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"'HISTORY OF THE (POPES/, THEIR CHURCH AND ST
v BY LEOPOLD VON RANKE
TRANSLATED BY E. FOWLER
WILLIAM CLARK, M.A., LL.D., D.C.L.
COPYRIGHT, 1901
BY THE COLONIAL PRESS

SPECIAL INTRODUCTION
LEOPOLD VON RANKE won for himself a position
among the historians of the world which he is never
likely to lose. Whether we consider the width and
depth of his erudition, the impartial spirit in which he conducted his investigations, or the comprehensiveness of his historical views, we must pronounce him to be the type of the scientific
historian and the model who may be safely imitated by all his successors. The long list of his compositions bears sufficient testimony to his unwearying industry.
It would hardly be possible to set forth the qualities of this great historian better than was done on the occasion of his death, in May, 1886, by one of the first of our English historians,
Dr. S. R. Gardiner.
He truly remarks that to speak of Ranke" as the greatest historian of his time is to fail to appreciate his work at its due value. He was more than this. He was a path-maker, and that, too, not in one direction only. . . .
He developed instinctively in himself all the tendencies which were to appear in the collective work of a younger generation.
It would have been much for any man to lead the way in the conscientious use of manuscript authorities, or in the divorce of history from modern politics, or in the search into the roots of character and action in the mental and moral attainments of
each special period. It was Ranke's glory, not only to have pointed the way in all these matters, but in one respect to have reached an achievement which was all his own. No one else has been able to speak with equal authority on the history of so many nations.
Ranke was equally at home in the Germany of the Reformation, in the France of Louis XIV, and in the England of Charles I and Cromwell."
It can hardly be said to derogate from the peculiar character and excellency of Von Range's work that he lived through the most eventful period in the history of the world, and that the state of Germany during his youth almost constrained him to give his attention to the history of the other nations of Europe; and it may have arisen as much from his circumstances as from his temperament that he showed more interest in the doings of statesmen than in the lives and characters of the actors in the dramas whose progress he narrates. One advantage atleast results from his lack of enthusiasm, that he does not, like Macaulay, write under the perpetual bias of political sentiment. We can always follow him withou. the slightest fear of being misled by the prejudices of the writer.
If Ranke had begun his historical investigations at a somewhat later period, his tone might have been different.
The fallof the great Napoleon took place when he was barely twenty years of age, and he was nearly seventy-five when the second Napoleon proclaimed war upon Prussia and gave occasion for the foundation of the new German Empire. The greater part of his historical work was accomplished in the interval between these two events.
Ranke was born December 21, 1795, at Wiehe, a small town of Thiiringia, about twenty-seven miles from Merseburg, capital of the government of the same name in Prussian Saxony. He studied at the Gymnasium of Schulpforta, and subsequently at the University of Leipzig under the eminent Greek scholar Hermann, by whom he was guided to the study of the his torians of antiquity. On leaving the university in 1818, he was made professor of history at the Gymnasium of Frankfort on-the-Oder, a position in which he was enabled to give the greater part of his thoughts to the study of history, especially to the latter part of the fifteenth century and to the sixteenth. As a result of these studies, he published, in 1824, his first contributions to history, namely, a " History of the Latin and Germanic Nations " (" Geschichte der romanischt,,, und germanischen Volker ") and " Contributions to the Critical Study of some Modern Historians" (" Kritik neuerer Geschicht schreiber"). In the latter work he laid down the true principles of historical composition, the scientific methods which he was henceforth to inculcate by precept and example. It has been remarked that these treatises are characterized by a certain crudeness of style. Germans, as a people, have never greatly excelled in this respect, and German literature had had only a short life when Ranke began to write. It is, however, more worthy of note that, even in these earlier compositions, the historian already displayed the clearness of insight, the scientific instinct, the comprehensiveness of view which he never lost.
The first publications of Ranke were so remarkable, especially as being the work of a man living at a distance from great public libraries, that we cannot wonder that they soon came under the notice of the Minister of Public Education, who lost no time in appointing the author Professor extraordinarius in
the University of Berlin (1825). In this new post he had much greater facilities for carrying on his historical studies and investigations. At Berlin, in the collection of the Royal Library, he discovered in manuscript the " Secret Relations of the Venetian Ambassadors," giving an account of their diplo-
matic missions to the various countries of Europe. Ranke immediately perceived the importance of these documents, and embodied much of their contents in a volume on the " Princes and Peoples of Southern Europe in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries" (" Fursten u. Volker von Sudeuropa"),
published in 1827, and republished fifty years afterward under the title " The Ottomans and the Spanish Monarchy in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries." We can hardly overestimate the importance of the work of Ranke in bringing to
the light documents hitherto concealed from the public eye.
At the present day such collections are for the most part accessible to all students of history; and it is to Ranke more than anyone else that we are indebted for the change.
In 1827 he obtained the means of visiting some of the great libraries and depositories of documents in Southern Europe; so that he was able to spend four years in Venice, Vienna, Rome, and Florence, where he discovered much material available for future use. Returning to Berlin, he gave himself with great
devotion to the duties of -his chair, while he afforded proofs of the value of his researches in the South by several publications, among others a history of the Servian Revolution ("Die serbische Revolution, 1829 "). One of his most important
undertakings about this time was the " Historical and Political Journal" (" Historische-politische Zeitschrift"), 1832-1836.
In this review several valuable studies, on the different forms of government and other subjects, appeared, and were afterward republished in his collected works. But the work which first gave Ranke his assured place among the great historians of the world was that which is presented in these volumes " The Popes of Rome, their Church and State, in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries " (" Die
Romanischen Pabste, ihre Kirche und ihr Stoat im XVI und XVII Jahrhundert"), of which the first volume appeared in 1834 and the third and last in 1837. To this great work we shall presently return, so that here it may suffice to remark that the work was universally recognized as both adequate and impar-
tial, so that it has been translated into the principal languages of Europe, and by three different translators into English. It is truly remarked by a French writer that never before had
there proceeded from a Protestant pen an estimate so impartial of the political and religious situation of the epoch of the great crisis of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, a picture so striking of the part of the Catholic Church in those times of
strife and trouble, or a description so intelligent and sagacious of all those pontiffs who occupied the Holy See during that period, from Leo X to Paul IV and Sixtus V. " It was," the writer remarks, " great history, written by a man who loved truth for itself, one who knew well the heart of man, and who was no less able to set forth, in artistic fashion, the discoveries of the scholar and the judgments of the moralist."
Soon afterward Ranke put forth the first volume of a work which in some measure was complementary to his " History of the Popes," the " History of Germany in the Time of the Reformation " ("Deutsche Geschichte im Zeitalter der Reformation "). The work extended to six volumes, published from 1839 to 1847.
From this time, although individuals might
prefer one or another of the historians of Germany, the general verdict gave to Ranke a place of supremacy among them. Men who were put forward as having a superior claim as historians are now almost forgotten. A whole school of historical writers has sprung from him. He is the father of Neander and Gieseler and of many more. The great Niebuhr gave him the first place; and Dollinger pronounced him to be" Prceceptor Germanics.
The " History of the Popes " had made Ranke Ordinary
Professor of history at Berlin, and in 1841 he became historiographer royal. In recognition of this honor he put forth a work of less interest, " Nine [afterward twelve] Books of Prussian History " (" Neun Bilcher preussischer Geschichte "), in three
volumes, 1847-1848. It will be remembered that this was not a time quite favorable for such a publication. This was followed by a history of France principally in the sixteenth and seven-
teenth centuries (" Franzosische Geschichte vornehmlich im XVI und XVII Jahrhundert"), in five volumes, 1852-1861. When it is remembered that this history covers the period of time that lies between Francis I and Louis XIV, the time of French supremacy in Europe, a supremacy gained by so many
doubtful means, it will be understood how arduous and delicate was the task imposed upon himself by a German writer; yet it is confessed that Ranke has marshalled his facts and pronounced his judgments, with a calmness and an impartiality which could hardly be excelled. Michelet speaks of it as a
work beyond all praise.
The next important work of our historian was one in which English-speaking men and women, whether in Great Britain or in the Western Hemisphere, have a nearer and warmer in terest. Ranke's " History of England principally in the Seventeenth Century " (" Englische Geschichte vornehmlich im XVI und XVII Jahrhundert") was published in six volumes (1859-
1867), and a later edition in nine (1870-1874).
The author had thus taken up in turn the histories of Spain, of Italy, of France, of Germany, and of England, tracing the rise and development of those great nations and examining their mutual influence during the most critical periods of their history. If this great work lacks something of the vivacity of his earlier writings, it is not inferior to them in the vastness of the knowledge which it displays nor yet in the sagacity and fairness of its judgments.

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When the last volume of his English history was published Ranke was in his eightieth year, and might well have claimed the repose which he had so well earned. But he could not yet feel that his work was done, and so he began the issue of a series of treatises on German history intended as supple-
mentary to his previous writings on this subject. Among these may merely be mentioned a " History of Germany between the Religious Peace and the Thirty Years' War " (1868), a " His tory of Wallenstein" (1869), "The German Powers and the League of Princes" (1872), "Contributions to the His-
tory of Austria and Prussia between the Treaties of Aachen and Hubertsburg " (1875), " The Origin and Beginning of the Revolutionary War" (1875), "The Memories of Hardenburg" (1877). But a still grander scheme hovered before the imagination of the aged historian. This .was nothing less than the idea of a universal history. The first volume of this great undertaking appeared in 1880,and year after year saw the appearance of a new volume,reaching to the number of twelve, when death cut short the work, May 23, 1886, while he was occupied with the Middle Ages. The work was not a history in the ordinary sense of the word: it was not a continuous narrative of events connected with particular countries or epochs. It was rather a commentary upon the history of the world and presupposed a considerable knowledge of facts on the part of the reader.
It was a review of history by a great savant and a great thinker,who could cast his eye over the large area before him, and speak with the authority of knowledge and wisdom of the men and the events of the past, and give us out of his own fulness a true conception of the philosophy of history.
Few men have labored more assiduously, more devotedly than Ranke. Few men have been more loyal to the idea of life and work which they set before themselves. It may also be said that few men have obtained more generous recognition from their own age and from those in authority. From the government he received every kind of assistance, and by the
royal family he was treated as an intimate friend. In 1865 he was raised to the nobility. In 1867 he was made a member of the Order of Merit, and in 1882 a privy councillor. In 1885 his ninetieth birthday was kept as a public holiday, while the Emperor visited him at his house and personally offered
his congratulations.
An interesting account of the personal appearance of von Ranke is given by a writer in " Blackwood's Magazine " (August, 1886) : " Long ago, about the time of the great war, I often met him, most commonly in the Thiergarten [in Berlin] ;the small figure he was not much over five feet and the peculiarly finely poised head with the clear outline of the face, readily recognizable from afar. He had a curious old-fashioned way of saluting ladies, even out-of-doors, with a kisson either cheek, after first asking permission in a formula which carried one back to Minna von Barnhelm and Chodowiecki's drawings. So kindly and so funny, too, it was. He was very small in stature, but few men have made such a majestic impression. The head was superb, finely chiselled, with a great arched forehead, exceedingly mobile lips, covered only during the last few years of his life by a long white beard, and very bright eyes, with an incessantly inquiring and keenly interested look. He seemed to send this look before him, to recognize and to welcome." (Sophie Weisse.) The same writer tells us that she heard from Ranke of an American who had visited
him and asked whether he expected to finish his great undertaking, the " Weltgeschichte." " Lieber Freund" said the great historian, " ich glaube " and here with an implied religious faith " und wenn Gott will dass ich mein werk vollende, so werde ich es vollenden. Yes," he went on, " it is finished, the whole f Weltgeschichte ' is finished here," touch-
ing his head ; " but from one's head to the pen is a long way : so many a thing must be gone over again, many facts settled and confirmed, much elaborated [ausgearbeitet] as it should be." Being asked whether he did not enjoy his work, he replied : " My work ? Oh, surely ! It is my life. I live to work.
As long as I live, I shall work " with that magnificent upward look, says the writer, which those who have seen it will not readily forget.
Those who may wish for illustrations of the industry and insight, both almost superhuman, of the great historian, may safely be referred to a most valuable collection of historical and biographical essays (" Historisch - biographische Studien")published by him in 1877. These " Studies " deal with several subjects of great difficulty, and are not only monuments of the wonderful patience and perseverance of the antiquary, but are striking exemplifications of the penetrating intelligence of the historian. One example may here be noticed, as a spedmen of the acuteness and insight of the historian in discerning
the respective authority of historical testimony and solving a problem which had presented great difficulties to previous writers. We refer to the interview between Lorenzo de' Medici and Savonarola, when the former lay dying.
It is well known that two different accounts have been given of the incident, Roscoe and others preferring to follow the testimony of Politian, while Villari and others followed the two biographers of Savonarola, Pico della Mirandola, and Bur lamacchi, both friends of the great Frate. The differences had reference to several points; for example, the way in which Savonarola came to visit the dying man at all. According to Roscoe, Savonarola almost forced his presence upon Lorenzo :
according to the other side, Lorenzo sent and entreated him to come; and Savonarola reluctantly consented, being persuaded that no good result could be hoped for. Passing over the fact that Roscoe adds considerable details, not contained in his authorities, we note that there were various incidents in the accounts of the interview which could not be reconciled. For example, according to Pico and Burlamacchi, Savonarola demanded of Lorenzo that he should restore " liberty to his native country, as it was in the early days of Florence," and that Lorenzo, while ready to confess his faith in God and his need of divine mercy, and even to restore money which he had wrongfully taken away, resisted this attack upon the pride and ambition of his family, and angrily turned his back upon the friar, refusing to utter another word.
Writers who took the view most favorable to Savonarola had urged, first, that Politian was not present during the whole of the interview. In his letter describing the last days of Lorenzo's life, he states that he several times went into an adjoining chamber ; and another witness asserts expressly that, " during the interview, the others left the room." Further, it has been urged that the facts generally must have been communicated by Savonarola himself to his biographers, while
their account is intrinsically the more probable. On the whole,the weight of evidence seemed decidedly on the side of Savon arola. Yet the difficulties were so great that writers like Perrens and Milman took the other view, and this to a large extent on account of a passage in the narrative of Burlamacchi.
This writer relates that Lorenzo said he had three sins to confess, for which he asked absolution : the sack of Volterra ; the money taken from the Monte delle Fanciulle, whereby a number of orphan girls were reduced to destitution ; and the bloodshed in punishing those who were implicated in the Pozzi con-spiracy.
It has naturally been objected that these circumstances could not have been known without a violation of the secrecy of the confessional; and this was a difficulty not easily surmounted. But here, as in so many historical questions of dif ficulty, the genius of the historian triumphed. Previous writers had generally assumed that the biography of Burlamacchi, as coming from a member of the Dominican order, must be of greater authority than that of Pico. But Ranke shows conclusively that, if we follow the lead of Pico, most of the difficulties connected with the interview will disappear. In the first place the so-called confession of Lorenzo, recorded by Burlamacchi, falls away, having no place in the story told by
Pico. In the second place, the account given by the latter presents no difficulties. It may be well to state the case in Ranke's own words (" Studien" s. 350) : " According to Pico, Savonarola declined to hear a formal confession from Lorenzo until he had satisfied him on three points. Above all he must have faith. Next he must restore the money provided as the dower for young girls, which he had appropriated, or else give orders to his heirs to do so. To the first Lorenzo consented, and he promised to take care for the second. Then, it is said, Savonarola brought forward the third point, he must restore her liberty to Florence. ' Libertatem patriae restitue, ut in statu pristine Florentine, respub lica collocetur* All this is repeated by Burlamacchi, as follows : ' E necessario che si restituisca Firenze in liberta e net suo stato populare a uso di repubblica' But then he adds a
statement which is inconsistent with the narrative of Pico into which he brings it : he represents Lorenzo as confessing three principal sins ; referring to the testimony of trustworthy sure-
ties. In this case, however, the testimony is not credible; for in such a case there would be a violation of the secrecy of the confessional. The incident, therefore, as reported by Burlamacchi, is impossible. But there is no such impossibility in the narrative of Pico. It is quite consistent with what Politian says, namely, that he exhorted Lorenzo to a virtuous life, to which it is quite natural that other particulars should be added of which Politian was not aware ; and Savonarola might speak
of such exhortations as were not connected with a regular confession. Even in this view many difficulties remain; and I do not put forward these suggestions as a complete solution. It is clear, however, that Pico hands on the original tradition as it was held by the followers of the Frate, whereas in Burlamacchi there is much that is fabulous and impossible." Here is an example of careful investigation and penetrating historical criticism which may be regarded as a model by all
laboring in the same field. It may be mentioned, in regard to this particular case, that Dr. Bass Mullinger, Professor of history in the University of Cambridge, who had previously followed Milman here, after reading von Ranke's essay, declared, in a letter to the present writer, that it was conclusive
in regard to this particular incident, and especially in regard to the respective merits of the biographers of Savonarola. And now, turning to the great work before us, the " History of the Popes, their Church and State; and especially their conflicts with Protestantism in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries," it is obvious to remark that the book, which is admirably written and well translated, will here tell its own story. Moreover, its moral has been set forth in the brilliant pages of Macaulay, in his well known essay on " Von Ranke."
As this essay is within the easy reach of all, we will make only two extracts from it. In the first place we have Macaulay's judgment of the characteristic merits of this history. It " is known and esteemed," he says, " wherever German literature is studied, and has been found interesting in a most inaccurate and dishonest French version. It is indeed the workof a mind fitted both for minute researches and for large speculations. It is written also in an admirable spirit, equally remote from levity and bigotry, serious and earnest, yet tolerant and impartial." So much for the general historical characterof the book.
The special teaching of the history is pointed out with equalforce and precision. Macaulay states it in this fashion : " Thesubject of this book has always appeared to us singularly interesting. How it was that Protestantism did so much, yet did no more, how it was that the Church of Rome, having lost a
large part of Europe, not only ceased to lose, but actually regained nearly half of what she had lost, is certainly a mostcurious and important question ; and on this question Professor Ranke has thrown far more light than any other person whohas written on it." This is high praise, and we are not aware
that any critic has ever called it in question.In regard to the papacy, Ranke struck the true historicalnote near the beginning of his history. Speaking of the process by which the Church came to be constituted on the modelof the empire, he remarks : " No long time had elapsed before the bishops of Rome acquired the supremacy. It is indeed a vain pretence to assert that this supremacy was universally acknowledged by East and West, even in the first century, or,indeed, at any time, but it is equally certain that they quicklygained a preeminence, raising them far above other ecclesiastical dignitaries." So far we discern the calm judgment ofthe impartial historian, simply desirous of ascertaining andstating the truth.
Equally fair and accurate is his statement of the causes whichproduced the state of things in which the Roman pontiffs became supreme. " Many causes concurred to secure them this position; for if the relative importance of each provincial capital secured to its bishop a corresponding weight and dignity, how much more certainly would this result take place asregarded the ancient capital of the empire, that city whence the whole had derived its name? Rome was, besides, one of the most illustrious seats of the apostles [if by that the author means see, the seat of an episcopate, we must hesitate to follow him] ; here had the greater number of the martyrs shed their blood. The bishops of Rome had displayed the most undaunted firmness throughout the different persecutions, and had sometimes been scarcely installed in their sacred office before they followed their predecessor in the path of that martyrdom by which his seat had been vacated." It is an admirable statement of the process by which the bishops of Rome rose to their proud pre-eminence in the Church of Christ ; and if the story has now become familiar to us, it is perhaps owing to Ranke more than to any other writer that it has become so.
Equally excellent is his sketch of the relation of the papacy to the empire during the Middle Ages.
It is, however, when the historian reaches the period to which his volumes are specially devoted that we recognize the fulness of his knowledge, the firmness of his grasp, and his great power of presentation, by which he sets before us the succes-
sive stages in the history of the Church; on the one hand bringing out the essential character of the period and of the men who determined the direction of events; on the other, furnishing such details in the life and work of men as lend a living interest to the story which he narrates. And_ everywhere we remark the same calm spirit of loyalty to the truth
of history, without a leaning in favor of the side he would N ' himself espouse or any indication of antagonism to that which he would condemn. Whether he tells of the great advances made by the Reformation in its earlier periods, or of the re-
action in the Counter-Reformation, when Rome won back much of that which she had lost, it is the historian that is speaking,not the partisan.
This is remarkable in Ranke's dealing with the popes. Even Alexander VI is treated with a kind of courtesy while the plain truth is told about him. Leo X, the " elegant pagan Pope," as Carlyle called him, has full justice done to him, although the
widest charity could hardly speak of him as a Christian in faith or practice. Some of the popes that follow evoke a keener interest, but all stand before us as living men whom we know, and who, we feel sure, are represented to us as they lived,
nothing extenuated, nor aught set down in malice.
Not less remarkable and commendable are those passageswhich tell of the relations of the papacy to foreign countries,of the terrible invasion of Italy, for example, by the Germanarmies of Charles V, and the sack of Rome, when " the bloodthirsty soldiery, hardened by long privations and rendered savage by their trade, burst over the devoted city." The resultof this terrible invasion is told in a few words which stampthemselves upon the memory. " How vivid a lustre was castover the beginning of the sixteenth century by the splendorof Rome : it designates a period most influential in the develop-
ment of the human mind. This day saw the light of thatsplendor extinguished forever."
No less striking is the brief but relatively complete account iven of the loss of England under Elizabeth to the papacy.Ater speaking of the violent and impolitic conduct of Paul V, he adds, " Thus had Elizabeth not been disposed to the pinion of the Protestants, the force of her circumstances would
have compelled her to adopt that party." In eference to this and other imprudences of the papacy, the author remarks:" We are warranted in declaring that the popedom seemeddestined to suffer no injury to which it had not itself conduced,in one way or another, by its tendency to interference in polit-
ical affairs." As a result of the aggressions of the reformingparty and the unwisdom of Rome, heremarks : " And now,if we survey the world from the heights of Rome, how enormous were the losses sustained by the Catholic faith ! Scandinavia and Great Britain had wholly departed; Germany was almost entirely Protestant ; Poland and Hungary were in fierce tumult of opinion ; in Geneva was to be found as important a central point for the schismatics of the Latin nations and of the West, as was Wittenberg for those of Germanic race and the East, while numbers were already gathering beneath the banners of Protestantism in France and the Netherlands."
It seemed as though victory were assured to the Protestantfaith and Europe were lost to Rome. But the history before us tells another tale. It would be interesting to linger here over the pages in which Ranke tells of the means whereby the tide of conquest was rolled back, how practical abuses were met and remedied by the great Council of Trent ; how the mighty society founded by Loyola brought help and strength to the wavering armies of Rome ; how Austria, to her own great and irreparable loss, crushed the growing spirit of reform within her borders, and helped to desolate Germany at large in the Thirty Years' War ; how France, at one time almost a reformed country, underwent reaction and finally drove some of her noblest sons, because they were Protestants, from her borders ; and how the endless divisions and conflicts among the Protestants themselves furnished arms to their adversaries and weakened their own power of aggression, but these things will be found told in the pages before us ; and it is our present busi-
ness to assure the reader that he will not find the details of the story wearisome, uninteresting, or uninstructive.To those who are familiar with other historical writings treating of the same period, it will be a matter of astonishment toobserve how little Ranke owes to those who had gone before
him, and how little is added to his representation of the subject by those who have come after him. It has often been said that Ranke was the founder of a school, the initiator of a method, in history ; and the statement is hardly too strong. At least it is a true verdict which declares that he has here given
us history, and not the personal feelings of a partisan, and that
he has given us not only history, but literature, showing that
the noble language which he wielded was adapted, not merely
for setting forth the investigations of science and the specula-
tions of philosophy, but also for clothing human thought and
historical facts in garments of grace and beauty.

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HE power of Rome in the early and Middle Ages is universally known: in modern times, also, she has exercised renewed influence over the world. After the decline of her importance, in the first half of the sixteenth century, she once more raised herself to be the centre of faith and opinion to the Romanic nations of southern Europe, and madebold, and often successful, attempts to recover her dominion
over those of the North.
This period of a revived church-temporal power its renotion and internal development its progress and decline itis my purpose to describe, at least in outline; an undertakingwhich, however imperfectly it may be performed, could never have been attempted, had I not found opportunity to avail myself of certain materials hitherto unknown. My first duty is
to give a general indication of these materials and their sources.
In an earlier work* I have already stated the contents of our Berlin MSS. ; but Vienna is incomparably richer than Berlin in treasures of this kind.
Besides its essentially German character, Vienna possessesalso an element more extensively European: the most diversified manners and languages meet in all classes, from the highestto the lowest, and Italy in particular is fully and vividly represented. Even the collections in this city present a comprehensiveness of characterattributable to the policy of the state and its geographical position ; to its ancient connection with Spain, Belgium, and Lombardy ; and to its proximity to and ecclesiastical relations with Rome. The Viennese have from the earliesttimes displayed a taste for collecting, possessing, and preserving ; whence it arises that even the original and purely national
collections of the imperial library are of great value: to thesevarious foreign collections have since been added. A numberof volumes similar to the Berlin Informazioni were purchased
* In the Preface to the " Ottoman and Spanish Empires in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries."at Modena, from the house of Rangone ; from Venice were acquired the invaluable manuscripts of the Doge Marco Foscarini ; including his materials for a continuation of his literaryundertaking, the '" Italian Chronicles," of which no trace is elsewhere to be found ; and the bequest of Prince Eugene added a rich collection of historical and political manuscripts, which had been formed, with comprehensive judgment, by that dis-
tinguished statesman. The reader is animated by feelings of pleasure and hope on examining the catalogues and perceiving the many unexplored sources of knowledge that will enable him to supply the deficiencies manifest in almost all printed works of modern history. A whole futurity of study! And at the distance of a few steps only, Vienna presents literary subsidies still more important. The imperial archives contain, as might be expected, the most authentic and valuable records for the elucidation of German, and general, but particularly of Italian history. It is true that the greater part of the Venetian archives has been restored, after many wanderings, to Venice ; but there still remains in Vienna a mass of Venetian manuscripts far from unimportant ; despatches, original or copied, and abstracts thereof made for the use of the State, and called " Rubricaries;" reports which, in many instances, are the only copies extant; official registers of public functionaries, chronicles, and diaries. The notices to be found in the present volumes relating to Gregory XIII and Sixtus V are for the most part derived from the archives of Vienna. I cannot sufficiently acknowledge the unconditional liberality with which I was permitted to have access to these treasures. And perhaps I ought here to particularize the many and various aids afforded me in furtherance of my attempt, both athome and abroad, but I feel restrained by a scruple (whetherwell-founded or not, I am unable to decide) that I should have to mention so many names, some of them of great eminence, as would give my gratitude the appearance of vain-glory; and a work which has every reason to present itself modestly might assume an air of ostentation ill suited to its pretensions. Next to Vienna, my attention was principally directed to Venice and Rome.It was formerly the almost invariable practice of great houses in Venice to form a cabinet of manuscripts, as an adjunct to the library. It was in the nature of things that these would relate principally to the affairs of the republic. They served to show the part taken by the respective families in public af-
fairs, and were preserved as records and memorials of the house, for the instruction of its younger members. Some of these private collections still remain, and I had access to several ; but much the larger number were destroyed in the general ruin
of 1797, or since. If more have been preserved than might have been expected, the gratitude of the world is due chiefly to the librarians of St. Mark, who labored to save, from the universal wreck, whatever the utmost resources of their institution would permit them to secure. Accordingly this library
possesses a considerable store of manuscripts, indispensable to the history of the city and State, and which are even valuable aids toward that of Europe. But the inquirer must not expect too much from it: it is a somewhat recent acquisition;
gathered, almost at hazard, from private collections; incomplete and without unity of plan. It is not to be compared with the riches of theranged. I have already given a sketch of the Venetian archives, in my inquiry into the conspiracy of 1618, and will not repeat what I there said. For my Roman investigations, the reports of the ambassadors returning from Rome were above all desirable ; but I had great reason to wish for assistance from other collections, because none is free from lacuna, and these archives must necessarily have sustained losses in their many
wanderings. In different places I gathered together fortyeight reports relating to Rome : the oldest dating from the year 1500; nineteen of the sixteenth, twenty-one of the seventeenth century : these formed an almost complete series, having only a few breaks here and there. Of the eighteenth century there were, it is true, only eight, but these, too, were very instructive and welcome. In the majority of cases I saw and used the originals. They contain a great number of interesting notices,
the results of personal observation, which had passed out of memory with the generation. It was from these that I first de rived the idea of a continued narrative, and these also inspired me with courage to attempt it. It will be obvious that Rome alone could supply the means for verifying and extending these materials. But was it to be expected that a foreigner, and one professing a different faith, would there be permitted to have free access to the public collections, for the purpose of revealing the secrets of the papacy ? This would not perhaps have been so ill-advised as it may appear, since no search can bring to light anything worse than what is already assumed by unfounded conjecture, and received by the world as established
truth. But I cannot boast of having had any such permission. I was enabled to take cognizance of the treasures contained in the Vatican, and to use a number of volumes suited to my purpose; but the freedom of access which I could have wished was by no means accorded. Fortunately, however, other col-
lections were thrown open to me, from which I could acquire information, which, if not complete, was very extensive and authentic. In the flourishing times of aristocracy, more particularly in the seventeenth century, it was customary throughout
Europe for the great families, who had administered the affairs of state, to retain possession of some of the public documents. This practice prevailed in Rome to a greater extent, perhaps,than in any other State. The reigning kinsmen of the pontiff, who in all ages exercised considerable power, usually be-
queathed as an heir-loom to the princely houses they founded a large part of the state papers accumulated during their administration. These constituted a part of the family endowments. In the palaces which they erected, a few rooms, usually in the upper part of the building, were always reserved for books and manuscripts, which each succeeding generation con-
tributed to enrich. Thus, to a certain extent the private collections of Rome may be regarded as the public ones, as the archives of state were dispersed among the descendants of reigning houses, without any objection being made to the practice; much in the same manner as the redundancy of public
wealth was suffered to flow into the coffers of the papal kindred,and certain private galleries, such as the Borghese or Doria,became greatly superior to the Vatican, both in extent and historical importance, though the latter is distinguished by its selection of masterpieces. The manuscripts which are preserved in the Barberini, Chigi, Altieri, Albani, and Corsini palaces are accordingly of inestimable value, for the aid they give toward a history of the popes, their State and Church. The state-paper office, recently established, is particularly important for its collection of registers illustrative of the Middle Ages; which, as regards that period, will still repay the inquirer ; but,
so far as my knowledge extends, I do not believe that much is to be gained from it for later centuries. Its value sinks into in significance, unless I have been purposely deceived, when com-
pared with the wealth and magnificence of private collections. Each of these comprises, as may be readily supposed, that epoch in which the pope of the family reigned ; but as the kindred of each pontiff usually retained an eminent station ; as men are in general desirous of extending and completing a collection once begun, and as opportunities were frequent in Rome, from the literary traffic in manuscripts established there; so the whole of these private collections possess many valuable documents illustrating other periods, both proximate and remote. The richest of all (in consequence of important bequests) is the Barberini; that of the Corsini Palace has been remarkable from its commencement for the care and judgment with which it has been formed. I was fortunately permitted to use all these collections, as well as others of less importance ; and in some instances with unrestricted freedom. An unhoped-for harvest of authentic and suitable materials thus lay before me. As for example, correspondences of the nuncios ( 'nunciatures ),with the instructions given to them, and the reports which were brought back; circumstantial biographies of different popes, written with the more freedom, because not intended for the public; lives of distinguished cardinals; official and private journals ; investigations of particular circumstances and transactions ; special opinions and deliberations ; reports on the ad-
ministration of the provinces, their trade and manufactures; statistical tables, and accounts of receipts and disbursements. These documents, for the most part entirely unknown, were prepared by men practically acquainted with their subject, and
of a credibility which, though it does not supersede the necessity for a searching and critical examination, is equal to that usually accorded to the testimony of well-informed contem poraries. The oldest of these MSS. of which I made use related to the conspiracy of the Porcari against Nicholas V. Of
the fifteenth century I met with only a few ; but on entering the sixteenth, they became more numerous and more comprehensive at every step. Through the whole course of the seventeenth century, during which so little is known with certainty respecting Rome, they afford information, the more valuable be-
cause of its previous dearth. After the commencement of the eighteenth century, they decrease in number and intrinsic value ; but at that time the Roman State and court had already lost much of their influence and importance. I will go through those Roman MSS., as well as the Venetian, in detail, at the end of the work, and will there note whatever I may find deserving attention, and which I could not well introduce in the course of the narrative. The large mass of materials, both manuscript and printed, which is lying before me renders a stringent condensation indispensable. An Italian or Roman, a Catholic, would enter on the subject in a spirit very different from mine. By indulging in
expressions of personal veneration, or, perhaps, in the present state of opinion, of personal hatred, he would give to his work a peculiar, and, no doubt, more brilliant coloring; on many points he would be more elaborate, more ecclesiastical, more local. In these respects a Protestant, a North German, can-
not be expected to compete with him. He regards the papal power with feelings of more indifference; and must, from the first, renounce that warmth of expression which arises from partiality or hostility; and which might, perhaps, produce a
certain impression in Europe. For mere matters of ecclesiastical or canonical detail we can have no true sympathy; on the other hand, our position affords us different and, if I am not mistaken, purer and less partial views of history.* For what is there in the present day that can make the history of the papal power of importance to us? Not its particular relation to ourselves ; for it no longer exercises any essential influence, nor does it create in us solicitude of any kind; the
times are past in which we had anything to fear ; we now feel ourselves perfectly secure. Popery can now inspire us with no other interest than what results from the development of its history and its former influence. The papal power was, however, not so unchangeable as is commonly supposed. If we consider the question apart from Nor has any change been produced in found occasion for only slight additions and this respect by the events that have occurred alterations.which in no wise affect the essensince the first edition of this work was pub- tials of the subject.
those principles upon which its existence depends^Q^wtiieh it
cannot abandon without consigning itself to destrucP
shall find it affected, quite as deeply as any other government,and to the very essence of its being, by the various destinies to which the nations of Europe have been subjected. As the history of the world has varied ; as one nation or another has gained the ascendancy ; as the fabric of social life has been disturbed ; so also has the papal power been affected : its maxims,its objects, and its pretensions have undergone essential changes; and its influence, above all, has been subjected to the
greatest variations. If we cast a glance at the long catalogue of names so frequently repeated through successive ages, from Pius I in the second century to our contemporaries Pius VII and VIII in the nineteenth, we receive an impression of uninterrupted stability; but we must not permit ourselves to be misled by the semblance of constancy. The popes of different periods are, in fact, distinguished by differences as strongly marked as those existing between the various dynas-
ties of a kingdom. To us, who are lookers-on at a distance, it is precisely these mutations that present the most interesting subject of contemplation. We see in them a portion of the
history of the world, and of the general progress of mankind ; and this is true, not only of periods when Rome held undisputed sovereignty, but also, and perhaps even more remarkably, of those shaken by the conflicting forces of action and counter action, such as the times which the present work is intended
to comprise the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries times when the papacy was menaced and endangered, yet maintained and fortified itself; nay, even re-extended its influence; striding onward for a period, but at last receding again, and totter-
ing to its fall ; times when the mind of the Western nations was pre-eminently occupied by ecclesiastical questions; and when that power, which, abandoned and assailed by one party, was upheld and defended with fresh zeal by the other, necessarily assumed a station of high and universal importance. It is
from this point of view that our natural position invites us to consider it, and this I will now attempt. I think it appropriate to commence by recalling to the memory of my reader the situation of the papal power in the beginning of the sixteenth century, and the course of events which led thereto.

palmela

CONTENTS
BOOK I
CHAPTER I

EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY
SEC. PAGE

I. Christianity in the Roman Empire 3
2. The Papacy in Connection with the Prankish Empire 10
3. Relation of the Popes to the German Emperors Internal
Progress of the Hierarchy 17
4. Contrasts between the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries 24

CHAPTER II
THE CHURCH AND HER TERRITORIES IN THE BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

I. Extension of the Ecclesiastical States 32
2. Prevalence of Secular Views and Interests in the Church 41
3. Intellectual Tendency 44
4. Opposition to the Papacy in Germany 54

CHAPTER III
POLITICAL COMPLICATIONS CONNECTION BETWEEN THESE AND THE REFORMATION
Under Leo X 57
Under Adrian VI 65
Under Clement VII 70

BOOK II
BEGINNING OF A REGENERATION OF CATHOLICISM
I. Opinions Analogous to those of the Protestants entertained in Italy 92

2. Attempts at Internal Reform and a Reconciliation with the Protestants 100

XXV
xxvi CONTENTS
SEC. PAGB
3. New Ecclesiastical Orders 1 16
4. Ignatius Loyola 123
5. First Sittings of the Council of Trent 135
6. The Inquisition 141
7. Further Progress of the Jesuit Institution 148

Conclusion . 160

BOOK III
THE POPES ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY
I. Paul III 164
2. Julius III Marcellus II 186
3. Paul IV 192
4. Remarks on the Progress of Protestantism during the Pontificate of Paul IV 212
5. Pius IV 217
6. Later Sittings of the Council of Trent 225
7. Pius V 242

BOOK IV
TIMES OF GREGORY XIII AND SIXTUS V
I. Administration of the States of the Church 262
2. Finances 277
3. Gregory XIII 290
4. Sixtus V 302
5. Extirpation of the Banditti 308
6. Characteristics of the Administration 311
7. Finances 318
8. The Public Works of Sixtus V 325
9. Change in the Intellectual Tendency of the Age 334
io. The Curia 346

palmela

BOOK I
CHAPTER FIRST
EPOCHS OF THE PAPACY. A.D. 1-1500

Section I. Christianity in the Roman Empire
IF we examine the condition of the ancient world in its earlier ages, we find it occupied by a great number of independent communities. Seated along the shores of theMediterranean, and extending themselves inland, so far as their knowledge of the country permitted, they dwelt divided intovarious tribes, all originally confined within very narrow limits, but all purely free, and each possessing its own peculiarcharacter and institutions. The independence enjoyed by thesecommunities was not merely political ; an independent religion also had been established by each: the ideas of God and of
divine things had received a character strictly local ; deities of the most diversified attributes divided the worship of the world, and the law by which their votaries were governed became in separably united with that of the state.
We may safely declare that this intimate union of church and state, this two fold freedom, limited only by the light obligations arising from identity of race, had the most important share in the civilization of the early ages. Each community was indeed surrounded by narrow limits, but within these the rich fulness of the world's vigorous youth found space to develop itself according to itsown unfettered impulse.
How entirely was all this changed as the might of Rome arose! All the self-governing powers that had previously filled the world are seen to bend one after the other, and finally to disappear. How suddenly did the earth become desolated of her free nations! In later times, empires have been shaken because religion had lost its power of control.
In those days the subjugationof the state necessarily involved the downfall of the national
religion. Impelled by the political power, believers in every creed would draw toward Rome; but what significance could remain to these peculiar forms of belief, once torn from the soil whence they had derived their birth?
The worship of Isis was doubtless intelligible in Egypt, where it deified the powers of nature, as manifested in those regions. In Rome this worship became a senseless idolatry. No sooner did the various mythologies come in contact than their mutual destruction ensued: it was impossible to discover any theory capable of reconciling their contradictions. But even had this been possible, it would no longer have sufficed to the necessities of the world. However deeply we may sympathize with the fall of so many free states, we cannot fail to perceive that a new life sprang immediately from their ruins. With the overthrow of independence fell the barriers of all exclusive nationalities : the na
tions were conquered they were overwhelmed together; but by that very act were they blended and united; for, as the limits of the empire were held to comprise the whole earth, so did its subjects learn to consider themselves as one people. From this
moment the human family began to acquire the consciousness of its universal brotherhood. It was at this period of the world's development that Jesus
Christ was born. How obscure and unpretending was his life! His occupation was to heal the sick and to discourse of God in parables with a few fishermen, who did not always understand his words. He had not where to lay his head. Yet, even from the worldly
point of view whence we consider it, we may safely assert that nothing more guileless or more impressive, more exalted or more holy, has ever been seen on earth than were his life, his whole conversation, and his death. In his every word there
breathes the pure spirit of God. They are words, as St. Peter REV. JAMES A, GRANT BEQUEST TO ST.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 5
has expressed it, of eternal life. The records of humanity present nothing that can be compared, however remotely, with the life of Jesus.
If the earlier forms of belief had ever contained an element of true religion, this was now entirely obscured ; they no longer, as we have said, could pretend to the slightest significance. In Him who united the nature of man with that of God, there shone forth, in contrast with these shadows, the universal and eternal relation of God to the world, and of man to God.
Jesus Christ was born among a people broadly separated and distinguished from all others by ritual laws of rigid and exclusive severity, but which also possessed the inappreciable merit of holding steadfastly to that worship of the one true
God in which they had persisted from their earliest existence,and from which no power could sever them. It is true that they considered this monotheism as a national worship only,but it was now to receive a much wider significance. Christ abolished the law by fulfilling it; the Son of Man declared himself Lord also of the Sabbath, and rendered manifest the
eternal import of those forms, which a narrow understanding had as yet but imperfectly comprehended. Thus, from the bosom of a people hitherto separated by insurmountable barriers of opinion and customs from every other, there arose,
with all the force of truth, a faith which invited and received all men. The Universal Father was now proclaimed that God, who, as St. Paul declared to the Athenians, " hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth." For this sublime doctrine, the moment, as we have seen, had now arrived a race of men existed who could appreciate its value. "Like a sunbeam," says
Eusebius, " it streamed over the face of the earth." l Its beneficent influence was quickly seen extending from the Euphrates to the Ebro, and overflowing the wide limits of the empire even
to the Rhine and the Danube. But however pure and blameless the religion of Christ, it was not in the nature of things that it should escape opposi-
tion from the creeds already established. These had entwined themselves with the habits and wants of daily life ; they were bound up with all the old memories of the world ; and had, beside, now received a certain modification which had brought
them into harmony with the constitution of the empire.
The political spirit of the ancient religions displayed itselfonce again under a new aspect. All those self-governing powers that had once filled the world had become absorbed into one concentrated whole. There remained but one sole power that
could be called self-dependent; religionacknowledged thiswhen she decreed divine worship to the Emperor. To him temples were built and sacrifices offered, vows were made in his name, and festivals were solemnized in his honor, his statues gave the sacredness of a sanctuary to the place where they stood. The worship men paid to the genius of the Emperor was perhaps the only one common to the whole empire ; 2 all idolatries accommodated themselves to this, for to all it offered countence and support.
This worship of the Caesar and the doctrines taught by Christ had a certain resemblance when viewed with relation to the various local religions, but they nevertheless presented the strongest possible contrast with each other.
The Emperor conceived religion in its most worldly aspectonly, as bound to earth and the things of earth. " To him be these surrendered," says Celsus ; " whatever each man possesses,let it come from him." Christianity regarded religion in the
fulness of the spirit, and of superhuman truth.

The Emperor united Church and State: Christianity separated, before all things, that which is Caesar's from that which belongs to God. The offering of sacrifice to the Emperor was an acknowledgment of the most abject thraldom. In that very union of Church and State wherein consisted the perfection of independence under the self-governing powers, might now be found the seal and completion of man's subjection: thus the prohibition of this worship by Christianity was an act of emancipation. Finally, the adoration paid to the Emperor was restricted by the limits of the empire then believed to comprise the whole earth while the true faith was destined to reach to the world's real limits, and to embrace the whole human family. Christianity sought to reawaken the primitive consciousness of religious * Eckkel, " Doctrina Nummorum Vet- would appear that the worship of the erum," pt. ii. vol. viii. p. 456; he quotes emperor was sometimes more earnest a passage from Tertullian, whence it than any other.
truth (if it be granted that such consciousness preceded all idolatries), or, at least, to infuse a belief complete in its purity,obscured by no inevitable connection with the state, and op-
posed to the exactions of that all-grasping power which, notcontent with earthly dominion, was seeking to extend its influence over things divine also.
It was from Christianity that man derived the spiritual element wherein he could once again become self-sustaining, free, and personally invincible; a new vitality awoke in the bosom of the freshened earth, she became fructified for the development of new productions. At this moment was exhibited the contrast between the earthly and the spiritual, between freedom and servitude a gradual decay and a life-breathing and vigorous renovation. It is not here that we can describe the long struggle between
these opposing principles: all the elements of life throughout the Roman Empire became involved in the movement all were gradually penetrated and influenced by the essential truth of Christianity, and were borne forward by this great effort of the
spirit. " By its own act," says Chrysostom, " has the error of idolatry been extinguished;" already did Paganism appear to him as a conquered city, whose walls were beaten down, whose halls, theatres, and public buildings had been destroyed by fire,
whose defenders had fallen by the sword, and among whose ruins remained only old men or helpless children. These, too, were soon dispersed, and a change without example ensued. From the depths of the catacombs uprose the adoration of the martyrs. On those sites where the gods of Olympus had
been worshipped on the very columns that had supported their temples, were shrines erected to the memory of those who had rejected their divinity, and died for refusing to yield them worship. The religion of Christ, coming forth from the desert and
the dungeon, took possession of the world. We sometimes feel astonished that precisely a secular building of the heathen, the basilica, should have been converted to the purposes of Christian worship : but in this fact there is a remarkable significance the apsis of the basilica contained an Augusteum, 3 the assembled statues of such emperors as had received divine worship. These were replaced by the images of Christ and his apostles, as they are seen in many basilicas to the present day. I take this fact from E. Q. Visconti, " Museo Pio Clementine."
The rulers of the world, themselves considered as deities, gave place to the Son of God arrayed in the nature of man. The local deities passed away, and were seen no more. In every highway, on the steep summits of the hills, in the deep ravines
and remote valleys, on the roofs of houses, and in the mosaic of the floors was seen the cross : the victory was complete and decisive. As, on the coins of Constantine, the labarum, with the monogram of Christ, is seen to rise above the conquered dragon,so did the worship and name of Jesus exalt themselves over the vanquished gods of heathenism.
Considered in this aspect also, how all-embracing is the influence how immense the importance of the Roman Empire! In the ages of its elevation all nations were subjugated, all independence destroyed by its power ; the feeling of self-reliance,
resulting from the division of interests, was annihilated: but,on the other hand, its later years beheld the true religion awake in its bosom the purest expression of a common consciousness extending far beyond its limits the consciousness of a community in the one true God. May we not venture to say, thatby this development the empire had fulfilled her destiny that she had rendered her own existence no longer necessary ? The human race had acquired the knowledge of its true nature ; re-
ligion had revealed the common brotherhood of mankind.This religion now received from the Roman Empire its external forms also.
Among the heathens, sacerdotal offices were conferred in like manner with those of civil life : the Jews set apart a particular tribe for the duties of the priesthood ; but Christianity was distinguished from both these by the fact that a certain class of men, freely choosing the sacred profession, consecrated by the imposition of hands, and withdrawn from worldly cares and pursuits, is solemnly devoted " to things spiritual and divine."
The Church was at first governed in accordance with republican forms; but these disappeared as the new belief rose to preeminence, and the clergy gradually assumed a position entirely distinct from that of the laity.
This did not take place, as I think, without a certain innate necessity. The advance of christianity involved an emancipation of religion from all political elements, and this was inevi-
tably followed by the establishment of a distinct ecclesiasticalbody with a constitution peculiar to itself. In this separation of the Church from the State consists, perhaps, the most important and most effectually influential peculiarity of Christian
times. The spiritual and temporal powers may come into close contact they may remain in the most intimate communion ; but a perfect coalition can only take place occasionally, and for short periods of time. In their reciprocal relations and position with regard to each other, has since then been involved one of the most important questions presented by all history. It was nevertheless imperative on the ecclesiastical body to form their constitution on the model of that of the empire ; and accordingly, the hierarchy of the bishops metropolitan patriarchs was formed in close correspondence with the gradations of the civil power.. No long time had elapsed before the bishops of Rome acquired the supremacy. It is, indeed, a vain pretence to assert that this supremacy was universally acknowledged by East and West, even in the first century, or, indeed, at any time; but it is equally certain that they quickly gained a pre-eminence, raising them far above all other ecclesiastical dignitaries. Many causes concurred to secure them this position; for, if the relative importance of each provincial cap^al
secured to its bishop a corresponding weight and dignity, how much more certainly would this result take place as regarded the ancient capital of the empire that city whence the' whole had derived its name? 4 Rome was, besides, one of the most illustrious seats of the apostles: here had the greater number of the martyrs shed their blood. The bishops of Rome had displayed the most undaunted firmness throughout the different persecutions, and had sometimes been scarcely installed into their sacred office before they followed their predecessor in the path of that martyrdom by which his seat had been vacated. In addition to all this, the emperors now found it advisable to favor the advancement of a great patriarchal authority. In a law that became decisive for the predominance of Rome- as wellas of Christianity, Theodosius the Great commands -'*&*- .all nations claiming the protection of his grace should recewe the faith as propounded by St. Peter to the Romans. 5 ^alentinian 4 " Casauboni Exercitationes ad An- divine apostle Peter declares himaeif to nales Ecclesiasticos Baronii," p. 260. have delivered to the Romans." Planck
6 Codex Theodos. xvi. i, 2: "All na- also mentions the edict of Valentinian tions governed by our gentle clemency III.
hall remain in that religion which the also forbade the bishops, whether of Gaul or of other provinces,to depart from the received customs of the Church without the sanction of that venerable man, the Pope of the Holy City.
Thenceforth the power of the Roman bishops advanced beneath the protection of the Emperor himself; but in this political connection lay also a restrictive force: had there been but one emperor, a universal primacy might also have established itself;
but this was prevented by the partition of the empire. The emperors of the East were too eagerly tenacious of their ecclesiastical rights to make it possible that they should promote that extension of power desired by the western patriarchs in their dominions. In this respect also the constitution of the Church presents the closest resemblance to that of the empire.

Section II. The Papacy in Connection with the Prankish Empire
Scarcely was this great change completed, the Christian religion established, and the Church founded, when new events of great importance took place; the Roman Empire, so long conquering and paramount, was now to see itself assailed by its neighbors: in its turn it was invaded and overcome.
Amidst the general convulsion that ensued, Christianity itself received a violent shock.
In their terror, the Romans bethought themselves once more of the Etruscan mysteries, the Athenians
hoped to be saved by Achilles and Minerva, the Carthaginians offered prayers to the genius Ccelestis; but these were onlytemporary waverings, for even whilst the empire was shattered in the Western provinces, the Church remained firm and undisturbed throughout all.
But she fell, as was inevitable, into many ambarrassments, and found herself in an entirely altered condition. A pagan people, took possession of Britain; Arian kings seized the greater part of the remaining West; while the Lombards, long attached to Arianism, and, as neighbors, most dangerous and hostile, established a powerful sovereignty before the very gates.
The Roman bishops meanwhile, beset on all sides, exerted themselves, with all the prudence and pertinacity which have remained their peculiar attributes, to regain the mastery at least in their ancient patriarchal diocese; but a new and still
heavier calamity now assailed them.
The Arabs not conquerors merely, as were the Germans; but men inspired even to fanaticism by an arrogant and dogmatizing creed, in direct
opposition to the Christian faith now poured themselves over the West as they had previously done over the East. After repeated attacks, they gained possession of Africa: one battle made them masters of Spain, their general, Musa, boasting that
he would march into Italy by the passes of the Pyrenees and across the Alps, and cause the name of Mahomet to be proclaimed from the Vatican.

This position was all the more perilous for the western portion of Roman Christendom, from the fact that the iconoclastic dissensions were at that moment raging with the most deadly animosity on both sides. The Emperor of Constantinople had adopted the opposite party to that favored by the Pope of
Rome; nay, the life of the latter was more than once in danger from the Emperor's machinations. The Lombards did not fail to perceive the advantages derivable to themselves from these dissensions; their King, Astolphus, took possession of provinces
that till then had always acknowledged the dominion of the Emperor, and again advancing toward Rome, he summoned that city also to surrender, demanding payment of tribute with vehement threats. 1

The Roman See was at this moment in no condition to help itself, even against the Lombards; still less could it hope to contend with the Arabs, who were beginning to extend their sovereignty over the Mediterranean, and were threatening all Christendom with a war of extermination.
Happily, the true faith was no longer confined within the limits of the Roman Empire.
Christianity, in accordance with its original destiny, had long overpassed these limits more especially had it taken deep root among the German tribes of the West; nay, a Christian power had already arisen among these tribes, and toward this the Pope had but to stretch forth his hands, when he was sure to Anastasius Bibliothecarius: " Vitae threats against the Romans, affirmine Pontificum. Vita Stephani III." ed. that all should be destroyed by thf.Fans, p. 83.
Furious as a lion, he sword unless they submitted themselves desisted not from pouring forth deadly to his rule.
find the most effectual succor and earnest allies against all his enemies.

Among all the Germanic nations, the Franks alone had become Catholic from their first rise in the provinces of the Roman Empire. This acknowledgment of the Roman See had secured important advantages to the Prankish nation. In the Catholic subjects of their Arian enemies, the western Goths and Bur gundians, the Franks found natural allies. We read so much of the miracles by which Clovis was favored; how St. Martin showed him the ford over the Vienne by means of a hind ; how St. Hilary preceded his armies in a column of fire, that we shall not greatly err if we conclude these legends to shadow forth x
the material succors afforded by the natives to those who shared their creed, and for whom, according to Gregory of Tours, they desired victory " with eager inclination." But this attachment to Catholicism, thus confirmed from the beginning by conse quences so important, was afterward renewed and powerfully strengthened by a very peculiar influence arising from a totally
different quarter.
It chanced that certain Anglo-Saxons, being exposed for sale in the slave-market of Rome, attracted the attention of Pope Gregory the Great; he at once resolved that Christianity should be preached to the nation whence these beautiful captives had been taken. Never, perhaps, was resolution adopted by any
pope whence results more important ensued : together with the doctrines of Christianity, a veneration for Rome and for the Holy See, such as had never before existed in any nation, found place among the Germanic Britons. The Anglo-Saxons began to make pilgrimages to Rome, they sent their youth thither to be educated, and King Offa established the tax called " St. Peter's penny " for the relief of pilgrims and the education of the clergy. The higher orders proceeded to Rome, in the hope that, dying there, a more ready acceptance would be accorded
to them by the saints in heaven. The Anglo-Saxons appear to have transferred to Rome and the Christian saints the old Teutonic superstition, by which the gods were described as nearer to some spots of earth than to others, and more readily to be propitiated in places thus favored.
But beside all this, results of higher importance still ensued when the Anglo-Saxons transplanted their modes of thought to the mainland, and imbued the whole empire of the Franks with their own opinions.
Boniface, the apostle of the Germans, was an Anglo-Saxon; this missionary, largely sharing in the veneration professed by his nation for St. Peter and his successors,had from the beginning voluntarily pledged himself to abide faithfully by all the regulations of the Roman See: to this promise he most religiously adhered. On all the German
churches founded by him was imposed an extraordinary obliga tion to obedience. Every bishop was required expressly to promise that his whole life should be passed in unlimited obedience to the Romish Church, to St. Peter, and his representative.
Nor did he confine this rule to the Germans only. The Gallican bishops had hitherto maintained a certain independence of Rome; Boniface, who had more than once presided in their synods, availed himself of these occasions to impress his own views on this western portion of the Prankish Church ; thence forward the Gallic archbishops received their pallium from Rome, and thus did the devoted submission of the Anglo-Saxons extend itself over the whole realm of the Franks.
This empire had now become the central point for all the German tribes of the West.
The fact that the reigning family, the Merovingian race, had brought about its own destruction by
its murderous atrocities, had not affected the strength of the empire. Another family, that of Pepin of Heristal, had risen to supreme power men of great energy, exalted force of character, and indomitable vigor. While other realms were sinking
together in one common ruin, and the world seemed about to become the prey of the Moslem, it was this race, the house of Pepin of Heristal, afterward called the Carlovingian, by which the first and effectual resistance was offered to the Mahometan
conquerors.

The religious development then in progress was also equally .favored by the house of Pepin: we find it early maintaining the best understanding with Rome, and it was under the special protection of Charles Martel and Pepin le Bref that Boniface proceeded in his apostolic labors. Let us consider the temporal
condition of the papal power. On the one side the East Roman
" Bonifacii Epistolse," ep. 12, " ad of God nor even could I forbid the
Danielem episc.": " Without the patron- pagan rites and sacrilegious idolatries age of the Prankish ruler, I can neither in Germany without his mandate and govern the people nor defend the presby- the fear of his name."

Empire, weakened, falling into ruin, incapable of supporting Christendom against Islamism, or of defending its own domains in Italy against the Lombards, yet continuing to claim supremacy even in spiritual affairs ; on the other hand, we have
the German nations full of the most vigorous life, victorious over the Moslem, attached with all the fresh ardor and trusting enthusiasm of youth to that authority, of whose protecting and restrictive influences they still felt the need, and filled with an unlimited and most freely rendered devotion.

Already Gregory II perceived the advantages he had gained; full of a proud self-consciousness, he writes thus to that iconoclast Emperor, Leo the Isaurian : " All the lands of the West have their eyes directed toward our humility ; by them we are
considered as a God upon earth." His successors became even more and more impressed with the conviction that it was needful to separate themselves from a power (that of the Roman Empire) by which many duties were imposed on them, but which could offer them no protection in return. They could
not safely permit a succession to the mere name and empire to fetter them, but turned themselves rather toward those from whom help and aid might also be expected. Thus they entered into strict alliance with those great captains of the West, the Frankish monarchs; this became closer and closer from year
to year, procured important advantages to both parties, and eventually exercised the most active influence on the destinies of the world.

When Pepin the younger, not content with the reality of kingly power, desired also to possess himself of the name, he felt that a higher sanction was needful. This the Pope afforded him. In return, the new monarch undertook to defend " the Holy Church and the Republic of God " against the Lombards.
Nor did he content himself with merely defending them. On the contrary, he compelled the Lombards to evacuate that portion of territory called the Exarchate, and which they had wrenched from the Roman Empire. In strict justice this should
have been restored to the Emperor, from whom it had been taken; but when the proposal for such restoration was made to Pepin, his reply was, " That for no favor of man had he entered the strife, but from veneration to St. Peter alone, and in the hope of obtaining forgiveness for his sins."

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THE HISTORY OF THE POPES BOOKS I, II, III AND IV
THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 15
He caused the keys of the conquered towns to be placed on the altar of St.Peter, and in this act he laid the foundation of the whole temporal power of the popes.
In this reciprocity of services, the alliance between the Pope and the Emperor continued to extend and strengthen its bonds. At length the Holy See was delivered from its long oppressive and dangerous neighbors, the Lombard chiefs, by the Emperor Charlemagne. In his own person this monarch evinced the most profound deference for the holy father: visiting Rome, he kissed the steps of St. Peter, as he entered the vestibule where the pontiff awaited him; here he confirmed all the possessions awarded by Pepin to the Church. The Pope on his part always proved himself to be Charlemagne's most steady friend, and the influence of the spiritual chief with the Italian bishops rendered it an easy matter for the Emperor to make himself master of the Lombards and gain possession of their dominions.
This tendency of events was soon to be followed by results of still higher importance.
The strife of contending factions was now raging so violently in Rome that the Pope could no longer maintain himself in his own city without foreign aid. In this conjuncture Charlemagne once more visited Rome to afford the assistance needed.
The aged monarch was now full of fame and victory; after long struggles he had gradually subdued all his neighbors, and had united under his own banner the greater part of the Romano-Germanic nations of Christendom. These he had repeatedly led to victory against their common enemy, and it was matter of remark that he possessed all the seats of the western emperors, whether in Italy, Germany, or Gaul; s and had, besides, inherited all their power. It is true that these countries had since become a totally different world, but should this diminish the dignity of their leader? It was thus that Pepin
had gained the royal diadem, for to him who has secured the power does the dignity also belong. It was in this sense that the Pope again decided ; impelled by gratitude, and well know Thus it is that I understand the reside, also the other seats which they
" Annales Laureshamenses, ad annum held in Italy and Gaul, as well as Ger
801 ": "It seemed good to the apostolic many; because God Almighty has put Leo himself, that Charles himself, king these in his power, wherefore it seemed of the Franks, should be named em- to them right that by God's assistance peror, seeing he held that Rome where he should nave the name alto."
the Caesars were ever accustomed to
ing his own need of a permanent protector, he placed the crown of the Western Empire on Charlemagne's head on Christmas eve of the year 800.
With this act, the series of events which had commenced with the first incursions of the German tribes into the Roman Empire was fully completed.
A Frank sovereign now filled the place of the western emperors, and exercised all their prerogatives. In the dominions conferred on St. Peter, we see Charlemagne performing unequivocal acts of sovereign authority. His grandson Lothaire
nominated his own judges in Rome, and annulled confiscations made by the Pope. The pontiff, on the other hand, remaining head of the hierarchy in the Roman West, became, nevertheless, a member of the Prankish Empire. He separated himself from the East, and gradually ceased to command any influence there.
Of his patriarchal diocese in the East the Greek emperors had long since bereft him. 4 But he received a degree of observance from the western churches (not excepting the Lombard, which had also been subjected to the Prankish laws and institutions)exceeding all that he had previously enjoyed. Permitting the introduction of schools for Frieslanders, Saxons, and Franks into Rome, by which that city itself began to be Germanized, he thus induced that intimate connection of German and Latin
elements which has since so actively influenced the general character of the West. In his utmost adversity the power of the Pope struck new roots in a fresh soil; threatened by the most imminent ruin, it was at this moment that a firm and lengthened endurance was secured to it : the hierarchy, taking
its rise in the Roman Empire, now diffused itself over the German nations ; these presented a boundless field for ever-extending activity, and here it was that the germ of its being was first
fully developed.
* Nicholas I laments the loss of the in Calabria and Sicily.'^ Pagi (Critica patriarchal power of the Roman See, in " Annales Baronii, in. p. 216) com-
f> throughout old and new Epirus, Illy- pares this letter with one from Adrian I ricum, Macedonia, Thessaly, Achaia, to Charlemagne, whence it is obvious Dacia on the Danube, and Dacia on the that these losses were among the result*

Mediterranean, Moesia, Dardania, and of the iconoclastic disputes.
Prevails; also the loss of the patrimony

Section III. Relation of the Popes to the German Emperors Internal Progress of the Hierarchy

We now pass over some centuries, in order to arrive at that point of view whence the various events they produced may most profitably be considered.
The Empire of the Franks has fallen; that of the Germans has arisen into full and vigorous life.

Never was the German name more powerful in Europe than during the tenth and eleventh centuries, under the Saxon and first Salique emperors.
We see Conrad II marching from the eastern frontier, where he had compelled the King of Poland to personal subjection and to a division of his territory, and condemned the Duke of Bohemia to imprisonment, and pouring down on the West to support Burgundy against the pretensions
of the French nobles. These nobles he defeated on the plains of Champagne, his Italian vassals crossing the St. Bernard to his assistance. He caused himself to be crowned at Geneva, and held his diet at Soleure. Immediately after this, we find
him in Lower Italy. " By the force of his word," says his historian, Wipps, " he extinguished all discords on the borders of his empire at Capua and Beneventum." Nor was Henry III less powerful : at one moment we find him on the Scheldt and the Lys, victorious over the counts of Flanders ; no long time has elapsed, and we meet him in Hungary, which country he also compelled, at least for some time, to do him feudal service.
He pressed beyond the Raab, where his conquests were limited by the power of the elements alone. The King of Denmark hastened to await his arrival at Merseberg : the Count of Tours, one of the most powerful princes of France, submitted to become his vassal ; and the Spanish historians inform us that he demanded from the mighty and victorious Ferdinand I of Castile an acknowledgment of his own supremacy as sovereign liege of all Christian kings.
If we now ask on what basis a power so extended in its in fluence, and claiming supremacy throughout Europe, essentially reposed, we find in it a most active and important ecclesiastical element. The Germans also made their conquests and conversions go hand in hand with the Church, their marches, too, extended over the Elbe toward the Oder on the one hand, and the Danube on the other. Monks and priests prepared the way for German influence in Bohemia and Hungary ; thus did a great increase of importance everywhere accrue to the ecclesiastical power. Baronial and even ducal rights were held in Germany
by the bishops and abbots of the empire, not within their own possessions only, but even beyond them. Ecclesiastical estates were no longer described as situated in certain counties, but these counties were described as situated in the bishoprics. In
Upper Italy nearly all the cities were governed by the viscounts of their bishops. We are not authorized to infer from this,that an entire independence was already conceded to the clerical
body. The appointment to all ecclesiastical offices still resting with the sovereign (the chapters returned the ring and crosier of their deceased superior to his court, whence it was that they
were conferred anew), it was generally advantageous to the prince that the man of his choice, one on whose devotion to himself he could rely, should be invested with temporal authority.
It was in defiance of his refractory nobles that Henry III exalted a plebeian, on whom he could depend, to the seat of St. Ambrose in Milan : to this mode of action he was principally indebted for
the obedience he subsequently met with in Upper Italy. No Emperor displayed greater munificence toward the Church than did Henry II; yet none was more tenacious of his claim to the nomination of bishops : 1 but these two facts are illustrative
of each other. Nor was the endowment of bishops permitted to diminish the resources of the State. Church property was neither exempted from civil imposts nor from feudal service,and bishops were frequently found taking the field at the head
of their vassals. How advantageous to the prince, therefore, was the right of nominating bishops, who, like the archbishop of Bremen, held the highest ecclesiastical authority in the kingdoms of Scandinavia, and over numerous Wendish tribes!
If, then, the ecclesiastical element was of such paramount importance to the institutions of the German Empire, it is manifest that much would depend on the relations existing between the Emperor and the head of the whole clerical body, the Pope of Rome.
1 For instances of this, see Planck's " History of the Social Constitution of the Christian Church," iii. 407.

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THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 19

The papacy was not less closely allied with the German
emperors than it had been with the Roman, and with the suc-
cessors of Charlemagne. The political subordination of the
Pope was unquestionable. It is true, that while the empire re-
mained in weak and incapable hands, and before it passed
definitively to the Germans, certain acts of sovereign authority
had been exercised by popes over the imperial sceptre ; but no
sooner did the vigorous German princes attain to that dignity,
than they became, if not without dispute, yet, in fact, as com-
pletely liege lords of the popedom as the Carlovingian mon-
archs had been. With a powerful hand Otho the Great main-
tained the Pope whom he had raised to the throne ; 2 his sons
followed the example. The circumstance of the Roman factions
once more rising into activity, seizing the papal chair, and again
resigning it, or making it an article of traffic and barter, as their
family interests required, shows but more clearly the necessity
for some higher intervention. The vigor with which this was
exercised by Henry III is well known; his synod at Sutri de-
posed such popes as he considered irregularly chosen; and
scarcely had the patrician ring been placed on his finger, and the
crown of the empire on his brow, than he nominated the indi-
vidual who should ascend the papal throne by his unrestricted
will. Four German popes were successively appointed by him ;
and when the supreme ecclesiastical dignity became vacant, the
ambassadors from Rome presented themselves at the imperial
court to receive the announcement of a successor, as did the en-
voys of other bishoprics.

In this position of things, it was a matter of personal in-
terest to the Emperor that the Pope should hold an important
place in the eyes of the world. Henry III was an active pro-
moter of all reforms undertaken by the popes whom ne had
nominated; nor did the growth of their power awaken his
jealousy. That Leo IX should hold a synod at Rheims, in de-
spite of the King of France should exalt and depose French
bishops, receiving the solemn acknowledgment that the Pope
was sole primate of the universal church this could in no way
offend the Emperor, while his own supremacy over the pope-

1 In Goldast. " Constitutt. Imperiales," choose his own successor, and in future

t. p. 221, we find an instrument (with that of the popes, is transferred to Otho

the Scholia of Dietrich von Niem) by and the German emperors. This, how-

which the right of Charlemagne to ever, is without doubt a fabrication.

Popes (Vol. I). 3

ao RANKE

dom remained undisputed ; it gave, on the contrary, a more im-
posing weight to the authority he claimed to exercise over all
Europe. As by the Archbishop of Bremen he was placed in im-
mediate relation with the North, so was he placed by the Pope
with the remaining powers of Christendom.

But this state of affairs involved a great danger to the em-
pire. The ecclesiastical body was very differently constituted
under the Germanic and Germanized states, from what it had
been under the Roman Empire. The clergy now possessed a
large share of political influence; they had risen to princely
power. The Church still depended on the Emperor, the su-
preme temporal authority. But suppose this authority again
fallen into weak and incapable hands; suppose, then, that the
head of the Church, wielding the triple force arising from his
dignity the object of universal reverence, from the devotion of
his own subjects, and from his influence over other states
should seize the favorable moment and place himself in oppo-
sition to the imperial power.

The nature of things offered more than one inducement to
such a course. There was a principle inherent in the ecclesias-
tical constitution which opposed itself to a secular influence so
widely extended, and this would inevitably make itself felt,
should the Church become strong enough to bring it into ef-
fectual action. There is also, as it appears to me, an incon-
sistency in the fact that the Pope should exercise on all sides the
supreme spiritual power, and yet remain himself subjected to
the Emperor. The case would have been different had Henry
III really brought about his purpose of exalting himself to be
the head of all Christendom; but as he failed in this, there
needed but a certain complication of political affairs, and the
Pope might have been prevented, by his subordination to the
Emperor, from performing the duties imposed on him by his
office as common father of the faithful.

It was under these circumstances Gregory VII ascended the
papal throne. Gregory was a man of bold, prejudiced, and
aspiring mind, obstinate in his adherence to logical conse-
quences, immovable in his purposes, yet skilful and pliant when
the object was to parry any well-founded objection. He per-
ceived the end to which things were tending, and amidst the
trifling occurrences of every-day life, took note of the vast con-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 21

tingencies preparing for the future. He resolved to free the
pontificate from the authority of the empire. Having fixed his
thoughts on this object, he soon seized the decisive means for
attaining it. The resolution that he caused to be adopted by one
of his councils, namely that no clerical office should in future
be conferred by a layman, was equivalent to altering the consti-
tution of the empire in its very essence. This reposed, as we
have already said, on the connection between the spiritual and
temporal institutions: the bond that held these together was
the investiture ; to deprive the Emperor of this his ancient right,
was to declare a revolution.

It is obvious that Gregory could not have ventured to think
of this measure, much less to put it in practice, had he not been
favored by the convulsions that shook the empire during the
minority of Henry IV, and by the frequent insurrections of the
German princes and people against that monarch. Among
the great vassals he found natural allies. They also felt op-
pressed by the overwhelming power of the Emperor ; they also
desired to become free. In a certain point of view, the Pope
might be considered one of the magnates of the empire. It is
not then surprising, that when the pontiff declared Germany an
electoral monarchy a doctrine tending greatly to augment the
power of the princes these last should offer no opposition to
the efforts he made for his own emancipation from the imperial
power.

Even in the contention for the investiture, their interests
went hand in hand: the Pope was still far from claiming the
direct nomination of the bishops ; he referred the choice to the
chapters, and over these the higher German nobility exercised
the most commanding influence: in one word, the Pope had
the aristocratic interests on his side.

But even with these allies, how long and sanguinary were
the conflicts maintained by the popes before they could bring
their enterprise to a fortunate issue ! " From Denmark even
to Apulia," says the hymn in praise of St. Anno " from Car-
lingen to Hungary, have the arms of the empire been turned
against its own vitals." The contention between the spiritual
and temporal principles, which had hitherto acted in concert,
spread fatal discord through the breadth of Europe. Fre-
quently were the pontiffs driven from their capital, and com-

22 RANKE

pelled to witness the ascent of antipopes to the apostolic
throne !

At length, however, the task was accomplished. After
long centuries of confusion after other centuries of often
doubtful strife, the independence of the Roman See and that
of its essential principle was finally attained. In effect, the po-
sition of the popes was at this moment most exalted ; the clergy
were wholly in their hands. It is worthy of remark that the
most firm-minded pontiffs of this period Gregory VII for ex-
ample were Benedictines. By the introduction of celibacy they
converted the whole body of the secular clergy into a kind of
monastic order. The universal bishopric now claimed by the
popes bears a certain resemblance to the power of an abbot of
Cluny, who was the only abbot of his order; in like manner
these pontiffs aspired to be the only bishops of the assembled
church. They interfered without scruple in the administration
of every diocese, 3 and even compared their legates with the
proconsuls of ancient Rome ! While this closely knit body, so
compact in itself, yet so widely extended through all lands
influencing all by its large possessions, and controlling every
relation of life by its ministry was concentrating its mighty
force under the obedience of one chief, the temporal powers were
crumbling into ruin. Already in the beginning of the twelfth
century the provost Gerohus ventured to say : " It will at last
come to this, that the golden image of the empire shall be shaken
to dust every great monarchy shall be divided into tetrar-
chates, and then only will the Church stand free and untram-
melled beneath the protection of .her crowned high-priest." *
And this bold prophecy had well-nigh received a literal fulfil-
ment; for in fact which was the more powerful in England
during the thirteenth century was it Henry III or those four-
and-twenty to whom the government was for a certain period
confided ? In Castile, who were the effective rulers the King
or the altoshomes? The power of the Emperor seems to have

* One of the principal points in refer- perceive that in this case public opinion

ence to which may be cited the follow- was on the side of the Pope, since

ing passage from a letter of Henry IV Henry thus continues his reproaches:

to Gregory VII : " rectores sanctae ec- '* In quorum conculcatione tibi favorem

clesiae, videl archiepi scopes, presby- ab ore vulgi comparasti." [In tram-

teros, sicut cervos pedibus tuis cal- pling on whom, thou hast gained ap-

casti." [The rulers of the holy church plause from the mouths of the popu-

archbishops, bishops, and priests, to lace.]

wit these thou hast trodden beneath * Schrockh quotes this passage,

thy feet as were they slaves.] But we " Kirchengeschichte," vol. xxvii. p. 117.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 23

become superfluous from the moment when Frederick conceded
the essential attributes of sovereignty to the princes of the em-
pire. Italy, as well as Germany, was occupied by numerous in-
dependent powers; the only self-centred and comprehensive
sovereignty was that of the Pope. Thus it came to pass that the
independence of the ecclesiastical principle resolved itself into a
new kind of monarchy; the politico-religious character that
life had everywhere assumed, and the general course of circum-
stances, all tended to this result. When countries, long lost to
the Church, as Spain had been, were regained from Mahome-
tanism when provinces, like Prussia, hitherto buried in the
darkness of paganism, were brought over to the faith and filled
with a Christian population when even the capitals of the
Greek Church conformed to the Latin ritual, and when hun-
dreds of thousands poured forth to plant the banner of the
cross on the holy sepulchre is it not here manifest, that the
crowned priest, whose hand was in all these enterprises, and
at whose feet was offered the fealty of the subdued, must have
enjoyed unbounded influence and honor? In his name, and
under his guidance, the western nations poured themselves
forth as one people and sought to gain possession of the whole
world. It cannot awaken surprise that the Pope should exer-
cise unlimited authority in his internal administration, when
we remember that a king of England consented to hold his
kingdom as a fief from the pontiff's hand, that a king of Aragon
resigned his realms to the apostle Peter, and that Naples be-
held her throne conferred by the same all-commanding power
on a family wholly foreign to her soil. Extraordinary aspect of
those times which yet no one has hitherto placed before us in
all its completeness and truth! The most wonderful com-
bination of internal discord with the most brilliant external
progress of independence and subjection, of spiritual and tem-
poral existences! Even piety herself adopted a twofold
character. At one time we see her withdrawn amidst rugged
mountains, or retiring to the lonely forest, where her harmless
days are devoted to divine contemplation. Awaiting death, she
denies herself every enjoyment that life presents her; or, ap-
pearing in the homes of man, she proceeds with youthful en-
thusiasm to exhibit, under forms profoundly suggestive, the
mysteries that float around her, and the ideas in which she has

4 RANKE

her being. But a moment after and we find another piety it
is she who has invented the inquisition and who fulminates the
terrible judgment of the glaive against all who reject her creed.
" Neither sex, nor age, nor rank, have we spared," says the
leader of the war against the Albigenses ; " we have put all
alike to the sword." Sometimes she presents these widely
differing aspects at the same moment of time. At sight of
Jerusalem the crusaders descended from their horses they
bare their feet, to the end that they may approach the holy
walls in the guise befitting pilgrims. In the midst of carnage
they believe themselves aided by the visible presence of saints
and angels. Yet, scarcely have they passed the walls, than they
rush into the wildest excesses of pillage and bloodshed. On
the site of Solomon's temple thousands of Saracens were cruelly
put to death, the Jews were burnt in their synagogues, and the
holy threshold, on which they had come so far to kneel in
adoration, they first profaned with blood. In this contradiction
may be found a picture eloquently illustrative of those times,
and of that politico-religious government. It is an incon-
sistency that will be seen to pervade their whole being.

