guided by anything but the love of truth and justice. In 

saying this the king was but complying with his duty of 

serving His Holiness, and he does so in order that the Pope 

may realize that other duty which, should the matter turn 

out otherwise, the king would feel bound to perform. " May 

Our Lord preserve the sacred person of your Holiness, as 

is so necessary for us. Aranjuez, May nth, 1571. Your 

Holiness' very humble son : the King." 

It certainly called for all Pius V.'s command of himself 

to reply, not only gravely and firmly, but also with dignified 

gentleness, to a document which almost in every Hne concealed 

a sharp pin-prick. In his reply he assures the king that the 

archbishop is not being judged with any partiality other 

than that which is due to the love of the truth ; 

he is at peace 

in the consciousness that God has given him this grace. The 

interpretation which the king sets upon the Pope's conduct 

he gladly attributes to his praiseworthy zeal, but at the same 

time he gives him a paternal exhortation not to lend his ear 

to those who would make him presume to attribute the super- 

natural jurisdiction of the one true Judge to his own tribunal 

or to any other. In reference to Philip's words which claimed 

that zeal for the faith, the Church, and reUgion was what had 

guided his actions, he points out that it is not possible to 

fight for the Church if one's hand is raised against the Church, 

and still less for religion and the faith, if one takes up a position 

opposed to religion and faith. ^ For the rest the Pope re- 

^ " La torniamo di nuovo paternamente ad avertire a non 

prestar mai boni orecchi a chi volesse estendere questo suo buon 

zelo a presumere di volere alligare al suo ne ad altro iuditio la 

soprannatural giuridittione del judice proprio, ne a chi tentasse 

perniciosamente insinuate che si potesse pugnare per la Chiesa 

contra Chiesa, ne per religione contra religione, ne per la fede 

contra la fede." Letter of August 12, 15 71, Corresp. dipl., IV., 

408. The king's letter of May 11 did not reach the Pope until 

July 31 {ibid.) ; Philip's autograph reply of September 10, 1571 

{ibid. 437) sought to justify and excuse the attitude which he had 

taken up ; 

if he thinks for the peace of his Idngdom and makes


fers him to the repHes which he had ah'eady made to the same 

accusations. 

It was true that the Pope " with all the moderation that 

was possible in dealing with such a document,"^ had given a 

full reply to the complaints of Philip IT. on June 6th, 1570.^ 

As for the trust which the king put in the theological opinions 

which were supposed to make Carranza's guilt clear, the Pope 

re pled that if the archbishop were guilty. His Holiness firmly 

hopeid that the mercy of God would not allow him to be 

deceived against his will ; in other words, if Carranza is 

guilty, let the king rest assured that he will be condemned. 

But if the appeal to the Spanish opinions is to be taken as 

meaning that a Roman decision which did not agree with them 

would not meet with the obedience and respect due to it, then 

the counsellors who suggested such an idea to the king must 

remember that the Church of God has but one head on earth ; 

such a view would be clearly at variance with the sense of that 

dogma ; in a word it would mean that they were setting up 

a rule and measure for the decisions of the Holy See in matters 

concerning which it belonged to it alone to judge. 

A second matter of complaint was contained in the demand 

that more learned theologians should be consulted, and in 

greater number. To this it was replied that, although 

Philip had a high opinion of the Spanish theologians, the Pope 

thought just as highly of the other members of the com- 

complaints to the Pope, it is by no means his intention to act in 

any way against the obedience which he owes to the Pope as a 

loyal son. 

^ " con quella maggior temperantia che i .sensi di detta scrittura 

permettono." Corresp. dipl.. III., 386. 

-Ibid. 386-388. 

^ " Si lisponde con lacrime di charita, che lasciando hora da 

parte la causa del arcivescovo, s' attcnda bene a chi suggerisse 

questi pensieri a S. M.; che la Chiesa di Dio non ha in terra senon 

un capo, et che questo sinistro concetto ofienderebbc molto la 

integrita di questo articolo, perche cjuesto sarebbe in effetto 

volersi far regola dei iuditii di qucsta Santa Sede nelle cause che a 

lei sola toccano di giudicare." Ibid. 386.


mission, which, with tiie Cardinals, comprised sixteen persons, 

a quite sufficient number.^ 

The complaint that was most offensive to the ApostoUc See 

was Philip's hint that other points of view which were not 

objective, as well as private ends, might influence the decision.^ 

Once more the reply to this is indeed severe, but at the same 

time very restrained. The Pope is willing, we read, to put 

an indulgent interpretation on this assertion, and to ascribe it 

to the king's zeal, but with all love he would have him reflect 

that the zeal of a son must never go to the length of hurting 

his father. If Philip had seen fit to threaten " suitable 

remedies " on account of these " inapplicable considerations 

and private ends " he now received the reply : let the coun- 

sellor who has led the king into a stream that is so full of shoals 

remember " that God had provided His Church with sound 

remedies with which to deal with bad ones."^ 

The Pope gave no definite answer to the other two demands 

of the king, namely, that the final decision should be com- 

municated to Madrid before it was pubhshed, and that the 

Pope should first take into consideration the new opinions 

sent by the Spanish theologians ; 

with regard to the latter it 

is courteously, but quite clearly pointed out that it is not the 

king's business to trj^ and teach the Roman See with unsought 

theological opinions, or to anticipate the final sentence. Let 

Philip remember, the reply runs, what happened in the Old 

Testament to King Ozias^ when he tried to offer incense, 

thereby taking upon himself a function which belonged to the 

priest alone. 

The last part of the document brings out the extreme care 

with which Carranza's case had been dealt with in Rome. 

The Pope had been present in person during the whole of the 

1 Ibid. 386 seq. 


* " che contra caltivi rimedii Die ha provisto nella sua chiesa 

di rimedii buoni " (This was certainly a threat of excommunica- 

tion). Corresp. dipL, III., 387. 

* Paral., xxvi., 16 seqq. 

^ Corresp. dipl.. III., 387.


reading of the minutes, and when it was seen that the arch- 

bishop had not been sufficiently fully examined in Spain, he 

had appointed Spanish and Itahan consnltors, who had 

diligently questioned Carranza on all the more important 

points during more than two months. Besides this the Pope 

had several times sent to Spain to seek for information and to 

investigate the archbishop's writings ;i 

several matters had 

been gone into in Rome which had either been passed over in 

Spain or were unknown there. As to the procedure adopted 

in the dehberations, the Pope caused all present to give their 

opinions ; the controverted points were discussed by all, 

and the Pope made everyone give his opinion on each single 

point, and finally had himself gone personally into the whole 

in his own study. Three years had been spent in this, and he 

hoped therefore that the final decision would be a just one, 

not only before God, but even in the eyes of men.^ 

In spite of this crushing retort PhiHp IT. remained fixed in 

his ideas. Zuniga was instructed to make a public protest 

if the final decision should take the form of the acquittal of 

Carranza, or if it should not be submitted to the king before 

it was published. 3 

In Philip's eyes Pius V. was still prejudiced 

in favour of the archbishop.'' Zufiiga was instructed to go on 

making the former Spanish demands, and to do all he could 

to make the Pope look favourably upon them ; 

he even one 

day said to him that he must not let the stain rest upon his 

good name of having had a man Hke Morone acquitted by him 

as Cardinal, and the Archbishop of Toledo similarly set free 

by him as Pope. This remark was not without a calculated 

sting, for Zuiiiga knew that the Pope's conscience was not quite 

easy about the acquittal of Morone. 


^ Corresp. dip]., III., 387 seq. 

^ Ibid. IV., xxii., xxiv., n. 

* Zuniga, July 13, and October 12, 157T, ibid. 388, 472. 

que no dexasse tal memoria de si como seria que fuese 

absuelto, siendo cardenal, un hombre como el Cardenal Moron, 

y siendo pontifice, el Ar9bispo de Toledo. Muevele en gran 

manera la conscientia de aver absuelto a Moron. ..." Zuniga 

to Philip II., July i^, 1571, ibid. 389.


In several respects the Pope met the king's wishes. He did 

not, it is true, give in to the frequently repeated proposal that 

a larger number of theologians should be allowed to take part 

in the discussions, and when the ambassador protested he 

replied that if that were to be done, they would not get through 

in ten days what was now accomplished in an hour ;i when 

Zuiiiga expressed the wish that the Pope would at any rate 

summon to Rome the authors of the most recent opinions in 

order to hear their explanations, Pius was very angry, and 

answered that he would not do so, and that Zufiiga wanted 

the case to drag on for ever.^ 

Pius V. was willing to make some concession in the case of 

PhiHp's other demand, namely that the final sentence should 

be sent to Madrid before it was published.^ On the other hand 

he gave a ready consent to a third wish expressed by the king, 

declaring that he was quite ready to examine the opinions 

which had recently been submitted by the Spanish theologians. 

As a matter of fact these last opinions satisfied him as little 

as had the previous ones, and the nuncio, Castagna, was told 

to inform the king^ that these opinions concerned themselves 

only with words, and did not take into consideration the sense 

which the author attached to the words ; 

to understand the 

sense it was necessary to keep before one's mind the whole 

sense of the writings. The method adopted by the Spanish 

theologians would make heretics of St. Augustine and other 

perfectly orthodox doctors, by divorcing their words from their 

context. It must also be remembered that the archbishop 

had written previous to the decrees of the Council of Trent, 

and that where errors or heresies were discovered in his 

writings it was very difficult to say that he must on that 

account be held a heretic, and whether the final decision 

should be left to the canonists or the theologians.^ This last 

^ Zuniga to Philip II., October 12, 1571, ibid. 470. 

^ Ibid. 473. 

^ Zuniga, January 30, 1571, ibid, xxiii. 

* Rusticucci to Castagna, August 20, 1570, ibid. III., 514 seq. 

'' " Le dica liberamente [to the King] che le censure atte sopra 

il scritti che qua si chiamano scartafacci, sono piu presto censure


remark was certainly added because Zufiiga had attributed 

the divergence between the Spanish views of Carranza to 

the fact that the learned men in Rome were canonists and not 

theologians.^ According to the view held in Rome it was 

certainly the business of the theologians to decide whether a 

proposition were orthodox or not, but whether a man was to be 

considered a heretic because of an heretical statement was the 

business of the canonists. Zuniga also had to hear from the 

Pope's own lips that the authors of these opinions were not 

fit to form a judgment, because they paid attention only to 

the words used, and did not take into consideration the context 

or the meaning of the writer ;2 these much discussed writings 

undoubtedly contained real heresies.^ 

The Spanish opinions, however, were not without their 

effect on Pius V. He became perplexed, and had the opinions 

carefully examined, with the result that the final decision was 

again postponed. Such was Zuiiiga's account of the situation 

in April, 1571,^ and in July of the same year the Pope himself 

delle parole che di quelle che habbia inteso per quelle parole 

Tautore o scrittore ; e che a voler vedere il sense dell'autere 

cenvien ponderare la scrittura precedente et subsequente ; 

perche 

in quella maniera che hanno censurato quelle si potrebbe censurare 

ancera S. Agostine et altri Santi Catt. Dottori, prendendo le lor 

parole trencate." Corresp. dipl. III. 514. 

1 Ibid. IV., xvi. 

- " Dixo que no saDen qualificar ios theologos que las [the 

qualifications] ban heche, perque hechan mane de las palabras 

y no del sentido que se puede coUegir que tuvo el author en teda 

la ebra." Zuiliga to Philip II., July 13, 1571, ibid. 388. " Tedo 

el fundamento de lo que se allega per parte del Ar9ebispe consiste 

en decir que si bien se halian en el Catecisme y en sus cartapacies 

muchas opiniones hereticas, que en estas mismas obras se vera que 

donde tratt6 de proposite cada materia, la declare cathelicamente, 

y que este prueva el buen anime del author." Ibid. 389. 

^ Ibid. 473. 

* " que le aperitan mucho las calificaciones que de alia se 

embiaren, que las hace ver con diligentia, y asi la resolucion ira 

mas a la larga de lo que se pensaba." Zuniga, April 20, 1571, 

ibid. xxii.

364 


told him that he had not been able yet to come to a decision ;^ 

when in October the ambassador insisted on knowing when the 

matter would be settled, Pius answered him on oath that he 

himself did not know.^ The Pope was almost continually 

occupied with the acta of the trial, and had not jêt completed 

his examination of them, in spite of the assistance given him 

by Cardinals Montalto and Aldobrandini.^ 

In this way the whole of 1571 went by. In the first months 

of 1572 the state of the Pope's health did not allow of his 

dealing with important business,^ with the result that when his 

death occurred on May ist, 1572, the trial of Carranza was not 

yet finished. One determination alone had remained clearly 

before the mind of this conscientious judge, amid all the 

vicissitudes of the discussions ; 

he was determined not to give 

the judgment of a Pilate, but to decide according to the dictates 

of justice alone, even though the whole world should fall in 

ruins. ^ There can be no doubt that the wearisome business 

had entailed for him a whole world of anxieties and troubles ; 

the unwearied perseverance with which he had always assisted 

in person at the endless discussions aroused the wonder of 

his contemporaries.^ On February 24th, 1568, Bernardino 

Pia wrote to Mantua that he had been unable to get through 

his business because of the constant meetings which were held 

over the affair of the archbishop.'' 

^ Zuniga, July 13, 1571, ibid. 388. 

^ " Preguntele quando pensava acabar este negocio, Jurome que 

no lo sabia." Zuniga, October 12, 1571, ibid. 471. 

^ Ibid. 470, 474. 

* Ibid. 

^ " Confesome el Papa, que era verdad que habia dicho a Alvaro 

de Lugo que si el Arcobispo estaba innocente, que el no haria la 

sentencia de Pilatos, que per temor del alboroto del pueblo 

conden6 a Nuestro Redentor conociendo que no tenia culpa." 

Zuniga, July 4, 1571, ibid. xxiv. " Pero S.S. non e mai per 

deviare del retto guiditio, ne da quello che concerne la giustitia, 

se bene ruinasse il mondo." Rusticucci to Castagna, August 25, 

1570, ibid. III., 515. 

« Ibid. II., xxiii. 

^ Gonzaga Archives, jNIantua.

PIUS V. AND HERESY. 365 

The Imperial agent, Cusano, was of opinion that the wearisome 

trial was one of the causes which hastened the death of 

the Pope. On the one hand, Cusano says, he had realized 

the innocence of the archbishop, and considered it his duty 

to acquit him, but on the other there was reason to fear nothing 

short of a breach with Spain if he were to annul the sentence 

of the Spanish Inquisition. Cusano also bears witness that 

Philip II. had expressed himself quite definitely on this point, 

for the reason that there would be great scandal and much 

harm done in Spain if the Inquisition should fall under the 

suspicion of having made use of its power for the furtherance 

of the private vengeance of any of its officials. The constant 

anxiety and uneasiness of conscience, the difficulty of steering 

a course between these two reefs was, says Cusano, the real 

commencement of his incurable malady, the stone, which 

brought about his death. 

It would be quite unjust to look upon the zeal of Pius V. 

for the Inquisition and for the punishment of the guilty as a 

sign of any natural hardness of character. In the advice 

which he sent to the princes and bishops as to the way in which 

they should treat heretics, he clearly expressed the ideas which 

governed his conduct towards the followers of the new rehgion. 

In the first place, he was convinced that the first duty of a ruler 

is the administration of justice, and justice demands the 

punishment, and the severe punishment, of the guilty as much 

as the protection of the innocent, while apostasy from the 

Church was in his eyes a grave crime. ^ Moreover, he was 

firmly convinced that it was precisely by stern measures against 

the sectarians of the time that he could prevent much shedding 

of blood, while, on the contrary, tolerance and half measures 

could only lead to greater evils. ^ Hence came his warning to 

' *Cusano, May 24, 1572. 

^ " Mali vitiorum poenam, boni virtutum praemium, sibi a te 

expectandum esse intelligant. Haereticorum venena ne gregem 

tuam inficiant, quanta potes diligentia contende." To the Bishop 

of Agram, August 11, 1569, in Goubau, 203. 

' " Habes, carissime Fill, recens exemplum sccleris, furor's, 

audaciae haereticorum. Vides, quam noccat cum iis molliter


Catherine de' Medici, which at first sight gives a wrong impression 

: " in no way and for no reason must you show mercy 

to the enemies of God ; you must use all rigour with men 

who will show no mercy either to God or your sons."^ He 

himself acted on this principle, not out of harshness but from 

a sense of duty. 

It is, however, clear that in the second half of his reign the 

Pope did not attach to the repression of heresy the same 

predominating importance which he did at first ; the fact 

that from 1569 to 1572 there were only two autodafes in Rome 

points to this. 2 At the beginning of 1570 the Capuchin, 

Pistoja, who was highly esteemed by Pius V., remarked to 

him that he saw every day manifest examples of the Pope's 

zeal for the administration of justice, but the Pope ought to 

bear in mind that for one passage in the Sacred Scriptures 

where God is called just, there are ten which bring out His 

mercy. Let the Vicar of Christ then take care to perform 

works of mercy instead of justice on the heretics, since the 

unhappy souls which were being sent to perdition through the 

power of the Turks afforded him every opportunity of exer- 

cising the former virtue.^ The zeal with which Pius V., from 

that time forward, worked for the formation of a league 

agere quibus impunitas auget audaciam, patientia furorem, 

dementia feritatem. Intelligere potes, quam inutile sit eorurti 

consilium, qui suadent, ut differas et procrastines, etc." To 

Charles IX., June 16, 1566, in Laderchi, 1566, n. 423. 

" Si 

superiores reges Franciae dissimulando et tolerando id malum 

crescere non fuissent, facile extirpare haereses et regni sui paci et 

quieti consulere potuissent ; neglectis praedecessorum nostrorum 

paternis hortationibus, dum istiusmodi carnis prudentia nituntur, 

sublata pace, quae sine unico rectae veraeque religionis cultu 

manere non potest, regnum illud ... in extremum periculum 

adduxerunt." To Sigismund of Poland, March 26, 1568, in 

GouBAU, 73. 

^ March 28, 1569, ibid. 155. 

" See supra p. 312. 

'The Venetian ambassador, April 15, 1570, in Cantu, Eretici, 

II., 410.

HERESY IN THE LOW COUNTRIES. 367 

against the Turks, may really to a great extent afford an 

explanation of the fact of the cooling of his zeal for the punishment 

of the new believers. Peter Canisius, too, when he was 

in Rome, had successfully urged him to show moderation 

towards those prelates in the north whose faith was so feeble.^ 

While Protestantism had undoubtedly received a mortal 

blow in Italy, it was every day becoming clearer that a new 

form of heresy was springing up in the north under a Catholic 

disguise. The news of this was received with all the more 

anxiety in Rome because the Low Countries, already so much 

endangered on the score of religion, threatened to become 

the centre of the new movement, and especially the long 

celebrated University of Louvain, which had hitherto been 

the staunch opponent of Luther. 

For a long time past Protestant doctrines had been an 

incentive for Catholic theologians to maintain the opposing 

doctrines of the Catholic Church, to go into them more deeply 

and to develop them scientifically. The untiring zeal with 

which the followers of the new religion sought to spread their 

ideas by means of books and writings, broadsheets and ballads, 

explains the way in vv^hich Protestant ideas had obtained a hold 

upon public opinion, and had acquired a greater influence even 

with many Catholics than they themselves suspected. The 

fact that Luther's fundamental and principal doctrine had 

found a reflection in the theory of justification held by Con- 

tarini, Pole and Gropper had been of far less importance. 

On the other hand, a fatal influence which was to last for many 

centuries had been introduced into Catholic thought and life 

by the Protestant teaching as to grace and free-will as the outcome 

of the system which was founded at Louvain after the 

middle of the XVIth century by Baius, and which was carried 

to completion in the following century by the Jansenists. 

Baius (Michael du Bay)^ who had occupied the ro57al chair 

1 Canisii Epist., VI ., 583. 

- X. Le Bachelet, Dictioniiaire do theologie catholique, 11., 

Paris, 1905, 38-11 1. M. Scheeben in Kirchenlex. of Freiburg, 

P., 1852-1862. F. X. LixsENMANN, IVIichael Bajus und die 

Grundlegung cles Jansenismus, Tubingen, 1S67 ; also Scheeben

368 


of Sacred Scripture at Louvain since 1552 directed his studies, 

as he wrote to Cardinal Simonetta in a letter of 1569, to the 

attempt to reconcile the followers of the new beliefs with true 

Catholic doctrine. Since the Protestants, so he wrote, attach 

no value to anything outside the Sacred Scriptures and the 

most ancient Fathers of the Church, I have tried to reduce 

theology to the study of the sacred books and of those Fathers 

who are still of weight among the Protestants, such as Cyprian, 

Prosper, Leo, and the four western Doctors.^ But when 

Baius tried to set aside the intellectual labours of the medieval 

theologians his doing so was not inspired only by his wish to 

conciliate the exponents of the new faith, but rather by his 

opinion that in the Middle Ages theology had degenerated, 

and had got on to the wrong lines b}^ mixing itself up with 

Aristotelian philosophy, and that it ought to be brought back 

to the earlier Fathers, among whom he looks to St. Augustine 

as his master above all others. 

This bi-each with medieval tradition was at once shown to 

be fatal by his treatment of the fundamental question of the 

whole of Baianism, the original state of man. If, according 

to the teaching of the Holy Scriptures, Adam was from the 

first not only the servant but the son of God, if the movements 

of concupiscence were restrained in him and made subject 

to reason, theologians had hitherto seen in these and other 

gifts of the first man nothing but free and gratuitous gifts 

of God. Since human nature could have no claim whatever 

to these gifts as things necessary or due to it, such gifts of 

grace were called supernatural ; if God had left the first man 

in a state in which he lacked all these graces, nothing 

would have been wanting to his nature of the things tha^ 

in Katholik, 1868, I., 281 seqq. M. Bail . . . Opera omnia, cum 

bullis Pontificum et aliis ipsius causam spectantibus . . . studio 

A. P., Colon., 1696 (due to the labours of the Jansenist Gerberon ; 

the second part contains under the title Baiana the documents 

relating to the controversy). The Library of the Anima, Rome, 

contains in MS Preuckiana Collectanea ms. C 43, p. 5-36, several 

documents on Baianism. 

1 Le Bachelet, II., 38.

ORIGIN OF BAIANISM. 369 

belonged to it, and his state would have been in no way 

abnormal. 

But Baius rejected this idea of natural and supernatural 

gifts in the first man as a manifest error, for which philosophy 

by its interference in matters of faith was responsible. If, 

according to Baius, Adam's sonship of God and his freedom 

from the rebellion of concupiscence are a necessary part of 

human nature, the absence of such an equipment in the state 

of fallen man to-day must be a defect, an alteration of human 

nature which, according to the Louvain theologian, had been 

absolutely spoiled and evil since the time of the Fall, and the 

virtues which are related of the heroes of classical antiquity 

are really only vices, having the appearance of virtues. Concupiscence, 

such as now exists in man, is according to him 

nothing but original sin. At this point the question at once 

arises as to how movements in man independent of his will 

can be looked upon as personal sin. Baius replies that the 

concept of liberty only excludes external violence, but not 

interior necessity. Thus Baius, from the starting point of his 

fundamental error, proceeds to its further consequences, and 

builds up a whole theological system on grace and redemption, 

on sin and merit, and on the love of God and justification. In 

his teaching on sin in general and original sin in particular, 

" he scarcely distinguishes his views on both questions from 

the terrifying doctrine of the reformers of the enslavement 

of human nature by the devil which was brought about by 

sin."^ 

In 1563 Baius began to make his views public by means of 

small works written in clear and precise terms, in which for 

the most part he makes use of the words of St. Augustine, but, 

taking the sentences of Augustine out of their historical 

setting, the Pelagian controversy, he often gives them an 

entirely new meaning. 

Long before he had begun to write, he and his disciple 

Hesse) s had maintained their views at the university, and had 

met with so much support there that the Chancellor of the 

^ ScHEEBEN ill Kirchenlexikon of Freiburg, I.^ 1861. 

VOL. XVII, 24

370 


university, Ruard Tapper, when he returned to Louvain from 

the Council of Trent in 1552, was quite amazed at the change 

which had taken place there during his absence. Although 

he was Inquisitor General of Flanders he tried at first to resist 

the new movement b}^ methods of persuasion, but his efforts 

met with no success, while even a warning from Granvelle 

which Tapper obtained was only able to check the movement 

for a short time. The struggle began to break out when the 

guardians of the Franciscan convents of Ath and Nivelle 

sought to put an end to Baianism among their subjects by 

obtaining from the Paris faculty, on June 27th, 1560, a con- 

demnation of 18 propositions drawn from the new teaching. 

At this point Baius thought that the time had come to defend 

himself ; his supporters formed the plan of printing the works 

of St. Prosper, in order to show that the Louvain professors 

were only putting forward the doctrines of ancient Christianity. 

Their adversaries, however, were not silent, and they had 

recourse to Granvelle with a memorial. The Cardinal, who 

found the controversy exceedingly inopportune at that 

moment of unrest in Flanders, tried to smother it by obtaining 

a brief from Pius IV. imposing silence on both parties. Philip 

II. approved the step taken by his representative in a letter 

of November 17th, 1561.^ 

It had been realized in Rome since the end of 1560 that all 

was not well in the University of Louvain. For a long time 

past an order had been in force there that ever}' student, 

before he was admitted, should take an oath that he would 

remain in the Catholic Church, of which the Pope was the 

head. Now, however, there was a movement in favour of 

doing away with this oath, as being an obstacle to the free 

coming of students. Pius IV. issued two briefs on this subject, 

one on January 29th, 1561, to Granvelle, and one on February 

5th to the university, in the latter case threatening excom- 

munication to anyone who opposed the oath.^ The prudence 

of the legate Commendone, who had been sent to invite the 

1 Le Bachelet, II., 40. 

" SusTA, Kurie, I., 49. Raynaldus, 1361, n. 42.