Section IV. Contrasts between the Fourteenth and Fifteenth

Centuries

There are certain periods of history that tempt us to anxiously
scrutinize, if we dare thus to express ourselves, the plans of
God in his government of the world, and earnestly to examine
the forces that are in action for the education of the human race.

However defective may have been the development that we
have sought to describe, it was indispensable to the complete
naturalization of Christianity in the West. The task of bend-
ing the refractory spirits of the northern tribes to the pure laws
of Christian truth was no light one: wedded, as these nations
were, to their long-cherished superstitions, the religious element
required a long predominance before it could gain entire pos
session of the German character; but by this predominance,
that close union of Latin and German elements was effected on
which is based the character of Europe in later times. There
is a spirit of community in the modern world which has always
been regarded as the basis of its progressive improvement,

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THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 15

whether in religion, politics, manners, social life, or literature.
To bring about this community, it was necessary that the west-
ern nations should, at one period, constitute what may be called
a single politico-ecclesiastical state.

But this, also, was to be no more than the phenomenon of a
moment in the grand march of events; the necessary conver-
sion once effected, new necessities supervened.

The advent of another epoch already announced itself in
the simultaneous and almost universal impulse received by
the languages of nations. Slowly, but with unceasing effort,
they pressed themselves into the manifold branches of intellect-
ual activity. Step by step the idiom of the church gave way
before them; universality retired, and in its place appeared a
new species of partition, founded on a higher principle. The
ecclesiastical element had up to this time overborne every dis-
tinguishing nationality; now, modified and transformed, but
again asserting individual existence, these nationalities dis-
played themselves in a new light.

We are forced irresistibly to the conviction that all the pur-
poses and efforts of humanity are subjected to the silent and
often imperceptible, but invincible and ceaseless march of
events. The existence of the papal authority was demanded by
the earlier phases of the world's progress ; those immediately
following were directly adverse to that authority. The im-
pulse given by the ecclesiastical power was no longer necessary
to the well-being of nations; it was consequently at once op-
posed. All had awakened to a sense of their own inde-
pendence.

We shall do well if we recall to mind the more important
events in which this fact becomes revealed.

It was the French, as is well known, by whom the first ef-
fectual resistance was opposed to the pretensions of the popes.
The whole nation declared itself as one man against the ex-
communications of Boniface VIII. All the public authorities
expressed their adhesion to Philip the Fair, and their cordial
approbation of the steps taken by him in his contest with the
pontiff, in documents amounting to several hundreds.

Next followed the Germans. When the popes once more
assailed the empire with all their old animosity, although the
latter no more possessed its ancient importance, yet, perceiv-

,6 RANKE

ing the dangers of foreign influence, the electoral princes as-
sembled on the banks of the Rhine ; seated on their stone chairs,
in the field of Rense, they proceeded to adopt measures for
maintaining " the honor and dignity of the empire." Their ob-
ject was to secure its independence against the future aggres-
sions of the papacy by a solemn resolution. This was instantly
afterward promulgated with all due form, and by all the po-
tentates united. Emperors, princes, and electors, all joined in a
common opposition to the principles of the papal policy. 1

England did not long remain behind. In no country had
the popes possessed higher influence nowhere had they dealt
in a more arbitrary manner with the benefices of the Church;
but when Edward III refused to continue the tribute, to the
payment of which former kings had pledged themselves, his
parliament united with him, and promised him their support.
The King then took measures to prevent any further encroach-
ments by the Pope.

We thus see one nation after another acquiring the sense of
its own unity and independence. The civil power would no
longer endure the presence of any higher authority. The popes
no more found allies among the middle classes, while princes
and legislative bodies were resolutely bent on withstanding their
influence.

In addition to all this, the popedom itself had at this period
fallen into a state of debility and confusion, by which the
secular princes, who had hitherto sought only to defend them-
selves, were enabled to become in their turn aggressors.

Schism made its appearance. Let us observe the conse-
quences that ensued. It was long at the option of each prince to
attach himself to one pope or the other, as might best suit his
political interests. The Church possessed no means within her-
self by which this division could be remedied; by the secular
power alone could this be done. When a council was held in
Constance for that purpose, the members no longer voted indi-
vidually, as had formerly been the practice, but by the four
nations, each nation exercising the right of deliberating in pre-
liminary assemblies on the vote to be given. Unanimously they
decided the deposition of a pope, and the newly elected pontiff

1 Licet juris utriusque. See Ohlen- Kaiserthums in der ersten Halfte des
schlager, " Staatsgeschichte des Rom. i4ten Jahrhunderts," No. 63.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 37

was called on to accede to concordats with each separate nation.
These concordats were of great importance, only from the prec-
edent they afforded. During the council of Basle, many states
remained neutral ; it was by the immediate intervention of the
princes alone, that this second breach in the Church could be
closed. 2 There could arise no state of things better calculated
to promote the preponderance of the temporal power and the
independence of the several states.

And now the Pope was again in a position of great splendor.
He was obeyed universally ; the Emperor still led his palfrey on
occasions of ceremony. There were bishops not in Hungary
only, but in Germany also, who styled themselves bishops " by
the grace of the Apostolic See." 3 St. Peter's penny was still
collected in the north ; innumerable pilgrims from all countries
came flocking to the " threshold of the apostles" an eye-
witness compares them to swarms of bees, or flights of mi-
gratory birds ; but, spite of these appearances, the old relations
of things were no longer in force.

If we desire proof of this, we need only recall the enthusiasm
with which all ranks rushed toward the holy sepulchre in ear-
lier times, and compare this with the coldness evinced in the
fifteenth century toward every appeal in favor of a combined re-
sistance to the Turks. How much more pressing was the ne-
cessity of protecting the native territory against the danger that
unquestionably threatened it at all times, than that of maintain-
ing the custody of the holy sepulchre in the hands of believers.
Eneas Sylvius and the Minorite Capistrano employed their best
eloquence the first in the diet, the second before the people in
the market-places of towns ; and historians tell us many things
of the impression they produced, but we do not find that anyone
was moved to the taking up of arms. What efforts were made
by the popes in this cause ! One fitted out a fleet ; another,
Pius II, who was that same Eneas Sylvius just alluded to, be-
took himself, though weak and suffering from illness, to the
port where those princes whose domains were most immediately
endangered, if none others, were expected to assemble. He de-
sired to be present, in order, as he said, to lift up, like Moses,

a ErklSr.ung des Papetes Felix in Geor- -Schrockh. " Kirchengeschichte," vol.
gius, " Life of Nicholas V," p. 65. xxxiii. p. 60.

' Constance, Schwerin, Fiinikirchen.

f8 RANKE

his hands to God during the battle, as he alone was empowered
to do. Neither exhortations, nor entreaties, nor example could
avail to move the people of his times. The youthful enthusiasm
of chivalrous Christendom had passed away; no pope might
ever awaken it more.

Other interests occupied the world. It was now the mo-
ment when the European kingdoms were finally consolidating
their forces after long internal struggles. The central author-
ities having succeeded in suppressing the factions that had
endangered the security of the throne, were gathering their
subjects around them in renewed allegiance. The papacy, inter-
fering in all things and seeking to dominate all, came very soon
to be regarded in a political point of view ; the temporal princes
now began to put forth higher claims than they had hitherto
done.

It is commonly believed that the papal authority was almost
unrestricted up to the time of the Reformation ; but the truth
is that no inconsiderable portion of the rights and privileges of
the clergy had been appropriated by the civil power, during the
fifteenth and in the early part of the sixteenth centuries.

The encroachments of the Roman See were materially re-
stricted in France by the pragmatic sanction, which for more
than half a century was regarded as the palladium of the king-
dom. It is true that Louis XI was hurried into certain conces-
sions by that false devotion, to the forms of which he adhered
the more rigidly, because altogether destitute of true religious
feeling; but his successors insisted all the more pertinaciously
on a return to this their fundamental law. It has indeed been
asserted that when Francis I concluded his concordat with Leo
X, the Roman Court thereby recovered its ancient preponder-
ance, and it is very true that the Pope did regain the first-fruits
(Annates) ; but he was compelled to sacrifice valuable sources
of revenue in exchange, and above all the right of nomination
to the bishoprics and other important benefices. The rights
of the Gallican Church were unquestionably lost, but this was
rather in favor of the King than the Pope : the principle, for
which Gregory VII had moved the whole world, was resigned
with little difficulty by Leo X.

Matters were by no means carried so far in Germany: the
decrees of Basle, which in France had received the form of a

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 29

pragmatic sanction, 4 were rendered much less effectual in Ger-
many, where also they had at first been accepted, by the con-
cordat of Vienna; but this change was not effected without
large concessions on the part of Rome.

In Germany it was not enough to come to terms with the
high chief of the empire; the subordinate states must also be
separately won. The archbishops of Mayence and Treves ob-
tained the privilege of naming to the vacant bishoprics, even
during those months hitherto reserved for the Pope ; the elec-
toral prince of Brandenburg extorted the right of nomination
to the three bishoprics of his dominions, while less important
states, as Strasburg, Salzburg, and Metz, were also propitiated
by concessions. 5 But not even by these was the general oppo-
sition extinguished. In the year 1487 the whole empire op-
posed itself to a tithe that the Pope desired to impose and ef-
fectually defeated his purpose. 6 In 1500 the imperial govern-
ment accorded one-third only of the sum produced by indul-
gences to the papal legates, appropriating the remaining two,
and applying them in aid of the war against the Turks.

In England, without any new concordat, without any prag-
matic sanction, affairs were carried far beyond the concessions
of Constance. Henry VII possessed the undisputed right of
nomination to the bishoprics, and, not content with retaining
the promotion of the clergy in his own hands, he appropriated
the half of the first-fruits also. The ecclesiastical and secular
powers were, to a certain extent, united in the person of Wolsey,
when, in the early part of Henry VIIFs reign, he added the
title of legate to his many other offices, and, before Protestant-
ism had even been thought of by the English sovereign, he had
already proceeded to a merciless confiscation of the numerous
monasteries.

Nor did the countries and kingdoms of southern Europe re-
main in the background. By the King of Spain also the
nomination to episcopal sees was assumed as of right; that
crown, with which were united the grand masterships of the

* " We perceive the connection from received, others rejected.' " Muller's

the following words of JEneas Sylvius: " Reichstagstheatrum unter Friedrich

Concerning the decrees of the council III," Vorst iii. p. 604.

of Basle, a dissension began, you de- Schrockh's " Kirchengeschichte," vol.

daring that they were to be implicitly xxxii. p. 173. Eichhorn's " Staats- und

observed; but the apostolic seat re- Rechts-geschichte." vol. iii. 472, n. c.

jected them all, so at last a composition 8 M ii 1 1 e r ' s " Reichstagstheatrum,"

was made by which some of the decrees Vorst vi. p. 130.
of the said council appear to have been

3 o RANKE

religious orders, which had instituted and still directed the in-
quisition, made no scruple of appropriating various attributes
and immunities, formerly held sacred to the clergy; nor did
Ferdinand the Catholic shrink from opposing himself to the
papal legates whenever it suited his purpose to do so.

In like manner with the religious orders of Spain, those of
Portugal namely, St. James, Avis, and the order of Christ,
which had inherited the wealth of the Templars, were also in the
patronage of the crown. 7 King Emanuel obtained a third of the
cruciata from Leo X, and not content with this he demanded
and received a tenth part of the church property in his do-
minions, with the express right of distributing it according to
his unrestricted will, and the merit of the recipient.

These things sufficiently show that a universal tendency to
the circumscription of papal power was at this time manifested
throughout Christendom, in the south as in the north. A par-
ticipation in ecclesiastical revenues, and the right of promotion
to church benefices and offices, was that which the civil power
more especially desired. Nor did the popes attempt any strenu-
ous opposition. Of their privileges and possessions they
maintained what they could ; the rest they resigned. It was
remarked of Ferdinand of Naples by Lorenzo de' Medici in
relation to a dispute of the former with the Roman See " He
will make no difficulty of promising, but when it comes to the
fulfilment his deficiencies will be overlooked, as those of kings
always are by the popes ; " 8 for this spirit of opposition had pen-
etrated even into Italy. Of Lorenzo de' Medici himself we are
told that he followed the example of more powerful sovereigns
in this respect, obeying just so much of the papal commands as
suited him, and no more. 9 We shall be mistaken if we consider
these movements as but so many acts of self-will : the life of the
European nations was no longer pervaded and impressed as it
had formerly been by ecclesiastical influence. The development
of national character, and the separate organization of the

7 " Instruttione piena della cose di dinis, " Fabroni Vita Laurentii Medici/*

Portogallo al Coadjutor di Bergamo: ii. p. 362.

nuntio desttnato in Portogallo." MS. 9 Antonius Callus derebus Genuensi*

among the Informazioni politiche in the bus, " Muratori Scriptt. R. It." xxiii. p.

Royal Library of Berlin, vol. xii. Leo 281, says of Lorenzo: " He followed

X conferred this patronage of the or- the contumacious license of the greater

ders, " the King agreeing to pay a very kings and princes against the Romai*

large sum for the said patronage." Church, allowing nothing of the pontifr-

Lorenzo to Johannes de Lanfre- cal rights but as he saw good."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 31

various monarchies, were making important advances. It thus
became indispensable that the relation of the ecclesiastical to the
secular powers should be thoroughly remodified. A very re-
markable change had become obvious, even in the popes them-
selves.

palmela

CHAPTER SECOND

THE CHURCH AND HER TERRITORIES IN THE
BEGINNING OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

Section I. Extension of the Ecclesiastical States

WHATEVER judgment may be formed as to the popes
of the earlier ages, it is certain that they had always
important interests in view the duty of upholding
an oppressed religion, that of contending with paganism, of
diffusing Christianity among the nations of the North, and of
establishing an independent hierarchical government. To will,
and to achieve some great object, is proper to the dignity of
human nature; and while such was their tendency, the popes
were sustained in their lofty efforts ; but this spirit had passed
away with the times by which it had been awakened. Schism
had been suppressed, but it had become obvious that no hope
remained of effecting a combined action against the enemy of
the Church. Men would no longer give their lives to defend
her from the Turks. It thu^ followed that her spiritual
head now devoted himself to the interests of his temporal
sovereignty, and pursued these with an avidity hitherto un-
known. And this was in accordance with the temper and direc-
tion of the age : " I had once thought," remarks one of the
speakers in the Council of Basle, " that the secular power should
be wholly separate from that of the Church ; but I have now
learned that virtue without force is but slightly respected, and
that the pope, without patrimony of the Church, would be
merely the servant of kings and princes." This speaker, who
had yet sufficient influence in the assembly to determine the
election of Pope Felix, declares it not so very objectionable
that a pope should have sons, who might defend him against the
aggressions of tyrants. 1

*See an extract from this speech in Schrockh.
32

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 33

This question was afterward considered from a different
point of view among the Italians. It was held to be a thing
of course that a pope should provide for his own family and
promote its interests ; nay, a pontiff neglecting to do this would
have exposed himself to injurious remarks. " Others," writes
Lorenzo de' Medici to Innocent VIII, " have not so long post-
poned their efforts to attain the papal chair, and have con-
cerned themselves little to maintain the retiring delicacy so long
evinced by your holiness. Now is your holiness not only ex-
onerated before God and man, but this honorable conduct may
cause you to incur blame, and your reserve may be attributed
to less worthy motives. Zeal and duty lay it on my conscience
to remind your holiness that no man is immortal. Be the pon-
tiff as important as he may in his own person, he cannot make
his dignity and that importance hereditary; he cannot be said
absolutely to possess anything but the honors and emoluments
he has secured to his kindred." 2 Such were the counsels offered
by him who was considered the wisest man of Italy. It is true
that he had himself a direct interest in the matter, having given
his daughter in marriage to a son of the Pope, but he would
never have dared to express himself thus boldly and without
reserve, had not the views he was propounding been admitted
without question among the higher classes of his country.

There is a certain internal connection between the fact that
at this period the temporal princes were regularly seeking pos-
session of the papal privileges, and the circumstance that enter-
prises partly secular now began to occupy the most earnest at-
tention of the Pope. He felt himself above all an Italian prince.

No long time had elapsed since the Florentines had overcome
their neighbors the Pisans, and the house of Medici had estab-
lished its authority over both. The power of the Sforza family
in Milan, that of the house of Aragon in Naples, and of the
Venetians in Lombardy had all been achieved and consolidated
within the memory of man. What was to prevent the Pope from
establishing a yet more exalted sovereignty for himself in those
domains which were regarded as the patrimony of the Church,
but which were now under the rule of various independent
chiefs?

A letter of Lorenzo's without date, therein alluded to. Fabroni, " Vita
but apparently of the year 1489 since Laurentii," ii. 390.
the fifth year of Innocent VIII is

34 RANKE

Pope Sixtus IV was the first pontiff by whom this purpose
was undertaken with a fixed will and effectual results. He was
strenuously, and most successfully, followed by Alexander VI.
From Julius II this plan received a direction wholly unexpected,
and of which the effect was permanent.

Sixtus IV (1471-1484) conceived the idea of founding a
principality for his nephew, Girolamo Riario, in the fertile
and beautiful plains of Romagna. The other Italian powers
were already disputing the possession of, or the preponderance
in, this fair, district; and, if the question had been one of
right, the Pope had manifestly a better title than any one of
these princes; but he was greatly their inferior in political
force and the materials of war. He did not scruple to em-
ploy his spiritual influence exalted by its nature and objects
above all earthly purposes for the furtherance of his worldly
interests; nor did he shrink from debasing it by contact with
the temporary intrigues in which these involved him. The
Medici were especially obnoxious to the Pope, and mingling
himself in the disputes of the Florentines, he gave rise to the
suspicion that he had taken part in the conspiracy of the Pazzi,
and is believed, as is well known, to have been privy to that as-
sassination, committed by them before the very altar of a cathe-
dral. He the father of the faithful! When the Venetians
ceased to favor the undertakings of his nephew, as for some
time they had done, the Pope was not content with leaving them
to their fate, in the midst of a war to which he had himself im-
pelled them ; he even went so far as to excommunicate them for
persisting in it. 3

He acted with equal violence in Rome. The Colonna family,
opponents of Riario, was persecuted by him with the most sav-
age ferocity. He seized on their domain of Marino, and caus-
ing the prothonotary Colonna to be attacked in his own house,
took him prisoner, and put him to death. The mother of
Colonna came to St. Celso, in Banchi, where the corpse lay, and
lifting the severed head by its hair, she exclaimed: " Behold
the head of my son. Such is the truth of the Pope. He promised
that my son should be set at liberty if Marino were delivered into

8 The " Commentarii di Marino Sanu- " All men will see that we began this

to " on the war of Ferrara were printed war by desire of the Pope; he, however,

at Venice in 1829; at page 56 he alludes took measures for the breaking of the

to the defection of the Pope, quoting league."
the words of the Venetian ambassador:

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

35

his hands. He is possessed of Marino, and behold we have my
son but dead. Thus does the Pope keep his word." *

At such cost was it that Sixtus IV secured victory over his
enemies, domestic and foreign. He did, in effect, exalt his
nephew to be lord of Imola and Forli ; but if his temporal in-
fluence gained extension by these means, there can be no doubt
that his spiritual authority and character lost infinitely more.
There was even an attempt made to assemble a council against
him.

Meanwhile Sixtus was soon to be far surpassed. No long
time after him (1492) Alexander VI took possession of the
papal throne.

The great object of Alexander, through his whole life, was
to gratify his inclination for pleasure, his ambition, and his
love of ease. When at length he had attained to the supreme
spiritual dignity, he seemed also to have reached the sum-
mit of happiness. Spite of his advanced years, the exultation
he felt seemed daily to impart to him a new life. No painful
thought was permitted to disturb his repose for a single night.
His only care was to seize on all means that might aid him to
increase his power, and advance the wealth and dignity of his
sons: on no other subject did he ever seriously bestow a
thought. 5

This one consideration was at the base of all his political
alliances, and of those relations by which the events of the
world were at that time so powerfully influenced. How the
Pope would proceed, in regard to the marriages, endowments,
and advances of his children, became a question affecting the
politics of all Europe.

The son of Alexander, Caesar Borgia, followed close on the
footsteps of Riario. He began from the same point, and his
first undertaking was to drive the widow of Riario from Imola
and Forli. He pressed forward to the completion of his de-
signs with the most daring contempt of consequences; what
Riario had only approached, or attempted, Caesar Borgia carried
forward to its utmost results. Let us take a rapid glance at the
means by which his purposes were accomplished.

The ecclesiastical states had hitherto been divided by the

* " Alegretto Alegretti, Diari Sanesi," 8 " Relazione di Polo Capello," 1500,

P 817. MS. (App. No. 3.)

36 RANKE

factions of the Guelfs and the Ghibelines, the first represented
in Rome by the family of Orsini, the second by the house of
Colonna. The popes had usually taken part with one or the
other of these factions. Sixtus IV had done so, and his ex-
ample was followed by Alexander and his son, who at first at-
tached themselves to the Guelf, or Orsini party. This alliance
enabled them very soon to gain the mastery of all their enemies.
They drove the house of Sforza from Pesaro, that of Malatesta
from Rimini, and the family of Manfredi from Faenza. They
seized on those powerful, well-fortified cities, and thus com-
menced the foundation of an extensive lordship. But no sooner
had they attained this point, no sooner had they freed them-
selves from their enemies, than they turned every effort against
their friends. And it was in this that the practice of the Borgias
differed from that of their predecessors, who had ever remained
firmly attached to the party they had chosen; Caesar, on the
contrary, attacked his own confederates, without hesitation or
scruple. The Duke of Urbino, from whom he had frequently
received important aid, was involved, as in a network, by the
machinations of Caesar, and, with difficulty, saved his life, a
persecuted fugitive in his own dominions. 6 Vitelli, Baglioni,
and other chiefs of the Orsini faction resolved to show him
that at least they were capable of resistance. But Caesar Borgia,
declaring that " it is permitted to betray those who are the
masters of all treasons," decoyed them into his snares, with pro-
foundly calculated cruelty, and mercilessly deprived them of
life. Having thus destroyed both parties, he stepped into their
place, gathered the inferior nobility, who had been their ad-
herents, around him, and took them into his pay ; the territories
he had seized on were held in subjection by force of terror and
cruelty.

The brightest hopes of Alexander were thus realized the
nobles of the land were annihilated, and his house about to
found a great hereditary dominion in Italy. But he had already
begun to acquire practical experience of the evil which passions,
aroused and unbridled, are capable of producing. With no
relative or favorite would Caesar Borgia endure the partici-

6 Many interesting particulars regard- tain of his letters; in one of these,

ing Caesar Borgia are to be found written to the Pope, he subscribes him-

throughout the fourth volume of Sa- self " Your holiness's humblest servant

nuto's great MS. chronicles as also cer- and most devoted creature."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 37

pation of his power. His own brother stood in his way:
Caesar caused him to be murdered and thrown into the Tiber.
His brother-in-law was assailed and stabbed, by his orders, on
the steps of his palace. 7 The wounded man was nursed by his
wife and sister, the latter preparing his food with her own
hands, to secure him from poison ; the Pope set a guard upon
the house to protect his son-in-law from his son. Caesar laughed
'iese precautions to scorn. " What cannot be done at noon-
day," said he, " may be brought about in the evening." When
the prince was on the point of recovery, he burst into his
chamber, drove out the wife and sister, called in the common
executioner, and caused his unfortunate brother-in-law to be
strangled. Toward his father, whose life and station he valued
only as means to his own aggrandizement, he displayed not the
slightest respect or feeling. He slew Peroto, Alexander's
favorite, while the unhappy man clung to his patron for protec-
tion, and was wrapped within the pontifical mantle. The blood
of the favorite flowed over the face of the Pope.

For a certain time the city of the apostles, and the whole
state of the Church, were in the hands of Caesar Borgia. He is
described as possessing great personal beauty, and was so
strong that in a bull-fight he would strike off the head of the
animal at a single blow ; of liberal spirit, and not without cer-
tain features of greatness, but given up to his passions and
deeply stained with blood. How did Rome tremble at his name !
Caesar required gold, and possessed enemies: every night were
the corpses of murdered men found in the streets, yet none dared
move ; for who but might fear that his own turn would be next ?
Those whom violence could not reach were taken off by
poison. 8

There was but one place on earth where such deeds were
possible that, namely, where unlimited temporal power was

* " Diario de Sebastiano di Branca de 8 To the manifold notices extant on
Telini," MS. Bibl. Barb. N. 1103, speaks this head, I have added something from
of Caesar's atrocities in the manner fol- Polo Capello (App. No. 3). On the
lowing: " First, he caused his brother, death of distinguished men, people in-
called Duke of Gandia, to be thrown stantly suspected poisoning by the
into the river; he ordered his brother- Pope. With regard to the death of
in-law, who was son of the Duke of the Cardinal of Verona, Sanuto has the
Calabria, and the handsomest man ever following: " He was supposed to be
seen in Rome, to be assassinated: poisoned that the Pope might take his
again, he contrived the murder of Vitel- riches, because Alexander placed
lozzo, the bravest man of that time." guards around his house before he
He calls the Lord of Faenza " the hand- died."
somest lad in the world."

3 8 RANKE

united to the highest spiritual authority, where the laws, civil
and ecclesiastical, were held in one and the same hand. This
place was occupied by Caesar Borgia. Even depravity may
have its perfection. The kindred of the popes have often dis-
tinguished themselves in the career of evil, but none attained to
the eminence of Caesar Borgia. He may be called a virtuoso in
crime.

Was it not in the first and most essential tendencies of
Christianity to render such a power impossible? And yet,
Christianity itself, and the very position of the supreme head
of the Church, were made subservient to its existence.

There needed, then, no advent of a Luther, to prove to the
world that these things were in direct opposition to the spirit
of Christianity. Even at that time men complained that the
Pope was preparing the way for antichrist, and laboring for the
interest of Satan rather than the kingdom of God. 9

We do not follow the history of Alexander in its minute
details. He once purposed, as is but too well authenticated,
to destroy one of the richest cardinals by poison: but the
latter contrived to win over the Pope's chief cook by means
of promises, entreaties, and gifts. The confection prepared
for the cardinal was set before the pontiff himself ; and Alex-
ander expired from the effects of that poison which he had
destined for another. 10 The consequences resulting from his
various enterprises after his death were entirely different from
those he had anticipated.

The papal families had always hoped to acquire hereditary
sovereignty ; but, for the most part, their authority came to an
end with the life of the Pope, and his kindred returned to the
rank whence they had risen. If the Venetians beheld the career
of Caesar Borgia with indifference, it was principally because
they had no doubt but that matters would in this respect take
their usual course : there were, perhaps, other motives in action,
but this was the principal ; they " judged all this to be merely
a fire of straw, and believed that things would return to their
former position, if Alexander were once dead. 1

On this occasion, they were nevertheless disappointed in

A loose sheet, MS. from Sanuto's " Del resto poco stimavano, cono-

chronicle. scendo, che questo acquisto che all'

10 " Successo di la Morte di Papa hora faceva il duca Valentinois sarebbe

Alessandro," MS. (See App. No. 4.) foco di paglia, che poco dura."

1 " Priuli Cronaca di Venezia," MS. :

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 39

their expectations: a pope followed, who did indeed make it
his object to assume a position in direct contrast with that of
the Borgias; but who pursued the same end, though he took
different, and from that very circumstance, successful, means
for his purpose. Julius II (A. D. 1503-1513) enjoyed the in-
calculable advantage of finding opportunity for promoting the
interests of his family by peaceable means : he obtained for his
kindred the inheritance of Urbino. This done, he could devote
himself, undisturbed by the importunities of his kindred, to
the gratification of that innate love for war and conquest which
was indeed the ruling passion of his life. To this he was in-
vited by the circumstances of the times, and the consciousness
of his eminent position : but his efforts were all for the Church
for the benefit of the papal see. Other popes had labored to
procure principalities for their sons or their nephews : it was
the ambition of Julius to extend the dominions of the Church.
He must, therefore, be regarded as the founder of the Papal
States.

He found the whole territory in extreme confusion ; all who
had escaped by flight from the hand of Caesar had returned
the Orsini, the Colonna, the Vitelli and Baglioni, Varani, Mala-
testa, and Montefeltri everywhere throughout the whole land,
were the different parties in movement; murderous contests
took place in the very Borgo of Rome. Pope Julius has been
compared with the Neptune of Virgil, when rising from the
waves, with peace-inspiring countenance he hushes their storms
to repose. 2 By prudence and good management, he disembar-
rassed himself even of Caesar Borgia, whose castles he seized
and of whose dukedom he also gained possession. The lesser
barons he kept in order with the more facility from the measures
to this effect that had been taken by Caesar, but he was careful
not to give them such cardinals for leaders as might awaken the
ancient spirit of insubordination by ambitious enterprise. The
more powerful nobles, who refused him obedience, he attacked
without further ceremony. His accession to the papal throne
sufficed to reduce Baglioni (who had again made himself mas-
ter of Perugia) within the limits of due subordination. Nor
could Bentivoglio offer effectual resistance when required to

1 Tommaso Inghirami, in " Fea. Notizie intorno Rafaele Sanzio da Urbino,"
P. 57-

40 RANKE

resign that sumptuous palace which he had erected in Bologna,
and whereon he had too hastily inscribed the well-known eulogy
of his own good fortune: of this he saw himself deprived in
his old age. The two powerful cities of Perugia and Bologna
were thus subjected to the immediate authority of the pontifical
throne.

But with all this Julius was yet far from having accom-
plished the end he had proposed to himself. The coasts of
the Papal States were in great part occupied by the Venetians ;
they were by no means disposed to yield possession of them
freely, and the Pope was greatly their inferior in military power.
He could not conceal from himself that his attacking them
would be the signal for a commotion throughout Europe.
Should he venture to risk this ?

Old as Julius now was, worn by the many vicissitudes of
good and evil fortune experienced through a long life, by the
fatigues of war and exile, and most of all by the consequences of
intemperance and licentious excess, he yet knew not what fear
or irresolution meant ; in the extremity of age, he still retained
that grand characteristic of manhood, an indomitable spirit.
He felt little respect for the princes of his time, and believed
himself capable of mastering them all. It was precisely from
the tumults of a general war that he hoped to extract the fulfil-
ment of his purposes ; his only care was to be always in com-
mand of money, to the end that he might seize the favorable mo-
ment with his utmost power. He desired, as a Venetian of that
day felicitously remarks, " to be lord and master of the game
of the world." 8 Awaiting the fruition of his desires with an
excess of impatience, he yet kept them confined to his own
breast. If we inquire what enabled him to assume so command-
ing an attitude, we find it principally attributable to the fact that
the state of public opinion in his day permitted the frank avowal
of his natural tendencies ; he was free to profess them openly ;
nay, to make them his boast. The re-establishment of the States
of the Church was in that day considered not only a glorious,
but even a religious enterprise; every effort of the Pope was

Sommario di la relatione di Dolne- Francesco Vettori, " Sommariq dell' is-

nego Trivixan," MS.: "II papa vol toria d' Italia," MS., says of him: " Ju-

esser il dominus et maistro del jpcho lius was more fortunate that prudent,

del mundo." (App. No. 6.) There and had more courage than strength,

exists also a second relation by Polo but was ambitious and desirous of

Capello, of the year 1510, whence a few grandeur to an immoderate degree,
notices are inserted in the App. No. 5.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 41

directed toward this end ; by this one idea were all his thoughts
animated; they were, if I may so express myself, steeled and
moulded into this one unvarying form. In furtherance- of this,
his grand aim, he engaged in the boldest operations, risking all
to obtain all. He took the field in person, and having stormed
Mirandola, he pressed into the city across the frozen ditches
and through the breach ; the most disastrous reverses could not
shake his purpose, but rather seemed to waken new resources
within him. He was accordingly successful; not only were
his own baronies rescued from the Venetians, but in the fierce
contest that ensued, he at length made himself master of Parma,
Placentia, and even Reggio, thus laying the foundation of a
power such as no pope had ever possessed before him. From
Placentia to Terracina the whole fair region admitted his au-
thority. He had ever sought to present himself in the character
of a liberator ; governing his new subjects with a wise benignity,
he secured their attachment and even devotion; the temporal
princes were not without alarm at sight of so many warlike
populations in allegiance to a pope. " Time was," says
Machiavel, " when no baron was so insignificant but that he
might venture to brave the papal power; now, it is regarded
with respect even by a king of France."

Section II Prevalence of Secular Views and Interests in the

Church

It was an inevitable consequence that the whole body of the
hierarchy should be influenced by the character and tendencies
of its chief, that all should lend their best aid to the promotion
of his purposes, and be themselves carried forward by the im-
pulse thus given.

Not only the supreme dignity of the pontiff, but all the
offices of the Church, were regarded -as mere secular property.
The Pope nominated cardinals from no better motive than per-
sonal favor, the gratification of some potentate, or even (and
this was no infrequent occurrence ) for actual payment of money !
Could there be any rational expectation that men so appointed
would fulfil their spiritual duties ? One of the most important
offices of the Church, the Penitenziaria, was bestowed by Six-
tus IV on one of his nephews. This office held a large portion of

42 RANKE

the power of granting dispensations; its privileges were still
further extended by the Pope, and in a bull issued for the ex-
press purpose of confirming them, he declared all who shall
presume to doubt the rectitude of such measures, to be " a stiff-
necked people and children of malice." 1 It followed as a mat-
ter of course that the nephew considered his office as a benefice,
the proceeds of which he was entitled to increase to the utmost
extent possible.

A large amount of worldly power was at this time conferred
in most instances, together with the bishoprics ; they were held
more or less as sinecures according to the degree of influence
or court favor possessed by the recipient or his family. The
Roman Curia thought only of how it might best derive ad-
vantage from the vacancies and presentations ; Alexander ex-
torted double annates or first-fruits, and levied double, nay
triple tithes: there remained few things that had not became
matter of purchase. The taxes of the papal chancery rose
higher from day to day, and the comptroller, whose duty it
was to prevent all abuses in that department, most commonly
referred the revision of the imposts to those very men who
had fixed their amount. 2 For every indulgence obtained from
the datary's office, a stipulated sum was paid; nearly all the
disputes occurring at this period between the several states of
Europe and the Roman Court arose out of these exactions,
which the Curia sought by every possible means to increase,
while the people of all countries as zealously strove to restrain
them.

Principles such as these necessarily acted on all ranks affect-
ed by the system based on them, from the highest to the lowest.
Many ecclesiastics were found ready to renounce their bishop-
rics ; but they retained the greater part of the revenues, and not
unfrequently the presentation to the benefices dependent on
them also. Even the laws forbidding the son of a clergyman
to procure induction to the living of his father, and enacting
that no ecclesiastic should dispose of his office by will, were

1 Bull of the 9th of May, 1484 : " Quo- licse Smi. Dni. Nri. Pauli III.," 1540,

niam nonnulli iniquitatis filii, elattonis MS., in the Barberini library in Rome,

et pertinaciae suae spiritu assumpto pp- enumerates all the abuses that have

testatem majori poenitentiarii nostri in crept in since the days of Sixtus and

dubium revocare praesumunt, decet nos Alexander. The grievances of the Ger-

adversus tales adhibere remedia," etc. man nation relate especially to these

Bullarium Romanum, ed. Cocquelines, "new devices" and the officers of the

iii. p. 187. Roman chancery.

" Reformationes cancellariae aposto-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 43

continually evaded; for as all could obtain permission to ap-
point whomsoever he might choose as his coadjutor, provided
he were liberal of his money, so the benefices of the Church be-
came in a manner hereditary.

It followed of necessity that the performance of ecclesias-
tical duties was grievously neglected. In this rapid sketch, I
confine myself to remarks made by conscientious prelates of the
Roman Court itself. " What a spectacle," they exclaim, " for
a Christian who shall take his way through the Christian world,
is this desolation of the churches ! All the flocks are abandoned
by their shepherds, they are given over to the care of hire-
lings." 3

In all places incompetent persons were intrusted with the
performance of clerical duties; they were appointed without
scrutiny or selection. The incumbents of benefices were prin-
cipally interested in finding substitutes at the lowest possible
cost, thus the mendicant friars were frequently chosen as par-
ticularly suitable in this respect. These men occupied the
bishoprics under the title (previously unheard of in that sense)
of suffragans ; the cures they held in the capacity of vicars.

Already were the mendicant orders in possession of extraor-
dinary privileges, and these had been yet further extended by
Sixtus IV, who was himself a Franciscan. They had the right
of confessing penitents, administering the Lord's Supper, and
bestowing extreme unction, as also that of burying within the
precincts, and even in the habit of the order. All these privi-
leges conferred importance as well as profit, and the mendicant
friars enjoyed them in their utmost plenitude; the Pope even
threatened the disobedient secular clergy, or others, who should
molest the orders, more particularly as regarded bequests, with
the loss of their respective offices. 4

The administration of parishes as well as that of bishoprics
being now in the hands of the mendicant orders, it is manifest

8 The counsel of the select cardinals * Most ample privileges of the minor-

and other prelates, respecting the amel- ite friars of the order of St. Francis,

ioration of the church, written by which are called on that account a

special command of our most holy lord great sea. Bullarium Rom. iii. 3, 139.

Paul III, in the year 1538, printed more A similar bull was issued in favor of

than once even at the time, and im- the Dominicans; this " Mare Mag-

portant as pointing out the evil, so far num " attracted much attention in the

as it lay in the administration, precisely Lateran council of 1512; but privileges,

and without reserve. Long after it had so at least was then the case, are more

been printed, this MS. still remained readily conferred than revoked,
incorporated with the MSS. of the Cu-
ria.

Popes (Vol. I). 4

11BDADV CT l

44 RANKE

that they must have possessed enormous influence. The higher
offices and more important dignities were monopolized, together
with their revenues, by the great families and their dependents,
shared only with the favorites of courts and of the Curia ; the
actual discharge of the various duties was confided to the mendi-
cant friars who were upheld by the popes. They took active
part also in the sale of indulgences, to which so unusual an ex-
tension was given at that time, Alexander VI being the first to
declare officially that they were capable of releasing souls from
purgatory. But the orders also had fallen into the extreme of
worldliness. What intrigues were set on foot among them for se-
curing the higher appointments ! What eagerness was displayed
at elections to be rid of a rival or of a voter believed unfavor-
able ! The latter were sent out of the way as preachers or as in-
spectors of remote parishes; against the former, they did not
scruple to employ the sword, or the dagger, and many were de-
stroyed by poison. 5 Meanwhile the comforts men seek from re-
ligion became mere matter of sale; the mendicant friars, em-
ployed at miserably low wages, caught eagerly at all contingent
means of making profit.

" Woe is me ! " exclaims one of the prelates before alluded
to, " Who are they that have turned my eyes to fountains of
tears? Even those set apart and elect have fallen off; the
vineyard of the Lord is laid waste. Were they to perish alone,
this were an evil, yet one that might be endured : but since they
are diffused through all Christendom as are the veins through
the body, so must their corruption and downfall bring on the
ruin of the world ! "

Section III. -Intellectual Tendency

Could we unfold the book of history, and lay its facts before
our eyes in their connected reality ; were the fleeting events of
time to display their most concealed mechanism before us, as do
the eternal forms of nature, how often should we not be com-
forted by perceiving in the first as in the last, that the fresh germ

6 In a voluminous report from Ca- monasteries: "They proceed to com-

raffa to Clement, which is given by mit murders, not only by poison, but

Bromato, " Vita di Paolo IV.," in a openly with the dagger and the sword,

mutilated form only, the passage follow- to say nothing of firearms."
ing occurs in the manuscript of the

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 45

is hidden beneath the decay we deplore, and that new life is
proceeding from death !

Deeply as we may lament the earthward tendency of spiritual
things, and the corruption we have just described as existing in
religious institutions ; yet, but for these evils, the mind of man
could with difficulty have entered on that peculiar path, which,
more directly than any other, has led to his essential progress,
moral and intellectual.

We cannot deny the fact, that, ingenious, diversified, and
profound as are the productions of the middle ages, they are
yet based on views of the world, visionary in character and but
little in accordance with the reality of things. Had the Church
remained in full and conscious power, she would have adhered
firmly to these views, narrowing and restricting as they were ;
but as she now was, the human intellect was left at liberty to
seek a new development in a totally altered direction.

We may safely assert that, during those ages, the mind of
man was necessarily held within the limits of a closely bounded
horizon. The renewed acquaintance with antiquity removed
this barrier, and opened a loftier, a more comprehensive, and a
grander prospect.

Not that the classic authors were altogether unknown to the
middle ages. The avidity with which the Arabs, to whom we
are indebted for the introduction of so many branches of science
into the West, collected and appropriated the works of the an-
cients, was but little inferior to the zeal with which the Ital-
ians of the fifteenth century pursued the same object. Caliph
Mamoun does not lose by comparison in this respect with
Cosmo de' Medici. There was nevertheless a difference, which,
though at first sight it may seem of no great moment, is in my
opinion all-important. The Arabs translated, but they often
destroyed the originals. Their translations being pervaded, and
thus transmuted, by their own peculiar ideas, the end was, that
in their hands, Aristotle was wrested, so to speak, into a system
of theosophy. Astronomy was perverted to astrology, and this
last applied to medicine. They may thus be said to have aided
in producing those visionary views of things to which we have
before alluded. The Italians, on the contrary, extracted true
profit from all they read. They proceeded from the Romans
to the Greeks. The art of printing disseminated the originals

46 RANKE

throughout the world in copies innumerable : the true Aristotle
superseded that falsified by the Arabs. Men studied science
from the unaltered works of the ancients: geography directly
from Ptolemy, botany from Dioscorides, medicine from Galen
and Hippocrates. How rapidly was the mind of man then de-
livered from the fantasies that had hitherto peopled the world
from the prejudices that had held his spirit in thrall.

We should, however, say too much, were we to assert for
these times an immediate evidence of originality in the culti-
vation of literature and science, the discovery of new truths, or
the production of grand ideas ; as yet men sought only to com-
prehend the ancients, none thought of going beyond them. The
efficacy of the classic writers lay not so much in the impulse
given to production and the growth of a creative spirit in
literature, as in the habit of imitation that their works called
forth.

But in this imitation will be found one of the causes most
immediately contributing to the mental progress of that period.

Men sought to emulate the ancients in their own language.
Leo X was an especial patron of this pursuit : he read the well-
written introduction to the history of Jovius aloud in the circle
of his intimates, declaring that since the works of Livy noth-
ing so good had been produced. A patron of the Latin im-
provisators, we may readily conceive the charm he would find in
the talents of Vida, who could set forth a subject like the game
of chess, in the full tones of well-cadenced Latin hexameters.
A mathematician, celebrated for expounding his science in ele-
gant Latin, was invited from Portugal; in this manner he
would have had theology and jurisprudence taught, and church
history written.

Meanwhile it was not possible that things could remain
stationary. Once arrived at this point, to whatever extent
the direct imitation of the ancients in their own tongues might
be carried, it was utterly insufficient to occupy the whole field
of intellect; there was something in it incomplete, unsatis-
factory, and it was so widely practised that this defect could
not long escape the general notice. The new idea gradually
arose of imitating the ancients in the mother tongue. The men
of that day felt themselves to stand in the same position with
regard to the classic authors, as did the Romans with regard to

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 47

the Greeks: they determined no longer to confine themselves
within the bounds of a contest in mere details; on the broad
fields of literature were they now resolved to vie with their
masters, and with youthful enthusiasm did they rush forward
on this new career.

The language of nations was fortunately receiving at this
precise moment an improved and regulated form. The merit
of Bembo does not consist so much in the finished style of his
Latin, nor in those essays in Italian poetry still remaining to
us, as in his well-devised and happily successful efforts to give
correctness and dignity to his mother tongue, and to establish
its construction according to fixed rules. This it is for which
he has been praised by Ariosto ; he appeared precisely at the
right moment, his own literary attempts serving to exemplify
his doctrines.

If we examine the circle of works, formed on antique models,
but of which the medium was that Italian so incomparable for
harmony and flexibility, and which had been so skilfully adapted
to the purposes of the writer, the following observations are
forced on our attention.

But little success resulted from the efforts of those who
sought too close an adherence to the classic model. Trage-
dies, like the " Rosmunda " of Rucellai, constructed, as the
editors assure us, entirely after the antique: didactic poems,
like "The Bees" of the same author (wherein we are from
the very first referred to Virgil, who is turned to account in
a thousand ways throughout the poem), were by no means
favorably received, nor did they produce any real effect on
the progress of literature. Comedies were from the first less
restrained. It was in their very nature to assume the color
and impression of the time; but the groundwork was almost
invariably some fable of antiquity, or a plot borrowed from
Plautus. 1 Men, even of such talent as was possessed by Bib-
biena and Machiavelli, have failed to secure for their attempts

1 Marco Minio, among many other .said hall was made Ferrara, exactly as

remarkable things, describes to the Sig- it is. They say that Monsignor Cibo,

nory the circumstances attending the passing through Ferrara, and wishing

first production of a comedy in Rome. to have a comedy, that one was given

His date is the 13th of March, 1519. him; it was taken from the ' Suppositi '

(See App. No. 8.) " The festival being of Plautus and the ' Eunuchus ' of Ter-

finished, they went to a comedy given ence very beautiful." He doubtless

by Monsignore Cibo, where was a fine means the " Suppositi " of Ariosto, but

sight, with decoration more superb we may remark that he mentions neither

than I can tell. In the comedy there the name of the author nor the title of

was feigned to be a Ferrara, and in the the piece, only whence it was taken.

48 RANKE

in comedy the entire approbation of later times. In works of a
different description, we occasionally perceive a species of con-
flict between their component parts, ancient and modern.
Thus, in the " Arcadia " of Sanazzaro, how peculiarly do the
prolix periods and stilted Latinity of the prose" contrast with the
simplicity, the earnest feeling, and rare melody of the verse !

If the success obtained, considerable as it was, did not ar-
rive at perfection, that should by no means excite astonishment :
a great example was at all events given an attempt made that
has proved infinitely productive ; still, the modern elements of
literature neither did nor could move with perfect freedom in
the classic forms: the spirit was mastered by rules imposed
on it from without, and in flagrant discord with its own nature.

But how could anything really great be produced by mere
imitation? The master-works of antiquity do assuredly pos-
sess their own influence as models, but this is the influence of
mind on mind. It is the firm conviction of our own times that
the beautiful type is to educate, to form, to excite, but never to
enslave.

The most felicitous creation might, on the other hand, be
reasonably hoped for, when the genius of those times should
arouse itself to the production o a' work, departing in form
and matter from the writers of antiquity, and affected by their
internal influence only.

The romantic epos owes its peculiar charm to the fact that
it fulfils these conditions. A Christian fable, combining the
religious influence with heroic interests, supplied the ground-
work : the most prominent figures were depicted by a few bold
broad general traits; efficient situations, but slightly de-
veloped, were ready to the hand of the poet, as was the poetic
expression which was presented to him immediately from the
common colloquy of the people. In aid of all this came the
tendency of the age to adapt itself to the antique, of which the
humanizing influences colored and informed the whole. How
different is the Rinaldo of Bojardo noble, modest, replete with
a joyous love of action and adventure from the desperate son
of Aimon of the old legend! How does the extravagant, the
violent, the gigantic of the earlier representation, become trans-
formed into the intelligible, the graceful, and the charming!
There is doubtless something attractive and agreeable in the

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 49

simplicity of the unadorned old stories ; but how greatly is our
enjoyment increased, when the melody of Ariosto's verse floats
along with us, and we pass from one bright picture to another in
companionship with a cultivated mind and frank, cheerful
spirit! The unlovely and formless has wrought itself into
beauty, symmetry, and music. 2

A keen susceptibility to pure beauty of form, with the power
of expressing it, is manifested at a few favored periods only;
the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth cen-
turies was one of them. How can I hope to indicate, were
it but in outline, the wealth of art, whether in conception or
practice, that filled those times- the fervid devotion that gave
life to every effort? We may boldly affirm, that whatever of
most beautiful the later ages have produced in architecture,
sculpture, or painting is all due to this short period. The
tendency of the time was not toward abstract reasonings, but
rather toward a vivid life and active practice : in this earnest
medium did men live and move. I may even say that the for-
tress erected by the prince against his enemy, and the note writ-
ten by the philologist on the margin of his author, have a cer-
tain something in common: a severe and chaste beauty forms
the groundwork of all the productions of the period.

We cannot, however, refuse to acknowledge that when art
and poetry took possession of religious materials, they did
not leave the import of them unchanged. The romantic epos,
presenting us with a legend of the Church, is usually in direct
opposition to the spirit of that legend. Ariosto found it need-
ful to dismiss from his fable the background containing its
original signification.

In earlier times the share of religion was equal with that
of art, in every work of the painter or sculptor * but no sooner
had the breath of antiquity been felt on the bosom of art than
the bonds that had chained her to subjects exclusively religious
were cast from her spirit. We see this change manifest itself
more decidedly from year to year even in the works of Raphael.
People may blame this, if they please ; but it would seem to be
certain that the co-operation of the profane element was neces-
sary to the full development and bloom of art.

1 1 have endeavored to work out this subject in a special treatise read be-
fore the Royal Academy of Sciences.

50 RANKE

And was it not profoundly significant that a pope should
himself resolve to demolish the ancient basilica of St. Peter,
the metropolitan church of Christendom, every part of which
was hallowed, every portion crowded with monuments that
had received the veneration of ages, and determine to erect
a temple, planned after those of antiquity, on its site? This
was a purpose exclusively artistic. The two factions then
dividing the jealous and contentious world of art, united in
urging Julius II to this enterprise. Michael Angelo desired
a fitting receptacle for that monument to the pope which he
proposed to complete on a vast scale, and with that lofty
grandeur which he has exhibited in his Moses. Yet more
pressing was Bramante. It was his ambition to have space
for the execution of that bold project, long before conceived,
of raising high in air, on colossal pillars, an exact copy of the
Pantheon, in all the majesty of its proportions. Many car-
dinals remonstrated, and it would even appear that there was
a general opposition to the plan ; so much of personal affection
attaches itself to every old church, how much more then to this,
the chief sanctuary of Christendom! 3 But Julius was not ac-
customed to regard contradiction; without further consid-
eration he caused one-half of the old church to be demolished,
and himself laid the foundation-stone of the new one.

Thus rose again, in the heart and centre of the Christian
worship, those forms in which the spirit of the antique rites
had found so eloquent an expression. At San Pietro in Mon-
torio, and over the blood of the martyr, Btamante erected a
chapel in the light and cheerful form of a peripteros.

If this involve a contradiction, it was one that pervaded the
whole existence and affected all the habits of the times.

Men frequented the Vatican, less to kneel in devotion on
the threshold of the apostles than to admire those great works
of ancient art that enriched the dwelling of the pontiff the
Belvedere Apollo and the Laocoon.

It is true that the Pope was exhorted as earnestly as ever

8 The following passage is given by wish to have a new basilica erected

Fea, from the imprinted work of Pan- with all possible magnificence, but be-

yinius (" De rebus antiquis memorabil- cause they grieved that the old one

ibus et de praestantia basilicae S. Petri should be pulled down, revered as it

Appstolorum Principis," etc.) : " In was by the whole world, ennobled by

which matter he had men of almost all the sepulchres of so many saints, and

clsses &gainst him, and especially the illustrious for so many great things

cardinals; not because they did not that had been done in it."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 51

to make war against infidels. I find this, for example, in a
preface of Navagero, 4 but the writer was not concerning himself
for the interests of Christianity ; his hope was that the pontiff
would thus recover the lost writings of the Greeks and per-
haps of the Romans.

In this exuberance of effort and production, of intellect and
art, and in the enjoyment of increasing temporal power at-
tached to the highest spiritual dignity, lived Leo X. Men have
questioned his title to the honor of giving his name to the
period, and he had not perhaps any great merit in doing so, but
he was indubitably favored by circumstances. His character
had been formed in the midst of those elements that fashioned
the world of his day, and he had liberality of mind and sus-
ceptibility of feeling that fitted him for the furtherance of
its progress and the enjoyment of its advantages. If he found
pleasure in the efforts of those who were but imitators of the
Latin, still more would the works of his contemporaries delight
him. It was in his presence that the first tragedy was per-
formed, and (spite of the objections liable to be found in a play
imitating Plautus) the first comedy also that was produced in
the Italian language; there is, indeed, scarcely one that was
not first seen by him. Ariosto was among the acquaintance of
his youth. Machiavelli composed more than one of his works
expressly for him. His halls, galleries, and chapels were filled
by Raphael with the rich ideal of human beauty, and with the
purest expression of life in its most varied forms. He was a
passionate lover of music, a more scientific practice of which
was just then becoming diffused throughout Italy; the sounds
of music were daily heard floating through the palace, Leo him-
self humming the airs that were performed. This may all be
considered a sort of intellectual sensuality, but it is at least the
only one that does not degrade the man. Leo X was full of
kindness and ready sympathies ; rarely did he refuse a request,
and when compelled to do so evinced his reluctance by the gen-
tlest expressions. " He is a good man," says an observant am-
bassador, " very bounteous and kindly ; he would avoid all dis-
orders, if it were not that his kinsmen incite him to them." 5
" He is learned," says another, " and the friend of the learned ;

4 Naugerii Prsefatio in " Ciceronis neither wars nor troubles, but his kin-
Orationes," t. i. dred embroil him in both." (See App.

Zorzi : " As to the Pope, he desires 7.)

52 RANKE

religious too, but he will enjoy his life." 6 It is true that he did
not always attend to the pontifical proprieties. He would some-
times leave Rome to the despair of his master of the cere-
monies not only without a surplice, but, as that officer ruefully
bemoans in his journal, " what is worst of all, even with boots
on his feet ! " It was his custom to pass the autumn in rural
pleasures. At Viterbo he amused himself with hawking, and
at Corneto with hunting the stag. The Lake of Bolsena af-
forded him the pleasure of fishing, or he would pass a certain
time at his favorite residence of Malliana, whither he was ac-
companied by improvisatori and other men of light and agree-
able talents, capable of making every hour pass pleasantly.
Toward winter he returned with his company to Rome, which
was now in great prosperity, the number of its inhabitants
having increased full one-third in a very few years. Here the
mechanic found employment, the artist honor, and safety was
assured to all. Never had the court been more animated, more
graceful, more intellectual. In the matter of festivities, whether
spiritual or temporal, no cost was spared, nor was any ex-
penditure found too lavish when the question was of amuse-
ments, theatres, presents, or marks of favor. There was high
jubilee when it was known that Giuliano de' Medici meant to
settle with his young wife in Rome. " God be praised," writes
Cardinal Bibbiena to him, " for here we lack nothing but a court
with ladies."

The debasing sensuality of Alexander VI cannot fail to
be regarded with horror and loathing; in the court of Leo X
there were few things deserving absolute blame, although we
cannot but perceive that his pursuits might have been more
strictly in accordance with his position as supreme head of the
Church.

Easily does life veil its own incongruities as they pass, but
no sooner do men set themselves to ponder, examine, and com-
pare, than at once they become fully apparent to all.

Of true Christian sentiment and conviction there could be
no question in such a state of things; they were, on the con-
trary, directly opposed.

The schools of philosophy disputed as to whether the rea-
sonable soul were really immaterial and immortal but one

Marco Minio, " Relazione." He calls him " bona persona." (See App. No. 8.)

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 53

single spirit only and common to all mankind or whether it
were absolutely mortal.

Pietro Pomponazzo, the most distinguished philosopher of
the day, did not scruple to uphold the latter opinion. He com-
pared himself to Prometheus, whose heart was devoured by
the vulture, because he had sought to steal fire from Jupiter;
but with all the painful efforts Pomponazzo could make, with
all his subtlety, he could arrive at no other result than this:
" If the lawgiver declared the soul immortal, he had done so
without troubling himself about the truth." 7

Nor are we to believe that these opinions were confined to
a few, or held only in secret. Erasmus declares himself aston-
ished at the blasphemies that met his ears ; attempts were made
to prove to him a foreigner by passages from Pliny, that the
souls of men are absolutely identical with those of beasts. 8

While the populace had sunk into almost heathen super-
stition, and expected their salvation from mere ceremonial ob-
servances, but half understood, the higher classes were mani-
festing opinions of a tendency altogether anti-religious.

How profoundly astonished must Luther have been, on visit-
ing Italy in his youth ! At the very moment when the sacrifice
of the mass was completed, did the priests utter blasphemous
words in denial of its reality !

It was even considered characteristic of good society in
Rome to call the principles of Christianity in question. " One
passes," says P. Ant. Bandino, 9 " no longer for a man of cul-
tivation, unless one put forth heterodox opinions regarding
the Christian faith." At court, the ordinances of the Catholic
Church, and of passages from holy Scripture, were made sub-
jects of jest the mysteries of the faith had become matter of
derision.

'Pomponazzo was very seriously as- Court a nefarious sect, and the abomi-
sailed on this subject, as appears from nable opinion of some youths who, de-
extracts of papal letters by Contelori, praved of morals, maintained that our
and from other proofs. " Peter of Man- orthodox faith was founded rather on
tua has asserted that, according to the certain subtleties of the saints than on
principles of philosophy and the opin- the true testimonies of things." A very
ion of Aristotle, the reasoning soul is decided materialism is evinced by
or appears to be mortal, contrary to the " The Triumph of Charlemagne," a
determination of the Lateran council; poem by Ludovici, as may be seen
the Pope commands that the said Peter from the quotations of Daru in the
shall retract, otherwise that he be pro- 40th book of his " Histoire de Venise."
ceeded against." B In Caracciolo's MS. life of Paul IV:

8 Burigny, " Life of Erasmus," i. 139. " At that time he seemed neither a gen-
Here may also be quoted the following tleman nor a good courtier who did not
passage from Paul Canensius in the hold some false and heretical opinion
" Vita Pauli II ": " With no less dili- as to the doctrines of the Church."
gence he banished from the Roman

54 RANKE

We thus see how all is enchained and connected how one
event calls forth another. The pretensions of temporal princes
to ecclesiastical power awaken a secular ambition in the popes,
the corruption and decline of religious institutions elicit the
development of a new intellectual tendency, till at length
the very foundations of the faith become shaken in the public
opinion.

Section IV. Opposition to the Papacy in Germany

There appears to me something especially remarkable in
the dispositions of Germany, as exhibited at this moment. In
the intellectual development we have just been considering, her
part was a decided and influential one, but conducted in a man-
ner peculiar to herself.

In Italy, the promoters of classical study, and those from
whom the age received its impulse toward it, were poets; as,
for example, Boccaccio and Petrarch. In Germany, the same
effect was due to a religious fraternity, the Hieronymites a
community united by a life of labor, passed in sequestration
from the world. It was one of this brotherhood, the profound
and blameless mystic, Thomas a Kempis, from whose school
proceeded all those earnest and venerable men who, first drawn
to Italy by the light of ancient learning, newly kindled there,
afterward returned to pour its beneficent influence over the
breadth of Germany. 1

The difference thus observable in the beginning was equally
apparent in the subsequent progress.

In Italy the works of the ancients were studied for the
sciences they contained ; in Germany, for the aids they offered
to the study of philosophy. The Italians sought a solution
of the highest problems that can occupy the human intellect,
if not by independent thought, at least with the help of the
ancients; the Germans collected all that was best throughout
antiquity for the education of their youth. The Italians were
attracted toward the ancients by the beauty of form; this
they sought to imitate, and thence proceeded to the forma-
tion of a national literature : among the Germans, these same

1 Meiners has the merit of having first Lives of celebrated men belonging to the
brought to light this genealogy from period of the revival of letters,
the " Daventria Illustrata of Revius."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 55

studies took a more spiritual direction. The fame of Eras-
mus and Reuchlin is familiar to all; if we inquire what con-
stitutes the principal merit of the latter, we find it to be his
having written the first Hebrew grammar a monument of
which he hoped, as did the Italian poets of their works, that
" it would be more durable than brass " ; as by him the study
of the Old Testament was first facilitated, so was that of the
New Testament indebted to Erasmus. To this it was that his
attention was devoted; it was he who first caused it to be
printed in Greek, and his paraphrases and commentaries on
it have produced an effect far surpassing the end he had pro-
posed to himself.

While the public mind of Italy had become alienated from,
and even opposed to, the Church, an effect in some respects
similar had taken place in Germany. There, that freedom
of thought which can never be wholly suppressed, gained
admission into the literary world, and occasionally displayed
itself in decided scepticism. A more profound theology, also,
had arisen, from sources but imperfectly known, and though
discountenanced by the Church, had never been put down;
this now formed an essential part of the literary movement in
Germany. In this point of view, I consider it worthy of re-
mark, that, even as early as the year 1513, the Bohemian
brethren made advances to Erasmus, whose modes of thought
were, nevertheless, entirely different from their own. 2

Thus, on either side the Alps, the progress of the age was
in direct opposition to ecclesiastical ascendancy. In Italy this
tendency was associated with science and literature; in Ger-
many it arose from biblical studies, and a more profound the-
ology. There it was negative and incredulous; here it was
positive, and full of an earnest faith. There it destroyed the very
foundations of the Church ; here the desire was to construct the
edifice anew. In Italy it was mocking and sarcastic, but ever
pliant and deferential to power ; in Germany, full of a serious
indignation, and deeply determined on a stubbornness of assault
such as the Roman Church had never before experienced.

The fact that this was first directed against the abuses arising '
from the sale of indulgences, has sometimes been regarded as
mere matter of accident; but as the alienation of that which

Fusslin, " Kirchen- und Ketzer-geschichte," ii. 8a.

56 RANKE

is most essentially spiritual, involved in the doctrine of in-
dulgences laid open and gave to view the weakest point in the
whole system that worldliness of spirit now prevalent in the
Church so was it, of all things, best calculated to shock and
offend the convictions of those earnest and profound thinkers,
the German theologians. A man like Luther, whose religion
was sincere and deeply felt, whose opinions of sin and justifi-
cation were those propounded by the early German theologists,
and confirmed in his mind by the study of Scripture, which he
had drunk in with a thirsting heart, could not fail to be re-
volted and shocked by the sale of indulgences. Forgiveness of
sins to be purchased for money! this must of necessity be
deeply offensive to him, whose conclusions were drawn from
profound contemplation of the eternal relation subsisting be-
tween God and man, and who had learned to interpret Scripture
for himself.

It is true that he did, by all means, oppose the sale of in-
dulgences; but, the ill-founded and prejudiced opposition he
encountered, leading him on from step to step, he was pres-
ently made aware of the connection subsisting between this
monstrous abuse and the general disorders of the Church. His
was not a nature to shrink from, or tremble at, the most ex-
treme measures. With unhesitating boldness, he attacked the
head of the Church himself. From the midst of an order
hitherto the most submissive adherents and devoted defenders
of the papacy, that of the Friars-Mendicant, now rose the most
determined and most vigorous opponent the pontificate had yet
known. And as Luther, with the utmost precision and acute-
ness, held up its own declared principles in the face of that
power which had so widely departed from them as he did
but express truths of which all men had long been convinced
as his opposition, the full import of which had not yet become
apparent, was acceptable to those who rejected the faith, and
yet, because it was undertaken in defence of those principles,
was consonant to the mind of the earnest believer so had his
writings an incalculable effect, and were rapidly disseminated,
not in Germany alone, but through the whole world.

CHAPTER THIRD

POLITICAL COMPLICATIONS. CONNECTION BE-
TWEEN THESE AND THE REFORMATION

f I *HE secular spirit that had now taken possession of the
papacy had occasioned a twofold movement in the world.
The one was religious ; a falling off from the Church
had begun, whence it was manifest that the future would be-
hold results of immeasurable consequence. The second move-
ment was of a political nature ; the conflicting elements

palmela

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 61

powers. A pope was not so insignificant as that he could re-
main neutral in a strife between them, neither was he suffi-
ciently powerful to secure preponderance for that scale into
which he should cast his weight ; his safety could only be found
in the dexterous use of passing events. Leo is reported to have
said, that when a man has formed a compact with one party, he
must none the less take care to negotiate with the other; 6 this
double-tongued policy was forced on him by the position in
which he was placed.

But the pontiff could not seriously entertain a doubt as to
the party which it was his interest to adopt ; for had he not felt
it of infinite importance to regain Parma and Placentia had
the promise of Charles V, that an Italian should hold pos-
session of Milan, a thing so much to his advantage, been in-
sufficient to determine his choice, there was still another con-
sideration, and one that appears to me entirely conclusive
this was a motive connected with religion.

Throughout the whole peiiod of time that we are contem-
plating, there was no assistance so much desired by the tem-
poral sovereigns in their disputes with the popes as that of a
spiritual opposition to their decrees. Charles VIII of France
had no more efficient ally against Alexander VI than the Domini-
can Giralamo Savonarola of Florence. When Louis XII had
resigned all hope of a reconciliation with Julius II, he summoned
a council to meet at Pisa, and this, though producing no great
effect, yet excited much alarm in Rome. But when had the
Pope so bold or so prosperous an opponent as Luther? The
mere fact that so fearless a foe to the popedom had made his
appearance, the very existence of such a phenomenon, was
highly significant, and imparted to the person of the reformer
a decided political importance. It was thus that Maximilian
considered it, nor would he permit injury of any kind to be
offered to this monk; he caused him to be specially recom-
mended to the elector of Saxony " there might come a time
when he would be needed " and from that moment the in-
fluence of Luther increased day by day. The Pope could neither
convince nor alarm this impracticable opponent, neither could
he get him into his hands. It must not be supposed that Leo

* Suriano, " Relatione di 1533 " : " Di- leva dir che per6 non si dovea restar
cesi del Papa Leone, che quando il de tratar cum e altro principe opposto.'*
aveva fatto lega con alcuno prima. so-

62 RANKE

failed to perceive the danger ; more than once did he urge the
many theologians and men of talent by whom he was sur-
rounded in Rome, to engage themselves in contest with this
formidable controversialist. One resource yet remained to him.
Might he not hope that by an alliance with the Emperor, he
should secure the aid of that sovereign for the repression of
these religious innovations? as it is certain that they would be
protected and even promoted by the Emperor, should Leo declare
against him.

The affairs of Europe, religious and political, were the sub-
ject of discussion in the Diet of Worms (1521). Here the
Pope entered into a league with the Emperor for the recovery
of Milan. On the day when the alliance was concluded, the
edict of outlawry proclaimed against Luther is said to have
been also dated. There may have been other motives operating
to produce this act of proscription; but no one will persuade
himself that there was not an immediate connection between
the outlawry and the political treaty.

And no long time elapsed before the twofold effect of this
league became manifest.

Luther was seized on the Wartburg and kept in conceal-
ment. 7 The Italians at once refused to believe that Charles had
allowed him to escape, from a conscientious regard to the safe-
conduct he had granted. " Since he perceived," said they,
" that the Pope greatly feared of Luther's doctrine, he designed
to hold him in check with that rein." 8

However this may be, Luther certainly disappeared for some
time from the stage of the world; he was to a certain extent
without the pale of the law, and the Pope had in any case pro-
cured the adoption of decisive measures against him.

The combined forces of the Pope and Emperor were mean-
while successful in Italy; one of Leo's nearest relations, Car-
dinal Giulio de' Medici, the son of his father's brother, was
himself in the field, and entered with the conquering army into
Milan. It was asserted in Rome that the Pope had designs of
conferring on him the duchy; but I find no distinct proof of

'Luther was believed to be dead; it 8 V.ettori: " Carl 9 si excuso di non

was said that he had been murdered by poter procedere piu oltre rispetto al

the partisans of the Pope. Palavicini salvocondotto, ma la verita fu, che con-

(" Istoria del Concilio di Trento," i. c. oscendo che il papa temeva molto di

2 Cool

infers from the letters of Alexander, questa doctrina di Luthero, lo voile te-

that the nuncios were in danger of their nere con questo freno." (See text.)
lives on that account.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 63

this, nor do I think the Emperor would readily have acceded to
it : even without this, however, the advantages gained by Rome
were enormous. Parma and Placentia were recovered, the
French were compelled to withdraw, and the Pope might safely
calculate on exercising great influence over the new sovereign
of Milan.

It was a crisis of infinite moment : a new state of things had
arisen in politics a great movement had commenced in the
Church. The aspect of affairs permitted Leo to flatter himself
that he should retain the power of directing the first, and he had
succeeded in repressing the second. He was still young enough
to indulge the anticipation of fully profiting by the results of this
auspicious moment.

Strange and delusive destiny of man ! The Pope was at his
villa of Malliana, when he received intelligence that his party
had triumphantly entered Milan ; he abandoned himself to the
exultation arising naturally from the successful completion of
an important enterprise, and looked cheerfully on at the fes-
tivities his people v/ere preparing on the occasion.

He paced backward and forward till deep in the night, be-
tween the window and a blazing hearth 9 it was the month
of November. Somewhat exhausted, but still in high spirits,
he arrived in Rome, and the rejoicings there celebrated for
his triumph were not yet concluded, when he was attacked by
a mortal disease. " Pray for me," said he to his servants, " that
I may yet make you all happy." We see that he loved life, but
his hour was come, he had not time to receive the sacrament nor
extreme unction. So suddenly, so prematurely, and surrounded
by hopes so bright ! he died " as the poppy fadeth." 10

The Roman populace could not forgive their pontiff for
dying without the sacraments for having spent so much
money, and yet leaving large debts. They pursued his corpse
to its grave with insult and reproach. " Thou hast crept in like
a fox," they exclaimed ; " like a lion hast thou ruled us, and

" Copia di una lettera di Roma alii M There was instant suspicion of

Signori Bolognesi, a di 3 Dec. 1521, poison. " Lettera di Hieronymo Bon

scritta per Bartholomeo Argilelli." See a suo barba, a di 5 Dec.," in Sanuto:

vol. xxxii. of Sanuto. The intelligence " It is not certainly known whether the

reached the Pope on the 24th of Novem- Pope died of poison or not. He was

ber, during the Benedicite. This also opened. Master Fernando judged that

he accepted as a particularly good he was poisoned, others thought not.

omen " Questa e una buona nuova che Of this last opinion is Master Severino,

havete portato," he remarked. The who saw him opened, and says he was

Swiss immediately began to fire feux- not poisoned."
de-joie. Leo requested them to desist,
but in vain.

64 RANKE

like a dog hast thou died." * Aftertimes, on the contrary,
have designated a century and a great epoch in the progress of
mankind, by his name.

We have called him fortunate. Once he had overcome the
first calamity, that after all affected other members of his house
rather than himself, his destiny bore him onward from enjoy-
ment to enjoyment, and from success to success ; the most ad-
verse circumstances were turned to his elevation and prosperity.
In a species of intellectual intoxication, and in the ceaseless grat-
ification of all his wishes, did his life flow on. This was in a great
measure the result of his own better qualities of that liberal
kindness, that activity of intellect, and ready perception of good
in others, which were among his distinguishing characteristics.
These qualities are the fairest gifts of nature felicitous pecu-
liarities, rarely acquired, but when possessed how greatly do
they enhance all life's enjoyments! His state affairs did but
slightly disturb the current of his pleasures: he did not con-
cern himself with the details, looking only to leading facts ; thus
he was not oppressed by labor, since it called into exercise the
noblest faculties of his intellect only. It was perhaps precisely
because he did not chain his thoughts to business, through every
day and hour, that his management of affairs was so compre-
hensive. Whatever the perplexity of the moment, never did
he lose sight of the one guiding thought that was to light his
way; invariably did the essential and moving impulse emanate
directly from himself. At the moment of his death, the purposes
he had proposed to himself in the policy he had pursued were all
tending toward the happiest results. It may be considered a
further proof of his good fortune that his life was not pro-
longed. Times of a different character succeeded, and it is
difficult to believe that he could have opposed a successful re-'
sistance to their unfavorable influences. The whole weight of
them was experienced by his successors.

The conclave lasted long: -" Sirs," said the Cardinal
de' Medici, whom the return of the enemies of his house to
Urbino and Perugia filled with alarm, and who feared for
Florence itself " sirs, I perceive that of us who are here as-
sembled, no one can become pope. I have proposed to you

1 "Capitoli di una lettera scritta a never died a pope in worse repute since
Roma, 21 Dec. 1521:" "I judge there the Church of God had existence."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 65

three or four, but you have rejected them all. Neither can I
accept those whom you propose; we must seek a pope among
those who are not present/' Assenting to this, the cardinals
asked who it was that he had in view : " Take," said he, " the
Cardinal of Tortosa, an aged venerable man, who is universally
esteemed a saint." 2 This was Adrian of Utrecht, formerly a
professor of Louvain ; 3 he had been tutor to Charles V who from
personal attachment had given him the office of a governor, and
promoted his elevation to the dignity of cardinal. Cardinal
Cajetan, although not of the Medicean party, rose to speak in
praise of the candidate proposed. Who could have believed
that the cardinals, ever accustomed to consult their personal in-
terests in the choice of a pope, would agree to select an absent
Netherlander, with whom no one could make conditions for
his own private advantage? They suffered themselves to be
surprised into this determination, and when the affair was con-
cluded, they could not themselves account for the decision they
had arrived at. " They were well-nigh dead with fright," quoth
one of our authorities. They are also said to have persuaded
themselves that Adrian would not accept the dignity. Pasquin
amused himself at their expense, representing the pope elect as
a schoolmaster, and the cardinals as schoolboys whom he was
chastising.

On a worthier man, however, the choice of the conclave
could scarcely have fallen. The reputation of Adrian was with-
out a blemish ; laborious, upright, and pious, he was of so ear-
nest a gravity, that a faint smile was his nearest approach to
mirth, yet benevolent withal, full of pure intentions, a true ser-
vant of religion. 4 What a contrast when he entered that city

3 " Lettera di Itoma a di 19 Zener.," 4 " Litterae ex Victoria! directive ad

in Sanuto. " Medici doubting how his Cardinalem de Flisco," in the 33d vol-

affairs might go if things were too ume of Sanuto, describe him in the

much protracted, resolved to put an terms following: " A man tenacious of

end; and having in his mind that car- his own; very cautious in conceding;

dinal of Tortosa, as being closely at- and never, or very rarely, accepting,

tached to the Emperor, said, etc." He performs early mass daily. Whom

8 It is thus that he calls himself in a he loves, or whether he love any, none
letter of 1514, to be found in Casper Bu- hath discovered; he is not affected by
mannus: " Adrianus VI sive analecta anger, nor moved by jests, nor has he
historica de Adriano VI." In docu- seemed to exult at obtaining the pon-
merits belonging to his native country tificate; on the contrary, it is said that
he is called " Master Aryan Florisse of on receiving the news of it he uttered
Utrecht." Modern writers sometimes a groan." In the collection of Bur-
call him Boyens, because his father mann, will be found an " Itinerarium
signs himself Floris Boyens; but this Adriani," by Ortiz, who accompanied
means no other than Bodewin's son, the pope and knew him intimately. He
and is not a family name. See Bour- declares (p. 223) that he never observed
mann, in the notes to " Moringi Vita anything in him deserving censure; he
Adriani," p. 2. was a mirror of all the virtues.

66 RANKE

wherein Leo had held his court with so lavish a splendor ! There
is a letter of his extant in which he declares that he would
rather serve God in his priory at Louvain, than be pope. 5 And
his life in the Vatican was in fact the counterpart of what he
had led as professor at Louvain. It is characteristic of the man,
and we may be permitted to relate the circumstance, that he
brought his old housekeeper from his priory to his palace,
where she continued to provide for his domestic wants as be-
fore. Nor did he make any alteration in his personal habits.
He rose with the earliest dawn, said mass, and then proceeded
in the usual order to his business and studies, which were
interrupted only by the most frugal meal. He cannot be said
to have remained a stranger to the general culture or acquire-
ments of his age : he loved Flemish art, and prized the learn-
ing that was adorned with a tinge of eloquence. Erasmus ac-
knowledges that he was especially protected by the Pope from
the attacks of bigoted schoolmen. 6 But he disapproved the al-
most heathenish character which modes of thought had as-
sumed at Rome in his day ; and as to poets, he would not even
hear them named. No one could be more earnest than was
Adrian VI (he chose to retain his original designation) in his
desire to ameliorate the grievous condition into which Christen-
dom had fallen at his accession.