SPREAD OF BAIANISM. 371 

prelates of Lower Germany to the Council, and who arrived 

in Flanders in May, 1561, was successful in adjusting the matter 

in a peaceful manner.^ 

Commendonc, however, had to report many disturbing 

things as to the state of affairs at Louvain. The party of 

Baius and Hessels, so he wrote on June 9th, 1561, is very 

strong; a great number of the graduates, and about half the 

professors, favour the innovators ; since three of the repre- 

sentatives of the old regime have recently been promoted to 

the episcopate, none but Baians remain in the faculty, and they 

have everything in their own hands. It is not possible, 

however, to take severe measures against this new movement, 

since that might drive Baius and Hessels into apostasy, a 

thing which would have the gravest consequences on account 

of the great esteem in which they are held on account of their 

learning and their irreproachable lives. The assembly of 

the Council causes special difficulty as Baius and Hessels wish 

to be sent to it as the representatives of the university, and 

there is a disposition at I-ouvain to grant their request. If 

however, so Commendone thought, these two men were allowed 

freely to express their views at the Council, there would be 

disturbances in Germany, while if they were not, a pretext 

would be afforded to the Protestants to complain of the 

absence of free speech at the Council. There was also danger 

to be feared from the imprudence of the opposing party ; 

very 

soon the General Chapter of the Franciscans would be held, 

at which the theological controversy would be discussed. It 

was quite possible that on that occasion the small fire might 

develop into a great conflagration.^ 

While he was at Louvain Commendone tried by every means, 

on May 24th, 1561, to reconcile the contending parties. But 

the legate learned how tenaciously the innovators stood by 

their contention that Baius was only defending the ancient 

teaching of the Church from a letter addressed to him by 

^ Raynaldus, loc. cit. 

' Miscell. di storia Ital., VI., 162. Raynaldus, 1561, n, 44. 

Pallavicini, 15, 7, 7.

372 


Hessels on May 27th, 1561.1 In his letter to the legates of the 

Council Commendone proposed, as the best way to avert the 

threatened storm, that the Pope should summon the case 

before himself, impose silence on the Franciscans, and in his 

own name suggest the sending of Baius and Hessels to the 

Council.^ This advice, however, which the legates referred 

to Rome together with their own proposals,^ arrived too late. 

Cardinal Borromeo replied to them on July 6th, 1561, that he 

had already had information on the subject from Granvelle, 

and that the Pope had decided to send the latter a brief 

imposing silence, on his own initiative, even under censures 

and penalties, until either the Council or the Pope had decided 

the question.^ Pius IV. had come to this decision so hastily 

that there was no possibility of awaiting the fuller report 

which the legates of the Council had promised to make upon 

the controversy and the proposals of Commendone.^ The 

latter, who continued to insist upon Baius and Hessels being 

summoned to the Council,^ received a reply in a letter from 

Cardinal Gonzaga on August 31st, that the Pope had already 

made up his mind.' It was not until two years later that 

Baius and Hessels were sent to Trent by Margaret of Parma as 

royal theologians,^ and assisted at the last three sessions of 

the Council, which afforded them no opportunity of explaining 

1 In SusTA, Kurie, I., 192. " Nobis " we read " praecipue 

incumbere putamus, ut studendo, docendo, disputando ex antiquissimis 

et solidissimis nostrae religionis fundamentis studeamus 

nostri temporis erroribus occurrere." 

- Letter of June 9, 1561, ibid. 36. 

^ June 30, 1561, ibid. 34 seq. 

* Borromeo to the legaces, 6 July, 1561, ibid. 49 : " Hoggi ha 

risoluto di scriver al detto cardinale un breve, dove gli commette, 

che imponat silentium sub censuris et penis sin'a le determinatione 

del concilio oche espongano a S. S*^ le lor different!." Cf. 

Borromeo to the legates, 12 July, 1561, ibid. 58. 

'^ Ibid. 50 ; cf. 36. 

"From Liibeck, July 24, 1561. Miscell. di stona Ital., IV., 

200. Pallavicini, 15, 7,. 10. 

' In SusTA, loc. cit. 

^ Raynaldus, 1561, n. 46.

PIUS V. AND BAIANISM. 373 

their views. Their private statements, and the writings of 

Baius occasioned much scandal, but in their capacity as royal 

theologians, and on account of the speedy closing of the 

Council, they escaped condemnation.^ 

Although Granvelle had forbidden the two professors any 

further exposition of their doctrines under pain of excom- 

munication, Baius nevertheless allowed himself to be persuaded 

to the false step, after his return from Trent, of publishing 

some farther writings on the controverted points, and of 

reprinting his earlier works. His principal adversary in the 

university, Joss de Ravestein, known as Tiletanus, then 

had recourse to the Augustinian Hermit, Lorenzo de Villa- 

vincentio, who was highly esteemed by Philip II. Lorenzo 

wrote to the king from Brussels on November 21st, 1564,with 

the result that the Universities of Alcala and Salamanca 

condemned a series of the propositions of Baius. ^ At the same 

time Philip II. appealed for a definite decision of the con- 

troversy to the Pope, to whom Tiletanus also made a report 

of the case.* 

Baius was not known in Rome. Granvelle, who had had to 

take proceedings against him, but who was otherwise favour- 

ably disposed towards him, was at that time in the Eternal 

City. As Grand Inquisitor, Pius V. had had to deal with 

Baianism in the time of his predecessor, and had a good 

recollection of the case when Granvelle represented to him 

that Baius was a learned and cultured man, and a priest of 

irreproachable Ufe, who could do a great deal for the Church, 

and in any case had a right to be treated with every considera- 

tion.^ The Pope was very ready to take this point of view. 

Learned men of various nationalities were charged to give 

1 Morillon to Granvelle, June 20, 1568, in Poullet, III., 279. 

' Gachard, Corresp. de Philippe II., II., xx. 

* Le Bachelet, II., 41, 47. No particulars of this condemna- 

tion are known. 

* Ibid. 48. Cf. the letter of Villavincentio of 1571 in Gachakd, 

loc. cit. 174. 

106. 

* Granvelle to Morillon, November 13, 1567, in Poullet, III.,

374 


their opinions of the writings which were submitted to them 

for examination, and the prudent step was taken of giving 

them copies without a title page, so that they might not know 

who was the author. The bull in which, on October ist, 1567, 

as the result of these opinions, Pius V. condemned 76, or 

according to a later estimate, 79 propositions,^ does not name 

Baius or Hessels, and where mention is made of the supporters 

of the condemned propositions they are spoken of in terms of 

respect. It was certainly out of consideration for them that 

the propositions were enumerated without any mention of the 

censures which they individually deserve, and it is only at the 

end of the list that it is stated that they are proscribed as a 

whole as heretical or erroneous, suspect, etc., but it is not 

stated which of them are heretical, erroneous, etc.'^ Moreover 

the bull was not printed or publicly posted, and the Pope 

left its execution to Cardinal Granvelle, who was told to pro- 

ceed with all possible moderation.^ 

Granvelle did not like to have the bull solemnly published 

in Louvain, and he entrusted its execution to his vicar-general, 

Maximilian Morillon. Hessels had died in November, 1566, 

and Morillon was to summon Baius before him and show him 

the bull. If necessary the vicar-general was to communicate 

it also to the theological faculty, and to insist that no attempt 

be made in any way to defend the condemned propositions, 

since, as he wrote to him, Granvelle could assure him that 

everything possible had been done to interpret them in an 

orthodox sense, and that the Pope had gone into the matter 

as carefully as if he had been concerned with the salvation 

of the whole world.'* 

1 The bull itself does not give the number of the propositions. 

* " Quas quidem sententias . . . haereticas, erroneas, suspectas, 

temerarias, scandalosas et in pias aures offensionem immittentes 

respective damnamus." 

^ PouLLET, III., 106 seq. Le Bachelet, II., 48. 

* " Car je vous puis asseurer que, pour les saulver, 1' on a faict 

tout ce qui a este possible, -et qu' en cest affaire Sa Sainctete a use 

d'une diligence que, si ce fut est6 pour gaigner tout le monde. 

Ton n'eust s9eu faire plus." Poullet, III., .107.

APPARENT END OF BAIANISM. 375 

The letter to Morillon, in which Granvelle gave him full 

instructions on all these matters, was fated to come under the 

notice of Baius himself. In another letter, also addressed 

to Morillon, Granvelle expressed his fears for the future, 

because learned men like Baius have a love for their books 

like the love of a father for his son. He takes the opportunity 

of urging all possible gentleness in the execution of the bull.^ 

At first it seemed as though Granvelle's fears would not be 

justified. On December 2gth, 1567, Morillon informed the 

dean and the eight professors of theology of the bull, and all 

of them, not excepting Baius himself, declared their readiness 

to submit to it.^ The commissary of the Flemish province 

of the Franciscans also received orders to forbid to his subjects 

the use of the condemned propositions.^ The Franciscans 

obeyed,^ and in 1568 Cornehus Janssen the elder. Bishop of 

Ghent, bore witness concerning Baius that he considered him 

a man worthy of all respect, who said mass every day and was 

definitely opposed to the sectarians ; that as a teacher he 

was as capable as could be desired, while in his lectures he 

never touched upon his new doctrines, nor had he acted 

otherwise for three years previous to the Papal condemnation ; 

Janssen adds that he would never have thought it possible 

that the new doctrines should have disappeared so completely ; 

in the schools there is as Uttle thought of them as if they had 

never existed, while Baius himself, when there had been a 

question of putting them forward once more, would not agree 

to do so. Among some of the most learned graduates they 

are now held in as great horror as once. they were esteemed.^ 

Baianism thus seemed to be dead, but this was only in 

appearance. Baius did not abide by his first resolution of 

simple obedience to the decision of the Church. In June, 

^ Granvelle to Morillon, November 13, 1567, ibid. 104 seq. 

^ Le Bachelet, II., 49. Morillon wrote to Granvelle on 

December 21, 1567, that he would have Baius brought before him 

on the following day. Poullet, III., 153. 

^ Morillon to Granvelle, January 11, 1568, in Poullet, III., 169. 

* Morillon to Granvelle, June 20, 1568, ibid. 282. 

^ Ibid. 281.

376 


1568, Morillon wrote that he found him greatly changed. 

Baius was complaining that he had been condemned without 

being heard ; he maintained that some of the condemned 

propositions were not to be found in his books, while others 

were wrongly stated ; that points had been decided which 

hitherto had been open, and that it might well be that some 

day he would write a book against the bull.^ Morillon did 

not fail to reply to this, and advised him specially to refrain 

from publishing anything against the bull, because neither 

the Pope nor the king would suffer it, and that Baius would 

only do himself harm by so acting.^ Baius then calmed down, 

and at last gave a clear assurance that it was his intention 

to persevere in obedience to the Pope ; 

Morillon must excuse 

his irritation on account of the great pain which the Pope's 

condemnation had given him, which had been aggravated by 

his enemies' refusal to keep silence. It was true that Tiletanus 

had sent the bull to the Bishop of Ypres, the University of 

Douai, and to several monasteries.^ 

In spite of all his promises, however, Baius tried to defend 

the condemned propositions in writing. On January 9th, 

1569, he sent an apologia to the Pope, in which he acknowledged 

30 of the propositions which had been condemned in 

Rome, but maintained that they contained nothing but what 

had been taught in the Holy Scriptures and by the Fathers of 

the Church. In a covering letter he said that the honour of 

the Pope had suffered by the buU being published so widely, 

firstly because of the obvious calumnies which it contained, 

and secondly because it was opposed to the words and ideas 

of the Fathers of the Church. It was a scandal to many 

learned men in the north, who on account of their struggle 

with the heretics were wont to lean more upon the teaching 

of the Sacred Scriptures and the Fathers than were the 

medieval theologians, and who might get the idea that zeal 

for scholasticism had led to the condemnation of the Fathers 

1 Morillon to Granvelle, June 20, 1568, in Poullet, III., 278. 

^ Ibid. 279. 

=> Ibid. 280.

ABJURATION OF BAIUS. 377 

themselves. That was why he was presenting this apologia ; 

the Pope must, decide whether the bull had not been fraudu- 

lently obtained. On March i6th, 1569, Baius sent a similar 

letter to Cardinal Simonetta, who, however, was already dead 

by the time it arrived.^ 

It was very obvious what the consequences of this must be. 

Some of the Franciscans in Flanders, it is true, encouraged 

the mad idea that the Pope was inchned to withdraw the bull, 

whereas in fact a Papal brief of May 13th, 1569, declared that 

even if the bull had never been issued, it would have to be 

now ; the Pope now confirmed it, and imposed perpetual 

silence upon all who approved the propositions condemned. 

Morillon received from Granvelle the difficult task of inducing 

the hot-headed scholar to recant, and then to absolve him 

from the ecclesiastical censure under which he had fallen. 

On June 20th, 1569, Morillon set himself to discharge this 

duty. At first Baius was surprised that he should have brought 

down ecclesiastical penalties upon himself by his remon- 

strances to the Pope ; but he then knelt down to ask for 

absolution. When, however, Morillon insisted that he must 

first recant, he rose to his feet and declared that he must first 

receive a copy of the bull, because the latter itself admitted 

that some of the condemned propositions could be defended 

" in rigore and according to the strict sense of the words. "^ 

521. 

^ Le Bachelet, II., 50. 

'Morillon to Granvelle, March 20-21, 1569, in Poullet, III., 

^ In reality the bull does not admit this, but says that the 

propositions are " rejected " according to the tenor of the words 

and in the sense in which they had been maintained by their 

defender " Quas quidem sententias . . . quanquam 

nonnullae 

aliquo pacto sustineri possent in rigore et proprio verborum sensu 

ad assertoribus intento haereticas, etc., damnamus." The bull 

is written without punctuation marks and Baius placed a comma 

after " intento " although it should obviously come after " possent 

" so that the " in rigore " etc., refers to " damnamus." The 

controversy concerning the " Comma Planum " is still being 

carried on.

378 


Morillon replied that the bull could not be given either to 

him or to his opponents, because the Pope intended to put a 

stop to the whole controversy. Baius rephed that he* was 

very glad to hear that, but regretted that the condemned 

propositions should have been so freely made known to his 

adversaries. After a long discussion Baius at length agreed 

to make his recantation. ^ The Provincial of the Franciscans 

in Flanders, too, among whom the celebrated Louvain pro- 

fessor always had a number of adherents, ^ obliged the guardians 

of the province, by a decree of September ist, 1569, to give 

currency to the abjuration which he had made.^ 

In spite of this, however, the new doctrines were not yet 

entirely crushed. It took Baius a long time to overcome the 

interior struggle between his obedience to the Pope and his 

attachment to his ideas, which he looked upon as the teaching 

of St. Augustine, nor did he always keep his feehngs to himself. 

The Franciscan, Godfredus of Liege, thought it necessary to 

preach against Baianism, and theologians like Cunerus Petri 

and the youthful Bellarmine, at that time a professor in the 

Jesuit college at Louvain, wrote refutations of it,* for the new 

doctrines still found many followers. ^ 

It must be added that 

in 1570, after the death of Tiletanus, Baius had become dean 

of the faculty, and the college of professors was composed 

entirely of his disciples. Under these circumstances, some 

of the bishops of Flanders thought it right to demand of 

Baius a pubhc statement of his attitude towards the condemned 

propositions.^ 

Morillon had long been of the opinion that the fault of 

Baius lay in his want of knowledge of scholasticism, and in 

1 Morillon to Granvelle, June 20, 1569, in Poullet, IIL, 

607 seqq. 

2 Morillon, September 26, 1568, ibid. 369. 

^Le Bachelet, II., 51. 

* Le Bachelet, Auctarixim Bellarminianum, Paris, 1913. 

314-338- 

* " Advertens non deesse multos, quibus hae opiniones placerent" 

Autobiography of BeUarmine edited by Le Bachelet, 452. 

« Cf. Laderchi, 1570, n, 292.

CONDEMNATION OF BAIANISM. 379 

his lack of judgment, remarking that lie had for a long time 

past noticed the latter defect in the celebrated professor.^ 

Baius gave further proof of this by the way in which he com- 

plied with the demand of the bishops. In his lectures on 

April 17th and 19th, 1570, he set forth his attitude towards 

the bull, substantially reiterating the point of view, apparently 

long since set aside, which he had adopted in his apologias 

to Pius V. and Cardinal Simonetta. 

This settled the fate of Baius. The Duke of Alba intervened 

and demanded of the provincial council, then assembled at 

Malines, in June, 1570, that the bull should be solemnly 

pubhshed at Louvain, and subscribed by all the professors. 

The bishops had the courtesy to inform Baius privately of what 

was about to be done, and found him ready to accept it. On 

November i6th the bull was published by Morillon at Louvain, 

in the presence of Baius, the professors and the students. 

The doctors then had to swear to the bull, a thing which drew 

tears from Baius. ^ In the evening the rector of the university 

sent each of the doctors a formula, in which they had to declare 

that they accepted the condemnation of the 76 propositions, 

and that they would act in accordance with their acceptance. 

No signatures, however, were received to this formula, for when 

Morillon had gone it was rumoured that he had carried out 

the publication of the bull on his own authority without the 

order of the bishops, and the latter had to defend him against 

this charge in a special letter.^ 

Later on, however, after further pressure on the part of the 

Pope and the Duke of Alba, the doctors decided on April 17th, 

1571, that they must look upon the 76 propositions as condemned, 

and take away from the students all the books which 

contained them. Yielding to further pressure on the part 

of Alba the doctors on August 29th promised the fullest 

^To Granvelle, June 4, 1569, in Poullet, III., 596: "Tout 

le mal est que, comme jugent par dela les S9avantz de luy, qu'il 

n'est d'erudition fondle en scholastique ny de bon jugement, 

et il y at longtemps que je m'apperceois de ce dernier poinct." 

* Laderchi, 1570, p. 292. 

^ Of December 23, 1570, ibid. n. 293.

380 


submission. Baius had to declare that he accepted the bull 

with all reverence, that he considered it to have been suffi- 

ciently promulgated, that he submitted to it unreservedly, 

and that if the Pope wished for anything further he would 

do it.^ The Louvain controversy then remained quiescent 

until the death of Pius V. 

With the exception of his bull against Baius, Pius V. onty 

issued one other decree in direct defence of doctrine ; on 

October ist, 1568, he renewed the constitution of Paul IV. 

against that form of Protestantism which denied the Trinity 

and the Divinity of Jesus Christ, His miraculous conception 

and the satisfactory value of His death, and the virginity of 

His Mother,^ thus almost completely depriving Christianity 

of its supernatural character. By this decree Pius V. dealt 

his final blow in the struggle against Italian Protestantism, 

since it was Italians, the Sienese Lelio and Fausto Socinus, who 

maintained these opinions in their fullest form, and it was the 

Italian form of Protestantism from which Socinianism sprang. 

From the first Protestantism in Italy was strongly infected 

by infidelity,^ and it was at the hands of Italians that the 

transformation of believing Protestantism into complete 

infidelity received its first impulse and its subsequent develop- 

ment. 

But how disappointed had been the hopes of the Italian 

^ Le Bachelet, II., 52. 

- Bull. Rom., VII., 722. 

^ Ochino " in his later writings shows himself involved in a 

volte-face from the positive rigorist view . . . towards those ideas 

of which Seb. Castellio and Leho Socinus are the representatives. 

. . . The Geneva theologians themselves complained of the 

ItaUan exiles as ' academic sceptics ' 

. . . but how little the 

course taken by the Italian reformation had followed these developments 

... a broader examination of the question can hardly be 

said to give the lie to the above mentioned theologians of Geneva, 

when they recognized in these men a specifically Italian form of 

scepticism." This is the view of K. Benrath " : tJber die 

Quellen der itahenischen Reformationsgeschichte, Bonn, 1S76, 

II seq.

PROTESTANTISM CRUSHED IN ITALY. 381 

religious innovators ! Italy, so thought Curione in 1550, makes 

progress from day to day, and the time of the harvest is now 

at hand.^ Shortly after the election of Pius V., a Protestant 

of Valtellina wrote to a co-religionist at Trent that at Valtellina 

the Papacy was more and more discredited ; that there was 

reason to hope that the " diabolical mass " would soon be 

abolished in the Grisons, that the preaching of the " Gospel " 

was spreading in France, and that the " cursed mass " was 

altogether stamped out in Scotland and England ; it was 

reported that " Christian liberty " was taking root in Poland 

and other countries ; that he and those who shared his 

opinions hoped that ere long they would hear of great things, 

and especially of the complete destruction of the kingdom 

of the Roman Antichrist.^ But by the middle of the reign 

of Pius V. the doom of Protestantism was sealed at least in 

Italy. 

If in these modern times, with their hostility to all restraint 

of freedom of thought, the method of procedure by violence 

adopted by Pius V. could not be tolerated, it was undoubtedly 

a blessing for Italy in its results. It was not in vain that the 

Pope so often called for vigilance, and so insistently pointed 

to the horrors of the Huguenot wars. He knew his fellow 

1 Tacchi Venturi, L, 350. 

^ " *De le nuove di qua in circa la religione per la gratia del 

Signore son molto buone et prima qui in Valtelina ogni giorno 

si va distruggendo 11 Papato et speremo in breve che i signori 

Grisoni habbia[n] a inandare a spassa la diabolica messa. Di poi 

si dice per cosa carta che la Francia ha levato via del tutto la 

persecutione et e posto ognuno ne la liberta de la fede talmente 

che la religione ogni di va crescendo et cominciasi a predicare 

I'evangelio e farsi le congregazioni in publico. La Scocia e 

r Ingalterra ha [sic !] levato via del tutto la maledetta messa. Si 

dice anchora di Polonia et di molti altri regni esser venuti ne la 

Liberta Christiana et percio speriamo in curto tempo de sentir gran 

cose et massime 1' ultima ruina del gran regno d' Antichristo 

Romano." Letter of Giov. Ant. Zurleto to Leonardo Columbino 

to Trent from Tirano, April 13, 1566, original in Cod. ]NIa;^zetti, 

616, p. 21, Municipal Library, Trent.

382 


countrymen, and he well understood that if the new ideas 

took strong root in their easily heated imagination there was 

every reason to fear that the sword and dagger would soon be 

drawn by citizen against citizen, and by city against city, and 

the struggles of Guelph and Ghibelline would be renewed with 

all their horrors and with redoubled fury.^ It can hardly be 

doubted that the victory of Protestantism would have given 

to Italy as well its Thirty Years' War. The country-side 

would have become a wilderness, and the lover of art can only 

tliink with horror of the fate that would have overtaken the 

masterpieces of Raphael and Michelangelo if a war against 

sacred images had broken loose in the privileged sanctuary 

of the arts. The resoluteness and energy of Pius V. saved his 

country from being bathed in streams of blood. Politically, 

Italy was broken up, but he preserved to her one bond of 

union, her common religious thought and outlook. At the 

same time he preserved to her—a thing which in the absence 

of political importance was her strength—the unchallenged 

glory of being and remaining the supreme school of the arts 

in Europe. 

^ Through the Bishop of Narni he invited the ItaHan princes 

to help Charles IX. against the Huguenots in the following terms : 

" Potersi mentre i tumulti son lontani, i principi de sudditi lor 

prevalere : ma 

quando s'aventassero questi mostri in Italia, 

quale infermita, et difficulta patiscano gli stati col mezzo dell' 

heresie proverebbero. La cui pestilenza pur troppo sparsa per 

r Italia poco piu vi ponesse pie, esser facil cosa da imaginare quel 

fuoco fosse per accendere ne cervelli Italiani." Catena, 69.

APPENDIX. 

PRELIMINARY NOTICE. 

The following documents are intended to confirm and complete 

the text of my book ; it has formed no part of my plan to 

provide a true and full collection of documents. In every 

case the place where the document was found is given with 

the greatest possible exactitude. As far as the text is con- 

cerned, I have, as a rule, preserved intact the wording of the 

documents or letters, which for the most part I have had 

before me in the original ; there is no need for me to justify 

the changes I have made in the matter of capital letters and 

punctuation. Where I have ventured on alterations I have 

always noted the fact, though small mistakes and obvious 

copyist's errors have not been specially noted. The additions 

which I have made are enclosed in square brackets, while 

unintelhgible or doubtful passages are mar'.ed by a note of 

interrogation or by the word " sic." Those passages which 

I have omitted, either when copying the documents or in 

preparing them for the Press, and which were not essential 

or unnecessary for my purpose, are marked by dots (...). 

I. The Conclave of Pius V. According to the Diary of 

Cornelius Firmanus.^ 

Ea nocte [sequenti diem 23^ decembris 1565] omnes rev'^ 

vigilarunt facientes praticas pro electione novi pontificia 

erant enim multi qui quaerebant et totis viribus instabant 

quod eligeretur in pontificem rev°^"^ Moronus.. alii erant qui 

ipsius exclusionem quaerebant : fiebantque praticae et conventiculae 

tanta cum celeritate, strepitu, rumore ac concursu 

quod vix credi possent ; aliqui rev"^^ ibant fere currentes 

portantes de per se busias cum luminibus absque aliquibus ex 

eorum conclavistis, alii sine luminibus nee omnino vestiti, 

adeoque videbatur maximus confiictus. Sed si ilia nocte 

1 See supra, p. 27, n. 5.

384 


ducebatur in capellam praedictus rev^^^ Moronus, erat certe 

pontifex ; nam ipsius adversarii erant perterriti et habebant 

facies albas prout pannus linens est, nee sciebant a principio 

quid facerent ; sed quoniam habuerant tempus procurandi 

exclusionem, vel quia sic erat Dei voluntas, cuius secreta non 

est nostrum scire, seu quia adhuc non venerat bora eius, 

antequam fieret scrutinium, fecerunt perfectam et securam 

exclusionem. In mane autem antequam lucesceret dies, 

ceperunt cardinales pontificem eligere, cupientes magna cum 

celeritate venire versus capellam ut concluderetur negocium ; 

qui maxime infestarunt me ut cito pulsarem campanellam pro 

missa ut citius fieret scrutinium ; et deputati ex capitibus 

ordinum mandabant quod pulsarem bora solita et consueta, 

prout feci et forsan prius, ut utrique parti ut melius possem 

complacere. Fuit dicta missa ex more et factum deinde 

scrutinium, in quo praedictus rev°^^ Moronus habuit 26 vota 

et tres accessus, quos dederunt rev"^^ Sforzia, Ursinus et 

Vercellensis. 

Erant tunc in conclavi 51 rev"^', videlicet Pisanus, Moronus, 

Tridentinus, Famesius, Crispus, de Perusio, Saracenus, Sancti 

Vitalis, S*^ Clementis, de Pisis, Reumanus, Capisucus, Alex- 

andrinus, de Araceli, SabeUus, S*' Georgii, Cornarius, Salviatus, 

Simoneta, Pacecus, Amulius, Corrigiensis, de Gambara 

Borromeus, Altaemps, Gesualdus, de Sermoneta, Ferrariensis 

Mantua, de Aragonia, Colunna, Novocomensis, Patavinus, 

Delphinus, Bobba, Sforzia, Ursinus, Vercellensis, Lomellinus, 

Crassus, Sirletus, Urbinas, de Monte, Simoncellus, Vitellius, 

Estensis, Madrutius, Medices, Alciatus, Paleotus [et Castiglione] 

: adeoque pro perfecta pontificis electione require- 

sed certe fuit 

bantur 34 vota, de quibus quinque defuerunt ; 

maximus conquassus, strepitus ac rumor in nocte : nullus 

enim cardinalis quievit, et multi ipsorum fere currebant per 

conclave praesertim rev^^^^ Estensis, qui laboravit pro decem 

hominibus et aperto marte quaerebat exclusionem. Similiter 

fecerunt etiam rev"^' de Sermoneta, Urbinas et nonnuUi alii. 

Visi fuerunt multi rev"" perterriti et quasi flentes, qui, licet 

inviti, ibant tamen ad capellam ad consentiendum electioni 

fiendae, considerantes non posse ipsam electionem aliquo 

pacto impedire. Nunquam vidi tam magnam in alicuius 

rev^î favorem frequentiam, quae tamen nil profuit, quia sic 

datum erat desuper. Credo equidem quod optimus fuisset 

pontifex et bene gubernasset Romanam Ecclesiam.

APPENDIX. 

385 

Illo sero [diei 30] fuerunt visae multae conventiculae et 

praticae cardinalium quaerentium creare pontilicem rev^num 

Sti Vitalis. Nil tamen factum fuit ; nam rev"^ Borromeus 

(qui habebat in posse suo magnam votorum quantitatem) 

nolebat accedere, licet quidam de suis libenter accessissent. 

Dictus vero Borromeus cupiebat creare rev"^^'^ de Araceli ; 

sed rev^"« de Altaemps non erat contentus, et sic fuit diu 

praticatum et laboratum in vanum. 

Die 5^ summo mane hora XIP fuit inceptus magnus 

rumor pro creando in pontificem rev^^"^ cardinalem Sirletum, 

et duravit, maxima cum multorum revnôrum acceleratione 

et concursu usque ad horam 15 ; nam aliqui ex parte rev^î 

Borromei adiuvabant dictam electionem, multi etiam faventes 

rev'ô Sti Vitalis quaerebant exclusionem. Illo interim 

i-eymus Sforzia publice in aula Regum dixit revô Borromeo 

quod nolebat aliquo pacto ire ad rev"'^^ Sirletum, quia nunquam 

in tota nocte aliquid de eo sibi dixerat, cum honestum 

ipsi videretur quod omnia debuisset scire et replicavit nunquam 

nisi coactum iturum dicta ex causa, licet ipsum rev'"" summopere 

diligeret et pontificia dignitate dignum cognosceret. 

Cumque videret rev'^^^-'^ Borromeus firmo ac determinato animo 

ea dici, rogavit rev>"""i Sfortiam quod saltem permitteret ire 

revmum (je Medicibus : cui respondit se nunquam prohibi- 

turum, immo eum rogaturum ut iret in eius praesentia ; et 

exinde omnia ref igescere ceperunt, licet rumor in totum'non 

cessaret. 

Illo mane ceperunt magistratum triduanum rev"" Pisanus, 

Reomanus et Madrutius. 

Dum fieret rumor pro eligendo rev^ûm Sirletum in pontificem 

j-ev°i^ Vitellius camerarius ivit ad cameram rev°" de Medici- 

bus, cui dixit pontificem iam fuisse creatum et quod propterea 

ipse etiam iret et cum aliis interveniret, qui tumultuanter 

incepit dicere quod non per terrorem et metum fiebant pontificum 

electiones et quod nolebat ire, et iratus exivit a sua cella 

sive camera, tertio eidem replicando. Deinde fecerunt circulum 

circa 15 cardinales in capite aulae regiae ante cameram 

rev Reumani, ubi Borromeus et quidam alii rev satis 

rogarunt rev'ûm Parnesium ut secum iret ad ducendum 

revmum Sirletum ad capellam ut eum pontificem crearent qui 

; 

respondit quod sibi non displicebat et bene sciebat eum fore 

dignum pontificatu, sed tamen nolebat iri nisi audita inten- 

tione et voluntate suorum consociorum et quod cito respon- 

VOL. XVII. 

25

386 


deret ; interim autem bene factum putabat fieri scrutinium, 

in quo forsan Deus inspirasset quid foret agendum et sic 

; 

factum fuit. Nee praetermittam quod dum fierent praticae 

supradictae, rev"^ Sirletus, qui divum Jeronimum reprae- 

sentare videbatur, fiebat continue et rogabat rev^^-^^ ipsius 

fautores quod desisterent ab incepto nee quaererent ipsum in 

pontificem eligere, quia sciebat se non fore sufBcientem ad 

sustinendum tam grave pondus et habendum gubemium tanti 

momenti, gtnuflexusque in lecto (in quo infirmus iacebat) 

indesinenter fiebat et rogabat eius familiares ut Deum depre- 

carentur supliciter quod non succederet ipsum eligi in ponti- 

ficem ; et credo certissime quod supra dicta ex toto corde 

agebat, nam semper fuit vir exemplaris, amator paupertatis 

et in minimis contentus, absque superbia, dulcissimae, con- 

versationis et denique sanctissimae vitae. 

Illo sero fuerunt factae praticae pro rev'ô cardinali Triden- 

tino, credo potius ad honorandum eum quam quod aliqua esset 

intentio ipsum creandi pontificem. 

Die 6* ianuarii, quae erat dies Epiphaniae, celebrarunt 

omnes infrascripti rev°^, videlicet Moronus, Farnesius, Crispus, 

Saracenus, S*^ Vitalis, Pisarum, Reumanus, Alexandrinus, 

Sabellus, Sim.onetta, Pacecus, Amulius, Corrigiensis, de 

Gambara, Borromeus, Gesualdus, de Sermoneta. 

Ilia die post prandium fuit aliqualis rumor in conclave et 

visae fuerunt quaedam praticae multorum revi"^"^ pontificem 

diversimode creare quaerentium., in vanum tamen, quia 

nondum venerat hora. 

lUa die inter horam 2ii^^^ et 22°^^°^ omnes rev^ iverunt 

ad cameram rev°^* cardinalis Alexandrini, quem quasi invitum 

et per vim duxerunt ad capellam Paulinam, et cum vellent 

eum eligere in pontificem, tanta erat confusio quod nesciebant 

quomodo illud agere deberent : aliqui enim petebant fabas 

ut per vota fieret, alii dicebant quod portarentur scabella et 

alia consueta pro scrutiniis, alii etiam, meliorem viam ac 

magis expeditam eligentes, dicebant quod publica voce danda 

essent vota per quemlibet cardinalem, et ita fieri deberet 

electio prout, sedato clamore ; 

fuit. Nam omnes sederunt in 

ac magno strepitu, factum 

solitis eorum locis et tunc 

j-gymus decanus stans dixit : Ego Franciscus cardinalis 

Pisanus, sacri collegii decanus, eligo in summum pontificem 

j-g^mum dominum meum Michaelem cardinalem Alexandrinum 

nuncupatum. Post eum rev"^"' Moronus similibus verbis

APPENDIX. ^Sy 

elegit eundem, deinde rev°^' omnes infrascripti similiter 

elegerunt, videlicet Tridentinus, Farnesius, Crispus, de 

Perusia, Saracenus, S^' Vitalis, S" Clementis, Pisarum, 

Reumanus, Capisuccus, de Araceli, Sabellus, S^' Georgii, 

Comarius, Salviatus, Simonetta, Paceccus, Amulius, Corrigiensis, 

Gambara, Borromeus, de Altaemps, Gesualdus. de 

Sermoneta, de Aragonia, Colunna, Novocomensis, Nicolinus, 

Patavinus, Deiphinus, Boba, Sforzia, Ursinus, Castellionensisi 

Vercellensis, qui etiam tulit votum descripium rev cardinalis 

Ferrerii patrui sui qui erat podogra impeditus et nomine etiam 

ipsius elegit, Lomellinus, Crassus, Sirletus, Urbinas, de Monte, 

Simoncellus, Vitellius, Estensis, qui etiam elegit nomine rev^^' 

cardinalis Ferrariensis patrui sui infirmi, Madrutius, Medices, 

Alciatus, Palcotus. Quo facto, licet scrutininium fieri debuisset 

etiam sine praeiudicio electionis, tamen eo omisso omnes revî 

surrexerunt et iverunt versus dictum rev^^ Alexandrinum, 

qui surgens, fuit per revim decanum interrogatus an acceptaret 

electionem de se factam per sacrum collegium ; qui stetit 

aliquantulum nolens respondere, tandem, sollicitatus per 

multos revôs^ dixit haec propria verba : Mi contento su. 

Et nos clerici cerimoniarum fuimus rogati tam de electione 

quam acceptatione. 

[Copy, Papal Secret Archives, XII., 31 p. 25 seq.] 

2. Francesco Tosabezzo to the Duke of Mantua. 1 

. . . Mon 

15tJC>, December 15, Rome. 

r inîo nostro clie come saggio et prudente ha 

scoperto un gran paese nel particolare della creatione del 

nuovo Pontefice, ha voluto secondo I'amorevolezza di che e 

verso V. Ecc^ ch' ella sappia il termino in che si trovano le 

cose, che fin adesso piu tosto si ha da temere che sperare 

d'haver cosa che sia in nostra sodisfatione. Dice dunque S. S, 

Ill°ia che ci sono tre soggetti che vanno per U tavoglieri, li 

quah fanno piu strepito d'ogni altro, I'uno e Morone et questo 

e tanto inanzi che Borromeo non desidera alcuno piu di lui, 

onde se non si da tempo alii Francesi di venire el al card^*' di 

Ferrara di fargli I'esclusione, va a pericolo di riuscire Papa 

subito. Per rimedio di che lia pensato S. S. Ill'^'- di persuadere 

a Borromeo che voglia aspettare le sue creature, cioe Buoncompagno, 

Crivello et Comendone, et cosi vedere di fnggire 

questa borasca, non essendo come V. Ecc. sa Morone buono ne 

' See supra, p.. 23, n. 2,

300 


per noi, ne per li mondo. L'altro e Farnese il quale de ha 

anch'egli buono, non perche non sia conosciuto, ma perche 

il collegio e tanto povero che quando li card^' vedranno di 

havere a distribuire fra loro ottanta mila scudi d'entrata, 

dubita che non si risolvi. Tuttavia il S. Card^® nostro spera di 

tenere saldo Borromeo et Alt'Emps, con tutto che ad Altemps 

sia stata offerta la vicecancelleria. II terzo soggetto e Ferrero, 

il quale e desiderate da Borromeo, ma il collegio vecchio I'ha 

per un da poco et un ignorante, pero la sforza di Borromeo 

fa ch'egli ne habbia buono, et il S, Card^® nostro confessando 

la cosa come la sta, dice, che quanto sie per lui non gli spia- 

cerebbe, perche e suo amico, come e anco il ca d'*^ Vercelli 

suo nipote, oltre che sa per essere lui un da poco, serebbe forse 

pill largo che non fu Papa Pio. Ma vi e questo oggetto della 

gelosia che si ha da havere dello stato di Monferrato per conto 

di Savoia, et pero il Card^° nostro non concorrera in questo 

soggetto se non in caso che non possa fare di manco, anteponendo 

sempre I'utile et interesse particolare di V. Ecc*^ 

al suo proprio. Farnese propone Alessandrino non perche 

riesca Papa conciosia che e difficile cosa, ma si bene per fare 

I'adito pill facile a se stesso. Di Ferrara non vi e speranza, 

fin qui, non ci volendo concorrere Borromeo in alcun conto 

laonde bisogna aspettare aiuto di Franza et vedere di straccare 

con lungo tempo Borromeo, nel qual caso Ferrara potria havere 

anch'egli buono, ma a questo ci vuol tempo et per cio bisogna 

sapere schrinire bene. x\raceli e cosa che sia Papa, con tutto 

che Firenza I'aiuti et maggiormente Trani, con tutto che 

Farnese lo favorisca, il qual Farnese fa questo accio che riuscendo 

Papa habbia da vivere poco et da fargli una promotione 

di card'' a suo modo, col mezzo dei quali possa poi al sicuro 

et in breve entrare Papa in conclavio ad un altra sede vacante, 

et la causa che questi due ne hanno poco buono e che la S*^ 

di Pio nanti la morte sua lascio ordine alii nepoti card'' che 

non facciano Papa Theatino alcuno et manco creatura di 

Paulo quarto. Amulio sarebbe aiutato da Borromeo, ma e in 

malissima opinione di tutto il collegio, di modo che ha da 

sperare poco al papato. Fiorenza favorisce Montepulciano 

Araceli et Nicolino, ma vorria piutosto Nicolino et pur vede 

che Montepulciano e piu riuscibile et I'aiuta, non vorria ne 

Morone ne Farnese. Hora per vedere d'impedire che uno de 

soggetti amico alia casa non succeda Papa si procurera per 

una delle creature di Borromeo, cioe per Buoncompagno, per

APPENDIX. 389 

Comendone et per il Crivello, ma si dubita che sieno difficili 

tutti. Borromeo lauda piu Comendone, ma Buoncompagno 

seria piu a proposito per la casa, et questo e appunto disiderato 

da Fiorenza, venendosi pero al particolare delle creature, 

Montepulciano sarebbe Papa, se Borromeo lo volesse, ma lo 

abhorrisce come la peste, pero si conchiude che ogni cosa e in 

grandissimo disordine, ne si sa vedere altro che imbarazzi et 

travagli. . . . 

[Orig. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.] 

3. Avviso Di Roma of 12 January, 1566.1 

... Si vede veramente, che e stata opera del Spiritu Santo, 

perche il Papa si mostra tutto buono, tutto santo et tutto sin- 

ciero, pieno d' hum?nita et d' affabilita senza verunahipocresia. 

Dice messa ogni di, detto la messa fa collatione, i panata et 

2 ovi con mezzo bicchiero di vino, poi da audienza fino alia 

sera, che cena a 24 hore con poco di carne. Discorre spesso 

con cardinal! quali tiene per fratelli ; dice haver parenti 

nepoti, figUuoli di una figlia di sua sorella, quaU dice voler 

lasciar in modo c e non siano mendichi, ma non h vuolene 

duchi ne marchesi ne conti, et un parente frate, che stava a 

Perugia, che I'ha mandato a chiamare, et lo fara cardinale, 

et ha anco chiamato uno di quelli della casa di Gisheri di 

Bologna, che dice lui esser di quella casa, et si crede che lo 

fara general della chiesa. Non vuol cosa alcuna da prencipi, 

ne per se ne per i suoi, che a essi prencipi fara tutte le gratie 

che potra. Non vole ne gabelle ne dacii straordinarii, che 

viveria con quel poco che ha, et che la sua panata con li suoi 

2 ovi H bastano. Ha levato la bottega della Dataria, et fatto 

Datario il vescovo Maffei, ne vuol piu composition], et ha fatto 

castellano I'arcivescovo di Napoli. et confirmato governatore 

di Roma il Palentieri. Vuole che i cardinali servino il grado 

loro, non gh vuole ne Theatini ne frati ne Giesuiti, che i ricchi 

tenghino il grado loro et che a i poveri dara di quello che vaca 

a ciascuno la parte sua. Ouando gli viene raccordato qualche 

fatto di qualcuno, e soHto a dire, che sa d'esser posto alia 

cura d'huomini e non d'angeli. Raccoghe humanamente 

non solo tutti quelh che mai lo servirno, ma ciascuno che mai 

lo conobbe ; fa gratie et incita le persone a chiederle. Piglia 

et abraccia tutte le creature di Paulo IV. ; 

si dice che fa venir 

> See su2)ra, pp. 54 n. 4, 66 n. 2, 68 n. 3, 72 n. 2, 77 u. 1, 84 n. 3.

390 


Don Antonio Caraffa et il ligiiuolo del duca di Paliano et anco 

sig. Matteo Stendardo, ai quali dice volersi mostrar grate. 

Quelli che govemano hora sono Famese, Vitelli, Pisa et 

Reumano. Fa venir anco a Roma il duca Ottavio per dar 

grandezze alie cose. He has made Vitelli governor of the 

Borgo, the brother of the Cardinal and General of the Knights 

of Orsino, " in somma grandissima liberalita " ; he has 

restored his apartments to Cardinal Urbino, and given him 

the bishopric of Montefeltro, he has given 40 poor Cardinals 

500 scudi, and 100 scudi a month to each, 10 scudi to the 

conclavists, 4 to his servants 50 to Count Hannibal d'Altemps, 

and 200 to each Auditor of the Rota. He has given Famese 

the direction of the Segnatura, and will assign to him the 

" stanze di Torre Borgia." He is retaining some of the 

" famiglia " of Pius IV., and is replacing many by creatures 

of Paul IV.; a thing which makes others, especially Marcan- 

tonio Colonna, jealous, since the Carafa have been recalled, 

but this is a vain fear " perche non si mostra vendicativo sin 

hora. Vuol pagare tutti i debiti di Paolo IV et vol fornir la 

fortificatione di Borgo, et questa mattina si ha cominciato a 

lavorare et anco finira le fabriche di Belvedere." This morn- 

ing there was a General Congregation " per consolar i car- 

dinali " : he listened to each of them and granted aU the 

favours asked for so long as they were not to the disadvantage 

of third parties ; he then caused all to go out except the 

Cardinals, whom he thanked saying to them, " che non li 

vuole tener per servitori ma per frateUi ; " and published the 

day of St. Antony, his birthday (in his 62nd year) as the day 

of his coronation. " Da tutti questi indicii si raccoglie che 

siamo per haver un buon Papa, et dove la nova della sua 

creatione spavento tutta Roma, per esser frate et di 

S. Domenico, cosi le sue attioni fanno giubilar tutti et ciascun 

li prega longa vita et sanita, della quale ha bisogno patendo 

di renella grandemente, et essendo mal complessionato." 

Ha perdonato a Morone, che adorandolo poi avrebbe detto : 

" Dimitte nobis debita nostra, gli rispose in generalibus " 

e lo ha benedetto. " Ha trovato I'introito molto felice, 

essendo da conferir in beneficii piii di 200 sc. et trovato in 

Castello da 800. Ha detto di voler deputar 3 cardinali, 

quali habbino a conferir tutti li beneficii vacati et che vacaranno, 

sicome era a tempo di Paulo IV, et aUe cose temporali 

vuole deputar alcuni altri cardinali, volendo lu solo attendere

APPENDIX. 391 

alia conservatione della religione. II comendator di Castello 

vorrebbe dar a credere, che lui fosse stato quello che havesse 

fatto il Papa, ma e stato veramente il Spiritu Santo." 

[Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 163, Vatican Library]. 

4. Cornelius Firmanus on the Coronation of PiusV.^ 

17 January, 1566. 

Gatticus has published (p. 342) some passages from the 

long description given by Firmanus of the Coronation of 

Pius V. The following, hitherto unpublished, description of 

the Forma suggesti pro coronatione papae facti, is of interest : 

"... Erat in primo arcu a dextris dictae sedis depicta 

mulier magnae staturae, quae dextra tenebat flammam, 

sinistra vero securem cum tallio ab utroque latere, super 

cuisus capite erat scriptum : Abundantia, status temporis, 

et ad pedes : lustitia. In secundo arcu prope praedictum, 

per quem intrabatur in sugesto per eos qui veniebant a Sancto 

Petro, erat alia muher ut supra depicta, quae prope dextrum 

crurem [sic] habebat scabellum cum. cahce desuper, et dicta 

muher tenebat pateram in dextra super caUcem tanquam si 

voluisset ahquid in eum immittere, manum sinistram tenebat 

spaknatam et ab eodem latere puer nudus amplectebatur eius 

Charitas, 

Amor, cnirem [sic] ; super eius capite erat scriptum : 

Clementia ; ad pedes autem : 

Charitas. In angulo erat 

muUer, quae super manum dextram tenebat ecclesiam et 

brachio sinistro amplectebatur tabulam cum quibusdam 

htteris quae legi non poterant ; super cuius capite erat scriptum 

: Felicitas animi Tranquillitas ; ad pedes autem : Religio. 

In primo arcu ad sinistram sedis erat depicta mulier respiciens 

caelum, devote manibus iunctis tenens tres rosas, super cuius 

capite erat scriptum : Existimatio bona gloria ; ad pedes 

vero : Spes. 

quae dextra 

In alio arcu prope praedictum erat mulier, 

^ 

tenebat bilanciam et brachio sinistro amplexa 

fuerat comu abundantiae ; supra caput erat scriptum 

Facultas copia status temporis ; ad pedes vero : Aequitas. 

In pariete respiciente domum archipresbiteratus S*^' Petri 

erat muher, quas dextro brachio tenebat organum, et sinistra 

habens brachiurn extensum tenebat calicem, cum inscriptione 

tali supra caput, videlicet : Charitas nominis bona fama laus ; 

ad pedes autem : Fides. 

[Copy, Miscall. Arm. XII, 31, p. 43, Papal Secret Archives.] 

' See supra, p. 70 n. 1.

392 


5. NICCOL6 CUSANO TO THE EMPEROR MAXIMILIAN 11.^ 

1566, February 2, Rome. 

L'ultimo del passato mese il Papa fece castellano di Castello 

S. Angelo di Roma un certo Francesco Bastone^ ch'e del 

Bosco sua patria, il quale si dice I'ha fatto per render a lui la 

gratitudine del oblige haveva al padre del detto Bastone 

perche dicono lo levo da guardare le peccore ove la madre sua 

I'haveva mandato non havendo altro niodo miglior da notrirlo 

essendo in estrema poverty et I'aiuto ad imparare lettere 

mandandolo alia scola col figliolo dalli frati che stavono nel 

Bosco sua patria, i quali visto che'l era per riuscire nelle lettere 

lo fecero frate, ove continue li studii in modo che divenne 

dottore in theologia. Accade che fu data querella alia Inqui- 

sitione di Roma d'alcuni di questi frati di non so che d'heresia, 

i quali lo mandarono a Roma a giustificarli, il che gli reusci 

cosi bene che I'lnquisitor vedendolo cosi dotto et di buona 

vita lo ritenne seco dandolo in mano tutte le cose della In- 

quisitione, le quali tratto con tanta sodisfattione del card*® 

di Chieti che essendo Papa lo fece morendo il suo padrone 

Inquisitore et poi vescovo et cardinale per il ch'e hora venuto 

Papa onde di minimo et povero guardiano di peccore e venuto 

pastor generale sopra tutti li pastori del grege di Christo ch'e 

de miracoli di questa corte. 

[Orig. State Archives, Vienna.] 

6. Johannes Sambucus' to Cardinal G. Sirleto.* 

1566, February 20, Vienna. 

Cum, ut scis, aliquoties hunc pontificem familiarissime ante 

3 annos accessissem atque de studiis et vetustis codicibus 

edendis admonerem, quorum copia tanta apud nos delitescit, 

memini ilium mihi aliquoties respondisse : 

' Mi Sambuce, 

utinam per me staret : ego ederem optimos quosque hbros 

graecos, neque hie eos tineis absumendos paterer. Sed sum 

pauper fraterculus ; in meis viribus id situm non est.' Utinam, 

mi optime atque illustrissime Schirlette, banc vocem illi 

aliquis repeteret atque ad sanctos literatosque conatus ex- 

' See svpra, pp. 46 n. 4, 71 n. I. 

* The *I)iarium of Cornelius Firmanus announces on October 13th, 1568 

the death of " Franc. Bastonus (sonex) " ; liis successor as castellan of S. 

An?elo was his son Albert. Papal Secret Archives. 

' Polyhistor ; historiogrraph to Maximilian II. and Rudolph II., born 1531, 

died 1584 ; see Allg. Deutsche Biographic, XXX., 307 seq. 

* See supra, p. 129 n. 3.

APPENDIX. 393 

citaret, quod non dubito sponte ipsum ac prolixe facturum. 

Vale. 

Viennae X kalendas martii MDLXVI. 

[Orig. Vatic. 6792, p. 127. Vatican Library.] 

7-8. Camillo Luzzara to the Duke of Mantua. ^ 

Rome 27 :March, 1566. 