The progress of the Turkish arms, with the fall of Belgrade
and of Rhodes, furnished a new impulse to his anxiety for
the re-establishment of peace among the Christian powers.
Although he had been preceptor to the Emperor, he yet assumed
an entirely neutral position. The imperial ambassador who
had hoped, on the new outbreak of war, that he should move
the pontiff to declare for his late pupil, was compelled to leave
Rome without accomplishing his purpose. 7 When the news
of the conquest of Rhodes was read to the Pope, he bent his
eyes to the ground, said not a word, and sighed deeply. 8 The

B Florenz. Oem Wyngaerden: " Vit- to make with Adrian, especially as he

toria," 15 Feb. 1522. See Burmann, p. was no poet.

398. 'Gradenigo Relatione, as quotes the

Erasmus says of him in one of his viceroy of Naples, Girolamo Negro
letters: " Although he favored the (some interesting letters from whom re-
scholastic teaching, he is very fair specting this period we find in the
toward polite learning." Burm. p. 15. " Lettere di Principi," t. i.), says, p.
Jovius relates with complacency the 109, of John Manuel: " He went away
progress that his reputation as a half despairing."

" scriptor annalium valde elegans " (a 8 Negro, from the narration of the

most elegant annalist) had caused him Venetian secretary, p. no.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 67

danger of Hungary was manifest ; nor was he altogether free
from apprehension respecting Italy or Rome itself. His utmost
efforts were directed to the procuring, if not peace, at least a
suspension of hostilities for three years; during which time
preparations might be made for a general expedition against
the Turks.

Equally was he determined to anticipate the demands of the
Germans, with regard to the abuses that had made their way
into the Church. His avowal that such existed was most ex-
plicit. " We know/' he observes in the instructions for the
Nuncio Chieregato, whom he sent to the diet, " We know that
for a considerable period many abominable things have found
place beside the holy chair abuses in spiritual matters ex-
orbitant straining of prerogatives evil everywhere. From
the head the malady has proceeded to the limbs ; from the Pope
it has extended to the prelates ; we are all gone astray, there is
none that hath done rightly, no not one." On his part he pro-
ceeds to promise all that may be expected from a good pope:
he will promote the learned and upright, repress abuses, and,
if not all at once, yet gradually, bring about a reformation both
in the head and members, such as men have so long desired and
demanded. 9

But to reform the world is not so light a task; the good
intentions of an individual, however high his station, can do but
little toward such a consummation. Too deeply do abuses
strike their roots ; with life itself they grow up and become en-
twined ; so that it is at length difficult to eradicate the one with-
out endangering the other.

The fall of Rhodes was far from inclining the French to
make peace. On the contrary, perceiving that this loss would
give the Emperor new occupation, they resolved on more vigor-
ous measures against him. They established a connection in
Sicily (not without the privity of the very cardinal in whom
Adrian most confided), and made a descent on that island.
The Pope was at length constrained to form an alliance with
the Emperor, which was, in fact, directed against France.

The Germans, again, were not now to be conciliated by what
would once have been hailed as a reformation of head and mem-

" Instructio pro tc Francisco Chie- other writers, in Rainaldus, torn. xi. p.
regato," etc., to be found, amongst 363.
Popes (Vol. I). 5

68 RANKE

bers; and even had they been, how difficult, how almost im-
practicable, would such reform have been found !

If the Pope attempted to reduce those revenues of the Curia
in which he detected an appearance of simony, he could not do
so without alienating the legitimate rights of those persons
whose offices were founded on these revenues ; offices that, for
the most part, had been purchased by the men who held them.

If he contemplated a change in the dispensations of mar-
riage, or some relaxation of existing prohibitions, it was in-
stantly represented to him, that such a step would infringe
upon and weaken the discipline of the Church.

To abate the crying abuse of indulgences, he would gladly
have revived the ancient penances; but the Penitenziaria at
once called his attention to the danger he would thus incur;
for, while he sought to secure Germany, Italy would be lost ! 10

Enough is said to show that the Pope could make no step
toward reform, without seeing himself assailed by a thousand
difficulties.

In addition to all this came the fact that in Rome Adrian
was a stranger, by birth, nation, and the habits of his life, to
the element in which he was called on to act; this he could
not master, because it was not familiar to him; he did not
comprehend the concealed impulses of its existence. He had
been welcomed joyfully, for people told each other that he had
some 5,000 vacant benefices to bestow, and all were willing
to hope for a share. But never did a pope show himself more
reserved in this particular. Adrian would insist on knowing
to whom it was that he gave appointments and intrusted with
offices. He proceeded with scrupulous conscientiousness, 1 and
disappointed innumerable expectations. By the first decree of
his pontificate he abolished the reversionary rights formerly
annexed to ecclesiastical dignities; even those which had al-
ready been conceded, he revoked. The publication of this edict
in Rome could not fail to bring a crowd of enemies against him.
Up to his time a certain freedom of speech and of writing had
been suffered to prevail in the Roman Court; this he would no-
longer tolerate. The exhausted state of the papal exchequer,

"In the first book of the " Historia 1 Ortiz, " Itinerarium," c. 28, c. 39,

de Concilio Tridentino," by P. Sarpi, particularlv worthy of credit, because he

ed. of 1629, there is a good exposition of says: " When with my own eyes I

this state of things, extracted from a looked over provisions and things of

diary of Chieregato. that kind."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 69

and the numerous demands on it, obliged him to impose new
taxes. This was considered intolerable on the part of one who
expended so sparingly. Whatever he did was unpopular and
disapproved. 2 He felt this deeply, and it reacted on his
character. He confided less than ever in the Italians. The two
Netherlanders, Enkefort, his datary, and the secretary, Hezius,
to whom a certain authority was intrusted, were conversant
neither with business nor the court: he found it impossible to
direct them himself, neither would he resign his habits of study ;
not contenting himself with reading only, but choosing to write
also. He was by no means easy of access ; business was pro-
crastinated, tediously prolonged, and unskilfully handled.

Thus it came to pass that in affairs of vital importance to
the general interest, nothing effectual was accomplished. Hos-
tilities were renewed in Upper Italy; Luther was more than
ever active in Germany ; and in Rome, which was, besides, af-
flicted with the plague, a general discontent prevailed.

Adrian once said : " How much depends on the times in
which even the best of men are cast ! " The painful sense he
entertained of his difficult position is eloquently expressed in
this sorrowing outburst. Most appropriately was it engraven
on his monument in the German church at Rome.

And here it becomes obvious, that not to Adrian personally
must it be solely attributed, if his times were so unproductive
in results. The papacy was encompassed by a host of conflict-
ing claimants urgent and overwhelming difficulties that would
have furnished infinite occupation, even to a man more familiar
with the medium of action, better versed in men and more fertile
in expedients than Adrian VI.

Among all the cardinals, there was no one who seemed so
peculiarly fitted to administer the government successfully no
one who appeared so well prepared to support the weight of
the popedom, as Giulio de' Medici. He had already managed
a large share of the public business under Leo the whole of
the details were in his hands ; and, even under Adrian, he had
maintained a certain degree of influence. 3 This time he did

*"Lettere di Negro," Capitolo del reports of him, with reference to those

Berni: "And when anyone follows the times: "He lived in excellent repute;

free custom of indulging his feelings in it was he who governed the papacy, and

writing or in song, he threatens to have he had more people at his audiences than

him tossed into the river." the Pope himself."

The " Relatione di Marco Foscari "

70 RANKE

not permit the supreme dignity to escape him, and ascended the
papal throne under the name of Clement VII.

The faults and mistakes of his immediate predecessors were
carefully avoided by the new pope. The instability, prodi-
gality, and pleasure-seeking habits of Leo, and that ceaseless
conflict with the tastes and opinions of his court into which
Adrian had suffered himself to be drawn, were all eschewed
by Clement VII. Everything was arranged with the utmost
discretion, and his own conduct was remarkable for the blame-
less rectitude and moderation of its tenor.* The pontifical
ceremonies were performed with due care. Audience was
given from early morning to night, with untiring assiduity.
Science and the arts were encouraged in that direction toward
which they had now become decidedly bent. Clement was
himself a man of extensive information. He spoke with equal
knowledge of his subject, whether that were philosophy and
theology, or mechanics and hydraulic architecture. In all
affairs he displayed extraordinary acuteness; the most per-
plexing questions were unravelled, the most difficult circum-
stances penetrated to the very bottom by his extreme sagacity.
No man could debate a point with more address: under Leo
he had already manifested a prudence in counsel and a circum-
spect ability in practice that none could surpass.

But it is in the storm that the pilot proves his skill. Clement
entered on the duties of the pontificate if we consider it
merely as an Italian sovereignty at a moment of most critical
import.

The Spaniards had contributed more than any other power
to extend and uphold the States of the Church ; they had re-
established the Medici in Florence. Thus leagued with the
popes, their own advancement in Italy had kept pace with
that of the house of Medici. Alexander VI had made a way
for them into Lower Italy, Julius had given them access to the
central regions, and their attack on Milan, undertaken in alli-
ance with Leo X, had made them masters of Upper Italy.
Clement himself had frequently afforded them powerful aid.
There is still extant an instruction from him to one of his
ambassadors at the Court of Spain, wherein he enumerates the

Vettori says, for the last hundred church property, not avaricious, not
years there has not been so good a man given to pleasure, moderate in food,
pope: " Not proud, no trafficker in frugal in dress, religious and devout.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 71

services he had rendered to Charles V and his house. It was
principally attributable to his efforts that Francis I did not
press forward to Naples at his first arrival in Italy. He had
prevented Leo from throwing impediments in the way of
Charles's election to the imperial crown, and had induced him
to repeal the old constitution by which it was enacted that no
king of Naples could at the same time be emperor. Unmoved
by the promises of the French, he had given his best support
to the alliance of Leo with Charles for the recovery of Milan ;
and to favor this undertaking, he spared neither his own
person nor the resources of his country and adherents. It
was he who procured the election of Adrian; and at the time
when this was done, it seemed nearly equivalent to making
Charles himself pope. 5 I will not inquire how much of Leo's
policy was due to the counsellor and how much to the pontiff
himself; but thus much is certain, that Cardinal Medici was
always on the side of the Emperor. Even after he had become
pope, the imperial troops were furnished by him with money,
provisions, and grants of ecclesiastical revenues. Once again
they were partially indebted to his support for their victory.

Thus intimately was Clement connected with the Spaniards,
but, as not unfrequently happens, this alliance was the cause
of extraordinary evils.

The popes had contributed to the rise of the Spanish powers;
but that rise had never been the result they had sought.
They had wrested Milan from the French, but not with the
purpose of transferring it to Spain. There had even been
more than one war carried on to prevent Milan and Naples
from falling into the hands of one and the same possessor. 6
The fact that the Spaniards, so long masters of Lower Italy,
should be now daily obtaining firmer footing in Lombardy,
and that of their delaying the investiture of Sforza, were re-
garded in Rome with the utmost impatience and displeasure.

Clement was also personally dissatisfied. It may be per-
ceived from the instructions before cited, that even as cardinal
he had not always thought himself treated with the considera-

5 Instruction to Cardinal Farnese, had displayed a readiness to acquiesce

afterward Paul III, when he went as even in what displeased him; "to the

legate to Charles V, after the sack of effect that the state of Milan should re-

Kome. (App. No. 15.) main in possession of the Duke, a thing

It is expressly stated in the before- which had been the object of all the

mentioned instructions that the Pope Italian wars."

72 RANKE

tion due to his merits and services. He did not even now
meet with the deference that he felt to be his right; and the
expedition against Marseilles in the year 1524 was under-
taken in direct opposition to his advice. His ministers, as they
declared themselves, expected still further marks of disrespect
toward the apostolic see, perceiving nothing in the Spaniards
but imperious insolence. 7

How closely had the by-gone course of events, and his per-
sonal position, bound Clement both by necessity and inclination
to the Spanish cause, yet how many were the reasons that now
presented themselves, all tending to make him execrate the
power he had so largly contributed to establish, and place
himself in opposition to the cause for which he had hitherto so
zealously labored!

There is, perhaps, no effort in politics so difficult to make
as that of retracing the path we have hitherto trodden of
recalling that chain of sequences which we ourselves have
elicited.

And how much was now depending on such an effort!
The Italians were profoundly sensible to the fact, that the acts
of the present moment would decide their fate for centuries.
A powerful community of feeling had taken rise and pre-
vailed throughout the nation. I am fully persuaded that this
may be in great part ascribed to the literary and artistic prog-
ress of Italy a progress in which it left other nations so far
behind. The arrogance and rapacity of the Spaniards, alike
leaders as soldiers, were, besides, intolerable to all; and it
was with contempt and rage combined that the Italians beheld
this horde of half-barbarous foreigners masters in their coun-
try. Matters were still in such a position that they might yet
free themselves from these intruders: but the truth must not
be disguised. If the attempt were not made with the whole
force of the nation's power, if they were now defeated, they
were lost forever.

I could have desired to set forth the complicated events of
this period in their fullest development to exhibit the whole
contest of the excited powers in its minutest detail ; but I can
here follow a few of the more important movements only.

T M. Giberto, "datario a Don Michele di Silva," " Lettere di Principi," i.
197, b.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 73

The first attempt made, and one that seemed particularly
well devised, was that of gaining over the best general of the
Emperor to the Roman side. It was known that he was
greatly dissatisfied, and if, together with him, that army by
means of which Charles mastered Italy could also be won,
as was confidently hoped, what more could be required ? There
was no dearth of promises, by way of inducement even that
of a crown was included amongst them; but how grievously
had they miscalculated, how instantly were the delicate com-
plications of their astute prudence shivered to atoms against
the rugged materials to which it was applied! This General
Pescara was an Italian born, but of Spanish race ; he spoke
only Spanish, he would be nothing but a Spaniard; for the
elegant cultivation of the Italians he had neither taste nor
aptitude ; the best furniture of his mind had been drawn from
Spanish romances, and these breathe, above all, of loyalty and
fidelity. His very nature was opposed to a national enter-
prise in favor of Italy. 8 No sooner had he received the
Italian overtures than they were communicated, not to his
comrades alone, but even to the Emperor; he used them only
to discover the purposes of the Italians, and to frustrate all
their plans.

But these very overtures made a deadly strife with the Em-
peror unavoidable; for how was it possible that the mutual
confidence of the parties should fail to be utterly destroyed ?

In the summer of 1526, we at length see the Italians put-
ting their own hands to the work, and that with all their
might. The Milanese are already in arms against the impe-
rialists, a combined Venetian and papal force advance to their
support, assistance is promised from Switzerland, and treaties
have been concluded with France and England. " This time,"
says Giberto, the most trusted minister of Clement VII, " the
question is not of some petty vengeance, some point of honor,
or a single town ; this war is to decide whether Italy shall be
free, or is doomed to perpetual thraldom." He had no doubt

8 Vettori has pronounced over him licious than Pescara (" Hist, d 'Italia,"

the least enviable eulogy imaginable; xvi. 476); and yet the proposal above

here it is: "He was proud beyond all described was made to him! I do not

measure, envious, ungrateful, greedy, cite these opinions as believing them

virulent, and cruel: without religion, true, but simply because they prove

without humanity; he was born for the that Pescara had shown no feeling as

very destruction of Italy." Morone regarded the Italians but those of ha-

also declares to Guicciardini that there tred and enmity,
was no man more faithless and ma-

74 RANKE

of the result he was persuaded that it would be a fortunate
one. " Posterity will envy us/' he declares, " for having lived
at such a moment ; for having witnessed and had our share in
so much happiness." His hope is, that no foreign aid will be
required. " The glory will be all our own ; and so much the
sweeter will be the fruit." 9

It was with thoughts and hopes such as these, that Clement
undertook his war with Spain; 10 it was his boldest and most
magnanimous project, but also his most unfortunate and ruin-
ous one.

The affairs of the Church were inextricably interwoven
with those of the state, yet Clement would seem to have left
the commotions of Germany entirely out of consideration; it
was, nevertheless, in these that the first reaction became
manifest.

In July, 1526, that moment when the papal forces were
advancing toward Northern Italy, the diet had assembled
at Spires, with the purpose of arriving at some definitive reso-
lution in regard to the disorders of the Church. It was not
in the nature of things that the imperial party, or Ferdinand
of Austria, who represented the Emperor, and who had him-
self the hope of possessing Milan, should be very earnest in
the maintenance of the papal influence north of the Alps,
when they were themselves attacked by the Pope, with so much
determination, on their southern side. Whatever intentions
might have been earlier formed or announced by the imperial
court, 1 the open war now entered on by the Pope against the
Emperor would assuredly put an end to all considerations in
favor of the former. Never had the towns expressed them-
selves more freely, never had the princes pressed more urgently
for the removal of their burdens. It was proposed that the
books containing the new regulations should be burnt forth-
with, and that the holy scriptures should be taken as the sole
rule of faith. Although some opposition was made, yet never
was a more independent or more decisive resolution adopted.
Ferdinand signed a decree of the empire, whereby the states

G. M. Giberto al vescovo di Veruli, 1 The instructions of the Emperor,

" Lettere di Principi," i. p. 192, a. which had occasioned some alarm to

JO Foscari also says: His present the Protestants, bear the date of March,

wish to ally himself with France is for 1526, when the Pope had not yet con-

his own good and that of Italy, not be- eluded his alliance with France,
cause he has any love for the French."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 75

were declared free to comport themselves in matters of re-
ligion as each should best answer it to God and the Emperor,
that is, according to its own judgment. In this resolution, no
reference whatever was made to the Pope, and it may fairly
be regarded as the commencement of the true reformation,
and the establishment of a new church in Germany. In Saxony,
Hesse, and the neighboring countries, it was practically
adopted without delay. The legal existence of the Protestant
party in the empire is based on the decree of Spires, of 1526.

It may be easily asserted that this expression of opinion
in Germany was decisive for Italy also. The Italians were
far from being zealous, as a nation, for their great enterprise,
and even among those who desired its success, unanimity did
not prevail. Able as he was, and thoroughly Italian in spirit,
the Pope was yet not one of those men who calmly control the
current of circumstances, and seem to hold fortune enchained.
His keen perception of realities seemed injurious rather than
serviceable to him : his conviction that he was the weaker party
was stronger than was expedient; all possible contingencies,
every form of danger, presented themselves too clearly before
him; they bewildered his mind and confused his decisions.
There is a practical and inventive faculty by which some men
intuitively perceive the simple and practicable in affairs, and,
guided by this, they rapidly seize on the best expedient. This
he did not possess; 2 in the most critical moments he was seen
to hesitate, waver, and waste his thoughts in attempts to spare
money. His allies having failed in their promises, the results
he had hoped for were far from being obtained, and the im-
perialists still maintained their hold in Lombardy, when, in
November, 1526, George Frundsberg crossed the Alps with a
formidable body of lanzknechts, to bring the contest to an end.
This army was altogether Lutheran leader and followers.
They came resolved to avenge the Emperor on the Pope, whose
secession from the alliance had been represented to them as the
cause of all the evils so generally felt and complained of. The
wars so long continued through Christendom, and the successes
of the Ottomans, who were pouring their troops over Hungary,

Suriano, " Rel. di 1533," finds in cowardice but I think I have noticed

him " a very cold heart, which causes that frequently in the Florentine char-

his holiness to be endowed with no acter. This timidity makes his holiness

common timidity for I will not say very irresolute."

76 RANKE

all were attributed to the faithlessness of Clement. "When
once I make my way to Rome," said Frundsberg, " I will hang
the Pope."

With anxious thought is the storm seen to gather in the
narrowing and lowering horizon. Rome, loaded perhaps with
vices, yet not the less teeming with the noblest effort, the most
exalted intellect, the richest culture; powerfully creative,
adorned with matchless works of art, such as the world has
never since produced ; replete with riches, ennobled by the im-
press of genius, and exercising a vital and imperishable in-
fluence on the whole world, this Rome is now threatened with
destruction. As the masses of the imperial force drew together,
the Italian troops dispersed before them, the only army that yet
remained followed them from afar; the Emperor had been
long unable to pay his troops, and could not alter their direc-
tion even did he desire to do so. They marched beneath the
imperial banner, guided only by their own stormy will and im-
pulse. Clement still hoped, negotiated, offered concessions, re-
tracted them; but the sole expedient that could have saved
him the contenting these hordes, namely, with all the money
they may find the boldness to demand this, he either could
not, or would not adopt. Will he then at least make a stand
against the enemy with such weapons as he has? Four thou-
sand men would have sufficed to secure the passes of Tuscany,
but the attempt was not even thought of. Rome contained
within her walls some thirty thousand inhabitants capable of
bearing arms ; many of these men had seen service, they wore
swords by their sides, which they used freely in their broils
among each other, and then boasted of their exploits. But to
oppose the enemy, who brought with him certain destruction,
five hundred men were the utmost that could ever be mustered
without the city. At the first onset the Pope and his forces were
overthrown. On the sixth of May, 1527, two hours before
sunset, the imperialists poured their unbridled numbers into
Rome. Their former general, Frundsberg, was no longer at
their head; in a disturbance among his troops he had been
unable to repress them as was his wont, and, being struck by
apoplexy, remained behind in a state of dangerous illness.
Bourbon, who had led the army so far, was killed at the first
fixing of the scaling-ladders. Thus, restrained by no leader,

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 77

the bloodthirsty soldiery, hardened by long privations and
rendered savage by their trade, burst over the devoted city.
Never fell richer booty into more violent hands, never was
plunder more continuous or more destructive. 3 How vivid a
lustre was cast over the beginning of the sixteenth century by
the splendor of Rome! It designates a period most influen-
tial on the development of the human mind. This day saw the
light of that splendor extinguished forever.

And thus did the pontiff, who had hoped to effect the liber-
ation of Italy, find himself besieged, as it were a prisoner, in
the castle of St. Angelo; by this great reverse the preponder-
ance of the Spaniards in Italy was irrevocably established.

A new expedition undertaken by the French, and promising
great results in its commencement, was a total failure. They
were compelled to give up all their claims upon Italy.

No less important was another occurrence: before Rome
was yet captured, when it was merely seen that the march of
Bourbon was in that direction, the enemies of the Medici in
Florence had availed themselves of the confusion of the mo-
ment, and once more expelled the family of the Pope. The
revolt of his native city was more painful to Clement than even
the downfall of Rome. With astonishment did men behold him,
after so many indignities, again connect himself with the im-
perialists. He did so because he saw that with the help of the
Spaniards alone could his kindred and party be reinstated in
Florence ; this he would secure at all hazards ; the domination
of the Emperor was at least more endurable to Clement than
the disobedience of his rebels. In proportion as the fortunes
of the French were seen to decline, did the Pope make ap-
proaches to the Spaniards; and when the first were at length
entirely defeated, he concluded the treaty of Barcelona with
the last. He so completely changed his policy, that the very
army by which Rome had been sacked before his eyes, and
himself so long held captive, was now called to his assistance ;
recruited and strengthened, it was led to the reduction of his
native city.

Vettori: "The slaughter was not ransoms." He does not blame the pope,

great, because men rarely kill those but the inhabitants, for this misfort-

who will not defend themselves; but une; he describes them as proud,

the booty was of inestimable value avaricious, murderous, envious, luxuri-

money, jewels, vessels of gold and sil- ous, and hypocritical. Such a popula-

ver, garments, tapestry, household fur- tion could not sustain itself,
niture, merchandise of all sorts, and

78 RANKE

Thenceforth Charles was more powerful in Italy than any
emperor had been for many centuries. The crown that he
had received at Bologna had now regained its full significance ;
Milan gradually became as entirely subjected to his authority
as was Naples. His restoration of the Medici to their seat in
Florence secured him a direct and permanent influence in Tus-
cany. The remaining states of Italy either sought his alliance
or submitted to his power. With the strength of Germany and
Spain, united by the force of his victorious arms, and in right
of his imperial dignity, did he hold all Italy in subjection, from
the Alps to the sea.

To this point it was then that the Italian wars conducted
the country; from that period never has she been freed from
the rule of the stranger. Let us now examine the progress of
the religious dissensions that were so intimately entwined with
the political events.

If the Pope acquiesced in the establishment of Spanish
supremacy in all directions, he had at least the hope that this
powerful Emperor, who was described to him as so devoted to
Catholicism, would in all cases assist to re-establish the papal
dominion in Germany. There is even a stipulation to that
effect in the treaty of Barcelona. The Emperor promised to
lend his utmost efforts for the reduction of Protestantism, and
did indeed seem bent on accomplishing that purpose. To the
Protestant delegates who waited on him in Italy he returned a
most discouraging reply, and on his progress into Germany
(1530) certain members of the Curia, and more especially Car-
dinal Campeggi, who accompanied . him as legate, proposed
extreme measures, infinitely dangerous to the peace of Germany.

There is still extant a memorial, from the cardinal to the
Emperor, presented during the sitting of the diet at Augs-
burg, in which these projects are set forth. I allude to this
with extreme reluctance, but in deference to the truth, I must
say a few words respecting it.

Cardinal Campeggi does not content himself with deploring
the disorders in religion, but insists more particularly on the
political evils resulting from them ; he points to the decadence
of power among the nobles in all the cities of the empire, as
one of the consequences of the Reformation. He declares that
neither ecclesiastical nor secular princes can any longer obtain

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

the obedience due to them, so that even the

Caesar has come to be no longer regarded ! He then procee

to show how this evil may be remedied.

The mystery of his curative system was not very profound.
There required only, according to him, that the Emperor
should form a compact with the well-affected princes, where-
upon attempts should be made to convert the disaffected,
either by promises or threats. But suppose these last to be
recusant what was next to be done? The right would then
exist of " rooting out these pestilential weeds by fire and
sword." 4

"The first step in this process would be to confiscate prop-
erty, civil or ecclesiastical, in Germany as well as in Hungary
and Bohemia. For, with regard to heretics, this is lawful and
right. Is the mastery over them thus obtained, then must holy
inquisitors be appointed, who shall trace out every remnant
of them, proceeding against them as the Spaniards did against
the Moors in Spain." The university of Wittenberg was
furthermore to be placed under ban, all who studied there being
declared unworthy of favor, whether from pope or emperor.
The books of the heretics were also to be burnt, the monks who
had abandoned their convents were to be sent back to them,
and no heretic was to be tolerated at any court. But first of
all, unsparing confiscation was necessary. " And even though
your majesty," says the legate, " should deal only with the
heads of the party, you may derive a large sum of money from
them, and this is indispensable, in any case, for proceeding
against the Turks."

Such are the main propositions, and such is the tone of this
project: 5 how does every word breathe of oppression, carnage,
and rapine! We cannot wonder that the very worst should
be apprehended by the Germans from an emperor who came
among them surrounded by such counsellors, nor that the
Protestants should take counsel together as to the degree of
resistance they might lawfully oppose to such measures in their
own self-defence.

1 " If there be any, which God forbid, call an instruction. " Instructio data

who will obstinately persist in this dia- Csesari a reverendmo. Campeggio in

bolical path, his majesty may put hand dieta Augustana, 1530." I found it in

to fire and sword, and radically tear out a Roman library, in the handwriting of

this cursed and venomous plant." the time, and beyond all doubt authen-

6 Such a project did they venture to tic.

palmela

o RANKE

Happily, however, as affairs stood, an attempt at such pro-
ceedings as those recommended by the legate was not greatly
to be feared.

The Emperor was by no means sufficiently powerful to carry
out this proposal: a fact that Erasmus demonstrated very
clearly at the time.

But even had he possessed the power, he would scarcely have
found the will to do it.

Charles was by nature rather kind, considerate, thoughtful,
and averse to precipitation, than the contrary: the more
closely he examined these heresies, the more did he find in them
a certain accordance with thoughts that had arisen in his own
mind. The tone of his proclamation for a diet gives evidence
of a desire to hear the different opinions, to judge of them, and
seek to bring all to the standard of Christian truth. Very far
removed was this disposition from the violence of purpose
intimated by the legate.

Even those whose system it is to doubt the purity of human
intentions, will find one reason unanswerable: it was not for
the interest of Charles to adopt coercive measures.

Was he, the Emperor, to make himself the executor of the
papal decrees? Should he set himself to subdue those enemies
of the Pope and not his only, but those of all succeeding
pontiffs who furnished them with so much occupation? The
friendly dispositions of the Papal See were by no means so well
assured as to awaken a confidence that could induce him to this.

Rather it was his obvious interest that things should remain
as they were for the moment, since they offered him an ad-
vantage, unsought on his part, but which he had only to seize
in order to attain a higher supremacy than he even now enjoyed.

It was generally believed, whether justly or not I will not
inquire, that a general council of the Church alone could avail
for the settlement of differences so important, the removal of
errors so fatal. Church councils had maintained their credit
precisely because a very natural repugnance to them had been
evinced by the popes, and all opposition to them by the papal
chair had tended to raise them in public estimation. In the year
1 53> Charles applied his thoughts seriously to this matter, and
promised to call a council within a brief specified period.

In the different complications of their interests with those

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 8x

of the pontificate, the princes had ever desired to find some
spiritual restraint for the Church. Charles might thus assure
himself of most zealous allies in a council assembled under
existing circumstances. Convened at his instigation, it would
be held under his influence ; and to him also would revert the
execution of its edicts. These decrees would have to bear
upon two important questions they would affect the Pope
equally with his opponents, the old idea of a reformation in
head and members would be realized, and how decided a
predominance would all this secure to the temporal power
above all, to that of Charles himself !

This mode of proceeding was most judicious ; it was, if you
will have it so, inevitable, but it was, at the same time, for the
best interest of the Emperor.

On the other hand, no event could be better calculated to
awaken anxiety in the pontiff and his court. I find that at the
first serious mention of a council, the price of all the sala-
ble offices of the court declined considerably. 6 The danger
threatened by a council to the existing state of things is obvious
from this fact.

In addition to this, Clement VII had personal motives for
objecting to the measure: he was not of legitimate birth,
neither had he risen to the supreme dignity by means that were
altogether blameless: again, he had been determined by
considerations entirely personal, to employ the resources of the
Church in a contest with his native city; and for all these
things a pope might fairly expect heavy reckoning with a
council. Thus it inspired him with a deadly terror, and Soriano
tells us that he would not willingly utter its very name.

He did not reject the proposal in terms; this he could not
do with any regard to the honor of the papal see, but we can
easily conceive the reluctance of heart with which he would
receive it.

He submitted, without doubt he was entirely compliant;
but he did 'not fail to set forth the objections existing to the
measure, and that in the most persuasive forms. He represented
all the dangers and difficulties inseparable from a council,

" Lettera anonima all' arcivescovo money can be got for them." I see that

Pimpinello " (" Lettere di Principi," Pallavicini also quotes this letter, Hi. 7,

iii. s)- " The mere rumor of a council i. I do not know on what authority

has so depreciated all offices that no he ascribes it to Sanga.

82 RANKE

declaring its consequences to be of a very doubtful nature. 7
Next he stipulated for the concurrence of all other princes, as
well as for a previous subjection of the Protestants demands
that were perfectly in accordance with the papal system and
doctrine, but utterly impracticable in the existing state of things.
But how could it be expected from him that, within the limit
of time assigned by the Emperor, he should proceed, not ap-
parently only, but in earnest, and with resolution to promote a
w r ork so likely to injure himself? Charles often reproached
him with his backwardness, ascribing to it all the mischief that
afterward ensued. He doubtless still hoped to evade the neces-
sity that hung over him.

But it clung to him fast and firmly : when Charles returned
to Italy in 1533, still impressed with what he had seen and
heard in Germany, he pressed the Pope in person during a
conference held at Bologna, and with increased earnestness,
on the subject of the council, which he had so frequently
demanded in writing. Their opinions were thus brought into
direct collision the Pope held fast by his conditions, the Em-
peror declared their fulfilment impossible they could come
to no agreement. In the documents respecting these matters
that remain to us, a sort of discrepancy is perceptible the Pope
appearing less t averse from the Emperor's wishes in some than
in others ; however this may be, he had no alternative a fresh
proclamation 8 must be issued. He could not so effectually
blind himself as not to perceive that when the Emperor, who
was gone to Spain, should return, mere words would be
insufficient to content him that the danger he dreaded, and
with which a council summoned under such circumstances
certainly did menace the Roman See, could then be no longer
averted.

T For example, "All' imperatore: di to the Catholic States in Rainaldus,

man propria di papa Clemente " " Let- xx. 659, Hortleder, i. xv., the stipula-

tere di Principi," ii. 197: *' On the tion for a general concurrence repeated;

contrary, no remedy i -u be more dan- the Pope promises to communicate the

gerous, or produce greater evils (than results of his efforts. Among the points

the council), if t^e proper circum- proposed for the C9nsideration of the

stances do not concur." Protestants, it is said expressly in the

8 Respecting the negotiations at Bo Jth article: " But if it happen that any

logna, valuable information, derived prince refuse to co-operate in so pious

from the archives of the Vatican, may a work, our supreme lord shall never-

be found in one of the best chapters of theless proceed with the consent of the

Pallavicini, lib. iii. c. 12. He names more sanely disposed part." This

the variation alluded to in the text, and would seem to be the discrepancy that

says, it rested on explicit discussion; Pallavicini had in view, although he

and, in effect, we find in the despatches mentions another point of difference.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 83

The situation was one in which the possessor of a power,
of whatever kind, might well be excused for resorting even to
extreme measures, if these were the only means that could
insure his own safety. The political preponderance of the
Emperor was already excessive, and if the Pope had resigned
himself to this state of things, he could not but feel his own
depressed condition. In arranging the long-standing disputes
of the Church with Ferrara, Charles V had decided for the
latter; this mortified the pontiff deeply, and though he ac-
quiesced in the decision, he complained of it among those of
his own circle. How much more afflicting was it now, then,
when this monarch, from whom he had hoped the immediate
subjugation of the Protestants, was preferring his claim, under
pretext of religious dissension, to an amount of predominance
in ecclesiastical affairs such as no emperor had enjoyed for
centuries. Nay, that he was proceeding without scruple to
acts that must compromise the spiritual authority and dignity
of the holy see. Must Clement indeed endure to see himself
sink utterly into the Emperor's hands, and he wholly given up
to his tender mercies?

His resolution was taken even whilst in Bologna. More
than once Francis had proposed to cement his political alliances
with Clement by means of a family connection. This the
pontiff had hitherto declined in the desperate position of his
present affairs, he recurred to it as a ground of hope. It is
expressly affirmed that the real cause of Clement's once again
lending an ear to the French King was the demand of Charles
for a council. 9

The Pope would most probably never more have attempted
to establish an equilibrium of power between these two great
monarchs, and to divide his favor equally between them, from
motives purely political ; but it was on this course that he now
determined, in consideration of the dangers threatening the
Church.

9 Soriano, " Relatione," 1535. "The the affair of the council, which the Em-

Pope went to Bologna against his will, peror would not cease to urge, began to

and, as it were, by compulsion, as I be more compliant toward the most

have heard from good authority; and Christian king, and then was concluded

an evident sign of this was that his the conference at Marseilles, and also

holiness consumed a hundred days in the marriage, the niece (Clement's)

that journey which he might have made being now marriageable." At a pre-

in six. Clement then, considering this vious period the Pope would have al-

state of his affairs, and the servitude, so leged her birth and age as a pretext for

to speak, in which he was placed by evading the agreement.

84 RANKE

Another meeting between Francis and the Pope was ar-
ranged, and which took place in Marseilles, where the closest
alliance was agreed upon. Precisely as Clement had confirmed
his friendship with the Emperor, during the Florentine diffi-
culties, by accepting a natural daughter of Charles as wife to
one of his nephews, so did he now cement the bond which the
embarrassments of the Church compelled him to form with
Francis, by the betrothal of his young niece, Catherine de'
Medici, to the King's second son : in the first instance, it was
against the French, and their indirect influence on Florence,
that he sought to defend himself ; on this occasion, the Emperor
and his intentions with regard to a council, were the cause of
fear.

He now took no further pains to conceal his purpose. We
have a letter addressed by him to Ferdinand I, wherein he de-
clares that his efforts to procure the concurrence of the Chris-
tian princes to the assembling of a council had been without
.effect. King Francis I, to whom he had spoken, thought the
present moment unfavorable for such a purpose, and refused to
adopt the suggestion, but he (Clement) still hoped at some
other opportunity to obtain a more favorable decision from the
Christian sovereigns. 10 I cannot comprehend the doubt that
has existed in regard to the real intentions of the Pope. It was
but in his last communication with the Catholic princes of Ger-
many, that he had repeated his demand for universal concur-
rence as a condition to the proposed council. Is not his present
declaration, that he cannot bring about this general agreement,
equivalent to the positive assertion that he recalls his announce-
ment of the council? 1 In his alliance with France, he had
found alike the courage to pursue this line of conduct, and the
pretext for it. I can by no means convince myself that the
council ever would have been held in his pontificate.

This was not, however, the only consequence of the new
league ; another and a most unexpected one presently developed
itself, one, too, of the most extensive and permanent importance,
more especially as regards the Germans.

Most extraordinary was the combination that resulted from
this alliance, in consequence of the peculiar complications of

10 March 20, 1534. Pallavicini, iii. xvi. serenity may then be most certain, that

3. it was eschewed by Clement in all pos-

l " For the matter of the council, your sible ways and by every sort of means."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 85

ecclesiastical and secular interests. Francis I was on the most
friendly terms with the Protestants, and now, becoming so
closely connected with the Pope, he may be said, in a certain
sort, to have combined the Protestants and the pontiff in one
and the same system.

And here we perceive what it was that constituted the
strength of that position, to which the Protestants had now
attained. The Emperor could have no intention of again sub-
jecting them unconditionally to the Pope, because the agitations
they occasioned were absolutely needful to him for the purpose
of keeping the pontiff in check. Clement, on the other hand,
as it gradually became manifest, was not disposed, even on his
part, to see their existence entirely dependent on the favor or
disfavor of the Emperor; it was not altogether unconsciously
that the Pope had become in a measure leagued with the Prot-
estants ; his hope was that he might avail himself of their oppo-
sition to Charles, and supply that monarch with occupation by
their means.

It was remarked at the time that the French King had
made Clement believe the principal Protestant princes depend-
ent on himself, and that he had both the will and power to in-
duce them to renounce the project of a council; 2 but if we do
not greatly mistake, these engagements went much further.
Soon after the meeting of Francis with the Pope, another took
place between the French King and the landgrave, Philip of
Hesse ; these sovereigns united for the restoration of the Duke
of Wiirtemberg, who had at that time been dispossessed of his
states by the house of Austria. Francis agreed to furnish sup-
plies of money, and the landgrave effected the undertaking with
astonishing rapidity in one short campaign. We have full
proof that the landgrave had been instructed to make an ad-
vance on the hereditary dominions of Austria; 3 the universal
opinion being that Francis was meditating again to attack
Milan, and this time from the side of Germany. 4 A still clearer

2 Sarpi, " Historia del Concilio Tri- *In the instructions to his ambassa-

dentino, lib. i. p. 68. An important dor to France, August, 1532 (Rommel,

part of what Sarpi has asserted, though " Urkundenbuch," 61), he excuses

not the whole, is confirmed by Soriano. himself " that he did not go on to at-

This ambassador says: " Having made tack the king in his hereditary posses-

Clement believe that those princes and sions."

chiefs of the Lutheran faction depended Jovius, " Historiae sui temporis,"

on his most Christian majesty, so that lib. xxxii. p. 120. Paruta, " Storia Vc-

at least he (the Pope) should escape the nez," p. 389.
council." This is all that I have ven-
tured to assert.

86 RANKE

insight is afforded to us of this matter by Marino Giustiniano,
at that time Venetian ambassador in France ; he expressly de-
clares that these German operations had been determined on by
Clement and Francis at Marseilles : he adds further, that a de-
scent of these troops upon Italy was by no means foreign to the
plan of operations, and that secret aid was to be afforded by
Clement to the enterprise. 5 It would be somewhat rash to ac-
cept these assertions, however confidently made, as fully au-
thentic ; still further proof would be required : but even though
we do not accord them entire belief, there does unquestionably
remain a very extraordinary phenomenon for our consideration
it is one that could never have been looked for that the
Pope and the Protestants, at the very moment when each was
pursuing the other with implacable hatred, when both were en-
gaged in a religious warfare that filled the world with discord,
should yet on the other hand be strictly bound together by the
ties of a similar political interest !

On earlier occasions of difficulty and complication in the
temporal affairs of Italy, the crooked, ambiguous, and over-
subtle policy of Clement had been more injurious to his inter-
ests than all his enemies, and the same dubious measures
produced him yet more bitter fruits in his ecclesiastical juris-
diction.

Threatened in his hereditary provinces, King Ferdinand
hastened to conclude the peace of Kadan ; by this he abandoned
Wiirtemberg, and even formed a close league with the landgrave
himself. These were the brightest days of Philip of Hesse;
he had restored an exiled German prince to his rights by the
strong hand, and this rendered him one of the most influential

5 " Relati9ne del clarissimo M. Ma- S.S. esser disrjosta in tutto alle sue vog-

rino Giustinian el Kr. venuto d' am- lie, senza pero far provisione alcuna in

basciator al Christianissimo re di scrittura." That an Italian expedition

Francia, del 1535 "(" Archivid Venez."): was talked of cannot be denied, the

" Francis had a meeting with Clement Pope maintained that he had rejected

at Marseilles, where, seeing the Em- the proposal " Non ayere bisogno di

peror remain firm, they decided on that moto in Italia." The King had told him

movement in Germany, under the pre- that he must remain quiet, " with his

text of restoring the Duke of Wu'ftem- hands drawn back into his sleeves." It

burg to his own; in consequence of seems probable that the French were af-

which, if God had not intervened by firming what the Italians had denied,

means of the Emperor, all those troops the ambassador in France being more

would have poured into Italy by secret positive than the ambassador in Rome;

favor of Clement." I am of opinion but, supposing the Pope to say that he
that more minute information will yet desired no movement in Italy, it is
be obtained on this point. Soriano has obvious how little that expression

also the following: " Di tutti li de- would exclude the idea of a movement
siderii (del re) s'accommodo Clemente, in Germany,
con parole tali che lo facevano credere

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 87

chiefs of the empire. But he had secured another important
result by his victory: the treaty of peace concluded in conse-
quence, contained a momentous decision in regard to the relig-
ious dissensions the imperial chamber of justice was directed
to take cognizance of no more suits relating to confiscated
church property.

I do not know that any other single event was of equal im-
portance with this expedition of the landgrave Philip's, in the
promotion of Protestant ascendancy among the Germans. In
that direction to the imperial chamber is involved a judicial
security of most extensive significance. Nor were its effects
slow to follow. The peace of Kadan may be regarded, as it
appears to me, as the second great epoch in the rise of a Prot-
estant power in Germany. For a certain period the progress
of Protestantism had declined in rapidity; it now began anew
to extend itself, and most triumphantly : Wiirtemberg was re-
formed without delay; the German provinces of Denmark,
Pomerania, and the March of Brandenburg; the second branch
of Saxony, one branch of Brunswick and the Palatinate fol-
lowed. Within a few years the reformation of the Church ex-
tended through the whole of Lower Germany, and permanently
established its seat in Upper Germany.

And the enterprise that had conducted to all this, the under-
taking by which this enormous increase of desertion from the
ranks of the Church had been brought about, was entered on
with the knowledge, perhaps even with the approbation, of Pope
Clement himself!

The papacy was in a position utterly false and untenable ; its
worldly tendencies had produced a degeneracy that had in its
turn called forth opponents and adversaries innumerable.
These tendencies being persisted in, the increasing complica-
tions and antagonism of temporal and ecclesiastical interests,
promoted its decadence, and at length bore it wholly to the
ground.

Among other misfortunes the schism of England must be
attributed chiefly to this state of things.

The fact that Henry VIII, however inimical to Luther, how-
ever closely bound to the Papal See, was yet disposed to threaten
the popedom with ecclesiastical innovation on the first political
difference, is one that well deserves remark. This occurred in

88 RANKE

relation to matters purely political, so early as the year 1525.*
It is true that all differences were then arranged, the King made
common cause with the Pope against the Emperor; and when
Clement, shut up in the castle of St. Angelo, was abandoned by
all, Henry VIII found means to send him assistance ; from this
cause the Pope was perhaps more kindly disposed toward
Henry, personally, than toward any other sovereign. 7 But since
that time the question of the King's divorce had arisen ; it is not
to be denied that, even in the year 1528, the Pope had allowed
Henry to believe a favorable decision probable, even though he
did not promise it, " once the Germans and Spaniards should be
driven out of Italy." 8 But so far were the imperialists from be-
ing " driven out/' that they now first established themselves,
as we know, in permanent possession of the land. We have
seen in how strict an alliance Clement connected himself with
them. Under circumstances so essentially changed, he could
by no means fulfil those expectations, which, be it observed, he
had warranted by a passing hint only. 9 Scarcely was the peace
of Barcelona concluded than he summoned the suit for the di-
vorce before the tribunals of Rome. The wife whom Henry
desired to put away was aunt to the Emperor ; the validity of
the marriage had been expressly affirmed by a former pope ; it
was now to be tried before the tribunals of the Curia, and these
were under the immediate and perpetual influence of the Em-
peror; was there a possibility of doubt as to the decision?
Hereupon Henry at once adopted the course that had for some
time been in contemplation. In essentials, in all that regarded
the dogmas of the Church he was doubtless a Catholic, and

Wolsey had written threats to the a letter by the papal secretary, Sanga,

effect, " che ogni provincia doventara to Campeggi, dated Viterbo, September

Lutherana"; an expression in which 2, 1528, at the moment when the Nea-

may perhaps be perceived the first politan enterprise had failed (a fact

symptoms of secession from Rome alluded to in the letter), and Campeggi

shown by the English Government. was preparing for his journey to Eng-

" S. Giberto ai nuntii d' Inghilterra," land: " Lettere di diversi Autori/'

" Lettere di Principi," i. p. 147. Venetia, 1556, p. 39. " Your reverend

'Contarini, " Relatione di 1530," ex- lordship knows, that our lord the pope,

pressly affirms this. Soriano too says, considering himself most deeply obliged

1533: " His holiness loves the Eng- to that most serene king, would think

lish King, and was at first strictly nothing too great to do for his grati-

united with him." The design of fication; but his beatitude the pope

Henry as to his divorce, he declares must still avoid giving the Emperor

without ceremony to be a " piece of cause for a new rupture, seeing that he

folly." is now victorious, and probably not in-

8 From the despatches of Doctor disposed to peace; for not only would

Knight of Orvieto, January r and 9, 1528. all hope of peace be destroyed by new

Herbert's " Life of Henry VIII," p. 219. dissensions with the Emperor, but he

The whole situation of affairs is ex- would also put our lord to fire and

plained by the following passages from slaughter through all his states."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 89

so did he remain; but this question of the divorce, which
was so unreservedly treated in Rome according to political
views, and with no other consideration, exasperated him
to an ever-increasing opposition of the Pope's temporal as-
cendancy. To every step that was taken in Rome to his dis-
advantage, he replied by some measure directed against the
Curia; and by giving more formal expression to his deter-
mined purpose of emancipating himself from its influence.
When at last then, in the year 1534, the definitive sentence
was pronounced, he no longer demurred, but declared the entire
separation of his kingdom from the Pope. So weak had those
bonds already become, by which the Roman See was united
to the several national churches, that it required only the
determination of a sovereign to wrest his kingdom altogether
from their influence.

These events filled the last year of Clement's life; they
were rendered all the more bitter by the consciousness that he
was not altogether blameless as regarded them, and that his
misfortunes stood in afflictive relationship to his personal
qualities. Day by day the course of things became more
threatening and dark. Already was Francis preparing to
make a new descent on Italy ; and for this design he declared
himself to have had the oral, if not the written, sanction of
Clement's approval. The Emperor would no longer be put off
with pretences, and urged the assembling of the council more
pressingly than ever. Family discords added their bitterness
to these sufferings; after his labors and sacrifices for the
reduction of Florence, the Pope was doomed to see his two
nephews enter into dispute for the sovereignty of that city,
and proceed to the most savage hostilities against each other.
His anxious reflections on all these calamities, with the
fear of coming events, " sorrow and secret anguish," says
Soriano, brought him to the grave. 10

We have pronounced Leo fortunate. Clement was perhaps
a better man, certainly he had fewer faults, was more active,
and, as regarded details, even more acute than Leo; but in

10 Soriano: "The Emperor did not anxiety it was that conducted him to

cease to press for a council ; his most his death. His sorrow was increased

Christian majesty demanded that his bv the follies of Cardinal de* Medici,

holiness should fulfil the promises made who was more than ever resolved at

to him ; and of which the conditions that time to renounce the cardinal's

had been stipulated between them ; hat, for the purpose of entering into

whereupon his holiness gave himself up competition with the political parties

to heavy thoughts ; and this grief and then agitating Florence."

90 RANKE

all his concerns, whether active or passive, he was the very
sport of misfortune; without doubt the most ill-fated pontiff
that ever sat on the papal throne was Clement VII. To the
superiority of the hostile powers pressing on him from all
sides, he opposed only the most uncertain policy, ever depending
on the probabilities of the moment; this it was that wrought
his utter downfall. Those efforts for the establishment of an
independent temporal power, to which his more celebrated
predecessors had devoted their best energies, he was doomed in
his own case to find resulting in perfect subjugation; it was
his lot to see those from whom he had hoped to rescue his
native Italy, establish their dominion over her soil forever.
The great secession of the Protestants proceeded unremittingly
before his eyes; and the measures he adopted in the hope of
arresting its progress, did but serve to give it wider and more
rapid extension. He left the papal see, immeasurably lowered
in reputation, and deprived of all effectual influence, whether
spiritual or temporal. That northern Germany, from of old
so important to the papacy, to whose conversion in remote times
the power of the popes was principally indebted for its estab-
lishment in the West ; and whose revolt against Henry IV had
so largely aided them in the completion of their hierarchy, had
now risen against them. To Germany belongs the undying
merit of having restored Christianity to a purer form than it
had presented since the first ages of the Church of having
rediscovered the true religion. Armed with this weapon, Ger-
many was unconquerable. Its convictions made themselves a
path through all the neighboring countries. Scandinavia had
been among the first to receive them ; they had diffused them-
selves over England contrary to the purposes of the King, but
under the protection of the measures he had pursued. In
Switzerland they had struggled for, and, with certain modifi-
cations, had attained to, a secure and immovable existence ;
they penetrated into France; we find traces of them in Italy,
and even in Spain, while Clement yet lived. These waves roll
ever onward. In these opinions there is a force that convinces
and satisfies all minds ; and that struggle between the spiritual
and temporal interests, in which the papacy suffered itself to
become involved, would seem to have been engaged in for the
furtherance of their progress and the establishment of their
universal dominion.

BOOK II

CHAPTER FIRST

BEGINNING OF A REGENERATION OF
CATHOLICISM

WE are not to believe that the influence of public opinion
on the world has begun to make itself felt for the
first time in our own day; through every age of
modern Europe, it has constituted an important element of social
life. Who shall say whence it arises or how it is formed? It
may be regarded as the most peculiar product of that identifi-
cation of interests which holds society in compact forms, as
the most intelligible expression of those internal movements and
revolutions, by which life, shared in common, is agitated. The
sources whence it takes its rise are equally remote from
observation with those whence its aliment is derived ; requiring
little support from evidence or reason, it obtains the mastery
over men's minds by the force of involuntary convictions. But
only in its most general outline is it in harmony with itself;
within these it is reproduced in greater or smaller circles in-
numerable, and with modifications varied to infinity. And since
new observations and experiences are perpetually flowing in
upon it, since original minds are ever rising, that, though
affected by its course, are not borne along by its current, but
rather themselves impress on it a powerful reaction ; it is thus
involved in an endless series of metamorphoses ; transient and
multiform, it is sometimes more, sometimes less, in harmony
with truth and right, being rather a tendency of the moment
than a fixed system. It is sometimes the attendant only of the
occurrence that it has contributed to produce, and from which
it derives form and extension. There are times nevertheless,
when, encountering a rugged will that refuses to be overcome,

Popes (Vol. I). 6 gl

92 RANKE

it bursts forth into exorbitant demands. That its perception of
defects and deficiencies is frequently the just one, must needs
be confessed; but the modes of proceeding required as the
remedy these, its very nature forbids it to conceive with force
of perception, or employ with effect. Thence it is, that in
long lapses of time, it is sometimes to be found in directly
opposite extremes ; as it aided to found the papacy, so was its
help equally given to the overthrow of that power. In the times
under consideration, it was at one period utterly profane, at
another as entirely spiritual; we have seen it inclining toward
Protestantism throughout the whole of Europe; we shall also
see, that in a great portion of the same quarter of the world, it
will assume an entirely different coloring.

Let us begin by examining, first of all, in what manner the
doctrines of the Protestants made progress even in Italy.

Section I. Opinions analogous to those of the Protestants
entertained in Italy

Throughout the Italian peninsula, as elsewhere, an in-
calculable influence has been exercised on the development
of science and art, by literary associations. They formed them-
selves, now around some prince, some distinguished scholar,
or even some private individual of literary tastes and easy
fortune; or occasionally they grew up in the free companion-
ship of equals. These societies are usually most valuable when
they arise, naturally and without formal plan, from the
immediate exigencies of the moment. It is with pleasure that
we shall follow the traces they have left.

At the same time with the Protestant movements in Germany,
there appeared certain literary societies, assuming a religious
complexion, in Italy.

When, under Leo X, it become the tone of society to doubt
OJT deny the truth of Christianity, a reaction displayed itself in
the minds of many able men ; men who had acquired the high
culture of the day, and took part in its refinements, while avoid-
ing its depravities. It was natural that such persons should
seek the society of each other; the human mind requires, or
at least it clings to, the support of kindred opinion : this support
is indispensable, as regards its religious convictions, for these
Jiave their basis in the most profound community of sentiment.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 93

As early as the time of Leo X we find mention of an
" Oratory of Divine Love," which had been founded by some
distinguished men in Rome, for their mutual edification; they
met for the worship of God, for preaching, and the practice of
spiritual exercises, at the church of St. Silvestro and Dorothea,
in the Trastevere, near the place where the apostle Peter is
believed to have dwelt, and where he presided over the first
assemblies of the Christians. The members were from fifty to
sixty in number; among them were Sadolet, Giberto, and
Caraffa, all of whom afterward became cardinals. Gaetano di
Thiene, who was canonized and Lippomano, a theological writer
of high reputation and great influence, were also of the number ;
Giuliano Bathi, the incumbent of the church where they met,
was the central point around which they grouped themselves. 1

That this association was by no means opposed to the doctrines
of Protestantism, will be readily inferred from their place of
assemblage ; on the contrary, its views were to a certain extent
in harmony with them ; as for example, in the hope entertained
of arresting the general decadence of the Church, by the re-
vived force of religious convictions ; a point whence Luther and
Melanchthon had also departed. This society consisted of men
actuated at that moment by community of feeling, but great
diversity of opinion was afterward displayed among them ; and
eventually this made itself manifest in tendencies altogether
distinct and heterogeneous.

After the lapse of some years, we again meet with a certain
portion of this Roman society in Venice.

Rome had been pillaged, Florence subdued, Milan was the
mere haunt of factions, and battle-ground of contending armies ;
in this general ruin, Venice had remained undisturbed by for-
eigners or armies, and was considered to be the universal refuge.
Here were assembled the dispersed literati of Rome, and those
Florentine patriots against whom their native land was closed
forever; among these last more particularly, as may be seen

*I take this notice from Caracciolo, tower, every effort to maintain the di-

"Vita di Paolo IV" MS.: "Those vine laws." In the "Vita Cajetani

few upright men and learned prelates, Thienaei " (A.A. SS. August II.), c. i.

who were in Rome in that time of Leo 7-10, Caracciolo repeats this with more

X, seeing that in the city of Rome, minute details, but enumerates only

and throughout all Italy, where, from fifty members. The " Historia Cleri-

vicinity to the apostolic see, the observ- corum regularium vulgo Theatinorum,"

ance of the rites should most flourish, by Joseph Silos, confirms it in many

divine worship was very ill performed, passages, which are printed in the

united themselves, in number about " Commentarius praevius " to the " Vita

sixty, in an oratory called of Divine Cajetani."
Love, there to make, as in a strong

94 RANKE

in the historian Nardi, and in Bruccioli, the translator of the
Bible, a very decided spirit of devotion, not unmarked by the
influence of Savonarola, became manifest. This was shared by
other refugees, and among them by Reginald Pole, who had
quitted England to withdraw himself from the innovations of
Henry VIII. From their Venetian hosts, these distinguished
men found a cordial welcome. In the circle of Peter Bembo
of Padua, who kept open house, the point of discussion was
more frequently mere letters, as Ciceronian Latin ; but among
the guests of Gregorio Corteri, the learned and sagacious abbot
of San Georgio in Venice, subjects of much more profound
interest were agitated. Bruccioli makes the bowers and groves
of San Georgio the scene of some of his dialogues. Near
Treviso was the villa of Luigi Priuli, called Treville. 2 He was
one of those upright and accomplished Venetians, of whom
we occasionally meet specimens in the present day, full of
a calm susceptibility to true and noble sentiments, and formed
for disinterested friendship. Here the inmates employed them-
selves chiefly in spiritual studies and conversation. Hither
came that Benedictine, Marco of Padua, from whom it would
appear to be that Pole declares himself to have drawn his
spiritual nurture. Here also was the eminent Venetian Caspar
Contarini, who must be considered as the head of the assembly.
Of him Pole says, that nothing which the human mind can
discover by its own powers of investigation was unknown to
him; and nothing wanting to him that the grace of God has
imparted to the human soul. To this eminence of wisdom he
further says, that Contarini added the crown of virtue.

If we now inquire what were the leading convictions of these
men, we find that foremost among them was the doctrine of
justification, which, as taught by Luther, had originated the
whole Protestant movement. Contarini wrote a special treatise
concerning this, which Pole cannot find words strong enough
to praise. " Thou," he exclaims to his friend, " thou hast
brought forth that jewel which the Church was keeping half-
concealed." Pole himself finds that Scripture, in its more pro-
found and intimate revelations, is entirely in accordance with
this doctrine. He congratulates Contarini on having been the
first to bring to light " that holy, fruitful, indispensable truth." 8

a " Epistolae Reginald! Poli," cd. Quirini, torn. ii. " Diatriba ad epistolas
Schelbornii," clxxxiii. " Epistolae Poli," torn. iii. p. 57.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 95

To this circle of friends belonged M. A. Flaminio, who resided
for some time with Pole, and whom Contarini desired to take
with him into Germany. Let us observe how distinctly he
professes this doctrine. " The Gospel," says he, in one of his
letters, 4 " is no other than the glad tidings that the only-begotten
Son of God, clothed in our flesh, has satisfied for us the justice
of the Eternal Father. Whoever believes this enters the
kingdom of God; he enjoys the universal forgiveness; from
a carnal creature, he becomes spiritual ; from being a child of
wrath, he becomes a child of grace, and lives in a sweet peace
of conscience." It would be difficult to announce the Lutheran
doctrines in language more orthodox.

These convictions extended themselves, as a literary opinion
or tendency might have done, over a great part of Italy. 5

It is, however, highly worthy of remark, that an opinion
so lately alluded to from time to time only in the schools, should
now suddenly seize on the minds of men, and employ their in-
tellectual activity throughout an entire century; for it is
indisputable that this doctrine of justification was the parent
of wild commotions, dissensions, and even revolutions, through-
out the greater part of the sixteenth century. One might
almost declare, that this disposition of men's minds to occupy
themselves with so transcendental a question, had arisen by
way of counterpoise to the worldliness of the Church, which
had now nearly lost all consciousness of the relation of God to
man ; that the examination of this, the most profound mystery
of that relation, had been entered on, by the world generally,
as a contrast to the blind indifference then affecting the
hierarchy of Rome.

Even in the pleasure-loving Naples, these doctrines were
promulgated, and that by a Spaniard, Juan Valdez, secretary
to the viceroy. Unfortunately the writings of Valdez have
wholly disappeared; but we may gather very explicit inti-
mations of their character from the objections of his opponents.

*To Theodorina Sauli, February 12, deavored to illustrate the whole mys-

1542. " Lettere Vplgari " (" Raccolta tery of Christ's death and passion."

del Manuzio "), Vinegia, 1553, ii. 43. He had not, however, quite satisfied

"Among other documents, the letter Contarini, in whose opinion he did not

of Sadolet to Contarini (" Epistola Sa- entirely concur; he promises meanwhile

dolati," lib. ix. p. 365), in regard to his to give, in his new edition, a clear ex-

" Commentary on the Epistle to the planation of original sin and grace.

Romans," is very remarkable. " In ** About this disease of our nature, and

quibus commentariis," says Sadolet, the reparation of our will brought about

' T in which commentary I have en- by the Holy Spirit."

96 RANKE

About the year 1540, a little book, " On the Benefits bestowed
by Christ," was put into circulation ; it " treated," as a report of
the inquisition expresses it, " in an insidious manner of justifi-
cation, undervalued works and merits, ascribing all to faith;
and as this was the very point at which so many prelates and
monks were stumbling, the book had been circulated to a great
extent." Inquiries have frequently been made as to the author
of this work ; we learn his name with certainty from the report
just quoted. " It was," says this document, " a monk of San
Severino, a disciple of Valdez, and the book was revised by
Flaminio." 6 From this extract we find, then, that the author-
ship of the treatise, " On the Benefits of Christ," is due to a
friend and pupil of Valdez. It had incredible success, and
made the study of those doctrines of justification, for some time,
popular in Italy. The pursuits of Valdez were, however, not
exclusively theological, his attention being occupied in part by
the duties of an important civil office. He founded no sect;
this book resulted from a liberal study of Christian truth. His
friends looked back with delight on the happy days they had
enjoyed with him on the Chiaja, and at Posilippo, in that fair
vicinity of Naples, " where nature rejoices in her splendor, and
smiles at her own beauty." Valdez was mild, agreeable, and
not without expansion of mind. " A part only of his soul," as
his friends declare, " sufficed to animate his slight and feeble
frame; the greater part, the clear, unclouded intellect, was
ever uplifted in the contemplation of truth."

An extraordinary influence was exercised by Valdez over
the nobility and learned men of Naples; a lively interest was
also taken by the women of that day in this movement, at
once religious and intellectual. Among these was Vittoria
Colonna. After the death of her husband, Pescara, she had
devoted herself entirely to study; in her poems, as well as

e Schelhorn, Gerdesius, and others dena: it deceived many, because it
have ascribed this book to Aonius Pa- treated of justificatipn in an attractive
learius, who says, in a certain dis- manner, but heretically." But since
course: " Th] year I wrote in the that passage from Palearius does not so
Italian tongue, showing what advan- clearly point out this book as to make
tages were brought to mankind by the it certain that no other is meant, since
death of Christ." The compendium of Palearius says he was called to account
the inquisitors, which I found in Carac- for it in the same year, while the com-
ciolo, " Vita^di Paolo IV," MS., ex- pendium of the inquisition expressly
presses itself, on the contrary, as fol- declares: "That book was approved
lows: " The author of that book on the by many in Verona alone, but being
benefits of Christ, was a monk of San known and reprobated was placed in
Severino in Naples, a disciple of Valdez the index many years after " ; so I con-
Flaminio was the reviser; it was elude that the opinions of the above-
often printed, but particularly at Mo- named scholars are erroneous.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 97

her letters, will be found evidence of a deeply felt morality,
and unaffected sense of religious truth. How beautifully does
she console a friend for the death of her brother, " whose
peaceful spirit had entered into everlasting rest; she ought
not to complain, since she could now speak with him, unim-
peded by those absences formerly so frequent, which prevented
her from being understood by him." 7 Pole and Contarini
were among her most confidential friends. I do not believe
that she devoted herself to spiritual exercises of a monastic
character; I think, at least, that so much may be inferred
from Aretino, who writes to her, with much naivete, that
he is sure she does not take the silence of the tongue, casting
down of the eyes, and assuming coarse raiment, to be essential,
but purity of soul alone.

The house of Colonna generally was favorable to this
religious movement, and more especially so were Vespasiano,
Duke of Palliano, and his wife, Julia Gonzaga, the same who
is reputed to have been the most beautiful woman in Italy.
Valdez dedicated one of his books to Julia.

These opinions had moreover made active progress among
the middle classes. The report of the inquisition would seem
to exaggerate, when it reckons 3,000 schoolmasters as attached
to them; but admitting the number to be smaller, how deep
an effect must have been produced on the minds of youth, and
of the people !

With almost equal cordiality were these doctrines received
in Modena. The bishop himself, Morone, an intimate friend
of Pole and Contarini, received them favorably; at his ex-
press command it was that the book, " On the Benefits of
Christ," was printed, and extensively distributed. Don Girol-
amo da Modena was president of a society in which the same
principle prevailed. 8

There has from time to time been mention made of the
Protestants in Italy, and we have already adduced several
names recorded in their lists. There is no doubt that many
of the convictions predominant in Germany had taken root
in the 'minds of these men ; they sought to establish the articles

7 " Lettere Volgari," i. 92; " Lettere " Articuli contra Moi
di di-versi Atttori," p. 604. The first of by Vergerio in 1558. r<
these is a particularly useful collection. cusations do not fail

Moronum," published
_58. reprinted ; these ao

particularly useful collection. cusations do not tail to appear there;
8 In Schelhorn's " Amoenitatt. Li- I took the more exact notices from the
terar." torn. xii. p. 564, we find the Compendium of the Inquisitors.

98 RANKE

of their faith on the testimony of Scripture; in the particular
of justification they did certainly approach very near to the
doctrines of Luther. But, that they adopted these on all other
points must not be asserted; the conviction that the Church
is one and indivisible, and reverence for the pope, were too
deeply impressed on their minds to admit this ; there were be-
sides many Catholic usages too closely interwoven with the
national character to have been easily departed from.

Flaminio composed an exposition of the Psalms, of which
the dogmatic tenor has been approved by Protestant writers,
but even to this he prefixed a dedication, wherein he calls the
pope, " the warder and prince of all holiness, the vicegerent of
God upon earth."

Giovan. Battista Folengo ascribes justification to grace alone,
he even speaks of the uses of sin, which is not far removed from
the injury that may arise from good works. He remonstrates
zealously against trusting in fasts, frequent prayers, masses,
and confessions ; nay, even in the priesthood itself, the tonsure
or the mitre. 9 Yet, in the same convent of Benedictines where
he had taken his vows at sixteen did he peaceably close his life
at the age of sixty. 10

It was for some time not far otherwise with Bernardino
Ochino. If we may believe his own words, it was at the first
a deep longing, as he expresses it, " for the heavenly para-
dise to be achieved through God's grace," that led him to
become a Franciscan. His zeal was so fervid that he soon
passed over to the severer discipline and penances of the
Capuchins. Of this order he was elected general in its third
chapter, and again in the fourth, an office that he filled to
the satisfaction of all. But however rigorous his life (he
went always on foot, had no other bed than his cloak, drank no
wine, and strictly enforced the rule of poverty on others also,
as the most effectual means for attaining evangelical perfec-
tion), yet did he gradually become convinced and penetrated
by the doctrine of justification by grace alone, earnestly then
did he preach it from the pulpit, and urge it in the confes-
sional. " I opened my heart to him," says Bembo, " as I

" Ad Psalm. 67," f. 246. An extract 10 " Thuani Historic, ad. a. iS|9," i>

from these explanations will be found 473.
in Gerdesius, " Italia Reformata," p.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 99

should have done to Christ himself. I felt as I looked at
him that I had never beheld a holier man." Cities poured
forth their multitudes to his teachings, the churches were too
small for his hearers, all were alike edified, old and young,
men and women, the profound scholar and the untaught peasant.
His coarse raiment, his gray hair, and beard that swept his
breast, his pale emaciated countenance, and the feebleness
brought on by his persistence in fasting, gave him the aspect
of a saint. 1

There was thus a line within Catholicism which the opinions
analogous to Lutherani.^m did not overpass. Priesthood and
the monastic orders encountered no ^position in Italy, nor
was there any thought: of questioning the supremacy of the
pope. How hide J could such a man as Pole, for example,
be otherwise than strongly attached to this last principle, he
who had fled his native land in preference to acknowledging
his own king as head of the Church? They thought, as
Ottonel Vida, a disciple of Vergerio, expresses himself to
his master, " in the Christian Church has each man his ap-
pointed office: on the bishop is laid the care of the souls
in his diocese ; these he is to guard from the world and the evil
spirit. It is the duty of the metropolitan to secure the residence
of the bishop, and he is himself again subjected to the pope, to
whom has been confided the general government of the Church,
which it is his duty to guard and guide with holiness of mind.
Every man should be vigilant and upright in his vocation." 2
Separation from the Church was regarded by these men as the
extremity of evil. Isidore Clario, who corrected the Vulgate,
with the assistance of the Protestant writers, and prefixed an
introduction which was subjected to expurgation, warns the
Protestants against any such intention in a treatise written for
that especial purpose. " No corruption," he declares, " can be
so great as to justify a defection from the hallowed com-
munion of the Church." " Is it not better," he demands, " to
repair what we have, than to endanger all by dubious attempts
to produce something new? Our sole thought should be, how
the old institution could be ameliorated and freed from its
defects."

palmela

8
1 Boverio, " Annali di Frati Minori * Ottonello Vida Dot. al Vescovo Ver

Capuccini, i. 375. Gratiani, " Vie de gerio, " Lettere Volgari," i. 80.
Commendone," p. 143.

ioo RANKE

With these modifications, the new doctrines had a large
number of adherents in Italy, among them Antonio dei Pa-
gliarici of Siena, to whom had even been attributed the author-
ship of the work, " On the Benefits bestowed by Christ " ;
Carnesecchi of Florence, who is mentioned as a disseminator of
this work, and as upholding its tenets ; Giovan. Battista Rotto
of Bologna, who was protected by Morone, Pole and Vittoria
Colonna, and who found means to aid the poorest of his fol-
lowers with money and other succors ; Fra Antonio of Volterra,
and indeed some man of eminence in nearly every town of Italy,
connected themselves with the professors of these doctrines. 3
It was a system of feelings and opinions, decidedly religious,
but tempered by attachment to the Church and its forms, which
moved the whole land from one end to the other, and in every
phase of society.

Section II. Attempts at Internal Reform, and a Reconcilia-
tion with the Protestants

An expression has been attributed to Pole, to the effect that
a man should content himself with his own inward convictions,
without greatly encumbering his thoughts as to whether there
were errors and abuses in the Church. 1 Yet it was precisely
from a party to which he himself belonged that the first attempt
at a reformation proceeded.

The most honorable act of Paul III, and that by which he
signalized his accession to the papal throne, was the elevation
of many distinguished men to the college of cardinals without
any consideration but that of their personal merits. The first
of these was the Venetian Contarini, by whom the others
were afterward proposed. They were men of irreproachable
character, in high repute for learning and piety, and well ac-
quainted with the requirements of different countries. Caraffa,
for example, who had long resided in Spain and the Nether-

* Our authority on this subject is the vided it among the poor and concealed
extract from the Compendium of the heretics who were in Bologna. He af-
Inquisitors, " Compendio," fol. 9, c. terward recanted before Father Sal-
54: Bologna was in great peril, because merone, by order of the legate of Bo-
heretics of great note were there, logna. The same course was pursued
among them one Gio. Ba. Rotto. who in all the towns.

had the friendship and support of very * Passages from Atanagi in McCrie s

powerful persons, as Morone, Pole, and " Reformation in Italy," German trans*

the March esa di Pescara; he collected lation, p. 172.
money with all his strength, and di*

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 101

lands ; Sadolet, bishop of Carpentras in France ; Pole, a refugee
from England; Giberto, who, after having long taken active
part in administering the affairs of the state, was then ruling
his bishopric of Verona with exemplary wisdom; Federigo
Fregoso, archbishop of Salerno, almost all, be it observed, mem-
bers of the Oratory of Divine Love, before mentioned, and
many of them holding opinions inclining to Protestantism. 2

It was these same cardinals who now prepared a plan for
the reform of the Church by command of the Pope himself.
This became known to the Protestants, who rejected it with
derision. They had indeed meanwhile advanced far beyond
its most liberal provisions. But we are not on that account
permitted to deny the extreme significance of such an act on
the part of the Catholic Church. Here we have the evil
grappled with in Rome itself. In the presence of the Pope it
was that former popes were accused of misgovernment, and,
in the introduction to the document now laid before him, his
predc -essors were accused of having " frequently chosen ser-
vants, not as desiring to learn from them what their duties de-
manded, but rather to procure the declaration that those things
were lawful toward which their desires led them." This abuse
of the supreme power was declared to be the most prolific source
of corruption. 3

Nor did matters rest there. Certain short pieces are extant,
written by Caspar Contarini, in which he makes unsparing
war on those abuses most especially, from which the Curia
derived profit. The practice of compositions or the acceptance
of money in payment for spiritual favors, he denounces as
simony that : ^ay be considered a kind of heresy. It was taken
very ill that he should inculpate former popes. " How ! " he
exclaims, " shall we concern ourselves about the fame of three
or four popes, and not amend what has been suffered to decay,
and win a good reputation for ourselves? In good truth it
would be asking very much, to require that we should defend
all the acts of all the popes ! " The abuse of dispensations also
he attacks most earnestly and effectively; he considers it

* " Vita Reginald! Poli," in the edi- nals and other prelates for the improve-
tion of his letters \j Ouinni, torn. i. ment of the Church before alluded to.
p. 12. " Florebel de vita Jacob! Sado- It is signed hv Contarini, Caraffa, Sa-
leti Commentarius," prefixed to the dolet, Pole, Fregoso, Giberto, Cortesc.
" Epp. Sadoleti," col. 1590, vol. iii. and Aleander.

This is the council of select cardi-

102 RANKE

idolatrous to say, as many did, that the pope was restrained by
no other rule than his absolute will from the suspension or con-
firmation of the positive law and right. What he says on this
subject is well worth repeating: " The law of Christ," he de-
clares, " is a law of freedom, and forbids a servitude so abject
that the Lutherans were entirely justified in comparing it with
the Babylonish captivity. But furthermore, can that be called
a government of which the rule is the" will of one man, by
nature prone to evil, and liable to the influence of caprices and
affections innumerable? No; all true dominion is a dominion
of reason, whose aim is to lead all whom it governs to the pro-
posed end happiness. The authority of the pope is equally
with others a dominion of reason, God has conferred this rule
on St. Peter and his successors, that they might lead the flocks
confided to their care into everlasting blessedness. A pope
should know that those over whom he exercises this rule are
free men ; not according to his own pleasure must he command,
or forbid, or dispense, but in obedience to the rule of reason,
of God's commands, and to the law of love, referring every-
thing to God, and doing all in consideration of the common
good only. For positive laws are not to be imposed by mere
will, they must be ever in unison with natural rights, with
the commandments of God, and with the requirements of cir-
cumstances. Nor can they be altered or abrogated, except in
conformity with this guidance and with the imperative de-
mands of things." " Be it the care of your holiness," he
exclaims to Paul III, " never to depart from this rule ; be not
guided by the impotence of the will which makes choice of evil ;
submit not to the servitude which ministers to sin. Then wilt
thou be mighty, then wilt thou be free, then will the life of the
Christian commonwealth be sustained in thee."*

It will be seen that this was an attempt to found a papacy
guided by reasonable laws, and is the more remarkable as pro-
ceeding from that same doctrine regarding justification and
free-will which had served as the groundwork of the Protestant
secession. We do not merely conjecture this from our
knowledge that Contarini held these opinions, he declares it in

4 G. Contarini, " Cardinalis ad Paulum a " Tractatus de compositionibus datarii

HI. P. M. de potestate Pontificis in Reymi. D. Gasparis Contarini," 1536, of

compositionibus," printed by Rocca- which I cannot find that any copy has

berti, Btbliotheca Pontificia Maxima, been printed,
torn. xiii. I have also in my possession

TO
ST. MARY'S COLLEGE LIBRARY,

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 103

express terms. He asserts that man is prone to evil, that this
proceeds from the impotence of the will, which, when it turns to
evil, becomes rather passive than active ; only through the grace
of Christ is it made free. He afterward utters a distinct recog-
nition of the papal authority, but demands that it be exercised
in obedience to the will of God and for the common good.

Contarini laid his writings before the pope. In a bright
and cheerful day of November, in the year 1538, he journeyed
with him to Ostia : " On the way thither," he writes to Pole,
" this our good old man made me sit beside him, and talked
with me alone about the reform of the compositions. He told
me that he had by him the little treatise I had written on the
subject, and that he had read it in his morning hours. I had
already given up all hope, but he now spoke to me with so much
Christian feeling, that my hopes have been wakened anew ; I
now believe that God will do some great thing, and not permit
the gates of hell to prevail against his Holy Spirit." 5

It may be readily comprehended, that a complete reforma-
tion of abuses, in which were involved so many personal rights
and conflicting claims, and which had become so closely inter-
woven with all the habits of life, was of all things the most diffi-
cult that could be undertaken. Nevertheless, Pope Paul did
gradually seem disposed to enter earnestly on the task.

He appointed commissions, accordingly, for carrying reform
into effect, 6 as regarded the Apostolic Chamber, the Ruota,
Chancery, and Penitentiaria : he also recalled Giberti to his
councils. Bulls enacting reform appeared, and preparations
were made for that council so dreaded and shunned by Pope
Clement, and which Paul also might have found many reasons
of a private nature for desiring to avoid.

And now, supposing ameliorations really to have been made,
the Roman Court reformed, and the abuses of the constitution
done away with: if then, that same tenet from which Luther
had started had been taken as the principle of renovation in
life and doctrine, might not a reconciliation have been possible ?
for even the Protestants did not tear themselves hastily or with-
out reluctance from the communion of the Church.

6 " Caspar C. Contarinus Reginaldo C. 8 " Acta consistorialia " (August 6,

Polo," {r tl r P ep ,V tati non ' this rule - that in matters of faith one

nullorum S. R. E. Cardmalium Gener- must in no way pause at all, but in the

ahum Inquisitorum haereticae pravitatis, first suspicion or intimation of this

21 Tulu, 154.2." Cocquelines, iv. 211. plague of heresy, proceed by all force

Caracciolo " Vita di Paolo IV.," aiuf violence to its T utter extirpation."
MS., c. 8: He held as a positive axiom

RANKE

less ; till confession has been wrung out no mercy may be hoped
for. A fearful state of things; and then more especially so
when opinions were not well fixed or fully developed, and many
were seeking to conciliate the more profound doctrines of
Christianity with the institutions of the existing Church. The
weaker resigned themselves and submitted; those of firmer
character, on the contrary, now first decidedly attached them-
selves to the proscribed opinions, and sought to withdraw from
the violence threatening them.

One of the first among these was Bernardino Ochino. It had
for some time been remarked that his conventual duties were
performed with less zeal than he had formerly displayed. In
the year 1542, his hearers became dissatisfied with the mode of
preaching he had adopted. He distinctly asserted the doctrine
of justification by faith alone. Following St. Augustine, he
says, " He who hath made thee without help of thine, shall he
not also save thee without asking thine aid ? " On the doctrine
of purgatory also, his comments were not entirely orthodox.
Already had the nunico of Venice interdicted his preaching for
some days; this caused his citation to Rome, and he had pro-
ceeded to Bologna, and even reached Florence on his way
thither, when, fearing most probably the Inquisition just then
established, he determined to escape. Not inaptly does the his-
torian of his order 4 describe his melancholy pause on reaching
the summit of Mount Bernard ; when, looking once more back
on his beautiful Italy, he recalls the honors he had received
there; the countless multitudes by whom he had been eagerly
received, and respectfully listened to, and who afterward con-
ducted him with reverential admiration to his abode : certainly
no man loses so much as an orator in losing his country: yet
was he leaving it, and that when far advanced in years. Up to
this moment he had retained the seal of his order ; this he now
resigned to his companion, and then turned his steps toward
Geneva. His opinions, however, were not yet well settled, and
he afterward fell into very extraordinary errors.

Peter Martyr Vermigli left Italy about the same time. " I
tore myself," he exclaims, " from all those false pretensions,
and saved my life from the danger impending." He was sub-
sequently followed by many of the scholars whom he had taught
in Lucca. 5

Boverio, " Annali," i. p. 438. From a letter of Peter Martyr to the

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 145

More nearly did Celio Secundo Curione permit the danger
to approach him. He waited until the bargello appeared to
arrest him, then, being a large and powerful man, he cut his
way through the sbirri with the knife he wore, threw himself
on his horse, and rode off. He also reached Switzerland in
safety.

Disturbances had before taken place in Modena; they now
reappeared, many being denounced to the Inquisition. Filippo
Valentini withdrew to Trent, and Castelvetri thought it advisa-
ble, at least for a time, to secure himself by a retreat into Ger-
many.

For persecution and dismay were now proceeding through-
out all Italy ; the rancor of contending factions came in aid of
the inquisitors. How often did he who had long vainly waited
for an opportunity of destroying his enemy, now compass his
designs by an accusation of heresy ! Now had the old bigoted
monks again become possessed of weapons, wherewith to com-
bat that band of cultivated men whose literary labors had led
them toward religious speculations, and whose intelligent rea-
sonings had made them an object of hatred to the monks, who
were in their turn despised and disliked by the literati. " Scarce-
ly is it possible," exclaims Antonio dei Pagliarici, " to be a
Christian, and die quietly in one's bed." 6 The academy of
Modena was not the only one whose members separated. The
Neapolitan also, founded by the Seggi, and originally intended
for the study of literature only, but which had proceeded to the-
ological disputations, in accordance with the spirit of the age,
broke up by command of the viceroy. 7 The whole body of men
of letters was subjected to the most rigorous supervision. In
the year 1543, CarafTa decreed that no book, whether new or
old, and whatever its contents, should for the future be printed
without permission from the inquisitors. Booksellers were
enjoined to send in a catalogue of their stock, and to sell noth-
ing without their assent. The officers of customs also received
orders to deliver no package, whether of printed books or MS.

community he had left, wherein he ex- Cl. Contarini," " Epp. Poli ? " Hi. 208,

presses regret for having occasionally already alludes to this: " This city (Ra-

veiled the truth, in Schlosser, " Lives venna) being filled with factions, no

of Beza and Peter Martyr," p. 400. Ger- man being free from the stain, they take

desius and McCrie have collected all occasions that offer of loading each

many detached notices in the works other with accusations."

already quoted. 7 Giannone, " Storia di Napoli,"

8 " Aonii Palearii Opera," ed. Wet- xxxii c. v.
sten. 1696, p. 91. " II Cl. di Ravenna al

I 4 6 RANKE

to its address, without first laying them before the Inquisition. 8
This gradually gave rise to an Index of prohibited books; the
first examples were set in Louvain and Paris. In Italy, Giovan-
ni della Casa, who was on terms of the closest intimacy with
the house of Caraffa, caused the first catalogue to be printed
at Venice; this included about seventy works. Lists more
carefully arranged and longer, appeared at Florence in 1552, in
Milan, in 1554; and the first published in the form afterward
used, was put forth at Rome in 1559. Writings by cardinals
were included in this last, together wtih the poems of Delia
Casa himself.

Nor were printers and booksellers the only persons subjected
to these stringent regulations; even on private persons it was
enforced as a duty of conscience to denounce all forbidden
books, and contribute their utmost toward the destruction of all
that should come to their knowledge. These laws were carried
into execution with incredible success. Though many thou-
sands of the work " On the Benefits Bestowed by Christ " were
disseminated, not one was suffered to escape ; the book entirely
disappeared, and is no longer to be found. Whole piles of con-
fiscated copies were burnt in Rome.

The secular arm was called in aid of the clergy for all these
rules and restrictions. 9 The purposes of the Papal See were in
this instance largely assisted by the extent of its own domin-
ions, since they could here set the example they desired to see
followed, and offer a model for the imitation of other lands.
The Governments of Milan and Naples could present but slight
opposition, because they had themselves intended to establish
the Spanish Inquisition in their own territories, with this differ-
ence only; that in Naples the confiscation of property was not
permitted. In Tuscany the Inquisition was rendered accessible
to the influence of the civil power by the agency of the legate
whom the duke, Cosmo de' Medici, found means to get ap-
pointed to his court. Notwithstanding this, however, the fra-
ternities founded by it gave great offence. In Sienna and Pisa,

Bromato, vii. 9. faith, as, for example, Godescalco in

Many laymen offered their assist- Como, Count Albano in Bergamo, and
ance. Says the Compendium of the Mutio in Milan. These secular persons
Inquisitors, " this evil was opportunely were employed, because many bishops,
remedied by the holy office in Rome, vicars, monks, and priests, nay, mem-
who placed able and zealous inquisi- bers of the Inquisition itself, were also
tors in every city, employing also zeal- heretics."

ous and learned laymen in aid of the

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

the most oppressive severities were put in force against the uni-
versities. The Inquisitor for the Venetian States was in some
measure subjected to the control of the civil power. In the
capital, three Venetian nobles were appointed to sit in his tribu-
nals from April, 1547; while, throughout the provinces, the
rector of each town took part in the proceedings, seeking coun-
sel occasionally from learned doctors, or, if persons of great
eminence were accused, applying for his guidance to the Coun-
cil of Ten. With all this, however, the ordinances of Rome were
for the most part, and on all essential matters, fully carried into
effect.

And in this manner were all the agitations of dissentient opin-
ion subdued by main force, and annihilated throughout Italy.
Almost the whole order of the Franciscans were compelled to
recantation, and the disciples of Valdez had for the most part
to retract their opinions, In Venice a certain degree of free-
dom was allowed to the foreigners, principally Germans, who
resided there for purposes of trade or study ; but the natives, on
the contrary, were compelled to abjuration, and their meetings
were broken up. Many took to flight, and these fugitives were
to be found in every town of Germany and Switzerland. Those
who would not abjure their faith and could not escape, were
subjected to the penalty. In Venice, they were taken beyond
the lagoons by two boats : arrived in the open sea, a plank was
laid between these, on which was placed the condemned ; at the
same moment the rowers pulled in opposite directions ; the plank
fell: once more did the unhappy victim invoke the name of
Christ, and then the waves closed over him, he sank to rise no
more. In Rome, the auto-da-fe was held formally at certain
intervals before the Church of Santa Maria alia Minerva. Many
sought escape by flying from place to place with their wives and
children ; we trace their wanderings for a time, then they disap-
pear ; they had most probably fallen into the toils of their mer-
ciless hunters. Others remained quiet. The Duchess of Fer-
rara, who, but for the Salic law, would have sat on the French
throne, was not protected by her birth and high rank. Her
husband was himself her accuser. " She sees no one," says
Marot, "the mountains rise between herself and her friends;
she mingles her wine with her tears."

148 RANKE

Section VII Further Progress of the Jesuit Institution

Such was the position of things in the Catholic hierarchy.
All opponents set aside by force, the tenets of the Church firmly
reinstated in the mind of the age, and the ecclesiastical power
enforcing their observance with weapons against which no re-
sistance could avail. Then it was that, in closest alliance with
this all-mastering power, the Order of the Jesuits arose.

Not in Rome only, but throughout all Italy, the most ex-
traordinary success attended its efforts; designed, in the first
instance for the common people, it was not slow to gain ac-
ceptance from the higher classes also.

It was highly favored in Parma by the Farnese; 1 princesses
submitted themselves to the spiritual exercises it enjoined. In
Venice, the Gospel of St. John was expounded by Lainez, ex-
pressly for the nobles; and in 1542, he succeeded, with the
assistance of one of the Lippomano family, in laying the
foundation of the Jesuits' college in that city. So extraordinary
a degree of influence was gained by Francesco Strada over the
citizens of Montepulciano, that many of them were induced to
accompany him through the streets, begging ; Strada knocking
at the different doors, and his companions receiving the do-
nations. They made themselves extremely popular in Faenza,
although this city had previously been much under the influence
of Bernardino Ochino. They formed schools there, succeeded
in allaying enmities of a hundred years' standing, and in form-
ing societies for the relief of the poor. I name these instances
as examples only ; suffice it to say, that they appeared every-
where, gained numerous adherents, and firmly established their
ascendancy.

But as Ignatius Loyola was altogether a Spaniard, and en-
tirely possessed by the ideas proper to his nation, as also he
had thence received his most zealous disciples, so had it fol-
lowed, that his society, wholly Spanish in spirit, made greater
progress in Spain than even in Italy. A very important con-
quest was gained at Barcelona, in the person of Francesco

iQrlandinus expresses himself in Faber." As if all the world did not
singular terms. Says he: "Both the know that Paul III had a son. More-
city and certain private persons, who over, the Inquisition was subsequently
were said to be in some degree related established in Parma as a consequence
to the pontiff, presented a letter of sup- of the opposition manifested toward the
plication to the end they might retain priests who favored Jesuitism.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 149

Borgia, Duke of Candia. Such multitudes flocked to hear
Araoz, in Valencia, that no church could contain them, and a
pulpit was prepared for him in the open air. Equally successful
was Francesco Villanova, in Alcala, where he gained numerous
adherents of high consideration, notwithstanding his mean birth,
weakness of health, and total want of all learning. From this
city, and that of Salamanca, where, in 1548, the Jesuits com-
menced their establishment, in a small, wretched house, they
afterward extended themselves over all Spain. 2 Nor were
they less cordially received in Portugal. Of the two first who, at
his own request, were sent to him, the King retained one, Simon
Roderic, near his person ; the other he despatched to the East
Indies, and this was that Xavier who there gained for himself
the name of an apostle and the glory of a saint. At both the
peninsular courts, the Jesuits obtained extraordinary popularity ;
that of Portugal they reformed altogether, and in the Spanish
Court they were almost instantly selected as confessors by the
most distinguished nobles, as the president of the council of
Castile, and the cardinal of Toledo.

So early as the year 1540, certain young men had been sent
by Loyola to study in Paris ; from that city the society extended
itself over the Netherlands. In Louvain the most decisive suc-
cess attended the efforts of Faber. Eighteen young men, al-
ready masters of arts or bachelors in that university, attached
themselves to his steps, offering to abandon home and country,
for the purpose of following him to Portugal. Already were the
Jesuits seen in Germany ; among the first who joined them was
Peter Canisius, afterward so effectual a promoter of their in-
terests, and who entered their order on his twenty-third
birthday.

This rapid success was, of necessity, most powerfully in-
fluential in the development of the institution; the form as-
sumed by it was as follows :

Into the circle of his first companions, the class of the" pro-
fessed, Ignatius received but few ; he found that men at once
highly educated, good, and pious, were very rare; even in the
first sketch of his purposes laid before the Pope, he declares the
intention of training young men according to his own views,
and in colleges, which he hopes to found in different universities.

1 Ribadeneira, " Vita Ignati," c. XT. n. 244; c. xxxviii. n. 280.

ISO RANKE

Of these, a number surpassing his expectations presented them-
selves, as we have said ; they constituted the class of scholastics,
as distinguished from that of the members "professed." 3

But in this arrangement a certain inconvenience was dis-
covered. The professed, by their fourth and special vow, had
bound themselves to perpetual travels in the service of the Pope ;
but it would be utterly inconsistent to assign to these men the
government of the many colleges now required, since such in-
stitutions would demand their continual residence. Ignatius
thus found it necessary to constitute a third class, standing be-
tween the two just described. These were called spiritual coad-
jutors; they were priests, possessing the classic learning and
general science required for the instruction of youth, and de-
voting themselves expressly to that employment. No portion
of the Jesuit institution was more important than this, and, so
far as my researches have enabled me to discover, its character
was peculiar to that body, which is indebted to it for a large
part of its unexampled influence and success. These coadjutors
were allowed to settle themselves in such places as they chose
to select; they assumed the control of education, and silently
established a wide-spreading ascendancy for the order. They
also took three vows only, and these, be it remarked, were
simple, and not solemn ; that is to say, the society could absolve
them from these vows, in certain cases, carefully defined, while
any attempt on their part to leave the order, was followed by
immediate excommunication.

But one thing more was now requisite. The studies and oc-
cupations to which these classes were destined must have
suffered undue interruption, had they been also subjected to the
care of providing for their own subsistence. This, then, they
were spared. The professed lived on alms in their houses, and
the colleges were permitted to possess revenues in common.
For the administration of this income, so far as it did not de-
volve on the professed, who were excluded from all share in
the enjoyment of it, Ignatius appointed secular coadjutors, to
whom the management of other affairs, merely external, was
also intrusted. These secular coadjutors were equally bound

* Pauli III, "Facultas coadjutores ad- those who shall preside for the time bc-

mittendi, d. 5 Junii, 1546": "So that ing over the society, shall think fit to

they shall be held to keep their vows, employ their services, spiritual or tern-

for whatever time thou my son and poral, and not longer."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 151

by the three simple vows, but had to content themselves with
the persuasion, that they were serving God, by aiding a society
devoted to the salvation of souls ; they were not suffered to
seek for any other reward.

These arrangements were perfectly well calculated in them-
selves, and, at the same time, laid the foundation of a hierarchy,
eminently proper, by its several gradations, to subjugate the
minds of those on whom it acted. *

And now, if we examine the laws of which the code of the
Jesuits came gradually to be formed, we shall perceive that an
entire separation of its members from all the usual interests and
relations of life was one of their principal objects. Love of
kindred they denounced as a carnal inclination. 5 The man who
resigned his property to enter the order, was in no case to be-
stow it on his relations, but must distribute all to the poor.'
He who had once become a Jesuit could neither receive nor write
a letter that was not read by his superior. The society demands
the whole being; all the faculties and inclinations of the man
must be held in its fetters.

It claims to share in the most intimate of his secrets; all
his faults, nay, even all his virtues, must be carefully enumer-
ated : a confessor is appointed him by his superiors, the general
reserving to himself the right of granting absolution in such
cases as it may be deemed expedient that he should take cog-
nizance of. 7 He insisted on this regulation as a means to his
obtaining a perfect knowledge of his subordinates, that so he
might the better use them at his pleasure.

For in the order of Jesuits obedience takes the place of every
motive or affection that usually awakens men to activity obe-
dience, absolute and unconditional, without one thought or ques-
tion as to its object or consequences. 8 No man shall aspire to
any rank above that he holds. The secular coadjutor may not
even learn to read or write without permission, if it happen that

* The basis of the society was formed 7 Rules found separately in the " Sum-

of "novices, guests, and indiff erents " ; marium Constitutionum, 32, 41; the

from these arose the different classes. " Examen general e," 3$, 36; and

6 " Summarium Constitutionum," 8, " Constitutionum Pauli III," c. i. n.

in the " Corpus Institutorum Societa- n. " Illi casus reservabuntur," it is

Us Jesu," Antwerp, 1709, torn. i. In Or- remarked in the latter place, "those

din us, hi. 66, Faber is lauded for having cases to be reserved which it shall seem

once passed through his native town, after needful or very expedient that the su-

many years of absence, and proceeding on perior should know."

his journey without permitting himself 8 The letter of Ignatius " to the

even to make halt. Brethren of the Society of Jesus in

.. , " Examen generale," c. iv. 2. Portugal."

I 5 2 RANKE

he do not possess these attainments. With the most unlimited
abjuration of all right of judgment, in total and blind subjection
to the will of his superiors, must he resign himself to be led,
like a thing without life, as the staff, for example, that the
superior holds in his hand, to be turned to any purpose seeming
good to him. The society is to him as the representative of the
divine providence. 9

What a power was that now committed to the general
vested in him for life was the faculty of wielding this un-
questioning obedience of thousands ; nor is there one to whom
he is responsible for the use made of it. By that plan of the
order submitted to the pontiff in 1543, every member of the
society, who might chance to be at the same place with the
general, was to be called to the discussion of even the most
trifling affairs: but by Julius III he was freed from this re-
striction in 1550, and is to take counsel only when he shall him-
self desire it. For some material change in the constitution, or
for the suppression of houses and colleges alone, was a consul-
tation imperative ; 10 in every other case, all power is committed
to him of acting as may be most conducive to the good of the
society. He has assistants in the different provinces, but these
confine themselves strictly to such matters as he shall confide
to them. All presidents of provinces, colleges, and houses, he
names at his pleasure: he receives or dismisses, dispenses or
furnishes, and may be said to exercise a sort of papal authority
on a small scale. *

In all this there was one only danger to be feared, namely,
that the general, possessing so great a power, might himself
depart from the principles of the society: certain restrictions
were therefore imposed on his habits of life. To us it will

" Constitutiones," vi. i. " And let that suggested by the first perusal may

each one be certain that they who live be extracted. " Obligatio ad peccatum

under obedience should suffer them- mortale vel veniale," may rather point

selves to be moved and governed by to the binding force of the constitution,

divine providence (through their supe- which he who violates is guilty of "mor-

riors), as though they were dead bod- tal or venial sin "; but the words should

ies." Here is also the other Constitu- be more precise, for no one could be

tion, vi. 5, according to which it would blamed for seriously referring " ea " to

seem that even a sin might be en- "peccatum," and not to "constitu-

joined. " It has seemed good to us in tiones."

the Lord . . . that no constitutions, 10 Says Julius III. (" Confirmatio In-

declarations, or order of living can in- stituti ") : "He shall have the right to

duce an obligation to mortal or venial himself to ordain those things which

sin, unless the superior command them, to him shall seem conducive to the

in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, glory of God, assisted, so far as he shall

or in virtue of obedience." A man can see fit, by his brethren."

scarcely trust his eyes as he reads this; x " Constitutiones," ix. 3.
and, certainly, another meaning besides

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 153

certainly not seem so important as it may have appeared to
Ignatius, that the Society or its deputies were intrusted with
the arrangement of certain external observances, the hours of
meals and sleep, for example, the dress, and whatever con-
cerned the daily habits. 2 It is, nevertheless, still something,
that the supreme power should be deprived of a freedom of
action enjoyed by the most insignificant individual. The as-
sistants who were not named by himself, maintained a constant
supervision over him in these respects; and one officer, called
the admonitor, was specially appointed to warn him of any lapse.
In the event of any gross fault, the assistants could summon the
general congregation, who had the power of pronouncing a
sentence of deposition against the offending general.

This carries us a step further in our examination of the order.

We must not suffer ourselves to be dazzled by the hyperbolical
descriptions left us of their power by the Jesuits themselves;
rather let us consider what may have been practicable, the great
extent soon obtained by the society considered. We shall then
arrive at the following results: To the general remained the
supreme guidance of the whole order, more particularly the
control of the superiors, whose conscience he was to scrutinize
and direct whose duties he alone could assign. These su-
periors, on the other hand, possessed a similar power within
their own jurisdiction, and frequently exercised it with a
severity exceeding that of the general himself. 3 The superiors
and general were to a certain extent counterpoised by each
other. The general was also to be informed as to the personal
characteristics of every subordinate, and although it is obvious
that he could interfere on important occasions only, yet the
supervision remained in his hands. A select number of the
professed, on the other hand, were authorized to exercise super-
vision over him.

Other institutions have existed, forming a world within the
world, and which, releasing their members from all exterior
obligations, have sought to absorb their whole being to them-
selves, and to inspire each individual with a new principle of
life and action. This was pre-eminently the purpose of the
Jesuits, and it was fully accomplished. But there was a further

2 " Schedula Ignatii, AA. SS." " Com- 8 Mariana, " Discurso de las enferme-

mentatio praevia," n. 872, dadas dc la Compania de Jesus," c. xi.

RANKE

peculiarity in their proceedings; while the order was itself
taking captive the mind, and holding it as a mere piece of prop-
erty, it nevertheless demanded the full development of all the
faculties in each individual. No Jesuit was in any sense his
own property ; he belonged fully and unreservedly to the order :
thus all personal consideration was merged in a life of mutual
supervision and subordination. But a firmly compacted and
perfect unity was thus formed a body endowed with nerve and
vigorous power of action. It was to secure this last effect that
the monarchical power was so earnestly enforced, to this did
they subject themselves unreservedly ; nor did they ever aban-
don it, unless the possessor himself departed from its vital prin-
ciples.

There was perfect consistency in the refusal of the Jesuits to
permit their members the acceptance of ecclesiastical dignities ;
for these might have involved the fulfilment of duties, or the
forming of relations, over which the society could no longer
exercise control. In the earlier days of Jesuitism this rule was
most strictly observed : when the bishopric of Trieste was pro-
posed to Jay, he neither would nor dared to accept it ; and on
the retraction of the proposal, in consequence of a letter from
Ignatius, by Ferdinand I who had offered it, the general caused
solemn masses to be said in thanksgiving and Te Deum to be
sung. 4

A second effectual distinction is, that the order of Jesuits
emancipated itself from the more ascetic and cumbrous forms of
monastic devotion. The members severally were also enjoined
to avoid excess in their religious exercises: they were not to
weaken themselves by fasting, vigils, or castigations, or to ab-
stract more time than was strictly needful from the service of
mankind. In labor, also, moderation was commanded, " the
spirited steed must have the curb rather than the spur, and no
man should load himself so heavily with his weapons that he
cannot wield them to advantage." On no account was any mem-
ber of the society to labor until the elasticity of his mind be-
came endangered by his toils. 6

Thus the society, regarding its members as its own exclu-

* Extract from the "Liber memoria- tiarum actionem." " Commentarius
lis of Ludovicus Gonsalvus": "Quod praevius," in " A A. SS. Julii 7, n. 412.
desistente rege, S. Ignatius indixerit 5 " Constitutiones," v. 3, i. " Epis-

missas et ' Te Deum laudamus,' in gra- tola Ignatii ad Fratres qui sunt in His-

pania. " Corpus Institutorum," ii. 540.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 155

sive property, was desirous of seeing them attain to the highest
culture of their energies, physical and mental but ever in ac-
cordance with its first great principle of obedience.

This careful development of the individual was, in fact, in-
dispensable to the performance of the duties assigned him
those of the pulpit, that is, of the school and the confessional :
to the two latter in particular the Jesuits devoted themselves
with a zeal more peculiarly their own.

The instruction of youth had been hitherto left to those men
who, after long study of profane literature, had turned their at-
tention to theological subjects, which they treated in a manner
never very acceptable to the court of Rome, and eventually al-
together reprobated by it. The Jesuits took upon themselves
to expel these men from their office, and to occupy it in their
stead. They began by the closest observance of a carefully con-
sidered system, dividing the schools into classes, and pursuing
in these a method strictly uniform, from the earnest principles
of learning to the highest degree of science. They paid great
attention to the moral culture, and formed their pupils to good
character and correct manners ; they were favored by the civil
power, and finally their instructions were given gratis. When-
ever a prince or city had founded one of their colleges, no pri-
vate person needed further to incur expense for the education
of his children. They were expressly forbidden to ask or ac-
cept remuneration or reward ; as were their sermons and masses,
so was their instruction altogether gratuitous. There was not
even the usual box for offerings in their churches. As men
are constituted, this of itself must have aided to make the Jesuits
popular, the rather as they taught with great ability and equal
zeal. " Not only were the poor assisted by this practice," says
Orlandini, " it was a solace to the rich also." 6 He remarks
further on the extraordinary success of their efforts : " Many
are now shining in the purple of the hierarchy," he declares,
" whom we had but lately on the benches of our schools, others
are engaged in the government of states and cities. We have
trained up bishops and their counsellors, nay, other spiritual
communities have been filled from our schools." The most re-

Orlandinus, lib. vi. 70. A compari- predominant. See Sturm, in Ruhkopf,

son might be made with the conventual :< Geschichte des Schulwesens," p. 378,

schools of the Protestants, in which The points of difference must, of course,

the religious tendency was also fully be also considered.

156 RANKE

markable talents among these pupils were appropriated by the
order whenever that was possible, as may well be supposed, and
the society had in fact formed itself into a body of instructors of
all ages, that, extending over every Catholic country, acquired an
amount of influence altogether incalculable. From the Jesuits
education received that tone of religion by which it has since
been marked, and was impressed by a strict Unity of character,
whether as regards method, doctrine, or discipline.

But how predominant was the ascendancy assured to them
by the address with which they gained possession of the con-
fessional, and the direction of consciences ! No age of the world
has been more accessible than was the period of their com-
mencement to such influence as they exercised; but perhaps
none has more needed it. Their code of laws enjoins the Jesuits
" to pursue one uniform method in their manner of giving abso-
lution, to exercise themselves in cases of conscience, to adopt a
short and rapid mode of interrogating their penitents, and to
have the examples of the saints, their words and other helps,
ever ready for every sort of sin " ; 7 rules which are obviously
well calculated to meet the wants of mankind. But the ex-
traordinary success obtained by the society, and which involved
a real diffusion of their peculiar modes of thinking, was further
promoted by another essential adjunct.

This was the very remarkable little manual of spiritual exer-
cises which Ignatius, I will not say originated, but which he
certainly worked out in a most peculiar manner. 8 By this his
first disciples were attracted, and it was equally efficacious with
later ones; among his followers generally it ever maintained
the highest authority, and served more than all else to make them
his own ; its utility was progressive and powerful, the more so
perhaps because it was recommended for occasional study only ;
and as a resource in moments of inward distress and spiritual
craving.

It is not a book of doctrine, but rather a guide to self-
contemplation, " the longings of the soul," says Ignatius, " are
not to be appeased by a cloud of acquirements ; by intuitive per-
ception of things sacred alone can it be satisfied." 9

* " Regula Sacerdotum " 8, 10, 11. have been entirely his own. " Comm.

8 For, after all that has been writ- praev.," n. 64.

ten on either side, it is manifest that 9 " Non enim abundantia scientiae, sed

Ignatius had a similar work, by Gar- sensus et gustus rerum interior desid-

cia de Cisneros, in view; the most pe- erium animae replete solet." (See the

culiar part of it seems, nevertheless, to text.)

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 157

It is the guidance of this perception that he proposes to him-
self ; the spiritual adviser intimates the subjects to be reflected
on ; the neophite has only to follow them out. His thoughts
are to be fixed on them before retiring to rest, and immediately
on awaking ; he must abstract himself with determination from
all other objects of thought, windows and doors must be closed,
kneeling or prostrate on the earth, he must continue his task
of self-examination.

He begins by a deep consciousness of sin, he reflects that for
one single crime the angels were cast into hell, while for him,
who has committed so many, the saints are ever interceding.
The heavens, with their stars, animals, and all plants of the
earth, minister to his good. That he may now be freed from
his guilt, and may not be condemned to eternal damnation, he
calls on the crucified Redeemer, he receives his replies, there is
between them a dialogue as of a friend with his friend, a servant
with his master.

He next seeks edification from profound reflections on the
events of sacred history : " I see," he exclaims, " how the three
persons of the Godhead look down upon the whole earth, which
they behold filled with men condemned to hell ; they resolve that
the second person shall, for their redemption, assume the nature
of man. I survey the whole wide circuit of the globe, and in one
corner I discern the hut of the Virgin Mary, whence proceeds
salvation." He proceeds from step to step through the sacred
histories, he represents to himself the different events in all the
fulness of their details, and according to the categories of their
import ; the religious fancy, freed from the trammels of the let-
ter, is allowed the utmost scope for expansion, the disciple
imagines himself to touch the garments, to kiss the footsteps of
the sacred personages ; in this excitement of the imagination, in
the full conviction how great is the blessedness of a soul replete
with divine grace and virtues, he returns to the consideration
of his own condition ; if his position in life be still undecided,
he must choose it now, in accordance with the wants and wishes
of his heart, whilst he has one only aim in view, that of becom-
ing consecrated to the glory of God, in whose presence, and in
that of all the saints, he believes himself to stand. If his choice
be alreadv made, he then reviews his manner of life, his daily
walk and conversation, the ordering of his household, his need-

158 RANKE

ful expenditure, what he has to give to the poor, on all which he
reflects in the frame of mind that he will desire to have always
maintained, when arrived at the hour of his death ; having no
other object before him than such as may tend to the glory of
God and his own salvation.

Thirty days are devoted to these exercises; reflections on
sacred history, on his own personal circumstances, prayers and
resolutions occupy the hours, and alternate with each other,
The soul is kept in ceaseless excitement and activity, occupied
with itself; finally, when the individual represents to himself the
provident care of God, " who in all his creatures effectually
works for the good of man," he once more believes himself to
be standing before the Lord and his saints, he beseeches the Al-
mighty to permit the dedication of his service and adoration to
himself. He offers up his whole being, freedom, memory, under-
standing, will ; thus does he conclude with him the covenant of
love. " Love consists in the community of all faculties and
possessions." In return for this its devotion, God imparts his
grace -to the soul.

palmela

It will suffice for our purpose to have given a rapid glance
at this extraordinary book. In its general tenor, its various
propositions, and their manner of connection, there is a certain
persuasiveness that does certainly excite the spirit, but re-
strains it at the same time within most narrow limits. Ad-
mirably calculated for its peculiar aim, that of contemplation
guided by the fancy, it is all the more successful from its being
the result of Loyola's own experiences. He has here recorded
all the most remarkable phenomena of his religious awakening
and spiritual progress, from their first commencement to the year
1548, when he received the sanction of the Pope. It has been
said that the Jesuits profited by the experience of the Prot-
estants, and in some few particulars this may have happened;
but on the whole, they present a very strong contrast to each
other. In this work at least, Ignatius has opposed to the dis-
cursive, logical, and very close method of the Protestants (a
method by its very nature polemical), one of his own which is
entirely different, being short, intuitive, calculated for awaken-
ing the imaginative faculties and prompting to instant resolve.

And in this manner did those visionary elements that had
characterized his commencement, condense themselves at length

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 159

to an extraordinary force of practical influence. Never wholly
freed from the military habits of his early days, Loyola formed
his society into a sort of religious standing army ; selected care-
fully man by man, enrolled under the influence of the religious
fantasy, each one trained for the especial service he was in-
tended to perform, and commanded by himself : such were the
cohorts that he dedicated to the service of the Pope. He lived
to see their ascendancy over the greater portion of the earth's
surface.

At the period of his death, the company of Ignatius num-
bered thirteen provinces, exclusive of the Roman. 1 A mere
glance will serve to show where the strength of the order lay;
the majority of these provinces, seven, namely, belonged to the
western peninsula and its colonies. In Castile there were ten
colleges. Aragon and Andalusia had each five. Portugal had
gone beyond even this : houses were established there both for
professed members and novices. Over the colonies of Portugal
the Company of Jesus exercised almost absolute mastery.
Twenty-eight members of the order were occupied in Brazil,
while in East India, from Goa to Japan, not less than a hundred
were employed. An attempt on Ethiopia was also made from
this quarter, and a Provincial was sent thither, the success of
the enterprise not being doubted. All these provinces of Spanish
and Portuguese languages and manners were directed by one
commissary general, Francesco Borgia. The nation that had
given birth to the founder, was also that where his influence was
most immediately and firmly established. But the effect pro-
duced in Italy was very little inferior. There were three
provinces of the Italian tongue: first, the Roman, under the
immediate direction of the general ; this comprised Naples ; it
was furnished with houses for novices and professed ; two col-
leges within the city, the " Collegium Rornanum " and " Col-
legium Germanicum," namely: the last erected for Germans
only, by the advice of Cardinal Morone, but not with any great
effect. Second, the Sicilian, containing four colleges completed
and two begun. The first Jesuits had been introduced into Sicily
by the viceroy della Vega ; 2 Messina and Palermo had vied
with each other in establishing colleges, and from these it was

1 In the year 1556. Sacchinus, " Historia Societatis Jesu," p. ii., sive Lainius,
from the beginning. * Ribadeneira, ' r Vita Ignatii," n. 293.

160 RANKE

that the others afterward arose. The third Italian province
comprehended all the north of Italy, and contained ten colleges.
The order was not equally successful in other countries, where
it was either opposed by Protestantism, or by a strong tendency
to Protestant opinion. In France they had but one college
actually in operation ; and though two provinces were counted
in Germany, both were as yet in their infancy. The first was
to comprise Vienna, Prague, and Ingolstadt, but its condition
was extremely precarious ; the second was intended to include
the Netherlands, but Philip II had not yet assured a legal ex-
istence to the Jesuits in that part of his dominions.

This great and rapid success was a guarantee of the power
to be attained by the order. The position it had secured in those
purely Catholic countries, the two peninsulas, was a circum-
stance of the utmost importance.

Conclusion

Thus we perceive, that while the tenets of Protestantism were
enlarging their influence over the minds of men on the one hand,
a new impulse had on the other been received by Catholicism,
and was acting vigorously in Rome, and the court of its pontiff
more especially. This last, equally with its opponent, had taken
rise from the spirit of worldliness pervading the Church; or
rather from the necessity of a change that this corrupt spirit had
forced on the general perception.

These impulses had at first displayed a tendency toward
approximation. There was a certain period during which Ger-
many had not entirely resolved on casting off the hierarchy;
there was also a moment when Italy seemed approaching toward
a national modification of that hierarchy. That moment passed
away.

The Protestants, guided by Scripture, retraced their steps
with ever-increasing firmness, toward the primitive forms of
Christian faith and life. The Catholics, on the contrary, held
fast by the ecclesiastical institutions, as these had been con-
solidated in the course of a century, and determined only on
renovating all, and infusing increased energy, a more rigid
severity, and deeper earnestness of purpose into each. On the
one hand there rose up Calvinism, its spirit far more anti-

.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 161

Catholic than that of Lutheranism ; on the other, whatever could
but recall the idea of the Protestant doctrines was confronted
by unflinching opposition, and repelled with determined hos-
tility.

Thus rise two neighboring and kindred springs on the sum-
mit of the mountain, but each seeks its path to the valleys in an
opposite direction, and their waters are separated forever.

i r/*f

BOOK III

THE POPES ABOUT THE MIDDLE OF THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY.

THE sixteenth century is distinguished from all others by
the number of religious systems produced in its course.
Even to the present day are these affecting us ; the vari-
ous opinions taking their birth at that period have formed the
medium in which we still " live, move, and have our being."

If we seek to ascertain the precise moment when the sepa-
ration between Catholics and Protestants was completed, we
shall find that it was not strictly coincident with the first ap-
pearance of the reformers, for opinions did not immediately
assume a fixed character, and, for a certain time, there was
rational ground of hope that a compromise between the con-
flicting doctrines might be effected. It was not until the year
1552 that all prospect of this kind was utterly destroyed, and
that the three great forms of Christianity in the West were
separated forever.

Now indeed did the wide divergence of all become appar-
ent. Lutheranism assumed a severity, an exclusiveness, an
asceticism hitherto unknown to its habits. The Calvinists de-
parted from it in the most essential doctrines, though Calvin
himself had in earlier times been considered a Lutheran ; while,
in hostile contrast to both, Catholicism invested herself with
those forms that still distinguish her practice. Each of these
theological systems sought eagerly to establish itself in the po-
sition it had assumed, each labored to displace its rivals and to
subjugate the world.

On the first glance it might seem that Catholicism, seeking
only to renew existing institutions, would have found less diffi-
culty than its opponents in pressing forward and securing the

Popes (Vol. I). 9 l63

1 64 RANKE

ascendancy, but the advantage it possessed was in a manner
rendered nugatory by many opposing influences. No less than
its rivals had Catholicism to contend with the various impulses
then affecting the world : eagerness for temporal advancement,
profane learning, and heterodox opinions in religion. It was
not unlike a principle of fermentation, of which it may still be
questioned whether it can seize and assimilate the elements sur-
rounding it, or must itself be overmastered by them.

The first important obstacle was presented by the popes them-
selves, their personal character and the policy they pursued.

It will have become obvious to the reader, that a temper of
mind in direct contrast with their spiritual character had taken
firm hold on the heads of the Church, and had elicited that op-
position from which Protestantism had received so mighty an
impetus.

The question now was, whether the zeal for ecclesiastical in-
novation just arisen in the Church would overcome and trans-
form this temper, and to what extent.

To me it appears that the antagonism of these two principles,
the conflict between the policy, whether active or passive,
hitherto prevailing and now become inveterate, and the neces-
sity acknowledged for a complete internal reform, is that which
constitutes the paramount interest in the history of the popes
next following.

Section I.- Paul in

It is an error prevalent in our times, that we attach undue
importance to the purposes and influence of governments,
princes, and other eminent persons ; their memory is frequently
loaded with the sins of the multitude, as frequently they have
credit for performing what in fact proceeded from the general
effort of the community.

The Catholic movement, considered in the preceding book,
took its rise under Paul III; but we should mistake if we
ascribed its origin to that pope. He perceived its importance to
the Roman See, and not only permitted it to take its course, but
in many ways promoted its success. Still we may declare with-
out hesitation that his own feelings were at no time in sympathy
with the earnest sincerity of its spirit.

Alexander Farnese (this was the name of Paul III) was

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 165

quite as worldly in character as any of his predecessors. Born
in the year 1468, his education was completed within the fif-
teenth century. He studied under Pomponius Laetus at Rome,
and in the gardens of Lorenzo de' Medici at Florence; thus
imbued with the love of art and elegant literature proper to his
period, he did not escape the contagion of its morals. His
mother found it needful on a certain occasion to permit his re-
maining for a time in the restraint of the castle Saint Angelo.
The future pontiff seized a moment when the attention of his
guard was attracted by the procession of the Corpus Christi,
and, lowering himself from the walls by a rope, he succeeded in
making his escape. He acknowledged a son and daughter, both
illegitimate; but no great offence was taken at such affairs in
that day, and they were not suffered to impede his fortunes;
we thus find him a cardinal while still very young. His heredi-
tary estates were situated at Bolsena, and he there constructed a
villa so inviting to the elegant tastes of Pope Leo X that he
honored the cardinal by more than one visit to it. The Farnese
palace also, one of the finest in Rome, was commenced during
his cardinalate; but these occupations were by no means the
principal interests of his life, he had much higher ambitions,
and from the first had fixed his thoughts on the supreme
dignity.

It is entirely characteristic of Farnese that he sought to attain
this eminence by means of a complete neutrality. The French
and Imperial factions then divided Italy, Rome, and the col-
lege of cardinals. He conducted himself with so deliberate a
caution, with so fortunate a circumspection, that no one could
say to which of these parties he most inclined. He was on the
point of being elected pope, even at the death of Leo, and again
at that of Adrian, and he could not live in charity with the
memory of Clement VII, whom he accused of occupying the
papal chair for twelve years, during which it ought to have been
his own. At length, in October, 1534, the fortieth year of his
cardinalate and the sixty-seventh year of his life, he attained
the end so long desired, and ascended the papal throne. *

1 Onuphrius Panvinius: "Vita Paul! Turkish war, with the title, " Tre Libri

III ": In the year 1538, Marc Antonio delli Commentari della Guerra, 1537-8-9,"

Contarini made a report to the Vene- now in my possession, I find a short

tian senate on the court of the pontiff. extract therefrom, whence I have de-

Unfortunately, I have not found this rived the notices given in the text. " Of

work either in the archives of Venice the state of the court, he affirmed, that

or elsewhere. In a MS. concerning the for a long time the prelates had not led

1 66 RANKE

He was now to feel all the weight of those contentions so
profoundly agitating the world, the strife of those two great
parties between which he was himself to hold so important a
place; the necessity for opposing the Protestants, at the same
time that he was drawn into secret connection with them by
their political position ; the wish he could not but feel from the
situation of his Italian principality to weaken the preponderance
of Spain, and the great danger involved in every attempt to do
so ; the pressing need of reform, and the mortifying restrictions
with which this seemed to threaten the papal power.

The mode in which his character develops itself in the tur-
moil of these contradictory demands is entirely worthy of
notice.

The habits of Paul III were easy, magnificent and liberal;
rarely has a pope been so much beloved in Rome as he was.
There was an elevation of mind in his choice of the distinguished
men we have before alluded to for the sacred college, and that
even without their knowledge ; how well does this contrast with
the littleness of personal consideration by which such appoint-
ments had usually been made. Nor was he content with merely
appointing them, he granted to all an unwonted degree of
liberty; he endured contradiction in the consistory, and en-
couraged unrestricted discussion.

But thus leaving due liberty to others, and according to every
man the advantages incident to his position, he would allow no
one of his prerogatives to fall into disuse or be neglected. Cer-
tain remonstrances being addressed to him by the Emperor on
his having advanced two of his grandsons to the cardinalate
at too early an age, he replied that he would do as his pred-
ecessors had done, that examples might be cited of infants in
the cradle becoming cardinals. The partiality he displayed for
his family was beyond what had been customary even in the
head of the Church, 2 and his resolution to raise his house to the

such reformed lives; that the cardinals tive to injuries done him, and greatly
had more liberty to give their opinions, disposed to exalt his own people. Var-
than for many years past; the Pope chi (" Istorie Florentine,' p. 636) de-
was so far from complaining of this, clares of the Pope's principal secretary,
that he did his best to promote it; from Messer Ambrogio, " that he could have
all which one might hope now to see whatever he desired and desired to
greater reforms. He considered that have whatever he could." Among other
among the cardinals were men of such gifts, he once received sixty washing-
high eminence, that by the common basins, with their ewers. How comes
opinion the world had nothing to equal it," asked some one about the court,
them." "that with so many washing-basins,
2 Soriano, 1535: "He is Roman of Messer Ambrogio cannot keep clean
blood, and of very high spirit, sensi- hands?

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 167

princely dignity, as other popes had done, was early made
manifest.

Not that he sacrificed every other consideration to this pur-
pose, as did Alexander VI ; this could not be alleged against
him; he labored earnestly, on the contrary, for the promotion
of peace between France and Spain, and for the suppression of
the Protestants; he strove anxiously to subjugate the Turks,
and to advance the reformation of the Church; but also, and
together with all these cares, he had it much at heart to exalt
his own house.

Proposing to himself so many conflicting purposes, whether
for the public service or his own private affairs, this pontiff
was necessarily forced on a policy in the utmost degree circum-
spect, watchful, and temporizing, so much always depending
on the favorable moment, the happy combination of circum-
stances. These he was compelled to prepare and mature by de-
grees most cautiously calculated, and when the decisive moment
had arrived, it was to be seized with the utmost promptitude,
and made to yield the largest possible amount of profit.

The various ambassadors found it difficult to treat with him.
They were surprised to see, that though betraying no want of
courage, he was ever reluctant to decide. His object was to
entangle others, and to gain some promise that should fetter
them, some assurance that could not be recalled ; but never
would he utter a word that could pledge himself. This dis-
position was obvious, even in minor affairs; he was dis-
inclined either to refuse or to promise anything, but seemed
always anxious to keep his hands free up to the last moment.
How much more, then, in circumstances of difficulty! It
would occasionally happen, that he would himself suggest some
means of escape from an evil, some expedient against a danger ;
but if anyone sought to act on this, the Pope at once drew back,
he desired to remain always master of his own proceedings. 3

3 In the " Lettres et M&noires d'Etat," speech, not wishing to utter a word

par Guill. Ribier, Paris, 1666, are found that was not most select and elegant,

numerous specimens of his negotia- whether in the vulgar tongue, or in

tions and their character, from 1537 to Latin or Greek; for he professed them

1540, and from 1547 to 1549 in the de- all three, and soon discovered in me

spatches of the French ambassadors. what little I knew of them, and being

Matteo Dandolo describes them mi- very old, he spoke in low tones, and

nutely in a MS. now in my possession. was very prolix; he would not refuse

"Relatione di Roma, 1551, d. 20 Junii, what was asked from him; but neither

in Senatu." " To negotiate with Pope would he that the man who negotiated

Paul was ever thought difficult by all with him should be sure that he had

men, because he was very slow in had the ' yes,' rather than the ' no '

i68 RANKE

Paul III belonged, as we have said, to the classic school of
which we have spoken before, and was studious of elegance in
expression, as well in Latin as Italian. His words were selected
and weighed, with reference to their form, as well as import;
they were then delivered in low tones, and with the most cautious
deliberation.

It was not easy for a man to be sure of the terms on which
he stood with Pope Paul. Many people thought it safer to
infer the very opposite from what his words would imply ; but
this was not, perhaps, always advisable. Those who observed
him most nearly, remarked, that when his hopes of any project
were at the highest, he usually abstained from all mention of
the subject, or of any person or thing that could lead to it. 4
Thus much was manifest to all, that he never abandoned a pur-
pose, when once he had fixed his mind on it ; he trusted to carry
all his undertakings to a prosperous issue, if not immediately,
yet at some future time, by some change of measures, or under
altered circumstances.

It was perfectly consistent with the habits of a mind so
constituted, with forethought so closely calculating, with a dis-
position so warily to guard all points, and secretly to ponder
on all purposes, that Paul should take the heavenly as well as
the earthly influences into his reckoning. The influence of the
stars on human actions was rarely questioned in those times, and
this pontiff held no important sitting of his consistory, under-
took no journey, without selecting that day when the aspect of
the constellations was most favorable. 5 An alliance with
France was impeded by the weighty fact, that no conformity
could be discovered between the nativity of her monarch and
that of the Pope. Paul would seem to have felt himself to be
surrounded by mutually opposing agencies, not only of this
world below, but also of that above, whose part in his affairs
he sought to ascertain from the configurations of the stars. His
hope was to propitiate both, to mitigate their evil influences, to
derive profit from their favorable conjunctures, and dexterously

from his holiness: he would always be 6 Mendoza: "The matter has come

on the vantage ground of being able to this, that very few cardinals will

to grant or to refuse, wherefore he was transact business, were it but to buy a

always most slow to resolve when he load of wood, except through some as-

chose to deny " trologer or wizard." As regards tht

4 Remarks of the Cardinals Carpi and Pope also, we find the most unques*

Margareta. " who are the persons," tionable particulars iclated.
says Mendoza, " most familiar with his
disposition'

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 169

to steer his bark to port between the rocks that menaced from
every side.

Let us see by what means he sought this end; whether he
found them adequate to his purposes, or not; whether he did
indeed raise himself above the conflicting forces of the world,
or whether he were swallowed up in the vortex.

In the early part of his pontificate he did, in effect, succeed
in forming an alliance with Charles V and the Venetians,
against the Turks. With great earnestness did he exhort the
Venetians to this enterprise, and hopes were again felt that the
boundaries of Christendom might be extended to Constan-
tinople.

There was nevertheless, a formidable obstacle to this under-
taking in the war that had again been declared between Charles
V and Francis I. The Pope made every possible effort to bring
about a reconciliation ; the conference held between these two
sovereigns at Nice was entirely of his arrangement, he him-
self proceeding to join it, and the Venetian ambassador, who
was present, can find no words sufficiently strong for the eulogy
of his zeal, and of the patience he displayed on that occasion.
It was not, however, without the utmost assiduity on his part
that matters were brought to bear; the last moment was ap-
proaching for he had threatened to depart 6 when at length
the princes came to an understanding, which seemed afterward
to grow into a sort of intimacy.

Thus actively employed for the public welfare, the Pope did
not forget those of his own family ; men observed, that if pos-
sible, he always combined the two interests, and made the .one
advance the other. Thus, from the Turkish war he took oc-
casion to appropriate Camerino. It was on the point of being
incorporated with Urbino; the last Verana, heiress of Came-
rino, having married Guidobaldo II, who had entered on the
government of Urbino, in the year I53& 7 The Pope, how-
ever, declared that Camerino could not descend in the female
line. The Venetians were in justice bound to support the duke,
whose ancestors had constantly lived under their protection, and
served in their armies, and they made an urgent and spirited ap-
peal in his behalf, but were deterred from doing more by the

8 " Relatione del C. M. Nicolo Tie- matt. Politiche, vi. (Library of Berlin),
polo del Convento di Nizza." Infer- There exists also an old impression.

* Adriani, " Istorie," 58, H.

170 RANKE

fear of war. They reflected, that if the Pope should call the
Emperor to his aid, that monarch would have so much the less
power to make head against the Turks ; or if France came to
his assistance, the peace of Italy would be endangered, and their
own position become more isolated, 8 and less advantageous.
These things all considered, they left the duke to his fate, and
he was compelled to resign Camerino, which the Pope conferred
on his grandson Ottavio. Already was the house of Farnese
advancing in splendor and power. How useful to Paul had
been the conference at Nice ! even while it was yet in progress,
his son, Pier Luigi, obtained Novara, with its territories, from
the Emperor, who also gave his solemn promise to marry his
natural daughter, Margaret, on the death of Alessandro de*
Medici, to Ottavio Farnese. The Pope may be fully believed
when he affirms that he did not on that account ally himself ex-
clusively with the imperial party. On the contrary, he desired
to form an equally close connection with Francis I. Nor did
the French King seem averse to this proposal, but promised
him the hand of a prince of the blood the Duke of Vendome
for his grand-daughter Vittoria. 9

In this relationship to the two most exalted houses of the
world, Paul found extreme satisfaction; he was fully sensible
to the honor he derived from it, and even alluded to it in the
consistory. The position of peace-maker, too, that he now oc-
cupied between those great powers, was equally flattering to
his ambition, as spiritual chief of the Church.

But the further progress of these affairs was not altogether
so fortunate. No advantage whatever could be gained over
the Ottomans; on the contrary, it was Venice who was com-
pelled to accept a peace on very unfavorable terms. The
promise given by Francis at Nice was afterward recalled ; and
though Paul did not abandon the hope of eventually effecting a
family alliance with the house of Valois, the negotiations were
tediously protracted. It is true, that the good understanding
brought about by the Pope between the Emperor and King,

8 The deliberations are to be found in himself entirely to me, saying, that

the before-mentioned Commentary on because she is his only niece, and so

the Turkish War, which thus acquires greatly beloved by him, he desires noth-

a peculiar interest. mg on earth, after the good of Chris-

* Grignan, ambassadeur du roi de tendqm, more than to see his said niece

France a Rome, au Connetable. Ribier, married in France, of which the said

i. p. 251: "Monseigneur, his said holi- King had talked to him at Nice, and

ness has a marvellous wish for the Ven- you, Monseigneur, afterward spoke to

d6me marriage, for he has declared him of it."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 17!

seemed, for some time, to become even more perfect, insomuch,
indeed, that Paul had well-nigh felt his jealousy awakened, and
complained that they neglected him who had been the cause of
this concord. 10 But this state of things did not long endure ;
contests ensued, the war was recommenced, and the Pope then
raised his thoughts to new designs.

In earlier times he had openly asserted among his friends,
and even declared to the Emperor, that Milan belonged to the
French, and ought of right to be restored to them. 1 Gradually,
however, this opinion was abandoned; and we presently meet
with a proposal from Cardinal Carpi (who was more in his
confidence than any other member of the Sacred College) to
Charles V, of which the purport was altogether of a different
character, and pointed to opposite conclusions. 2

" The Emperor," he now declares, " should not think of
being either count, duke, or prince, he should be emperor only.
He should not possess numerous provinces, but rather great vas-
sals. His prosperity has decreased since he took possession of
Milan not that we counsel him to restore it to Francis, whose
thirst for territorial acquisitions this would only serve to stimu-
late, but neither is it advisable that he should retain it." 3 " If
the Emperor has enemies, it is because he is suspected of a de-
sire to appropriate foreign dominions. Let him remove this
suspicion ; let him place Milan in the rule of some duke of its
own, and Francis will then find no more adherents. The Em-
peror, on the contrary, will have all Germany and Italy on his
part ; he may carry his banners among the most remote nations,
and will associate his name [this is the expression] with
immortality."

But if Charles must neither keep the duchy nor resign it
to the French, to whom then must he transfer it ? Paul thought
the dilemma might be well escaped by according it to his grand-
son and the son-in-law of the Emperor, Octavio Farnese. This

10 Grignan, March 7, 1539. Ribier, i. " Se la M. V. dello stato di Milano

406. Le Cardinal de Boulogne au Roi, le usasse cortesia, non tanto si speg-

April 20, 1539. Ibid. 4(45. The Pope nerebbe quanto si accenderebbe la sete

said to him" qu'il estoit fort estonne, sua; si che e meglio di armarsi di quel

veu la peine et travail qu'il avoit pris ducato contra cfi lui. V. M. ha da

pour vous appointer, vous et 1'ernpe- esser certa, che, non per affettione che

reur, que vous le laissiez ainsi arriere." altri ahbia a questo re, ma per inter-

1 M. A. Contarini confirmed this in esse particolare, e la Germania e 1'Italia,

his report. sinche da tal sospetto non saranno li-

Discurso del Revmo. Cle. di Carpi, berate, sono per sostentare ad ogni lor

del 1543 (perhaps rather a year earlier), potere la potentia di Francia." (Sec

a Carlo V. Cesare, del modo del do- the text.)
minare." Bibl. Corsini. n. 443.

172

RANKE

he had already hinted in earlier missions. At a new conference
held with Charles at Busseto, he proposed it in form. Ne-
gotiations on the subject proceeded to some extent, and the
pontiff entertained the most lively hopes. The Marchese di
Vasto, governor of Milan, whom Paul had gained to his wishes,
being somewhat credulous and fond of display, appeared one
day with well-prepared words to conduct Margaret, as his future
sovereign, to Milan. I find, however, that the negotiation was
broken off in consequence of certain exorbitant demands on the
part of the Emperor. 4 It is nevertheless difficult to believe
that any consideration, however tempting, could induce Charles
to resign a principality so important and so well situated, to
any foreign influence.

The house of Farnese was indeed becoming sufficiently for-
midable to the Emperor, even without this addition to their
power and importance. Of the Italian provinces over which
Charles governed, or wherein he held the ascendancy, there was
not one in which the existing government had not been founded,
or at least maintained, by force. Throughout the land, from
Milan to Naples, in Florence, in Genoa, in Sienna, everywhere
in short, were to be found numbers of disaffected persons, be-
longing to different vanquished parties ; Rome and Venice were
full of emigrants. The Farnese were not prevented by their
close connection with the Emperor from allying themselves
with these parties; subdued indeed, but still formidable from
the importance of their chiefs, their wealth and numbers. At
the head of the victors stood the Emperor; the vanquished
sought refuge with the Pope. These last were bound together
by ties innumerable, they were always closely connected with
France, either openly or secretly, and were incessantly occupied
with new plans and undertakings ; these sometimes related to
Sienna, sometimes to Genoa, at other times to Lucca. How
eagerly did Paul seek to obtain footing in Florence! But in

* Pallavicini directly denies these those large offers made by the Duke

transactions. There is, indeed, room of Castro at Genoa." I do not know

to doubt their having occurred, from what these offers may have been, but,

what is said by Muratori (" Annali in any case, they were too large for the

d' Italia," x. 2, 51). His authority is Pope. According to Gosselini, secre-

that of historians who may have writ- tary to Ferrante Gonzaga, the Emperor

ten from hearsay; but a letter from feared, " that once his back was turned,

Girolamo Guicciardini to Cosmo de' the Farnesi would bethink themselves

Medici, Cremona, June 26, 1543, in of seizing it." Very circumstantial and

the Archivio Mediceo at Florence, is amusing particulars on this head are to

decisive. Granvella has also spoken of be found in a Neapolitan biography of

it. " His majesty was not ill-disposed, Vasto, not yet printed, and now in the

if, on his part, the Tope fulfilled Chigi library at Rome.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 173

the young Duke Cosmo, he met the very man best fitted to op-
pose him. With a proud self-reliance does Cosmo express him-
self on the subject. 5 " The Pope/' says he, " who has suc-
ceeded in so many undertakings, has now no wish more eager
than that of doing something in Florence as well; he would
fain estrange this city from the Emperor, but this is a hope that
he shall carry with him into his grave."

The Emperor and Pope still stood opposed to each other in
a certain point of view, as heads of rival factions ; if Charles
had married his daughter into the family of the Pope, this
was only to keep the latter in check, and as he has said him-
self, to maintain the existing state of things in Italy. Paul on
his side, desired to avail himself of his alliance with the Em-
peror, to abstract if possible some portion of the imperial power
to himself; he would fain have derived advantage from the
protection of the Emperor, and at the same time have exalted
his house by aid of the Emperor's opponents. There was still
a Guelfic and a Ghibelline party, in fact if not in name; the
last as usual adhering to the Emperor, and the first to the Pope,

Notwithstanding these elements of discord, we find amicable
relations existing between the two leaders in the year 1545.
Margaret having the hope of soon presenting a descendant of
the Csesar to the family of Paul, the feelings of the Farnesi were
again turned toward the Emperor. Cardinal Alessandro Far-
nese repaired to meet Charles at Worms, and this was one of the
most important embassies ever despatched by Paul III: the
cardinal once more succeeded in appeasing the displeasure of
Charles ; in regard to some of the charges brought against his
brothers and himself he set up a sufficient justification ; for
others, he begged forgiveness, and promised that all would
conduct themselves in future as became obedient servants and
sons of his majesty. To this Charles replied, that on their do-
ing so, he would treat them as his own children. All which
being settled, they next proceeded to the discussion of important
matters. They talked of the war with the Protestants, and de-
cided on the immediate convocation of the council. Should
the Emperor resolve to take up arms against the Protestants,
the Pope would engage to support him with all the power he

B A Letter of Cosmo, also of the year questo mondo se non disporre di questo
'537. and found in Medicean Archives: stato e levarlo dalla divotine dell' im-
" Al papa non e restato altra voglia in peratore," etc.

RANKE

could muster, bring all his treasures to aid, and even, " were it
necessary, his very crown should be sold in the service." 6

And in effect, the council was opened in that same year, a cir-
cumstance to which we first find a satisfactory explanation in
the arrangements just described. In 1546, war also com-
menced ; the Pope and the Emperor united their power to annul
the league of Smalcald, which was equally hostile to the tem-
poral claims of the one as to the spiritual authority of the other.
Paul contributed on this occasion both troops and money.

It was the Emperor's purpose to carry on warlike measures
at the same time that he employed peaceful negotiations ; while
he should punish and curb the disobedience of the Protestants
by war, he desired that the council should determine ecclesiasti-
cal disputes, and should above all establish such reforms as
might render submission in some degree possible on the part
of the Protestants.

The success of the warlike operations exceeded all anticipa-
tion; the position of the Emperor seemed at first utterly
desperate, but under the most perilous circumstances, he main-
tained his firmness; and the autumn of 1546 saw North
Germany entirely at his mercy. Cities and princes now
emulously proffered submission; the moment seemed to have
come, when, the Protestant party in Germany being entirely sub-
jugated, the whole north of Europe might again be made
Catholic.

In this crisis what did the Pope?

He recalled his troops from the imperial army, and trans-
ferred the council, now on the point of completing its mission,
and exercising its powers of pacification, from Trent, where,
at the request of the Germans, it was established, to his own
second capital, Bologna; alleging as the pretext for this step,
that some contagious disease had broken out in the former city.

There is no doubt as to his motives for these proceedings.
The ecclesiastical duties of the popedom were again in direct
collision with its political interests. All Protestant Germany

Respecting this embassy we have passate di Nro. Signore sue e di sua

authentic information from Granvella casa, ella si degnasse rimetterle e non

himself: " Dispaccio di Monsignor di ne tener conto. Expose di piu, in caso

Cortona al Duca di Fiorenza Vormatia ? che S. M. si risolvesse di sbattere per

29 Maggio, 1545 " : (Granvella) " mi via d'arme, perche ger giustitia non si

concluse in somma ch'el cardinale era vedeva quasi modo alcuno, li Lutera-

venuto per giustificarsi d'alcune calum- ni, S. Beatitudine concorrera con ogni

nie, e supphca S. M. che quando non somma di denari."
potesse interamente discolpare 1'attioni

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

175

really subjugated by the Emperor, and entirely obedient to his
behests, seemed by no means desirable in the eyes of the Pope ;
his astute calculations had taught him to look for something
wholly different that Charles might gain certain successes,
whence advantage would accrue to the Catholic Church; this
he had hoped and expected ; but he also believed, as he admits
himself, 7 that the Emperor would fall into difficulties innumera-
ble, and be surrounded by such perplexities as would leave him,
Paul, at perfect liberty for the pursuance of his own projects.
Fortune mocked at all these deeply pondered plans : he had now
to fear, and France pointed out the fact to his notice, that the
imperial predominance would be extended to Italy also, and
make itself felt in his spiritual affairs as well as those temporal.

Nor was this all ; the council also occasioned him increasing
anxiety : it had long oppressed him, 8 and he had more than once
bethought him of means by which to dissolve it. The victories
of Charles were constantly adding to the boldness of the im-
perialist bishops, who now proposed measures of unusual au-
dacity. Under the title of " censurae," the Spanish prelates
brought forward certain articles tending in their collective form
to a circumscription of the papal dignity. The Reformation,
by which Rome had so long been held in fear, seemed now in-
deed to have become inevitable.

Strangely do the words sound that relate the following facts,
yet are they perfectly true. At the moment when all North
Germany was trembling at the prospect of restoration to the
papal authority, at that moment the Pope was, and felt himself,
an ally of the Protestants! His joy at the progress made by
the elector John Frederic against Duke Maurice, was manifest ;
he wished nothing more ardently, than that the former might
be equally able to hold out against the Emperor. Francis I was
at this time using his utmost efforts to combine the whole world
in a league against Charles; and the Pope exhorted him ear-
nestly " to succor those who were still holding out against the
Emperor, and were not yet overborne." 9 Once more it seemed

7 " Charles CI. de Guise, au Roy, 31 8 " Du Mortier, au Roy, 26 Avril,
Oct., 1547" (Ribier, ii. p. 75); written 1547: " "I assure you, Sire, that when
after an audience of the Pope. Paul de- the council was at Trent, it was a bur-
dares the motives that led him to take den that oppressed him greatly."
part in the German war: "Also, to * " Le meme au meme," Ribier, i.
speak frankly, it would be better to put 637: " His holiness hears that the
impediments in the Emperor's way at Duke of Saxony is very strong, whereat
such points as that he shall not be able he is greatly content, as thinking that
to get through with success." the common enemy will be thereby re-

176 RANKE

probable to him that Charles might fall upon still greater diffi-
culties, and have his hands occupied for a long time. " He
believes this," says the ambassador of France, " because he
wishes it."

But his hopes were again disappointed, the Emperor's good
fortune baffled all his calculations: Charles was victorious at
Miihlberg, and carried off the two Protestant leaders prisoners.
He could now direct his attention more closely than ever to his
Italian designs.

It will be readily understood that the Emperor was deeply
irritated by the proceedings of Paul he saw through their mo-
tives most clearly. " The purpose of his holiness," writes he
to his ambassador, " has from the first been to entangle us in
this enterprise, and then to leave us in our embarrassment." 10
That the Pope should recall his troops was a matter of no great
moment; irregularly paid, and therefore undisciplined and dis-
orderly, they were good for very little but the transfer of the
council was indeed of importance.

And here we cannot but remark how wonderfully the Protes-
tants were aided on this occasion, as before, by those dissen-
sions between the papacy and the empire, arising from the
political position of the former. By this council the means
were presented of compelling the Protestants to submission, but
the council itself had divided (the imperialist prelates remain-
ing at Trent) : thus, no decrees of universally binding validity
being any longer possible, it was manifest that no recusant
could be forced to give in his adhesion. The Emperor had to
endure that the most essential part of his purpose should be
rendered nugatory by the defection of his ally. Not only did
he continue to insist on the recall of the council to Trent, but
even gave it to be understood that he would repair to Rome,
and hold the council there himself.

In this emergency Paul at once resolved on his path. " The
Emperor is mighty," he remarked ; " but we also can effect

strained from his enterprises, and he fuese verdad lo que antes se hayia sa-

knows well that it would be useful to vido de la intention y mclmacion de

aid those in secret who resist him, say- S. S. y lo que se dezia (es) que su fin

ing that you could not spend money to ha via sido por embaracar nos en lo que

better purpose." estavatnos y dexarnos en ello con sus

10 " Copia de la Carta que S. M. fines, desinos y platicas, pero que, aun-

scrivio a Don Diego de Mendo?a, a 11 que pesasse a S. S. y a otros, espe-

de Hebrero, 1547, a6s: " " Quanto mas ravamos con la ayuda de N. S., aunque

yva el dicho (prospero suceso) adelante, sin la de S. S., guiar esta impresa a

mas nos confirmavamos en creher que buen caramo." (See the text.)

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

177

something, and still have some friends." The long talked of
connection with France was now formed, by the affiancing of
Orazio Farnese to a natural daughter of Henry II. Great
efforts were made to include the Venetians in a general league :
the exiles of the different countries at once aroused themselves
to action. Disturbances broke out in Naples precisely at this
critical moment, and a Neapolitan delegate presented himself
to implore the pontiff's protection for his vassals in that country,
while more than one of the cardinals recommended his acceding
to their prayer.

And now again the Italian factions stood face to face, and
with hostility all the more declared and decided from the fact
that their respective leaders were openly at variance. On the
one side were the governors of Milan and Naples, the Medici
in Florence, the house of Doria in Genoa: the centre of this
party may be found in Don Diego Mendoza, imperial am-
bassador to the Roman Court. On the other side were the Pope
and the Farnesi, the exiles and the malcontents, with a newly
organized Orsini party, the adherents of France. That portion
of the council remaining in Trent took part with the imperialists,
while the members who had withdrawn to Bologna held fast to
the pontiff.

The hatred borne by each of these parties toward the other
was suddenly manifested by a deed of violence.

The close intimacy at one time subsisting between the Pope
and Emperor had emboldened Paul to invest his son Pier
Luigi with the cities of Parma and Placentia, to be held as a
dukedom in fief of the holy see; not that he could proceed
to this step with the reckless boldness of an Alexander or a
Leo ; he offered compensation to the Church by the cession of
Camerino and Nepi, seeking to prove that the "Camera
Apostolica " would suffer no loss by that transaction. To this
effect he calculated the cost of defending those frontier towns,
the sums to be disbursed by Pier Luigi in this behalf, and the
revenue to be derived by the Church from her newly annexed
territory. It was, however, only while in private conference
with each cardinal that he could bring any one of them to his
opinion even then he totally failed with many : some remon-
strated openly, others purposely abstained from attending the
consistory called to arrange the affair, and Caraffa, in par-

RANKE

ticular, was seen on that day to make a solemn visit to the Seven
Churches. 1 The Emperor, also, was dissatisfied with this proj-
ect of exchange ; or, if the dukedom was to be transferred, he
would have preferred to see it in the hands of his son-in-law
Ottavio, 2 to whom Camerino also belonged. He permitted the
transfer to proceed, because the friendship of the Pope w\s at
that moment needful to him; but he never concurred in it
heartily; he knew Pier Luigi too well; all the cords of those
secret associations which constituted the opposing power so
formidable to the Emperor's ascendancy in Italy, were held by
this son of the Pope. There was no doubt of his being aware of
Fiesco's conspiracy ; it was he who was believed to have saved
Pietro Strozzi, the powerful chief of the Florentine exiles, by
facilitating his escape across the Po, after an unsuccessful attack
on Milan, and when the life of Strozzi hung on the turn of the
moment ; he was even suspected of a long-meditated intention
of seizing the Milanese for himself. 3

One day the Pope, who still believed that he was in the
guardianship of favoring stars, and hoped to conjure what-
ever storms were threatening, repaired to the audience with
feelings more than commonly cheerful, he enumerated the pros-
perous events of his life, and compared himself with the
Emperor Tiberius. On that same day, his son, the possessor
of his acquisitions, and the heir of his good-fortune, fell a
victim to the violence of their common enemies. Pier Luigi
was attacked by conspirators at Placentia, and assassinated. 4

The duke, who ruled his people with all the depotism proper
to those times, and who sought more particularly to keep the
nobles in subjection, had rendered himself obnoxious to the
Ghibellines of Placentia by various acts of violence ; it was by
them that his assassination was perpetrated; but there can
be no doubt that the general belief of the day was well founded,
and this accused Ferrante Gonzaga, governor of Milan, of par-
ticipation in the deed. 5 Gonzaga's biographer, at that time his

ifiromato, "Vita di Paolo IV.," ii. Gosselini, "Vita di Ferr. Gonzaga,"

222. p. 20. Segni, " Storie Florentine," p. 292.

2 The negotiations for this affair are * " Mendoca, al Emperador," Sep-
to be found in the Letter of Mendoza, tember 18, 1547: [He wasted the great-
dated November 29, 1547. The Pope er part of the time (on that day), in re-
says, " he had granted the fief to Pier latmg hir, felicities, and in C9tnparing
Luigi, because the cardinals preferred himself to the Emperor Tiberius.]
this; and because he had himself but B " We have ascertained Ferrante to
short time to live, as was clear from his be the author," declares the Pope in the
failing health." consistory. " Extrait du Consistoire

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 179

confidential secretary, and who seeks to exculpate him from the
charge, declares that the intention was not to kill Pier Luigi,
but to take him prisoner. 6 I find in certain manuscripts in-
timations yet more significant of the Emperor himself having
been in the secret of this design. I am reluctant to believe this
without further evidence ; but thus much is certain, the imperial
troops at once took possession of Placentia, asserting the rights
of the empire to that city as its fief. This was a kind of re-
taliation on the Pope for his defection at the war of Smalcald.

There is no parallel for the state of affairs that now ensued.

palmela

An expression was reported as proceeding from the cardinal
Alessandro Farnese, to the effect that he could free himself
from his difficulties only by the death of certain imperial minis-
ters, that he could not bring this about by force, and must have
recourse to stratagem. Thus warned, the persons threatened
were seeking to secure themselves from poison, when two or
three Corsican bravoes were arrested in Milan; and these
men, whether with truth or falsely I do not determine, con-
fessed that they were hired by the connections of Paul to as-
sassinate Ferrante Gonzaga. Be this as it may, Gonzaga was
exasperated anew ; he declared that he must secure his own life
as best he might, that nothing remained to him but to rid him-
self of some two or three of his enemies, either by his own hand
or that of another. 7 Mendoza believes that there was a purpose
entertained in Rome, of destroying all the Spaniards found
there ; the populace were to be secretly incited to this, and when
the deed was done it was to be excused on the plea that their
fury could not be controlled.

No means of reconciliation seemed to present themselves;
there had been a wish to employ the daughter of the Emperor
as mediatrix, but Margaret had never cordially attached her-
self to the Farnese family; her husband, who was much
younger than herself, she utterly contemned, and exposed his
evil qualities to the ambassadors without reserve ; she declared
herself ready, " rather to cut off her child's head, than to ask
anything of her father that might be displeasing to him."

tenu par N. S. Pere," in a despatch him, giving special orders to the con-

from " Morvillier, Venise, 7 Sept. spirators, that they should keep him

i<;47: " Ribier, ii. p. 61. alive, but a prisoner."

Gosselini, p. 45: "Neither the Em- 7 " Mendoga al Emperador:" "Don

peror nor Don Fernando, men of no- Hernando procurara de asegurar su

ble natures, ever would consent to vida come mejor pudiere, hechando a

the death of the Duke Pier Luigi Far- parte dos o tres estos o por su mano o

nese, but did all in their power to save por mano de otros." (See the text.)

i8o RANKE

The correspondence of Mendoza with his court lies before
me; it would be difficult to find anything that might be fairly
compared with these letters, for the deeply rooted hatred they
display, felt alike on both sides, each seeking to conceal his
feelings from the other, but neither succeeding; one perceives
in each, a sense of superiority that has steeped itself in bitterness,
a contempt that is yet on its guard, a mistrust such as men feel
toward some notoriously inveterate malefactor.

If the Pope sought aid or refuge in this state of things, there
was no country whence he could hope to find either, save France
alone.