II Papa continua nel levare la mattina per tempissimo et 

subito dice la messa et sta un poco ritirato, poi fa colatione 

et dopo da audienza, et questa dura tutto il di, se non viene 

interrotta o da consistorii o da le congregationi o da le segna- 

ture che si fanno ad ogni settimana. Di queste le congre- 

gationi sono le piu continue, perch e sono sopra le cose del 

concilio, de la inquisitione et de lo stato de la chiesa, et in 

queste comincia ad intravenire il S. card'*^ Alessandrino il 

quale comincia ad havere tutte le facende o poco manco, 

et gia qualche card^® come Aragona, che so io, piglia I'hora 

de I'audienza del Papa col mezo di lui. et ricerca che sia 

presente a quanto ha da trattare, et di questo card^® d'Ara- 

gona altro non so io che dire, se non che e assai caro al Papa . 

. . . Nella corte passano hora poche novita che diano materia 

d' ragionare, perche questo Papa se ne passa con una maniera 

di vivere assai quieta et ritirata, ne in Palazzo si fanno piu 

quel ridotti che al tempo degli altri papi vi si solevan fare 

d'ogni conditione di cortigiano. Banchi anch'esso in questa 

parte non e quel che solea essere gik, di modo che a volere 

sapere vovelle della corte conviene andare per le case de card^^ 

et de ambasciatori, et a questo ci vuole otio et commodita 

grande, il che non posso havere io che ho da spendere il tempo 

in altro come ben sa I'Ecc. V., la quale si degnara di scusarmi 

hora se in questa parte io non supplissi al mio debito et al 

desiderio che forse ella havera di sapere le minutie di tutta 

questa corte. 


9. Avviso DI Roma of 13 April, 1566.^ 

II Papa ando lunedi alle 7 chiese con pochissima compagnia 

di gente et solo il card. Alessandrino e Savello, et con molta 

devotione ; et fa ogni giorno opera con intelligentie, reforma 

et bandi, perche si viva piu christianamente che sia possibile, 

'See supra, p. 52 n. 1. ^ See strpra, pp. 58 n. 2, 61 n. 1. 

.

394 

HISTOKY OF THE POPES. 

et sin hora riesce giusto et santo principe, et se ne spera 

tuttavia de bene in meglio, et e essemplarissimo in tutte 

le sue attioni et di tanta bona mente quanto si puo desiderare. 

E stato tutta questa settimana santa alle funcioni della Capella 

et il venerdi santo comando, che non si cocesce cosa alcuna 

in casa sua, et non solo ha fatto la quaresima, ma I'ha degiunata 

tutta non ostante alcuni difetti d'infirmita et la vecchiezza, 

COS! sia pregato Iddio che la mantenghi et prosperi lunga- 

mente. 

[Orig. Urb. 1040.. p. 210. Vatic. Library.] 

JO-IS. Buildings of Pius V. at Bosco.^ 

I. Avviso di Roma of 23 March, 1566. 

The Pope intends to employ for the construction of the 

church at Bosco the 20,000 scudi deposited at Milan by Pius 

IV. for the Swiss League. 

[Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 197. Vatic. Library.] 

2. Avviso di Roma of 14 June, 1567. 

S. S. fa fabricare al Bosco un monasterio dell'ordine suo, 

per il qual s'intagliano qui le porte, balursti et finestre de 

preciosissimi marmi, li quali poi si mandaranno. Expenditure 

200°^ Scudi, for 30-40 frati who shall live in the convent, 

et si fa far una superbissima sepultura, perche Ik vol essler 

sepolto, et ha mandato per via del mare I'altr'hieri a quel a 

fabrica molte colonne de serpentini et porfidi, et la solicita, 

come s'havesse a morir fra un mese. 


3. Avviso di Roma of 19 July, 1567. 

On Tuesday the Pope received from Cardinal Ricci " una 

pietra nera lunga una canna," which will be sent to Bosco. 



II Papa soUecita la sua sepultura che fa lavorare nella 

casetta del Bosco, la quale e di marmo bianco con statue e 

con la sua persona ritratta di naturale con gli habiti alia 

' See supra, p. 124 u. 1.

APPENDIX. 395 

pontificiale ingenocchiato avanti un crucifisso con un breve 

in mano aperto, che sar^ di gran valuta, et finita la mandera 

al Bosco alia chiesa che fa fabricare. 

[Orig. Urb. 1041, p. 117^. Vatic. Library.] 

5. Avviso di Roma of 5 December, 1570. 

P. Serafino (Grindelli ; see Bruzzone in Riv. Alessandria, 

XI., 8 [1903], 7 seq.) reports to the Pope about the fabric of the 

convent at Bosco. 

(Orig. Urb. 1041, p. 376. Vatic. Library.] 

6. Brief of 17 October, 1571, to the Governor of Milan. 

" Mittimus dil. fil. lacobum de la Porta architectum ad 

nostrum monasterium Boschi." Please help him. 

[Archives of Briefs, Rome.] 

On June 21, 1567, Arco* reports that the Pope " ando 

a vedere certe colonne che manda alia chiesa del Bosco " ; 

(State Archives, Vienna). Ibid, an * Avviso di Roma of 

March 2, 1569, concerning the sending of rich vestments to 

Bosco ; for the tomb of St. Dominic at Bologna " fa anco 

fare di molti ricchi acconci da porre sul altare et sopra I'arca." 

16-25. Purification of Morals in Rome, 1566. 

I. Bando. 

" che non si vada la notte accompagnato con donne di mala 

vita per Roma, che dette donne non tenghino arme in casa 

ne nissuno vi vadi in casa con arme etc.", 12 maggio 1566. 

[Editti V, 60, p. 204. Papal Secret Archives.] 

2. Avviso di Roma of 25 May, 1566. 

An order will shortly be issued " che le cortegiane stiano 

in una o due parte della Citta come seria in Trastevere o 

verso il Popolo." 

(Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 231^, Vatican Library.] 

3. Avviso di Roma of i June, 1566. 

Difficulty about the order concerning the" cortegiane" ; 

perhaps they will now receive a sign. 

'See supra, p. 90, n. 2. 

[Orig. Ibid. 220^.]

30 


4. Avviso di Roma of 29 June, 1566. 

" Hiersera a forza de sbirri le meretrici sgombrorno Borgo 

et li conservatori s'affaticarno per trovar luoco da serrarle." 

[Orig. Ibid. 248.] 

So reports Arco on June 29, 1566 (original in State Archives, 

Vienna). 


By order of the Pope, the Vicar on Monday issued the 

following order against prostitutes : " che se ne vadino molte 

cioe le piu scandalose, et I'altre vadino in Transtevere. Ma 

h habitanti di quel luoco in numero di piu di 400 con il loro 

caprione andorno dal card. Morone, che vi habita, pregandolo, 

che fosse loro protettore appresso il Papa, accio esse cortegiane 

non vi fossero poste, et mercordi ando da S. S., ne con molte 

raggioni che dicesse non pote ottener altro, se non che per 

adesso non si poteva far altro. II senatore, conservatore et 

il popolo tutto di Roma hanno poi fatto officio, che solo si 

levino dalle strade maestre et d'appresso le chiese monasterii 

et dalle case di gentildonne et che le lascia habitar nelle altre 

strade men publiche di Roma, ne anco I'hanno potuto ottenere, 

ma solo s'e contentato, che possino habitar tutta strada 

Giulia, da Ponte S. Angelo a Ponte Sisto, nondimeno sin 

hora non si vede, che vadano, ne in uno ne in I'altro loco."^ 

[Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 260^^ Vatic. Library.] 

6. Avviso di Roma of 3 August, 1566. 

Questi di li Romani fecero consiglio contra le mutation! 

deUe meretrici et 40 di loro con li conservatori andorno a 

supplicare il Papa, che non le vogjia mandar in Trastevere ; 

hebbero in risposta : Tutta questa matina havete sonato il 

vostro campanozzo in congregarvi a far che per conservarvi 

I'infamia, che noi per debito nostro, honor nostro et commune 

satisfatione cercamo di levarvi, ne e bene comportar, che dalle 

meretrici siano habitate le piu belle strade di Roma santa, 

ove e sparso il sangue di tanti santi martiri, ove sono tante 

reliquie, tante devotioni, ove e la Sede Apostolica et tanta 

> Cf. the letter of C. Luzzara of 27 July, 1566, in Bertolotti, Repressioni, 8 

(wron? date, the 22nd) ; report of Tiepolo of 26 July, 1566, In Mutinelli I., 

51 seq. letter of Arco of 27 July, 1566 (State Archives, Vienna), and especially 

the *report of Aless. Mola to Card. Ferd. de' Medici, dated Rome, 25 July, 

1566 (State Archives Florence, Medic. 5096).

APPENDIX. 397 

religione : citt^, che per specchio del mondo tutta dovera 

esser monda da vicii et peccati a confusione d'infideli et here- 

tic!, in fine non conoscete il ben vostro : con che se gli levo 

davanti. 


A similar Avviso in Bertolotti, Repressioni, 9 ; see ihid. 

8, the report of Luzzara. Cf. Tiepolo in Mutinelli, I., 53 

seq. According to Firmanus, Diarium (Papal Secret Archives) 

the deputation was received on July 24, 1566. On Augu t 3, 

1566, Arco reports that the Pope replied : " O volete le 

meretrici o moi ; se volete esse, noi partiremo di Roma, se 

volete noi lasciate che obediscano." (State Archives, Vienna). 

7. Avviso di Roma of 10 August, 1566. 

Questi di li conservatori di Roma a nome del popolo present- 

orno una littera con molte information! delle meretrici, et di 

scacciarle, allegando molte ragioni, per conservation della 

Citt^, deir honore delle donne maritate et delle citelle ; hebbero 

in risposta : Noi lo vederemo, consideraremo et se sar^ bene, 

i'abrazzaremo ; et hoc interim per causa del monitorio sono 

gi^ partite piii di 300 meretrici delle principal! di Roma, 

et tuttavia vanno fuori, per questa causa, molte ritornate 

in se si sono maritate, retirate et convertite, et le triste non 

trovano, chi comprinoi le loro robbe con tutto il buon precio, 

parendole quelle di mal acquisto. Li patron! delle case 

restano mal content!, che non le pono affittare se non assai 

manco, et di questo beneffetto ne gode piu il publico, se ben i 

Roman! se ne becano il cervello con voler impedire. Anco la 

pragma tica del vestire va inanzi, ne s'ha rispetto a persona, 

et contra alcun! contrafacent! si precede hora con farli pagar 

assai grande penne. Si publicara quest'altra senttimana 

una terribil boUa contra 1! adulter! et un bando contra tavern- 

arii et host! per non supportare tanto gran numero di forfanti, 

che s! sono post! alia poltronaria in que! luochi. S'aspetta 

anco una boUa et generale riforma di tutto questo clero oltra 

la corte, il popolo et la citta tutta, la quale purgata di tante 

et tante imondicie porta ben farsi chiamar Roma santa. 

Hier! havemmo un bando rigorosissimo dell'arme." 

Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 270, Biblioteca Vatican Library.] 

Cf. the Avviso of 17 August, in Bertoi.otti, 9.

398 


8. Awiso di Roma of 17 August, 1566. 

The doganieri of Rome complained to the Pope of the loss 

occasioned by the " dogane per la partenza deUe meretrici et 

delli hebrei. II Papa gli ha detto di volerli osservar li loro 

capitoli, nelli quali crede non esser mentione di queste cose, 

et che pero anco fara in modo, che essi non ne patirano in 

alcun modo ne vuol comportare, che li sia fatto torto ne dalla 

Camera ne da altro. Tuttavia le meretrici sono siemate 

assai, et quelle che tante restano, sono come sbigotite et dis- 

perse, et ne sono state amazzate alcune, che si dice per esser 

avenuto per opera di quelli che tengono le loro robbe in salvo, 

nondimeno non e certo, altri credono che venga da loro parent! 

alia fine la loro remotione et gli tanti romori di mandarle in 

Trastevere, N. S. doppo la informatione si e risoluto di las- 

ciare, che il popolo con gli conservatori le accomoda in luoco, 

che stia bene, et come saranno comodate tutte nella parte 

di Campo Marzo daU'Arco di Portugallo in qui verso il Populo, 

pero fuori deUe strade grande com.e nelle traverse verso la 

Trinita, si come gi^ e dato principio." 

[Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 275''. BibHoteca Vatican Library.] 

9. Awiso di Roma of 7 September, 1566. 

" Bando del card. Savelli " published " giovedi " (Urb. 

1040, p. 282'', in Vatican Library ; 

edited Bertolotti, Repres- 

sioni 10). This " Bando contro le meretrici " was printed in 

Rome in 1566 by Ant. Blado. Very rare as is also the " Bando 

sopra le meretrici," pubhshed in " Bologna I'ult. di gennaro 

et reiterato il 1° di febraio 1568," Bologna, Benaci, 1568. 

10. Avvisi di Rom.a of the 2 and 7 November, 1566. 

Printed by Bertolotti, loc. cit. lo-ii. Cf. Polanci Epist. 

in Anal. Bolland. VII.. 69. 

26. Bernardino Pia to Camillo Luzzara.^ 

Rome 22 January, 1567. 

Dominica qui si diede licenza al popolo di mascherarsi, pero 

huomini et non donne ne religiosi et furon prohibite le caccie 

de tori et simile spettacoli etordinati che i palii, che si solevano 

correre per Banchi et per Borgo si corrano daUa vigna di Julio 


APPENDIX. 399 

fin a S. Marco non essendo fatione conveniente da farsi sotto 

le stanze de S. S*-^.^ 

(Orig. Gonzaga Archives, Mantua.] 

27. Pope Pius V. to the Governor of the Campagna and 

Marittima. ^ 

With a view to taking steps to provide for the safety from 

robbers of those who come to the city, and since the " Algidi " 

forest is, on account of its marsh}^ character and size, very 

convenient for robbers, we command you to open out the road 

on both sides by cutting down the trees, and " graviter ferimus" 

that through neglect this has not been done. " Quia vero 

latrociniis in ea silva committ solitis occurri omnino 

volumis," we ordered you to have the trees cut down by the 

population ui such a way that the road shall be safe, and 

where it is necessary, to protect it, and to burn the trees, 

taking care that they shall not spring up again ; it is our 

will that the ancient road, which was once paved with stones, 

shall be repaired and restored to its former width. 

[Arm. 44 t. 13, p. 105, Papal Secret Archives.] 

28-34. avvisi concerning the purification of morals in 

Rome in 1567.' 

March 15,: This morning "3 meretrici Venetiane frustate 

" ; a sheet of paper fastened to their breast showed 

the reason. Orig. Urb. 1040, p. 370b, Vatican Library.* 

April 3 : "3 meretrici frustate," because they had " uscite 

dai luoghi deputati," ibid. 376. 

' Note. With the Avviai di Roma of January 18, February 8, and 14, 1.567 

(see dementi, 216 seq.), cf. the 'report of Arco of February 9, 1566 (Non ha 

voluto S.St& dar licenza di far maschere se non con condizione che le donne 

[i.e. the pro'Stitutes] non possino andarvi), tlie *ropori, of Cusano of TUarcli 2, 

1566 (prohibition of bull-lislits), and *that of Strozzi of January 18, 1567 

(proliibition of the carnival in t!ie Borgo, " where the priests live "), State 

Arcliives, Vienna. Ihid. a *report of Arco of Febraary 21, 1588, concerning' 

the strict enforcement of these orders. Cf. also the *Avviso di Roma of 

January 29, 1569, Urb. 1041, p. 11, Vatican Library. 

• See supra, p. 102 n. 3. 

' Cf. supra, p. 92 n. 1. 

• .See F'irmînus, *Diarium " : Die sabbati XV. dicti mensis [martii 1567] ;:nte 

ecclesiam Sti Ambrosii ct per stratas omnes cin iimcii'ca fuerunt a carnilUo 

fustiaratae tres mere trices cjuonJam non paruerant ordinibus et edictis vicarii 

.Smi Domini Nostri, later quas fuit quaedaiu Arracri i Veneta, pulciierrima 

iuvenis et absque dubio puchrior omnibus aliis meretricibus Urbis : fuit efiaiu 

q.iaedam Nina de Prato, et elia dicta Isabella. ; et prosit." (Papal Secret 

Archives). Cf. also the *report of Arco of March 20, 1566, State Archives, 

Vienna.

400 

April 14 : 


"3 meretrici " placed in the " Convertite," ibid. 

382. 

May 17 : " Si fa hora una generale rassegna delle publice 

meretrici per darli occasione o di conversione o di sgombrare 

il paese," ibid. 396b. 

July 19 : Banishment of " 60 meretrici " (see Bert lotti, 

Repressioni, 11) ; the Romans are discontented, " il gonimedi 

desperati et sarano il resto come li Hebrei," ibid. 421a 

August 2 : Pius V. ordered six noble ladies of ma.ture age 

to go to the prostitutes and exhort them with many promises 

to give up their sinful life, ibid. 426. 

August 30 : The " meretrice Buggiardina " condemned to 

perpetual imprisonment (murata). Ibid. 434b. 

35-47. Extracts from the " Diarium " of Cornelius 

firmanus concerning the activity of the roman 

Inquisition, 1566-1568.1 

[1566] Die dominica 23 dicti mensis [iunii] fuerunt 24 

cardinales in ecclesia beatae Mariae supra Minervam, ubi 

fuerunt reconciliati et absoluti quidam haeretici et falsi 

testes ; et quoad penas corporales diversimode condemnati, 

et fere maior pars ad triremas, et eorum unus nobilis propter 

reincidentiam fuit traditus curiae saeculari tamquam in- 

corrigibilis, et alius ultra multas opiniones haereticas fassus 

fuerat quod in civitate Ferrariensi fecit se circumcidi more 

iudaeorum, ut haberet in uxorem quandam Sarram iudaeam, 

hcet in Hispania aliam teneret uxorem. Septem testes falsi 

fuerunt condemnati ad fustigationem et ad triremes, diversimode 

quoad tempus, et ad reficiendas expensas calum- 

niatis : et fuit late sententia contra quendam fratrem ordinis 

minorum Conventualium absentem et eius figmentum 

tentum super sugesto cum cappa sui ordinis, cum descriptione 

nominis. Et inquisitores erant rev"^' Tranensis, Pisarum, 

Paceccus et Gambara. Alii viginti cardinales fuere : ego 

casu interfui et Deus voluit, nam erat magnum impicciatorium 

bancorum et nil erat ad propositum aptatum. 

[1566] Ilia die [25 iunii] vidi septem falsos testes, per 

deputatos inquisitionis (ut dixi supra) condemnatos, qui 

fustigabantur per Urbem, et ducti fuerunt ad Capitolium 

^ Cf. .supra, VD- 292 n. 3, 301 n. 1, 302 u. 1, 305 n. 1.

APPENDIX. 401 

cum quatuor haereticis sequentibus eos cum crucibus rubeis 

in parvo zagulo ; qui omnes deinde missi fuerunt ad triremes. 

[1566] Die iovis quarta dicti mensis [iulii] quidam don 

Pompeius de Monte fuit decapitatus, deinde conbustus in 

Ponte, quoniam fuerat haereticus et pluries relapsus. Homo 

erat aetatis 50 annorum incirca, magnus et pulcherrimi 

aspectus. Ivit ad mortem satis contritus et ego vidi. 

[1566] Die sabati 6* eiusdem mensis [iulii] fuerunt suspensi 

quatuor in Ponte, de quibus unus fuit combustus propter 

sodomiam. 

[1567] Dicta die [lunae 24 februarii] hora 20^, fuerunt ducti 

ad ecclesiam Bâe Mariae supra Minervam decern haeratici, 

qui eorum pravas opiniones abiurarunt et diversimode fuerunt 

condemnati. Fuit inter alios quidam dominus Basilius de 

Cremona canonicus regularis, qui de anno praeterito publice 

praedicaverat in ecclesia S*' loannis Baptistae Florentinorum 

cum maximo populi concursu et alias etiam in diversis ecclesiis 

Urbis praedicaverat habitusque erat excellens in arte praedi- 

candi. Iste ilia die confessus fuit multas pravitates haereticas, 

et fuit condemnatus ad perpetuos carceres. Duo equites 

custodiae Suae S*^'^, quoniam dederant litteras et receperant 

a quibusdam in officio s'^'' inquisitionis carceratis, fuerunt 

condemnati ad triremes, unus quia fuit confessus errorem 

suum, pro quinque annis alter, qui fuerat per testes convictus, 

ad vitam. Interfuere 25 cardinales cum eorum cappis violaceis, 

sed quoniam maxima venerat hominum multitudo ad videndum 

praedictum dominum Basilium, vix cardinales potuerunt 

sedere in locis suis ; et ego passus fui magnum laborem ut 

ipsos accommodarem. 

[1567) Die dominica 22 dicti mensis [iunii] in ecclesia 

beatae Mariae supra Minervam fuerunt iuxta morem factae 

abiurationes per decem inquisitos propter enormissimum 

crimen haeresis, quorum unus fuit quidam Marius Paleottus 

baro Neapolitanus, quidam ex ipsis, quia alias abiuraverat 

ef fuerat relapsus, traditus fuerat curiae saeculari et die 

lunae sequent! suspensus in Ponte et eius corpus combustum, 

qui multa in furcis dixit de fide catholica. Fuit lectus pro- 

cessus eodem die cuiusdam Simonis absentis, cuius effigies 

delata fuit in suggesto. Interfuere 22 cardinales et populus 

infinitus. Plures fuerunt condemnati ad varias et diversas 

penas triremium et carcerationum et similium et bene 

merito. 

VOL. XVII. 26

402 


[1567] Die dominica 21 septembris. Fuerunt ducti ad 

ecclesiam B^^ Mariae supra Minervam 17 haeretici, inter 

quos fuit quidam dominusi Petrus Carnesicca Florentinus, 

qui alias fuit secretarius intimus fe. re. dementis septimi, 

prothonotarius apostolicus ex privilegio, et erat abbas habebatque 

de redditibus ecclesiae quatuor rnillia ducatos, ut 

dicebatur. Infelix iste pluries et per multos annos tenuerat 

infinitas haereticas opiniones maximi momenti, et pluries 

fuerat misericordiam consequutus et sententias habuerat 

absolutorias, et tamen quotidie peior effectus fuerat, et sic 

per rev'^"^ deputatos s' officii inquisitionis fuit sententiatum 

quod effectualiter degradaretur, et curiae saeculari eum 

tradiderunt tanquam relapsum et impenitentem ; et cum 

primum fuit sibi impositum vestitellum cum fiammis depictis 

et satellites duxerunt eum ad carceres rev°^* gubernatoris. 

Poterat praedictus dominus Petrus esse aetatis sexaginta 

annorum ; pulcherrimus erat aspectu et magnum nobilitatis 

signum ostendebat. 

Fuit etiam frater ordinis fratrum minorum conventualium 

S*^ Francisci, praedicator, pulcherrimi aspectus et senex, 

qui fuit similiter traditus curiae saeculari, et mandatum per 

j-gymos deputatos quod degradaretur. Fuerunt quatuor bonon- 

ienses ex quibus duo fratres germani erant nobiles de familia 

de Luparis, et alter similiter nobilis de familia de Ludovicis, 

alius bononiensis de Fioravantibus non tamen nobilis, alius 

quidam magister 

doctor legum dictus Philippus Caputdurus ; 

scholae Mutinensis et alius librarius Ferrariensis habitator 

in civitate Bononiae. Fuerunt tres Faventini, unus presbiter, 

alius diaconus et alter hortulanus ; et quidam alii. In totum 

fuere 17 haeretica pravitate deturpati, qui, exceptis duobus 

primis supradictis, fuerunt diversimode variis penis condennati 

: aliqui enim quod murarentur in perpetuum, alii ad 

perpetuos carceres et alii ad triremes ad tempus.^ Interfuere 

dictae abiurationi 23 cardinales, quorum seniores steterunt 

ante sugestum haereticorum versus columnam, ut melius 

possent videre ac intelligere, et sic iuniores steterunt versus 

altare mains ; et idem fecerunt ofticiales et indices in alio 

sugesto, nam steterunt digniores versus columnam prope 

pulpitum, in quo erat dominus Matthias cantor capellae, 

qui legebat processus. Gubemator Urbis non interfuit, sed 

bene auditor camerae, qui sedit supra senatorem Urbis iuxta 

Exact list of the 17, with the penalties is in Bertolotti, Martiri 41,

APPENDIX. 403 

facilitates sibi traditas in emptione sui offici per quas debet 

semper esse post gubernatorem. 

[1567] Die mercurii prima octobris summo mane decapitati 

fuerunt dominus Petrus Carnesicca haereticus impenitens 

et quidam frater ordinis minorum conventualium S*^' Francisci 

relapsus, qui in ecclesia B'ae Mariae supra Minervam 

fuerant traditi curiae saeculari, et deinde fuerunt combusta 

eorum corpora. Isti die praeterita acceperant s"^^ sacramentum 

eucharistiae. Praedictus dominus Petrus non fuisset 

decapitatus, si confiteri voluisset suos errores, nam regina 

Franciae, dux Florcntiae et infiniti alii nobiles supplicabant 

pro vita ipsius ; sed quia (ut dixi), licet ivisset convictus, 

noluit unquam confiteri et ostendere signum penitentiae 

fuit punitus : et antequam abscideretur sibi caput, nihil 

dixit, et quia ferrum mannare non abscidit collum nisi usque 

ad medium, carnifex cum gladio abscidit rcliquum. Frater 

autem fecit sermonem antea devotissime de fide Christi, 

dixit Credo et multa alia et postquam caput fuit abscissum, 

semper per dictum unius Paternoster aperuit os, prope quod 

frater capuccinus, dictus il Pistoia vulgariter, tenuit tabellam 

cum figura Christi : 

et crediterunt omnes optime de ipso. 

[1568] Die dominica quarta dicti mensis [ianuarii] abiurationem 

fecerunt in ecclesia beatae Mariae supra Minervam 

22 homines diversarum conditionum, qui in variis penis 

fuerunt condemnati. Interfuerunt 22 cardinales. 

[1568] Dicta die [dominica 9-'^ mxaii] hora 18^ fuerunt ducti 

ad ecclesiam B*-^ Mariae supra Minervam 25 haeretici, inter 

quos ivere novem de terra S" Genesii provintiae Marchiae 

Anconitanae. Quinque ex dictis 25 haereticis traditi fuerunt 

curiae saeculari, quorum duo erant impenitentes et tres 

relapsi ; alii omnes diversis penis condemnati fuerunt. Inter- 

fuere ilia die 16 cardinales. 

[1568] Die lunae 10 dicti mensis fmaii] tres haeretici relapsi 

ut supra fuerunt suspensi in Ponte, deinde combusti, quorum 

unus senex LXX. annorum fecit sermonem christianissimum 

antequam se deiiceret a furca, et omnes audientes commovit. 

Duo autem impenitentes, negantes ultra alia auctoritatem 

pontificis, post infinitas exhortationes, absque cruce et cum 

mitris zagulis, in quibus erant depicti diaboH eorum domini et 

protectores, ducti fuere prope praedictos ct vivi in falsis 

opinionibus persistentes combusti fuerunt. 

[1568] Die ultima novembris, in festo S^' Andrcae hora 19*^

404 


fuit incepta abiaratio haereticorum in ecclesia B^® Mariae 

supra Minervam, pro qua S°^^^ Dmus ]sjr concesserat interes- 

sentibus septem annos indulgentiarum. Fuerunt haeretici 

impenitentes et relapsi tres, qui fuerunt dati curiae saeculari et 

consignati gubernatori Urbis praesenti ; sexdecim penitentes 

fecerunt abiurationem ; qui diversimode fuerunt condemnati 

et ut plurimum ad triremes vel in perpetuum vel ad tempus. 

Quorum unus, cum aduisset se esse condemnatum per decennium 

ad triremes, cepit alta voce flere et acclamare quod erat 

infirmus et nolebat ire ad triremes, sed potius mori vel com- 

buri ; et ideo rev"^' domini cardinales inquisitores, videlicet 

Pisarum, Pacechus, Gambara et Ab Ecclesia, mandarunt 

quod duceretur ad carceres ita ut neminem alloqui posset ; et 

sic factum fuit. Fuerunt etiam quatuor regnicoli, qui deposue- 

rant falsum contra quosdam inquisitos, qui similiter ad triremes 

ad tempus fuerunt condemnati. 

[1568] Die lunae 6 decembris, in festo S-^ Nicolai fuerunt 

suspensi in Ponte tres haeretici relapsi ; qui fuerunt traditi 

curiae saeculari, et supra dixi in abiuratione facta in festa 

S** Andreae, et fuerunt combusti. Ostenderunt (ut mihi 

relatum fuit) maximam contritionem. 

(Copy, Papal Secret Archives, XII., 31.] 

48. Pope Pius V. to the Duke of Mantua. ^ 

1568, April 21, Rome. 

Dilecti fili nobilis vir salutem et apostolicam benedictionem. 

Le nostre occupationi ordinarie et i giorni santi che sopravenero 

sono stati causa che non havemo potuto rispondere fin qui alia 

lettera di V. Ecc'^ de V de questo, la quale ci ha veramente 

data consolation grande per 1' aviso che conteneva dell' abiura- 

tion successa quietamente, ancorche per lettere di mons"^ 

Borromeo et del r. Inquisitore I'havessimo inteso piu distintamente. 

Di che ne ringratiamo il S'" Dio, et ne laudamo insieme 

il zelo et la prudenza di lei, la quale puo esser sicura 

con questi mezzi d'indurre i popoli suoi a vivere come si con- 

viene nel timore di S. D. M^*, mossi necessariamente dall' 

esempio di V. Ecc"^, onde noi I'esortiamo a perseverare in 

questo suo fermo proposito per honore et gloria del S. Dio 

et per stabilimento insieme deUo stato suo, si come havemo 

detto piu a longo ancora a mons^'® Capilupo al quale ci rimet- 


APPENDIX. 405 

tiamo, et per fine di questo le mandiamo la beneditione nostra 

ch'il S'® Dio gliela conceda sempre. 


49. Avviso DI Roma of May 29, 1568.^ 

Cardinal Bonelli wishes " ridurre alia modema " the Palace 

of the Knights of Malta in the Borgo. " Li preti del Jesu di 

Roma hanno cominciato a dar principio alia chiesa che vogliono 

fare, ma per quanto s'intende la faranno la maggior parte alle 

spese del card. Farnese etc." 

An *Awiso di Roma of June 3, informs us, in completion 

of this, that Cardinal Farnese had placed several hundred 

bronze medals with the effigy of Pius V. in the foundations of 

the Gesu, to the " fabbrica " of which he gave annually 5000 

scudi, up to the sum of 20,000.'' 

[Orig. State Archives, Vienna : Romana.] 

50. Bernardino Pia to Camillo Luzzara.^ 

1508, .Tilly 10, Rome. 

Prohibi ad ogni sorte di persone anco card^' il far portar o 

buttar mondicie in fiume, ma che si portino a luoghi deputati, 

et questo per proveder all' aria et al acqua del fiume che si beve. 

Impose una gabella di tre giuhi al mese a tutti i cocchi di Roma 

et di ogni sorte di persone per poter soccorrere al matonare o 

selcaire la citt^ con manco dispendio de possessor! et padroni 

delle case che spendevano et spendono grossamente. 


51. Death of Cardinal Vinc. Vitelli (19 November, 1568).* 

Dicta die [veneris ig"" novembris] Card. Vitelli died. Iste 

cardinalis potest dici vere quod omnia scivit et nihil ignoravit 

nam fuit semper studiosissimus et perscrutator rerum antiquarum, 

et habebat infinites libros manuscriptos, non solum 

in Urbe sed etiam in civitate Avinionensi et aliis multis in locis 

magno labore et expensis perquisitos et transcriptos ; et 

inter alias suas virtutes voluit etiam scire cerimoniarum pro- 

' See supra, p. 123 n. 3. 

" See RoNCiiiNi in Atti Mod. II, 372 seq., VIL, 19 seq. Kraus-Sauer, III., 

657, 667 ; ANG^;LI in Arte decorat. XV., 3 seq. Milan. 1906 ; Mem. intorno a 

J. Barozzi, Vig-nola, 1908, 67, 155; Giovannoni in Arte, 1912 seq. 

' See siijjra, p. 108 n. 5. 

* See supra, p. 160 n. 3. For Card. Vitelli and liis collection of codices, 

Ranke, Fursten und Volker, T. (1827), x. seq. and Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 201 

n. 4.

406 


fessionem et tantum in ea profecit quod magister merito dici 

poterat.^ 

[Diarium of C. Firmanus XII. 31, p. 265'^ Papal Secret 

Archives.] 

52. NiCCOLO CUSANO TO THE EmPEROR MAXIMILIAN II.* 

1568, December 18, Rome. 

Pius V. is irritated with Card. d'Este on account of his 

quarrel with the people of Tivoli,^ " ove ha fabricato un 

palazzo regio pieno d' infinite dilitie et di rarissime fontane che 

li costa piu di cento miUa ducati et certo io vedo non ne sia un 

altro in tutta la cristianit^."* 

[Orig. State Archives, Vienna, Romana.] 


Rome in 1568.^ 

June 5 . Beginning of the reform of the " camere locande " 

in Rome, so that they shall not be let to prostitutes. Urb. 

1040, p. 524b, Vatican Library.* 

August 21 : On Wednesday a young man was burned on 

account of " brutezze " : in consequence the order was given 

for the closure at night of many " porte false." The " donne 

pubbhche " are to be watched over hke the Jews. " Si vererano 

altre riforme piu strette e piu rigorose." Ihid. 567. 

September 4 : " Questi di frustata una bellissima corteg- 

iana," who was imprisoned : she tried to commit suicide. 

Ihid. 573. 

September 25 

: Noble Roman ladies condemned to im- 

prisonment for life for adultery. Ihid. 585. 

October 20 : " Ogni giorno si frusta qualche meretrice 

uscendo del seraglio et si fanno altre giustitie rigorose per ogni 

piccolo delitto et tutti vivono con timore." Ibid. 589. 

' In the margin is the folJowin^ remark : " Fiiit legatus Campaniae : fecerat 

soribi in diversis professionibus libros 280 pulcheirimos, quos voliut Papa 

liabere, eo mortuo, in sua guardaroba." 

' See supra, p. 115 n. 

'After Ills disa

APPENDIX. 407 

58. NiCCOLO CUSANO TO THE EmPEROR MAXIMILIAN II. 

Rome, 2(5 March, 1569. 

" Dicono che il Papa e entrato in humor di far rovinar il 

theatre che fece Pio quarto in Belveder, cosa rara et bellissima 

come cosa ch'habbi deUa gintiUtia et che non sic onvenghi nel 

luogo, ove residero i pontefici et vicarii di N. S*" Jesu Chnsto." 

Cardinal Ricci is concerning himself greatly on behalf of the 

building, but neither his proposal to erect a winter garden there, 

nor his warning that its removal would shake the foundations 

of the palace, can divert the Pope from his purpose ; he only 

gets more excited. It is feared that he will begin this very 

day. " Intendo ha in oltre gran' caprizzo, di far guastar 

I'Anfiteatro, chiamato volgarmente il Colisseo et alcuni archi 

trionfali, che sono le piii belle et rare antichita di Roma sotto 

pretesto che sono cose gintili et per levarne a fatto la memoria 

et I'occasione siano viste da quelli che vengono a Roma piu 

per vedere le dette cose che per visitar limina Petri et andar 

alle sette chiese et a vedere le reliquie de' martiri et santi di 

Dio, il che si legge fu gi^ fatto da papa Gregorio XL, il quale 

diede principio a far rovinar il detto Colisseo et ancora fece 

romper di molte statove di marmo et ne fece far salcina per 

murrar et riparar le chiese rovinate di questa citt^." 

[Orig. State Archives, Vienna.] 

59. Avviso DI Roma of 2 April, 1569." 

Si ragiona chel Papa voglia guastar il theatro di Belvedere 

come cosa di gentiht^ et fatto a posta per farvi spettacoli 

publici cosa poco conveniente a pontefici, et anco che vuol 

ridure tutte le altre antiquity in servitio di religione et culto 

divino, accio quelli verrano a Roma, habbino d'andare a veder 

le 7 chiese e non I'antiquitci profana. 

[Orig. Urb. 1041, p. 51. Biblioteca Vaticana.] 


Rome in 1569.' 

April 30 

conducted a gambling hell. Urb. 1041, p. 74, Vatican Library. 

June 14 : Great excitement was caused, and it is not to be 

put into force by the " bando," that all married women who 

had been prostitutes were to leave Rome within two months. 

Ihid. 90. 

: To-day a prostitute was whipped because she 

' See supra, p. 113 n. 3. Similar report in Avviso oi 2 April, 15(J9. 

'See supra, p. 113 n. 3. 'See supra, p. 92 nn. 1, 2.

4o8 HISTORY OF THE POPES. 

August 13 : 

" Non si lascia di proveder contra le donne 

maritate che fanno cativa vita et ultimamente ne sono state 

carcerate sette." Ibid. 131. 

August 17 : A " cortegiana " died, who had been married, 

and left 4000 ducats to the Compagnia dei SS. ApostoH. Ibid. 

133- 

October 5 : "Si 

levano due strade principah alle meretrici 

et si restringono in vicoH strettissimi, sopra che mons. Orman- 

etto col governatore et molti altri deputati sono stati in fatto 

a consegnarli il luogo chiamato delli otto cantoni." Ibid. 

158b. 

October 17 : Commencement of the " fondamenti all' 

Hortacci " (on the Ripetta near the Mausoleum of Augustus) 

" per restringer le cortegiane." Ibid. 180. 

For the progress of this work from October to November, 

see Lanciani, IV. 21 ; cf. also the *Avviso di Roma of 

February 4, 1570, Urb. 1041, p. 231b, Vatican Library. 

66. For the History of the Church of St. Peter's under 

Pius V.i 

May 22 : 

I. Avvisi di Roma on St. Peter's. 

1568. 

" Quella bella Madonna di marmo fatta di mano di 

Michel Angelo si messe in S. Pietro nella capella di Sisto."'' 

Urb. 1040, p. 520. Vatican Library. 

March 4 : A 

1570- 

bull that all ecclesiastical goods, " male ahenati" 

are to come to the " fabbrica di S. Pietro. Urb. 1041, p. 239. 


August 16 : On Sunday Cardinal Morone and the deputies 

of the fabbrica of St. Peter's were for two hours with the Pope 

for the adjustment of the ecclesiastical goods which were alien- 

ated by the Apostolic Commission which had been given full 

judicial powers in this matter against the bishops. The " fab- 

brica " obtained from the Pope many favours, including that of 

" componere super bonis ahenatis et fructibus indebite per- 

ceptis." Ibid. 327. 

September 27 : The commissaries " super bonis male 

' See supra, p. 122 n. 3. 

' For this under liregory XIII., see Orbaan in Jahrb. der Preuss. KunstsammL, 

XXXIX., (1919), part 79.

APPENDIX. 409 

alienatis *' are so strict that many are complaining of them. 

The Pope has ordered a mitigation. Ibid. 343. 

October 18 : Tlie bull concerning the " fabrica di S. Pietro " 

has greatly restricted the powers of the commissaries. Ihid. 

357- 

January 6 : On 

1571- 

Wednesday Hghtning struck the campanile 

of St. Peter's and did a great deal of damage. Urb. 1042, p. 2. 

II. Discoveries during the building of St. Peter's. 

Cf. as to these Armellini, 281 and Lanciani, IV., 7. As 

to the tiles of the church of St. Peter's bearing the arms 

and name of Pius V., see Mel. d'archeol., VIII., 454. 

67. Cardinal Santori and His Audiences with Pius V.^ 

There are few Cardinals of the XVIth century concerning 

whose lives we have such detailed information as of Giulio 

Antonio Santori, who was bom at Caserta in 1532, and was for 

the most part known as the Cardinal of Santa Severina (also 

as Sanseverino) from his archiepiscopal see in Calabria.^ 

Held in high esteem by all his contemporaries on account of 

his holy life, his zeal for the cause of the Church, and his 

widespread activities, Santori has nevertheless so far found 

no biographer. This eminent Prince of the Church, who was 

buried in the Lateran basilica, is in every way deserving of a 

special monograph : if his early life is of interest, this is still 

more the case with his cardinalate of 32 years (1570 to 1602), 

during which he took part in six conclaveS; and on two 

occasions came near to attaining to the supreme dignity. 

Santori, who was the friend and counsellor of seven Popes, 

has himself described in great detail a great part of his life. 

His autobiography is marked by its great detail and its love 

of the truth. He does not conceal the defects of his own 

period of crisis, and he describes with touching simplicity 

his permanent return to a genuinely Christian life. Some 

passages will remain indelibly fixed in the mind of every 

reader, e.g. his description of his first departure from Rome,' 

and the expression of his sentiments when he had to give up 

* See supra, p. 107 n. 3. 

' SiCKEL (Berichte, I., 12) treats of Santori and Sanseverino as two distinct 

persons. 

" Autobiografia, XII., 232 seq.


hopes of the tiara, to which he had been so near.^ From 

some of the passages which Ranke (Papste, I., 302; III., 

86* seqq.) and Gnoli (Vittoria Accoramboni, 245) have quoted 

from the autobiography of Santori, it is possible to form an 

estimate of his importance. Very valuable therefore was the 

publication of the complete work by Cugnoni in the Archivio 

delta Societa Roniana, XII. and XIII., based upon two copies 

in the Corsini Library, Rome. In these the biography only 

goes as far as- 1592. Whether the codex of the Albani Library 

which was used by Ranke contained more cannot be gathered 

from the data given by the Berlin historian, nor can the ques- 

tion now be decided, since the Albani Library perished in a 

storm, together with the vessel which was conveying it to 

Prussia. Another copy of the autobiography, to which my 

attention was called by my deceased friend, Prof. A. Pieper, 

is to be found in the Altieri Library, Rome, Cod. 22-C-13. 

but this copy too ends with 1592. Fortunately we have at 

our disposal various other sources for the ten missing years; 

of some of these we shaU treat in the next volume. Here 

we can only take into consideration those which belong to 

the time of Pius V. These are in the first place detailed and 

valuable notes on the consistories in which Santori took 

part. This " Diario consistoriale " of Santori was edited by 

Tacchi Venturi in Studi e documenti XXIII.-XXV., and 

is characterized by so great accuracy that it is sufficient here 

to refer to the notes of that distinguished historian. It has 

escaped the notice of Tacchi Venturi that there is also a 

copy of the " Acta Concistoriali descripta ab em. Santorio 

Sanseverino," given by Cardinal Siciliano di Rende, Archbishop 

of Benevento. Cf. Carini, Atti Concistoriah dal 20 

maggio 1570 al 18 dicembre, 1604, Rome, 1893. A passage 

which is there included on p. 9, on the consistory of March 17, 

1572, is missing in Tacchi Venturi. 

In his autobiography (XIII. , 153) Santori also mentions 

his " Libri deUe mie private udienze." I have found this 

hitherto unknown source in the Papal Secret Archives, where 

it is to be seen in Arm. 52, t. 17 seqq. I give here the more 

important passages concerning the audiences of Santori with 

Pius V. 

February 5 : The 

' See ibid. XIII., 202 seqq. 

1566. 

Pope informed me that he had appointed 

I

APPENDIX. 411 

me to the Inquisition . . . Gli parlai di collocar il corpo 

di S. Giov. Chrisostomo in loco honorifico. Gli parlai anco 

di vescovi non residenti, disse-che ne desse nota. Gli parlai 

delle donne dishoneste travestite da homini et a cavallo, che 

non le comportasse nel suo ponteficato ne dandosi licentia 

di mascare, disse che I'ordinar^. 

April 3 : Ho 

parlato a N.S. . 

. . dei capi della riforma dei 

regolari, quali I'hebbe S.S. ..... capi della riforma del clero 

Romano. . . . 

April 30 : Dei balli dell'hosterie di meretrici nelle feste : 

volse sapere i particolari. 

May 5 

: Del card, di Napoli e della giustificatione da farsi : 

che desse memoriale a S. S. nella S. Congr. giovedi. 

May (no day) : De erroribus Graecorum : Addidit de secta 

alia mortuos viventes putantium nisi eorum cadavera de- 

coxerint vel confosserint. 

May (no day) : Degli maleficii di Roma e del stato ecc°'' . . . 

May (no day) : De gratiarum actione pro sepultura card. 

Neapolitan i: Ingemuit. 

May 27 (or 28) : Di schiavi battezzati di Napoli e lunga 

servitu per evitar i scandali : quod 

non possunt, cum bap- 

tismus non liberet a servitute. 

August 14 (ante consist.) : Locuti sumus de visitatoribus 

. . ., de desiderio bene regendae ecclesiae aut ex hac vita 

discedendi . . ., de reformatione fratrum c nvent. ex fr. 

Ambrosio Salvio. 

September 14 : Ho 

parlato a N. S. de predicando infidelibus 

et de eorum speciebus, de Chiis factis captivis, de episc. 

Naxiensi, etc. 

September 30 : 

e dia per gli avisi del governo. 

December 13 

Instruttioni per il governo, ch'io le facci 

: Del monasterio di S. Pietro a Maiella di 

Nap. e della religione di Celestini : Che tutta la religione e 

corrotta, e che non si puo, ma bisogna mandare a visitar tutta 

la religione per huomini versati. 

December 28 : De 

panibus tactis in mensa Domini : 

ignorabat prohibitionem nee sibi videtur superstitio. 

quod 

1567sacerdotes 

pauperes exercentes rustica 

Quoad January 12 : 

opera : illorum pauperati compatiendum esse, sed potius 

in ignorantiam omnia convertendum esse quam in hoc. Ego

412 

HISTORY OF THR POPES. 

tradendis curiae 

De dixi de iure illis licere rusticari . . . 

saeculari processibus vel revelandis : Minime ; quod ego ex 

specul. affirmavi (appellando a Borromeo di Milano). 

March 25 : Sulla festa di S. Vincenzo. " Hie plura de S. 

Vincentii laudibus utrinque dictum est, et doctrina et sanc- 

titate. Dixit quod pars estiva habet doctiores sermones, 

in quibus gravia exponit et multa explicat ex S. Thoma satis 

condite, sed quod in hyemali parte loquitur simplicius, at- 

tendens fructui spirituali et simplicitati." 

1568. 

March 28 : Del successo dele cose di Napoli circa la Capece 

monica : iratus est in facinus et in vicarium ilium. 

May 20 : 

regno : quod 

DeUe suppressioni di monasterii di Celestini del 

non supprimentur, sed unientur ad reparationem 

reUgionis. 

November i : Qui disse del card. Carrafa parole molto 

efficaci. 

December 4 

1571- 

: Di molte cose, della guerra contra Turchi. 

Delia vittoria^ seguita, e prevista da molti servi di Dio : e 

S. S. anco disse dell'altre cose e dei putti d'Otranto, die gridavano 

vittoria quel di, che passo la galea, che partava la nova, 

sul monte, per lettere d'un Cappucino. 

December 10 : Della riforraa del vicario del Papa e del 

dubbio che io sentivo contra la cognitione della giurisditione 

contra laici neUe cause profane : S. S. venne nel medemo 

parere, sebene causava confusione o maggior occupatione nelle 

cose secolari. 

January 27 

1572. 

: Dei schiavi christiani e di quel Turchi, che 

se vogliono battezzare : disse che facessero instruire etc. 

e parlo di quello, che diceva : felice cattivit^, per la quale 

io mi salvo I'anima, e che la cosa di Mammetto sempre I'haveva 

tenuta per una pazzaria. 

February 5 

: S. S. mostro una moneta d'oro di Giustiniano 

imperatore, che era di thesori che si trovavano, ch'egli ne 

vorrebbe, che si trovasse tanto, che per 10 anni potesse per 

mare e per terra fare essercito contra il Turco. . 

' See Vol- XVIII. of this work. 

. . Dar 

a

APPENDIX. 413 

S. S. quelli avvertimenti per togliere i disordini e vitii dalle 

galee deU'Armata Christiana : Se diede e li lesse quasi tutti, ma 

per la carestia del tempo dissi piu volte, che S. S. i leggesse 

e considerasse poi maturamente. 

[Orig. Arm. 50 t. 17 (Audientiae annorum 1566-1579) Papal 

Secret Archives.] 

68. The Briefs of Pius V. and the Archives of 

Briefs. 

The briefs of Pius V. in the Papal Secret Archives (Arm 

39, t. 64 and 65, Arm. 42, t. 25-27 ; Arm. 44, t. 12-20, 26, 

31 ; Arm. 45, t. 41, and in a special Armarium the Epistolae 

or Brevia ad principes) are substantially completed by the 

collection in the Archives of Briefs. The latter, however, 

was for a long time almost inaccessible, and that as a result 

of the fate that befel them. During the time of the Papal 

dominion they were in the Palazzo della Consulta. After 

the end of the temporal power in 1870 they were placed for 

safety at the Anima. They were then taken to the Palazzo 

Altemps because the Secretariate of Briefs had its private 

chancery there ; 

later on they were transferred to the ground 

floor of the magnificent Palazz > della Cancelleria, where I 

was able to avail myself of them during a long period of time. 

When, as a result of the constitution Sapienti consilio, of June 

29, 1908, the Secretariate of Secret Briefs became part of 

the Secretariate of State, Pius X. ordered the incorporation 

of the archives at the Cancelleria into the Papal Secret 

Archives. The acta were transferred during the summer of 

1908, finding their final home in the premises near the Specola 

of Gregory XIII., which had at one time served as the ponti- 

fical armoury. Very opportunely, the Consistorial Archives, 

which had hitherto been housed in altogether inadequate 

premises on the ground floor of the Cortile di S. Damaso^ 

were also placed close to them in a room near the Cortile 

di Belvedere. It was only when they were united to the Papal 

Secret Archives that these two archives became conveniently 

accessible to historical research. Thus, as he had done in 

other ways in carrying on the traditions of Leo XIII. in 

promoting archival research. Pius X. conferred a lasting 

benefit upon historical .science. 

» See Vol. II. of this work, p. 20."?.

414 


With the exception of certain fragments belonging to an 

earlier time, the archives of the Secretariate of Secret Briefs 

contain nothing but acta from the time of Pius V. down to 

that of Pius IX., 1566-1846. They are divided into six 

series, comprising about 7,000 volumes. The first and princi- 

pal series contains, together with the secret briefs, consis- 

torial documents and marriage dispensations, amounting in 

all to 5,074 volumes. The other series contain briefs con- 

cerning indulgences, honours granted to corporations, to 

ecclesiastics and laymen, dispensations from canonical pre- 

scriptions, grants of privileged altars, etc.^ A catalogue has 

been begun, ^ but it has not yet been completed. Many 

will be glad to have a short account of the first series in so far 

as it relates to Pius V. For this purpose I have made use 

of the notes of Prof. Dr. Hans Hirsch, who, as a member 

of the Austrian Historical Institute in 1903, made a detailed 

study of the collection, principally for the purpose of his 

edition of the Nuntiaturberichte. The codices have a twofold 

signature ; one is written upon the volumes in ink, and 

is given below in Column I., and alongside it a second numera- 

tion in pencil, which is later than the first since it gives the 

same numeration to the volumes of minutes and to the copies, 

adding in the latter case an "a." This second enumeration 

is given below in Column II. Finally, the codices which 

are bound in red leather have a title in gold lettering, and on 

the back of the volumes in v/hite vellum a sign is written 

in ink. The note " fait " which is borne by many of the 

volumes, means that those volumes were taken to Paris 

in the time of Napoleon. The volumes are not all of the same 

character ; with some of the volumes of minutes there are 

also volumes of later copies, as well as volumes of registers 

of briefs, similar to the collection of the Papal Secret Archives. 