We find him accordingly employed through long hours with
Cardinals Guise and Farnese, and the French ambassador,
discussing the relations of the papal see to France. He had
" read in old books," he said, " and heard from others during
his cardinalate, that the holy see was always pre-eminent in
might and prosperity while attached to France ; but on the con-
trary, it ever sustained losses when this alliance had ceased ; he
had made experience of that truth since his own accession to
the papal throne, and he could not forgive his predecessors Leo
and Clement; he could not forgive himself, for the favor that
had been shown to the Emperor; now, at all events, he was
fully determined to unite himself forever with France. He
hoped yet to live till he saw the papal court devotedly attached
to the French King, whom he would seek to make the greatest
prince in the world. His own house should be connected with
that of France by indissoluble ties." 8

His intention was to form a league with France, Switzer-
land, and Venice, at first defensive only, but of which he re-
marked himself that it was " the door to an offen *ve alliance." 9
The French calculated that their friends, once united, would
secure to them as important a territory in Italy as that pos-
sessed by the Emperor. The whole Orsini party was again
ready to devote itself with life and property to the King of
France. The Farnesi thought that in the Milanese they could

" Guise, au Roy, 31 Oct. 1547," Ri- sance de vous faire service, ny vous

bier, ii. 75. aider a offenser, si vous premierement

" Guise, au Roy, n Nov. 1547," Ri- vous ne les aidez a defendre, il luy a

bier, ii. 81 : " Sire, il semble au pape, semble devoir comrnencer par la lignc

a ce qu'il m'a dit, qu'il doit comrnencer defensive, laquelle il dit estre la vraye

a vous faire declaration de son amitie porte de 1'offensive." The whole corre-

par vous presenter luy et toute sa mai- spondence relates to this topic,
on: et pour ce qu'il s n'auroient puis-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 181

at the least count on Cremona and Pavia ; the Neapolitan exiles
promised to bring 15,000 men into the field, and at once to de-
liver up Aversa and Naples. Into all these plans the Pope en-
tered with great eagerness, he was the first to inform the French
ambassador of a design upon Genoa. To make himself master
of Naples, he would not have shrunk from a league with Algiers
or the Grand Turk himself. Edward VI had just ascended the
throne of England, and in that country the helm of state was
directed by a government decidedly Protestant; none the less
did Paul advise Henry II to make peace with England, " that
he might be at liberty/' says the Pope, " to accomplish other
designs for the interests of Christendom." 10

But violent as was the Pope's hostility to the Emperor, close
as was his connection with France, and important as were the
plans he proposed to adopt, yet the treaty was never completed,
nor could he bring himself to resolve on taking the final step.

The Venetians were utterly astounded. " How," say they,
" the Pope is assailed in his dignity, injured in his nearest
kindred, the best possessions of his house are torn from his
grasp! it should be his part to seize on every alliance and on
all terms ; yet, after so many offences and insults, we still see
him irresolute and wavering."

Great personal injuries for the most part rouse men to ex-
treme resolves; there are nevertheless certain natures, which
still deliberate, however deeply offended, not because they are
less prone to avenge themselves than others, but because, though
the desire for vengeance is strong, the consciousness that their
opponent is the more powerful is yet stronger. The prudence
that weighs all consequence overpowers their resentment.
Great reverses do not stimulate such men, on the contrary, they
render them spiritless, feeble, and vacillating.

The Emperor was too powerful to feel any serious appre-
hension of the Farnesi; he went on his way without giving
himself further trouble concerning them. He protested sol-
emnly against the sittings of the council in Bologna, declaring
beforehand that every act which might be passed there was
null and void. In the year 1548, he published the " Interim "

10 " Francois de Rohan, au Roy, 24 temps avec les Anglais, afin que n'es-

Feb. 1548 ": Ribier, ii. 117: " S. S. m'a tant en tant d'endroits empesche vous

command^ de vous faire entendre et puissiez plus facilement executer vos

conseiller de sa part, de regarder les desseins et enterprises pour le bien pub-

moyens que vous pouvez tenir, pour lie de la ChrestienteV' (See the text.)
vous mettre en paix pour quelque

i8z RANKE

in Germany. Paul found it intolerable, as was natural, that
the Emperor should prescribe a rule of faith; but however
earnestly he complained of this, or of church property being
left in the hands of its present (Protestant) possessors, the
Emperor remained utterly immovable, though Cardinal Far-
nese declared that in the " Interim " he could point out some
seven or eight heresies. x In the affair of Placentia, again,
Charles would abate no hair's breadth of his pretensions. The
Pope demanded immediate restitution of that city ; the Emperor
maintained his claim to it in right of the empire. Paul ap-
pealed to the treaty of 1521, wherein Placentia was guaranteed
to the papal chair. The Emperor drew attention to the word
" Investiture," by which he declared that the empire had re-
served its sovereign rights. Paul replied that the word was
not used in its feudal import on that occasion. The Emperor
did not continue the discussion of rights, but declared that his
conscience would not permit him to resign the city. 2 Very
willingly would the Pope have taken up arms at that moment.
Gladly would he have united himself with France, and called
his adherents into action. The intrigues of these last did indeed
make themselves felt at Naples, Genoa, Sienna, Placentia, and
even in Orbitello. Fain would Paul have revenged himself
by some unexpected onslaught ; but on the other hand, there ever
rose before him the formidable power of the Emperor, whose
influence he dreaded, more especially in ecclesiastical affairs.
He was even beset by apprehensions lest a council should be
called, not only inimical to his interests, but that might even
proceed to his deposition. We are assured by Mendoza, that
the attempted assassination of Ferrante Gonzaga by those Cor-
sican bravoes before named, had alarmed him to excess.

Whatever may have been the truth as regards these things,
it is certain that he remained inactive, and concealed his rage.
The Farnesi were not altogether dissatisfied at seeing Charles
take possession of Sienna ; they hoped to have it ceded to them-

1M Hazer intendere a V. M. como en caused a scandal in Christendom, and
el Interim ay 7 o 8 heregias: " " Men- might have been better employed."
doga, 10 Juni, 1548." In the letters of 2 " Lettere del Cardinal Farnese
the Commendator Annibal Caro, scritte scritte al Vescovo di Fano, Nuntip all'
9.1 nome del Cl. Farnese, which are also Imperatore Carlo: " Information! Po-
composed with great reserve, will be litiche, xix., together with certain in-
found, i. 65, another letter respecting structions from the Pope and Farnese,
the Interim, to Cardinal Sfondrato, throw light on these transactions, of
wherein it is said" The Emperor has which I can only intimate the most

striking features.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 183

selves in compensation for their losses. The most singular pro-
posals were made respecting this city. "If the Emperor agrees
to this," said they to Mendoza, " the Pope must re-establish the
council in Trent, and not only proceed in other respects accord-
ing to the Emperor's desires (as for example by acknowledging
his right to Burgundy), but also declare Charles his successor
on the papal throne. For," say they, " the climate of Germany
is cold, that of Italy is warm ; and, for a man who suffers from
the gout as the Emperor does, warm countries are more health-
ful." 3 I will not maintain that these absurdities were uttered
in earnest, for the old Pope was firmly persuaded that he should
outlive the Emperor; but all this serves to show on how
doubtful a path the policy of the Farnesi was conducting them,
how widely they were departing from the established order of
things.

The French meanwhile did not fail to perceive these move-
ments, and the papal negotiations with the Emperor. A letter
is extant from the constable Montmorency, wherein he speaks
with the utmost indignation of their practices, using the most
unqualified terms as to the dissimulations, lies, and villainous
tricks practised in Rome against the King of France. 4

At length, that he might not lose all his labor, but might
gain at least one firm point in the midst of these struggles, the
Pope resolved, since Placentia was refused, not to the claims
of his house only, but to those of the Church as well, that the
duchy should at once be restored to the latter. It was the
first time that Paul had conceived any project adverse to the
interests of his grandsons, but he felt no doubt of their ac-
quiescence, having always believed himself to exercise an
absolute authority over them, and frequently alluding in terms
of praise and self-gratulation to their ready obedience. There
was, however, a material change of circumstances on this oc-
casion, for whereas he had hitherto been acting constantly
with a view to their obvious interests, he was now proposing
a measure directly at variance with them. 6 In the first in-

Cardinal Gambara made this pro- ont depuis quelque temps voulu couvrir

posal to Mendcra, at a private meeting de pur mensonge, pour en former une

in a church. le said, at least, that yraye meschancete, puisqu'il faut que

" he had written something of the kind je 1'appelle ainsi." (See the text.)

to the Pope, who had not taken it ill." Dandalo also asserts his positive de-

4 " Le connestable, au Roy, i Sept. termination: " His holiness was en-

1548 " (Ribier, ii. 155) : " Le pape avec tirely determined to restore Parma to

ses ministres vous ont jusques-icy use the Church."
de toutes dissimulations, lesquelles ils

1 84 RANKE

stance they attempted to divert him from his purpose. They
caused it to be notified to his holiness, that the day fixed for
holding the consistory was an unlucky one, being St. Roque's
day. Next they represented that the exchange he contem-
plated, of Camerino for Placentia, " would not result to the
advantage of the Church." These efforts failing, they re-
torted on him the arguments he had himself used on a former
occasion; but with all this, they could not prevent the fulfil-
ment of his purpose, and at best effected but a short delay.
The Governor of Parma, Camillo Orsino, was finally com-
manded by Paul III to hold that city in the name of the Church,
and to deliver it to no other hands. After this declaration,
which left no room for doubt or hope, the Farnesi restrained
themselves no longer. They would on no consideration permit
themselves to be despoiled of a dukedom which placed them on
a level with the independent sovereigns of Italy. In despite of
the pontiff, Ottavio made an attempt to get Parma into his
hands by force or stratagem. The prudence and determination
of Camillo defeated his purpose, but how painful must have
been the feelings of Paul when this attempt was reported to
him ! That it should be reserved for him in his old age to see
his grandsons rebelling against him ; that those toward whom
he had felt so partial an affection, and on whose account he had
incurred the reproaches of the world, should no ;/ become his
enemies, this was bitter indeed. Even the failure of his enter-
prise did not deter Ottavio from his purpose. He wrote in
plain terms to the Pope, that if Parma were not given into his
possession, he would conclude a peace .with Ferrante Gonzaga,
and seek to make himself master of it by aid of the imperial
troops; and in effect, his negotiations with that mortal enemy
of his house, had already proceeded to some extent ; a courier
had been despatched with definite proposals to the Emperor. 6
Loudly did the Pope complain that he was betrayed by his own
kindred, whose conduct was such as must bring him to his
grave. Above all he was most deeply wounded by a report
which prevailed, to the effect that he had himself a secret under-
standing with Ottavio, in whose enterprise he wao taking a
part directly opposed to the spirit of his professions. To the
Cardinal Este he declared that no event of his life had given

"Gosselini, " Vita di Ferr. Gonzaga," p. 65.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 185

him so much pain as this, not even the seizure of Placentia,
not even the death of his son Pier Luigi; but that he would
not leave the world any doubt as to his real sentiments. 7 His
only consolation was, that at least the Cardinal Alessandro
Farnese was innocent, and devoted to his interests. Gradually
he awoke to the conviction that he also, the man in whom he
trusted implicitly, and to whose hands was committed the
whole conduct of affairs, was but too well acquainted with
these transactions, and but too readily consenting to them.
This discovery broke his heart. On the day of All Souls
(November 2, 1549) he made it known to the Venetian ambassa-
dor in bitter grief of heart. The day following, seeking relief
for his troubled thoughts, he went to his vigna on Monte
Cavallo, but the repose he hoped for was not to be found. He
caused the Cardinal Alessandro to be summoned to his pres-
ence ; one word led to another, till the pontiff became violently
enraged ; he tore his nephew's cap from his hand, and dashed
it to the ground. 8 The court was already anticipating a
change, and it was generally believed that the cardinal would
be removed from the administration. But the event termi-
nated differently. So violent an agitation of mind at the ad-
vanced age of eighty-three cast the Pope himself to the earth.
He fell ill immediately, and expired in a few days (on the tenth
of November, 1549).

All classes of the people crowded to pay respect to his
remains and to kiss the foot of their departed sovereign. He
was as much beloved as his grandsons were hated ; the manner
of his death also, which was manifestly caused by those for
whose welfare he had been so constantly solicitous, awakened
universal compassion.

This pontiff was distinguished by many and varied talents;
he possessed extraordinary sagacity, his position was one of
supreme elevation; but how impotent, how insignificant does

7 " Hippolyt, Cardinal de Ferrare, au comunicd il di de' morti, in gran parte

Roy, Z2 Oct. 1549," Ribier, ii. p. 248: con grandissima amaritudine, et il di

" S. S. m'a asseure n'avoir en sa vie dietro la mattina per tempo se ne and6

eu chose, dont elle ait tant receu d'en- alia sua vigna Monte Cavallo per cercar

nuy, pour 1'opinion qu'elle craint, qu'- transtullo, dove si incolero per tal causa

on veuille prendre que cecy ait est6 de con esso Revtno. Farnese. (See the

son consentement." text.) " Internally he was found in the

8 Dandolo: " II Revmo. Farnese si ri- most healthy state, and as one likely to

seise di non voler che casa sua res- live some years; but there were three

tasse priva di Roma e se ne messe alia drops of coagulated blood in his heart,

forte. S. S. accortasi di questa contra- judged to have been caused by the

operatione del Revmo. Farnese me la movements of anger."

186 RANKE

even the most exalted of mortals appear, when placed in con-
trast with the grand and ceaseless course of events. In all
that he proposes or can effect he is limited and held back by the
span of time, which bounds his view, and which yet, with its
transitory interests, is to him as the weight of eternity; he
is besides fettered by the personal considerations incident to
his position; these occupy his every hour occasionally per-
haps, to his comfort and enjoyment, but more frequently to
his sorrow and regret; thus is he but too often overborne
by his cares. He departs, but the destinies of humanity make
no pause, they move on to their completion.

Section II Julius HI Marcellus II

A group of cardinals had assembled around the altar of the
chapel during the conclave; they were talking of the difficul-
ties that presented themselves in the choice of a pope. " Take
me," said one of the number, Cardinal Monte, " and the next
day I will choose you for my favorites and intimates from the
whole college of cardinals." " What say you? Shall we really
elect him? " inquired another, Sfondrato, as they were about to
separate. 1 Monte was considered irascible and impetuous, in
many other respects too he was an unlikely choice. " Few bets
would be taken on his chance," says a writer of the day. It
nevertheless did so happen that he was elected (on the seventh
of February, 1550). He had formerly been chamberlain to
Julius II, and in memory of that sovereign he took the name of
Julius III.

Duke Cosmo had largely contributed to this election; and
when it became known at the imperial court, every face was
lighted up with joy. For to the high pre-eminence of power
and fortune, to which the Emperor had attained, was now to
be added the ascent of the papal throne by a man whom he
might firmly calculate on finding devoted to his interests. It
now seemed probable that public affairs would take the course
he should best like to give them.

The Emperor still adhered firmly to his wish for the re-

1 Dandolo, "Relatione," 1551: "Questo colera e subitezza che ne passo mai che

Revmo. di Monte se ben subito in con- di pochissima scommessa." (See the

sideratione di ogn' uno, ma all' incon- text.)
tro ogn' uno parlava tante della sua

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 187

establishment of the council at Trent, still hoping to compel
the attendance of the Protestants and their submission to its
authority. The new Pope assented cordially to that proposal.
He set forth the difficulties that were in fact inseparable from
the whole affair, but was extremely solicitous to prevent his
caution from being considered a mere subterfuge; he made
repeated declarations that this was not the case, and affirmed
that having acted through his whole life without dissimu-
lation, he would continue to do so. He decreed the reassem-
blage of the council at Trent, and fixed the period in the spring
of 1551, intimating that he did so " without compact or con-
dition." 2

The assent of the Pope was then fully secured, but there was
still much to be achieved.

At the instance of Julius, a decree of the Sacred College
had reinstated Ottavio Farnese in the possession of Parma;
the Emperor was not averse to this, negotiations had been for
some time in progress, and there was good hope of a fair
understanding between them. But Charles could not resolve
on resigning Placentia also, and even retained such places as
Gonzaga had seized in the territory of Parma. Thus Ottavio
continued to maintain himself in the attitude of war. 3 So
many injuries had been committed, so many offences offered
by each to the other, that return to mutual confidence was
impossible. The death of Paul had doubtless deprived his
grandsons of an important support, but it had also given them
freedom. No longer compelled to act in accordance with
the general interest, or with that of the Church, their measures
might now be calculated exclusively with regard to their own
advantage. We still find Ottavio possessed by feelings of
bitter hatred. He insists that his enemies are seeking to force
Parma from " his grasp, and even to rid their hands of his own
life," but he declares " that they shall succeed neither in the
one nor the other." 4

It was in this conviction and in such temper that he turned
himself to Henry II, who accepted his proposals gladly.

8 " Lettere del Nunzio Pighino, 12 e * " Lettere delli Signori Farnesiani

15 Aug. 1550," Inform. Polit. xix. per lo negotio di Parma," Informal*.

3 Gosselini, " Vita di Ferr. Gonzaga," Pol. xix. The above is from a letter
and the justification of Gonzaga, from of Ottavio to Cardinal Alessandro Far-
the accusation of having caused the nese, Parma, March 24, 1551.
war (in the third book) give an authen-
tic explanation to this turn of affairs.

Popes (Vol. I). 10

1 88 RANKE

Italy and Germany were filled with malcontents. What the
Emperor had already effected, whether in religious or political
affairs, with what it was still expected he would do, had raised
him up innumerable enemies. Henry II determined to carry
forward the anti- Austrian purposes of his father; he gave a
truce to his wars with England, formed an alliance with Ottavio,
and took the garrison of Parma into his pay. French troops
soon appeared in Mirandola also, and the banners of France
were seen to wave in the very heart of Italy.

Pope Julius adhered steadily to the Emperor in this new
complication of affairs. He thought it intolerable " that a
miserable worm, Ottavio Farnese, should presume to contend
with an emperor and a pope." " It is our will," he declares
to his nuncio, " to embark in the same ship with his imperial
majesty, and to intrust ourselves to the same fortune. To him
who has the power and the wisdom we leave the determination
of the course." 5 The desire of the Emperor was, that measures
should be adopted for the immediate and forcible expulsion of
the French and their adherents. The imperial and papal troops
united, soon took the field, an important fortress of the Parmeg-
giano fell into their hands, they laid the whole region in ruins,
and invested Mirandola on all sides.

It was not, however, in these partial hostilities that the
power could be found to suppress those agitations that had
indeed originated here, but were now felt throughout Europe.
Troops were in action on every frontier where the dominions
of France met those of the Emperor. War had broken out by
land and sea. The German Protestants had at length allied
themselves with the French, and the weight they cast into the
scale was something very different from that of the Italians.
From this union there resulted an assault more determined than
any that Charles had ever before sustained; the French were
in force on the Rhine, the elector Maurice appeared in the Tyrol.
The veteran conqueror, who had taken up his position on the
mountain region between Italy and Germany, for the purpose of
holding both in allegiance, suddenly found his post one of the
utmost jeopardy his enemies were victorious, and himself on
the point of becoming a prisoner.

"Julius Papa III. Manu propria. man affection, but because we see that

Instruttione per voi Monsignor d' Imola our cause is one with his imperial

con 1'Imperatore. L'ultimo di Marzo." majesty's, more especially in affairs of

Informatt. Pol. xii. He gives the cause religion."
of this close union: " Not for any hu-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 189

The affairs of Italy were instantly affected by this state of
things. " Never could we have believed," said the Pope, " that
God would so visit us." 6 He was compelled to make a truce
with the enemies in April, 1552.

Mischances sometimes occur that seem not wholly unwel-
come to the man they affect; they give pause to a course of
action no longer in harmony with his inclinations, they pro-
vide him with a legitimate cause, or at least afford an obvious
excuse, for departing from it.

It would almost appear that Julius felt his tribulation to
be of this character; the sight of his states rilled with troops,
and his treasury drained of its resources, had already become
oppressive and painful to him ; nor did he always think him-
self well treated by the imperial ministers. 7 The council,
too, was presenting him with matter for serious uneasiness.
Since the appearance of the German deputies, to whom promises
of reformation had been given, the proceedings had assumed
a bolder aspect. Even so early as January, 1552, Pope Julius
complained that efforts were making to despoil him of his
authority; the Spanish bishops sought to reduce the chap-
ters to a state of servile subjection on the one hand, while they
desired to deprive the holy see of the presentation to benef-
ices on the other. But he affirmed his resolve to endure no
invasion of his rights; under the title of an abuse, he would
not permit those prerogatives to be torn from him that were
no abuse, but an essential attribute of his legitimate power. 8
Affairs standing thus, the attack of the Protestants, by which
the council was broken up, could not have been altogether
displeasing to the Pope. He lost no time in decreeing the
suspension of the assembly, and thus freed himself from dis-
putes and pretensions innumerable.

From that time Julius III never applied himself earnestly
to political affairs. It is true that the people of Sienna, whose
townsman he was by the mother's side, accused him of sup-
porting Duke Cosmo in his attacks on their freedom; but
the falsehood of this accusation was proved by a subsequent

Al Cl. Crescentino, April 13, 1552. Al Cardinal Crescentio, i6th Jan.

7 L,ettera del Papa a Mendoza, 26th 1552: " " It never shall happen, we will
Dec. 1551, Informatt. Politiche, xix.: never endure it, we will rather set the

Be it said without pride, we do whole world in ruin."
not stand in need of counsel ; we might
even help others in that respect: as-
sistance indeed we might require."

I9 o RANKE

judicial inquiry. It was rather Cosmo who had cause for com-
plaint, the Pope having taken no steps to prevent the Florentine
exiles the most inveterate enemies of this his ally from as-
sembling and arming themselves within the States of the Church.

The villa of " Papa Giulio," at the Porta del Popolo, is
still visited by the stranger. Restored to the presence of those
times, he ascends the spacious steps to the gallery, whence he
overlooks the whole extent of Rome, from Monte Mario, with
all the windings of the Tiber. The building of this palace, the
laying out of these gardens, were the daily occupation and
continual delight of Pope Julius. The plan was designed by
himself, but was never completed; every day brought with it
some new suggestion or caprice, which the architects must at
once set themselves to realize. 9 Here the pontiff passed his
days, forgetting all the rest of the world. He had promoted
the advancement of his connections to a very fair extent : Duke
Cosmo had conferred on them the domains of Monte Sansovino,
which was the cradle of their race ; the Emperor had invested
them with Novara ; and he had himself bestowed on them the
dignities of the ecclesiastical States and Camerino. A certain
favorite he had made cardinal, in fulfilment of a promise. This
was a young man who had caught the Pope's attention in
Parma, when, being but a child, he was seized by an ape, and
displayed so much courage, that Julius, pleased with his con-
duct, adopted and brought him up, always showing him great
affection; but unhappily this constituted his only merit.

The pontiff desired to forward the interests of his family,
and those of his favorite; but he was not inclined to involve
himself in dangerous perplexities on their account. The
pleasant and blameless life of his villa was that which, as we
have said, was best suited to him. He gave entertainments,
which he enlivened with proverbial and other modes of ex-
pression, that sometimes mingled blushes with the smiles of
his guests. In the important affairs of the Church and State
he took no other share than was absolutely inevitable.

Under such circumstances, it is manifest that neither Church
nor State could greatly prosper. The discord between the

Vasari. Boissard describes their ex- all the heights that stretch from the
tent at that time : " It occupies nearly city to the Milvian bridge." He cele-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 191

two great Catholic powers became ever more and more dan-
gerous and threatening ; the German Protestants had recovered
themselves effectually from the defeat of 1547, and now dis-
played a more imposing aspect than they had ever before
assumed. Of the Catholic reformation so often looked for,
there could now be no further hope ; the fact would not permit
concealment the prospects of the Roman Church were, in all
directions, ambiguous and gloomy.

But if, as we have seen, there had arisen in the bosom of
that Church a more severe spirit of action, a feeling intensely
reprobating the whole life and conduct of so many of her chiefs,
would not this at length affect the choice of the pontiff? So
much was always dependent on the personal character of the
pope ! for this cause it was that the supreme dignity was made
elective; since thus it might be hoped that a man truly rep-
resenting the prevalent spirit of the Church would be placed at
the head of her government.

The .nore strictly religious party possessed no preponderating
influence in the Church until after the death of Julius III. The
pontiff had frequently felt himself restrained, and his undig-
nified demeanor reproved, by the presence of Cardinal Marcello
Cervini. It was on this prelate that the choice fell. He ascended
the papal seat on the eleventh of April, 1555, as Marcellus II.

The whole life of the new pontiff had been active, and free
from the shadow of reproach; that reform in the Church, of
which others only talked, he had exemplified in his own per-
son. " I had prayed," says a contemporary, " that a pope
might be granted to us by whom those words of fair import,
church, council, reform, might be raised from the contempt
into which they had fallen: by this election my hopes re-
ceived fulfilment, my wish seemed to have become a reality." 10
" The opinion," says another, " entertained of this Pope's
worth and incomparable wisdom, inspired the world with hope.
If ever it be possible for the Church to extinguish heresy, to
reform abuse, and compel purity of life, to heal its divisions,
and once again be united, it is by Marcellus that this will be

brates their splendor, and gives us P rav f r abundant health and eternal

some of their inscriptions; for ex- fife to Julius III, Pontifex Maximus, to

ample: " Let it be lawful that virtuous Baldwin, his brother, and to their

delights be enjoyed by the virtuous." whole family." Julius died on March

And especially: " In the neighboring 23, 1555.

temple, let thanks be given to God and 10 " Seripando al Vescovo di Fiescole,"

St. Andrew, and let them [visitors ] " Lettere di Principi," iii. 162.

192 RANKE

brought about." 1 Thus it was that Marcellus commenced his
reign. All his acts were in the same spirit. He would not per-
mit his kindred to approach the capital; he made various re-
trenchments in the expenditure of the court; and is said to
have prepared a memorial of the different ameliorations that
he proposed to effect in the ecclesiastical institutions. His first
effort was to restore divine worship to its due solemnity; all
his thoughts were of reform, and the council needful to that
effect. 2 In political affairs he determined on a neutrality, by
which the Emperor was perfectly satisfied. " But the world,"
as his contemporaries remark, " was not worthy of him." They
apply to the pontiff those words of Virgil relating to another
Marcellus : " Fate permitted the world to have sight of him
only." On the twenty-second day of his pontificate he died.

We can say nothing of the results produced by so short an
administration. But even this commencement, this election
even, suffices to show the spirit that was beginning to prevail.
It continued predominant in the next conclave, and was ex-
emplified in the choice of the most rigid among all the cardinals.
Giovanni Pietro Caraffa came forth from that assembly as pope,
on the twenty-third of May, 1555.

palmela

Section III Paul IV

Frequent mention has already been made of this pontiff,
who is that same Caraffa, the founder of the Theatines, the
restorer of the Inquisition, and the speaker who so essen-
tially contributed to the confirmation of the ancient doctrines
in the council of Trent. If there were a party whose pur-
pose it was to reinstate Catholicism in all its strictness, not only
was it a member, but a founder and chief of that party who
now ascended the papal throne. Paul IV had already com-
pleted his seventy-ninth year, but his deep-set eyes still retained
all the fire of youth: he was extremely tall and thin, walked
with rapid steps, and seemed all nerve and muscle. His per-
sonal habits were subjected to no rule or order; frequently
did he pass the night in study, and sleep in the day woe
then to the servant who should enter the apartment before his

141 Lettere di Principi," iii. 141. The a " Petri Polidori de Vita Marcelli

editor is here speaking in his own per- Commentarius," 1744, p. 119.
son.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

193

bell had rung. In all things it was his custom to follow the
impulse of the moment; 1 but this impulse was regulated by
a mood of mind formed in the practice of a long life, and be-
come a second nature. He seemed to acknowledge no other
duty, no other occupation, than the restoration of the Catholic
faith to all its primitive authority. Characters of this de-
scription arise from time to time, and are occasionally to be
seen even in the present day. Their perceptions of life and
the world are gained from a single point of view ; the peculiar
disposition of their mind is so powerful that all their opinions
are tinctured and governed by it ; indefatigable speakers, their
manner derives a certain freshness from the earnestness of their
souls, and the system of thought that, as by a kind of fatality,
informs and rules their whole being, is poured forth in a
stream inexhaustible. How powerfully do such men act on
all around them, when placed in a position wherein their
activity is in perfect harmony with their views and sentiments,
wherein the power to act is associated with the will! What
might men not expect from Paul IV, whose views and opinions
had never endured either concession or compromise, but were
ever carried out eagerly to their utmost consequences, now that
he was raised to the supreme dignity ! 2 He was himself amazed
at having reached this point he who had in no manner con-
ciliated a single member of the conclave, and from whom
nothing was to be expected but the extreme of severity. He be-
lieved that his election had been determined, not by the
cardinals, but by God himself, who had chosen him for the ac-
complishment of his own purposes. 3

" We do promise and swear," says he in the bull that he
published of his accession to the holy see, " to make it our
first care that the reform of the universal Church, and of the

*" Relatione di M. Bernardo Nava- who makes a matter of conscience
gero (che fu poi cardinale) alia Senna. about peppering a thistle."
Kepca. di Venetia, tornando di Roma 8 " Relatione del Clmo. M. Aluise

this pontiff is adust and choleric; he come S. S. propria mi disse poco inanzt

has incredible gravity and grandeur in morisse, che non avea mai compiaciuto

all his actions, and seems really born ad alcuno e che se un cardinale gli avea

to command." domandato qualche gratia gh avea

'It will be readily believed that his sempre riposte alia riversa, ne mai

character did not secure the approba- compiaciutolo, onde disse: io non so

tion of all the world. Aretino's Capi- come mi habbiano eletto papa, e con-

tolo al Re di Francia " describes him cludo che Iddio faccia li pontefici."

thus: " Caraffa, the lazy hypocrite, (See the text.)

194 RANKE

Roman Court, be at once entered on." The day of his coronation
was signalized by the promulgation of edicts respecting
monasteries and the religious orders. He sent two monks
from Monte Cassino into Spain, with command to re-establish
the discipline of the convents which had become lax and neg-
lected. He appointed a congregation for the promotion of
reforms in general; this consisted of three classes, in each of
which were eight cardinals, fifteen prelates, and fifty learned
men of differing ranks.

The articles to be discussed by them, in relation to the ap-
pointments to clerical offices and collation to benefices, were
submitted to the universities. It is manifest that the new pope
proceeded with great earnestness in the work of reform. 4 The
spiritual tendency which had hitherto affected the lower ranks
of the hierarchy only, now seemed to gain possession of the
papal throne itself, and promised to assume the exclusive guid-
ance of all affairs during the pontificate of Paul IV.

But now came the question of what part he would take in
relation to the general movements of the political world.

The principal direction once given to a government, and
which has gradually identified itself with its very existence, is
not readily susceptible of change.

A desire to deliver themselves from the heavy preponderance
of Spain must ever have been uppermost in the minds of the
popes; and at the accession of Paul the moment seemed to
have come when his wish appeared to be within the possibility
of realization. The war proceeding, as we have seen, from
the movements of the Farnesi, was the most unfortunate one
ever undertaken by Charles V. He was closely pressed in the
Netherlands; Germany had deserted his interests; Italy was
no longer faithful to him ; he could not rely even on the houses
of Este and Gonzaga; he was himself ill, and weary of life.
I question whether any pontiff, not immediately attached to the
imperial party, could have found strength to withstand the
temptations presented by this state of things.

In the case of Paul IV they were more than commonly
powerful. Born in the year 1476, he had seen his native Italy in
all the unrestrained freedom of her fifteenth century, and his
very soul clung to this remembrance. He would sometimes

* Bromato, " Vita di Paolo IV.," lib. ix. ii. xvii. (ii. 224, 289).

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 195

compare the Italy of that period to a well-tuned instrument of
four strings these last being formed by Naples, Milan, Venice,
and the States of the Church. He would then utter maledictions
on the memory of Alfonso and Louis the Moor : " Lost and
unhallowed souls," as he said, " whose discords had disturbed
that harmony." 5 That from their time the Spaniard should
have become master in the land was a thought that he could
in no way learn to bear. The house of Caraffa, whence he de-
rived his birth, was attached to the French party, and had fre-
quently taken arms against the Castilians and Catalonians. In
1528 they again joined the French ; and it was Giovanni Pietro
Caraffa who advised Paul III to seize Naples in 1547. To this
party spirit came other causes in aid: Caraffa had constantly
affirmed that Charles favored the Protestants from jealousy of
the Pope, and that " the successes of those heretics were at-
tributable to no other than the Emperor." 6 Charles knew
Caraffa well, he once expelled him from the council formed for
the administration of affairs in Naples, and would never per-
mit him to hold peaceful possession of his ecclesiastical
employments within that kingdom ; he had, moreover, made
earnest remonstrance against Caraffa's declamations in the con-
sistory. All these things, as may readily be supposed, did but
increase the virulence of the Pope's enmity. He detested the
Emperor as Neapolitan and as Italian, as Catholic and as pope :
there existed in his soul no other passions than that for reform
of the Church and his hatred of Charles.

The first act of Paul was to lighten various imposts, and to
permit the importation of corn. A statue was erected to him
for these benefits, and it was not without a certain sense of
self-complacency that he viewed this while in the midst of
his splendid court, and surrounded by a glittering body of
Neapolitan nobles, proffering him the most obsequious obe-
dience he received the homage of ambassadors who came
crowding from all countries to his presence. But scarcely had
he felt himself well-seated on the pontifical chair, than he com-
menced a series of disputes with the Emperor. That monarch
had complained to the cardinals of his party, that a pope so

B "Who first spoiled that noble in- torn, xxiv.) "He freely called his im-

strument Italy." Navagero. perial majesty a favorer of schismatics

'" Memoriale dato a Annibale Ru- and heretics."
cellai, Sept. 1555 " (Informatt. Pol.

196 RANKE

inimical to himself had been chosen; his adherents held sus-
picious meetings ; some of them even carried off certain ships
from Civita Vecchia, that had previously been taken from them
by the French. 7 The Pope at once breathed fire and flames.
Such of his vassals, and the cardinals, as were imperialists, he
arrested instantly, confiscating the whole property of those who
fled. Nor was this enough. That alliance with France which
Paul III never could resolve on completing, was entered into
with little hesitation by Paul IV. He declared that the Em-
peror designed to "finish him by a sort of mental fever," but
that he, Paul, was " determined on open fight. With the help
of France he would yet free this poor Italy from the tyrannies
of Spain, and did not despair of seeing two French princes
ruling in Naples and Milan/' He would sit for long hours
over the black thick fiery wine of Naples, his usual drink (it was
of a sort called mangiaguerra, champ-the-war) 8 and pour forth
torrents of stormy eloquence, against those schismatics and
heretics, those accursed of God, that evil generation of Jews and
Moors, that scum of the world, and other titles equally com-
plimentary, bestowed with unsparing liberality on everything
Spanish; 9 but he consoled himself with the promise, " thou
shalt tread upon the lion and adder, the young lion and the
dragon shalt thou trample under foot.'* The time was now
come when the Emperor Charles and King Philip should re-
ceive the punishment due to their iniquities. He, the Pope,
would inflict it, and would free Italy from their grasp. If
others would not listen to nor support him, the future world
should at least have to tell, how an. old Italian, so near to his
grave, and who should rather have been employed in preparing
for it, had entertained these lofty purposes. We will not enter
into the details of the negotiations which he carried on under

7 " Instruttioni e Lettere di Mon- his people call 'washing his teeth.'

signer della Casa a nome del Cl. Ca- He used to eat in public like other

raffa, dove si contiene il principio della popes, till his last indisposition, which

rottura della guerra fra Papa Paolo IV. was considered mortal once he had

e I'lmperatore Carlo V., 1555." Also in lost his appetite. He often spent three

the Informatt. Polit. xxiv. hours at table in talk of various mat-

8 Navagero: "His custom is to eat ters, according to the occasion, and in
twice a day, he must be served very the heat of this he sometimes uttered
delicately; and in the beginning of his things of secrecy and importance."
pontificate, twenty-five dishes were not 9 Navagero: "Deploring the mis-
sufficient for his table: he drinks much fortune of Italy, compelled to serve a
more than he eats; his wine being race so abject and vile." The de-
strong and brisk it is a black wine, spatches of the French ambassadors are
grown in the kingdom of Naples, that full of these outbreaks; those, for ex-
they call ' champ-the-war,' and is so ample, of De L,ansac and D'Avanc.on,
thick that one may almost cut it. After in Ribier, ii. 610-618.
his meals he drinks malmsey, and this

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

197

the influence of these feelings. When the French concluded
a truce with Spain, 10 unmindful of an agreement that they had
entered into with himself, he sent his nephew, Carlo Caraffa,
to France, where the different parties contending for power in
that country were gradually gained over to his interests. The
Montmorencies and the Guises, the wife of the French King
and his mistress, were equally won to aid the pontiff in pro-
moting a new outbreak of hostilities. 1 Paul secured a vigorous
Italian ally also in the person of the Duke of Ferrara ; nothing
less was talked of than completely revolutionizing Italy.
Neapolitan and Florentine exiles filled the Curia; their
restoration to their homes seemed now approaching ; the papal
fiscal instituted a legal process against the Emperor Charles
and King Philip, in which the excommunication of those
princes, and the release of their subjects from their oath of alle-
giance, was roundly threatened. The Florentines always
declared that they held positive evidence of a design to include
the house of Medici in the downfall of the Spanish power. 2
Active preparations were everywhere made for war, and the
whole character of the century seemed about to suffer change,
and become matter of question.

But meanwhile how different a position was this pontificate
assuming from that which it had been expected to take up!
All purposes of reform were set aside for the struggles of war,
and these last entailed consequences of a totally opposite
character.

The pontiff, who as cardinal, had most sternly opposed the
abuses of nepotism, and had denounced them, even to his own
peril, was now seen to abandon himself entirely to this weak-
ness. His nephew, Carlo Caraffa, who had passed his whole
life amidst the excesses and license of camps, 3 was now raised
to the rank of cardinal, though Paul himself had often declared
of him, that " his arm was dyed in blood to the elbow." Carlo

10 The account of the incredulity ex- (though it confronted all Rome), that

pressed by the Caraffas, when this truce they could not conceal their rage, and

was first named to them, as given by Paul said, " This truce will be the ruin

Navagero, is extremely characteristic: of the world."

" Asking the Pope and Cardinal Caraffa * Rabutin, " Me'moires," " Collect.

if they had received intelligence of the Uniyers.," torn, xxxyiii. Especially

truce, they looked at each other laugh- " Memoires," Villars, ib. torn. xxxv.

ing, as if they would say, as indeed the 277.

pontiff openly said to me afterward, fl Gussoni, " Relatione di Toscana."

that there was but slight hope of that; Babon, in Ribier, ii. 745. Villars,

yet the next day came the news, which p. 255.
so annoyed the Pope and cardinal

198 RANKE

had found means to gain over his superannuated relative; he
contrived to be occasionally surprised by him in seeming prayer
before the crucifix, and apparently suffering agonies of re-
morse, 4 but still further was the uncle propitiated by the virulent
enmity of his nephew to the Spaniards ; this was their true
bond of union. Carlo Caraffa had taken military service with
the Emperor in Germany, but complained that he had met with
neglect only as his reward. A prisoner, from whom he expected
a large ransom, had been taken from him, nor had he been
suffered to hold possession of a priory belonging to the order
of Malta, to which he had been nominated. All these things
had awakened his hatred and made him thirst for vengeance.
This state of feeling, Paul allowed to stand in the place of all
the virtues Carlo wanted; he could find no words eloquent
enough to praise him, declaring that the papal seat had never
possessed a more efficient servant; he made over to him the
greater part, not only of the civil, but even of the ecclesiastical
administration, and was perfectly satisfied that he should be
regarded as the author of whatever acts of favor were received
from the court.

On his other nephews the pontiff would not for some time
bestow a glance of kindness ; it was not until they had evinced
their participation in his anti-Spanish mania, that they were
received to his grace. 5 Never could anyone have anticipated
what he next did. Declaring that the Colonnas, " those incor-
rigible rebels against God and the Church," however frequently
deprived of their castles, had always managed to regain them,
he now resolved that this should be. amended ; he would give
those fortresses to vassals who would know how to hold them.
Thereupon he divided the possessions of the house of Colonna
among his nephews, making the elder Duke of Palliano and the
younger Marquis of Montebello. The cardinals remained silent
when he announced these purposes in their assembly ; they bent
down their heads and fixed their eyes to the earth. The Caraffas
now indulged in the most ambitious projects : the daughters of
their family should marry into that of the French King, or at
least into the ducal house of Ferrara; the sons thought of

* Bromato. the imperialists, the Pope never showed

B " Extract from the trial of Cardinal him a fair countenance, or viewed him

Caraffa. The Duke of Palliano also de- with a good eye."

poses, that until he declared against

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 199

nothing less than the possession of Sienna. To one who spoke
jestingly concerning the jewelled cap of a child of their house,
the mother of the nephews replied, " We should rather be talk-
ing of crowns than caps." 6

And indeed everything was now depending on the events
of the war which then broke out, but which certainly assumed
no very promising aspect even from the commencement.

On that act of the fiscal before alluded to, the Duke of Alva
had pressed forward from the Neapolitan territory into the
States of the Church. He was accompanied by the Roman
vassals, whose confederates also aroused themselves. The papal
garrison was driven out of Nettuno, and the troops of the
Colonnas recalled. Alva seized Frosinone, Anagni, Tivoli in
the mountains, and Ostia on the sea. Rome was thus invested
on both sides.

The Pope had first placed his reliance on his Romans, and
reviewed them in person. They marched from the Campofiore,
three hundred and forty columns armed with harquebuses, two
hundred and fifty with pikes. In each rank stood nine men
admirably appointed, presenting a most imposing aspect, and
commanded by officers who were exclusively of noble birth.
These troops passed before the castle of St. Angelo, which
saluted them with its artillery, to the piazza of St. Peter, where
the pontiff had stationed himself at a window with his nephews,
and as each caporion and standard-bearer passed, his holiness
bestowed his blessing. 7 All this made a very fair show, but
these were not the men by whom the city was to be defended.
When the Spaniards had approached near the walls, a false
alarm, occasioned by a small body of horse, was sufficient to
throw them into such perfect confusion, that not one man was
found remaining by his colors. The Pope saw that he must
seek elsewhere for effectual aid, and after a time Pietro Strozzi
brought him the troops that were serving before Sienna. With
these he succeeded in recovering Tivoli and Ostia, thus averting
the most imminent danger.

But what a war was this !

There are moments in the history of the world when it
would seem that the actions of men are influenced by motives

"Bromato, ix. 16; ii. 286: literally: 7 " Diario di Cola Calleine Romano

" This is no time to talk of caps, but del rione di Trastevere dall' anno 1521
oi crowns." sino all' anno 1562," MS.

200 RANKE

in direct opposition to the principles and ideas that usually
govern their lives and conduct.

The Duke of Alva might, in the first instance, have con-
quered Rome with very little difficulty; but his uncle, Cardinal
Giacomo, reminded him of the unhappy end to which all had
come who had taken part in the conquest under Bourbon
Alva, being a good Catholic, conducted the war with the utmost
discretion; he fought the Pope, but did not cease to pay him
reverence ; he would fain take the sword from his holiness, but
had no desire for the renown of a Roman conqueror. His sol-
diers complained that they were led against a mere vapor, a
mist and smoke that annoyed them, but which they could neither
lay hold on nor stifle at its source.

And who were those by whom the Pope was defended
against such good Catholics? The most effective among them
were Germans, and Protestants to a man ! They amused them-
selves with the saintly images on the highways, they laughed
at the mass in the churches, were utterly regardless of the fast
days, and did things innumerable, for which, at any other time,
the Pope would have punished them with death. 8 I even find
that Carlo Caraffa established a very close intimacy with that
great Protestant leader, the margrave Albert of Brandenburg.

Contradictions more perfect, a contrast more complete, than
that displayed by these circumstances, could be scarcely
imagined. On the one side we have the most fervent spirit
of Catholicism, which was at least exemplified in the leader
(how different were his proceedings from those of the old
Bourbon times !) ; on the other, was that secular tendency of the
popedom, by which even Paul IV, however earnestly con-
demning it, was seized and borne forward. Thus, it came to
pass that the followers of his faith were attacking him, while
it was by heretics and seceders that he found himself de-
fended! But the first preserved their allegiance, even while
opposing his power; the latter displayed their hostility to and
contempt for his person even while in arms to protect him.

It was not until the French auxiliaries crossed the Alps
that the contest really began ; these consisted of ten thousand

Navagero: "The Germans were offences against female honor, and were

considered the best disciplined and great plunderers. The injured publicly

most serviceable troops the Gascons cursed him who was the cause of these

were most insolent; they committed disorders."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 201

foot and a less numerous, but very brilliant body of cavalry.
Their leader would most willingly have directed his force
against Milan, which he believed to be unprepared for defence,
but he was unable to resist the impulse by which the Caraffas
forced him toward Naples. The latter were fully confident
of finding numberless adherents in their own country, they
counted on the assistance of the exiles, and hoped for the rising
of their party ; if not throughout the kingdom, yet certainly in
the Abruzzi and round Aquila and Montorio, where their an-
cestors had always exercised an important influence, both on
the paternal and maternal side.

It was manifest that affairs must now arrive at a crisis, in
whatever manner this might terminate. The papal power had
been too often excited into hostility against the Spanish pre-
dominance, not eventually to burst forth without restraint.

The Pope and his nephews were determined that matters
should proceed to extremity ; not only had Caraffa accepted the
aid of the Protestants, he had even made proposals to Solyman
I. These were to the effect that the Turkish sovereign should
abstain from prosecuting his wars in Hungary, and throw him-
self with all his force on the two Sicilies. 9 Thus was a pontiff
entreating the help of infidels against a Catholic monarch.

In April, 1557, the papal troops crossed the Neapolitan
frontier, Holy Thursday was signalized by the conquest and
atrocious pillage of Compli, which was full of treasure, in part
belonging to the town, but much was there beside that had
been carried thither for safety. This done, Guise also crossed
the Tronto, and besieged Civitella.

But he found the kingdom fully prepared to baffle his efforts.
Alva knew well that there would be no insurrection among
the people, so long as he should retain the upper hand in the
country; he had received a large grant of money from a
parliament of the barons. Queen Bona of Poland, of the ancient
family of Aragon, and a bitter enemy of the French, who had
shortly before arrived in her duchy of Bari, with much treasure,
supplied him with half a million of scudi. The ecclesiastical
revenues that should have been sent to Rome he poured into

His confessions in Bromato, " Vita ceal from a voluminous MS. by Nores,

di Paolo IV.," torn. ii. p. 369. Bro- which treats circumstantially of this

mato also gives us good information re- war, and is to be found in many Italian

specting the war; which he takes often libraries,
word for word a fact he does not con-

RANKE

his military chest instead, and even seized the gold and silver
of the churches, with the bells of the city of Benevento, all
which he appropriated to his own purposes. 10 Thus furnished,
he proceeded to fortify the towns of the Neapolitan frontier, as
also those of the Roman territory that still remained in his hands.
His army was composed in the usual manner of Germans,
Spaniards, and Italians, but was an extremely formidable one.
He also raised Neapolitan centuries under the command of the
native nobles. Civitella was bravely defended by Count Santa-
fiore, who had succeeded in rousing the inhabitants to active co-
operation, and even to repel an attempt made to take the place
by storm.

While the kingdom of Naples thus held firmly to King
Philip, and displayed only devotion to his service, the assailants,
on the contrary, were weakened by animosities and dissensions.
French and Italians, Guise and Montebello, all were in the ut-
most discord. Guise complained that the Pope did not perform
his part in the contract between them, and neglected to send him
the promised supplies. When the Duke of Alva appeared with
his army in the Abruzzi, toward the middle of May, Guise found
it advisable to raise the siege, and retreat across the Tronto;
operations were then again transferred to the Roman territories.
And now was seen a war in which both sides advanced and then
retreated ; invested towns only to resign them, made great move-
ments, in short, but on one occasion only did they come to a
serious engagement.

Marc Antonio Colonna made demonstrations against Pal-
liano, which had been taken from him by the Pope ; seeing
which, Giulio Orsino hurried to its relief with provisions and
troops; 3,000 Swiss had arrived in Rome under the command
of a colonel from Unterwalden. The Pope received them with
great delight, decorated their officers with gold chains and
knightly titles, and declared that this was a legion of angels
sent by God for his behoof. These were the troops that, to-
gether with a few companies of Italian cavalry and infantry,
marched under the command of Giulio Orsino. They were met
by the forces of Marc Antonio Colonna, and once more ensued

10 Giannone, " Istoria di Napoli," lib. this war, with other writers, agree in

xxxiii. c. i. Gosselini and Mambrino attributing to Ferrante Gonzaga a large

Roseo, " Delle Historic del Hondo," share in the most able measures taken

lib. vii., who give a minute account of by Alva.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 203

one of those bold battles in the manner of the Italian wars of
1494-1531, the papal troops against those of the empire, .a
Colonna opposing an Orsino; the German lanzknechts, under
their distinguished leaders, Caspar von Feltz and Hans Wal-
ther, stood face to face, as they so often had done, with their
ancient antagonists the Swiss. Once again the combatants on
either side arrayed themselves for a cause in which neither felt
the slightest interest, but for which they none the less fought
with determined bravery. 1 Hans Walther at length, " tall and
strong," say the Spaniards, " as a giant," threw himself into
the midst of a Swiss company. With a pistol in one hand and
his naked sword in the other, he rushed upon the standard-
bearer, whom he brought down, shooting him in the side, at the
same moment that he dealt him a fatal blow on the head. The
whole troop fell upon him, but his lanzknechts were already at
hand for his support. The Swiss were completely broken and
dispersed, their banners, on which had been inscribed in large
letters, " Defenders of the faith and of the Holy See," were
trampled in the dust, and of the eleven captains that went forth,
their commander led two only back to Rome.

While .this miniature war was in progress here, the great
armies were in action on the frontier of the Netherlands. The
battle of St. Quintin ensued, wherein the Spaniards gained a
complete victory. In France men even wondered that they did
not at once press forward to Paris, which at that moment they
might certainly have taken. 2

Hereupon Henry II writes to Guise, " I hope," he remarks,
" that the Pope will do as much for me in my need as I did for
him in his straits." 3 So little could Paul now hope from the
aid of the French, that it was he on the contrary who was called
on to help them. Guise declared, " that no chains would now
avail to keep him in Italy," * and he instantly hurried with all his
forces to the aid of his embarrassed sovereign.

No force remaining that could oppose an obstacle to the im-
perialists and troops of Colonna, they advanced toward Rome,
whose inhabitants once more saw themselves threatened with
conquest and plunder. Their condition was all the more des-

1 1 find the details of this little en- s " Le Roy a Mons. de Guise," in

counter in Cabrera, " Don Felipe Se- Ribier, ii. p. 750.

gundo," lib. iii. p. 189. *" Lettera del Duca di Palliano al

2 Monluc, " Memoires," p. 116. Cl. Caraffa," Informatt. Polit. xxii.

204 RANKE

perate from the fact that they had little less to fear from their
defenders than from their enemies. During many nights they
were compelled to keep lights burning in every window, and
through all the streets. A skirmishing party of Spaniards
which had reached the gates was frightened back by this demon-
stration, which was, however, a mere precaution against the
papal troops; everyone murmured. The Romans wished their
Pope in his grave a thousand times, and demanded that the
Spanish army should be admitted by a formal capitulation.

So far did Paul IV permit his affairs to come. It was not
until every enterprise had completely failed, till his allies were
beaten, his States for the greater part invested by the enemy,
and his capital a second time menaced with ruin, that he would
bend himself to treat for peace.

This was accorded by the Spaniards in the same spirit by
which they had been actuated throughout the war. They re-
stored all such fortresses and cities of the Church as had been
taken, and even promised compensation for Palliano, which the
Caraffas had lost. 5 Alva came to Rome; with the most pro-
found reverence did he now kiss the foot of his conquered
enemy, the sworn adversary of his King and nation. He was
heard to say that never had he feared the face of man as he did
that of the pontiff.

This peace seemed in every way favorable to the papal in-
terest; it was nevertheless utterly fatal to all the projects hith-
erto cherished by the popedom. Any further attempt to throw
off the Spanish yoke must now be abandoned, and accordingly,
none such has ever (in the old sense and manner) been again
brought forward. The influence of the Spaniards in Milan and
Naples had proved unassailable. Their allies were more than
ever powerful. There had been hope among the Caraffas of ex-
pelling Duke Cosmo from Florence; but this prince had not
only held firm his grasp, but had seized on Sienna likewise, and
was now the possessor of an important sovereignty. By the
restitution of Placentia, the Farnesi had been gained over to
Philip II. Marc Antonio Colonna had made himself a brilliant
reputation, and had fully restored the ancient lustre of his
family. For the pontiff there was nothing left but to resign

6 A convention was made between secret; not from the public only, but
Carlo Caraffa and the Duke of Alva, from the Pope himself. Bromato, 11.
regarding Palliano, and this was kept 385.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 205

himself to this position of affairs. Bitter as was this necessity
to Paul IV, he yet felt that he must submit ; with what feelings
it is not difficult to imagine. Philip II being on some occasion
called his friend, " Yes," he replied, " my friend who kept me
beleaguered, and who thought to have my soul ! " It is true
that in the presence of strangers he compared Philip to the
prodigal son of the gospel, but in the circle of his intimates he
took care to mark his estimation of those pontiffs who had de-
signed to raise the kings of France to the imperial throne, 6 for
others he had no praise. His sentiments were what they had
always been, but the force of circumstances controlled him.
There was nothing more to be hoped for, still less to be under-
taken; he dared not even bemoan himself, unless in the closest
secrecy.

When once an event is indeed accomplished, it is altogether
useless for a man to struggle against its consequences. Even
Paul IV felt this, and after a certain time his thoughts took
another direction ; he experienced a reaction which was of most
effective importance, whether as regarded his own administra-
tion, or the general transformation brought about in the papal
position and system.

Other pontiffs had promoted and favored their nephews from
family affection, or mere selfish ambition to raise the house they
sprang from ; the nepotism of Paul had a totally different ori-
gin : his nephews were favored because they assisted his efforts
against Spain, and because in this contest he considered them
his natural allies ; that once over, the utility of the nephews was
at an end. It is only by success that a man is maintained in a
position of great eminence, more especially if it be not acquired
in a manner altogether legitimate. Cardinal Caraffa had
undertaken an embassy to King Philip, principally to promote
the interests of his own house, for which he desired to receive
the compensation promised in lieu of Palliano. He returned
without having accomplished any material purpose, and from
that time the Pope became ever colder and colder toward him.
The cardinal soon perceived that he could no longer decide, as
he had hitherto done, who should or should not be about the

" L'Evesque d'Angpulesme au Roy, ers of the holy see; while King Philip,
ii Juin, 1558," Ribier, ii. 745. The Pope on the contrary, was descended of a
has said : " That you, sire, must not race who desired to destroy and con-
degenerate from your predecessors, who found it utterly."
were always conservators and defend-

206 RANKE

person of his uncle ; he could no more exclude those who were
inimical to himself and rumors reached the pontiff, by which
his unfavorable impressions of former days were revived; a
serious illness once seized the cardinal, and on this occasion
his uncle paid him a visit unexpectedly, when he found certain
persons with him whose reputation was of the worst possible
character. " Old people," said Paul, " are mistrustful, and I
there saw things that opened a wide field before me." It is ob-
vious that only very slight provocation was needed to arouse
the storm within him, and this was presented by an occurrence
otherwise of little importance. In the new year's night of 1559,
there was a tumult in the streets, during which the young Car-
dinal Monte, that favorite of Pope Julius before mentioned,
drew his sword. This was related to the pontiff the very next
morning, and he felt greatly offended with the Cardinal Caraffa
for not naming the circumstance to himself. He waited some
days, but finding no word said, he then expressed his dis-
pleasure. The court, ever delighted with change, caught
eagerly at this mark of disgrace. The Florentine ambassador,
on whom the Caraffas had inflicted mortifications innumerable,
now made his way to the presence, and uttered the most bitter
complaints. The Marchese della Valle, one of the pontiff's
family, but who had never been allowed access to him, found
means to get a note placed in his breviary, in which certain of
his nephew's misdeeds were described ; " If his holiness should
desire further explanations," said this paper, " he has but to
sign his name." The Pope gave the required signature, and
the promised information did not fail to appear. Thus, well
provided with causes for resentment, Paul appeared on the
ninth of January at the assembly of the Inquisition. He first
spoke of that nocturnal riot, reproved Cardinal Monte with ex-
treme severity, and repeatedly thundered forth " Reform ! Re-
form ! " The cardinals, usually so silent, had this time the
courage to speak. " Holy father," said Cardinal Pacheco,
interrupting the sovereign, " reform must first of all begin
among ourselves ! " The Pope was silenced ; those words
struck him to the heart ; the half- formed convictions that had
been gradually gaining power within him, were at once changed
to palpable certainty ; he said nothing more of Cardinal Monte's
offences, but shut himself up in his apartment, burning with

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 207

rage, and thinking only of his nephews. Giving immediate
directions that no order proceeding from Cardinal Caraffa
should be complied with, he sent to demand that minister's
papers. Cardinal Vitellozzo Vitelli, who was believed to be
in possession of all the Caraffa secrets, was immediately sum-
moned, and compelled to swear that he would disclose all he
knew. Camillo Orsino was called from his palace in the Cam-
pagna, for the same purpose. Those of the more austere party,
who had long remarked the proceedings of the nephews with
disapproval, now made themselves heard. The old Theatine,
Don Geremia, who was held to be a saint, passed long hours
with his holiness, who was made acquainted with circumstances
that he had never suspected, and which equally excited his detes-
tation and horror. He fell into a state of pitiable agitation,
could neither eat nor sleep, and passed ten days consumed by
fever, resulting from distress of mind. At length he was re-
solved ; and then was seen to occur an event forever memorable,
a pope, with self-inflicted violence, tearing asunder the ties that
bound him to his kindred On the twenty-seventh of January
a consistory was summoned, wherein the evil lives of his
nephews were denounced with passionate emotion by the griev-
ing pontiff, who called God .and the world to bear witness that
he had never known of these misdoings, but had been con-
stantly deceived by those around him. He deprived the accused
of all their offices, and condemned them to banishment, together
with their families. The mother of the nephews, seventy years
old, bent with age, and sinking beneath her infirmities, en-
treated for them, throwing herself at the Pope's feet as he en-
tered the palace; but, though she was herself blameless, he
passed her by with harsh words. The young Marchesa Monte-
bello arrived in Rome from Naples at this time ; she found her
palace closed against her, at the inns they refused to receive her,
she went from door to door in the rainy night, and could find
no shelter, until in a remote quarter, to which no order had
been sent, an innkeeper was found who permitted her to take
refuge beneath his roof. Cardinal Caraffa vainly offered to
constitute himself the Pope's prisoner, and required to have his
conduct investigated. Paul commanded the Swiss guard to
repel not himself only, but all who, having been in his service,
should venture to approach the palace. He made but one ex-

208 RANKE

ception ; this was in favor of the young man, the son of Mon-
torio, whom he loved greatly, and made cardinal in his
eighteenth year; this youth he permitted to remain about his
person, and take part in his devotional exercises; but he was
never allowed to name his banished family, still less to implore
their forgiveness; he dared not even hold the slightest inter-
course with his father. The misfortunes of his house affected
him all the more painfully from this restraint, and the suffering
that he was not permitted to express in words, was yet manifest
in his face, and legible in his whole person.

palmela

7

And would it not be supposed that occurrences of this
character must react on the mind of the pontiff ?

He proceeded as though nothing had happened. Imme-
diately after having pronounced sentence against his kindred
with stormy eloquence in the consistory, he betook himself to
other business, and while most of the cardinals were paralyzed
by fear and astonishment, the pontiff betrayed no emotion. The
foreign ambassadors were amazed by this coolness of demeanor.
" In the midst of changes so unexpected and so complete," they
remarked, " surrounded by ministers and servants all new and
strange, he maintains himself steadfastly, unbending and im-
perturbable ; he feels no compassion, and seems not even to re-
tain a remembrance of his ruined house." Henceforth it was to
a totally different passion that he surrendered the guidance of
his life.

This change was most certainly of the highest importance,
and of ever memorable effect. His hatred to the Spaniards,
and the hope of becoming the liberator of Italy, had hurried
even Paul IV into designs and practices utterly worldly ; these
had led him to the endowment of his kinsmen with the lands of
the Church, and had caused the elevation of a mere soldier to
the administration even of ecclesiastical affairs. They had
plunged him into deadly feuds and sanguinary hostilities.
Events had compelled him to abandon that hope, to suppress
that hatred, and then were his eyes gradually opened to the
reprehensible conduct of those about him. Against these of-

7 Much valuable information as to 1'anno 1558, sino alia sua morte " (bc

these events may be found in Palla- ginning from September 10, 1558). This

vicini, still more in Bromato. In the was not known to either of the above

Berlin " Informationi " there is also, writers; it was composed from per-

vol. viii., a " Diario d'alcune attioni piu sonal observation, and has supplied me

notabili nel Pontificate di Paolo IV. with much information altogether new.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

109

fenders, after a painful combat with himself, his stern justice
prevailed, he shook them off, and from that hour his early plans
of reformation were resumed, he began to reign in the manner
that had at first been expected from him. And now, with that
impetuous energy which he had previously displayed in his en-
mities, and in the conduct of his wars, he turned to the reform
of the State, and above all to that of the Church.

All secular offices, from the highest to the lowest, were trans-
ferred to other hands. The existing podestas and governors
lost their places, and the manner in which this was effected was
occasionally very singular. In Perugia, for example, the newly
appointed governor arrived in the night; without waiting for
daylight, he caused the anziani to be called together, produced
his credentials, and commanded them forthwith to arrest their
former governor, who was present. From time immemorial,
there had been no pope who governed without nepotism : Paul
IV now showed this example. The places hitherto monopolized
by his kinsmen were bestowed on Cardinal Carpi, Camillo
Orsino who had held so extensive a power under Paul III, and
others. Nor were the persons only changed, the whole system
and character of the administration were changed also. Im-
portant sums were economized, and taxes to a proportional
amount were remitted ; the pontiff established a chest, of which
he only held the key, for the purpose of receiving all complaints
that any man should desire to make ; he demanded a daily re-
port from the governor. The public business in general was
conducted with great circumspection ; nor were any of the old
abuses permitted to remain.

Amidst all the commotions prevailing through the early part
of his pontificate, Paul IV had never lost sight of his reform-
ing projects ; he now resumed them with earnest zeal and un-
divided attention. A more severe discipline was introduced
into the churches : he forbade all begging ; even the collection
of alms for masses, hitherto made by the clergy, was discon-
tinued ; and such pictures as were not, by their subjects, appro-
priate to the Church, he removed. A medal was struck in his
honor, representing Christ driving the money-changers from
the temple. All monks who had deserted their monasteries
were expelled from the city and States of the Church; the
court was enjoined to keep the regular fasts, and all were com-

210 RANKE

manded to solemnize Easter by receiving the Lord's Supper.
The cardinals were even compelled to occasional preaching, and
Paul himself preached ! Many abuses that had been profitable
to the Curia he did his best to set aside. Of marriage dispen-
sations, or of the resources they furnished to the treasury, he
would not eyen hear mention. A host of places that, up to his
time, had been constantly sold, even those of the clerks of the
chamber 8 (chiericati di camera), he would now have disposed
of according to merit only. Still more rigidly did he insist on
the worth and clerical endowments of all on whom he bestowed
the purely ecclesiastical employments. He would no longer en-
dure those compacts by which one man had hitherto been al-
lowed to enjoy the revenues of an office, while he made over its
duties to another, by whom, for some mean hire, they were per-
formed, well or ill, as might chance. He had also formed the
design of reinstating the bishops in many rights which had been
wrongfully withheld from them; and considered it highly
culpable that everything should be absorbed by Rome which
could in any way be made to yield either profit or influence. 9

Nor were the reforms of Paul confined to the mere abolition
of abuses. Not content with a negative effect only, he proceeded
to practical amendments. The services of the Church were per-
formed with increased pomp ; it is to him we are indebted for
the rich ornaments of the Sixtine chapel, and for the solemn
representation of the holy sepulchre. 10 There is an ideal of the
modern Catholic service of the altar, full of dignity, devotion,
and splendor : this it was that floated before the eyes of Paul,
and which he would fain have realized.

He permitted no day to pass over, as he boasts, without the
promulgation of some edict tending to restore the Church to its
original purity. Many of his decrees present the outlines of
those ordinances which were afterward sanctioned by the Coun-
cil of Trent. 1

8 Caracciolo, " Vita di Paolo IV.," and with so much dignity in the divine

MS., alludes particularly to these. The services that he seemed a worthy vicar

Pope said "that such employments of of Christ; in matters of religion, also,

justice and government should be given greater diligence could not be desired."

to those who would perform the duties, 1 Mocenigo: Pope Paul was contin-

and not be sold to people who would ually making some new reform, and

only want to get back their money from always said he had others prepared, so

them." that there would be little opportunity

Bromato, ii. 483. and still less necessity for holding a

10 Mocenigo, " Relatione di 1560": council.
"This pontiff proceeded so gravely

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 211

In the course now adopted, Paul displayed, as might have
been expected, all that inflexibility of nature peculiar to him.

Above all other institutions, he favored that of the Inquisition,
which he had himself re-established. The days appointed for
the " segnatura " and the consistory he would often suffer to
pass unnoticed; but never did he miss the Thursday, which
was that set apart for the congregation of the Inquisition, and
when it assembled before him. The powers of this office he de-
sired to see exercised with the utmost rigor. He subjected new
classes of offence to its jurisdiction, and conferred on it the
barbarous prerogative of applying torture for the detection of
accomplices. He permitted no respect of persons; the most
distinguished nobles were summoned before this tribunal, and
cardinals, such as Morone and Foscherari, were now thrown
into prison, because certain doubts had occurred to him as to
the soundness of their opinions, although these very men had
been formerly appointed to examine the contents, and decide
the orthodoxy, of important books the " Spiritual Exercises "
of Loyola, for example. It was Paul IV by whom the festival of
St. Domenico was established, in honor of that great inquisitor.

Thus did a rigid austerity and earnest zeal for the restoration
of primitive habits become the prevailing tendency of the
popedom.

Paul IV seemed almost to have forgotten that he had ever
pursued other purposes than those that now occupied him ; the
memory of past times seemed extinguished ; he lived and moved
in his reforms and his Inquisition, gave laws, imprisoned, excom-
municated, and held autos-da-fe; these occupations filled up his
life. At length, when laid prostrate by disease, such as would
have caused death even to a younger man, he called his cardinals
about him, commended his soul to their prayers, and the holy
see with the Inquisition, to their earnest care. Once more
would he fain have collected his energies: he sought to raise
himself, but the disease prevailed ; his strength had failed him
he fell back and expired (August 18, A.D. 1559).

In one respect, at least, are these determined and passionate
characters more fortunate than men of feebler mould; they
are, perhaps, blinded by the force of their feelings the vio-
lence of their prejudices, but they are also steeled by this force;
this violence it is that renders them invincible.

Popes (Vol. I). 11

ai2 RANKE

The Roman people did not forget what they had suffered
under Paul IV so readily as he had done they could not for-
give him the war he had brought on the State ; nor, though
they abhorred his nephews, did their disgrace suffice to the
resentment of the multitude. On his death being made known,
large crowds assembled in the capital, and resolved that, as
he had not deserved well either of Rome, or of the world, so
would they destroy his monuments. Others attacked the build-
ings of the Inquisition, set fire to them, and roughly handled
the servants of the holy office ; they even threatened to burn
the Dominican convent of Maria alia Minerva. The Colonnas,
the Orsini, Cesarini, Massimi, and other nobles whom Paul had
mortally offended, took part in these tumults. The statue that
had been erected to this Pope was torn from its pedestal, broken
to pieces, and the head, bearing the triple crown, was dragged
through the streets. 2

It would, nevertheless, have been fortunate for the papal see
had it met with no more serious reaction against the enterprises
of Paul IV than was intimated by this outbreak.

Section IV. Remarks on the Progress of Protestantism
During the Pontificate of Paul IV

It will have become obvious to the reader that the earlier
dissensions between the papacy and the imperial or Spanish
power^ had contributed more than any other external cause to
the establishment of Protestantism in Germany. Yet a second
breach was not avoided^ and this produced results still more
comprehensive and important.

The recall of the papal troops from the imperial army by
Paul III, and his transfer of the council from Trent to Bologna,
may be considered as the preliminary steps. Their importance
was at once made evident : there was no impediment to the sub-
jugation of the Protestants so effectual as that presented by the
policy, active and passive, of Paul III at that period.

Mocenigo: " Viddi il popolo correr strada, e finalmente poner foco in

in furia verso la casa di Ripetta depu- quella casa. I frati di S. Domemco

tata per le cose dell' Inquisitione, met- erano in tant odio a quel popolo che

ter a sacco tutta la robba ch' era dentro, in ogni modo volevan abbruciar u

si di vittualie come d'altra robba, che monastero della Minerva. (See the

la maggior parte era del Revmo. Cl. text.) He goes on to declare that the

Alessandrino sommo Inquisitore, trat- nobles were principally to f blame m

tar male con bastonate e ferite tutti i this affair, and says that similar out-

ministri dell' Inquisitione, levar le breaks occurred in Perugia,
scritture gettandole a refuso per la

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 213

The great and permanent results of these measures were,
however, not obvious until after the death of the pontiff. That
connection with France, into which he led his nephews, oc-
casioned a universal war ; and in this the German Protestants
not only achieved that memorable victory by which they se-
cured themselves forever from the Pope, Emperor, and council,
but also gained important progress for their opinions by the
contact into which the Protestant soldiers, who fought on both
sides, were forced with those of France and the Netherlands.
This contact caused the extensive acceptance of the new doc-
trines in those countries, their introduction being favored by the
prevalence of a confusion, occasioned by the war, which ren-
dered vigilant precaution impossible.

Paul IV ascended the papal throne. It was for him to have
taken a clear view of things as existing before his eyes, and,
above all, his first efforts should have been turned to the res-
toration of peace: but with all the blindness of passion, he
plunged himself into the tumult, and it thus came to pass that
he, the most furious of zealots, was in fact a more effectual
promoter of that Protestantism, which he so abhorred and per-
secuted, than any one of his predecessors.

Let us examine the influence of his conduct on England
alone.

The first victory gained by the new opinions in that country
was for a long time incomplete : nothing further was required
than a retrogression of the government, and the presence of a
Catholic sovereign would at once have determined the Parlia-
ment to subject the national church once more to the dominion
of the Pope but then the latter must proceed cautiously ; he
must not wage open war with those innovations that had
arisen from the present and recent state of things. This had
been at once perceived by Julius III. His first nuncio having
instantly remarked the potency of those interests that were
connected with the confiscated property of the Church, 1 he
magnanimously resolved to make no effort for its restitution.
Indeed, the legate was not permitted to land on the English
soil until he had given satisfactory assurances in this respect.
It was to these declarations that his extensive influence was

"^Lettere di Mr. Henrico, Nov. much besides of importance to this his-
*553>" in a MS. entitled " Lettere e tory. See also Pallavicini as to this
Negotiati di Polo," in which there is matter, xiii. 9, 411.

RANKE

attributable to them was he indebted for the principal part of
his success. 2 This legate, with whom we are already acquainted,
was Reginald Pole the man, above all others, best fitted to
labor successfully for the restoration of Catholicism in Eng-
land a native of the country, of high rank, acceptable equally
to the Queen, the nobles, and the people ; moderate, intelligent,
and raised far above all suspicion of sordid or unworthy pur-
poses. Affairs proceeded most prosperously, as might have
been expected from such guidance. The accession of Paul IV
to the papal throne was followed by the arrival of English
ambassadors, who assured him of that nation's obedience.

Thus Paul had not t acquire the allegiance of England, he
had merely to retain it. Let us see by what measures he sought
to effect this.

First, he declared the restitution of all church property to
be an indispensable duty, the neglect of which entails ever-
lasting damnation; he next attempted to re-establish the tax
called " Peter's pence." 3 But, apart from these ill-considered
measures, could he have adopted any method better calculated
to prevent the return of the English to the Catholic pale than
the indulgence of his rancorous hostility to Philip II, who, if
a Spanish prince, was also King of England? In the battle
of St. Quintin, so influential in Italy as well as France, Eng-
lish soldiers assisted to gain the victory. Finally, he perse-
cuted Cardinal Pole, whom he never could endure, deprived
him of his dignity as legate, an office that no man had ever
borne with greater advantage to the Holy See, and appointed
an aged inefficient monk to succeed him, whose principal recom-
mendation was that he shared the prejudices of the pontiff. 4
Had it been the purpose of Paul to impede the work of resto-
ration, he could not have adopted more effectual measures.

There can be no wonder that the opposing tendencies should
immediately act with renewed violence on the unexpected
death of the Queen and cardinal. This result was powerfully
accelerated by the religious persecutions, which Pole had
condemned, but which his bigoted antagonists approved and
promoted.

2 He did not hesitate to acknowledge " Rescissio Alienationum " (Bullarium

the right of those in possession. " Let- iv. 4, 319), in which he annulled all

terse Dispensatoriae Clis. Poli." " Con- alienation of church property without

cilia M. Britanniae," iv. 112. any exception.

8 He was exclusively occupied with * Godwin's " Annales Angliae," etc.,

these ideas. He published his bull. p. 456.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

Once more had the Pope an opportunity of deciding the
question whether England should be Catholic or Protestant,
and this decision demanded all the more serious consideration
from the fact that it must inevitably affect Scotland also. In
that country likewise the religious parties were in fierce con-
test, and accordingly as matters should be regulated in England
would assuredly be the future condition of Scotland.

How significant then was the fact that Elizabeth showed
herself by no means decidedly Protestant in the beginning of
her reign, 5 and that she caused her accession to be instantly
notified to the Pope. There were even negotiations in prog-
ress for her marriage with Philip II, and the world of that
day believed this event very probable. One would have
thought that no state of things could be more satisfactory to
the pontiff.

But Paul was incapable of moderation; he returned a re-
pulsive and contemptuous reply to the ambassador of Eliza-
beth : " First of all/' said he, " she must submit her claims
to the decision of our judgment."

We are not to believe the pontiff moved to this entirely
by his sense of what was due to the dignity of the Apostolic
See other motives were in action. The French desired to
prevent this marriage from national jealousy, and contrived
to persuade Paul, through the pious Theatines, that Elizabeth
was entirely Protestant at heart, and that no good could re-
sult from such a marriage. 6 The Guises were particularly
interested for the success of this affair. Should the claims of
Elizabeth be rejected by the Holy See, the next title to the
English crown would be possessed by their sister's daughter,
Mary Stuart, dauphiness of France and Queen of Scotland.
Could her right be established the Guises might hope to rule
in her name over all the three kingdoms. And, in fact, that
princess did assume the English arms. She dated her edicts
with the year of her reign over England and Ireland, while
preparations for war were commenced in the Scottish ports. 7

Thus, had Elizabeth not been disposed to the opinions of
the Protestants, the force of circumstances would have com-

6 Nares, also, in his " Memoirs of is a " Responsio ad Petitiones D. Gla-

Burleigh," considers her religious prin- sion. et Episc. Aquilani," by Cecil,

ciples " at first liable to some doubts." which sets forth all these motives in

* Private narrative of Thuanus. the most lively manner.

7 In Forbes's "Transactions" there

216 RANKE

pelled her to adopt that party. This she did with the most
decided resolution, and succeeded in obtaining a Parliament
having a Protestant majority, 8 by which all those changes that
constitute the essential character of the English Church were
in a few months effected.

The influence of this turn of things necessarily affected
Scotland also. In that country the French-Catholic interest
was resisted by a party that was at once Protestant and
national; Elizabeth lost no time in allying herself with this,
and was even exhorted to the measure by the Spanish ambas-
sador himself. 9 The treaty of Berwick, which she concluded
with the Scottish opposition, gave the predominance in Scot-
land to the Protestants. Before Mary Stuart could land in
her own kingdom, she was compelled not only to renounce her
claim to the crown of England, but even to ratify the acts of
a Parliament guided by Protestant influence, and one of which
forbade the performance of mass under penalty of death.

To a reaction against the designs of France then, which the
proceedings of the Pope had favored and promoted, was in a
great measure to be attributed the triumph gained to Protes-
tantism in Great Britain, and by which its ascendancy there
was secured forever.

There is no doubt that the inward impulses of those who
held Protestant opinions had their origin in causes much more
deeply seated than any connected with political movements,
but for the most part the outbreak, progress, and decision of
the religious struggle very closely coincided with the various
contingencies of politics.

In Germany, also, a measure adopted by Paul IV was in
one respect of peculiar importance ; incited by his old aversion
to the house of Austria, he had opposed the transfer of the
imperial crown, which obliged Ferdinand I to be more atten-
tive than he had hitherto been to the maintenance of friendly
relations with his Protestant allies; the affairs of Germany
were thenceforward governed by a union of the moderate
princes belonging to both confessions, and under their influ-
ence it was that the transferrence of ecclesiastical foundations

8 Neal, "History of the Puritans," i. 8 Camden, " Rerum Anglicarum An-

126: " The court took such measures nales," p. 37.
about elections as seldom fail of suc-
cess."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 217

in Lower Germany to Protestant administrations was eventu-
ally accomplished.

We are warranted in declaring that the Popedom seemed
destined to suffer no injury, to which it had not itself con-
duced in one way or another by its tendency to interference
in political affairs.

And now, if we survey the world from the heights of Rome,
how enormous were the losses sustained by the Catholic faith !
Scandinavia and Great Britain had wholly departed; Ger-
many was almost entirely Protestant; Poland and Hungary
were in fierce tumult of opinion; in Geneva was to be found
as important a central point for the schismatics of the Latin
nations and of the West as was Wittenberg for those of Ger-
manic race and the East, while numbers were already gather-
ing beneath the banners of Protestantism in France and the
^Netherlands.

Only one hope now remained to the Catholic confession.
The symptoms of dissent that had appeared in Spain and Italy
had been totally suppressed, and a restorative strictness had
become manifest in all ecclesiastical institutions. The admin-
istration of Paul had been doubtless most injurious from its
secular policy, but it had at least achieved the introduction of
a determined spirit of reform into the court and palace. The
question now was, would this have force to maintain itself
there ; and, in that case, would it then proceed to pervade and
unite the whole Catholic world?

Section V Pius IV

We are told that Alessandro Farnese, making one at a ban-
quet of cardinals, gave a wreath to a boy who possessed the
art of improvisation to the lyre, desiring him to offer it to
that one among them who should one day be pope. The boy,
Silvio Antoniano, afterward a distinguished man, and him-
self a cardinal, went instantly to Giovanni Angelo Medici;
and, first singing his praises, presented to him the wreath.
This Medici was the successor of Paul, and took the name
of Pius IV. 1

1 Nicius Erythraeus relates this anec- it. The election took place on Decem-
dote in the article on Antoniano, " Pi- ber 26, 1559.
nacotheca," p. 37. Mazzuchelli also has

2i8 RANKE

He was of mean birth. His father Bernardino had settled
in Milan, where he had acquired a small property by govern-
ment contracts. 2 The sons had nevertheless to do the best
they could for their own support : the elder, Giangiacomo, be-
took himself to the trade of arms, and at first entered the
service of a nobleman: the second, Giovan Angelo, devoted
himself to study, but with very slender means. The origin of
their prosperity was as follows : Giangiacomo, naturally reck-
less and enterprising, had rendered himself useful to the then
rulers of Milan by ridding them of one of the Visconti family,
called Monsignorino, who was their rival; but no sooner was
this murder accomplished than those who devised it were
anxious to be delivered from the tool they had employed. To
this end they sent the young man to the castle of Mus, on the
lake of Como, with a letter to the governor containing orders
for his own immediate death ; but Giangiacomo felt suspicions
of evil, opened the letter, saw what was prepared for him, and
at once resolved on the measures to be taken. He gathered a
number of trusty comrades, gained admission to the castle by
means of the letter he bore, and succeeded in taking possession
of it. From that time he assumed the position of an inde-
pendent prince. Secure in his fortress, he kept the Milanese,
Swiss, and Venetians, who were his neighbors, in perpetual
activity by his ceaseless incursions. After a time, he took the
white cross and entered the imperial service. He received the
title of Marchese di Marignano, served as chief of artillery in
the war against the Lutherans, and commanded the Emperor's
forces at Sienna. 3 His shrewdness was not inferior to his
daring; his undertakings were invariably successful, but he
was altogether without pity; many a wretched peasant, who
was attempting to carry provisions into Sienna, did he destroy
with his iron staff. Scarcely was there a tree far and near on
which he had not caused some one of them to be hanged. It
was computed that he had put to death at least five thousand
men. He took Sienna, and founded a considerable house.

The advance of his brother, Giovan Angelo, had kept pace
with his own. This last took the degree of doctor-in-law, and

Hieronymo Soranzo, " Relatione di Milan, and set himself to farming the

Roma": "Bernardino, the father of taxes."

his holiness, was considered an excel- 8 Ripamonte, Histona Urbis Medio

lent man, and very industrtous; though lani." " Natalis Comes Hist."
poor and of low condition he came to

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 219

gained some reputation as a jurist; he then purchased an
office in Rome, and rapidly acquired the confidence of Paul
III. When the Marchese di Marignano, his brother, was mar-
ried to an Orsina, the sister of Pier Luigi Farnese's wife,*
he was himself made cardinal. After this we find him in,
the administration of papal cities, charged with the conduct of
political negotiations, and more than once intrusted with the
commissariat of papal armies. Cardinal Medici ever proved
himself discreet, intelligent, and kindly disposed; but Paul
IV detested him, and once burst into violent invectives against
him in full consistory. Medici then thought it best to leave
Rome, and resided sometimes at the baths of Pisa, sometimes
in Milan, where he raised many splendid buildings, beguiling
his exile by literary occupations, and by the exercise of a benefi-
cence so magnificent as to procure him the name of " Father
of the Poor." It was very probably the extreme contrast he
exhibited to Paul IV that principally contributed to his election.

This contrast was indeed more than commonly striking.

Paul IV was a Neapolitan, highly born, of the anti- Austrian
faction, a zealot, a monk, and an inquisitor. Pius IV was the
son of a Milanese tax-gatherer, firmly attached to the house
of Austria, by his brother and some other German connec-
tions ; a lawyer, a man of the world, and fond of enjoyment.
Paul IV stood aloof and inaccessible, never deposing his maj-
esty for even the least dignified occasions. Pius was all
cordiality and condescension. He was seen daily in the
streets on foot or on horseback, and sometimes almost with-
out attendants; he conversed freely with all. The Venetian
despatches make us perfectly acquainted with him. 5 The am-
bassadors find him writing or transacting business in a large
cool room; he rises and walks with them up and down this
hall; or he is perhaps about to visit the Belvedere; he seats
himself without laying the stick from his hand, hears what they
have to say, and continues his walk in their company. While

*Soranzo: " Nato, 1499, took his de- diligenza, s'ando mettendo in anzi:

gree of doctor, 1525, vivendo in studio ebbe diversi impieghi, dove acquisto

cosi strettamente che il Pasqua suo nome di persona integra e giusta e di

medico, che stava con lui a dozena, natura omciosa." The marriage of the

I'accommodd un gran tempo del suo marquis follows, with the promise of a

seryitore e di qualche altra cosa neces- cardinalate to himself,

saria. Del 1527 cpmpro un protonota- 5 " Ragguagli dell' Ambasciatore Ve

riato. Servendo il Cl. Farnese fRipa- neto da Roma, 1561." By Marco An-

monte mentions Jus good understand- tonio Amulio (Mula, Informatt. Pol.,

ing with Paul ILQ colla piu assidua xxxvii.

palmela

220 RANKE

treating them with this pleasant intimacy, however, he desired
to meet respect and politeness in return. The clever expedients
occasionally proposed to him by the Venetians were sure to
elicit his smiles and praises ; but all his fidelity to the Austrian
cause could not prevent him from disliking the formal im-
perious manners of the Spanish envoy Vargas. Unwilling to
be encumbered with details, which instantly wearied him, his
attention was readily given to the really important matter, and
while this was kept in view he was always good-tempered
and most easy to deal with. On such occasions he would pour
forth a thousand friendly protestations ; declare himself to be
by nature a lover of justice, and to hate bad men with all his
heart ; that he would not willingly restrict the freedom of any
man, would fain show kindness and good-will toward all, but
most especially was resolved to labor heartily for the good of
the Church, and trusted in God that he might accomplish some-
thing useful to its interests. How easily can we bring him
before us; a portly old man, still active enough to reach his
country-house before sunrise. His countenance was cheerful,
his eyes were bright and keen; lively conversation, the pleas-
ures of the table, and perhaps a harmless jest these were his
recreations: recovering once from an illness that had been
thought dangerous, he mounted his horse at the first possible
moment, rode away to a house where he had dwelt in his car-
dinalate, and stepping firmly up and down the stairs, " No,
no," he exclaims, " we don't mean to die just yet ! "

But this pontiff, so joyous, of so worldly a temperament
was he precisely the head of the Church required under the
difficult circumstances of the moment ? Was it not to be feared
that he would depart from the course so lately entered on by
his predecessor? I will not say that his character might not
have led him to do this, yet in fact the event was not so.

He had certainly no love for the Inquisition in his heart.
The monkish severity of its proceedings was most uncongenial
to his nature; he seldom or never appeared in the congrega-
tion, but neither did he seek to lessen the power of its officers.
He declared himself to understand nothing of the matter, said
that he was no theologian, and permitted them to exercise all
the influence they possessed under Paul IV. 6

Soranzo: "It is well known that with which the inquisitors handle those
the pontiff dislikes the great severity accused. He makes it known that it

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES *2i

He made a fearful example of the nephews of his prede-
cessor. The atrocities committed by the Duke of Palliano,
even after his fall, among others that of murdering his wife
in a fit of jealousy, facilitated the efforts of their enemies,
who thirsted for revenge; a criminal process was commenced
against them, and they were accused of the most detestable
crimes ; robberies, forgeries, and assassinations, together with
the most tyrannical abuse of the powers intrusted to them, and
the most systematic duplicity practised against their aged
uncle, the late pontiff. Their defence is still extant, and is not
altogether without an appearance of justification. 7 But their
accusers prevailed. The Pope caused all the evidence to be
read before him; with this he was occupied in the consistory
from early morning till late at night, when the accused were
condemned, and received sentence of death. These were the
cardinal and the Duke of Palliano, with Count Aliffe and
Leonardo di Cardine, two of their nearest connections. Monte-
bello and some others had before taken flight. The cardinal
had perhaps expected banishment, but had never thought of
death. He received the announcement of his sentence in the
morning before he had risen : when it was no longer possible
to doubt the fact, he buried his face in the bed-clothes for a
time, then raising his head he clasped his hands together,
uttering those words that, while sounding like resignation, are
in fact but the expression of the deepest despair from the lips
of an Italian : " Bene ! Pazienza " " It is well ! let us take
patience ! " His usual confessor was not permitted to attend
him, but to the one accorded he had as may be imagined much
to say, and his confession continued a long time. " Make an
end, Monsignore," exclaimed an officer of police, " we have
other affairs to settle."

And so perished the nephews of Paul IV. Tney were the
last who aspired to independent principalities, and excited gen-
eral commotions for the furtherance of their own purposes in
politics. From the time of Sixtus IV we have Girolamo

would better please him were they also find the letters of Mula; for ex-

rather to proceed with gentlemanly ample, July 19, 1560: The occurrence

courtesy than monkish harshness; yet of the death of the CarafFas, with the

he either will not or dare not oppose declaration, and the manner in which

their decisions." they died. " La Morte de Cl. Caraffa "

7 Bromato gives particular details of (Library at Venice, vi. n. 39) is the MS.

these events, which he takes principally that Bromato had before him, in addi-

from Nares. In the Informatt we tion to that of Nares.

222 RANKE

Riario, Caesar Borgia, Lorenzo de' Medici, Pier Luigi Farnese,
and the Caraffas, who, as we said, were the last. The kindred
of popes have made themselves conspicuous in later times, but
in a totally different manner. The old forms of nepotism have
appeared no more.

How could Pius IV, for example, have conferred on his own
family a power for the exercise of which he had so heavily
visited the Caraffas? He was, besides, disposed by the pecul-
iar activity of his character to the retention of affairs in his
own hands; all important business was carefully examined by
himself; he weighed the evidence, and determined by his own
judgment. He was considered to rely too little rather than
too much on the aid of others. This disposition was, perhaps,
confirmed by the fact that of his two nephews, the one, Fede-
rigo Borromeo, whom he might have wished to advance, died
young ; the other, Carlo Borromeo, was not the man for worldly
aggrandizement, and would never have accepted it. This last,
indeed, regarded his connection with the pontiff, and the con-
tact into which it brought him with the most weighty affairs
of the government, not as involving the right to any personal
advantage or indulgence, but rather as imposing duties that
demanded his most assiduous care. To these, then, did he de-
vote himself with equal modesty and perseverance; earnestly
were his best energies applied to the administration of the
state; he gave audience with the most unwearied patience.
It was for the more effectual performance of his duties that
he called around him that " collegium " of eight learned men,
whence was afterward formed the important institution of the
" Consulta." He lent valuable aid to the Pope, and is that
same Borromeo who was afterward canonized. No life could
be more noble and blameless than was that of this cardinal.
" In so far as we know," says Girolamo Soranzo, " he is with-
out spot or blemish, so religious a life and so pure an example
leave the most exacting nothing to demand. It is greatly to
his praise that in the bloom of youth, nephew to a Pope whose
favor he entirely possessed, and living in a court where every
kind of pleasure invites him to its enjoyment, he yet leads so
exemplary a life." His recreation was to gather round him
in the evenings a few learned and distinguished men; with
these he would at first discuss profane literature, but from

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 223

Epictetus and the Stoics, whom Borromeo, then young, did
not despise, the conversation even in those, his leisure mo-
ments, soon turned to theological subjects. 8 If a fault could
be found in him, it was not of deficiency in uprightness of
purpose, or steadiness of application, but perhaps in some de-
gree as regarded his talents. His servants indeed thought it
a defect that they could no longer count on those rich marks
of favor which were conferred in former times by the papal
nephews.

And thus did the qualities of the nephew make amends for
whatsoever might be thought wanting by the more severely
disposed in the character of the uncle. In any case, all things
proceeded in their established course; affairs spiritual and
temporal were conducted with good order and due attention
to the interests of the Church, nor was the work of reform
neglected. Pius admonished the bishops publicly to reside in
their dioceses, and some were seen at once to kiss his foot and
take their leave. Ideas that have once become widely preva-
lent assume an irresistible force of coercion. The seriousness
of spirit now prevailing in religious matters had gained the
mastery in Rome, and the Pope himself could no longer depart
from its dictates.

But if the somewhat worldly dispositions of Pius IV were
not permitted to impede the restoration of strict discipline to
the ecclesiastical habits, it is certain that they contributed in-
finitely toward the composing of that discord, and the removal
of those animosities by which the Catholic world had been so
long afflicted.

It had been the full conviction of Paul IV that a pope was
created for the subjugation of emperors and kings; thus it
was that he plunged himself into so many wars and enmities.
Pius perceived the error of this notion all the more clearly
because it was committed by his immediate predecessor, and
one to whom he felt that he was in many ways directly con-
trasted. " Thereby did we lose England," would he say
" England that we might have retained with perfect ease, had
Cardinal Pole been supported in his measures; thus too has
Scotland been torn from us; for during the wars excited by

8 These are the " Noctes Vaticanae," mentioned by Glussianus, " Vita Caroli
Borromei," i. iv. 22.

RANKE

these severe proceedings the doctrines of Germany made their
way into France." He, on the contrary, was desirous of peace
above all things; even with the Protestants he would not
willingly have war. An ambassador from Savoy came solicit-
ing his aid for an attack on Geneva. He repeatedly inter-
rupted his speech : " What sort of times are these," said he,
" for making such proposals ? " He declared that nothing was
so needful to him as peace. 9 Fain would he have been on
good terms with all the world. He dispensed his ecclesiastical
favors liberally; and when compelled to refuse anything, al-
ways did so with gentleness and consideration. It was his
conviction that the authority of the papacy could no longer
subsist without the support of the temporal sovereigns, and
this he did not seek to conceal.

In the latter part of the pontificate of Paul IV, a council
was again universally demanded ; and it is certain that Pius IV
would have found it very difficult to resist this call. He
could not urge the pretext of war, as had previously been
done, since peace was at length established throughout Europe.
A general council was indeed imperatively needful to his own
interests, for the French were threatening to convoke a na-
tional council, which might possibly have led to a schism. But,
apart from all this, my own impression is, that he honestly de-
sired this measure. Let us hear what he says himself of the
matter : " We desire this council," he declares, " we wish it
earnestly, and we would have it to be universal. Were it
otherwise, we could throw obstacles before the world that
might hinder it for years, but we desire on the contrary to
remove all hinderances. Let what requires reformation be re-
formed, even though it be our own person and our own affairs.
If we have any other thought than to do God service, then
may God visit us accordingly." He sometimes complained
that the sovereigns did not duly support him in so great an
undertaking. One morning the Venetian ambassador found
him still in bed, disabled by gout, but deeply cogitating this
momentous affair. " Our intentions are upright," he remarked
to the ambassador, " but we are alone." " I could not but cotn-

*Mula, February 14, 1561.' Pius re- this is no time for an undertaking

quested him to say, " That we desire against Geneva, or for the appointment

to remain at peace; we have no idea of of generals; write that we are deter-

these fancies of the Duke of Savoy; mined to remain at peace.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 225

passionate him/' observes the Venetian, " seeing him thus in
his bed, and hearing him complain that he was alone to bear
so heavy a burden ; " the affair was nevertheless making prog-
ress. On January 18, 1562, so many bishops and delegates had
assembled in Trent, that the twice-interrupted council could for
the third time be opened. Pius IV had the most important share
in bringing this about.

" Without doubt," says Girolamo Soranzo, who does not
usually take part with this pontiff, " his holiness has in this
matter given proof of all the zeal that was to be expected
from so exalted a pastor; he has neglected nothing that could
forward so holy and so needful a work."

Section VI Later Sittings of the Council of Trent

How materially had the state of the world altered since the
first sittings of this council! No more had the Pope now to
fear lest a mighty emperor should avail himself of its powers
to render himself lord paramount over the Holy See. Ferdi-
nand I was entirely divested of influence in Italy, nor was
any important error as to essential points of doctrine to be
apprehended. 1 These dogmas, retaining the form they had
received from the first sittings of the council, though not yet
entirely developed, had become predominant throughout the
greater part of the Catholic world. To reunite the Protes-
tants with the Church was no longer a thing that could be
brought into question. In Germany they had now gained a
position wholly unassailable. In the north their ideas as to
ecclesiastical affairs had entered even into the civil policy; a
change that was in process of accomplishment in England also.
When the Pope declared that the present council was but a
continuation of the former one, he had in fact abandoned all
hope that the event would verify his assertion, although he
had succeeded in silencing the dissentient voices; for how in
fact was it possible that the .free Protestants should acquiesce
in a council which, in its earlier edicts, had condemned the

1 It was thus that Ferdinand I con- cuss those dogmas, respecting which

sidered the matter. " Litterae ad Le- there is now no dissension among

gatos, 12 Aug. 1562," in Le Plat, " Mo- Catholics, whether princes or private

num. ad Hist. Cone. Tridentini," v. p. individuals ? "
432: " For to what end shall we dis-

226 RANKE

most essential articles of their creed ? 2 Thus, the influence
of the council was limited from its commencement to the now
greatly contracted circle of the Catholic nations. Its pur-
poses must be confined to the arrangements of disputes be-
tween these last and the supreme ecclesiastical authority, to
the precise determination of such tenets as were not distinctly
settled ; and, but this most especially was its great end, to the
completion of that reform in the Church which had already
commenced, and to the setting forth rules of discipline that
should possess universal authority.

These duties were closely limited, yet their fulfilment was
surrounded by various difficulties, and there soon arose among
the assembled fathers most animated controversies and dis-
putes.

Whether the residence of bishops in their dioceses were by
divine command, or prescribed simply by human authority,
was a question mooted by the Spaniards; though this might
seem but an idle discussion, since all agreed on the fact that
residence was imperative. The Spaniards, however, further
maintained the episcopal authority to be no mere emanation
from that of the pontiff, but to have its origin immediately
from divine appointment. Hereby they struck at the very
heart's core of the whole ecclesiastical system ; for by the
admission of this principle, that independence of the subordi-
nate grades in the hierarchy, which the popes had so earnestly
labored to subdue, must necessarily have been restored.

Already had the council fallen into eager disputes on this
topic, when the imperial ambassadors arrived. Most espe-
cially remarkable are the articles of their proposing. One of
them is to the effect that, " The Pope, following the example
of Christ, should humble himself, and submit to a reform in
his own person, his state, and curia. The council must reform
the appointment of cardinals, as well as the conclave." " How
is it possible that the cardinals should choose a good pope,"
inquired Ferdinand, " seeing that they are not good them-
selves ? " For the reform that should satisfy him, he desired

The principal argument urged by the those alarming words: " Omni suspen-

Protestants in their protest: " Causae sione sublata. They recall to mind the

cur Electores Principes aliique Augus- condemnation formerly passed on their

tanne confessioni adjunct? status recusent most essential doctrines, and enlarge at

adire concilium." Le Plat, iv. p. 57. great length on " What will lie con-

They remark, in the first proclamation, cealed beneath that confirmation."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 227

to have the resolutions proposed by the Council of Constance
(but which had not received effect) as the basis; the plan to
be prepared by deputations from the different countries. But,
besides this^ he demanded also the cup for the laity, the mar-
riage of priests, the remission of the fasts for some of his sub-
jects, the establishment of schools for the poor, the purifica-
tion of the breviary, legends, and homilies; more intelligible
catechisms, the use of German in Church singing, and the
reform of the monasteries; the last for this special reason,
" that their great wealth might no longer be expended in so
profligate a manner." 3 Most important proposals these, with-
out doubt, and such as, being conceded to, must have led to a
thorough change in the whole system of the Church. The
Emperor urged the consideration of them, in repeated letters.

Finally, the Cardinal of Lorraine appeared with the French
prelates, and cordially supported the German propositions.
He also demanded, most especially, that the cup should be
conceded to the laity. He required the administration of all
sacraments in. the mother tongue, that the mass should be
accompanied by preaching and instruction, and that the psalms
might be allowed to be sung in the French language in full
congregation; concessions from all which the most desirable
results were anticipated. " We are fully assured," said the
King, " that the accordance of the cup to the laity will restore
quiet to many troubled consciences, will recall to the Church
whole provinces now severed from her communion, and be to
us an effective assistance in appeasing the troubles of our
kingdom." * But the French were, moreover, desirous again
to bring forward the decrees of the Council of Basle ; and by
these it was determined, that the authority of the Pope is
subordinate to that of a council.

It is true that the Spaniards would in no wise support these
demands of the Germans and French; the accordance of the
cup to the laity, and the marriage of priests, were altogether

8 Pallavicini has almost entirely over- has been taken by Schelhorn from the

looked these requirements, xvii. i, 6. papers of Staphylus. They do not

They are not to his mind, indeed they strictly agree. I should think the orig-

never have been made known in their inal might be found in Vienna, and it

proper form. They lie before us in would certainly be a remarkable docu-

three extracts. The first I find in P. ment. I have adhered to the extract

Sarpi, lib. vi. p. 325; also, with no other in Schelhorn. Le Plat gives them all,

variation than that they are in Latin, together with the reply,
in Rinaldus and Goldast. The second *"Memoire bailie a M. le Cl. de

is in Bartholomaeus de Martyribus, and
is somewhat more extensive. The third

Lorraine, quand il est parti pour aller
au concile de Trent." Le Plat, iv. sa.

228 RANKE

abhorrent in their eyes, and condemned without remission.
No agreement could possibly be arrived at in the council, as
regarded these points ; all that could be gained was, the refer-
ence of such proposals to the pontiff, who was to decide on
the expediency of granting them. There were certain mat-
ters, nevertheless, as to which all three nations concurred in
opposition to the claims of the Curia. All found it insuffer-
able that the legates alone should have the right of proposing
resolutions; and not this only^ but that these legates should
further require the approbation of the Pope for every decree,
and suffer none to pass but at his good pleasure. This seemed
to all an affront to the dignity of the council. " If things
are to proceed thus," said Ferdinand, " there will be two
councils ; one at Trent, the other, which is indeed the true one,
in Rome."

Had the votes been taken by nations, what extraordinary
decrees might there not, in this state of opinions, have ema-
nated from this assembly !

But since this was not done, the three nations still remained
in a minority, even when their forces were united ; for the
Italians were more numerous than all the rest put together,
and they supported the Curia, on which they were for the
most part dependent, with but little regard to the question of
right or wrong. This awakened much bitterness of feeling.
The French amused themselves with a story of how the Holy
Spirit had come to Trent in a cloak-bag. The Italians spoke
of Spanish leprosies, and French diseases, by which all the
faithful were infected, one after another. The Bishop of Cadiz
declared, that there had been bishops of great fame, nay,
excellent fathers of the Church, who had been appointed by
no pope; on which the Italians burst forth in unanimous
vociferations, demanded his instant expulsion, and even spoke
of anathema and heresy. The " heresy " was sent them back,
with interest, by the Spaniards. 5 Parties would frequently
assemble in the streets, shouting each its watchword of " Spain !
Spain ! " " Italy ! Italy ! " and blood was seen to flow on the
ground that had been consecrated to the establishment of peace.

6 Pallavicini, xv. v. 5. Paleotto, Acts: dit, 'Anathema vos estis.' " Mendham,

" Alii praelati ingeminabant, clamantes, " Memoirs of the Council of Trent," p.

' Exeat, exeat ' ; et alii, 4 Anathema sit,* 051.
ad quos Granatensis conversus respon-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 2*9

For ten months it was found impossible even to proceed to a
session. But could this be wondered at? or is it surprising
that the first legate should dissuade the Pope from going to
Bologna, on the ground of the remarks that all would make,
if, in spite of his presence, the council could still be conducted
to no satisfactory end, but must after all be dissolved ? 6 Yet
a dissolution, nay, even a suspension, or a mere translation,
which had often been thought of, would have been extremely
dangerous. In Rome they dared hope for nothing but evil;
a council was there considered much too violent a remedy for
the grievously debilitated constitution of the Church, and all
feared that ruin must ensue, both for Italy and the hierarchy.
" In the beginning of the year 1563," says Girolamo Soranzo,
" and but a few days before my departure, Cardinal Carpi,
dean of the college, and a man of great foresight, assured me,
that in the last illness he had suffered, his prayers had been
constantly that God would grant him permission to die, and
not survive to see the downfall and burial of Rome. Other
distinguished cardinals equally bemoan their evil destiny, and
clearly perceive that no hope of escape remains to them, un-
less the hand of God should be mercifully extended for their
protection." 7 All the misfortunes that had ever been antici-
pated from a council by his predecessors, were now believed
by Pius IV to hang over his own head.

The persuasion that in seasons of difficulty, and, above all,
in cases of grave errors in the Church, an assembly of her
principal shepherds will avail to remove all evil, is at once
consoling and sublime. " Let its deliberations proceed," says
Augustine, "without presumption or envy, and in Catholic
peace. Having profited by wider experience, let the con-
cealed be made obvious, and let all that was shut up be brought
to the light of day." But, even in the earliest councils, this
ideal was far from being realized. It demanded an upright-
ness of purpose, a freedom from all extraneous influences a

" Lettere del Cle. di Mantua, Legato maggiore che vedono e conoscono assai

al Concilio di Trento, scritta al Papa chiaro, non esservi rimedio alcuno se

Pio IV. h. 15 Gen. 1563": " Quandp si non quello che piacesse dare al Sr. Dio

avesse da d'ssolversi questo concilip, con la sua santissima tnano." Soranzo

per causa d' altri e non nostra, mia himself adds, " It must needs be feared,

piaceria piu che Vra. Beatitudine fusse most serene prince, that our poor Italy,

restata a Roma." afflicted by so many curses, will have

Li Cardinali di maggior autorita to suffer from this also, and so do all

deplorayano con tutti a tutte Tore la wise men see and know."
loro miseria, la quale stimano tanto

RANKE

purity of soul, in short, that man has not yet obtained. Still
less could these now be hoped for, when the Church was in-
volved in so many contradictory relations with the State. If,
notwithstanding their imperfections, general councils had still
retained the respect of nations, and were still looked to with
hope, and demanded as remedial, this must be attributed to
the necessity existing for imposing some restraint on the papal
influence ; but the present state of affairs seemed confirmatory
of what the pontiffs had constantly maintained: namely, that
in times of great perplexity, church councils tended rather
to increase than remove the evil. All Italy took part in the
fears of the Curia. " The council," said the Italians, " will
either be continued, or it will be dissolved. In the first case
and more especially if the Pope should die pending its dura-
tion the ultramontanes will arrange the conclave according
to their own interests, and to the disadvantage of Italy ; they
will lay so many restrictions on the pontiff, that he will be
little more than the mere bishop of Rome ; under pretence of
reforms, they will render all offices worthless, and ruin the
whole Curia. On the other hand, should the council be dis-
solved without having produced any good effect, even the
most orthodox would receive great offence, while those whose
faith is wavering will stand in peril of being utterly lost."

That any essential change could be produced in the opinions
of the council itself, seemed, as matters now stood, altogether
impossible. The legates, guided by the Pope, with the Ital-
ians who were closely bound to him, were confronted by the
prelates of France, Spain, and Germany, who, on their side,
were led, each by the ambassador of his sovereign. What
arrangement of differences what middle term, could be de-
vised? There seemed none : even in February of 1563 the state
of things appeared to be desperate, the most vehement conten-
tions prevailed, each party obstinately adhering to the opinions
it had adopted.

But when all these affairs were examined with more earnest
attention, there appeared the possibility of an escape from the
labyrinth.

The discordant opinions only met and combated in Trent;
their origin and guides were in Rome, and at the courts of
the respective sovereigns. If these dissensions could ever be

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 231

healed, it must be by proceeding to their sources. Pius IV
had declared that the papacy could no longer support itself
without the aid of the temporal princes: it was now the mo-
ment to act upon the principle thus laid down. The Pope
had once thought of receiving the demands of the different
courts himself, and granting them without the intervention of
the council; but this would have been a half-measure only.
The best thing now to be done was to bring the council to a
close, in concert with the other great powers : no other resource
presented itself.

Pius IV determined to attempt this. The most able and
statesmanlike of his cardinals, Morone, gave him effectual aid.

In the first instance, Ferdinand I must be gained this was
of the highest importance, for not only had the French con-
curred with him in opinion, as before related, but he had, also,
much influence with Philip of Spain, his nephew, who deferred
to him on most occasions.

Cardinal Morone had been chosen president of the council,
but well assured that nothing effectual could be accomplished
in Trent, he proceeded to Inspruck, in April, 1563, permitting
no other prelate to accompany him, for the purpose of meet-
ing the Emperor, who was in that city. He found Ferdinand
highly offended in extreme discontent, fully persuaded that
no serious intentions of reform were entertained in Rome, and
resolved in the first place to procure perfect freedom for the
council. 8

An extraordinary exercise of address, or, as we should now
say, of " diplomatic skill," was required on the part of the
legate, in order to propitiate the irritated monarch. 9

The Emperor was, above all, offended because his own proj-
ect of reform had been set aside, and had not even been made
the subject of serious discussion ; but Morone found means to
persuade him that there were very sufficient reasons why the
formal discussion of his plan had been deferred, but that, in
fact, its more important points had not only been considered

To this place belongs also the " Re ; 9 The most important paper I have

latione in scr. fatta dal Comendone ai found in regard to the Council of Trent

Sri. Legati del Concilio sopra le cose is Morone's " Report of his Legation ";

ritratte dall' imperatore, 19 Feb. 1563 ": it is brief but conclusive. Neither Sarpi

" They seem to think that they shall nor even Pallavicini has noticed it.

find ways and means to have more in- " Relatione sommaria del Cl. Morone

fluence and authority in this council, sopra la Legatione sua." Bibl. Altieri,

so as to secure all their desires con- in Roma, vii. I. 3.
jointly with the French."

132 RANKE

but even adopted. Next, Ferdinand complained that the coun-
cil was led by Rome, the legates proceeding entirely according
to the instructions received from the pontiff. To this Morone
replied, and the fact was incontrovertible, that the ambassadors
from all the courts received their instructions from home, and
were constantly furnished by their sovereigns with new sugges-
tions.

The cardinal had long possessed the confidence of the house
of Austria, and he so contrived as to get over this delicate nego-
tiation very happily he smoothed away the unfavorable im-
pressions -that Ferdinand had received, and applied himself
skilfully to the effecting a compromise on those points which
were most eagerly contested by the prelates in council. He
was resolved never to permit the essential authority of the
Pope to be in any wise diminished; the principal object was,
as he tells us himself, " to hit upon such expedients as that
Ferdinand might consider himself satisfied without really com-
promising the power either of pope or legate." 10

The first point in dispute was, that exclusive right of present-
ing resolutions, which, being vested in the legates, was main-
tained to be an infringement on the liberty of the council.
Here Morone remarked, that the right to the initiative, if
possessed by the prelates generally, would be frequently used
in opposition to the interest of princes : of this fact he had no
difficulty in convincing the Emperor, for would not the
bishops, once possessed of this privilege, be very prone to use
it for the purpose of proposing resolutions inimical to the ex-
isting rights of States? thus infinite confusion might arise
from such a concession. It was needful, nevertheless, to meet
the wishes of the temporal princes in some way, and the expe-
dient adopted for this purpose is sufficiently remarkable. The
cardinal promised that he would himself propose whatever the
ambassadors should suggest to him from their sovereigns ; or,
on his failing to do so, they should then have the right of pro-
posing for themselves. This compromise was significant of the
spirit that now began to prevail in the council: the legates
agreed to renounce the initiative in a case supposed, but rather

10 " Fu necessario trovare tempera- . rita del papa ne de' legati, ma restasse

mento tale, che paresse all' imperatore il conciho nel sao possesso." (See the

di essere in alcuno modo satistatto, et text.)
insieme non si pregiudicasse all' auto-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 233

in favor of the ambassadors, than in that of the fathers in
council. 1 It follows, then, that to the sovereigns only was
accorded a portion of that authority hitherto enjoyed exclu-
sively by the pontiffs: to the council no benefit whatever ac-
crued.

The demand that the committees wherein the decrees were
prepared should be permitted to assemble according to their
several nations was the second question to be mooted. To
this Morone replied that the practice had always been so; but
that, since the Emperor desired it, a more rigid attention
should be given to this rule, which should for the future be
established as invariable.

Then came the third point reform : and here the Emperor
conceded that the expression " Reform of the Head," as also
that old question of the Sorbonne, as to whether Pope or
council were superior, should be avoided ; in return for which,
the cardinal promised a searching reform through every de-
partment; and in the plan drawn up to this intent even the
conclave was included.

These more important points once arranged, the secondary
questions were soon agreed on; many demands at first made
by Ferdinand were withdrawn, and his ambassadors were en-
joined to maintain a good understanding with the papal legates.
Having successfully accomplished his mission, Morone again
traversed the Alps. " When people became fully aware of the
Emperor's friendly dispositions," says he, " and of the concord
established between his ambassadors and those of the Pope, the
council presently changed its aspect, and was much more easily
managed."

Other circumstances contributed to this result.

The French and Spaniards had fallen into dissensions about
the right of their respective ambassadors to precedence in the
council : thus they no longer continued to act in concert.

Special negotiations had also been entered into with each of
these powers.

1 " Summarium eorum quae dicuntur of measures, either by the said legates,
Acta inter Caesaream Majestatem et II- or, if they feel aggrieved by this,
lustrissimum Cardinalem Moronum," in through his own servants." I confess
the " Acts of Torellus "; also, in Salig, that I should not have inferred such a
" Geschichte des tridentinischen Con- negotiation as Morone describes, from
ciliums," iii. A. 292; where this is ex- these words, although it may be im-
pressed as follows: " His majesty re- plied in them,
serves to himself to cause the proposal

234 RANKE

A cordial understanding with the Pope was most essential
to Philip II, whose authority in Spain, being founded in a great
measure on ecclesiastical interests, it was his policy to keep these
carefully in his hands. This fact was perfectly well known to
the Court of Rome, and the nuncio from Madrid often said that a
friendly termination of the council was quite as desirable for the
King of Spain as for the Pope. The burdens imposed on church
property had already been brought into question by the Spanish
prelates in Trent, but the sums furnished by ecclesiastical
foundations formed an important portion of the public revenue,
and the King, much alarmed, requested the Pope to forbid these
offensive discourses. 2 Could he then be desirous of procuring
for his prelates the right of proposing resolutions? He was
anxious, on the contrary, to restrict the privileges they already
possessed. The pontiff complained of the vehement opposition
he had continually to endure from the Spanish bishops, and
Philip promised to adopt such means as should keep them within
the limits of obedience : suffice it to say, that the Pope and King
became assured that their interests were absolutely identical.
Other negotiations must also have taken place : the Pope threw
himself wholly into the arms of the King, who promised, on his
part, that whatever difficulty should assail the pontiff, he, Philip,
would come to his aid with the whole force of his kingdom.

palmela

The French also were in the meanwhile approaching more
cordially to the Pope. The Guises, whose powerful influence
prevailed equally in the Council at Trent as in their government
at home, had in both places adopted a policy that was decidedly
and increasingly Catholic. It was wholly attributable to the
compliant dispositions of Cardinal de Guise, that after ten
months of delay and eight adjournments, the council did at
length hold a session. In addition to this an alliance of the
closest character was proposed by his eminence. He desired
to form a congress of the leading Catholic sovereigns, the Pope,
the Emperor, and the Kings of France and Spain. 3 For the bet-
ter discussion of this project he proceeded himself to Rome, and
the Pope could find no words sufficiently eloquent to praise " his
Christian zeal for the service of God and the public tranquillity,

Paolo Tiepolo, " Dispaccio di Spag- Re catt. per le cose del concilio di

na, 4th Dec. 1562." Trento (ultimo Ottobre, 1563)," Bibl

" Instruttione data a Mons. Carlo Barb. 3007.
Visconti, mandate da Papa Pio IV. al

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 235

not in matters touching this council only, but also in others af-
fecting the common weal."* The proposed congress would
have been exceedingly agreeable to the Pope, who sent am-
bassadors on the subject to both Emperor and King.

It was therefore rather at the respective courts, and by means
of political negotiations, than at Trent, and by the assembled
fathers, that all discords were eventually composed, and all ob-
stacles to a peaceful close of the council removed. Cardinal
Morone, to whom this was principally attributable, had besides
found means to conciliate the prelates individually, bestowing
on each all the deference, praise, and favor that he desired and
thought his due. 5 His proceedings furnish a striking example
of the much that may be effected by an able and skilful man,
even under the most difficult circumstances; when he has
thoroughly mastered the position of affairs, and proposes to
himself such an aim only as is compatible with that position.
To him more than to any other man is the Catholic Church in-
debted for the peaceful termination of the council.

The path was now freed from its encumbrances ; there now
only remained, as he has himself remarked, to contend with
those difficulties that were inseparable from the nature of the
subject.

The first that presented itself was the old controversy as to
the divine right of bishops, and that of the necessity of their
residence. Long did the Spaniards remain immovably fixed
in the defence of their tenets; even so late as July, 1563, they
maintained them to be as infallible as the ten commandments.
The Archbishop of Granada desired that all books upholding
contrary doctrines should be prohibited. 6 They consented,
nevertheless, that these their favorite tenets should be omitted
from the decree that was at length drawn up, a form being
adopted that left them a pretext for defending the same at any
future time. Lainez makes this ambiguity of the decree a special
subject of eulogy. 7

No very dissimilar course of proceeding was that adopted

'"II beneficio universale." " Lettera he, "being wessed, praised, flattered,

di Papa Pio IV. 20 Ottobre, 1563." and favored, became more tractable."

* I hare not yet seen the life of Ayala " Scrittura nelle Lettere e Memorie
by Villaneuva, in which, as I find, del Nuncio Visconti," ii. 174.
there must be some account of this ; 7 " Ejus verba in utramque partem pie
but the assertion of Morone himself is satis posse exponi :" Paleotto, in Mend-
quite sufficient. " The prelates," says ham's " Memoirs of the Council of
Popes (Vol. I). -12 T,,,p.*,

RANKE

in regard to the next point in dispute, the initiative namely,
proponentibus legatis. The Pope announced that everyone
should be free to ask and to say whatever, by the decrees of
ancient councils, it had been permitted to ask and to say, but
he carefully abstained from using the word " propose." 8 Thus
an expedient was formed by which the Spaniards were con-
tented, although the Pope had not in fact made the slightest
concession.

The difficulties arising from political considerations thus re-
moved, the questions that had caused so much bitterness and
wrangling were treated, not so much in the hope of deciding
them, as with a view to evade their spirit by some dexterous
compromise.

The less weighty matters were very easily accommodated in
this disposition of the council, and its proceedings had on no
occasion made more rapid progress. The important tenets re-
specting clerical ordination, the sacrament of marriage, indulg-
ences, purgatory, the adoration of saints, and in fact all the
principal measures of reform adopted by the assembly, were
decided on in the last three sessions of the latter half of the year
1563. The congregations, as well on the one side as the other,
were composed of different nations, the project of reform being
discussed in five separate assemblies, one French, which met at
the house of Cardinal de Guise, one Spanish, at that of the
Archbishop of Granada, and three Italian. 9

The questions were for the most part agreed upon with little
difficulty; two only presented an exception, the first was the
exemption of chapters, the second the plurality of benefices;
and as regarded both these, private interest took a large share
in the contest.

The first of these questions more particularly affected Spain,
where the chapters had already lost some portion of the ex-
traordinary immunities they had once enjoyed. These they
sought eagerly to regain, while Philip was as eagerly bent on
restricting them still further ; holding the nomination of bishops
himself, he had a personal interest in the extension of episcopal
authority. But the Pope took part with the chapters, because

Pallavicini, xxiii. 6, 5. Baini, " Vita di Palestrina," i. 199; they

The best accounts touching this mat- are from authentic letters. The " Diary
ter are to be found where one would of Servantio," used by Mendham (p.
scarcely think of seeking them in 304), also names it.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 237

the influence he exercised over the Spanish Church would have
been materially diminished by the absolute subjection of chap-
ters to the bishop. Again then were these two powerful interests
brought into direct collision, and it became a question wHich
was to command the majority. The Spanish King was exceed-
ingly strong in the council, a delegate had been sent by the
chapters to watch over their rights, but his ambassador had
found means to exclude him. Philip had so extensive a church
patronage at his disposal, that all wished to keep on good terms
with him ; hence it resulted that opinions were not favorable to
the chapters when the votes were taken orally, but the device
adopted by the papal legates for escape from that dilemma also
is worthy of remark. They resolved that the votes should on
this occasion be given in writing. For though the voices, pro-
nouncing in the presence of so many adherents of Philip were
restrained by considerations for him, the written opinions being
for the legates' hands only, were freed from that influence, and
this contrivance did in fact recover an important majority for
the papal wishes, and the chapters. Thus supported, and by the
intervention of Cardinal de Guise they proceeded to further
negotiations with the Spanish prelates, who contented them-
selves eventually with a much less important extension of their
powers than they had hoped to obtain. 10

The second article, regarding plurality of benefices, was yet
more important to the Curia; a reform in the institution of
cardinals had been talked of from time immemorial, and many
thought the degeneracy of that body the primary cause of all
abuses. In their hands was accumulated a vast number of
benefices, and the intention was to restrict the cardinals in that
matter by the most stringent laws. It will be readily believed
that on this point the Curia would be most sensitive; they
dreaded the slightest innovation in such a direction, and shrank
from even deliberating upon the question ; very peculiar is here
also the expedient contrived by Morone for evading the subject
so feared. He mingled the reform of the cardinals with the
articles respecting the bishops. " Few perceived the importance

10 Sarpi, yiii. 816, is not very distinct was not customary, opinions changed,

on this subject. The authentic explana- and the contrary prevailed; at length the

tion of Morone is extremely valuable. decrees were issued as they exist, by

The affair of the canons and their ex- means of Lorraine, who had returned

emptions was at first carried in favor from Rome, full of devotion to his holi-

of the ultramontane party, but the votes ness and to the purposes of the council,
being afterward taken in writing, which

238 RANKE

of this proceeding," as he remarks himself, " and so the rocks
and shoals were all avoided.

Pius IV having thus successfully accomplished the preser-
vation of the Roman Court in the form it had hitherto main-
tained, did not evince any great rigor as regarded the proposed
reformation of the temporal sovereigns ; he permitted this sub-
ject to drop, in compliance with the suggestions of Ferdinand. 1

The proceedings were in fact such as those of a mere friendly
conference might have been, while questions of subordinate in-
terest were left to be formed into general decrees by the divines ;
the more important affairs were discussed by the courts.
Couriers were incessantly flying in all directions, and one con-
cession was requited by another.

And now the most earnest desire of the Pope was to bring
the convocation to an early close. For some time the Spaniards
were unwilling to accede to this ; they were not satisfied with
the reforms that had been effected, and the envoy of Philip even
made a demonstration of protesting; but the Pope declared
his readiness to call a new synod in case of need, 2 and all per-
ceived the great inconvenience that would be caused by protract-
ing the proceedings till a vacancy of the papal throne might
occur while the council was still sitting ; and as, besides, every-
one felt tired and longed to return home, even the Spaniards at
length resigned their objections.

The spirit of opposition was essentially overcome. Even to
the last, the council evinced an extreme subserviency. It even
condescended to solicit from the Pope a confirmation of its
edicts, and expressly declared that all canons of reform, what-
ever might be implied in their words, were prepared with the
perfect understanding that no portion of them should be con-
strued to affect the dignity of the Holy See. 3 How far was the
Council of Trent from renewing the demands of Constance or
Basle to superiority over the papal power ! In the proclamations
by which the sittings were closed, and which were prepared by
Cardinal de Guise, the universal bishopric of the Pope was
distinctly recognized.

Thus prosperous was the conclusion ; the council so eagerly

1 That a searching reform of the Curia, spondence of the legates, in Pallavicini.

the cardinals, and the conclave did not xxiii. 7, 4.

take place : is in close connection with * Pallavicini, xxiv. 8, 5.

the omission of that intended for the * Sessio xxv. c. xxi.
sovereigns. Extracts from the corre-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 239

demanded and so long evaded; twice dissolved, and agitated
by so many political tempests ; which had even in its third as-
sembly been assailed by dangers so imminent, now closed amidst
the universal accord of the Catholic world. It will be readily
comprehended that the prelates, as they came together for the
last time on the fourth of December, 1563, should feel them-
selves affected by emotions of gladness. Former antagonists
were now seen offering mutual gratulation, and tears were ob-
served in the eyes of many among those aged men.

But seeing, as we have shown, that this happy result had
been secured only by the utmost pliancy, the most astute con-
trivance, the most dexterous policy, may we not inquire if the
efficiency of the council had not been impaired thereby ?

The Council of Trent, if not more important than all other
general assemblies of the Church, is indubitably more so than
any that have been called in later times.

Its importance is comprised in two momentous periods :

The first, to which we have already alluded, was during the
war of Smalkalde, when the tenets of Rome, after many fluc-
tuations, became separated forever from the Protestant opinions.
From the doctrine of justification as then set forth, arose the
whole system of dogmatic theology, as it is professed even to the
present day by the Catholic Church.

In the second, which we have been just considering, and
after the conferences of Cardinal Morone with Ferdinand in
the summer and autumn of 1563, the hierarchy was established
anew, theoretically by the decrees respecting clerical ordination,
and practically by the resolutions touching measures of reform.

These reforms were most important at the moment, nor have
they ever yet lost their efficacy.

For the faithful were again subjected to the uncompromising
severity of church discipline, and even in extreme cases, to the
sword of excommunication. Seminaries were established,
wherein the youth preparing for the Church were carefully
trained in habits of austerity and the fear of God. Parishes
were regulated anew, preaching and the administration of the
sacraments were subjected to fixed ordinances, and the co-
operation of the conventual clergy was regulated by determined
laws. The most rigid performance of their duties was enjoined
on the bishops, more especially of that involving the supervision

24 o RANKE

of the clergy, according to their different grades of consecration.
It was besides of the most essential efficacy that these prelates
had solemnly bound themselves, by a particular " confession of
faith," subscribed and sworn to by each, in a compact of obe-
dience to the ordinances of Trent, and of absolute subjection
to the Pope.

And this was the result of the council by which it had un-
questionably been contemplated to restrict the authority of the
pontiff. An object far from being obtained, that authority hav-
ing in effect received extent and confirmation from the acts of
the assembly. Reserving to himself the exclusive right of
interpreting the decrees of Trent, the Pope held the power of
prescribing the rule of faith and life. Discipline was restored,
but all the faculties of directing it were centred in Rome.

But the close circumscription of her limits was now also
perceived and acknowledged by the Catholic Church. On the
East and the Greek confession she now resigned all claim;
while she drove Protestantism from her borders with anathemas
innumerable. In the bosom of the earlier Catholicism, a certain
element of the Protestant creed was included, this was now cast
forth for ever; but if the Catholic profession had received
limitations, it had also concentrated its forces, and braced all its
energies well together.

Results so effectual were achieved by the concurrence and
aid of the great Catholic sovereigns only, and it is in this alli-
ance of the Church with monarchies, that one of the primary
conditions to her subsequent development will be found. This
is in some degree analogous with the tendency of Protestantism
to combine the episcopal and sovereign rights. It was only by
degrees that this displayed itself among Catholics. There is
manifestly involved in it a possibility of new divisions, but of
such a result there was then no immediate apprehension. The
decrees of the council were readily admitted in one province
after another. It is the having effected these things that has
procured for Pius IV an important station in the history of the
world. He was the first pontiff by whom that tendency of the
hierarchy to oppose itself to the temporal sovereigns, was de-
liberately and purposely abandoned.

Having secured this important result, Pius now believed that
the labors of his life were brought to a close. On the dispersion

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 241

of the council it is remarked, that the tension of his mind was
relaxed. It was thought that he became negligent of religious
services, and devoted himself too earnestly to the pleasures of
the table. He increased the splendor of his court, gave rich
entertainments, and erected magnificent buildings. The more
zealously disposed perceived a difference between himself and
his predecessor, of which they loudly complained. 4

Not that any reaction of the general feeling was likely to en-
sue ; a tendency had displayed itself in Catholicism that was no
longer to be repressed or turned aside.

When once the spirit is fully aroused, there is no presuming
to prescribe the path it shall pursue ; a very trifling violation of
its dictates on the part of those who should represent it in its
utmost force, is productive of the most extraordinary symptoms.

It was thus that the spirit of rigid Catholicism, which had
gained possession of the age, became instantly perilous to the
existence of Pius IV.

There lived in Rome a certain Benedetto Accolti, catholic
to enthusiasm, who was constantly speaking of a mystery in-
trusted to him by God himself, and which he was to make known.
In proof that he was declaring the truth only, he offered to walk
unhurt in presence of the assembled people, through a burning
pile that was to be prepared on the Piazza Navona.

His mystery was this : he believed himself to have received
a revelation, to the effect that the Greek and Roman churches
were about to be united, and that this combined Catholic Church
would then subdue the Turks and all heretics; that the pon-
tiff would be a holy man, would attain universal monarchy, and
restore truth and justice to the human race. By these ideas he
was possessed to fanaticism. He was now convinced, however,
that Pius IV, whose worldly living and being were infinitely
remote from his ideal of holiness, was not formed to carry out
this divine mission, and that he, Benedetto Accolti, was selected
by God to deliver Christendom from so unsuitable a chief.

He conceived the design of putting the Pope to death, and
found an associate whom he made his own by the promise of

* Paolo Tiepolo : " After this (the tions, so that one clearly saw in him

council) was at an end, freed from the mind of a prince assured of his

great anxiety, and rendered bold in his own affair, rather than that of a pontiff

confirmed authority, he began to act regardful of the welfare of others."

more freely according to his inclina- Panvinius makes the same remark.

RANKE

rewards from God himself, as well as from their future holy
sovereign. One day they set forward on their purpose, and
soon perceived the pontiff approaching. He was in the midst
of a procession, within reach of their hands tranquil, free from
suspicion, and without defence.

But instead of rushing on the sovereign, Accolti began to
tremble and changed color. The solemnity of attendance on
the person of a pope has something too imposing to fail of im-
pressing so fanatical a Catholic as was this man. The Pope
passed on his way.

Accolti had, however, been meanwhile remarked by others.
The companion whom he had gained over, Antonio Canossa,
was not a person of firm resolution at one moment he would
suffer himself to be persuaded into a second attempt, at the
next he felt tempted himself to denounce their intended crime.
Neither of them preserved a perfect silence, and they were at
length arrested and condemned to death. 5

This will serve to show what feelings were astir in those
agitated times. Pius IV had done much for the reconstruc-
tion of the Church ; yet were there many to whom all seemed
insufficient, and whose views went much further than anything
that had yet been accomplished. Pius died on the ninth of
December, 1565.

Section VII Pius V

The partisans of a more rigid system in the Church had now
secured a great and almost unhoped-for advantage : a pope was
elected whom they might safely consider one of themselves, this
was Pius V.

I will not repeat the more or less credible stories related of
his election by the book on the conclaves, and by some of the
histories of his time. We have a letter from Carlo Borromeo,
which sufficiently informs us on this point : " I was deter-
mined," says he (and the large share he had in the election
is well known), " to consider nothing so much as religion and

6 I take these notices, which I have is my deposition of the cause 4br which

not found elsewhere, from a MS. of the I die; your holiness will deign to send

Corsini library in Rome, No. 674, with it to my father and mother."
the title of " Antonio Canossa " : " This

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 243

purity of faith. I was well acquainted with the piety, irre-
proachable life, and devout spirit of the Cardinal of Alessandria,
afterward Pius V ; I thought none could more fitly administer
the Christian commonwealth^ and used my best efforts in his
favor." x In a man of so entirely spiritual a character as that
possessed by Carlo Borromeo, no other motives could be sup-
posed. Philip of Spain, who had been won over to the interest
of the same cardinal by his ambassador, sent his express thanks
to Borromeo for having promoted the election. 2 Pius V was
precisely the man then believed to be required. The adherents
of Paul IV, who had kept themselves retired during the last
pontificate, considered themselves most fortunate : " To Rome,
to Rome ! " writes one of them to another : " come confidently
and at once, but with all modesty ; God has awakened up for us
our fourth Paul again ! '

Michele Ghislieri, now Pius V, was of humble extraction;
he was born at Bosco, near Alessandria, in 1504, and entered
a convent of Dominicans at the age of fourteen. Here he re-
signed himself, body and spirit, to the devotion and monastic
poverty enjoined by his order. Of the alms he gathered, he did
not retain so much for himself as would have bought him a cloak
for the winter, and against the heats of summer he thought
severity of abstinence the best preservative. Though confessor
to the Governor of Milan, he always travelled on foot with his
wallet on his back. When he taught, his instructions were
given with zeal and precision : when, as prior, it was his office
to administer the affairs of a monastery, he did this with the
utmost rigor and frugality more than one house was freed
from debt by his government. The formation of his character
was effected during those years when the strife between Prot-
estant innovation and the ancient doctrines had extended into
Italy: he took earnest part with those who upheld the estab-
lished creed in its most rigid acceptation, and of strictly disputed
points maintained by him in Parma during the year 1543, the

I Clis. Borromeus, Henrico Cli. Infanti sens, Comm. maggior) always praised
Portugalliae, Romae, d. 26 Feb. 1566. him highly, declaring that he well de-
Glussiani, " Vita C. Borromei," p. 62. served the pontificate; so that his maj-
Compare with Ripamonti, " Historia esty was moved to give orders that he
Urbis Mediolani," fib. xii. p. 814. should be supported with all his power."

I 1 find this in a despatch of Soranzo, T^ u ? the story related by Oltrocchi,
ambassador in Spain. " The qualities in his remarks on Guis*ano, falls to the
of his holiness, while yet cardinal, were ground. The election took place Janu-
not known to this most serene king; but ary 8, 1566.

the said commendator (Luigi Reque-

244

RANKE

greater part related to the papal authority, and were opposed
to the new opinions. He was early invested with the office of
inquisitor, and was called on to perform his duties in places of
peculiar danger, as were Como and Bergamo for example. 3 In
these cities an intercourse with Germans and Swiss was not
to be avoided : he was also appointed to the Valteline, which,
as belonging to the Grisons, was in like manner infested by
heretics. In this employment he displayed the obstinacy and
the courage of a zealot. On entering the city of Como, he was
sometimes received with volleys of stones ; to save his life he
was frequently compelled to steal away like an outlaw, and con-
ceal himself by night in the huts of the peasantry: but he
suffered no personal danger to deter him from his purposes. On
one occasion the Conte della Trinita threatened to have him
thrown into a well. " As to that, it shall be as God pleases," was
the Dominican's reply. Thus did he take eager part in the
contest of intellectual and political powers then existing in Italy ;
and as the side he had chosen was victorious, he, too, advanced
in importance. Being appointed commissary of the Inquisition
in Rome, he was soon remarked by Paul IV, who declared Fra
Michele an eminent servant of God, and worthy of higher hon-
ors. He promoted him to the bishopric of Nepi, and, by way of
placing " a chain round his foot/' as Michele himself tells us,
" that he might not again creep back to the repose of his
cloister/' 4 in 1557 he nominated him cardinal. In this new
dignity Ghislieri continued, as ever, poor, austere, and un-
pretending. He told his household that they must fancy them-
selves living in a monastery : for himself, his sole interest was
still centred in devotional exercise and the business of the
Inquisition.

In a man of this character, Philip of Spain, Cardinal Bor-
romeo, and all the more rigid party, believed they had found
the salvation of the Church. The people of Rome were not so
perfectly satisfied. Pius was told this, and he remarked in reply :
" All the more shall they lament for me when I am dead."

Paolo Tiepolo, " Relazione di Roma afterward labored to institute a process

in Tempo di Pio IV. et V." : " In Ber- against the then bishop of Bergamo."

gamo was taken from him by force a * Catena, " Vita di Pio V.," whence

certain principal heretic, Giorgio Mon- we draw most of our information, has

daga, whom he had thrown into the this also. It was related by Pius him-

prisons of the convent of St. Domenico, self to the Venetian ambassadors, Mich,

then used for criminals, and whom he Serviano and Paul Tiepolo, as they tell

and his monks strove to keep, to their us (October 2, 1568).
own great peril. In the same city he

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 245

He maintained all the monastic severity of his life even when
Pope : his fasts were kept with the same rigor and punctuality ;
he permitted himself no garment of finer texture 5 than his wont
heard mass every day and frequently said it himself. Yet was
he careful that his private devotions should offer no impediment
to his public duties, and, though rising with the first light of
day, he would not indulge himself with the customary siesta.
Could any doubt exist as to the reality of his religious feelings,
we may consider this proved by what he has himself declared
of the papacy : it was not conducive to his advance in piety, as
he complains, and the progress of his soul toward salvation and
the joys of paradise was impeded by its duties, to his infinite
lamentation. " But for the support of prayer, he believed the
weight of that burden would be more than he could endure."
He enjoyed the happiness of a fervent devotion to his last hour
it was the only kind of happiness of which he was capable, but
he found it perfect. The warmth of his devotion often brought
tears to his eyes, and he constantly arose from his knees with the
persuasion that his prayers had been heard. When the people
beheld him in the processions, barefoot, and with uncovered
head, his face beaming with unaffected piety, and his long white
beard sweeping his breast, they were excited to enthusiastic
reverence; they believed so pious a pope had never before
existed, and stories were current among them of his having
converted Protestants by the mere aspect of his countenance.
Pius was, moreover, kindly and affable; his manner toward
his old servants was extremely cordial. How admirable, too,
was the remark with which he received that Conte della Trinita,
who, after having threatened to drown him, was now sent am-
bassador to his court. " See, now," he exclaimed, when he
recognized his old enemy, " thus it is that God helps the in-
nocent :" in no other way did he show the count that the past
was remembered. He had always been exceedingly charitable,
and now kept a list of the poor in Rome, whom he regularly as-
sisted in accordance with their station.

Humble, resigned, and child-like are men of this character,
in their ordinary state; but when irritated or wounded, they
kindle into violent anger, and their resentment is implacable.

6 Catena, Tiepolo: " Nor has he even forms his devotions most devoutly, and
left off the coarse shirt that he began to frequently with tears."
wear when he became a monk. He per-

246 RANKE

An adherence to their own modes of thought and proceeding
appears to them the most imperative duty, and they are exas-
perated by its neglect. Pius V felt an immovable conviction,
that the path he had chosen was the only right one; its hav-
ing conducted him to the papal throne gave him so complete
a self-reliance, that doubt or fear as to the consequences of
his own actions was a pain unknown to his experience.

It follows, that his adhesion to his own opinions was most
obstinate; the most cogent reasons availed nothing toward
making him retract or alter them. Easily provoked by con-
tradiction, he would redden deeply on being opposed, and break
forth into expressions of the utmost violence. 6 But slightly ac-
quainted with the affairs of the world, or with politics, and suf-
fering his judgment to be warped by accidental and secondary
circumstances, it was extremely difficult to bring matters of
business well through with him.

It is true that he did not permit himself to act on his first
impressions, as regarded individuals, and those with whom he
came into contact; but having once made up his mind about
any man, whether for good or evil, nothing could afterward
shake his opinion. 7 He was, nevertheless, more disposed to
think people deteriorated, than that they became better, and
there were few whom he did not regard with suspicion.

Never would he mitigate a penal sentence; this was con-
stantly remarked of him ; rather would he express the wish that
the punishment had been more severe !

He was not satisfied to see the Inquisition visiting offences
of recent date, but caused it to inquire into such as were of
ten or twenty years' standing.

If there were any town wherein few punishments were in-
flicted, he did not believe the place any the better for that, but
ascribed the fact to the negligence of the officials.

The severity with which he insisted on the maintenance of
church discipline is entirely characteristic. " We forbid," says
he, in one of his bulls, " that any physician, attending a patient

" Informations di Pio V." (Bibl. holiness, while he gains advantages both

Ambrosiana at Milan, F. D. 181) : " His for himself and others."

holiness is naturally cheerful and kindly T " Informatione di Pip V. : " " It is

(though sometimes accidentally seeming more difficult to free him from a bad

otherwise), so that he readily enters impression than a good one; especially

into pleasant talk with Mr. Cirillo, his with regard to people of whom he knows

house-steward, and he, being a prudent but little."
as well as polished man, delights his

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 247

confined to his bed, should visit him longer than three days,
without receiving a certificate that the sick person has con-
fessed his sins anew." 8 A second bull sets forth the punish-
ments for violation of the Sabbath, and for blasphemy. These
were fines for the rich ; but, " for the common man, who can-
not pay, he shall stand before the church-door, for one whole
day, with his hands tied behind his back, for the first offence ;
for the second, he shall be whipped through the city ; but his
tongue, for the third, shall be bored through, and he shall be
sent to the galleys."

This was the general spirit of his ordinances. How fre-
quently did it become necessary to remind him, that he had to
govern mere men, and not angels ! 9

To defer to the secular powers was now acknowledged to
be most needful; but no consideration of this kind was per-
mitted to affect the severities of Pius V. The princes of
Europe had constantly complained of the bull, " In Ccena Do-
mini." This he not only proclaimed anew, but even rendered
it more onerous, by adding special clauses of his own, wherein
there was a disposition shown to refuse the temporal sovereign
all right of imposing new taxes.

It will be manifest, that proceedings so violent were calcu-
lated to produce reactions, and so it happened; not merely
because the demands made by a man of so rigid an austerity
never can be complied with by the generality of mankind, but
also because, in this case, a deliberate resistance was provoked,
and various misunderstandings arose. Even Philip of Spain,
though usually so devout, was once moved to warn the pontiff,
that he would do well to avoid the trial of what a prince was
capable of doing when driven to the last extremity.

Pius V, on his part, felt this very deeply. He was some-
times most unhappy in his high station, and declared himself
" weary of living." He complained, that the having acted with-
out respect to persons had made him enemies, and that he had
never been free from vexations and persecutions since he had
ascended the papal throne.

iv. ii. p. 218. the Pope at least to tolerate these last;

In the Information!, for example, is but Pius replied, that " rather than

found an epistle to the holy father, connive at what was wrong he would
expatiating largely on this subject, and

exhorting him to endure the Jews and

248 RANKE

But, however this may have been, and though Pius V could
no more give satisfaction to the whole world than other men,
it is yet certain that his demeanor and habits did exercise in-
calculable influence over his contemporaries, and the general
development of his Church. After so long a train of circum-
stances all concurring to call forth and promote a more spirit-
ual tendency after so many resolutions had been adopted, to
make this tendency universally dominant, there needed a pope
of this character, in order to secure that it should not only be
widely proclaimed, but also practically enforced. To this effect,
the zeal and example of Pius V were alike efficacious.

That reformation of the court, so often promised, was at
length commenced in fact and reality, if not in the forms at
first proposed. The expenditure of the papal household was
greatly reduced. Pius V required little for his own wants,
and was accustomed to say, that " he who would govern others
must begin by ruling himself." For such of his servants as he
believed to have served him truly throughout his life, not from
hope of reward, but affection, he provided well; but his de-
pendents generally were held within closer limits than had ever
been known under any other pope. He made his nephew,
Bonelli, cardinal, but only because he was told that this was ex-
pedient to his maintaining a more confidential intercourse with
the temporal princes. He would, however, confer on him only a
very moderate endowment; and when the new cardinal once
invited his father to Rome, Pius commanded that he should quit
the city again, not that same night only, but that very hour. The
rest of his relations he would never raise above the middle sta-
tion ; and woe to that one among them whom he detected in any
offence, for the least falsehood, never would he forgive him
he was driven without mercy from the pontiff's presence. How
different was all this from that favoritism of nephews which
had, for centuries, formed so significant a fact in the papal his-
tories ! In one of his most severely energetic bulls, Pius V for-
bade any future alienation of church property, under whatever
title, or with whatever pretext; he even declared everyone to
be excommunicated who should even counsel such an act, and
made all the cardinals subscribe this edict. 10 He proceeded zeal-

10 " Prohibitio alienandi ct infeudandi civitatcs et loca S. R. E. : Ad. monet
nos; 1567, 29 Mart."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

249

ously to the removal of all abuses. Few dispensations were
granted by him, still fewer compositions ; even such indulgences
as had been issued by his predecessors were partially recalled.
His auditor-general was commanded to proceed against all
bishops and archbishops who should neglect to reside in their
dioceses, and to report the refractory to himself in order to
their instant deposition. 1 He enjoined all parish priests to
remain in their parishes, under heavy penalties for disobedience,
or for the neglect of divine service, recalling whatever dispen-
sations had been granted to them in this behalf. 2 Not less
earnest were his labors for the restoration of conventual order
and discipline. To all monasteries he confirmed, on the one
hand, their exemption from taxes and other burdens, as, for
example, that of quartering troops ; he would not permit their
tranquillity to be disturbed : but, on the other hand, he forbade
monks to receive confessions without examination by, and per-
mission from, the bishops : this examination might be repeated
by every new bishop. 3 He commanded both monks and nuns
to remain in the strictest seclusion. This was not universally
commended. The orders complained that he enforced on them
rules of more stringent severity than those to which they had
bound themselves. Some fell into a sort of desperation ; others
fled their cloisters. 4

These regulations were first enforced in Rome; but after-
ward throughout the States of the Church. He bound the
secular as well as the ecclesiastical authorities to the observance
of his religious ordinances, 5 while he himself provided for a
rigorous and impartial administration of justice. 6 Not content
with earnestly enforcing on all magistrates a strict attention to
their duties, he held himself a public sitting with the cardinals,
on the last Wednesday in every month, when any person, who
might consider himself aggrieved by the ordinary tribunals, was

1 " Cum alias, 1566, 10 Junii." Bull. dono " (Berlin Library) : " He confers

iv. ii. 303. favors without that respect of persons,

" Cupientes, 1568, 8 Julii." Bull. iv. which might sometimes be necessary

iii. 24. for weighty causes; nor will he change

" Romani, 1571, 6 Aug." Bull. iv. one tittle in affairs of justice, even

iii. 177. though other popes have given the ex-

*Tiepolo: "Always proceeding in ex- ample, and it may be done without

tremes, he sometimes fell into a greater causing scandal." Soriano says that he

evil, while seeking to avoid a smaller granted no favor without an admonition,

one." " which appears to me precisely the

s Bull. iv. iii. 284. fashion of a confessor, who reproves

1 " Informatione della qualita di Pio the penitent severely when about to be-

V., e delle cose che da quelle depen- stow absolution."

250 RANKE

at liberty to make his plaint to the sovereign in person. Besides
all this, he gave audience with the most indefatigable assiduity.
He remained seated for this purpose, from the first hours of
morning, nor was anyone refused admission to his presence.
The consequence of all these efforts was, in fact, an entire reform
of external life in Rome. We have a remark of Paolo Tiepolo to
this effect. " In Rome," says he, " matters proceed in a fashion
very unlike what we have hitherto seen. Men here have become
a great deal better or at least they have put on the appearance
of being so.

Something similar was, more or less, to be seen over all Italy.
Church discipline had been rendered more strict, in most places,
by the promulgation of the decrees of the council ; and the pon-
tiff received a readiness of obedience such as none of his pred-
ecessors had enjoyed for a long period.

Duke Cosmo of Florence gave up to him, without hesitation,
whosoever had been condemned by the Inquisition. Car-
nesecchi, another of the men of letters who had participated in
those early movements toward Protestantism, which we have
described as made in Italy, had hitherto remained uninjured.
But neither his personal credit, the position of his family, nor
his connection with the reigning house itself, could longer save
him. He was given up bound to the Roman inquisition, and
suffered death at the stake. Cosmo was entirely devoted to the
Pope ; he assisted him in all his enterprises, and did not hesi-
tate to admit all his spiritual claims. Pius was moved by this
to crown him grand duke of Tuscany. The right of the Papal
See to take such a step was very doubtful, and the immoral
character of Cosmo caused it to be seen with just resentment ;
but the obedience he displayed toward the Holy See, and the
severity of ecclesiastical regulation that he enforced throughout
his dominions, were merits that stood above all others in the eyes
of the Pope.

Those ancient rivals of the Medici, the Farnese, now emu-
lated their proceedings in this particular; even Ottavio Far-
nese made it his glory to show that every papal command found
unquestioning obedience at his hands.

Not altogether so friendly were the terms on which the Pope
stood with the Venetians. They were not sufficiently virulent
against the Turks, they were less favorable toward monastic

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 251

bodies, and, above all, less cordial to the Inquisition than Pius
would have had them be. He nevertheless took great pains to
avoid a rupture with them. " The republic," he declared to be
" firmly seated in the faith ever had she maintained herself
most Catholic she alone had been exempt from the incursions
of barbarians, the honor of Italy reposed on her head ;" and he
declared that " he loved her." The Venetians, too, conceded
more to him than they had ever done to any other pontiff. The
unhappy Guide Zanetti of Fano, whose religious opinions had
become suspected, and who had fled to Padua, they resigned
into his hands, a thing never before recorded in their annals.
The clergy of their city had previously troubled themselves but
little with strict ecclesiastical discipline they were now brought
into very tolerable order. The churches of Verona, being placed
under the guidance of Matteo Giberti, became models of dis-
cipline. Giberti was held up as affording an example of what
the life of a true bishop should be ; 7 his plans and regulations
have been accepted as exemplars by the whole Catholic world,
and many of them were adopted by the Council of Trent. Carlo
Borromeo caused his portrait to be taken, and had it hung in his
cabinet, that he might have constantly before his eyes the face
of him whose life and conduct he so greatly venerated.

Still more effectual was the influence exercised by Carlo Bor-
romeo himself. From his numerous dignities and offices, that of
grand penitentiary among others, and as chief of the cardinals
nominated by his uncle, he might have held the most brilliant
position in Rome; but he resigned these advantages, and re-
fused all, to devote himself to his duties as Archbishop of Milan.
These he performed, not with energy and conscience only, but
with a sort of passion. He was incessantly occupied in the
pastoral visitation of his diocese, which he traversed in every
direction; there was no village, however remote, that he had
not visited two or three times ; the highest mountains, the most
secluded valleys, all were alike known and cared for. He was
usually preceded by a " Visitator," whose report he then took
with him, examining and verifying all with his own eyes ; all
punishments were adjudged by himself, all improvements pro-

7 " Petri Francisci Zini, boni pastoris, atque propositum." Written in 1536,
exemplum ac specimen singulars ex Jo. and originally intended for England.
Matthxo Giberto episcopo expressum " Opera Giberti," p. 252.

252 RANKE

ceeded under his own directions. 8 His clergy was instructed
to pursue similar methods. Six provincial councils were held
under his presidency. In addition to all this he performed the
usual clerical functions with indefatigable zeal. He preached
and read mass, passed whole days in administering the Lord's
Supper, ordaining priests, presiding at the profession of nuns,
and consecrating altars. The consecration of an altar was a
ceremony of eight hours' duration, and he is said to have con-
secrated three hundred. It is true that many of his arrange-
ments relate to matters merely external, such as the restoration
of buildings, harmonizing of the ritual, exposition and adoration
of the host, etc. The most efficient result of his labors was per-
haps the severity of discipline to which he held his clergy, and
which they, in their turn, enforced on the people.

palmela

Nor was he unacquainted with the best modes of procuring
obedience for his ordinances. In the Swiss districts of his
diocese it was his custom to visit all places of ancient and vener-
ated sanctity; to the people he would distribute gifts; those
of better station were invited to his table. He was prepared
on the other hand, with measures suitable to the refractory ; pass-
ing on a certain occasion through the Val Camonica, the peasan-
try stationed themselves along the road to receive his blessing ;
but they had not for a long time paid their tithes, and the arch-
bishop passed along without moving a hand or turning his eyes
on one of them ; the people, shocked and terrified by this pri-
vation, were glad to return to their accustomed duty. 9 He
nevertheless did sometimes meet with a more obstinate and ran-
corous opposition. He had resolved to reform the order of
Umiliati, whose members had entered it only to expend the great
wealth of the order in a life of licentiousness. 10 These men were
so exasperated by his purpose of reforming them, that they
made an attempt to destroy him ; a shot was fired at him when
he was praying in his chapel. But no event of his life was more
useful to his influence than this attack; the people considered

8 Glussianus, " De Vita et Rebus ges- 10 They had altogether ninety-four
tis S. Caroli Borromaei Mediol," p. 112, houses, of which each could accommo-
is very explicit in regard to the " ritus date a hundred men ; but the brethren
visitationis " and all such matters. were so few that two would occupy a

9 Ripamonte, " Historia Urbis Medio- whole house; the order was suppressed,
lani," in Graevius, ii. i. p. 864. Ripa- and their riches were divided between
monte has also dedicated all the second the endowments of Borromeo and the
part of his history, lib. xii. xvii. to St. society of Jesuits.

Charles Borromeo.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 253

his escape a miracle, and from that time it was that they first
began to regard him with veneration.

This feeling increased from day to day, as constant proofs
of his excellence were seen. His zeal was as pure and un-
sullied by worldly motive as it was warm and persistent. When
the plague raged in Milan, in that hour of utmost peril, his
solicitude for the temporal and eternal welfare of those com-
mitted to his care was incessant, and his conduct marked an
utter disregard for his own life; no one act of this excellent
archbishop but proved his piety, and under his governance the
city of Milan assumed a new aspect. " How shall I find words
sufficient to praise thee, most beautiful city ! " exclaims Gabriel
Paleotto toward the close of the archbishop's administration;
" thy sanctity and religion excite my veneration ; in thee I
behold a second Jerusalem ! " However we may suppose the
Milanese nobility led by policy to praise their spiritual chief,
we cannot believe exclamations so enthusiastic to have been
without cause. The Duke of Savoy also offered a solemn con-
gratulation to Borromeo on the success of his exertions. It was
now the care of the latter to secure the future stability of his
regulations ; to this end a congregation was established, whose
office it was to maintain the uniformity of the ritual. A par-
ticular order of regular clergy, called Oblati, devoted them-
selves wholly to the service of the archbishop and his church,
the Barnabites received new rules, and from that time their
labors have been consecrated to assisting the bishops in the cure
of souls; first, in that diocese, and afterward wherever their
order made a home. 1 These regulations were a repetition of
those established in Rome, but on a smaller scale. A Collegium
Helveticum was also founded in Milan, intended to promote
the restoration of Catholicism in Switzerland, as the Collegium
Germanicum of Rome was erected in that city for the same
purpose as regarded Germany. All this could only corrobo-
rate and confirm the dignity and consideration of the Pope,
since Borromeo, who never received a papal brief but with
uncovered head, would infallibly communicate his own rever-
ential devotedness to his Church.