If WiRZ (Quellen zur schweiz. Gesch. XXL, xxvii.) only found 

two volumes to his purpose in the Archives of Briefs, th's 

nmst not lead us to the conclusion that those archives are 

wanting in importance ; on the contrary, they contain much 

valuable material, especially as regards the internal affars 

of the Church.^ 

» See Cc.rrierc d' Italia, 27 August, 190S, 

» See MKRGKNTiiEiM, Die quinQuennalfakultaten pro foro externo, I., 88, 

Stuttgart, 1908. 

' See Catalogue of tlie available Archives.


24. 19. " 1566, 1567. Matrimonialia Pius V./' bound in 

red leather. (Concept.) 

25. 20. " Pius V. Matrimonialia lib. II.," parchment bind- 

ing. (Concept.) 

26. 20a. " 1568 lib II. Pius V. Matrimonialia," bound in red 

leather. (Copy of above.) 

26. 17. " 1571 Pius V. lib. I.," (I. with ink erased, and in 

III. altered), bound in red leather. (Original 

concept of September, 1571, to March 1572.) 

The original minutes of the briefs of Pius V. are 

also in the collection of the Papal Secret Archives.^ Two 

volumes of the original minutes have been taken away from 

Rome ; one is to be found in the British Museum, London, 

the other in a private Italian library. Since these codices have 

hitherto been entirely overlooked, it will not be out of place 

to give a short account of them here. 

(i). British Museum, .London. Additional 26,865^ 

(Presented by G. J. Payne, Esq., 29 July, 1865), 597 sheets, 

original minutes of the briefs of Pius V. from January 8, 1566 

to January 30, 1567; commencing with the brief of Pius V. to 

the Emperor Maximilian II.. printed by Schwarz i seq. from 

the original in Vienna. As is often the case, the date here is 

different : the original has January 9, the minute January 8. 

p. 51 : Minute of the brief for " lo. Bapt. archiepisc. Rossanen. 

[Castagna], nostro et apost, sedis nuncio in Hispaniarum 

regnis : te nostrum et apost, sedi nuntium in Hispaniaium 

regnis confirmamus et si opus sit de integro constituimus et 

deputamus eodem modo, quo istuc a proedecessore nostro . . . 

missus fuisti. 24 January, 1566." 

p. 65 : Minute of the confirmation of " lulius Rogerius, 

apost. sedis notarius," sent by Pius IV. as nuncio to Poland. 

2 March, 1566. 

p. 118 : Minute of the brief for " lulius archiepisc. Sur- 

rentinus : Cum e nuper ad chariss. in Christo filium nostrum 

Maximilianum Roman. Imperatorem electum nostrum et 

apost. sedis nuncium certis facultatibus concessis et cum 

potestate legati de latere deputaverimus, cumque gravissimis 

postea animum nostrum moventibus te prius in Burgundiam, 

Flandriam et Brabantiam miittendum duxerimus," he sends 

him thither " eadem potestate." 21 March, 1566. 

' Schwarz, Briefwechsel Maximilians II. mit Papst Pius V., S. vii. sea. 

' In Addit. 27870, " Epilogus brevium beati Pii V,"

APPENDIX. 417 

p. 141 : Minute of the brief to the Emperor Maximilian II. 1 

" Venerabilem fratrem lulium archiejiiscopum Surrentinum 

istuc misimus, iit cum peractis comitiis Augustanis dilectus 

fiUus noster cardinal s Commendonus, sedis apost. de latere 

legatus istuc discesserit maneat ipse apud Maiestatem Tuam 

et nostri atque eiusdem sedis nuncii munere fungatur." i March, 

1566. 

p. 173 : Minutes of the brief to Charles IX. of France : 

" Cum ad te mittere statuissemus praelatum nostri et sedis 

apostolicae nuncii apud Maiestatem Tuam officio functurum, 

qui et nobis putatissimus esset et tibi futurus esset merito 

acceptus, delegimus ad hoc munus venerabilem fratrem 

Michaelem episcopum Cenatensem. Etenim cum eodem officio 

apud clarae memoriae Henricum patrem tuum ita functum 

fuisse sciamus etc." 25 March, 1566. (There follows many 

credential briefs for the nuncio.) 

On p. 469 is to be found the original minute of the brief 

to Castagna, on July 30, 1566, which was drawn up secretly 

and mentioned in Vol. XVIII. of this work, Chap. I., concern- 

ing Carranza with the following autograph postscript " Pius 

p.p. V. ita mandavit expediri. Ant. Florebellus Lavellinus." 

On p. 496 : to the Archduke Ernest : minute of the credentials 

brief for " Alexander Casalis, cubiculi nostri magist.," 

of September 12, 1566. 

On p. 506 : to PhiUp II. : minute of the credentials brief 

for Camaiani who was to treat of matters which had already 

for some time past been treated of by means of letters and 

the ordinary nuncio. September 27, 1566. 

(2). The " Catalogue des livres, manuscrits, etc., composant 

la Bibliotheque de Horace de Landau, I., Florence, 1895, has 

a list of the autograph letters of Pius V. This library is now 

in the possession of Madame Finaly at the Villa alia Pietra 

near Florence. At the request of His Excellency Prince 

Franz von Liechtenstein and the hbrarian Ulrich Schmid in 

1909, the use of the codex in question was. as a great exception, 

made over into the hands of the Austrian Historical Institute 

in Rome. The codex in question bears the mark 1176-1401, 

and on the back in leather bears the title " Schediasmata 

autographa epistolarum divi Pii V." A subsequent preliminary 

notice (p. 46) informs us of the origin of the codex as 

follows : "II volume originale sudetto fu casualmente trovato 

' Erroneously In Schwarz, Briefwechsel. 

VOL. XVII. 27


dal Dr. Lodovico Coltellini infrascripto la sera del di 7 novembre 

1771 in una bottega di un droghiere in Cortona, dal qual 

droghiere era stato comprato per cartaccia a peso e si era gi^ 

cominciato a stracciarlo per involtarvi il pepe e lo zucchero." 

The volume of 225 pages is a miscellany put together later 

on, containing almost entirely rough copies, minutes for 

briefs of Pius V. in the hand of Ant. Florebellus Lavellinus, 

from March, 1566, to September, 1568 ; only from p. 24-36b, 

85-94, and here and there haphazard, are the sheets registers 

of briefs ; 

at the end (p. 248 seqq.) there are various matters of 

another kind. 

The Landau codex contains no brief which is to be found 

in the series of the true and proper archives of briefs, and that 

because it, as well as that in the British Museum, formed part 

of the aforesaid archives. A careful examination made by 

Prof. Pogatscher, to whom I here take the opportunity of expressing 

my gratitude for the help he has given me, showed 

that only a part of the minutes contained in this volume 

found their way into the registers of briefs in the Papal Secret 

Archives. It was upon these latter registers of briefs that 

the secretary of the Spanish Embassy, Fr. Goubau, drew up 

his well known collection of the Epistolae Pii V. in 1640. 

As is the case with the other volumes of minutes, so a comparison 

of the passages printed in Goubau with the minutes 

in the Landau Codex reveals a number of variations, which 

are of interest as showing the orgin of each document. Very 

often these corrections are only a question of style, but sometimes 

are worthy of attention by reason of their matter. 

For example, in the brief to the Bavarian Chancellor, 

Simon Thaddeus Eck, of Feb. 14, 1567, printed in Goubau 

24-26, after '" segregare ' 

' in the Codex Landau, p. 133, we 

read the following words : " Vere ostendis to esse fratrem 

loannis illius Echi qui nascenti haeresum pesti tanta pietate 

sese primus opposuit et catholicam veritatem tam acriter 

constanterque defendit." 

In the brief to the Emperor Maximilian IL of May 15, 

1568, in Goubau 81-83, after the words " ab eo talia tentari," 

in the Codex Landau p. 208, we read : " Qui enim talia agunt 

et spretis censuris ecclesiasticis ecclesiarum bonis manus 

admovere non dubitant, ii nimis famae suae prodigi sunt et 

salutis.i Si tamen in bonis eius ecclesiae temporalibus ius 

.' Originally : " ii nimis officii et saliitis suae immemores sunt."

APPENDIX. 419 

se aliquod habere existimat, polliciti fuimus aliquem idoneum 

iudicem ipsi dare, qui earn rem cognoscat et servata aequitate 

iudicet aut per compositionem transigat. Quod si eum 

iudicem a M'^' tua dari maluerit, eo quoque contenti erimus, 

sicut ei scripsimus. Quocirca M^«"' tuam, etc." Whereas 

in the brief to Eck the addition is not cancelled, here the 

whole of the pi rase down to " ei scripsimus " is cancelled, and 

instead there is placed in the margin that which is printed in 

GouBAU. Further, after " Quocirca Maiestatem tuam 

there followed : " cuius ofhcium est ut ecclesias et ecclesiarum 

iura tueatur, defendat et protegat " which was afterwards 

cancelled. That the text in Goubau is not always correct is 

shown by another variation : on p. 82, 1. 6 from the top, 

instead of " iure peti " should be read " vi peti " thus runs 

not only the minute in the Codex Landau, but also the volume 

of the register of briefs in the Papal Secret Archives, Arm. 44 

t. 13- 

The words after " debet " in Goubau 82, 1. 5-7 from the 

bottom, in the Codex Landau read : " ne bona temporalia 

illius ecclesiae contra ius et de facto, ut dicitur, occupentur." 

Of general interest is an addition in the brief to the Bishop 

of Passau, of May 26, 1568, concerning the prohibition of 

communion under both kinds (Goubau 83-85 ; cf. supra 

P- 205, n 5). Here too it would seem that Goubau has not 

followed exactly the volumes of registers of briefs, since in 

Arm. 44, t. 13, as weU as in the Codex Landau, p. 210 seq., 

in this place after " habendos " (Goubau 84, i.i from the 

bottom), there is a long passage, which has not been can- 

celled, and which runs as follows : " Sed ne praedecessoris 

quidem nostri concessione quisquam moveri debet. Primum 

enim is tanta in re minus quam decuit et oportuit diligentem 

et maturam dehberationem habuit. Non enim ad sacrum 

collegium cardinahum, ut debuit et ut mos est, de tanta 

re rettuht, quod si fecisset et nos. qui turn de eorum numero 

eramus et multo maior ac sanior ut presumitur . . . [illeg- 

ible word] cardinalium pars nihil temere^ innovandum ess- 

cen.suissemus. Consuluit ille duos aut tres solum de tanto 

coUegio et eos potissimum quos sibi facile assensuros esse 

putavit. Ea tamen in re Spiritus Sancti gratia ilH manifesto 

affuit, quod ab iis, qui communicare sub utraque specie 

' In the recristei-vohime of Briefs in the Papal Secret .Archives is the anomalous 

reading : " et nos et maior cardinalium pars nihil temere."

420 


cuperent, talem fidei confessionem exegit, quam si vere et 

ex animo facturi essent, fortasse ne nos quidem tantopere 

earn concessionem improbaremum. Quamobrem, etc." 

69. The Biographers of Pius V. 

The earliest " Vita di Pio V.," preserved in Varia polit. XVII. 

of the Papal Secret Archives, and composed immediately 

after the death of the Pope by Tommaso Porcacchi, remained 

for a very long time unpublished, and it was only in 1914 

that Van Ortroy published it in Anal. Bolland. XXXIII., 

207-217. This life is a very reliable work ; it also provides 

fresh particulars, and has only the one defect of being too 

short. 

The first fuU biography of Pius V. which was printed was 

that published in Rome in the summer of 1586 ^ by Girolamo 

Catena.^ Catena, who came from Norcia, had known Pius 

V. personally. He had been in the first place in the household 

of Cardinal Dolera who died at the beginning of 1568, then 

from 1568 to 1571 he was secretary to Cardinal Girolamo 

da Correggio,* and later on held the same post with Cardinal 

Bonelli.* Catena enjoyed a great reputation in the Curia; 

Sixtus V. was especially well disposed towards him, and called 

him his " Consuita." It was to this Pope who had a great 

admiration for Pius V., that Catena dedicated his work.' 

Sixtus V. acknowledged the tribute, ordered that it should be 

* See the *report of the Venetian ambassador of June 7, 1586 State Archives, 

VciiicG 

• Reprinted in Rome, 1587, 1647, and 1712 (c/. Arch. d. Soc. Rom., XXXIII., 

291). According to an *Avviso di Roma, of Augi:st 5, 1584, the life by Catena 

was ah-eady prepared at tliat time, and was to be printed in a Spanish transla 

tion. Urb. 1052, p. 339b, Vatican Library. 

» Cf. Bioi, Vita del card. G. da Corregg-io, Milan, 1864. 

•The *Lettere di G. Catena, ecritte in nome del card, di Correggio 1568- 

1569 in the Cod. Barb., LXII., 57 ; Item 1569-1571, ibid., LXII., 25 ; Item 

scritte in nome del card. Alessandrino 1571-1572, ibid. LXII., 26, e scritte ia 

nome del card. Alessandrino 1575-1577, ibid., LXII., 56. From his printed 

correspondence it appears that at the end of 1572 Catena became secretory 

to Bonelli : Delle lettere di G. Catena, Prin\o volume, Roma, 1589, 312. The 

second volume of this collection does not follow. In 1577 there appealed at 

Pavia n. Catenae Academici Affldati Latina Monumenta, containing letters 

and minor writings. The *Genealogia, della famiglia Bonelli Ghisliera by 

Catena is in Cod. Barber., LXII., 27, Vatican Lbrary. Catena also wrote : 

Delia beretta rossa da darsi a caidinali, Discorso, Roma, 1592, and De magno 

obelisco Circensi circoque maximo. Epist. et Carmen, Romae, 1587. Still 

unpublished is the *R,isposta alle ragioni allegate da gli aversarii contra la 

potestA et diretto dom.inio temporale universale del Papa a favore dell'lmperatore 

ct altri principi temporali, fa.tta dal Signor G. Catena, in Cod. D. 29, 

p. 287-369, of the Librarv at Carlsruhe. Catena also tried his hand at poetry, 

though not verv successhilly ; see Ciaconius, III., 1000, 1002 : cf. Carmina 

iUustr. poet.. III., 316 seg. 

' See the dedication by Catena prefixed to the life. For the decision of the 

municipal authorities in Rome concerning the printing of Catena's life of Pius V. 

see RoDOCANACHi, Capitole, 122,

APPENDIX. 421 

printed,^ and later on rewarded Catena with a gift of 100 

scudi. 

Catena began to collect his materials immediately after 

the death of Pius V. In his dedication to Sixtus V., he 

himself says as to this : " Tutto quello, che in questa carte 

scrivo, parte ho preso da gli originali delle lettere, da Nuncii, 

et da Principi stessi scritte, et dalle instruttioni, et scritture 

del medesimo papa, le quaU son venute in poter m.io, parte 

dalla relatione in iscritto di coloro che trattato hanno in 

negocii, altre ho vedute io stesso, et intese dalla bocca del 

Pontelice." It can be established from many passages in 

his work that Catena made good use of his material. His 

statements are almost always reliable, and it is only in the 

dates that some inaccuracies are to be found.* On the other 

hand real penetration is wanting, as well as the working out 

of the materials which he had collected, and a clear arrangement. 

Catena s biography is rather a collection of facts, 

which, however, is of considerable value to-day on account 

of its fuU character. This explains why it has served as 

the basis for all the later biographies of the Pope. * 

The necessary critical sense, however, has not been used 

in making use of it, and this is all the more obvious when 

compared with the work of Catena himself, since in the 

circumstances under which he wrote, it was almost inevitable 

that he should have fallen into the error of over-estimating 

the achievements of his hero. In this respect he has sinned 

less by making statements directly false, than by his tendency 

to exaggerate the successes of Pius V. and to keep silent 

about his failures. If we read .the account which Catena 

gives of the relations between the Pope and Spain, France and 

Germany, we must come to the conclusion that with regard to 

those countries Pius V. completely carried out his plans and 

' Catena states this expressly in his Lettere GO. 

» See *Avvi8o di Roma of July 16, 1586, I'rb. 1051, p. 287, Vatiern Library. 

'The letter to the Archbishop of Seville (Catena, 21), corresponds with the 

original in Cod. Barber., 3618. Of the " Inforrnatione " on Pius V. good use 

is made on p. 28 (c/. p. 34), on p. 5? seq. of the instructions for Torre, on p. 77 

seq. of those for C'omniendono on p. 93 seq. of tlio " Provedimcnti " for the 

West Indies, etc. The letter of l^hilip II. about Don Carlos is well translated 

on p. 81 seq., and only tlie date is chancred from 20 to 22. In the appendix of 

letters on p. 225, March 5 is substituted for 8 (according to Goubau, 302 seq.). 

Cf. also MKNDHAjr, 46, n. 

• Rankk (Papste. I.) as well relies principally on Catena, but he also mnkcs 

use of at least some manuscript sources. The figure of I'ius V. as represented 

so brilliantly in tise Venetian reports interested him very much " : I have 

leports of him which describe him to the life. A pious man : simple as a 

child. 5'et the most rigid inquisitor and persecutor of the I'rotestants." E. 

GU(;UA, L. V. Ranke, Leipzig, 1803, 62.

422 


met with nothing but success. To some extent Catena is 

not responsible for these defects, because, immediately after 

the appearance of his " Vita di Pio V." Philip II. managed 

to get the author to change, in a new edition, some of those 

passages which seemed to him harmful to himself and other 

princes. Thus we can hardly be surprised if, in dealing with 

the relations between Philip II. and Pius V., it is not made 

sufficiently clear (p. 85 seq.) that the Spanish king adhered 

inflexibly to his cesaropapalism.^ In the same way the 

relations of the Pope with Venice are dealt with too favourably 

(p. 112 seq.). The success of Commendone with the 

Emperor Maximilian in 1568 is set forth as a reality (p. 99) 

while nothing whatever is said of the deceit which the Emperor 

practised at the expense of the Holy See in this matter. 

Nor is the conferring of the title of Grand Duke upon Cosimo 

I. weU treated of (p. 119). Very characteristic of the way 

in which Catena exaggerated the good in Pius V. is his statement 

that in order to promote the cloth industry the Pope 

expended 100,000 scudi, whereas in reality it was only 10,000.^ 

As to the directly false statements into which Catena, in 

his wish to exalt the fame of his hero, allowed himself to be 

drawn,' the most surprising are those concerning France. 

After speaking of the very proper deposition of the heretical 

French bishops. Catena says : 

" Pio fece publicare in Francia 

la detta sentenza si che i vescovi furono levati et posti in 

lor vece i cattolici " (p. 60), which is in direct contradiction 

of the truth. And Catena says nothing of the protection 

which Chatillon, who had been deposed from the cardinalitial 

dignity, received from the French government. With regard 

to the breaking of the concordat he maintains (p. 61) that on 

account of the remonstrances of Pius V. the French sovereigns 

withdrew from their position. 

TuRKE (p. 27 seq.) has also shown how incredible is the 

' Catena may also be excused by the diflScuIties with which historians at 

that time liad to contend, and wiiich affected these very matters : Indeed, 

his life of Pius V. was absolutely prohibited in the Spanish dominions. With 

FUMI, L'Inquisizione, 271, cf. the *Report of M. Brumani from Rome, September 

10, 1588, Gonzasa Archives, Mantua, and Hubner, Sixte-Quint, Paris, 

1870, II., 30. See also Catena, Lettere, 19 seq., 60 seq., and Bibliofilo, X. 

(1889), 2 seq. 

« See supra, p. 108. Catena (p. 71) adds another COO men to the auxiliary 

Papal troops sent to Prance in 1-569. 

' Such as the statement that during the mortal illness of the Pope in Rome 

" il tutto passito con ordme et quiete " (p. 112) from which the conclusion is 

drawn that this was a proof of the " ottimo governo " of Pius V. That, on 

the contrary, the traditional disturbances were not altoqrether wanting is 

expressly stated in the Vita di Pio V. in Anal. Bolland., XXXIII., 202.

APPENDIX. 423 

account given by Catena (p. 171) of the promises which 

Charles IX. made in 1571 to Cardinal BoneUi, informing the 

Pope that he was arranging the marriage of his sister with 

Navarre with the sole purpose of being able the more easily 

to destroy the leaders of the Huguenots, and further making 

the advice of the Pope responsible for this plan. 

In a much more cautious and reserved way are these matters 

dealt with by the second biographer of Pius V., Giov. Antonio 

Gabuzio, rector of the Bamabite College in Rome, in his work, 

" De vita et rebus gestis Pii V.," which was first published 

in Rome in 1605, and dedicated to Paul V. Here there is no 

mention at all of the statements of Catena concerning the 

assurance given by Charles IX. that the marriage of his sister 

to Navarre had the sole purpose of giving the Huguenots 

in Paris a sense of security, and that he decided on taking 

action against the " traitors " principally from love of the 

Pope. On the other hand, Gabuzio expressly states that 

the king had declared that he could no longer conceal his 

intentions, and that BonelU had gone away without having 

obtained anything. 

If Gabuzio is in this matter the more reliable informant, 

this is explained by the fact that he was helped by Cardinal 

BoneUi in the composition of his work much more than 

Catena. As Gabuzio relates in the dedication of his work to 

Paul v., it was that Cardinal who persuaded him to compose 

it, and furnished him with the materials. The difference 

here mentioned is all the more important in that in other 

matters Gabuzio follows Catena closely, and further, as Turke 

rightly points out (p. 29), shows a tendency to embeUish 

and exaggerate his accounts. It is only in details that 

Gabuzio gives any new information ; it is not easy to distin- 

guish them because Gabuzio treads so closely in the footsteps 

of Catena,^ whom, strangely enough, he does not name, 

that his text in many places reads like a translation.^ 

If Gabuzio met with a much wider success than Catena, so 

much so that Theiner (Annal. eccles., 1572, n. 12) wrongly 

' Thus for example concerning the success of tlie action taken by Pius V. 

against the French iieretical bisliops, he saj^s : " Kain daninationem in Galliam 

promuteandam iisque do sede deiectis alios catholicos subrogandos Pius curavit." 

(II. c. 3). 

• In the preface he merely says that his work was " cum ex aliis multis ac 

probatis a\ictoribus, turn ex variis ac certis, riuae idem cardinalis [M. Bonelli] 

ceteritpie mnlti locupietes et oculati testes mihi suppeditanint, monumentis 

ac testimoniis bona fide collectum." The severe bl;i.me of Mkndham (p. x.-xi.), 

for his not havin? made mention of Catena, is fully deserved.

424 


speaks of him as the principal writer on Pius V. and recently 

Premoli (Barnabiti, I., 332) describes his life as the best, 

this is due to his better and more skilful arrangement of his 

matter and to his good latinity. It added a great deal to 

the popularity of Gabuzio's biography that the BoUandists 

included only his account in the Acta Sanctorum, since it was 

suited to that purpose as having more definitely the character 

of a saint's life than that of Catena.^ 

All the later biographies of Pius V. have tended in that 

direction. Without any pretence to absolute completeness, 

we here given in chronological order the best known of these 

works : 

1. Archangelus Caraccia de Ripalta O. Pr., Brevis 

enarratio gestorum S. P. Pii P. V ex processibus et probatis 

authoribus digesta, Romae 1629. Substantially this is only 

a reproduction of the " Epistolae '' mentioned on p. 62, n. i, 

from the edition of Cologne, 1567. Equally insignificant is 

the Vita Pii V. by Caraccia. publ. in 1615. 

2. L. Jacobilli, Vite del SS. Pio V. etc., Todi, 1661. 

3. P. Fatica, Vita del glor. P. Pio V, Reggio, 1664. 

4. Agazio di Somma.^ Vita del S. P. S. Pio V, dedicated 

to Pope Alexander VII. Original in the Chigi Library, 

Rome, I-III-69 ; rnany copies, e.g. Rome, nell' Archivio 

Papal Secret Archives, Miscell. Arm. XI, 60 ; Barberini 

Library, 3 copies in Cod. LIV, 23, 24 e 37 ; 

Corsini Library, 

Cod. 39-C-8 ; National Library, Paris, 5571. A second copy 

at Paris cited by Marsand, II., 179, who greatly over estimates 

its worth, does not substantially contain anything new. 

The original Itahan was not printed, it is found in a French 

version in the work of Felibien, Vie de Pie V. par A. di 

SoMMA, Paris, 1672 ; cf. Echard, Script. O. II., 220. 

5. A. Bzovius, Pius V. Romanus Pontifex sive annalium 

eccles. tomus ultimus 1566-1572, Romae, 1672. 

6. Ambros. Ramding, Beatus Pius V P. M. delineatus, 

Aug. Vindel., 1672. 

7. A. M. Monti, Ristretto d. vita e miracoh del b. Pio V, 

Bologna, 1672. 

' Even before Gabutius a work was issued, which he h is quoted in one place, 

by A. FuKNMAYOR, Vida y hechos de \in V., Madrid, 1595, which, however, 

is almost entirely based upon Catena ; see JVJkndham, viii. : cf. 93. 

' Tliere also exists by the same author a *discors(i della prefettura di Roma, 

in Cod. X. V. 30, p. 247 seq. of the Casanitense Libivii-y, Rome, and in the 

Barberini Library, LVI., 108. For Agazio di Somma cf. also Belloni, Seicento, 

89, 149.