Pius V had meanwhile acquired an unusual degree of in-

1 Ripamonte, 857. He calls the first rigia: Giussano, p. 442, gives the usual
founders, Beccaria, Ferraria, and Mo- names.

254 RANKE

fluence in Naples also; in the earliest days of his pontificate
he had summoned to his presence Tomaso Orfino da Foligno,
whom he had sent on a visitation of reform to the Roman
churches. This mission being accomplished, he had nomi-
nated Orfino to the bishopric of Strongoli, and despatched him
with the same view to Naples. Amidst a great concourse of
that devout people the new bishop completed his visitation in
the capital, and afterward proceeded through a great part of
the kingdom.

It is true that the Pope had, not unfrequently, disputes with
the different authorities in Naples as well as in Milan. The
King was aggrieved by the bull " In Ccena Domini " ; the
Pope would not hear mention of the " Exequatur Regium."
The former accused the ecclesiastical functionaries of doing
too much; the latter thought the royal officers did too little.
Extreme dissatisfaction often prevailed, as we have said, at
the Court of Madrid, and the King's confessor made bitter
complaints, but no positive quarrel ensued. Either sovereign
attributed the principal blame to the officers and advisers of
the other ; they remained personally on very friendly terms.

When Philip on a certain occasion was ill, the Pope raised
his hands to Heaven, imploring God to deliver him from that
malady: the aged pontiff prayed that the Almighty would
take some years from his own life and add them to that of
the King, on whose existence so much more depended than on
his own.

And it was entirely in the spirit of the new ecclesiastical
regulations that Spain was now governed. Philip had for a
moment hesitated whether to permit the entire recognition of
the edicts issued by the Council of Trent or not. Gladly would
he have limited the papal power, so far as regarded its right
to make concessions at variance with those edicts ; but the re-
ligious character of his monarchy was opposed to all attempts
of this kind ; he perceived that even the semblance of any seri-
ous difference with the Holy See must be carefully eschewed,
if he would remain secure in the allegiance due to himself.
The decrees of the council were therefore promulgated through
the dominions of Philip, and the consequent regulations were
strictly enforced. Here the principles of the rigidly Catholic
party obtained the ascendancy. Carranza, Archbishop of To-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 255

ledo and the first ecclesiastic in Spain, was himself given over
to the mercies of the Inquisition, spite of his many claims to ex-
emption ; one of the members of the Council of Trent, he had
also contributed more than any other person, Pole only excepted,
to the restoration of Catholicism in England, under Queen
Mary. " I have no other object in life," he says of himself,
" than that of suppressing heresy, and my efforts have received
the divine aid ; I have converted many who had departed from
the faith ; the bodies of certain men who were leaders in hereti-
ca. 1 opinions I have caused to be dug up and burnt ; I have been
called Chief Defender of the Faith, whether by Catholics or
Protestants." But all these claims to reverence, all these un-
questionable proofs of Catholicism, were not permitted to avail
him against the claims of the Inquisition. Sixteen articles were
discovered in his works, intimating an approximation toward
Protestant opinion, especially in regard to justification; he suf-
fered a long imprisonment in Spain, and underwent all the tor-
ments of a protracted trial ; he was finally taken to Rome. Thus
removed from the grasp of his personal enemies, he appeared
to be receiving a great favor, but even in Rome he could not
escape : the Inquisition condemned him to death. 2

If such were the modes of procedure toward a person of
so exalted a character, and in a case so doubtful, it will be
obvious that little hope would remain for those whose heter-
odoxy admitted of no question, and whose station was less
distinguished. Instances of such were still occasionally found
in Spain, and all the relentless cruelty with which the traces
of Judaic and Mahometan tenets had formerly been hunted
down, was now turned against the Protestant opinions. One
auto-da-fe followed close upon another, till every germ of the
hated belief was extirpated. From the year 1570, few besides
foreigners were brought before the - Court of Inquisition as
guilty of Protestantism. 3

The Spanish government was not favorable to the Society
of Jesus. Its members were said to be for the most part aliens
to the pure blood of Spain, Jewish Christians, who were sus-
pected of nourishing projects of revenge, to be taken at some

8 Llorente has devoted three long * M'Crie's " History of the Progress

chapters of his " History of the Inqui- and Suppression of the Inquisition in
sition " to the circumstance of Carran- Spain," p. 336.
za's trial. " Hist, de 1'Inquisition," vol.
iii. 183-315.

256 RANKE

future time, for all the miseries their unhappy race had been
made to endure. The Jesuits were on the contrary all-power-
ful in Portugal, where they had made their rule absolute under
the name of King Sebastian. Being also in the highest favor
at Rome under Pius V, they made their influence in that coun-
try subservient to the views of the Curia.

Thus did the pontiff rule both peninsulas with an authority
more unlimited than had been known for long periods by his
predecessors ; the decrees of the Council of Trent were in prac-
tical activity through all Catholic countries. Every bishop sub-
scribed the " professio fidei" wherein the substance of those
dogmatic decisions promulgated by the council was contained,
and Pius published the Roman catechism, in certain parts of
which these same propositions are more diffusely expressed.
All breviaries, not expressly issued by the Papal See, or which
had not been in use upward of two hundred years, were abol-
ished, and a new one was composed on the model of that used
in the earliest periods by the principal churches of Rome. This
the pontiff desired to see adopted universally. 4 A new missal
was also prepared, " according to the rule and ritual of the
holy fathers," 5 and appointed for general use. The ecclesiasti-
cal seminaries received numerous pupils, monastic institutions
were effectually reformed, and the Court of Inquisition devoted
itself with untiring vigilance and merciless severity, to guard
the unity and inviolability of the faith.

Governed by ordinances thus uniform, a strict alliance en-
sued between all these countries and States. This position
of things was further promoted by the circumstance that France,
involved in civil wars, had either renounced her former hostility
to Spain, or was unable to give it effect. A second consequence
also resulted from the troubles in France. From the events of
any given period, certain political convictions of general influ-
ence are always elicited, which convictions then became a prac-
tical and motive power throughout the world over which they
extend. Thus the Catholic sovereigns now believed themselves
assured that any change in the religion of a country involved
the danger of destruction to the State. Pius IV had said that
the Church could not support herself without the aid of the

* " Be those removed that are of " Collated with all the oldest MSS.

doubtful and unknown origin."" Quo- in our Vatican Library, and with other
niam nobis: 9 Julii, 1568." uncorrupted MSS. from all quarters."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 257

temporal princes, and these last were now persuaded that union
with the Church was equally requisite to their security. Pius V
did not fail to preach this doctrine continually in their ears, and
in effect he lived to see all southern Christendom gathered
around him for the purposes of a common enterprise.

The Ottoman power was still making rapid progress. Its
ascendancy was secured in the Mediterranean, and its various
attempts, first upon Malta, and next on Cyprus, rendered ob-
vious the fact, that it was earnestly bent on the subjugation
of the yet unconquered islands. Italy herself was menaced
from Hungary and Greece. After long efforts, Pius succeeded
in awakening the Catholic sovereigns to the perception that
there was indeed imminent danger. The idea of a league be-
tween these princes was suggested to the Pope by the attack
on Cyprus ; this he proposed to Venice on the one hand, and
to Spain on the other. 6 " When I received permission to nego-
tiate with him on that subject," says the Venetian ambassador,
"and communicated my instructions to that effect, he raised
his hands to heaven, offering thanks to God, and promising
that his every thought, and all the force he could command,
should be devoted to that purpose."

Infinite were the troubles and labors required from the
pontiff before he could remove the difficulties impeding the
union of the two maritime powers: he contrived to associate
with them the other States of Italy, and although in the be-
ginning he had neither money, ships, nor arms, he yet found
means to reinforce the fleet with some few papal galleys. He
also contributed to the selection of Don John of Austria as
leader, and managed to stimulate alike his ambition and religious
ardor. From all this resulted a battle^ the most successful in
which Christendom had ever engaged with the Turks, that of
Lepanto. The pontiff's mind was so intensely absorbed by the
enterprise, that on the day of the engagement, he believed him-
self to witness the victory in a kind of trance. The achievement
of this triumph inspired him with the most lofty self-confidence
and the boldest prospects. In a few years he believed that the
Ottoman power would be utterly subdued.

Soriano: " Having received the reso- coronation of the Duke of Florence,

lution, I went instantly to seek audience, and the imperial ambassador's protest

though it was night, the hour incon- (against it). But when I had made

venient, and his holiness wearied by the known my business, his holiness was

events of the day, arising out of the mightily rejoiced."

258 RANKE

It would have been well if his energies had always been de-
voted to works so unquestionably legitimate, but this was not
the fact ; so exclusive, so imperious were his religious feelings,
that he bore the very bitterest hatred to all who would not ac-
cept his tenets. And how strange a contradiction ! the religion
of meekness and humility is made the implacable persecutor of
innocence and piety ! But Pius V, born under the wings of the
Inquisition, and reared in its principles, was incapable of
perceiving this discrepancy ; seeking with inexhaustible zeal to
extirpate every trace of dissent that might yet lurk in Catholic
countries, he persecuted with a yet more savage fury the avowed
Protestants, who were either freed from his yoke or still en-
gaged in the struggle. Not content with despatching such mili-
tary forces as his utmost efforts could command, in aid of the
French Catholics, he accompanied this with the monstrous and
unheard-of injunction 7 to their leader, Count Santafiore, to
" take no Huguenot prisoner, but instantly to kill everyone that
should fall into his hands." When trouble arose in the Nether-
lands, Philip of Spain was at first undetermined as to the man-
ner in which he should treat those provinces. Pius recom-
mended an armed intervention, " for," said he, " if you nego-
tiate without the eloquence of arms, you must receive laws;
with arms in your hands, it is by yourself that they are imposed."
The sanguinary measures of Alva were so acceptable to the
Pope, that he sent him the consecrated hat and sword as marks
of his approval. There is no proof that he was aware of the
preparations for the massacre of St. Bartholomew, but he did
things that leave no doubt of his approving it as cordially as
did his successor.

How wonderful is this union of upright purpose, elevation
of mind, austerity toward himself, and devout religious feeling,
with morose bigotry, rancorous hatred, and sanguinary eager-
ness in persecution !

Such were the dispositions in which Pius IV lived and died. 8
When he felt that death was approaching, he once more visited
the seven churches, " in order," as he said, " to take leave of
those holy places." Thrice did he kiss the lowest step of the
Scala Santa. He had promised at one time not only to expend

* Catena, "Vita di Pio V.," p. 85: stantly whatever heretic fell into his
" He complained of the count for not hands."
having obeyed his command to slay in- He died on May i, 1573.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 259

the whole treasure of the Church, the very chalices and crosses
included, on an expedition against England, but even to appear
himself at the head of the army. Certain fugitive Catholics
from England presenting themselves on his way, he declared
that " fain would he pour forth his own blood for their sakes."
The principal subject of his last words was the league, for the
prosperous continuation of which he had made all possible
preparations ; the last coins he sent from his hand were destined
for this purpose. His fancy was haunted to the last moment
by visions of his different undertakings. He had no doubt of
their success, believing that, of the very stones, God would, if
needful, raise up the man demanded for so sacred a work. 9

His loss was felt more immediately than he had himself an-
ticipated ; but also, there was a unity established ; a force called
into existence, by whose inherent power, the course into which
he had directed the nations would inevitably be confirmed and
maintained.

9 " Informatione dell' infirmita de Pio he sent for the treasurer to the Camera,

V.: " "Having in his chamber a casket two days before his death, bidding him

containing 13,000 scudi, intended for take them, for they would be useful to

alms to be distributed by his own hand, the league."

Popes (Vol. I). 13

BOOK IV

STATE AND COURT TIMES OF GREGORY XIII
AND SIXTUS V

WITH renewed and concentrated forces did Catholicism
now advance to confront the Protestant faith.

Comparing these two mighty antagonists, we per-
ceive that Catholicism possessed an immense advantage, inas-
much as that all its movements were directed by a common chief,
and tended toward a common centre.

And not only could the popes combine the strength of other
Catholic powers for one common effort, but they had also do-
minions of their own sufficiently extensive and powerful to con-
tribute largely toward a successful result.

It is in a new aspect that we are henceforth to consider the
States of the Church.

This sovereignty had been founded by the struggles of dif-
ferent pontiffs to exalt their families to princely dignity, or to
secure paramount influence for themselves among the temporal
powers, those of the Italian States more particularly. In neither
of these purposes did they succeed to the extent of their wishes,
and the renewal of these struggles had now become altogether
impossible. The alienation of church property was forbidden by
a special law, while the Spaniards were now too powerful in
Italy to leave hope of a successful competition with them. The
temporal sovereignty had on the other hand become auxiliary to
the Church, and the financial resources presented by the former
were of the utmost importance to the general development and
welfare; but, before proceeding further, it will be needful to
examine more closely the administration of the Papal See, in
that form which it gradually assumed during the course of the
sixteenth century.

261

262 RANKE

Section I. Administration of the States of the Church

A finely situated, rich, and noble territory had fallen to the lot
of the popes.

The writers of the sixteenth century can find no words that
suffice them to extol its fertility. How fair are the plains around
Bologna and through Romagna! How brightly does a rich
productiveness combine with beauty adown the slopes of the
Apennines ! " We travelled," say the Venetian ambassadors in
1522, " from Macerata to Tolentino, through a district of sur-
passing loveliness. Hills and valleys were clothed with grain
through an extent of thirty miles ; nothing less rich might be
seen. Uncultivated land we could not find for the breadth of a
foot. We thought it impossible to gather so vast a quantity of
corn, how then shall it be consumed ? " In Romagna 40,000
stara of corn were yearly produced beyond what was required
for consumption ; for this there was a great demand, and after
supplying the mountain districts about Urbino, Tuscany, and
Bologna, 35,000 stara were sometimes exported by sea. On the
one coast, Venice was supplied from Romagna and the March, 1
whilst Genoa on the other, and sometimes even Naples, were
provided for by the territory of Viterbo and the Patrimony (of
St. Peter) . In one of his bulls for 1566. Pius V exalts the divine
favor, by whose permission it is that Rome, who was formerly
not able to subsist without foreign corn, had now not only
abundance for herself, but could also come in aid of her neigh-
bors, and even of foreigners, by land and sea, with the produce
of her own Campagna. 2 In the year 1589, the exports of corn
from the States of the Church were estimated at the annual value
of five hundred thousand scudi. 3 The various districts were
also famed, each for its peculiar production; as Perugia for
hemp; Faenza for flax; Viterbo for both; 4 Cesena for its

1 Badoer, " Relationc," 1591. The The Roman Campagna and the trans-
friendship of Romagna for Venice was alpine states supply food almost every
based on the recollection of " what an year to Genoa and other surrounding
excellent city it was to sell your corn places: it is said that in return for the
and wine in, your fruits, your nuts, grains of the ecclesiastical states there
and many another commodity, for which go at least 500,000 scudi into the coun-
one brings back good money." try; they, on their part, have little need

" Jurisdictio consulum artis agri- of foreign goods, except some few things

culturae urbis, 9 Sept. 1566 : " " Bullar. of small value and importance, wares

Cocquel." iv. if. 314. for the apothecary and grocer, with

Giovanni Gritti, " Relatione," 1589: stuffs for the dress of the nobles and

" Romagna and the March alone have great personages."
sometimes 60,000 rubbia of wheat and * " Voyage de Montaigne," ii. 488.

more than 30,000 rubbia of other grain.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 263

wine, which was exported; Rimini for its oil; Bologna for
woad; San Lorenzo for manna. The vintage of Montefia-
scone was known and esteemed the world over. In the Cam-
pagna was then produced a breed of horses but little inferior
to those of Naples. Around Nettuno and Terracina there was
excellent hunting, especially of the wild boar. There were lakes
abounding in fish. They had besides salt-works, alum-works,
and marble quarries. In a word, the country supplied whatever
could be desired for the enjoyment of life in the richest pro-
fusion.

This fine territory was equally well situated for general inter-
course with the world. Ancona possessed a flourishing trade.
" It is a beautiful place,'* say those same ambassadors of 1522,
" full of merchants, principally Greeks and Turks ; we were
assured that of these, some had transacted business in preceding
years to the amount of five hundred thousand ducats." In the
year 1549, we find two hundred Greek families settled there as
merchants, and who had a church of their own. The harbor
was full of caravels from the Levant. There were Armenians,
Turks, Florentines, Lucchese, Venetians, and Jews from East
and West. The wares exposed by the dealers consisted of silks,
wool, leather, Flemish lead and cloths. Luxury increased,
house-rent became high, physicians and schoolmasters were
more numerous, and better paid than at any previous time. 5

It is not however so much on the commercial readiness and
activity of the papal subjects as on their bravery, that writers
of the period love to dwell. Not unfrequently are the inhabitants
of each district set before us, distinguished by the varying
shades of their military character. The people of Perugia are
" steady soldiers " ; those of Romagna, " brave but improvi-
dent." The inhabitants of Spoleto are fertile in expedients
and the arts of strategy ; those of Bologna full of courage, but
difficult to hold in discipline ; the men of the March are given
to plunder ; the people of Faenza surpass all others in firmness
when charged in battle, or in the sustained pursuit of the re-
treating enemy. The Forlivese excel in the execution of diffi-
cult manoeuvres ; the dwellers of Fermo in the use of the lance. 6
The whole population, says one of the Venetians before referred

5 Saracini, " Notizie istoriche della apoli, 1536; a book filled with minute
Citta d Ancona," Roma, 1675, p. 362. and remarkable notices of the state of

* Landi, Quxstiones Forcianae," Ne- Italy at that time.

264 RANKE

to, is apt for the uses of war, and martial by nature. No sooner
do they leave their homes than they are fitted for any mode of
service. They are equally good in sieges as in the open field,
and bear with little difficulty the toils and privations of a cam-
paign. 7 Venice ever drew her best troops from the March and
from Romagna ; therefore it was that the republic always prized
so highly the good-will of the dukes of Urbino ; we constantly
find officers from that district in their service. It was said of
this country, that captains for all the princes in the world might
he found in it. The fact was frequently alluded to, that from
these lands had gone forth that company of St. George, with
whose aid Alberic of Barbiano had extirpated the hordes of for-
eign mercenaries, and restored the fame of Italian arms. It
was still the same race of men as that whence had proceeded
the legions who of old had so largely contributed to the estab-
lishment of the Roman Empire. 8 They have not indeed con-
tinued to merit these emphatic encomiums through all periods of
their history, yet the last great military leader, by whom these
men were employed beyond their own frontiers, is known to
have preferred them to any other of his Italian troops, nay, even
to a considerable part of his French soldiery.

These rich and populous territories, with their brave in-
habitants, were now subjected to the peaceful and spiritual
government of the popes. It is for us to examine the basis and
organization of this ecclesiastical state as it developed its re-
sources under their rule.

It was founded, as were most of the Italian sovereignties,
on the more or less rigid limitation of that independence to which
the municipalities had, in the course of the century, almost
everywhere attained.

Even during the fifteenth century, the priors of Viterbo,
seated on their stone seats before the door of the town-hall, re-
ceived the oath of the podesta, sent them by the pontiff or his
representative. 9

When the city of Fano placed itself under the immediate

7 Soriano, 1570: " As to the soldiers, men." He specifies the families of
it is generally believed that those of the Genga, Carpagna, and Malatesta. " They
Papal States are the best in Italy, or, all seem born for war, and are quickly
indeed, in all Europe." brought together by the beat of the

8 Lorenzo Priuli, " Relatione," 1586: drum."

" The state abounds with the necessaries Feliciano Bussi, " Istoria di Vitef

of life, so that it can supply its neigh- bo," p. 59.
bors; it has also wealth of warlike

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 265

sovereignty of the Papal See, in 1463, it made certain conditions :
first, that " to all future time " the city should hold " imme-
diately " of the papal throne ; next that it should select its own
podesta, whose appointment should need no further con-
firmation, and that for twenty years it should be subjected to no
new impost; finally, it stipulated for all benefits arising from
the sale of salt, with various other immunities. 10

A prince, so arbitrary as was Caesar Borgia, could yet not
avoid the grant of certain privileges to the cities constituting
his principality. Thus he resigned revenues to the town of
Sinigaglia, which till then had invariably been claimed by the
sovereign. 1

How much more, then, would these concessions be expected
from Julius II, whose ambition it was to present himself as a
liberator from tyranny. He reminded the Perugians himself
that the best years of his youth had been passed within their
walls. When he drove Baglione from Perugia, he did not re-
fuse to recall the exiles or to reinstate the peaceful magis-
trates, " the priori"; he conferred increased emoluments on the
professors of the university, and invaded no one of the ancient
immunities of the city : for a long time it paid a few thousand
ducats only as a recognition of his sovereignty ; and, even under
Clement VII, I find a calculation of how many troops Perugia
could bring into the field, precisely as though it had been a com-
pletely free municipality. 2

Nor was Bologna more closely restricted. Together with
the forms of municipal independence, it retained many of the
essential attributes: the administration of the town revenues
was entirely in its own hands, it maintained troops of its own,
and the papal legate received a salary from the city.

The towns of Romagna were seized by Julius II during the
Venetian war ; but he did not annex a single one to the pon-
tificate without first consenting to restrictive conditions, or con-
ferring new and fixed rights; these stipulations were always
referred to in later times. The political relation with the Church
into which they had entered by these treaties received the title
of " Ecclesiastical Freedom." 3

10 Amiani, " Memorie istoriche della Rainaldus alludes to this, but very

Citta di Fano." briefly. Touching Ravenna, see " Hie-

1 Siena, " Storia di Sinigaglia," App. ronymi Rubei Historiarum Raven-

n. 6. natum," lib. viii. p. 660.

a Suriano, " Relatione di Fiorenza,"
1533-

966 RANKE

Thus constituted, the State as a whole bore a certain resem-
blance to that of Venice. In each, the political power had at one
time resided in the commune, and this had for the most part sub-
jected other smaller communities over which it held sway. In
the Venetian States these paramount municipalities had submit-
ted themselves under conditions strictly defined, and without
resigning the whole of their independence to the control of
the nobili of Venice. In the States of the Church these same
municipalities became subject to the commonwealth of the
Curia ; for as in Venice it was the nobility that formed the com-
monwealth, so in Rome this was represented by the court. The
dignity of the prelacy was not indeed absolutely indispensable
as a qualification, even for the supreme powers of the municipali-
ties, during the first half of this century; secular vice-legates
were frequent in Perugia, while in Romagna it seemed to be al-
most an established rule that a lay president should direct the
administration. It would sometimes happen that laymen would
acquire an almost unlimited power and influence, as did Jacopo
Salviati under Clement VII, but in such cases they were ever
connected in some manner with the Curia ; they belonged in one
way or another to the Pope, and were thus members of that
corporation.

At this period the towns would seem to have had no liking
for secular governors ; they preferred and requested to be ruled
by prelates, as holding it more honorable to obey an ecclesiastic
of high rank. Compared with a German principality, and
its carefully organized system of well-defined grades, the Italian
looks at first sight little better than a mere anarchy; but in
point of fact the partition of rights and privileges was quite as
clearly understood, and as rigidly adhered to in the latter as in
the former. The supreme authorities of a city, for example,
were held in check by the nobles, the nobles by the burghers
(cittadini), the subjugated commune kept jealous watch over the
acts of its superior, and the rural populations over the towns.
It is a striking fact that the establishment of provincial govern-
ments was in no one instance adopted in Italy ; certain provincial
assemblies were indeed held in the Papal States, and even re-
ceived the imposing name of " parliament/' but there must have
been something adverse to institutions of this character in the
manners or modes of thought of Italians, since no one of them
ever attained to effectual or enduring influence.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 267

From what has been said, it will be obvious that if the munic-
ipal constitution had acquired that complete development of
which it was susceptible, and toward which it seemed to tend
(by the limitation which on the one hand it imposed on the gov-
erning authority, and that presented to the powers of the com-
munes, and the multitude of individual privileges on the other),
it would then have exhibited the principle of stability in its most
significant aspect; a political system, based on prerogatives
clearly defined, and on checks that were reciprocally effectual.

Considerable progress toward a constitution of this character
was made by the Venetian States, and certain steps, but much
less decided ones, were taken in the same direction by those of
the Church.

This difference was inevitable from the diversity of origin
in each government. In Venice the reins were held by a
corporation, self-governing and hereditary, which considered
the supreme power as its legitimate property. The Roman
Curia, on the contrary, was in continual fluctuation, every new
conclave infusing new elements, the compatriots of each suc-
cessive pope invariably obtained a large portion of the public
business. Among the Venetians, appointments to office pro-
ceeded from the corporation itself; in Rome they were to be
gained only from the favor of the Pope. The rulers of Venice
were held to their duties by rigorous laws, close inspection, and
regard to the honor of their body. The Roman authorities were
rather incited by hope of promotion than restrained by fear of
punishment ; both depending principally on the favor and good-
will of the pontiff, they thus enjoyed a more extensive freedom
of action.

We shall proceed to show that the papal government had
from the first secured to itself a larger degree of authority.

Of this fact we find convincing proof by a comparison of
the concessions made to the municipalities they conquered, by
Rome and Venice respectively; a favorable opportunity for
such comparison presents itself in the case of Faenza. This
city, which had capitulated to Venice some years before its
surrender to the ecclesiastical State, had made conditions with
each government. 4 It had, for example, demanded from both

4 " Historic di Faenza, fatica di Giulio with the Venetians in 1501, and those
Cesare Tondutzi," Faenza, 1675, con- agreed to by Julius II in 1510.
tains, p. 562, the capitulations concluded

268 RANKE

that no new impost should ever be laid on them, but with
consent of the majority in the great Council of Faenza. To
this the Venetians agreed without reserve ; whereas the pontiff
added the significant clause, " unless it shall appear to him
advisable to do otherwise for good and sufficient causes." I
will not multiply instances; a similar state of matters pre-
vailing throughout ; one other fact in proof shall suffice. The
Venetians had assented without hesitation to the demand that
all criminal judgments should be referred to the podesta and
his court (Curia). The Pope confirms this privilege in its
general import, but makes the important exception, " In
cases of high-treason or of similar crimes, circulated to cause
popular irritation, the authority of the governor shall step
in." It is obvious then that the papal government assumed
from the very outset a much more effective exercise of the
sovereign authority than did that of Venice. 5

But it must also be admitted that this extension of the
ecclesiastical powers was greatly facilitated by the municipalities
themselves.

In these subjugated towns, and in that day, the middle
classes, the burghers, traders, and artisans, while their gains
sufficed to procure them the means of life, remained peaceable
and obedient; but the patricians, the nobles in whom the
municipal authority was vested, were in perpetual commotion
and tumult; they practised no arts, they paid little attention
to agriculture, had no disposition to intellectual improvement,
and did not greatly care even for skill in arms; they were
wholly devoted to the pursuit of their particular feuds and en-
mities. The old factions of Guelfs and Ghibellines were still
in existence, they had been revived by the late wars, in which
victory was sometimes with one and sometimes with the other ;
all the families belonging to these two parties were well known,
with the side they adopted. In Faenza, Ravenna, and Forli, the
Ghibellines had the upper hand, in Rimini the Guelfs were the
stronger. But in all these towns the weaker party still main-
tained itself alive. In Cesena and Imola they were nearly bal-

8 Its mode of employing this authority penses before they can assure them-

may be gathered from Paul III, who selves in the lands of the Church. Their

tells us in 1547 that " those who have outlay is for some years beyond their

newly attained the papacy have come to profits." The Cardinal de Guise to the

it poor, loaded with the promises they King of France, in Ribier, ii. 77.
have made, and compelled to large ex-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 269

anced. Among these then, even in times of external peace, a
secret warfare was incessantly proceeding; each man was spe-
cially occupied in seeking to depress his opponent of the adverse
faction, and to cast him into the shade. 6 The leaders had always
adherents from the lowest classes at their command ; wild, deter-
mined bravoes, of fierce and wandering habits, who were ever
prepared with offers of service to those whom they knew to be
in fear of enemies, or to have injuries demanding vengeance ;
these men were always ready to commit murder for a sum of
money.

The result of these incessant feuds was, that the cities
became less vigilant in the maintenance of their rights, for as
each party distrusted the other, so neither would permit au-
thority to rest in its opponent's hands. On the arrival of the
president or legate in the province, the question was not
whether the municipal rights would be respected, but rather
which party would be favored by the new functionary. It
would be difficult to describe the exultation of the successful
party, or the dismay of its rivals, when this was ascertained.
Infinite prudence was required on the part of the legate, the
most influential men were ready to attach themselves to his
side, they did their utmost to render themselves acceptable to
him, affected earnest zeal for the interest of the State, and
acquiesced in all the plans he might propose for its advantage ;
but all this was frequently for no other purpose than that of
placing themselves well with the governor, and by gaining his
confidence, become all the better enabled to persecute the party
they abhorred. 7

The position of the provincial barons was somewhat differ-
ent. They were for the most part very poor, but ambitious,
and liberal to prodigality, usually keeping open house, although
it was known that their expenditure largely exceeded their in-
come, and this without exception. They had always adherents
in the towns, and sometimes employed these men for the most

" Relatione della Romagna " (Bibl. some too, about Ravenna, Imola, and

Alt.) : " The nobles have numerous de- Faenza, are in the practice of smug-

pendents, of whom they avail themselves gling grain."

in the councils to obtain offices, either 7 " Relatione di Monsre. Revmo. Giov.

for themselves or others; also to further P. Ghisilieri, al P. Gregorio XIII.,

their own purposes and hinder their tornando egli dal presidentato di Ro-

neighbors'; these aid them even in their magna." From Tonduzzi (" Historic

suits before the tribunals, or bear wit- di Faenza," p. 673) we see that Ghisilieri

ness for them, and take part in their went into the province in 1578.
quarrels, or procure them revenge;

270 RANKE

illegal purposes ; but their principal care was to preserve a per-
fect understanding with their peasantry, in whose hands re-
mained the greater part of the soil, which constituted all their
wealth. The advantages of high birth, and the prerogatives of
gentle blood, were sufficiently appreciated on the one part, and
held in profound reverence on the other, through all the lands
of the south; but distinction of ranks was not marked in the
same manner as in northern countries, presenting no obstacle
to a close personal intimacy. The peasants lived with their
barons in a sort of fraternal subordination, nor could it easily
be told whether the peasantry were more ready to offer service
and obedience, or the barons to render aid and protection ; their
connection had a character that was even patriarchal. 8 One
cause for this probably was, that the baron abstained from giving
his peasantry any cause for appeal to the state authorities, being
but little disposed to regard with reverence the feudal supremacy
of the Papal See ; as to the peasants, they considered this su-
premacy, and the legate's claim to jurisdiction (not in cases of
appeal only, but also in the first instance), by no means as claims
of right, but rather as the consequence of an unfortunate po-
litical conjuncture, that would soon pass away.

palmela

There were also found in certain districts, more especially
in Romagna, independent communities of peasants. 9 These
were large clans, descending from a common stock; lords in
their own villages, generally half-savage, all well armed, and
especially practised in the use of the arquebus, they may per-
haps be best compared with the free Greek and Sclavonian com-
munities, who had preserved their privileges among the Vene-
tians ; or with those of Candia, the Morea, and Dalmatia, who
had regained their lost independence from the Turks. In the
States of the Church these peasants also adhered to one or
other of the different factions; thus, the Cavina clan, with
the Scardocci and Solaroli, were Ghibellines; the Manbelli,
Cerroni, and Serra were Guelphs. In the district of the Serra
clan there was a hill, which served as an asylum for those who
had committed any offence. The most important of these clans
was the Cerroni, whose numbers had extended across the fron-

" Relstione della Romagna: "" Each from those cities, they govern them-

bending to the humor of the other." selves by separate laws, under a presi-

The peasants also sometimes freed dent chosen by themselves, and who

thempo'-'es from the yoke of the towns has power to decide in all their affairs."
(see Ghisilieri), " withdrawing as a body

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 271

tier into the Florentine territory; they were divided into two
branches, the Rinaldi and Ravagli, between whom, spite of
their common origin, there existed a bitter feud. They main-
tained a sort of hereditary connection with many among the
noblest families of the towns, and also with certain eminent
jurists, by whom the faction was supported in all questions
with the laws. Throughout Romagna, there was no single
family, however distinguished, that might not have been in-
jured by these banded peasants. The Venetians took care to
have always an interest in one or other of their chiefs, for the
purpose of securing their aid in case of war.

If these populations, as we have before remarked, -had been
well united, the Roman prelates would have found it difficult
to assert their authority, but in their dissensions the govern-
ment found its strength. To this effect a president of Ro-
magna, writing to Gregory XIII, expresses himself, as I find,
in his report : " Very difficult is the task of governing, when
the people hold themselves too closely together; let them be
disunited, and the mastery is then easily gained." * There was,
besides, another circumstance acting in favor of government.
This was the formation of a party consisting of those peace-
able men of the middle classes who desired to live tranquilly,
and were not attached to either faction. In Fano this party
entered into an association called the " Holy Union," compelled
to this, as the record of their institution sets forth, " because all
the town is become full of robbers and murderers, so that, not
only are those in jeopardy who join themselves to the several
feuds, but also those who would fain eat their bread in the
sweat of their brow." They bound themselves, by an oath in
the Church, as brethren for life and death, to maintain the
tranquillity of the town, and to exterminate those who sought
to disturb it. 1 They were favored by the government, from
whom they received permission to carry arms, and we find them
throughout Romagna under the name of the Pacifici. From
this body was gradually constituted a kind of plebeian magis-
tracy. Adherents of government might also be found among

10 Ghisilieri : " Siccome il popolo dis- 146, gives us their formula founded on

unito facilmente si domina, cosi dif- the text: " Blessed are the peace-

ficilmente si regge quando troppo makers, for they shall be called the

unito." (See the text.) children of God." From this their name

1 They were not unlike the Herman- in other towns may have been derived,
dad. Amiani, " Memorie di Fano," ii.

272 RANKE

the free peasants; the Manbelli, for example, attached them-
selves to the court of the legate; they arrested banditti, and
acted as wardens of the frontiers, a service that procured them
increased estimation among the neighboring clans. 2 Local
jealousies, the contests arising between cities and the surround-
ing villages, with various other internal differences, all con-
tributed to increase the power of the government.

Here, then, in place of that respect for law, good order, and
stability, which, judging form its theory only, we should have
expected this constitution of the State to produce, we find the
turbulent strife of factions, intervention of the government so
long as these remained at variance, reaction and opposition of
the municipalities when they are again united ; violence acting
in support of the law, violence opposed to the law ; every man
trying to what extent he might rebel with impunity.

Immediately after the accession of Leo X, the Florentines,
who had obtained a large share in the administration, exercised
the rights of the Curia with the most oppressive violence.
Deputations from the cities were seen to arrive in Rome, one
after another, entreating relief from their burdens. Ravenna
declared itself prepared to surrender to the Turks, rather than
endure the continuance of such a system. 3 During vacancies of
the pontificate, it frequently happened that the ancient feudal
lords would return to power, and were not expelled by the new
Pope without considerable difficulty. The cities, on the other
hand, dreaded the being alienated from the Papal See. A car-
dinal, a connection of the Pope, or perhaps some neighboring
prince, would occasionally offer a sum of money to the
" camera," for the right of governing one or other of these
towns. Aware of this, the towns, on their part, had agents
and envoys at Rome, whose office it was to discover all proj-
ects of this sort on the instant of their formation, and to
interpose for their defeat; in this they were most frequently
successful; they were, however, sometimes compelled to em-

* According to the " Relatione della Marino Zorzi, " Relatione of 1517 ":

Romagna," they also called themselves " The country of Romagna is in great

" men of Sciato," from their dwelling- commotion, little justice is done there:

place. " Men," says the same, " who I who speak, have seen as many as ten

made themselves much respected, they deputations going to Cardinal Medici,

are Guelfs, and the Court of Romagna lamenting the state of things there;

found them very useful, particularly in and, above all, loudly bewailing the

capturing banditti, and preventing the lawless conduct of their rulers."
cattle from being carried off from the
mountains. "

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 273

ploy force against the papal authorities, and even against the
pontiff's troops. In the history of nearly all these towns are
found instances of very determined insubordination. It once
happened in Faenza that the citizens had a regular battle with
the Swiss guards of Leo X. This was in the summer of 1521.
They fought furiously in the streets, and the Swiss had suc-
ceeded in gathering themselves into one body on the market-
place (piazza) ; but the townsmen having barricaded all the
avenues leading from it, the Swiss were content to depart
quietly, since they could do so unmolested, when one of the
barriers had been removed. The anniversary of this day was
long afterward celebrated in Faenza with religious solemnities
and rejoicings.* Jesi, again, though by no means a town of
importance, had yet courage to attack the vice-governor in his
palace, on the twenty-fifth of November, 1528. He had de-
manded certain marks of honor, which the inhabitants refused.
The peasants united themselves to the citizens, they took into
their pay a hundred Albanians who chanced to be in the neigh-
borhood, and drove the vice-governor, with his followers, from
the town. The chronicler of Jesi, in other respects a most de-
vout Catholic, relates this fact with infinite complacency. " My
native town," says he, " now seeing herself restored to her
primitive freedom, resolved solemnly to celebrate the an-
niversary of this day, at the public expense." 5

But other results were sure to proceed from these acts of
violence ; new oppressions for example, punishments, and closer
restrictions. All such occasions were gladly seized by the gov-
ernment, as affording a pretext for depriving the towns that
still retained any efficient part of their ancient independence, of
its last traces, and reducing them to entire subjection.

Of this we have remarkable examples in the histories of
Ancona and Perugia.

From Ancona the pontiffs received a very small annual
tribute only, as a mere recognition of their sovereignty. The
insufficiency of this became all the more apparent as the town
advanced in riches and prosperity. The revenues of Ancona
were estimated by the court at 50,000 scudi, and it was found
to be intolerable that the local nobility should divide so large

*Tonduzzi, "Historic di Faenza," p. antichissima Citta di Jesi"; Jesi, 1744,
609. p. 256.

* Baldassini, " Memorie istoriche dell*

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a sum among themselves. It chanced that the city not only
refused the payment of new imposts, but also took forcible
possession of a castle to which it had claims. This occasioned
a violent misunderstanding. The mode of asserting their rights
sometimes adopted by governments in that day is worthy of
notice. The papal officers drove off the cattle from the march
of Ancona, by the way of levying the new taxes. This they
called making reprisals.

But Clement VII was not content with these "reprisals/*
He waited only for a favorable opportunity to make himself
really master of Ancona, and this he made no scruple of em-
ploying artifice to bring about.

Declaring that the Turkish power, emboldened by its recent
successes in Egypt and Rhodes, and the extent of its influence
in the Mediterranean, might be daily expected to attack Italy,
he caused a fortress to be erected in Ancona. Many Turkish
ships were constantly at anchor off Ancona, and the pontiff
expressed extreme apprehension for its safety, defenceless as it
was alleging this as the only motive for raising the fortress.
He sent Antonio Sangallo to construct the works, which pro-
ceeded with excessive rapidity, and a small garrison soon after
appeared to take possession. This was the moment that
Clement had awaited : matters having arrived so far, the gov-
ernor of the march, Monsignore Bernardino della Barba, who,
though a priest, was a man of martial character, arrived before
Ancona one morning in September of 1562, with an imposing
force which the jealousy of the neighboring cities had supplied
to him. Having seized one of the gates, he marched to the
market-place and drew up his troops before the palace. Suspect-
ing no evil, the Anziani, but recently chosen by lot, were peace-
ably abiding here, with the badges of the supreme dignity around
them ; Delia Barba entered with his escort of officers, and with
little ceremony informed them that " the Pope had determined
to take the uncontrolled government of Ancona into his own
hands." There was no possibility of opposing effectual re-
sistance, for though the younger nobles hastily gathered a few
bands of devoted adherents from the neighboring villages, the
elders, perceiving that the papal troops were prepared by their
new fortifications for every emergency, refused to expose the
city to devastation and ruin : they submitted, therefore, to what
they saw was unavoidable.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 275

The Anziani vacated the palace, and immediately after ap-
peared the new legate, Benedetto degli Accolti, from whom
the Camera Apostolica had received promise of twenty thou-
sand scudi annually for the right of government in Ancona.

And now its position was changed entirely: all arms were
required to be surrendered, and sixty-four of the principal
nobles were banished; the magistracy was placed in different
hands ; portions of the administration were entrusted to per-
sons who were not noble, and to the inhabitants of the districts
surrounding. The old statutes were no longer suffered to form
the rule of government.

Woe to him who ventured to deviate from the new regula-
tions. Some of the principal nobles incurred the suspicion of
conspiracy they were instantly seized, condemned, and be-
headed. On the following day a carpet was spread in the
market-place ; on this were laid the bodies, each with a burn-
ing torch beside it ; and thus they remained through the whole
day.

The inhabitants of Ancona were indeed relieved by Paul
III from some portion of the severe restrictions they at first
suffered, but their subjection was none the less complete ; their
former independence he was by no means inclined to restore. 6

This pontiff was, in fact, more disposed to fix than to re-
move the fetters of the conquered cities in most instances, as
for example in that of Perugia, for whose subjugation he en-
ployed that same Bernardino della Barba.

The price of salt being doubled by Paul III, the people of
Perugia declared that they were justified by their privileges
in refusing to pay it. For this the Pope excommunicated
them ; and the citizens, assembling in the churches, elected a
magistracy of " twenty-five defenders." They laid the keys of
their town before a crucifix in the market-place, and both sides
took up arms.

A general commotion was excited by the revolt of so im-
portant a city, and very grave consequences would doubtless
have ensued had there been war in any other part of Italy ; but
as all was tranquil, the assistance on which the inhabitants had
calculated from surrounding States could not be rendered.

Accordingly, when Pier Luigi Farnese appeared before the

Sarancinelli, " Notizie istoriche della Citta d' Ancona," Roma, 1675, ii. xi. p. 335,

276 RANKE

town with an army of 10,000 Italians and 3,000 Spaniards,
Perugia, though possessing considerable power, had yet not
wherewith to oppose a force so considerable. The govern-
ment of the twenty-five, too, was rather distinguished by vio-
lence and tyranny than by prudence and careful measures for
the defence of the town; they did not even provide money to
pay the troops brought to their aid by a member of the Baglione
family. Ascanio Colonna, who also resisted the same impost,
was their only ally, and he confined himself to driving off cattle
from the domains of the Church, nor could he be prevailed on to
afford a more effectual assistance.

Thus Perugia, after a brief enjoyment of liberty, was again
reduced to subjection, and surrendered on the third of June,
1540. Clothed in long mourning dresses, with ropes round
their necks, the deputies of the city presented themselves be-
neath the portico of St. Peter, and kneeling at the feet of the
pontiff, entreated his pardon.

This was not refused; but their liberties were entirely de-
stroyed, and all their rights and privileges repealed.

And now Bernardino della Barba arrived in Perugia, and
dealt with that city as he had done with Ancona. The in-
habitants were compelled to deliver up their arms ; the chains
with which they had been accustomed to close their streets
were taken away ; the houses of the " twenty-five," who had
themselves escaped in time, were razed to the ground, and on
the site of that inhabited by the Baglioni a fortress was con-
structed. The citizens were obliged to pay the expense of all.
A chief magistrate was now appointed, whose name sufficiently
denotes the character of his duties; -he was called "the con-
servator of ecclesiastical obedience." The ancient title of
" prior " was, indeed, restored to the functionary by a sub-
sequent pontiff, but the restitution of its former powers did not
accompany it. 7

By the same force that had subjugated Perugia, Ascanio
Colonna was also put down and expelled from all his strong-
holds.

These repeated and successful achievements effected an im-
mense augmentation of the papal authority in the States of the

7 Mariotti, " Memorie istoriche civili authentic and minute accounts of these
ed ecclesiastiche della Citta di Perugia events, vol. i. p. 113-160, and again re-
c suo contado," Perugia, 1806, gives us fers to them on p. 634.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 877

Church neither city nor baron dared now presume to oppose
it. The independent municipalities had submitted one after
another, and the Roman Court had at length drawn the entire
resources of the country into its own hands, to be disposed of
for the furtherance of its own purposes.

Let us now examine the manner in which these resources
were administered.

Section II. Finances

In the first instance we must proceed to make ourselves
acquainted with the system of the papal finances, and the
rather as this system is important, not only as regards the
Roman States, but also because of the example furnished by it
to all Europe.

We have first to observe that the system of exchanges
adopted in the Middle Ages originated chiefly in the nature of
the papal revenues, which, due from all parts of the world,
were to be transmitted to the Curia from every separate coun-
try : but it is equally worthy of remark, that the system of na-
tional debt by which we are even now enveloped, and which
maintains so important an influence on the operations of com-
merce, was first fully developed in the States of the Church.

There has doubtless been justice in the complaints raised
against the exactions of Rome during the fifteenth century,
but it is also true that of the proceeds a small part only
passed into the hands of the Pope. Pius II enjoyed the obe-
dience of all Europe, yet he once suffered so extreme a dearth
of money that he was forced to restrict his household and him-
self to one meal a day! The 200,000 ducats required
for the Turkish war that he was meditating had to be bor-
rowed; and those petty expedients, adopted by many popes,
of demanding from a prince, a bishop, or a grand-master, who
might have some cause before the court, the gift of a gold cup
filled with ducats, or a present of rich furs, 1 only show the de-
pressed and wretched condition of their resources.

There is no doubt that money reached the court, if not in

1 Voigt, " Voices from Rome respect- lesia vor und seit dem Jahre 1740," will

ing the papal court in the fifteenth find there, ii. 483, a satire of the fifteenth

century," in F. von Raumer's " His- century, not badly done, on this mon-

torichen Taschenbuch for 1833," con- strous system of present-making: " The

tains numerous remarks on this subject. passion of our lord the Pope, according

Whoever has access to the work, B Si- to the mark of gold and silver."

278 RANKE

those extravagant sums that many have believed, yet to a very
considerable extent ; but, arrived so far. it was at once dispersed
through channels innumerable. A large portion, for example,
was absorbed by the revenues of those offices, which it had long
been the practice to dispose of by sale. The income of these
offices was principally derived from perquisites and fees, and
but slight restraint was imposed on the exactions of those who
had purchased them. The price at which each of these appoint-
ments was resold as it became vacant, was all that recurred to
the papal coffers.

If then the pontiff desired to undertake any costly enter-
prise, he was compelled to find some extraordinary expedient
for procuring the means; jubilees and indulgences were thus
most welcome auxiliaries; incited by these, the piety of the
faithful secured him an ample resource. He had also another
mode of gaining supplies at his need. He had but to create
new offices, when the sale of these was sure to afford him a
respectable amount. This was an extraordinary sort of loan,
and one for which the Church paid heavy interest, which had
to be provided for by an increase of the imposts. The prac-
tice had long prevailed; an authentic register existing in the
house of Chigi enumerates nearly six hundred and fifty sal-
able offices, of which the income amounted to about one hun-
dred thousand scudi. 2 These were for the most part, procura-
tors, registrars, abbreviators, correctors, notaries, secretaries,
nay, even messengers and doorkeepers, whose increased num-
bers were continually raising the expense of a bull or brief.
It was indeed for that very purpose that their offices took the
particular form assigned them, as to the duties connected with
each, these were little or nothing.

It will be readily imagined that succeeding popes, involved
as they were in the politics of Europe, would eagerly have
recourse to so convenient a method of replenishing their coffers.
Sixtus IV, proceeding by the advice of his prothonotary, Si-
nolfo, founded whole colleges, the places in which he sold for a
few hundred ducats each ; most curious are the titles that some
of them bore. There was the college, for example, " of the hun-

" Gli ufficiipiu antichi," MS. Biblio- there in the assertion of Onuphrius

theca Chigi, No. ii. 50. There are 651 Panvinius, that Sixtus IV was the first

offices and 98,340 scudi. before the crea- pontiff who sold them,
tion of Sixtus IV. So little truth \B

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 279

dred Janissaries, " who were nominated for 100,000 ducats, and
whose appointments were then paid from the profits arising
on bulls and the proceeds of the first-fruits (annates). 3 " No-
tariats " and " prothonotariats," the office of procurator to the
" camera " ; everything, in short, was sold under Sixtus IV,
who carried this system to such an extent that he has frequently
been called its founder, nor indeed was it completely organized
until his time. A new college of twenty-six secretaries, with a
complement of other officers, was founded by Innocent VIII for
60,000 scudi; the embarrassments of this pontiff were such
that he was compelled to give even the papal tiara as security.
Alexander VI named eighty writers of briefs, each of whom
paid 750 scudi for his place; Julius II added one hundred
" writers of archives " at the same price.

Meanwhile the sources whence all these hundreds of officers
drew their emoluments were not inexhaustible. We have seen
how almost all Christian States made efforts, and very fre-
quently successful efforts, to limit the encroachments of the
Papal Court. This happened, too, precisely when the popes
had been led into a vast expenditure by the magnitude of their
undertakings.

This disposition of other countries made the circumstance of
their obtaining so great an extension of their own territories
extremely fortunate ; for though their government was in the
first instance very mild, they nevertheless drew large sums from
these sources, and we cannot be surprised at finding this income
administered in the same manner as the ecclesiastical funds.

When Julius II secured the salaries of the above-mentioned
" writers," by an assignation on the annates, he added a further
security charged on the customs and exchequer. He also in-
stituted a college of 141 presidents of the Annona, all of whom
were paid from the public chest ; he made the surplus revenue
of the country serve as a basis for contracting loans. The most
distinguishing characteristic of this pope in the eyes of foreign
powers was that he could raise what money he pleased; that
was, in a certain measure, the foundation of his policy.

Still more urgent were the demands of Leo X than those

8 There were also Stradiotcs and plete." Onuphrius Paavinius. Accord-
Mamelukes, who were, however, after- ing to the register (" Ufficii Antichi "),
ward suppressed. " Cautioners, without this creation appears to have brought
whom no papers were considered com- only 40,000 ducats.

2 8o RANKE

of Julius had been; he was equally involved in war, was
much less provident, and more dependent on the political aid
of his family, which last required to be paid for. " That the
Pope should ever keep a thousand ducats together was a thing
as impossiole," says Francesco Vettori of this pontiff, " as that
a stone should of its own will take to flying through the air."
He has been reproached with having spent the revenues of three
popes : that of his predecessor, from whom he inherited a con-
siderable treasure, his own, and that of his successor, to whom
he bequeathed a mass of debt. Not content with selling exist-
ing offices, his extraordinary nomination of cardinals brought
him in important sums; and having once got on the beaten
path of establishing offices for no other purpose than to sell
them, he proceeded along it with the most pertinacious bold-
ness. More than 1,200 of these appointments were created
by him alone, 4 the one point in which all these portionarii,
scudieri, cavalieri di S. Pietro, and whatever other strange name
they bore, agreed, was this, that all paid a sum of money for
their offices, and drew the interest of it for life by virtue of
these titles. Their appointment had no other signification.
Some slight prerogative was sometimes conferred in addition
to the interest. It was, in fact, a kind of life annuity; from
such sales Leo is said to have drawn 900,000 scudi.

The interest was indeed extremely high, amounting annually
to an eighth of the capital, 5 which was to a certain extent pro-
vided for by a slight increase of ecclesiastical dues, but the
larger portion came from the newly conquered provinces. This
latter part of the general sum proceeded, first from the surplus
funds of the municipal administrations, which were paid into
the coffers of the State, next from the alum works, and then
from the salt trade. The remainder was supplied by the Roman
custom-house. The number of salable appointments was in-
creased by Leo to 2,150, the annual income of which was esti-
mated at 320,000 scudi, and was a burden both on Church and
State.

But however blamable this prodigality might in itself have

* " Sommario di la Relation di M. for in every man's business shall come

Minio, i*2o." " He never has ready the hand of a Florentine."

money; he is too liberal, and cannot 6 The 612 portionarii di ripa added

keep any; then the Florentines, who to the college of presidents paid 286,200

either are or pretend to be" his relations, ducats, receiving yearly 38,816. The 400

will not leave him a penny, and those cavaliers of St. Peter paid 400,000, and

Florentines are greatly detested at court, annually received 50,610 ducats.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 281

been, yet Leo was undoubtedly confirmed in it, by perceiving
that for the time its effects were rather beneficial than injurious.
If Rome at this period acquired so unusual an elevation and
prosperity, it must be attributed principally to the monetary
system we have described. In no city could the capitalist of
that day invest his money to so much advantage ; the number
of new appointments, the vacancies and reappointments, kept
up a continual movement in the Curia ; so that each man could
easily find his opportunity for advancement.

By these operations the necessity for imposing new taxes
was also avoided. The States of the Church were unquestion-
ably less burdened with imposts at that moment than any other ;
and Rome, as compared with other cities, was equally fortunate
as to amount of taxation. It had long before been represented
to the Romans, that, whereas other cities were loaded by their
lords with heavy loans and vexatious imposts, they on their
parts were rather made rich by their sovereign the Pope. A
secretary of Clement VII who wrote an account of the conclave
by which that pontiff was elected, expresses his surprise that
the Roman people were not more devoted to the Holy See, the
lightness of their burdens considered. " From Terracina to
Placentia," he exclaims, " the Church is in possession of a broad
and fair portion of Italy, her dominion extends far and wide,
yet all those flourishing lands and rich cities, which under any
other sovereign would be burdened for the support of large
armies, pay no more to the popes than just so much as will
meet the expense of their own administration." 6

But this state of things could last only, as is evident, so
long as there was surplus money in the public coffers. Leo
himself did not succeed in funding all his loans; he had bor-
rowed 32,000 scudi from Aluise Gaddi, and 200,000 from
Bernardo Bini. Salviati, Ridolfi, and others, of his servants
and connections, had done their utmost to procure him money ;
their hopes of repayment and of future rewards were founded

Vianesius Albergatus, " Commentarii 1517, the united revenues of Perugia,

Rerum sui temporis " (the description Spoleto, the March and Romagna, ara

of the conclave rather) : " opulentissimi set down at 120,000 ducats, after a cal-

populi et ditissima urbes, quae, si alte- culation by Francesco Armellino. The

rius ditionis essent, suis vectigalibus half of this went into the papal treasury,

vel magnos exercitus alere possent, Ro- " Di quel somma la mita e per terra

mano pontifici vix tantum tributum per pagar i legati et altri officn, e altra

pendunt, quantum in praetorum magis- mita ha il papa." Unfortunately there

tratuumque expensam sufficere queat " are numerous errors in the copy of this

(see text). In the " Relation of Zorzi," report as given by Sanuto.

282 RANKE

on his known liberality, and on his comparatively early years.
By his sudden death they were all utterly ruined.

The financial operations of Leo X left his dominions in a
state of exhaustion, the consequences of which were very soon
felt by his successor.

The universal hatred drawn upon himself by the unlucky
Adrian, was indeed caused in a great measure by the direct
taxes he was compelled to impose. He found himself in the
most urgent need, and laid the tax of half a ducat on each
hearth ; 7 this was not much, but was most unpopular with
the Romans, to whom demands of this character were almost
unknown.

Neither could Clement VII avoid the imposition of new
taxes ; he chose indirect ones : yet much complaint arose against
Cardinal Armellino, who was believed to have invented them.
The increased duties levied at the city gates, on articles of daily
necessity, occasioned great dissatisfaction, but all were obliged
to endure them. 8 Affairs were indeed in such a condition that
much more important supplies than these were demanded, and
could not be dispensed with.

Up to this time, loans had been raised under the form of
salable offices ; an approximation to the system of direct loans
was first made by Clement VII on the decisive occasion of his
armament against Charles V in 1526.

In the method by offices, the capital was lost on the death
of the purchaser, unless his family could make interest to re-
cover it from the treasury; but Clement now raised a capital
of 200,000 ducats, which did not yield so high an interest as
the places, though still a large one, ten per cent, namely;
but which continued the property of the heirs. This is a
monte non vacdbile, the monte delta fede. The interest was
charged on the customs, and was further secured by a provision
that each creditor should receive a share in the direction of the
dogana (customs). The old form was not however entirely
abandoned, these monti being also incorporated as were colleges.
There were certain contractors for the loan, who paid the sum

7 " Hieronymo Negro a Marc Antonio new schemes for raising money: he has
Micheli, 7 April, 1523," " Lettere di made new taxes, so that if a man do
Principi," i. p. 114. but bring a few thrushes or other eat-

8 Foscari, Relatione," 1526: "There ables for sale, he must pay something:
is some murmuring in Rome on account this tax brings in 2,500 ducats."

of Cardinal Armellino, who has devised

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

required to the treasury, and then divided it in shares among
the members of the college.

And now are we to say that these creditors of the State, in
so far as they had a lien on the general income, or the produce
of the common labor, had also an indirect share in the govern-
ment? It was certainly so understood in Rome, and without
the form of such a participation, no man would lend his
money.

But this, as we shall see, was the commencement of widely
extensive financial operations.

These were entered into with a certain moderation by Paul
III. He contented himself with diminishing the interest of
the monti established by Clement, and being successful in mak-
ing new assignments of it, he increased the capital by nearly
one-half. He establish no new monti, but for this moderation
he was amply indemnified by the creation of 600 new places.
The measures by which this pontiff rendered himself memora-
ble in the history of papal finance, were of a somewhat different
character.

The commotions occasioned by his increase of the price of
salt, we have already noticed. This source of income he re-
linquished; but in its stead he imposed the direct tax of the
sussidio, solemnly promising, however, that it should not be
permanent. It is this impost that was levied in so many of
the southern States at that time. In Spain it was called the
servicio, in Naples the donativo, in Milan the mensuale, and in
other places it was known under different titles. It was orig-
inally introduced into the States of the Church for three years
only, and was fixed at 300,000 scudi. The contribution of
each province was determined in Rome ; the provincial parlia-
ments then assembled to divide this sum among the several
towns, and the local governments again apportioned it be-
tween themselves, and the surrounding districts. No one was
exempt. All the lay subjects of the Roman Church, what-
ever their privileges and immunities, marquises, barons, feudal
tenants, and public officers not excepted, are enjoined by the bull
for this tax to contribute their share of the burden.

Payment was nevertheless not made without urgent remoti-

Bullar. In the year 1537 he declares State as city, for she has not
to the French ambassador, " the scanti- crowns a year really disposable."
ness of the Church's revenues, as well

Popes (Vol. I). 14

284 RANKE

strance, more especially when it was found that this sussidio
was continually renewed from one period of three years to
another; it was indeed never formally repealed, but neither
was it ever perfectly collected. 10 Bologna had been rated at
30,000 scudi, but her inhabitants had the foresight to com-
pound for perpetual freedom from this impost by the pay-
ment of one large sum. Parma and Placentia were alienated,
and did not pay; of what took place in other cities, that of
Fano will afford us an example: this town refused for some
time to pay the share apportioned to it, under pretext of being
rated too highly, and Paul agreed for once to remit the arrears,
but on condition that the full amount should be applied to
repair the defences of the city. Subsequently too they were
always allowed a third of their contingent for the same purpose.
The descendants of these men nevertheless continued to declare
that they were rated too highly ; the rural populations also ut-
tered incessant outcries on the large share the towns imposed on
their shoulders ; these last sought to emancipate themselves from
the rule of the town council; and as this body asserted its
supremacy, they would fain have had recourse to the protection
of the Duke of Urbino. But we should be led too far from our
subject were we to pursue these local disputes into their details ;
what we have said will suffice to explain the fact, that little
more than half of the sum fixed on for the sussidio was ever
realized. 1 In the year 1560, the whole proceeds did not surpass
165,000 scudi.

But, notwithstanding all these things, the income of the
Roman States was largely increased by this pontiff. Under
Julius II the revenues were valued at 350,000 scudi; under
Leo, at 420,000; under Clement VII, in the year 1526, at 500,-
ooo ; immediately after the death of Paul III, we gather, from
authentic statements procured from the Roman treasury by the
Venetian ambassador, Dandolo, that the amount had risen to
706,473 scudi.

His successors were, nevertheless, but slightly benefited by

10 Bullar, " Decens esse censemus," cities, universities, and individuals, as

September 5, 1543: Bullar, " Cocq." also to lands, towns, and other places

iv. i. 225. in our ecclesiastical territories; and be-

1 Bull of Paul IV, " Cupientes In- cause of the many remissions and dona-

demnitati," April 15, 1559; Bullar, tions made from the said subsidy, we

*^Cocq." iv. i. 225: " Because of the va- have had brought to our treasury but

rious exceptions, privileges, and im- barely half the gross sum of the 300,000

munities from the payment of the sub- crowns demanded."
sidy, granted to divers communities,

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 285

this rise. Julius III, in one of his instructions, complains that
his predecessor had alienated the entire revenue. He must cer-
tainly have meant to except the subsidy, which being, nominally
at least, to be paid but for three years, could not of course be
alienated ; but he furthermore bewails that a floating debt of
500,000 scudi had also been bequeathed to him by the same
pontiff. 2

But as Julian III was not withheld by this state of his affairs
from plunging into wars with the French and the Farnesi ; the
utmost embarrassment was inevitable, whether for himself or
the State. The imperialists paid him what, for those times, was
a very large sum ; but his letters are, nevertheless, filled with
complaints. " He had hoped to receive 100,000 crowns from
Ancona, and has not received half as many pence. Instead of
120,000 scudi from Bologna he has had 50,000 only. The
money-changers of Genoa and Lucca had made promises, but
had withdrawn them before they were well spoken. Whoever
possessed a groat (carline) kept it safe in his fingers, and
would hear nothing of speculating with it." 3

The Pope, desiring to keep an army on foot, was compelled
to the adoption of more effectual measures, and resolved on
founding a new monte. The manner in which he proceeded on
this occasion became the model which has been almost invariably
pursued in later times.

A new impost of two carlines was laid on every rubbio of
flour, and this produced him, when all deductions had been
made, the sum of 30,000 scudi, which was appropriated
to the payment of interest on a capital raised forthwith:
thus did he originate the monte delta farina. It will be re-
marked, that this operation is closely analogous to the measures
of finance adopted in earlier times. New ecclesiastical offices
had on previous occasions been created, and their salaries made
payable on the increasing revenues of the Curia, merely that
they might be sold to procure the sum required by the demand
of the moment. On this occasion the revenues of the State
were increased by a new tax ; but this was employed solely as
interest for a large capital that could not otherwise have been
raised. This practice has been continued by all succeeding

* " Instrutti9ne per voi Monsignore " II Papa, a Giovamb. di Monte, a

d' Imola, ultimo di Marro, 1551, In- April, 1552."
form. Polit. torn. xii.

286 RANKE

pontiffs. These monti were sometimes non vacabili, like the
Clementine; at other times they were vacabili, the interest
ceasing, that is, on the death of the lender, but then the percent-
age was much higher, and the collegiate character of the monte
brought the plan nearer to that of , salable offices. Paul IV
established the monte novennale de' frati, founding it on a tax
which he imposed on the regular monastic orders. Pius IV
levied half a farthing (a quattrino) on every pound of meat,
applying the produce to the foundation of the monte pio non
vacabile, which brought him in about 170,000 scudi. Pius V
added a second quattrino on the pound of meat, and on this he
established the monte lega.

The general importance of the Roman States becomes intel-
ligible to our perceptions in proportion as we keep the develop-
ment of this system clearly in view : by what class of necessities
were the popes compelled to a mode of raising loans that
burdened their territories with so direct a weight of imposts?
We reply, that these necessities arose chiefly from the demands
of Catholicism. The time had passed by when the purposes of
the popes could be purely political; those of an ecclesiastical
character could alone be now attempted, with any hope of suc-
cess. The desire to come in aid of Catholic sovereigns, in their
struggle with the Protestants, or in their undertakings against
the Turks, was now almost invariably the immediate induce-
ment to new financial operations. The monte lega received that
name from Pius V, because the capital derived from it was ap-
plied to the war against the Turks, undertaken by that pontiff in
his " league " with Spain and Venice. This becomes ever
more and more observable; the Papal States were affected in
their finances by almost every commotion arising in Europe.
There were few of these occasions when the popes could escape
the necessity of exacting new efforts from their own subjects
for the maintenance of ecclesiastical interests. Thus was the
possession of extensive dominions of vital importance to the
ecclesiastical prosperity of the popes.

Not that they were content with the produce of their monti;
they still continued the former practices. New offices, or
cavalierate, were still created, with more or less of privilege
attached ; whether it was that the salaries were provided for as
before, by new imposts, or that the depression which then took

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 287

place in tKe value of money caused larger amounts to be paid
into the treasury. 4

It resulted from this, that the revenues of the papacy, except-
ing only a short period of diminution, occasioned by the war
under Paul IV, were continually rising in nominal value ; even
during his life they increased again to 700,000 scudi. Under
Pius they were estimated at 898,482 scudi. Paul Tiepolo is
surprised to find them, after an absence of five years, augmented
by 200,000 scudi, and risen to an amount of 1,100,000 scudi.
Yet the popes did not, in effect, receive a larger income. This,
though an extraordinary circumstance, was yet a necessary
consequence of the system ; for, as the taxes increased so did
the alienations. Julius III is said to have alienated 54,000;
Paul IV, 45,960 ; and Pius IV, who found all means good that
gave him money, is calculated to have disposed of 182,550 scudi.
This latter pontiff increased the number of salable offices to
3,500, and this did not include the monti, which were not con-
sidered to belong to the offices. 5 He raised the amount of the
alienated funds to 450,000 scudi, and this now increased con-
tinually. In the year 1576 it was 530,000 scudi; the increase
of the revenue had been also large, but the half of its total
amount was, nevertheless, absorbed by these alienations. 6 The
registers of the papal revenues present an extraordinary aspect
in these times. The contracts made with the farmers of the
revenue were generally for a period of nine years; after spec-
ifying, article by article, the sums these men had agreed to pay,
the registers also state what portion of each is alienated. In
1576, and the following years, the Roman customs, for exam-
ple, brought in the considerable amount of 133,000 scudi, but of
this 111,170 were alienated; other deductions having also to be
made, the treasury received in effect 13,000 only. There were
some taxes, as on corn, meat, and wine, of which the whole were
swallowed up by the monti. From many provincial chests,
called treasuries, which had also to provide for the exigencies
of the provinces, not one sixpence reached the papal coffers;

* Thus about 1580 many of these Tiepolo calculates that in addition to
" luoghi di monte " stood at 100, instead 100,000 scudi for salaries, 270,000 were
of 130; the interest of the " vacabili " expended on fortifications and offices of
was reduced from 14 to 9, so that on legates; the Pope had 200,000 left. He
the whole a great saving was effected. tells us that of 1,800,000 received under

" Lista degli Uffici della Corte Ro- pretext of the Turkish war, 340,000 only
mana, 1560," Bibl. Chigi, N. ii. 50. Many were applied to that purpose.

other separate lists of different years.

palmela

288 RANKE

the March and Camerino may serve as examples of this fact,
yet the sussidio was often applied to the same purpose; nay,
so heavy were the incumbrances laid on the alum-works of
Tolfa, which had usually been a valuable source of income, that
their accounts displayed a deficiency of 2,000 scudi. 7

The personal expenses of the pontiff and those of his court,
were principally charged on the dataria, which had two dis-
tinct sources of income; the one was more strictly ecclesias-
tical, as arising from compositions, fixed payments for which
the datary permitted regresses, " reservations," and various
other clerical irregularities^ in the course of translation from
one benefice to another. The rigid severity of Paul IV had
greatly diminished this source of profit, but its value was
gradually restored. The other part of the dataria's income pro-
ceeded from the appointments to vacant cavalierate, salable
offices, and places in the monti vacabili, it increased as the
number of these appointments was augmented, and was, as is
obvious, of a more secular nature than the portion first de-
scribed. 8 About the year 1570, however, both united did but
just suffice to meet the daily expenses of the papal household.

The position of things had become greatly changed by these
financial proceedings of the Roman States, which, from hav-
ing been famed as the least burdened in Italy, was now more
heavily taxed than most of them. 9 Loud complaints were
heard from all quarters ; of the ancient municipal independence
scarcely anything remained; the administration gradually be-
came more uniform. In former times the rights of govern-
ment had frequently been ceded to some favorite cardinal,
or other prelate, who made no inconsiderable profit from them.
The compatriots of popes, as, for example, the Florentines
under the Medici, the Neapolitans under Paul IV, and the
Milanese under Pius IV, had in turn held possession of the
best places. Pius V put an end to this practice. The gov-
ernments thus committed to favorites had not been adminis-

7 For example, " Entrata della Rever- Paolo Tiepolo, " Relatione di Roma
enda Camera Apostolica sotto il Pon- in tempo di Pio IV. e Pio V., already
tificato di N. S. Gregorio XIII., fata remarks: "The incumbrances of the
nell' Anno 1576." MS. Gothana, No. Papal States are nearly insupportable,
219. being aggravated by various causes; no

8 According to Mocenigo, 1570, the da- further alienation of Church revenues is
taria had at one time yielded between possible; for all certain sources are al-
10,000 and 14,000 ducats per month. Un- ready alienated, and no one would ad-
der Paul IV the proceeds fell to 3,000 or vance money on those that are uncer-
4,000 ducats. tain.'

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 289

tered by them, but had always been deputed to some doctor of
laws, chosen for that purpose ; 10 these doctors, Pius V himself
appointed, appropriating to the treasury those advantages that
had previously accrued to the favorites. Everything pro-
ceeded more tranquilly and with better order ; in earlier times
a militia had been established, and 16,000 men enrolled. Pius
IV had besides maintained a body of light cavalry. Pius V
dispensed with both ; the cavalry he disbanded, and suffered the
militia to fall into disuse ; his whole armed force amounted to
less than 500 men, of whom 350, principally Swiss, were in
Rome. Had there not been still some need of protection along
the coast from the incursions of the Turks, the people might
have forgotten the use of arms. This population, once so war-
like, seemed now disposed to live in undisturbed peace. The
popes desired to rule their territory like a large domain, apply-
ing a certain portion of its rents to the expenses of their house-
hold, but disposing of the largest part in the service of the
Church exclusively.

In the pursuit of this design also, we shall see that they en-
countered no slight difficulty.

10 Tiepolo, ibid. : " Some legations or them were glad to receive the money,

governments were valued at 3,000, 4,000, and made a doctor perform the duties of

or perhaps 7,000 or more scudi per an- the office,
num ; but almost all those appointed to

THE TIMES OF GREGORY XIII AND SIXTUS IV

Section III. Gregory XIII

GREGORY XIII, Hugo Buoncompagno of Bologna, who
had raised himself to eminence as a jurist and in the
civil service, was cheerful and lively in disposition.
He had never married, but before the assumption of any cleri-
cal dignity he had a son born to him, of whom we shall hear
further. Later in life his habits became serious and regular;
not that he was at any time particularly scrupulous ; on the con-
trary, he displayed a certain dislike of all sanctimonious acer-
bity, and seemed more disposed to take Pius IV as an example
than his more immediate predecessor. 1 But in this pontiff was
exemplified the force of public opinion ; a hundred years earlier,
he would have governed at the most as did Innocent VIII. It
was now on the contrary made obvious, that even a man of his
dispositions could no longer resist the rigidly ecclesiastical
tendency of the times.

This tendency was maintained by a party in the court, whose
first object was to prevent it from declining. Jesuits,
Theatines, and their adherents, were its members ; those more
conspicuously active were Monsignori Frumento and Corniglia,
with the bold and fearless preacher Francesco Toledo, and the
datary Contarelli. Their influence over the Pope was acquired
all the more readily and preserved the more securely, from
the fact that they all acted in concert. They represented to
him that the high consideration enjoyed by his predecessor
had arisen principally from the severity of his personal
character and conduct; in all the letters that they read aloud
to him, the memory of Paul's holy life and virtues with the
fame of his reforms, was the subject principally dwelt on;
whatever was not to this effect they passed over. By thus

1 His reign was expected to be dif- ter." " Commentarii de rebus Gregorii
lerent from that of his predecessor: " of XIII." (MS. Bibl. Alb.)
a more conciliating and milder charac-

90

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 291

proceeding, they gave to the ambition of Gregory XIII a
character most thoroughly spiritual. 2

He had it greatly at heart to promote the son we have
mentioned, and to raise him to princely dignity. But at the
first act of favor he showed him, the naming him castellan
of St. Angelo and gonfaloniere of the Church, these rigorous
counsellors alarmed the conscience of the Pope; and during
the jubilee of 1575, they would not permit him to suffer the
presence of Giacomo (his son) in Rome. When this was
over, they did indeed allow him to return, but only because
the disappointment of the aspiring young man was injuriously
affecting his health. Gregory then caused him to marry, and
induced the republic of Venice to enrol him among its nobili?
he also prevailed on the King of Spain to nominate him general
of his hommes d'armes, not, however, relaxing the close restraint
in which he held him. But "on a certain occasion the young
man attempted the liberation of a college friend who had been
arrested, when his father again sent him into exile, and was
about to deprive him of all his offices ; this was prevented only
by the young wife, who threw herself at the pontiff's feet, and
at length obtained her husband's pardon. The time for more
ambitious hopes was however long since past.* Giacomo
Buoncompagno had never any very serious influence with his
father until the life of the latter was drawing to a close, nor
even then was it unlimited in state affairs of moment. 5 If any
one requested his intercession in these matters, his reply was
to shrug his shoulders, as one who would say, " How hopeless
is the case ! "

Being thus rigid in regard to his son, it will be manifest

* " Relatione della corte di Roma a was born before he had taken orders,

tempo di Gregorio XIII." (Bibl. Cor- suggested that the youth might be

sini, 714), February 20, 1574, is full of in- called ' Sr. Giacomo Boncompagno of

struction on this subject. Of the Pope's Bologna, closely connected with his

character the author says, " he has never holiness.' "

been either scrupulous or dissolute, and * Antonio Tiepolo, " Dispacci, Agosto,

regards all misconduct with displeas- Sett. 1576." In the year 1583, March 29,

ure." one of these papers remarks that Signer

* They were not a little puzzled for a Giacomo is not permitted to interfere in

description of his origin on this oc- matters of state.

casion, and it is thought creditable to 6 It is only in the latter part of the life

Venetian address that he was called of Gregory that this opinion of him is

simply "Signer Buoncompagno, nearly correct; it has, however, taken firm

related to his holiness." The evasion hold, and I find it again, for example,

was invented by Cardinal Como. The in the " Memoirs " of Richelieu: "He

affair being in discussion, the ambassa- was a mild-tempered and benevolent

dor asked the minister if Giacomo prince, and better as a man than as

should be called the son of his holiness. pope. It will be seen that this was

" His excellency then making many ex- only partially true,
cuses for his holiness, to whom this son

292 RANKE

that he was little likely to favor more distant relations. It
is true that he did raise two of his nephews to the cardinalate
(and Pius V had done as much), but when a third, encouraged
by their promotion, came to court with the hope of equal for-
tune, he was refused an audience, and commanded to quit Rome
within two days. The brother of Gregory had left his home,
and was on the road to see and enjoy the honor that had visited
his family, but arrived at Orvieto, he was met by a papal mes-
senger, who desired him to return. Tears rose to the old man's
eyes, and he was tempted to go yet a little further toward Rome ;
but, receiving a second intimation to desist, he obeyed it and
returned to Bologna. 6

These things suffice to show that this pontiff is not charge-
able with nepotism, or the advancing his own family to the
offence of the laws. On one occasion, when a newly appointed
cardinal declared that he should be ever grateful " to the family
and nephews of his holiness," Gregory struck the arms of the
chair he sat on with both hands, exclaiming, " Be thankful
rather to God and to the Holy See ! "

To this extent was he already influenced by the serious
tendency of the time. Not only did he seek to equal the piety
of demeanor 7 so lauded in Pius V, he even desired to surpass
it ; in the early years of his pontificate he read mass three times
a week, never omitting to do so on the Sundays : his life and
deportment were not only irreproachable but even exemplary.

There were certain duties of the papal office that no pontiff
ever performed with more zeal and propriety than Gregory
XIII. He had a list of all those men, of whatever country, who
were proper to the office of bishop; evinced an accurate
knowledge of the character and qualifications of all who were
proposed to his acceptance, and exercised the most anxious care
in the nomination to these important offices.