APPENDIX. 425 

8. Kurtzer Entimirff und Inhalt dess wimderthdtigcn Lebens 

Pii dess V.. Wiirtzburg, 1673. The first biography in German ; 

see Braunsberger, Pius V. 108, n. 7. 

9. P. A. Maffei, Vita di S. Pio V S. P., Roma, 1712.1 

10. Samayo, Compendio de vida del glor. P. S. Pio V, 

Roma, 1728. 

11. J. Laderchi, Annales, ecclesiastici, 3 voll. Romae, 

1728-1737. 

12. GiAC, Ant. Tagliapiedra, *Mem. stor. di 50 cardinali 

dell'ordine de' predic, Cod. Ital. 89 of the Court Library, 

Monaco (compiled in : 1774) II, 259-401 su Pio V. 

13. P. M. Ghislieri [O. Pr.], Elogio storico di S. Pio V, 

Assisi, 1797, dedicated to Pius VI. 

14. J. Mendham, The life and pontificate of Saint Pius the 

Fifth, London, 1832. 

15. Falloux, Histoire de St. Pie V, 2 vol]., Paris, 1846 ; 

reprinted Liege, 1852 ; 3. ed. 1858 ; in German, Regensburg, 

1873. See Stimmen aus Maria-Laach, IV., 504 ss. ; Literar. 

Handweiser, 1873, 102 s. 

16. T. M. Granello, Fra Michele GisHeri, I e II, Bologna, 

1877-1878. 

17. V. de Brognoli, Studi storici sul regno di S. Pio V, 

2 voll., Roma, 1883. 

18. Ch. a. Joyau, Saint Pie V, pape du rosaire, Poitiers 

[1892]. 

19. Fr. Faberi, S. Pio V. Studio storico [Siena, 1S93]. 

See Literar. Rundschau, 1893, 331. 

20. P. Farachon, Lepante. St. Pie V, Paris, 1894. 

21. C. Dell' Acqua, Di S. Pio V., Milano, 1904. 

22. Cosmos illustrato, Roma, 1904, January-February 

(illustrated). 

23. P. Speizi, Pio V, Roma, 1905. Cf. H. Bihlmeyer in 

Hagiograph. Jahresbericht, 1904 '6, Kempten, 1908, 257. 

24. P. Deslandres, St. Pie V, Paris, 1911. Cf. Hist. 

Jahrb., XXXII., 398. 

25. C. M. Antony, St. Pius V, Pope of the holy Rosary, 

London, 1911. 

26. G. Grente, St. Pie V. (Les Saints), Paris, 1914. 

True biographies, however, are not wanting, but aU these 

works are based upon Catena and Gabuzio, and are not 

strictly scientific works which attempt to separate legend from 

' Cf. Mendham, xv.

426 


history. Besides Laderchi,i only Brognoli has made much 

use of original unpublished sources. It is true that Grente 

claims to have made wide archival researches, but the un- 

published sources which he quotes are so scanty as hardly to 

deserve consideration.^ There thus remains still a rich 

harvest in the archives/ from which to build up from the 

original sources a strictly critical and historical account, in 

which the figure of Pius V. will stand out more true to nature 

and far more effectively than is the case with the usual 

panegyrics.* 

' A part of the original letters collected by Laderchi in the Barberini 

Library, Rome ; see Corresp. dipL, I., xxix. 

* Cf. my list in Histor. Jahrbuch, XXIX. (1919), 801 seq. 

' Serrano has recently in Corresp. dipl., I., xv., shown how little the pontificate 

of Pius V. has as yet been studied in the original sources. Balzani 

(Sisto v., Genoa, 1913, 13) points out that so far no historian has done justice 

to Pius V. 

* With regard to this I must record that three years aô I wrote " : It is 

time that the pedantic period of the lives of the saints came to an end. They 

do not stand in need of pious inventions ; they can bear the full light of historical 

criticism, and moreover, cannot fail to draw advantage from it," (Ze^^ 

schrift fur kathol. Theol., 1898, 147.)

INDEX OF NAMES IN VOL. XVII. 

Adrian VI., Pope, 113, 116, 

236. 

Agreda, Petrus de (Bishop of 

Venezuela), 210. 

Alba, Duke of, 344, 379. 

Albani, Giov. Girol., Cardinal, 

167. 

Albano, Jo. Bapt. (poet), 129, 

Albert V. (Duke of Bavaria). 

116 n. I. 

Albert the Great (O.P.), 119. 

Alcala, Duke of (Viceroy of 

Naples), 219. 

Alcantara, see Peter of Alcantara. 

Alciati, Cardinal, 7, 39, 71, 81, 

no, 181, 184 n. 4, 199, 280 

seq. 

Alcolaras, Joannes de (Bishop 

of San Domingo), 210 n. 3. 

Aldegati, Ambrogio (Bishop of 

Casale, inquisitor at Mantua), 

322, 325. 

Aldobrandini, Giovanni (Bishop 

of Imola, grand-penitentiary). 

Cardinal, 156 n. i, 

168, 204, 349, 364. 

Aldobrandini, Tommaso (secretary 

of briefs), 74 n. 2. 

Aldrovandi, Cico, 67 n. i. 

Alessandrino, Cardinal, see Bonelli, 

Michele. 

Alessi, Galeazzo (architect), 

125 n. 

Alexander VI., Pope, 171 n. 5, 

176, 276. 

Altemps, see Hohenems. 

Altovito, Antonio (Archbishop 

of Florence), 262 n. 

Amadori, Giovanni, 22. 

Amalterio, Cornelio (poet), 128 

n. 3. 

Amalterio, Girolamo (poet), 128 

n. 3. 

Angelico, Fra (painter), 116. 

Anjou, see Henry of Anjou. 

Anna, Giov. Domenico de 

(Bishop of Bovino), 221 

n. I. 

Anspach, Joh. (Bavarian humanist), 

128 n. 2. 

Antoniano, Silvio (latinist, professor 

at the Roman university), 

134. 

Aquaviva, Giulio, Cardinal, 168. 

Aquaviva, Orazio (O. Cist., 

Bishop), 168. 

Aquaviva, Ottavio, Cardinal, 

168 seq. 

Aquaviva, Ridolfo (S.J., martyr), 

168. 

Araceli, Cardinal, see Dolera. 

Aragon, Cardinal of, see Avalos. 

Arco (Imperial envoy in Rome), 

3, 10 seq., 55 n. 2, 162, 

173 n. 3, 292, 315, 331, 

342 seq. 

Arias Montanus, 199. 

Arias, Sebastian, 285. 

Ariguccio, Paolo (Provincial of 

the Observants), 261 n. 

Arimini, Thomas of (O.P., Inquisitor), 

315 n. I. 

Athanasius, St., 196. 

Attaide, Georg. de (Bishop of 

Viseu), 212 n. i. 

Augustine, St., 362, 368 seq. 

Avalos, Ifiigo de (of Aragon), 

Cardinal (administrator of 

the bishopric of Mileto), 7, 

261 n. 

Avellaneda, Lope de (jailor of 

Carranza), 345. 

Avellino, Andrew (Theatine), 

165. 

Avila, see John of Avila. 

Avila, Pedro de (Spanish envoy 

in Rome), 17, 206 n. 

427

428 

Azpilcueta (theologian), 347. 

INDEX OF NAMES. 

Baius, Michael (professor at 

Louvain), 367-380. 

Balduini, Martin (Bishop of 

Ypres), 232 n. 5, 376. 

Bandini, Franc. (Archbishop of 

Siena), 

Bartoccio, 

197 n. 5. 

Bartolomeo (heretic), 

306 seq., 318. 

Bartolomeo (provost of the 

Humiliati), 247. 

Bascape (biographer of Charles 

Borromeo), 43, 237 n. 

Basil, St., 196. 

Basiho (heretical preacher) , 

n. 3, 401. 

300 

Basilio d'Urbino (Carthusian), 

259 n. 4. 

Bastone, Albert (friend of the 

Ghislieri 

392 n. 2. 

family), 46, 71, 

Bastone, Francesco, 46, 392. 

Beatrizet (engraver), 52 n. i. 

Bellarmine, R. (S.J.), 

Belo, Lorenzo, 131. 

Beltran, see Bertrand. 

378. 

Bencio, Trifone (Papal secretary), 

74 n. 2. 

Benedetto, P. (preacher), 60 n. 

2. 

Benedict XV., Pope, 200 n. 

Benvoglienti (heretic), 329 n. 2. 

Bernarcedo (heretic), 305 n. i. 

Bernardi, Giov. B. (Bishop of 

Ajaccio), 223 n. 5. 

Bernardine, St., 47. 

Bernieri, Paolo Emilio (Ferrarese 

envoy), 9. 

Bertrand [Beltranl, Louis 

(O.P.), St., 237 n. 

Bertucci, Giov. Batt. (painter, 

heretic), 314. 

Bianchi, Arcangelo (O.P., commissary-general 

of the Inquisition, 

Bishop of Teano), 

Cardinal, 165, 292 n. 3, 319. 

Binarini, Alfonso (Bishop of 

Camerino), 148 n. i, 183 

n. 3, 184, 189 n. 2. 

Birago, Luigi (governor of 

Saluzzo), 327 n. 3. 

Blosius (Louis of Blois), 274. 

Bobadilla (S.J.), 274 n. 6. 

Bobba, Cardinal, 7, 149 n. i, 

258, 261 n., 328 n. 

Boccacio, 204 n. 

Boccapaduli, family of the, 135. 

Bojero (Franciscan),' 326 n. i. 

Boldrino, Gregorio (Bishop of 

Mantua), 235 n. 3, 262 n. 

Bonaventure, St., 129. 

Boncompagni, Cardinal, 3 seq., 

II, 21, 23 seq., 27, 35, 

51 n. 2, 199, 250. 

Bonelli, Family of the, 76 n. 3. 

Bonelli, Domenica (niece to 

Pius v., mother of Cardinal 

Bonelli), 76, 84. 

Bonelli, Gardina (sister to Pius 

v.), 76. 

Bonelli, Michele (O.P., nephew 

to Pius v.). Cardinal [Alessandrino], 

51 n. 2, 63 n. i, 

74 n. 3, 77-84, no, 117, 

146, 150, 155, 157, 19511.2, 

197 n. 3, 207 nn., 328 n., 

335- 

Bonhomini [Bonomi], Giov. 

Franc, (abbot of Nonantola), 

170, 182, 218 n. I. 

Boniface VIIL, Pope, 152. 

Borgia, Francis (S.J.), St., 19 

n. 4, 83, 207, 237 n., 280. 

Borromeo, Camillo, 138 n. 2, 

140 n. 5. 

BoiTomeo, Cesare, 138 n. 2, 

140 n. 5. 

Borromeo, Charles, Cardinal, i, 

3 n. 5, 4 seq., 17-31, 33-39, 

42 seq., 58 n. 7, 71, 89, 

137 n. 2, 138 seqq., 142 

n. 2, 144 seq., 150, 152, 

158 seq., 165, 170, 176, 181 

seq., 184 n. 4, 191, 198, 

213 n., 216, 218, 236, 238, 

245-248, 257, 261 n., 266 

seqq., 2^4, 292 n. 3, 320, 

324 seq., 336 n. 3, 337 n. 3, 

372. 

Boucherat, Nicolas (procuratorgeneral 

of the Cistercians), 

241. 

Broccardo, Count, 2. 

Brocchi, Fr., 132 n. 3. 

Brus von Miiglitz, Anton (Archbishop 

of Prague), 209, 

211 n. 2, 214.

Buccia, Doctor (court-jester of 

Pius IV), 70. 

Burali, Paolo (Theatine, Bishop 

of Piacenza), Cardinal, 156 

n. I, 161, 165 seq., 204, 239 

n. I. 

Bussoti, Bartolomeo (treasurer 

to Pius v.), 104 n. 7. 

Buzi, Gianantonio (sculptor), 

124. 

Cajazzo, Count of, 291. 

Caligari, Andrea (auditor to 

Commendone), 3 seq., 29 n., 

44, 86, 182 n. 2, 291. 

Callixtus III., Pope, 171. 

Camaiani, Nosti (Florentine 

agent in Rome), 4, 10. 

Camaiani, Pietro (Bishop of 

Fiesole, then of Ascoli, 

Spanish nuncio), 207 n. 7. 

Campeggio, Camillo (inquisitor 

at Mantua), 322, 327 n. 2. 

Canisius, Peter (S.J.), 129, 156 

n. I, 161 n. I, 193, 236, 367. 

Cano, Melchior (O.P.), 355. 

Capitone, Feliciano (Archbishop 

of Avignon), 220 n. 3, 339. 

Capizuchi, Cardinal, 7, 41 n. 2, 

73, 81, 131 n. 3. 

Capua, Pietro Antonio di (Archbishop 

of Otranto), 303 n. I. 

Carafa, family of the, 99. 

Carafa, Alfonso, Cardinal, 123. 

Carafa, Antonio, Cardinal, 156, 

159, 166, 198 seq. 

Carafa, Gian Pietro (Paul IV.), 

48. 

Carafa, Mario (Archbishop of 

Naples), 219, 229, 261 n. 

Cardano, G., 132 n. i. 

Carlos, Don. (son of Philip II.), 

208. 

Carnesecchi, Pietro (heretic), 

302 seqq., 307, 402. 

Carniglia, Bernardino, 141 n. 2, 

189 seq. 

Carnevale, Domenico (painter), 

117. 

Caro, Annibale (poet), 128 n. 6. 

Carpano. Leone (Papal commissary), 

266 n. 7. 

Carpi, Pio Rodolfo, Cardinal, 

12, 14, 17, 123, 257. 

INDEX OF NAMES. 429 

Carranza, Bartolome (Archbishop 

of Toledo), 164, 

193 n. 9, 343-364. 

Casale, Alessandro (Papal envoy), 

123 n. 2, 137. 

Casanova, Pietro Angelo (inquisitor), 

296 n. 5. 

Castagna, Giov. Batt. (Archbishop 

of Rossano, Nuncio), 

193 n. 9, 195 n. 2, 

197 n. 3, 207 nn., 253, 362. 

Castellet, Pedro de (Bishop of 

Urgel), 252 n. 2. 

Castellini (Bavarian agent in 

Rome), 116 n. i. 

Castellio, Seb. (heretic), 3S0 n. 3. 

Castelvetro (heretic), 328 n. i. 

Casliglione, Cardinal, 7. 

Castro, Nicol. de (Bishop of 

Middelburg), 232 n. 5. 

Cataneo, Federigo (Mantiian 

envoy), 2 n. 3, 20 n. i. 

Catena, Girolamo (biographer 

of Pius v.), 127, 128 n 3, 

129 n. I, 420 seqq. 

Catherine de' Medici (Queenregent 

of France), 12, 22, 

298 n. I, 302, 366. 

Cavani, Ludovico (poet), 125 

n. 2, 128 n. 3, 129 n. i. 

Cecone da S. Lupidio (chief of 

banditti), 102 n. i. 

Cellaria (heretic), 307 n. i. 

Cervantes, Caspar (Archbishop 

of Salerno, then of Tarragona), 

Cardinal, 164, 169, 

214, 226 n. 2. 

Cesarini, Cardinal, 38 n. 2. 

Cesi, Pietro Donato (Bishop of 

Narni), Cardinal, no n. 4, 

156 n. I, 161 n. I, 168, 

382 n. I. 

Charles (archduke of Austria), 

227, 262 n. 

Charles V., the Emperor, 338. 

Charles IX. (King of France), 

158, 163 seq., 298 n. i, 

366 n., 382 n. I. 

Chiesa, Giov. Paolo della. Cardinal, 

81, no, 156, 159, 

213 n., 289, 292 n. 3, 347. 

Chigi, Family of the, 121 n. i. 

Chirinotto (abbreviator), 340 

n. 5-

430 

Chisholm, William (Bishop of 

Dumblane), i88 n. i. 

Chrysostom, John, St., 196. 

Cicada, Cardinal, 4, 7, 11, 14 


seq., 29 n., 30, 160, 178 n. 5, 

292, 298 n. I, 318. 

Ciregiola, 182, 333 n. i. 

Cirillo, Bernardo (master of the 

household to Pius V.), 55, 

137 n. 2, 141. 

Clement VII., Pope, 302, 309. 

Clement VIII., Pope, 159, 197 

n. 4, 201 n. I, 234. 

Clovio, Giulio (artist), 116. 

Colonna, Cardinal, 7, 113 n. i, 

129, 198 seq., 300. 

Colonna, Marcantonio, 32, 33 

n. I, 69. 

Commendone, Cardinal 4, 21, 

24, 81, seq. 86, 149 n. 3, 

220, 291, 371 seq. 

Conca, 290 n. 2. 

Concini, Bartolomeo (Florentine 

agent in Rome), 10. 

Conosciuti, Lionardo, 4 n. 5, 

21 n. 3. 

Contarini, 367. 

Conti, Torquato, 103 n. i, 127. 

Corgna, Cardinal, 4, 7, 14, 30, 

187, 230. 

Cornaro, Federigo (Bishop of 

Bergamo), 261 n., 262 n. 

Cornaro, Luigi, Cardinal, 7. 

Correa, Tommaso (poet), 128 

n. 3, 129 n. I. 

Correggio, Cardinal, 7, 15, 17, 

137 n. 2, 324. 

Cortesi, Giacomo (Bishop of 

Vaison), 188. 

Cosimo I. (Grand-duke of Tuscany), 

3, 9 seq., 16, 20, 22, 

24, 29, 45 n. I, 151, 174, 

204 n., 297 n. I, 299 n. 2, 

302 seq., 329. 

Covarrubias, Didac. de (Bishop 

of Segovia, canonist), 254 

n. 3. 

Crescenzi, Cardinal, 114 n. 4. 

Crispi, Cardinal, 7, 29 n., 40. . 

Crivelli, Cardinal, 3 seq., 7 n. 5, 

24. 35- 

Cromer, Martin (administrator 

of bishopric of Ermland), 

202. 

Curione, 381. 

Curti, Girolamo (commis. gen. 

of the Franciscans), 257. 

Cusano, Galeazzo (Imperial 

agent in Rome), 33, 51 n. 2, 

62, 80, III n. I, 113, 140 

n. 3, 141, 148 n. 2, 198 n. 4, 

336 n. 5, 365. 

Delfino, Zaccaria, Cardinal, 7, 

10, 24, 29 n., 149 n. 3. 

Diaceto, Angelo (O.P,, Bishop 

of Fiesole), 262 n. 

Dolera, Cardinal [Araceli], 3, 7, 

11, 13 seqq., 17, 20 seq., 24, 

30, 33 seq., 39, 81, 149 n. i, 

160, 230. 

Doria, Gian Andrea (admiral), 

107 n. 3. 

Drascovich, Georg. (Bishop of 

Agram), 365 n. 2. 

Eder, Georg (Imperial councillor), 

130, 202. 

Eichhorn, Joachim (abbot of 

Einsiedeln), 274. 

Eisengrein, Martin, 130 n. 6. 

Eisengrein, William, 129 n. 5, 

132 n. 5. 

Elias (chief of synagogue), 341. 

Elizabeth (Queen of Spain), 12. 

Eltz, Jakob von (Archbishop of 

Treves), 229. 

Emmanuele Filiberto (Duke of 

Savoy), 4 n. 3, 

248 n. I, 328 seq. 

it, 35, 

Ercolano, Vincenzo (Bishop of 

Sarno), 190. 

Ercole, Lord of Sassuolo, 328. 

Ernest of Bavaria (administrator 

of bishopric of Freising), 

174- 

Esparcho, Ant. (Greek humanist), 

131. 

Espinosa, Diego de, Cardinal 

(Spanish grand-Inquisitor), 

156 seqq., 193, 342, 349, 

354 n. I. 

Este, Family of the, 34. 

Este, Alfonso d' (Duke of 

Ferrara and Modena), 9, 

228 n. 8, 261, 327 n. 2, 329.

Este, Ippolito d', Cardinal. 2 

seq., 5, 7, II, 13, 15, 18, 

21-25; 27 seq., 30, 40, 43, 

79 n. I, 154, 291. 

Este, Luigi, Cardinal, 7, 9, 12, 

28, 40. 

Fabii, Baldo (agent of Lelio 

Orsini), 327 n. 3. 

Facchinetti, Giov. Ant. (nuncio 

to Venice, later Pope Innocent 

IX.), 316. 

Farnese, Alessandro (Cardinal), 

7, II, 13, 15 seq., j8 21 23, 

27 seq., 30-39, 43. 73. 75. 

78, 80, 82, 103 n. 2, III n. 

I. 123. 137, 149 n. 3, 180 

seq., 184 n. i, 216 n. 

Ferdinand, The Catholic, 338. 

Ferdinand II. (Archduke of the 

Tyrol), 127 n. 4. 

Ferrari, Ambrogio (abbot of S. 

Benigno in Genoa), 199. 

Ferreri, Guido, Cardinal, 4, 7, 

28, 40, 262 n. 

Ferreri [the elder], Pier Francesco, 

Cardinal, 3 seq., 7, 

II, 235^^^., 3455(79. ,40, 199. 

Figliucci, Alessio (O.P.), 192. 

Filippini (historian), 238. 

Floribello, Antonio (secretary 

of briefs), 74 n. 2, 137 n. 2. 

Firmanus, Cornelius, 27, 38, 

304 n. 4. 

Folieta (historian), 131 n. 4. 

Fonzio, Bartolomeo (protestant 

preacher), 300 n. i. 

Franco, Niccolo (poet), 311 n. i. 

F^rancis II. (King of France), 

128 n. 4. 

Francis of Assisi, St., 275. 

Francis Xavier (S.J.), St., 236 

n. 3. 

Funtiduefia (Spanish theologian), 

193. 

Gabrielli, Giulio, 96 n. 4. 

Gaddi, Taddeo, Cardinal, 241 

n. 2. 

Gaetani, Cardinal, f 

Galateo, Fra (protestant preach- 

er), 300 n. I. 

Galeota, Mario (heretic), 301, 

302 n. 


GaUi, Tolomeo, Cardinal, 6 n , 

7. 74- 

Gallina, Bartolomeo (and husband 

of Gardina Ghislieri), 

76 n. 3. 

Gallio, Giov., 201 n. i. 

Gambara, Cesare (Bishop of 

Tortona), 137 n. 2, 261 n. 

Gambara, Giov. Francesco, Cardinal, 

7, 73, 81 n. 3, 137 

n. 2, 146, 289, 292, 299 n. 2, 

346 n. 4. 

Gasparo (Bishop of Leiria), 212 

n. I, 256 n. I. 

Gazini, Angelo (commissarygeneral 

of the Inquisition 

at Faenza, Bishop of Polignano), 

313 seqq. 

Gerberon 

368 n. 

(O.S.B., Jansenist), 

Geri, Filippo (Bishop of Assisi), 

261 n. 

Gesualdo, Cardinal, 7. 

Ghislieri, Family of the, 46, 

84 n. . 

Ghislieri, 

3. 

Domenica Augeria 

(mother of Pius V.), 46. 

Ghislieri, Francesco (governor 

of Ascoli), loi n. 4. 

Ghislieri, Gardina (sister of 

Pius v.), 76. 

Ghislieri, Girolamo (nephew of 

Pius v., governor of the 

Borgo), 50 n. 2, 84 n. 3. 

Ghislieri, Paolo (father of Pius 

v.), 46. 

Ghislieri, Paolo (nephew of 

Pius v., commander of the 

Papal guard), 84 seq., 

Giberti, Matteo, 139. 

Ginnasi, Francesco, 134. 

345. 

Giustiniani, Angelo (Bishop of 

Geneva), 218 n 

Giustiniani, Vincenzo. (General 

of the Dominicans), Cardinal, 

129, 156 n. I, 165. 

Gloriero, Cesare (secretary of 

briefs), 74 n. 2. 

Godfredus of Liege (Franciscan), 

378. 

Gonzaga, Family of the, 24, 34. 

Gonzaga, Cesare (brother-inlaw 

to Card. C. Borromeo), 

22.

432 

Gonzaga, Ercole, Cardinal, 372. 

Gonzaga, Ferrante (governor of 

Milan), 48. 

Gonzaga, Francesco, Cardinal, 


7, II n. 2, 23 scq., 34. 

Gonzaga, Gianvincenzo (Prior 

of Barletta), 162 seq. 

Gonzaga, Giulia, 303 n. i. 

Gonzaga, William (Duke of 

Mantua), 11 n. 2, 23, 235, 

321 seqq. 

Gordillo (provincial of Spanish 

Franciscans), 254. 

Gorrevod, Ant. de (Bishop of 

Lausanne), 221 n. 2. 

Granvelle, Cardinal (viceroy of 

Naples), 15 seq., 36, 45 n. i, 

62 n. 4, 81 seq., 137, 232 

n. 5, 352, 370-375- 

Grassi (cleric in the Apostolic 

Camera), 229. 

Grassis, Carlo de (Bishop of 

Montefiascone and Corneto, 

governor of Rome), Cardinal, 

168. 

Grasso, Francesco, Cardinal, 3, 

7, II. 

Gregory of Nazianzen, St., 

196. 

Gregory XIII., Pope, 51 n. 2, 

177 n. 3, 208, 234, 256 n. 2, 

280, 314. 

Gregory XIV., Pope, 239. 

Grimaldi, Carlo (Bishop of Ventimiglia), 

326 n. i, 327 n. 3. 

Grimaldi, Louis (Bishop of 

Vence), 218 n. 

Gropper, 367. 

Gualtiero, Sebastian (Bishop of 

Viterbo, nuncio in France), 

4- 

Guarini, Francesco (Bishop of 

Imola, governor of Rome), 

2. 

Guasco, Cesare (architect), 

126. 

Guidiccioni, Alessandro (Archbishop 

of Lucca), 208. 

Guido da Fano, see Zanetti. 

Guise, Charles de, Cardinal of 

Lorraine, 4, 158, 235 n. 5, 

236, 261 n. 

Guise, Mary of (Queen of Scotland), 

164. 

Hamericourt, Gerard de 

(Bishop of Saint-Omer), 

212 n. 3, 232 n. 5, 273. 

Havet, Ant. (Bishop of Namur), 

232 n. 5. 

Henry (Infante of Portugal), 

Cardinal, 212 n. 3, 220 n. 3, 

256. 

Henry II. (King of France), 

158, 164. 

Hessels (Lou vain theologian), 

369-372. 

Hoffaus, Paul (S.J.), 192 seq. 

Hohenems, Hannibal von. 

Count, I, 6, 67, 228. 

Hohenems, Mark Sittich von 

[Card. Altemps], 4, 16 seq., 

20, 22 n. 4, 23, 30, 33, 41, 

99 n. I. 

Honoratus II. (Count of Tenda), 

325, 327 n. 3. 

Hosius, Stanislaus, Cardinal, 

114 n. 4, 129, 158, 193, 

203. 

Hiilsen, F. Van (engraver), 52 

n. I. 

Ignatius of Loyola, St., 236 

n. 3, 237, 278 seq., 281. 

Innocent VIIL, Pope, 70. 

Innocent IX., Pope, 234. 

Janssen [Jansenius], Cornelius 

(the elder. Bishop of 

Ghent), 375. 

John of Austria, Don, 85 n. 5. 

John of Avila, 237. 

John of God, St., 236 n. 3, 285. 

John of The Cross, St., 237 n., 

277, 285. 

Juhus II., Pope, 171. 

JuUus III., Pope, 7, 49, 99 5eg., 

113, 134, 150, 274 n. 6, 

276, 279. 

Kastelberg, Christian von 

(abbot of Disentis), 275. 

Khuen-Belasy, Joh. Jakob von 

(Archbishop of Salzburg), 

156 n. j;, 161 n. i. 

Kunz, Othmar (abbot of St. 

Gall), 274. 

Labacco, Ant. (artist), i n. 2,

La Baurae, Claude de (Archbp. 

of Besan9on) 221 n. i. 

Laceronis, Dionys. de (Cistercian), 

241. 

Ladrone, Ferrata di. Count, 

174 n. 

Lando, Pietro (Archbishop of 

Candia), 217. 

Lanfranc, Marl: Ant., 131 n. 2. 

Lanzoni (heretic), 327 n. 3. 

Lasso, Diego, 69. 

Ledesma (S.J.), 310. 

Lentailleur, John (abbot of 

Anchin), 273 n. 3. 

Leo X., Pope, 7, 134, 171. 

Leonio, Girolamo (Bishop of 

Sagona), 239 n. i. 

Logau, Kaspar von (Bishop of 

Breslau), 212 n. i, 214. 

Lombardo, Gianfrancesco, 97 n., 

198 n. 4. 

Lomellini, Benedetto, Cardinal, 

7- 

Lomellini, Jacopo (Archbishop 

of Palermo), 263 n. 

Longus, Andreas (Bishop of 

Honduras), 210. 

Lorraine, Cardinal of, see 

Guise, Charles de. 

Louis of Blois, see Blosius. 

Louis of Granada, 237 n. i. 

Lugo, Alvaro de, 364 n. 5. 

Lunel, Pietro de (Bishop of 

Gaeta), 190, 217 n. 4, 220 

n. I, 262 n. 

Lupetino, Ubaldo (protestant 

preacher), 300 n. i. 

Luzzara, Camillo (Mantuan 

Ambassador in Rome), 8 n. 

4, 18, 140 n. 5, 143, 172, 

n. 6, 235, 303. 

Madruzzo, Cristoforo, Cardinal 

[of Trent], 3, 7, 11, 14 seq., 

30, 35 n. 6, 162, 198. 

Madruzzo, Luigi, Cardinal, 7, 

204. 

Maffei, Marcantonio (7^ rchbishop 

of Chieti), Cardinal, 

73, 82, 129, 137 n. 2, 161 

n. I, 168, 172, 220 n. 7. 

Maggi, Ottaviano (Venetian 

poet), 129 n. I. 

VOL. XVII. 


Magnus, Olaus (Archbishop of 

Upsala), 114 n. 4. 

Maldonatus, J., 205 n. i. 

Manlio, Marcantonio (first husband 

of Gardina Ghislieri), 

76 n. 3. 

Manriquez, Tommaso (O.P.), 

130,203, 336 n. I, 345, 355. 

Manutius, Paulus (printer), 67, 

69, 131, 132 n. I, 192 seq., 

197, 198 n. 4. 

Marcellus II., Pope, 49, 176. 

Margaret of Parma, 372. 

Margarita da Allamana (â 

witch), 333 n. 6. 

Mariano of Rieti, 198 n. 4. 

Marini, Giov. Onorato (heretic), 

329 n. 5. 

Marini, Lionardo (O.P., Bishop 

of Alba, Archbishop of Lanciano), 

198 n. i, 219. 

Martial, 203 n. 3. 

Martyribus, Bartol. de (Archbishop 

of Braga), 256. 

Matuliani, Vincenzo, 65 n. 

Maximilian II., Emperor, 6 n., 

9 seqq., 25, 45 n. i, 68, 112, 

163, 

n, I. 

217, 289 n. 3, 333 

Mazzoni, Giulio (painter), 119. 

Cosimo. 

Medici, see Catherine ; 

Medici, Ferdinando de' (son of 

Cosimo I.), Cardinal, 7, 10, 

37. 146 n. 3, 333 n. i. 

Medici, Francesco de' (son of 

Cosimo I.), 113. 

Medina, Michael de (Franciscan), 

203 n. I. 

Melchiori (Bishop of Macerata), 

156 n. I, 161 n. I. 

Mercati, Michele (physician to 

Pius v., director of the 

botanical garden at the 

Vatican), 114. 

Mercurian, Girolamo (doctor), 

107 n. I. 

Messanella, Niccolo Francesco 

di (Bishop of Policastro), 

302 n. 

Miani, Girolamo (Founder of 

the Somaschi), 284. 

Michelangelo, 123, 382. 

Miliavacca (heretic), 330. 

Minalc (Papal treasurer), 10 1 n. 

28

434 

Molina, Stefano (Observant), 

262 n. 

Moncornet (engraver), 52 n. i. 

Montalto, Felice Peretti da, 

Cardinal (later Pope Sixtus 

v.), no n. 4, 129, 156 n. I, 

165, 346, 349, 364- 

Monte, Innocenzo del, Cardinal, 

7 seq., 70, 150 seq. 

Montepulciano, Cardinal, see 

Ricci. 

Monti, Pompeo de' (heretic), 

300 seq., 401. 

Montnfar, Afons. de (O.P., 

Bishop of Mexico), 210. 

Morillon, Maximilian (Vicargeneral 

to Card. Granvelle), 

374-379- 

Morone, Cardinal, 3 seq., 5 n., 

7, 10-13, 15 seq., 20, 23-29, 

35 seq., 40, 42, 81 seq., 147, 

181, 187, 198, 216 n., 230, 

261 n., 328 n. I, 361, 408. 

Mucanzio (master of ceremonies), 

160. 

Mula, Cardinal, 3, 7, 11, 15, 21, 

24, 26 seq., 81 seq., 149 n. i, 

156, 160, 333 n. 4. 

Muratori, Dom. (painter), 53 n. 

Muret, Marc Antoine (latinist), 

128 n. 4, 134. 

Muzio, Girolamo, 132 n. 2, 202. 

Nacchianti, Jacopo (O.P., 

Biblical critic), 130. 

Navagero (Bishop of Verona), 

139- 

Nelli, Niccolo (engraver), 52 

n. I. 

Neri, Philip, St., 60, 165, 228, 

236, 268. 

Niccolini, Cardinal, 7, 10 seq., 

24. 73 137 n. 2. 

Nicholas V. Pope, 120. 

Nieulant, Nic. (Bishop of Haarlem), 

232 n. 5. 

Noronha, Andrea de (Bishop of 

Portalegre), 212 n. i. 

Novella da Evoli, Roberto 

(preacher), 325 n. 3. 

Novellara, Francesco di (delegate 

of the Duke of Mantua), 

322. 


OcHiNO, 380 n. 3. 

Odescalchi, Bernardo, 48 . 

Ognies, Gilbert d' (Bishop of 

Tournai), 232 n. 5, 261 n. 

Olaus, Nic. (Archbp. of Gran), 

211 n. 2. 

Oliva, Giovanni (Archbishop of 

Chieti), 82, 182, 183 n. i, 

261 n., 266 n. 7. 

Oltramari, Girolamo (Modenese 

envoy), i n. 5. 

Orfino, Tommaso (Prior of 

Foligno, Bishop of Strongoli), 

182, 183 n. I, 219, 

262 n. 

Ormaneto, Niccolo, 82, 139, 

141-144, 148 n. I, 176, 

181-184, 189 n. 2, 225, 

226 n. 3, 229, 245, 254, 

262 n., 266, 284. 

Orsini, Flavio, Cardinal, 7, 28, 

34- 

Orsini, Fulvio (humanist), 115 

n. 

Orsini, Giulio, 94 n. 6. 

Orsini, Lelio (Lord of Ceri), 327 

n. 3. 

Orsini, Niccolo (Count of Pitigliano), 

305 n. i. 

Pacheco, Francisco, Cardinal, 

2 n. 4, 5, 7 seq., 12 n. 5, 

16-21, 30 seq., 41, 146, 

197 n. 3, 289, 292, 303 n. 3, 

346, 352. 

Paciotti (architect), 127. 

Padniewski, Phil. (Bishop of 

Cracow), 214 n. 5. 

Paleario, Aonio [Antonio della 

Paglia] (heretic), 307-311. 

Paleologo, Flaminio (heretic), 

325- 

Paleotto, Gabriel, Cardinal, 4, 

7, 34, no, 181, 213 n. 

Paleotto, Mario (heretic), 401. 

Palestrina, Pier Luigi da, 208 

n. 4. 

Pallantieri, Alessandro (govern 

or of Rome and of the 

March of Ancona), 2, 100, 

103 n. I, 290 n. 2, 336. 

Paltoni, Altinio (heretic), 311 

n. I.

Panvinio, Onofrio, 52 n. i, 131, 

202. 

Parisani, Giulio (Bishop of 

Rimini), 221 n. i. 

Pariseti, Girolamo (jurist), 134. 

Paschal Baylon, St., 237 n. 

Paul III., Pope, 5, 7, 39, 131, 

279, 290, 309, 337, 340. 

Paul IV., Pope, I, 7, 14 seq., 22, 

24, 28, 40, 49 seq., 63, 66 

seq., 100, 123, 131, 143, 

154, 159, 164, 206, 230 

seq., 234, 265, 279, 288, 

290, 293 seqq., 336 seq. 

Paul of Arezzo, see Burali 

Pavesi, Stefano (O.P., Archbishop 

of Sorrento), 156 

n. I. 

Pelleve, Nicolas de (Bishop of 

Amiens), Cardinal, 156 n. i, 

161 n. I, 164. 

Peretti, see Montalto. 

Perini (heretic), 302 n. 

Petri, Cunerus (theologian), 

378. 

Peter of Alcantara, St., 237 n., 

275; 277. 

Peter Damian, St., 244. 

Philip II. (King of Spain), 2 n. 

4, 9, 12 seq., 15 seqq., 21 

seq., 31, 36 seq., 42, 79, 

157. 159. 161, 207, 226, 

227 n. 3, 249-255, 286, 

325, 344 seqq., 350 seqq., 

355-362, 370. 373- 

Pia, Bernardino, 342, 365. 

Pianer, Gabriel (dean of the 

Papal chaplains), 334 n. I. 

Pico, Lodovico (Count of Mirandola), 

327 n. 3. 

Pietro da Quintiano, Fra (Inquisitor 

at Pa via), 330. 

Pinelli, Dom., 123 n. 2. 

Pinheiro, Rodrigo (Bishop of 

Oporto), 212 n. I, 256. 

Pino (architect), 289 n. 

Pisani, Francesco, Cardinal, 3, 

5 n., 7, II, 14, 30, 40, 137 

n. 2. 

Pisani, Luigi, Cardinal, 7. 

Pistoja, Girolamo da (Capuchin), 

304, 366. 

Pistone, Giov. Batt. (fiscale), 

137 n. 2. 


Pius III., Pope, 176. 

Pius IV., Pope, 2-9, II seqq., 

15 seqq., 19 seqq., 23 seq., 

26, 33, 39, 42, 50 seq., 66 

seqq., 70, 72 seqq., 99, loi, 

103, no seqq., 120, 131, 133, 

143, 150, 154, 159, 176, 

178, 

206, 

184, 

210 

192, 

n. I, 

199 n. 3, 

216, 234 

seq., 245, 249, 265, 267, 272, 

290, 292, 302, 316, 331, 

336 seq., 344, 370. 

Pius v.. Pope, Vol. XVII. 

Pius X., Pope, 200 n., 

Platiha (historian), 131. 

239. 

Plauto, Camillo (jurist), 134. 

Poggiano, Giulio (humanist), 

74 n. 2, 128 n. 4, 182, 204 

n. 3, 341 n. 3. 

Polanco (S.J.), 205 n. 5. 

Pole, Reginald, ' Cardinal, 139, 

367- 

Ponce de Lôn, Pedro (Bishop 

of Plasencia), 199 n. 3. 

Ponte, Niccold da (heretic), 317 

n. I. 

Pontius, Petrus, 131 n. i. 

Porroni (prisoner of the Inquisition), 

311 n. I, 312 

n. 3. 

Porta, Beatus a (Bishop of 

Coire), 221 n. 3. 

Porta, Guglielmo deUa (painter), 

113 n. I, 118. 

Portico, Vincenzo de (nuncio to 

Poland), 230, 261 n. 

Porzia, Bartolomeo (apostolic 

visitor), 220. 

Posio, Antonio (secretary to 

Congregation of the Index), 

203 n. 3. 

Possevino, Antonio (S.J.), 236, 

321 n. I. 

Propertius, 203 n. 3. 

Protaszeiwiez, Valerian (Bishop 

of Wilna), 222 n. i. 

Pseaume, Nicolas (Bishop of 

Verdun), 221. 

Pucci, Alessandro, 174. 

Pucci, Lorenzo, Cardinal, 288, 

290 n. 2. 

Pulzone, Scipione (painter), 53 

n., 77 n. 3. 

Puteo, Cardinal, 12.

436 

QuiNofJEs, Cardinal, 196 n. 4. 

Quir6s de Sosa, Juan, 207 n. 7. 

Rambouillet, Charles d'Angennes 

de (Bishop of Le 

Mans), Cardinal, 163, 291 

Rangone (heretic), 329 n. i. 

Ravestein [Tiletanus], Josse de 

(Louvain professor), 373, 

376. 

Rebiba Cardinal, 7, 14, 73, 80 

seq., 172, 187, 289, 292, 

327 n. 3. 

Reinoso, Franc, de (majordomo 

to Pius v.), 82 n. 4. 

Requesens, Luis de (Spanish 

envoy in Rome), 8 n. 4, 

11-18, 29, 31 seqq., 36 seq., 

40, 62, 65, 69, 77, 116, 137, 

250, 343. 344 n. 2, 345 

seq. 

Reumano, Cardinal, 3, 7, 12, 

73. 75- 78, 80, 137 n. 2, 160, 

172, 178 n. 5. 

Riario, Alessandro (auditor of 

the Apostolic Chamber), 

123 n. 2, 187. 

Ribera, Juan de (Bishop of 

Badajoz, Archbishop of 

Valencia, patriarch of Antioch), 

221 n. 2, 222, 239 

n. I, 254 n. 3. 

Ribera, Pedro Afan de (viceroy 

of Naples), 222 n. 2. 

Ricasoli, Giov. Batt. (Bishop 

of Pistoja), 174. 

Ricci, Cardinal [of Montepulciano], 

3, 7, 11, 13, 15, 17, 

20 seqq., 24, 30, 33 seqq., 

37. 39, 41. IM n. 5, 116, 

125 n, I, 147, 206 n., 258. 

Richardot, Franc. (Bishop of 

Arras), 232 n. 5. 

Rodriguez (S.J.), 150 n. 5. 

Roman, Alonso (S.J.), 164. 

Rosetti (Modenese envoy in 

Rome), 263 n. i. 

Rossi, Giov. Ant. (artist), 127 

n. 4. 

Rovere, Dom. de (O.P.), 261 n. 

Rovere, Giulio della, Cardinal 

[of Urbino], 7, 28, 70, 162, 

212 n. 3, 218 n. I, 244, 

261 n. 


Rovere, Guidobaldo della (Duke 

of Urbino), 11, 117, 131. 

Rovere, Paolo Maria della 

(Bishop of Cagli), 190. 

Roxas y Sandoval, Chr. (Bishop 

of Cordova), 209. 

Rubeis, Joh. Bapt. de (generalprior 

of the Carmelites), 

263 n. 

Rucellai, Annibale (Spanish envoy 

in Rome), 156. 

Rufhno (archpriest at Verona). 

262 n. 

Rusticucci, Girolamo (private 

secretary to Pius V.), Cardinal, 

74, 82, 156 n. I, 167, 

193 n. 9. 

Sadolet, Giov. (Cardinal), 308, 

335 n. 3. 

Sadolet, Paul (Bishop of Carpentras), 

339. 

Sallustio (architect), 289 n. 

Salviano, Ippolito (physician), 

134- 

Salviati, Bernardo, Cardinal, 3, 

7, 122 n. 2. 

Sampieri (Corsican rebel), 238. 

Sandizell, Moritz von (Bishop 

of Freising), 174. 

Sanseverino, Cardinal, see San- 

tori. 

Sansovino, Pandolfo, 131. 

Santa Croce, Cardinal, 6 n. 2, 

149 n. I, 152 n. 4. 

Santa Fiora, see Sforza. 

Sante of Padua (O.P., Inquisitor), 

47. 

Santori, Giulio Antonio, Cardinal 

[of Sanseverino], 149 

n. 3, 161, 166 seq., 204, 

22on. 7, 292 n. 3, 345. 

Saraceni, Cardinal, 3, 7, 29, n., 

30, 335 n. 2. 

Saracinello, Cipriano, 117 n. i. 

Sarzana, Lionardoda (sculptor), 

53 n. 

Sauli, Alessandro, St. (Barnabite. 

Bishop of Aleria and 

Pavia), 237 seqq. 

Savelli, Cardinal (Vicar-general 

of Rome), 7, 71, 137 n. 2, 

181, 182, 184 n. 4, 185 n. 

7, 186, 195 n. I, 224, 261 n.

Scappi, Bartolomeo (cook to 

Pius v.), 5811. I. 

Schaumburg, Martin von 

(Bishop of Eichstatt), 210 

n. I, 214. 

Schenk, Fred. V. (Archbp. of 

Utrecht), 232 n. 5. 

Schiissier, Jodocus (Provincial 

of the German Franciscans), 

257. 

Scotti (Bishop of Trani and 

Piacenza), Cardinal, 3, 24, 

35. 39. 73. 75 n. 2, 81, 137 

n. 2, 160, 166, 172, 292. 

Sebastian (King of Portugal), 

256, 272. 

Selvago, G., 132 n. 3. 

Serbelloni, Gabrio (captain of 

the Papal guards), 6. 

Serbelloni, Gian Antonio, Cardinal, 

7, 16. 

Sergiusti, Niccolo, 131 n. 3. 

Seripando, Girolamo, Cardinal, 

195 n. 5. 

Sermoneta, Cardinal, 28 seq. 

Serristori (Florentine ambassador 

in Rome), 10, 36 n. i, 

57, 65 n. I, 144 n. 2, 266, 

303- 

Sforza, Alessandro, Cardinal, 

7, II, 22, 28, 37, 199, 2i6n. 

Sighicelli, Giov. Batt. (Bishop of 

Faenza), 313 n. i. 

Sigismund Augustus (King of 

Poland), 128 n. 4, 299. 

Siguenza, Rodrigo de, 285. 

Simancas, Didaco de (Bishop 

of Badajoz), 345 n. 2, 352, 

354- 

Simoncelli, Cardinal ,7, 178 n. 5. 

Simonetta, Cardinal, 4, 7, 24, 

29 n , 81, 368, 377, 379. 

Sirleto, Cardinal, 3 seq., 7, 27, 

37 seq., 43 n., 71, 81, 129, 

132, 159, 184 n. 4, 192, 

195 n. I, 196 n. 2, 198 seq., 

291. 335 n. 2. 

Sixtus of Siena (Biblical critic), 

130. 

Sixtus IV., Pope, 171. 

Sixtus v.. Pope, 159, 234, 257 

n. 4, 258. 

Socinus, Fausto, 380. 

Socinus, Lelio, 380. 


Soius [Soya], Philip (engraver), 

52 n. I. 

Soriano, Michele (Venetian envoy), 

64. 

Sormani, Giov. Franc. (Bishop 

of Montefeltro), 190, 217 n. 

4, 261 n. 

Soto, Dom. de (O.P.), 355. 

Souchier, Jerome (Abbot-general 

of the Cistercians), 

Cardinal, 156, 158 seq., 

198. 

Spinola, Pubho Franc, (heretic), 

317 n. 

Sprenger, Bartholomew (painter), 

127. 

Stephanis, Bonif. de (Bishop 

of Stagno), 262 n. 

Stronconio, Angelus de (Observant), 

257 n. 5. 

Strozzi (Imperial agent), 87 

nn., 146, 169, 289 n. 3. 

Stuerdo, Carlo (envoy from 

Parma), 87 n. 4. 

Sudi, Marco (hat-maker), 223. 

Surius (hagiographer), 203. 

Tapper, Ruard (chancellor of 

Louvain university), 370. 

Taxis, Giov. Ant. de, 304 n. 4. 

Temudo, George (Archbp. of 

Goa), 210. 

Teresa, St., 237 n., 275 seqq. 

Terranuova, Duke of, 159. 

Thomas Aquinas, St. ,119, 129, 

165, 200 seq., 242, 278. 

Thomas of Villanova, 207, 236 

n. 3. 

Tiepolo, Paolo (Venetian envoy), 

41 n. 5, 52 n. I, 96 

nn., loi, 169, 291, 313, 

315- 

Tiletanus, see Ravestein. 

Toledo (S.J.), 348. 

Torre, Michele della (Bishop of 

Ceneda, nuncio), 161 n. i. 

Torrentius, Lavinius (poet), 130 

n. 7. 

Tosabezzo, Franc. (Mantuan 

ambassador in Rome), 2 

n. 5- 

Trani, Cardinal, see Scotti. 

Trennbach, Urban von (Bishop 

of Passau), 205.

438 

Trinita, Delia, Count, 48. 

Truchsess, Otto (Bishop of 

Augsburg), Cardinal, 162, 

193. 214, 341 n. 3. 

UcHANZKi, Jac. (Archbp. of 

Gnesen), 214 n. 4. 

Urban VIII., Pope, 234. 

Urbino, Cardinal, see Rovere, 

Giulio della. 

Urfinus, see Orfino. 

Valiero, Agostino (Bishop of 

Verona), 217, 218 n. i, 

248 n. 2. 

Valtodano, Christophorus, F. 

de (Bishop of Palencia), 

211 n. I. 

Vargas (Spanish ambassador), 

18. 

Vasari, Giorgio (painter, arthistorian), 

118 seq., 122, 

127. 

Vecchi (banker at Rome and 

Siena), 94. 

Velde, Franc, van den (Bishop 

of Bois-le-Duc), 232 n. 5. 

Veles, Marquis de, 174 n. 

Verallo, Archbishop, 221 n. i. 

Vettori, P., 132 n. 3. 

Vignola, Giacinto (painter), 123. 

Vignola, Giac. Barozzi da 

(artist), I n. 2. 

Vignola, Jacopo (architect), 

123, 125 n. 

Villalpanda, Bern, de (Bishop 

of Guatemala), 210. 

Villavincentio, Lorenzo de 

(Augustinian hermit), 373. 


Vincent of Beauvais, 119. 

VitelU, Vincenzo, Cardinal, 7, 

15, 22, 30, 32, 35, 73, 75, 

78 seqq., 83, 133, 137 n. 2, 

153. 178 n. 5. 

Volpi, Giov. Ant. (Bishop of 

Como), 212 n. 3. 

Volterra, Daniele da (painter), 

120. 

Volterra, Ulisse da, 127 n. 4. 

Walhain, Max de (Archbp. of 

Cambrai),209n, 5, 232 n. 5, 

273- 

Weydecker (protestant in 

Padua), 331. 

Wied, Frederick von (Archbp. 

of Cologne), 210 n. i, 229. 

Wirsberg, Friedrich von (Bishop 

of Wurzburg), 211 n. 2, 

214 n. 

Zambeccari, Pompeius (Bishop 

of Sulmona), 261 n. 

Zanetti, Guido, da Fano (heretic), 

307 n. I, 317. 

Zoppio, Hieron. (poet), 129 

n. I. 

Zuccaro, Taddeo (painter), 127 

n. 4. 

Zucchi (pupil of Vasari), 118 n. 

I. 

Zufiiga, Juan de (Spanish envoy 

in Rome), 161 n. i, 162 

seq., 168 seq., 255, 347 n. 2, 

348 n. 3, 350, 352-356. 

361 seqq. 

Zufiiga Avellaneda, Gaspar de. 

Cardinal, 161 n. i, 164.

DATE DUE

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