His most earnest endeavors were especially given to the se-
curing a strict system of ecclesiastical education. His liberality

The good man complained that the he tries not to imitate only, but to go

election of his brother was more in- beyond Pius V; he usually savs three

jurious than useful to him, since it masses in the week. He has taken great

compelled him to an expenditure which care of the churches, not only adorning

was beyond the allowance that Gregory them with new buildings, but he fills

granted him. them also by a large concourse of

7 " Seconda Relatione dell' Ambascia- priests at the performance of divine ser-

tore di Roma Clmo. M. Paolo Tiepolo, vice."
Cavre, 3 Maggio 1576: " " In religion

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 293

In assisting the progress of Jesuit colleges was almost without
bounds. He made rich presents to the house of the "professed "
in Rome, caused whole streets to be closed up, purchased
many buildings, and assigned a large income to aid the com-
pletion of the college in that form which we see it bear
even to our days. Twenty lecture-rooms, with 360 cells
for students, are enumerated in this building, which was
called " the Seminary of all Nations." Even on its first
foundation, measures were taken to make it clear that this col-
lege was meant to embrace the whole world twenty-five
speeches being pronounced in as many different languages, each
accompanied by a Latin interpretation. 8 The Collegium Ger-
manicum, which had been founded some years before, was fall-
ing into decay from want of means ; to this, also, Gregory gave
a palace, that of St. Apollinare, and added the revenues of San
Stefano on Monte Celio, together with the sum of 10,000
scudi, charged on the Camera Apostolica. He may indeed be
regarded as the true founder of this institution, whence, year
after year since his time, a whole host of champions for the
Catholic faith has been poured into Germany. He found means
to erect and endow an English college in Rome; he assisted
those of Vienna and Gratz from his private purse; and there
was not, perhaps, a single Jesuit school in the world which he
did not in some way contribute to support. Following the coun-
sels of the Bishop of Sitia, he also established a Greek college,
into which boys from thirteen to sixteen were admitted. And
not only were they received from countries already under
Christian rule, as Corfu and Candia, but also from Constan-
tinople, Salonichi, and the Morea. They had Greek instructors,
and were clothed in the kaftan and Venetian barret; they were
upheld in all Greek customs, and never permitted to forget
that it was in their native country they were preparing to act.
They retained their own rites 9 as well as language, and their
religious education was conducted according to those doctrines
of the council, and in those principles, whereon the Greek and
Latin churches were of one accord.

The reform of the calendar, accomplished by Pope Gregory
XIII, was another proof of that assiduous care which he ex-

8 " Dispaccio Donate, 13 Genn. 1582." up they may declare the truth to their

9 " Dispaccio Antonio Tiepolo, 16 Greek countrymen with affectionate
Marzo, 1577:" "So that when grown zeal."

294 RANKE

tended over the whole Catholic world. This had been greatly
desired by the Council of Trent, and it was rendered impera-
tively necessary by the displacement of the high festivals of the
Church from that relation to particular seasons of the year
which had been imposed on them by the decrees of councils.
All Catholic nations took part in this reform.

A Calabrian, else little known, Luigi Lilio, has gained him-
self immortal renown by the suggestion of the most efficient
method for overcoming the difficulty. All the universities,
among them the Spanish those of Salamanca and Alcala
were consulted as to his proposed plan; favorable opinions
came from all quarters. A commission was then appointed
in Rome (its most active and learned member being the Ger-
man Clavius). 10 By this body it was minutely examined and
finally decided on. The learned Cardinal Sirleto had exercised
the most important influence over the whole affair; it was
conducted with a certain degree of mystery, the calendar being
concealed from all, even from the ambassadors, until it had re-
ceived the approval of the different courts ; * Gregory then pro-
claimed it with great solemnity, vaunting this reform as a proof
of God's illimitable grace toward his Church. 2

The labors of this pontiff were, however, not always of so
peaceable a character; could he have decided the question,
that " league " by which the battle of Lepanto had been gained,
would never have been dissolved ; and it was a source of grief
to him when the Venetians made peace with the Turks, and
when Philip of Spain afterward agreed to a truce with them.
A wide field was afforded to his exertions by the disturbances
in France and the Netherlands, as also by the collision of parties
in Germany. He was inexhaustible in expedients for the de-
struction of Protestantism ; and the insurrections that Elizabeth
had to contend with in Ireland were almost all excited or en-
couraged by Rome. The Pope made no secret of his desire to
bring about a general combination against England : year after
year was this subject pressed by his nuncios on Philip II and
the house of Guise. A connected history of all these labors and
projects would be no uninteresting occupation for him who

w Erythraeus: " Wherein Christopher " 2 Giugno, 1582." He praises the cardi-

Clavius obtained the chief place." nal as 'a man of really great learning."

1 " Dispaccio Donate, 20 Dec. 1581 ; " * Bull of February 13, 1582, 12. Bullar,

" Cocq." iv. 4, 10.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 295

should undertake it : they were for the most part unknown to
those whose destruction they were intended to accomplish, but
did at length produce the great enterprise of the Armada.
With the most eager zeal were all the proceedings forwarded by
Gregory, and it was to his connection with the Guises that the
French league, so dangerous to Henry III and IV, is indebted
for its origin.

We have seen that this pontiff did not load the State too
heavily for the benefit of his family, as so many of his pred-
ecessors had done, but the comprehensive and costly works
in which he constantly engaged compelled him to lay his
hand with equal weight on the public revenues. Even for the
expedition of Stukeley, though comparatively insignificant, and
which terminated so unhappily in Africa, he expended a very
large sum. To Charles IX he once sent 400,000 ducats, the
proceeds of a direct impost levied on the towns of the Roman
States; he also frequently aided the Emperor and the grand-
master of Malta with sums of money. His pacific enterprises
equally demanded extensive funds: he is computed to have
spent two millions on the support of young men in the pursuit
of their studies. 3 How heavy, then, must needs have been the
cost of those twenty-two Jesuit colleges which owed their ori-
gin to his munificence.

When we consider the financial condition of the State, which,
spite of its increasing income, had never presented a disposable
surplus, it becomes obvious that he must often have suffered
considerable embarrassment.

The Venetians attempted to persuade him into granting them
a loan very soon after his accession to the see. Gregory
listened to the representations of the ambassador with in-
creasing attention ; but having arrived at the drift of his pro-
posals, he at once interrupted him. " What do I hear, my lord
ambassador ? " he exclaimed ; " the congregation sits every day
to devise means of raising money, but never does one man
among them contrive any available expedient for doing so." 4

The mode in which Gregory should administer the re-

Calculation of Baronius. Possevinus of Maffei's " Annals," from the report

in Ciacconius, " Vitae Pontificum," iv. of cardinals Como and Muscotti, are

37. Lorenzo Priuli considers him to most authentic and copious.

have expended 200,000 scudi annually on * " Dispaccip, 14 Marzo, 1573:" " It

works of piety. On this subject the ex- is a congregation deputed for the raising

tracts given by Cocquelinus at the close of money."

296 RANKE

sources of the State was now a question of paramount im-
portance. The evil of alienations had at length become clearly
apparent to all; new imposts were considered impolitic and
highly censured the doubtful, nay, the pernicious conse-
quences of such a system were clearly perceived and fully
appreciated. Gregory imposed on the congregation the task
of procuring him money, but they were to make no ecclesias-
tical concessions, lay on no new taxes, and permit the sale of
no church revenues.

How, then, were they to proceed? The means devised, in
reply to this question, were sufficiently remarkable^ as were
also the results eventually produced by them.

Gregory XIII was not to be restrained from the pursuit of
what he considered a right, and he believed himself to have dis-
covered that many prerogatives of the ecclesiastical principality
yet remained to be put in force ; these he thought had only
to be asserted in order to their supplying him with new sources
of income. 5 It was not in his character to respect the privileges
that might stand in his way : thus, among others, he abolished,
without hesitation, that possessed by the Venetians, of export-
ing corn from the March and Ravenna, under certain favorable
conditions, declaring that it was fair to make foreigners pay
equal duty with the natives. 6 Since the Venetians did not in-
stantly comply, he caused their magazines in Ravenna to be
opened by force, the contents to be sold by auction, and the
owners imprisoned. This was but a small affair, it is true, but
served to intimate the path he intended to pursue. His next
step was of much more lasting importance: believing that a
crowd of abuses existed among the possessions of the aris-
tocracy in his own territories, he decided that the reform of
these would be highly beneficial to his treasury. His secretary
of the Camera, Rudolfo Bonfigliuolo, proposed a compre-j
hensive renewal and extension of feudal rights, which had
hitherto scarcely been thought of ; he affirmed that a large part
of the estates and castles held by the barons of the State had
lapsed to the sovereign, either by failure in the direct line of
succession, or because the dues to which they were liable had

6 Maffei, " Annali di Gregorio XIII.," " Dispaccio Antoaio Tiepolo, 12

i. p. 104. He calculates that the States April, 1577."
of the Church had a clear income of
160,000 scudi only.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 297

not been paid. 7 The Pope had already acquired some domains
that had either lapsed or were purchased, and nothing could
be more agreeable to him than to continue doing so. He at
once set earnestly to work. From the Isei of Cesena he wrested
Castelnuovo in the hills of Romagna, and from the Sassatelli of
Jmola he gained Coreana. Lonzano, seated on its beautiful hill,
and Savignano in the plain, were taken from the Rangoni of
Modena. Alberto Pio resigned Bertinoro, to escape the process
preparing against him by the treasury ; but this did not suffice,
and he was divested of Verrucchio and other places. Seeing
this, he tendered his arrears of rent on every festival of St,
Peter, but they were never afterward accepted. All this oc-
curred in Romagna alone, and the other provinces did not fare
better. It was not only to estates on which the feudal services
remained unpaid that the court asserted a claim, there were
other domains which had originally been mortgaged to certain
barons, but this so long since that the mode of their tenure
had been forgotten; the property had descended from hand
to hand as freehold, and had often largely increased in value.
The Pope and his secretaries now chose to redeem the mort-
gages; in this manner they gained possession of Sitiano, a
castle that had been pledged for 14,000 scudi; that sum they
laid down, but it was greatly below the value of the property,
which, being considered freehold, had received extensive im-
provement.

Gregory congratulated himself continually on these pro-
ceedings ; he believed he had established a new claim to the
favor of heaven with every addition, were it only of ten scudi,
that he succeeded in adding to the income of the Church, pro-
vided it were done without new imposts. He calculated with
infinite pleasure that he should soon have made an addition
of 100,000 scudi to the revenues of the State, and all by legiti-
mate proceedings. How greatly would his means for proceed-
ing against infidels and heretics be thus increased ! His meas-
ures were, for the most part, much approved by the court.
" This Pope is called the Vigilant ' ' (Gregorius signifies
vigilant), says the Cardinal of Como; "by his vigilance will

7 " Dispaccio A. Tiepolo, 12 Genn. has been given in pledge by former
1579:" " The commissary of the Camera popes; and, perceiving that his holiness
seeks diligently for all writings that encourages this, he is disposed to ex-
may enable him to recover whatever cuse no one."

298 RANKE

he recover his own." 8 But the feeling of the provinces on this
subject was altogether different from that of the court ; on the
aristocracy the impression produced was most unfavorable.

Estates that had long been considered their own, and held
by the most legitimate claims, were now torn from the best
families of the land ; a like calamity was impending over others,
daily search among old papers was made in Rome, new claims
were continually founded on them, no man could believe him-
self secure, and many resolved to defend their property by force
of arms, rather than resign it to the commissioners of the
treasurer. One of these feudal tenants told Gregory to his face,
" If a thing is lost, it is lost ; but there is always a satisfaction
in arming one's self for the defence of one's own."

But from all this there arose the most violent fermentation,
the influence of the barons on the peasantry and on the nobili
of the neighboring towns, awakened extreme indignation
throughout the country at the pontiff's new measures.

In addition to these unpopular proceedings, came the fact
that certain towns had suffered heavy losses by other injudi-
cious expedients of the Pope. He had, for example, raised the
port-dues of Ancona, believing that these would fall, not upon
the country, but the foreign merchant. An injury was never-
theless inflicted on that city from which it has never recovered.
Its commerce suddenly departed, nor could the removal of the
obnoxious impost avail to bring it back ; even the restoration
of their ancient privileges to the Ragusans, did not suffice to
make up the loss.

Equally unexpected and peculiar were the consequences that
ensued from the policy that Gregory had adopted.

In all countries (but more especially in one of so pacific a
character as that now displayed by the Papal States) obedience
to the government is based on voluntary subordination. In the
Roman territories, the elements of dissension were neither de-
stroyed nor removed, they were simply concealed by the mantle
of authority extending over them; accordingly, the principle
of subordination being disturbed on one point, these all pressed
forward together and burst into open conflict. The land seemed

8 " Dispaccio, 21 Ott. 1581 :" " It is is ' Vigilant,' he determines to watch

many years since the Church has had and recover what is due to the see, and

a pontiff of this name, ' Gregory,' which, thinks he has done good service when

according to its Greek etymology, means he has got back anything, however

4 vigilant.' This, then, being ' Gregory,' small."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

299

suddenly to remember how warlike, how well skilled in arms,
and how unfettered in its parties it had remained for whole
centuries. It began to feel contempt for this government of
priests and men of law, and returned to the condition most
natural to it.

It is true that no direct opposition was offered to the govern-
ment, no general revolt ensued; but the old feuds reappeared
in every part of the country.

Once again was the whole of Romagna divided by these fac-
tions; in Ravenna the Rasponi and the Leonardi were arrayed
against each other ; in Rimini, the Ricciardelli and the Tignoli ;
in Cesena, the Venturelli and the Bottini; in Furli, the Numai
and the Sirugli; in Imola, the Vicini and the Sassatelli. The
first named of these families were Ghibellines, the others
Guelphs ; however completely the interests originally connected
with these appellations had altered, the names still survived.
These parties often held possession of different quarters of the
city, and different churches; they were distinguished by slight
signs, as for example, that the Guelphs wore the feather on the
right side of his hat, the Ghibelline on the left. 9 These divis-
ions reigned even in the smallest villages; a man would not
have spared the life of his brother, had he belonged to the op-
posite faction; and some were known who had destroyed their
wives, that they might be at liberty to marry into families of
their own party. In these disorders, the " Pacific " could
avail nothing; and their influence was all the more completely
lost, from the fact that favoritism had placed unsuitable mem-
bers among their body. The factions took the administration
of justice into their own hands ; certain persons who had been
condemned by the tribunals, they declared innocent, and liber-
ated them by breaking open their prisons ; their enemies on the
contrary they sought in the same place and by the same means,
but it was to place their heads around the fountains, where, on
the day following their capture, they were frequently to be
seen. 10

Public authority being thus enfeebled, troops of bandits as-

The " Relatione di Romagna " de- 10 In the MS. " Sixtus V. Pontifex

scribes the difference as existing " in Max." (Altieri Library in Rome) this

the cutting of their clothes, mode of state of things is minutely described,

wearing the belt, the feather, tassel, or (See App. No. 52.)
flower worn on the cap or at the ear."

3 oo RANKE

sembled in the March, the Campagna, and indeed all the prov-
inces ; these outlaws very soon amounting to small armies.

At the head of these bands were Alfonso Piccolomini,
Roberto Malatesta, and other young men of the most illustrious
families ; Piccolomini seized the Town-house of Monte Abbod-
do, had all his enemies hunted out, and put them to death
before the eyes of their mothers and wives; nine of the name
of Gabuzio were thus destroyed, Piccolomini's followers danc-
ing in the market-place while the execution was proceeding.
He marched through the country as lord of the land : an attack
of ague seized him, but was not suffered to impede his progress ;
when the fever-fit came on, he would cause himself to be car-
ried in a litter at the head of his troops. He sent a message
to the inhabitants of Corneto, advising them to make good
speed with their harvest, because he meant himself to come and
burn the crops of his enemy Latino Orsino. In his personal
conduct, Piccolomini affected to deal with a certain sort of
honor; he would take the letters of a courier, but the gold
borne by him would remain untouched; to the rapacious bru-
tality of his followers, however, he set no bounds ; from all sides
messengers were sent by the different cities to Rome, entreating
protection. 1 The Pope increased his military forces, and in-
vested Cardinal Sforza with powers for the repression of this
violence, surpassing any that had ever been conferred since
the time of Cardinal Albornoz. Not only was he empowered
to proceed without respect to privileges, by whomever or how-
ever possessed ; but he was also at liberty to act without regard
to any forms of law, without even the ceremony of a trial,
manu regid. 2 Giacomo Buoncompagno took the field, and they
did certainly succeed in dispersing these bands, and in clearing
the country; but no sooner were their backs turned, than the
outlaws instantly sprang up as actively as ever in their rear,
and all the previous disorders recommenced.

That these evils should thus become incurable is attributable
to a particular circumstance that must be related.

1 " Dispacci Donato," of 1582, through- and cities, domains and castles, barons

out. and dukes of whatsoever pre-eminence:

Brief for Sforza, given in the " Dis- against persons in any authority, and

pacci " : "He has every sort of pow- that without form of process, to punish

er, authority, and absolute discretion them all and each, with royal power, as

against bandits of whatsoever kind, with well in their property as in their per-

their favorers, receivers, or followers; sons."
also against communities, universities,

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

301

Pope Gregory XIII, who is so frequently described as good-
natured to excess, had yet asserted his ecclesiastical as well as
secular rights with extremity -of rigor, 3 and in doing this he
regarded no man's interest or feelings. He spared neither the
Emperor nor the King of Spain, and to his more immediate
neighbors he showed as little deference. With Venice he was
involved in disputes interminable ; some regarding the affair of
Aquileja, some the visitation of their churches, and various
other points. The ambassadors can find no words to describe
the heat with which he spoke of these matters, the acerbity
that he displayed on their being even alluded to. With Tus-
cany and Naples affairs were not more peaceably arranged, nor
did Ferrara find greater favor. Parma had but lately lost large
sums of money in legal disputes with the pontiff. It thus hap-
pened that all his neighbors exulted at seeing the Pope in-
volved in perplexities so painful, and gave a ready asylum to
his outlaws, who took the first opportunity of returning to their
country. It was in vain that Gregory entreated them to dis-
continue this connivance; they chose to consider it extraordi-
nary that Rome should treat all other States with indifference
and contempt, but should nevertheless set up a claim to service
and respect at the hands of all. 4

Thus it came to pass that Gregory could never make himself
master of these bandits. The taxes remained unpaid, and the
stissidio could not be collected ; a feeling of discontent took pos-
session of the whole country ; even cardinals were mooting the
question whether it would not be advisable to attach themselves
to some other State.

The further prosecution of the measures suggested by the
secretary of the Camera was out of the question in this posi-
tion of things; in December, 1581, the Venetian ambassador
made it publicly known that his holiness had commanded the
discontinuance of all proceedings in the confiscation of lands.

Perhaps even more painful was the necessity to which the

8 So early as 1576 Paolo Tiepolo re- ing himself, and because of the very

marks this: "The more he seeks to few words he uses on all occasions thus

acquire the name of a just man, the less he gains but little personal attachment."
is he likely to retain that of a gracious ' Dispaccio Donate, 10 Sett. 1581:"

prince, conferring fewer especial favors " It is a strange thing, that giving satis-

than any pontiff for many years past; faction to no one, he should yet desire

besides this, he does not succeed in win- every sort of obsequiousness from all

ning those around him, partly because others in matters touching the State."
he has a natural incapacity for express-

302 RANKE

pontiff was also reduced, of permitting Piccolomini to appear
in the capital, and present a petition for pardon. 5 A deep shud-
der passed over him as he read the long list of murders and
other atrocities that he was called on to forgive, and he laid
the paper from his hand ; but he was assured that one of three
things must happen, either his son Giacomo would receive his
death from the hand of Piccolomini, or he must himself con-
demn Piccolomini to death, or resolve on granting him a par-
don. The father confessors of St. John Lateran declared, that
though they dared not violate the secrets of the confessional,
yet thus much they were permitted to say, a great calamity was
impending, and unless something were speedily done, would
inevitably ensue: Piccolomini was besides publicly favored by
the Grand Duke of Tuscany, and was at that moment lodged in
the Medici palace. Seeing all these things, the pontiff at last
submitted, but with a deeply mortified spirit, and the brief of
absolution received his signature.

This did not, however, suffice to restore tranquillity to the
country; his own capital was filled with the outlaws, and mat-
ters got to such a pass that the city magistracy of the conser-
vators was compelled to act in aid of the Pope's police, which
could not secure obedience. A pardon being offered to a cer-
tain bandit called Marianazzo, he refused it, declaring that his
life " was more secure while remaining an outlaw, to say noth-
ing of the increased advantage ! " 6

Worn out and weary of life, the aged pontiff raised his hands
to heaven and cried, " Thou wilt arise, O Lord, and have mercy
upon Zion ! "

Section IV. Sixtus V

It would sometimes seem that even in confusion itself there
exists some occult force, by which the man capable of steering
through its mazes is formed and brought forward.

Hereditary principalities or aristocracies transmit their power
from generation to generation throughout the world, but the

6 Donate, April Qth, 1583: "The de- 'That living as an outlaw turned to

sire to save expense and secure Signer better account, and was of greater se-

Giacomo's safety, with that of escaping curity. Gregory XIII reigned from

the disturbances daily arising between May 13, 1572, to April 10, 1585.
him and Florence, has led his holiness
to this decision."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 303

sovereignty of the Church has this peculiarity, that its throne
may be attained by men from the lowest ranks of society. It
was from a station among the most humble that a pope now
appeared, by whom those qualities, intellectual and moral, de-
manded for the suppression of the prevalent disorders, were
possessed in their highest perfection.

When the provinces of Illyria and Dalmatia first became a
prey to the successful armies of the Ottomans, many of their
inhabitants fled into Italy. Arriving in melancholy groups,
they might be seen seated on the sea-shore, and raising their
hands imploringly toward heaven ; among these fugitives would
most probably have been found a Sclavonian by birth, named
Zanetto Peretti; this was the ancestor of Sixtus V. Sharing
the frequent lot of exiles, neither Zanetto nor his descendants,
who had settled in Montalto, could boast of any great pros-
perity in the country of their adoption. Peretto Peretti, the
father of the future pope, was driven by his debts from Mon-
talto, and it was only by marriage that he was enabled to rent
a garden at Grotto a Mare, near Fermo ; the place was a re-
markable one: amidst the plants of the garden were seen the
ruins of a temple to Cupra, the Etruscan Juno; rich fruits of
the South grew up around it, for the climate of Fermo is milder
and more beneficent than that of any other district in the March.
Here a son was born to Peretti, on the eighteenth of December,
1521 ; but a short time before this birth, the father had been
consoled by the voice of a divinity, which, speaking to him in
a dream, as he bemoaned his many privations, assured him that
a son should be granted to him, by whom his house should be
raised to high fortunes. On this hope he seized with all the
eagerness of a visionary temperament, further excited by want,
and naturally disposed to mysticism. He named the boy
Felix. 1

/ Tempesti, " Storia della Vita e Geste carried to Rome, that she might offer

di Sisto V.," 1754, has given the archives veneration to him, now at the summit

of Montalto, as authority for the origin of all greatness, but whom she had

of his hero. The " Vita Sixti V.," ipsius nurtured on mean fare in her house,

manu emendata, is als9 authentic. MS. where he was born, he being the son

of the Altieri Library in Rome. Sixtus of her gardener." Further: " The

was born while his father cultivated the people of Piceno relate that the boy

garden of Ludovico Vecchio of Fermo, tended sheep, and he does not conceal,

and his mother gave aid to the domestic but rather boasts that this was so." In

duties of Diana, a very virtuous matron the " Ambrosiana," R. 124, there is, F.

and the housekeeper of Ludovico. This Radice dell' Origine di Sisto V., an

Information, dated R9me, May 4
great importance.

Diana, when in extreme old age, was Information, dated Rome, May 4, 1585,
witness to the pontificate of Sixtus: but it is not of

" The feeble old woman desired to be

RANKE

That the family was not in prosperous circumstances, appears
from what is related, among other things, of the child falling
into a pond, when his aunt, " who was washing clothes at this
pond," drew him out; it is certain that he was employed to
watch the fruit, and even to attend swine. His father was not
able to spare even the five bajocchi (three-pence) demanded
monthly by the nearest schoolmaster ; thus Felix had to learn his
letters from the primers that other boys left lying beside him as
they passed through the fields in their way to and from school.
There was happily one member of the family who had entered
the Church, Fra Salvatore, a Franciscan ; this relative at length
permitted himself to be prevailed on to pay the schoolmaster.
Felix could then go to receive instruction with the other boys;
he had a piece of bread for his dinner, and this he, ate at mid-
day by the side of a stream, which supplied him with drink for
his meal. These depressed circumstances did not prevent the
hopes of the father from being shared by the son. In his
twelfth year he entered the order of the Franciscans, for the
Council of Trent had not then forbidden the vows to be taken
thus early, but did not resign his name of good omen, and con-
tinued to be called Felix.

palmela

Fra Salvatore kept him in very strict order, joining the au-
thority of an uncle to that of a father ; but he sent him to school.
The young Felix passed long evenings in conning his lessons,
without supper, and with no better light than that afforded by
the lantern hung up at the crossing of the streets ; and when this
failed him, he would go to the lamp that burnt before the host
in some Church. He was not remarked for any particular
tendency to religious devotion, or profound researches in sci-
ence; we find only that he made rapid progress, as well at
the school of Fermo, as at the universities of Ferrara and Bo-
logna. His particular talent seemed rather for dialectics, and
he became a perfect master of that monkish accomplishment,
the dexterous handling of theological subtleties. At the gen-
eral convention of the Franciscans, in the year 1549, which
commenced with an exhibition of skill in literary disputation,
he was opposed to a certain Thelesian, Antonio Persico of Cala-
bria, who was at that time in high repute at Perugia; on this
occasion he acquitted himself with a presence of mind and in-
telligence, that first procured him notice and a certain degree

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 305

of distinction; 2 from this time Cardinal Pio of Carpi, protector
of the order, took a decided interest in his fortunes.

But it is to another circumstance that his progress is princi-
pally to be attributed.

In the year 1552, he was appointed Lent preacher in the
Church of the Holy Apostles in Rome, and his sermons were
very well received ; his style was found to be animated, copious,
fluent, and free from meretricious ornament; his matter was
well arranged, his manner impressive, his utterance clear and
agreeable. While preaching to a full congregation, he one day
came to that pause in the sermon, customary among Italian
preachers ; and when he had reposed for a time, he took up the
memorials, which are usually prayers and intercessions only:
while reading these, he perceived a paper lying sealed in the
pulpit, and containing matter of a totally different character;
all the main points of the sermons hitherto preached by Peretti,
especially those touching the doctrine of predestination, were
here set down, and opposite to each were written in large letters
the words, " Thou liest." The preacher could not wholly con-
ceal his amazement, he hurried to a conclusion, and instantly on
reaching home despatched the paper to the Inquisition. 8 Very
shortly afterward the grand inquisitor, Michele Ghislieri,
entered his room; the most searching examination ensued: in
later times Peretti often described the terror caused him by the
aspect of this man, with his stern brow, deep-set eyes, and
strongly-marked features; but he did not lose his presence of
mind, answered satisfactorily, and betrayed weakness on no
point whatever. When, therefore, Ghislieri saw that there was
no shadow of suspicion, that the friar was not only guiltless,
but also well versed in the Catholic doctrines, and firmly
fixed in the faith, he became a totally different person, embraced
Peretti with tears, and was his second patron.

From that time Fra Felice attached himself with a firm hold

* " Sixtus V. Pontifex Maximus," MS. " Jam priorem orationis partem exege-
of the Altieri Library: " Persico, with rat cum oblatum libellum resignat, ao
high reputation among scholars, was tacitus, ut populo summam exponat,
teaching philosophy at Perugia after legere incipit. Quotquot ad earn diem
the principles of Thelesius; he brought catholicae ndei dogmata Montaltus pro
forward a doctrine then new, which he cpncione affirrnarat, prdine collecta con-
rrarvellously illustrated by the light of tinebat singulisque id tantum addebat,
his genius. Then Montalto defended literis grandioribus, ' Mentiris.' Com-
positions from universal theology, in- plicatum diligenter libellum, sed ita ut
scribed to the Cardinal of Carpi, and consternationis manifestos multis essetj
this to the admiration of all who heard ad pectus dimittit, orationemque brevi
him." praecisione paucis absolvit." (See text.)

8 Relation taken from the same MS.:

3 o6 RANKE

to the severe party just then beginning to gain ascendancy in
the Church; with Ignazio, Felino, and Filippo Neri, all of
whom received the title of saints, he maintained the most inti-
mate intercourse. It was of particular advantage to him that
he was driven out of Venice by the intrigues of his brethren,
for having attempted to reform the order. This greatly en-
hanced his credit with the representatives of the more rigid
opinions, then fast acquiring the predominance. He was pre-
sented to Paul IV, and sometimes called to give an opinion in
cases of difficulty. At the Council of Trent he labored with
the other theologians, and was consultor to the Inquisition. He
had a considerable share in the condemnation of Archbishop
Carranza, patiently submitting to the labor of seeking through
the Protestant writers for all those passages which Carranza
was accused of embodying in his works. He gained the entire
confidence of Pius V, who appointed him vicar-general of the
Franciscans, with the express understanding that his authority
extended to the reformation of the order. This, Peretti carried
into execution with a high hand. The principal offices of the
order had hitherto been controlled by the commissaries-general.
These functionaries he deposed, restored the primitive consti-
tution according to which the supreme power was vested in the
provincials, and made the most rigorous visitations. The ex-
pectations of Pius were not only fulfilled, they were surpassed.
He considered his inclination for Peretti as an inspiration from
above; refused all credence to the calumnies by which his fa-
vorite was persecuted, bestowed on him the bishopric of St.
Agatha, and in the year 1570 exalted him to the College of
Cardinals.

The bishopric of Fermo was also conferred on the successful
monk. Robed in the purple of the Church, Felix Peretti re-
turned to the abode of his fathers ; to that place where he had
once guarded the fruit-trees and followed the swine ; yet were
neither the predictions of his father nor his own hopes entirely
accomplished.

The various artifices employed by Cardinal Montalto, so was
Peretti now called, to obtain the papal tiara, have been described
and repeated, much and often. The affected humility of his
deportment ; how he tottered along leaning on his stick, bent to
the earth, and coughing at every step ; but to him who reflects,

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 307

no evidence will be requisite to prove that in all this there is
but little truth. It is not by such means that the highest digni-
ties are won.

Montalto kept guard over his own interests by a life of tran-
quil frugality and industrious seclusion. His recreations were,
the planting of vines and other trees in his gardens near the
Church of Santa Maria Maggiore, which are still visited by the
stranger, and doing such service as he could to his native town.
His hours of labor he devoted to the works of St. Ambrose ; an
edition of which he published in the year 1580. He bestowed
great pains on this work, but has not always been sufficiently
conscientious in adhering to the meaning of his author. In
other respects his character does not appear to have been so
guileless as it is occasionally represented. So early as 1574,
he is described as learned and prudent, but also crafty and ma-
lignant. 4 He was doubtless gifted with remarkable self-
control. When his nephew, the husband of Vittorie Acco-
rambuona, was assassinated, he was himself the person who
requested the Pope to discontinue the investigation. This
quality, which was admired by all, very probably contributed
to his election; when, having been put in nomination, princi-
pally by the intrigues of the conclave, in 1585, he was neverthe-
less elected. The authentic narrative of the proceedings assures
us also that his comparatively vigorous years were taken into
account, he being then sixty-four, and possessing a firm and
healthy constitution ; for all were persuaded that a man of un-

* A discourse concerning those who Tuscany had also a large share in de-
are eligible to the papacy under Gregory termining the election of Peretti. In a
XIII, speaks thus of Montalto: " His despatch from the Florentine am-
character, considered to be ferocious, bassador, Alberti, of May n, 1585
arrogant, and imperious, is but little (Roma, Filza, n. 36), is this remark:
calculated to win regard." Here we see " Your highness alone will enjoy the
that the dispositions he displayed as fruit of this work (the election), and so
pope, were already obvious in the cardi- is it right, since it is your own; in
nal. Gregory XIII often remarked to case of war, you and no other will have
those of his immediate circle, that they the friendship of the pontiff." In an-
should beware of that great charnel-box other Florentine despatch occurs the fol-
of a gray friar. The author of " Sixtus lowing: " The Pope replied that the
V. P. M." makes Farnese observe, on grand duke had cause to wish him well,
seeing Peretti between the two Domin- being like the husbandman, who, when
icans, Trani and Justinian, who also en- he has planted a tree, rejoices to see it
tertained hopes of ascending the papal thrive and live long, adding, that his
throne : " That Picenian pack-horse will highness alone had conducted this mat-
take a magnificent spring some day, if ter, under God, and that he, the Pope,
ever he can shake off those two sacks of knew well in what gratitude he was
coals that he carries so awkwardly one bound to him by this, though he could
on each side." He further added that not speak to many on that subject." It
it was precisely this conviction, by is obvious that much was here behind
which the daughter of Accorambuona the scenes of which we know little or
was induced to marry Montalto's nothing. The election took place on
nephew. The grand duke Francis of April 24, 1585.
Popes (Vol. I). 15

3 o8 RANKE

impaired energies, whether physical or mental, was imperative-
ly demanded by the circumstances of the times.

And thus did Fra Felice see himself at the summit of his
wishes. It was doubtless with a feeling of proud satisfaction
that he beheld the accomplishment of desires so noble and so
legitimate. Every incident of his life in which he had ever
believed himself to perceive an intimation of his exalted destiny
now recurred to his thoughts. The words he chose for his
motto were these : " Thou, O God, hast been my defender,
even from my mother's womb.'*

In all his undertakings he believed himself, from this time,
to possess the immediate favor of God. At his first accession
to the throne, he announced his determination to exterminate
all the bandits and evil-doers. Hs was persuaded that in the
event of his own powers failing, God would send him legions
of angels for so good a work. 5

To this difficult enterprise he at once addressed himself with
deliberate judgment and inflexible resolution.

Section V Extirpation of the Banditti

The memory of Gregory XIII was regarded with intense
dislike by his successor. Pope Sixtus departed instantly from
the measures of the previous pontiff. He disbanded the greater
part of the troops, and reduced the number of sbirri by one-
half. He determined, on the other hand, to visit with relentless
severity whatever criminals should fall into his hands.

A prohibition had for some time existed against carrying
short weapons, and more especially a particular kind of rifle.
Four young men of Cora, nearly related to each other, were
nevertheless taken with arms of this description about them.
The day following was that of the coronation, and an occasion
so auspicious was seized by their friends for entreating their
pardon from the pontiff. "While I live," replied Sixtus,
"every criminal must die." 1 That very day the four young

8 "Dispaccio, Priuli, Maggio n, 1585:" should not suffice, to punish the male-
Speech of Sixtus in the Consistory: factors and reprobates. He exhorted the

He named two things that engaged cardinals not to use their privileges for

his attention, the administration of jus- the shelter of criminals, and spoke very

tice and the securing abundance for his bitterly of his predecessor's inconsid-

people; and to these he had resolved to erate proceedings."

give his utmost care, trusting that God Si vivo, facinorosis moriendum
would send him legions of angels, if his
own strength and the aid of others

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

309

men were seen hanging on one gallows near the bridge of St.
Angelo.

A youth of the Trastevere was condemned to death for hav-
ing offered resistance to the sbirri, who were proceeding to take
his ass from him. On sight of the poor boy led weeping to the
place where he was to die for so venial an offence, all were
moved to pity. His youth was represented to the Pope, who
is said to have replied, " I will add a few years of my own life
to lengthen his/' and he caused the sentence to be executed.

The rigor of these first acts of the pontiff impressed all with
terror ; immediate obedience was secured by it to the commands
he next sent forth.

Barons and communes were enjoined to clear their castles
and towns of banditti ; the losses sustained by the bands of out-
laws were at once to be made good by the noble or commune
within whose jurisdiction they might take place. 2

It had been customary to set a price on the head of a bandit ;
Sixtus now decreed that this should no longer be paid by the
public treasury, but by the relations of the outlaw ; or, if these
were too poor, by the commune wherein he was born.

It is manifest that his purpose in this proceeding was to en-
gage the interests of the barons, the municipalities, and even
the kinsmen of the outlaws on the side of his wishes ; he made
an effort to enlist that of the banditti themselves in the same
cause, promising to any one of them who should deliver up a
comrade, living or dead, not his own pardon only, but also that
of some of his friends whom he was at liberty to name, with a
sum of money in addition.

When these commands had been carried into effect, and cer-
tain examples of their rigorous enforcement had been exhibited,
the condition of the outlaws was presently seen to assume a
very different character.

It happened fortunately for the purpose of Sixtus that pur-
suit had from the beginning been successfully directed against
some of the most formidable chiefs of large bands.

He declared that sleep had forsaken his eyes, because the
priest Guercino, who called himself King of the Campagna,
was still continuing his depredations, and had just committed
new deeds of violence. This man had laid his commands on

t. iv. p. iv. p. 137. Bando, in Tempest i, i. ix, 14.

310 RANKE

the subjects of the bishop of Viterbo to pay no further obedi-
ence to their lord ; Sixtus prayed, as we are told by Galesinus,
" that God would be pleased to deliver the Church from that
robber " ; and the following morning intelligence arrived that
Guercino was taken. A gilded crown was placed on the severed
head, which was instantly set up on the castle of St. Angelo.
The man who brought it received its price of 2,000 scudi, and
the people applauded his holiness for so effectual a mode of
administering justice.

Spite of all these severities, another leader of outlaws, called
Delia Fara, had the boldness to present himself one night at
the Porta Salara ; he called up the watchmen, declared his name,
and desired them to present a greeting on his part to the Pope
and the Governor. Hearing this, Sixtus sent an order to those
of the outlaw's own family, commanding them to find and bring
him in, under pain of suffering death themselves. In less than
a month from the date of this order, the head of Delia Fara
took its place beside that of Guercino.

It was on some occasions rather cruelty than justice that was
now employed against the bandits.

Some thirty of them had intrenched themselves on a hill at
no great distance from Urbino. The duke caused mules laden
with provisions to be driven near their hold ; the robbers did
not fail to plunder this rich train; but the food had been
poisoned, and they all died together. " When intelligence of
this was carried to Sixtus V," says one of his historians, " the
Pope received thereby an infinite contentment." 3

In the capital, a father and son were led to death, though
they persisted in declaring their innocence; the mother pre-
sented herself, entreating for a postponement only of the execu-
tion, when she could bring proof of innocence both for her hus-
band and son : this the Senator refused to grant. " Since you
thirst for blood," she exclaimed, " I will give you enough of
it ! " Saying which, she threw herself from the window of
the Capitol. The victims meanwhile arrived at the place of
execution, neither could endure to see the other suffer, each
implored permission to die first; seized with compassion, the
people called aloud for mercy, while the savage executioner re-
proached them for causing useless delay.

"Memorie del Ponteficato di SistoV.:" " Ragguagliato Sisto ne prese
gran contento."

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 311

The ordinances of Sixtus permitted no respect of persons;
a member of one of the first families in Bologna, Giovanni
Count Pepoli, was known to have taken part in the excesses
committed by the outlaws; he was strangled in prison, his
estates and every other species of property being confiscated.
No day passed without an execution: over all parts of the
country, in wood and field, stakes were erected, on each of
which stood the head of an outlaw. The Pope awarded praises
only to those among his legates and governors who supplied
him largely with these terrible trophies, his demand was ever
for heads : there is a sort of oriental barbarism in this mode of
administering justice.

Such of the outlaws as escaped the officers of the pontiff,
were destroyed by their own comrades. The promises of for-
giveness and reward before alluded to had carried dissension
into their bands ; none dared trust even his nearest connection
they fell by the hands of each other.*

In this manner, and before the year had come to an end,
the disturbances that had so harassed the Roman States, if not
extinguished at the source, were yet suppressed at the out-
break; intelligence was received in the year 1586, that Monte-
brandano and Arara, the two last leaders of the bandits, had
been put to death.

It was matter of great pride and rejoicing to the Pope when
ambassadors, now arriving at his court, assured him that " in
every part of his States through which their road had led,
they had travelled through a land blessed with peace and se-
curity." 5

Section VI. Leading Characteristics of the Administration

It was not only to the absence of vigilant control that those
disorders against which the pontiff contended owed their birth,
there were others also; and it is principally to his measures
with regard to these, that the decided success of his efforts
must be attributed. It has been common to regard Sixtus V

* " Disp.," PriulL so early as June and travellers, among all these wealthy

ZQ, 1585, says " The new brief has and magnificent nobles, there is no one

caused the banditti to fall upon each who needs endure injury or offence,

Other." however feeble his condition, however

6 " Vita Sixti V.,*' i. m. em.: "Such abject his state." According to Gual-

is the peace and tranquillity, that in this terius, " Vita Sixti V.," the latter ap-

it city, in this assemblage of na- plied the text: "The wicked fleetn,

s, this vast concourse of strangers though no man pursueth."

3 I2 RANKE

as the sole founder of that judicial system by which the Ecclesi-
astical States are governed ; laws and institutions are ascribed
to him that were in fact existing long before his day. He is
extolled as an incomparable master of finance, a statesman,
wholly free from prejudice, and an enlightened restorer of an-
tiquity. This arises from the fact that his natural qualities
were such as readily impress themselves on the memory of
man, and dispose him to the credence of fabulous and hyper-
bolical narrations.

We are not then to believe all that we find related of this
pontiff's regulations. It is nevertheless perfectly true, that
his administration was an extremely remarkable one.

It was in certain particulars directly opposed to that of his
predecessor. Gregory XIII was severe and energetic, but not
clear-sighted in his general measures ; individual cases of dis-
obedience he readily overlooked. The attacks he made upon
so many different interests on the one hand, with the unexam-
pled impunity that he permitted to various offences on the other,
gave rise to those miserable perplexities that he lived to bewail.
Sixtus, on the contrary, was implacable toward individual
cases of crime. His laws were enforced with a rigor that bor-
dered on cruelty ; but the character of his regulations generally
was mild, conciliatory, almost indulgent. Under Gregory, the
obedient were not rewarded, nor were the refractory punished.
Under Sixtus, the insubordinate had everything to fear, but
whoever sought to gain his approbation might safely depend
on receiving proofs of his favor. This mode of proceeding
was admirably calculated for the promotion of his purposes.

We have seen the many disquietudes suffered by Gregory
from the claims he sought to enforce on his neighbors re-
garding ecclesiastical affairs; these Sixtus would in no case
pursue. He declared that it was incumbent on the head of
the Church to uphold and extend the privileges of the tem-
poral powers. In accordance with this principle, he restored
the Milanese to their place in the Rota, of which Gregory had
sought to deprive them. When the Venetians succeeded in
bringing to light a brief by which their claims were defini-
tively established in the affair of Aquileja, they did not them-
selves experience a more decided satisfaction than was evinced
by the Pope. He determined on suppressing the clause so

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 313

much complained of in the bull " In Coena Domini." The
Congregation taking cognizance of ecclesiastical jurisdiction in
foreign countries, from whose interposition it was that the
greater part of the disputes between the Papal See and its
neighbors had originated, Sixtus abolished entirely. 1 There
is doubtless a certain magnanimity in the voluntary cession of
contested rights; in the pontiff's case this course of proceed-
ing was instantly productive of effects the most satisfactory.
He received an autograph letter from the King of Spain, who
informed him that he had commanded his ministers in Milan
and Naples to receive the papal ordinances with obedience no
less implicit than that paid to his own. This moved the Pope
even to tears, " That the most exalted monarch of the world
should," as he said, " so honor a poor monk." The Tuscan
State declared itself devoted to the Church. Venice expressed
entire satisfaction. These powers now adopted a different
line of policy. The outlaws who had found refuge within
their frontiers were given up to the Pope. Venice prohibited
their return into the Papal States, and forbade such of her
ships as should touch the Roman coasts to receive them on
board. This delighted the Pope. He declared that, to use
his own words, " He would think of Venice for this some
other day ; he would surfer himself to be flayed alive for the
republic, and would shed his blood for her." The bandits now
found aid and refuge from no quarter, so that he no longer
found it difficult to master them completely.

The unpopular measures by which Gregory had sought to
enrich the treasury were wholly abandoned by Sixtus. He
did not fail to punish the rebellious feudatories, but as earnestly
set himself to conciliate and attach the great body of the nobles.
Pope Gregory had deprived the Colonna family of its fortresses ;
Sixtus, on the contrary, made them advances of money, and
assisted them to regulate the expenditure of their households. 2
Those ancient enemies, the Colonna and the Orsino, he united
by marriages between their respective houses, and with his own.
He gave one of his grand-nieces to the Constable Marc Antonio

* Lorenzo Priuli, " Relatione," 1586: Spain], thinking that so he shall the

" This is a pontiff who does not so more easily bring affairs to a conclu-

readily embark in quarrels with prin- sion, or in any case shall suffer less

ces; to avoid them he has abolished indignity when matters are treated

the congregation of ecclesiastical juris- secretly and by himself alone."

diction [in another place he says this " Dispaccio degli Ambasciatori es-

was chiefly from consideration for traordinarii, 19 Ott., 25 Nov. 1585."

314 RANKE

Colonna, and another to the Duke Virginio Orsino. The dower
bestowed with each was of equal value, and their husbands re-
ceived similar marks of favor. Their claims to precedence he
adjusted by according it to the elder of either house. Highly
exalted was the position now taken up by Donna Camilla, the
pontiff's sister, surrounded as she was by her children, her noble
sons-in-law and grand-daughters so magnificently allied.

The Pope derived extreme gratification from the power he
possessed of conferring benefits and privileges.

He proved himself more particularly a good and open-
handed fellow-countryman to the people of the March. He
restored many of their ancient immunities to the inhabitants
of Ancona. In Macerata he instituted a supreme court of
.justice for the whole province. The college of advocates in
that district he distinguished by the grant of new privileges.
Fermo he erected into an archbishopric, and Tolentino into a
bishopric. The little village of Montalto, where his ancestors
had first taken up their abode, he raised by a special bull to
the rank of an episcopal city ; " for here," said he, " did our
race take its fortunate origin." During his cardinalate he had
established a school of science there, and he now founded a
" college of Montalto " in the University of Bologna, for fifty
students from the March ; Montalto holding presentations for
eight, and even the little Grotto a Mare receiving the right
to send two. 8

Loreto also he resolved to elevate into a city. Fontana
pointed out to him the difficulties that opposed this plan:
" Give yourself no uneasiness about it, Fontana," said the
Pope, " the execution of this project will not cost me so much
as the resolving on it has done." Portions of land were
bought from the people of Recana, valleys were filled up, hills
levelled, and lines of streets marked out. The communes of
the March were encouraged to build houses; Cardinal Gallo
appointed new civic authorities for the holy chapel; by all
which, the patriotism of Sixtus and his devotion to the Blessed
Virgin were equally satisfied.

* He included even the neighboring quent intermarriages, and by some

villages as part of Montalto" Vita community in their lands, were beloved

Sixti V " ipsius manu emendata. and aided by Sixtus, as portions of his

" Porcula, Patringoro, and Mintenoro, native place; thus he bestowed favors

being respectively but about a bow-shot on all in common, hoping they might

from Montalto, and being all connected one day draw together into one city,
with it by interests of trade, by fre-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 315

His solicitude was extended in different degrees to the several
cities of all the provinces ; he made arrangements for prevent-
ing the increase of their debts, and for the control and limita-
tion of their mortgages and alienations; he caused a strict
inquiry to be made into the management of their finances, and
made regulations of various character, but all conducing to re-
store the lost importance and well-being of the communes. 4

Agriculture was equally indebted to the cares of Sixtus V:
he undertook to drain the Chiana (swamp or pool) of Orvieto
and the Pontine marshes, which last he visited in person. The
river Sixtus (Fiume Sisto), which, until the time of Pius VI,
was the best attempt made for draining the Pontine marshes,
was cut across them by his command.

Neither was he negligent with regard to manufactures: a
certain Peter of Valencia, a Roman citizen, had offered his
services for the establishment of a silk manufacture. The
thorough-going measures by which Sixtus attempted to for-
ward his plans are extremely characteristic of that pontiff.
He commanded that mulberry-trees should be planted through-
out the States of the Church, in all gardens and vineyards, in
every field and wood, over all hills, and in every valley
wherever no corn was growing, these trees were to find place ;
for it was fixed that five of them should be planted on every
rubbio of land, and the communes were threatened with heavy
fines in case of neglect. 5 The woollen manufactures, also, he
sought earnestly to promote, " in order," as he says, " that
the poor may have some means of earning their bread." To
the first person who undertook this business he advanced funds
from the treasury, accepting a certain number of pieces of cloth
in return.

But we must not attribute dispositions of this kind to Sixtus
alone ; this would be unjust to his predecessors. Agriculture
and manufactures were favored by Pius V and Gregory XIII

*Gualterius: "Five members of the 1586," Bull. Cocq. iv. 4, 218: "The art
apostolic chamber were sent to exam- of making glass, and of working in silk
ine into the condition of the univer- and wool, with the culture of silk-
sities, with power to reform and repr- worms, were either brought into the
ganize." The " Memorie," also, give city, or extended by him; but to pro-
evidence that these measures were of mote the silk trade, he ordered mul
great utility. These arrangements were berry-trees to be planted throughout
the commencement of a better state of, the States. A certain Jew, called Main,
things among the communes of the EC- produced two cocoons from the worm
clesiastical States, which recovered the in each year, and promised to make
more readily because Clement VIII great improvements in the manu-
continued these judicious measures. facture; to him, therefore, he accorded

" Cum sicut accepimus, 28 Maji, large privileges."

316 RANKE

also. It was not so much by the adoption of new paths that
Sixtus distinguished himself from earlier pontiffs, as by the
energy and decision with which he pursued those on which they
had already entered. Therefore it is that his actions have re-
mained fixed in the memory of mankind.

Neither is it to him that the " congregations " of cardinals
are wholly indebted for their origin the seven most impor-
tant, those for the Inquisition, namely, the Index, the affairs of
councils, of the bishops, the monastic orders, the segnatura,
and the consulta, were already in existence. Nor were affairs
of State left altogether unprovided for by these earlier con-
gregations, the two last-named having cognizance of judicial
and administrative affairs. Sixtus added eight new congrega-
tions to these, of which two only were for ecclesiastical matters
one relating to the erection of new bishoprics, the other
charged with the renewal and maintenance of church usages : 6
the remaining six received the management of various depart-
ments in the government, as the inspection of roads, the repeal
of oppressive imposts, the building of ships of war, the corn-
laws (Annona), the Vatican press, and the Roman university. 7
The Pope's disregard of all system in these arrangements is
most obvious partial and transient interests are placed on a
level with those most permanent and general; his plans were
nevertheless carried well out, and his regulations have, with
very slight changes, been persisted in for centuries.

With regard to the personal character of the cardinals, he
fixed a very high standard. " Men of true distinction, of morals
most exemplary, their words oracles, their whole being a model
and rule of life and faith to all who behold them ; the salt of
the earth, the light set upon a candlestick." 8 Such was the
cardinal in the theory of Sixtus : in his practice these demands
were not always strictly adhered to. He had, for example,
nothing better to plead in behalf of Gallo, whom he had raised
to that dignity, than that he was his servant, for whom he had
many reasons to feel regard, and who had once received him

" Congregation of sacred rites and acque, ponti e confini sopra alia

ecclesiastical ceremonies, holding cog- stamperia Vaticana [he gave the first

nizance also of the erection of new manager of the ecclesiastical press a

cathedrals." residence in the Vatican, and 20,000

" Sopra alia grascia et annona scudi for ten years] sopra 1'universita

sopra alia fabbrica armamento e man- dello studio Romano." (See text.)

tenimento delle galere sopra gli ag- 8 Bulla, " Postquam yerus ille; j

gravi del popolo sopra le strade, Dec. 1586." Bullar. M. iv. iv. 279.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 317

very hospitably when on a journey. 9 He nevertheless estab-
lished a rule even in this department of his government, which
if it has not been adhered to invariably, has yet much affected
the subsequent practice; he limited, namely, the number of
cardinals to seventy. " As Moses," he remarks, " chose seventy
elders from among the whole nation, to take counsel with
them."

This pontiff has also received the credit of having abolished
nepotism; but, considering the question more closely, we find
that this was not done by him. The habit of unduly exalting
the pontifical house had greatly declined under Pius IV, Pius
V, and Gregory XIII; the favors bestowed on the papal
nephews had sunk to insignificance. Pius V more especially
deserves commendation in this particular, since he forbade
the alienation of church property by an express law. The earlier
forms of nepotism were then extinct before the times of Sixtus
V, but among the popes of the succeeding century it reappeared
under a different form. There were always two favored
nephews or kinsmen, of whom one, raised to the cardinalate,
acquired the supreme administration of affairs, ecclesiastical
and political; the other, remaining in a secular station, was
married into some illustrious family, was endowed with lands
and " luoghi di monte," established a majorat, and became the
founder of a princely house. If we now ask by whom this
mode of nepotism was introduced, we shall find that though
its rise was gradual, yet it grew to maturity under Sixtus V.
Cardinal Montalto, whom the Pope loved so tenderly that he
even put a restraint on the impetuosity of his temper in his
favor, gained admission to the consulta, and a share at least in
the administration of foreign affairs : his brother Michele be-
came a marquis, and founded a wealthy house.

We are yet not to conclude that Sixtus thus introduced a
system of governing by nepotism. The marquis possessed no
influence whatever, the cardinal none over essential interests. 10
To have allowed them any, would have been wholly at variance

9 Though Sixtus could endure no mit to him the charge of a bishopric

other form of contradiction, he could or a cardinalate." It was precisely a

not escape that from the pulpit. The cook that Cardinal Gallo had been.

Jesuit Francis Toled9 said, with regard (" Memorie della Vita di Sisto V.")
to this, in one of his sermons, that a 10 Bentivoglio, " Memorie," p. 90:

ruler sinned who bestowed a public of- " There was scarcely a single person

fice as reward for private services: who had any participation in the gov-

" not because a man is a good carver ernment."
or cup-bearer can we prudently com-

3i8 RANKE

with the pontiff's mode of thinking. There was something
cordial and confiding in the favors he bestowed, and they pro-
cured him the good-will not of individuals only, but of the
public also. The helm of government was, however, in no case
resigned to another hand ; he was himself sole ruler. He ap-
peared to regard the " congregations " with very high consid-
eration, and pressed the members to give their free, unfettered
opinions; but whenever any one of them did so, he became
irritated and impatient. 1 Obstinately did he persist in the
execution of his own will. " With him," says Cardinal Gritti,
" no man has a voice, even in counsel how much less then in
decision ? " 2 His personal and provincial attachments were
never permitted to interfere with his general government,
which was invariably rigid, thorough-going, and above all
arbitrary.

These characteristics were exhibited in no department more
strikingly than in that of finance.

palmela

Section VII Finances

The Chigi family in Rome are in possession of a small
memorandum-book kept by Sixtus, in his own handwriting,
while yet but a poor monk. 1 With the utmost interest does the
reader turn over the leaves of this document, wherein Sixtus
has noted all the important interests of his life : the places he
preached in during Lent, the commissions he received and
executed, the books that he possessed, in what manner they
were bound, whether singly or together, are here noted down ;
finally, all the details of his small monkish housekeeping are
given with the utmost exactitude. We read in these pages
how Fra Felice bought twelve sheep of his brother-in-law
Baptista ; how he paid first twelve florins, and afterward two
florins and twenty bolognins for these sheep, so that they be-
came his own property; how the brother-in-law kept them,
receiving half the profits, as was the custom of Montalto, with
many other matters of like character. We perceive with how

1 Gualterius: " Although he referred conduct of all others who had rule,

affairs to the congregations and others, throughout the Apostolic See."

he yet had cognizance of all himself, 2 Gritti, " Relatione," " Not only is

and took part in the execution. With there no one who decides for him, but

great zeal did he investigate the pro- there is scarcely anyone whom he will

ceedings of all magistrates, whether in even consult."

the city or the provinces, likewise the x Sisto V.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 319

close an economy he guarded his small savings, how minutely
he kept account of them, and how at length they amounted to
some hundred florins; all these details one follows with
interest and sympathy, remarking throughout, the same eco-
nomical exactitude which this Franciscan afterward brought to
bear on the government of the Papal States. His frugality is
a quality for which he gives himself due praise in every bull
that affords him opportunity for introducing the subject ; and
even in many of his inscriptions; it is certain that no pope,
either before or after him, administered the revenues of the
Church with so good an effect.

The treasury was utterly exhausted when Sixtus V ascended
the papal chair, and he complains bitterly of Pope Gregory,
whom he accuses of having spent the treasures of his predeces-
sor and his successor, as well as his own : 2 he conceived so
bad an opinion of this pontiff, that he ordered masses to be said
for his soul, having seen him in a dream enduring the torments
of the other world. The revenues of the State were found to
be anticipated up to the following October.

All the more earnestly did he set himself to the task of re-
plenishing the public coffers, and in this he succeeded beyond
his expectations. In April, 1586, at the close of the first year
of his pontificate, he had already gathered 1,000,000 scudi in
gold. To this he added a second million in November of 1 587,
and in the April following a third. Thus an amount of more
than 4,500,000 of silver scudi was laid up by the early part
of 1588. When Sixtus had got together 1,000,000, he de-
posited it in the castle of St. Angelo, dedicating it, as he
says, " to the Holy Virgin, the mother of God, and to the holy
apostles Peter and Paul." In this bull he tells us that he " not
only surveyed the billows on which the little bark of St. Peter
was now sometimes tossing, but also the storms that are threat-
ening from the distance. Implacable is the hatred of the
heretics ; the faithful are menaced by the power of the Turk,
Assur, the scourge of God's wrath." The Almighty, in whom
he trusted, had taught him that " even by night also shall the

3 " Vita e Success! del Cardinal di and no revenue, for the last Pope had

Santa Severina," MS. Bibl. Alb. : squandered his income as well as that

" When I spoke to him of the col- left by Pius V ; he bewailed aloud that

leges of the neophytes and Armenians, evil state wherein he had found the

both needing aid, he replied angrily, Apostlic See."
that there was no money in the castle

320 RANKE

father of the family be watchful, and shall follow that example
given by the patriarchs of the Old Testament, who had ever
large treasures stored in the temple of the Lord."

He decided, as is well known, on what contingencies those
were, that would make it lawful to have recourse to this fund.
They were the following: a war undertaken for the conquest
of the Holy Land, or for a general campaign against the Turks ;
the occurrence of famine or pestilence; manifest danger of
losing any province of Catholic Christendom ; hostile invasion
of the Ecclesiastical States; or the attempt to recover a city
belonging to the Papal See. He bound his successors, as they
would shun the wrath of Almighty God, and of the holy apostles
Peter and Paul, to confine themselves within the limits thus
assigned them. 3

The merit of this arrangement we leave for the moment
unquestioned, to inquire by what means the pontiff contrived
to amass a treasure so astonishing for the times he lived in.

The direct revenues of the Papal See could not account for
it; these, as Sixtus himself informs us, were not in their net
product more than 200,000 scudi a year. 4

The savings of the Pope were considerable, but not equal
to this amount. His retrenchments were certainly very close,
the expenses of his table being reduced to six pauls a day
(nearly three shillings of our present money). He abolished
many useless offices of the court, and disbanded a part of the
troops. But we have the authority of the Venetian Delfino for
the fact that all this did not lessen the expenditure of the
Camera by more than 150,000 scudi; and we learn, besides,
from Sixtus himself, that his reduction of expense was to the
amount of 146,000 scudi only. 5

We find then that with all his economy and by his own
showing the net revenue was increased to 350,000 scudi, and
no more. This would scarcely suffice for the buildings he was
engaged in ; what then would it do toward the amassing of so
enormous a treasure ?

The extraordinary system of finance established in the States

" Ad Clavum," April 21, 1586, Cocq. ample, who has no more than 200,000

iv. iv. 206. scudi, when the interest on debts con-

4 " Dispaccio Gritti, 7 Giugno, 1586." tracted by earlier popes, and other in-

The Pope blames Henry III, because, cidental expenses are paid,

with an income of 3,000,000, he saves 6 " Dispaccio Badoer, 2 Guigno, 1589."
nothing. Bringing forward his Own ex-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 321

of the Church has been already considered ; we have seen the
continued increase of imposts and burdens of all sorts, without
any corresponding increase of the real income; we have ob-
served the multiplicity of loans by the sale of offices and by
monti, with the ever-augumenting incumbrances laid on the
State for the necessities of the Church. The many evils in-
separable from this system are manifest, and, hearing the
eulogies so liberally bestowed on Sixtus V, we at once infer that
he found means to remedy those evils. What then is our amaze-
ment, when we find that he pursued the same course in a man-
ner the most reckless ; nay, that he even gave to this system so
fixed a character as to render all future control or remedy im-
possible !

In the sale of offices it was that Sixtus found one chief
source of his treasures. He raised in the first instance the
prices of many that had been obtained by purchase only from
periods long before his own. Thus the office of treasurer to
the Camera, of which the price till now had been 15,000 scudi,
he sold for 50,000 to one of the Giustiniani family ; and, having
raised him to the College of Cardinals, he sold it again to a
Pepoli for 72,000 scudi. This second purchaser being also
invested with the purple, Sixtus appropriated one-half the in-
come of the office, namely 5,000 scudi, to a monte; and thus
mulcted, he sold it once more for 50,000 golden scudi. In the
next place he began to sell certain employments that up to his
time had always been conferred gratuitously ; as, for example,
the notariates, the office of fiscal, with those of commissary-gen-
eral, solicitor to the Camera, and advocate of the poor: for
all these he now obtained considerable sums; as 30,000 scudi
for a notariate, 20,000 for a commissariat-general, etc. Finally,
he created a multitude of new offices, many of them very impor-
tant ones, as were those of treasurer to the dataria, prefect of
the prisons, etc., and some others. Of his invention are, be-
sides, the " twenty-four referendaries," from which, as from
notariates in the principal cities of the State, and from " 200
cavalierates," he derived very large sums of money.

When all these means are taken into account, the mode by
which Sixtus amassed his treasure is no longer problematical.
The sale of offices is computed to have brought him 608,510
golden scudi, and 401,805 silver scudi, making together nearly

322 RANKE

a million and a half of silver scudi ; 6 but if this sale of places
had before caused undue pressure on the State, from their
involving, as we have shown, a share in the rights of govern-
ment under plea of a loan, which rights were most rigorously
enforced against the tax-payer, while the duties of these offices
were never performed, how greatly was this evil now aug-
mented! Offices were, in fact, considered as property confer-
ring certain rights, rather than as an obligation demanding
labor.

In addition to all this, an extraordinary increase was made
by Pope Sixtus in the number of the monti; of these he founded
three non vacabili, and eight vacabili, more than any one of
his predecessors.

The monti were always secured, as we have seen, on new
taxes; to this expedient Sixtus was at first most reluctant to
have recourse, but he could devise no other. When he brought
forward in the consistory his project of an investment of treas-
ure for the Church, Cardinal Farnese opposed the idea, by ob-
serving that his grandfather Paul III had thought of this plan,
but had resigned it on prceiving that it could not be accom-
plished without imposing new taxes. The Pope turned on him
fiercely; the intimation that a previous pontiff had been wiser
than himself put him in a fury. " That,'' he retorted, " was
because there were certain great spendthrifts under Paul III,
who by the blessing of God are not permitted to exist in our
times." Farnese reddened and made no reply, 7 but the result
showed that he was right.

In the year 1587, Sixtus would no longer endure restraint
from considerations of this kind: he laid heavy imposts on
the most indispensable articles of daily use, such as firewood,
and the wine sold by retail in the wine-shops of the city, as
also on the most toilsome occupations, that of towing barges
up the Tiber by means of buffaloes or horses, for example:
with the money thus gained he established monti. He debased
the coinage, and a small money-changing trade having arisen

* " Calculation of the Roman Finances in that day there were many and great

under Clement VJ.11," in a detailed MS. squanderers [' scialaquatori,' a word he

of the Bibl. Barberini in Rome. was very fond of using], but we have,

7 Changing countenance as Farnese thank God, none of them in our times."
spoke, the Pope replied angrily, "There He remarked bitterly on the multitude
is no marvel, Monsignore, if in the time of sons, daughters, and nephews of all
of your grandfather the ordinary re- kinds surrounding Paul III. At all
ceipts and revenues were insufficient to this Farnese colored somewhat, and re-
found a treasure for the Church, because mained silent.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 323

from this fact, he turned even that circumstance to account, by
selling permission to those who stationed themselves at the cpr-
ners of the streets with a view to such traffic. 8 His attachment
to the March did not prevent him from burdening the trade of
Ancona by a duty of two per cent, on her imports. Even the
manufactures, which were but just commencing their existence,
he compelled to afford him at least an indirect advantage. 9 In
these and similar operations his principal adviser was one Lopez,
a Portuguese Jew, who had fled his country from fear of the
Inquisition and, having gained the confidence of the datary and
of Signora Camilla, at length obtained that of the pontiff him-
self. The mode in which Cardinal Farnese had been silenced,
rendered the whole college very cautious in their opposition of
the Pope; when the wine-tax just referred to was discussed in
the consistory, Albano of Bergamo remarked, " Whatever
pleases your holiness, I approve; but should this impost dis-
please your holiness, I shall approve still more."

By all these means so many new sources of income were
rendered available, that the pontiff was enabled to take up a
loan of 2,500,000 scudi (or to be exact 2,424,725), and pay in-
terest thereon.

It must be admitted, however, that in this system of finance
there is something exceedingly difficult to comprehend.

The country was most oppressively burdened by these taxes
and by the multitude of places. Of the latter the salaries were
made to depend on perquisites and fees, which must of necessity
embarrass the course of justice and the administration. The
taxes were imposed on the trade of the country, wholesale and
retail, and could not but seriously impair its activity. And to
what end was all this suffering inflicted ?

If we add the proceeds of the monti to those of the offices,
we shall find that the whole sum thus produced to the Camera
was about equal to the treasure shut up by Sixtus in the castle
of St. Angelo 4,500,000 scudi, and very little more. All the
undertakings for which this Pope has been so highly praised

8 For an old Giuho, besides ten ba- cers appointed by him, nor come into

jocchi of the coin of Sixtus, a premium the market without their license: this

of from four to six quatrini was de- prevented fraud; but, better still, it

manded. aided the treasury, because the fees on

Here we have an eloquent example licenses and stamps brought large sums

of his administration: He exacted that to the purse of the pontiff. This was

no silk or wool, raw or woven, should but little likely to promote the welfare

be sold without permission from offi- of trade.

$24 RANKE

might very well have been accomplished with the amount of
his savings.

To collect and hoard superfluous revenues is a proceeding
sufficiently intelligible : to raise a loan for some present neces-
sity is also easily comprehended, and in the course of things;
but to borrow money and impose heavy imposts, merely for the
purpose of locking up the proceeds in a fortress, as a treasure
for some future contingency, this is altogether foreign to the
general practice of governments. Such was nevertheless the
process which has gained the admiration of the world for the
government of Sixtus V.

There was doubtless much tyranny and many unpopular
characteristics in the administration of Gregory XIII. The
reaction of these was most pernicious ; but I am decidedly of
opinion that if he had succeeded in rendering the papal treas-
ury independent of new loans and imposts for the future, the
result would have been highly beneficial to the Roman States,
and would probably have rendered their progress much more
prosperous.

But the energy required to carry the views of Gregory into
all their consequences, was not fully possessed by that pontiff ;
it was more especially wanting in the last year of his life.

This practical force it was, this power of executing what
he willed, that characterized Sixtus V. His accumulation of
treasure by means of loans, imposts, and venal offices, did but
add burden to burden; nor shall we fail to perceive the con-
sequence, but the world was dazzled by his success, which,
for the moment, did certainly give the Papal See increased im-
portance. For the States surrounding those of the Church
were in most cases always pressed for money, and the pos-
session of wealth inspiring the pontiffs with a more perfect
confidence in themselves, procured for them a more influen-
tial position in the eyes of their neighbors.

This mode of administering the State was indeed an essen-
tial part of the Catholic system of those times. Gathering
all the financial strength of the realm into the hands of the
ecclesiastical chief, it first rendered him the complete and ex-
clusive organ of spiritual influence. For to what purpose
could all this treasure be applied, if not to the defence and
extension of the Catholic faith ?

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 325

And in projects having these ends in view did Sixtus live,
move, and have his being. His enterprises were sometimes
directed against the East and the Turks, but more frequently
against the West and the Protestants. Between these two
confessions, the Catholic and Protestant, a war broke out, in
which the pontiffs took most earnest part and interest.

This war we shall treat of in the following book : for the
present let us remain a little longer with Rome herself, which
now made her influence once more felt by the whole world.

Section VIII The Public Works of Sixtus V

Even in her external form, the city now assumed for the
third time the aspect of capital of the world.

The splendor and extent of ancient Rome are familiar to
all; its ruins and its history have alike contributed to bring
it clearly before our eyes: these have been zealously ex-
plored, nor would the Rome of the Middle Ages less richly
repay our diligence. This too was a noble city. The majesty
of her basilicas, the divine worship ever proceeding in her
grottoes and catacombs, the patriarchial temples of her pon-
tiffs, preserving as they did the most revered monuments of
early Christianity, all aided to render her august and im-
posing. The palace of the Caesars, still magnificent, and then
possessed by the German kings, with the many fortresses
erected by independent races, as if in defiance of those nu-
merous powers by which they were surrounded, added further
to the interest awakened.

But during the absence of the popes at Avignon, this Rome
of the Middle Ages had fallen into decay, equally with the long-
ruined Rome of antiquity.

In the year 1443, when Eugenius IV returned to Rome,
the city was become a mere dwelling of herdsmen; her in-
habitants were in no way distinguished from the peasants and
shepherds of the surrounding country. The hills had been
long abandoned, and the dwellings were gathered together in
the levels along the windings of the Tiber: no pavements
were found in the narrow streets, and these were darkened by
projecting balconies and by the buttresses that served to prop
one house against another. Cattle wandered about as in a

326 RANKE

village. From San Silvestro to the Porta del Popolo all was
garden and marsh, the resort of wild-ducks. The very
memory of antiquity was fast sinking ; the capital had become
" the hill of goats," the Forum Romanum was " the cow's
field." To the few monuments yet remaining the people at-
tached the most absurd legends. The church of St. Peter was
on the point of falling to pieces.

When Nicholas at length regained the allegiance of all
Christendom, and had become enriched by the offerings of
those pilgrims who had flocked to Rome for the jubilee, he
determined to adorn the city with buildings that should com-
pel all to acknowledge her as the capital of the world.

To effect this was, however, no work for the life of one man ;
the popes succeeding him, also labored at it for centuries.

Their exertions are sufficiently described by their respective
biographers, and I do not repeat the details ; the most effective
and remarkable laborers, not as to the consequences only, but
also as to the contrasts they presented, were Julius II and
that Sixtus whose pontificate we are now considering.

When Sixtus IV had built the simple but substantial bridge
of Travertine which bears his name, thus forming a more
convenient communication between the two shores of the Tiber,
the inhabitants began to build on either bank with considerable
activity. The lower city, which had now withdrawn to these
banks of the river, was entirely restored under Julius II. Not
content with his enterprise of St. Peter's church on the southern
side, which was rising in great majesty under his direction, Ju-
lius also restored the palace of the Vatican, and across the decliv-
ity that separated the old buildings from the villa of Innocent
VIII, called the Belvedere, he laid the foundation of the Loggie,
one of the most admirably conceived works in existence. At
no great distance from these erections, his kinsmen of the Riario
family and his treasurer, Agostini Chigi, were all building
palaces of great beauty, each in emulation of the other. Of
these, the Farnesina, that of Chigi, is unquestionably the su-
perior, admirable for the perfection of its plan and the grace
of its construction, but most of all for the rich decorations it
received from the hand of Raphael. To the north of the Tiber,
Julius also displayed his munificence by completing the Can-
cellaria with its fine court (cortile), which from the purity

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 327

and harmony of its proportions is considered the most beautiful
in the world. The example he gave was eagerly followed by his
cardinals and nobles; among them Farnese, the magnificent
entrance of whose palace has gained it the reputation of being
the finest in Rome; and Francesco del Rio, who boasted of
his house that " it should last till a tortoise had completed the
tour of the globe/' The Medici meanwhile filled their dwell-
ings with the most varied treasures of art and literature;
while the Orsini domed their palace on the Campofiore with
painting and sculpture both within and without. 1 The re-
mains of that magnificent period, when the noble works of
antiquity were so boldly rivalled, do not receive all the atten-
tion they merit, from the stranger who passes them in his
walks around the Campofiori and across the Piazza Farnese.
The genius, emulation, and fertility of spirit characterizing
this bright epoch produced a general prosperity in the city.
In proportion with the increase of the people, buildings were
erected on the Campo Marzo, and around the mausoleum of
Augustus. These were further extended under Leo X. Ju-
lius had previously constructed the Lungara on the southern
shore, and opposite to the Strada Giulia on the northern bank.
The inscription still remains wherein the conservators boast
that Julius had traced out and given to the public these new
streets, " in proportion with the majesty of his newly acquired
dominions."

The plague and the sack of the city occasioned a large de-
crease of the population; which again suffered during the
troubles under Paul IV. It did not recover from these in-
juries until some time after, when an increase of the inhab-
itants was seen to accompany the return of the Catholic world
to its allegiance.

The reoccupation of the deserted hills had been contem-
plated by Pius IV. The palace of the conservators on the
Monte Capitolino was founded by him ; and it was for the
same pontiff that Michael Angelo erected the church of Santa
Maria degli Angeli, on the Viminal, with a portion from the
ruins of the Baths of Dioclesian, and on a small part of their
site. The Porta Pia, on the Quirinal, still bears his name and

1 See " Opusculum de Mirabilibus pecially the second part, " De nova
novae et veteris Urbis Romae, editum a urbe."
Francisco Albertino," 1515; more es-

328 RANKE

inscription; 2 additions were made to the same quarter by
Gregory XIII.

But these were all vain labors only, so long as the hills re-
mained destitute of water.

And here it was that Sixtus V achieved a well-merited
glory. He has distinguished himself from all other pontiffs,
and rivalled the ancient Caesars, by supplying the city with
pure streams of water, brought into it by means of colossal
aqueducts. This he did, as he tells us himself, " that these
hills, adorned in early Christian times with basilicas, re-
nowned for the salubrity of their air, the pleasantness of their
situation, and the beauty of their prospects, might again be-
come inhabited by man." " Therefore," he adds, " we have
suffered ourselves to be alarmed by no difficulty, and deterred
by no cost." He did in fact declare to the architects from
the first commencement, that he desired to produce a work
whose magnificence might compete with the glories of im-
perial Rome. He brought the Aqua Martia from the Agro
Colonna, a distance of two-and-twenty miles, to Rome; and
this in defiance of all obstacles, carrying it partly underground
and partly on lofty arches. How great was the satisfaction
with which Sixtus beheld the first stream of this water pouring
its bright wealth into his own vine-garden (vigna) \ still further
did he then bear it onward to Santa Susanna, on the Quirinal.
From his own name he called it the " Acqua Felice," and it
was with no little self-complacency that he placed a statue by
the fountain, representing Moses, who brings water, stream-
ing from the rock, at the touch of his staff. 3

Not only the immediate neighborhood, but the whole city,
drew at once great advantage from that aqueduct. Twenty-
seven fountains were supplied by the Acqua Felice, which
gives 20,537 cubic metres of water every twenty-four hours.

From this time, building on the hills was resumed with
great activity, which Sixtus further stimulated by the grant
of special privileges. He levelled the ground about the Trinita
de Monti, and laid the foundation of the steps descending

8 Luigi Contarini, " Antichita di Acqua Felice di Roma " ( " Rime,") ii.

Roma, bestows high praise on the ef- 3 TI )> describing how the water at first

forts of Pius IV: Had he lived four flows along a gloomy path, and then

years longer," he remarks. " Rome bursts joyously forth to the light of day

would have been another city as to its to look on Rome as Augustus beheld

buildings." it.

We have stanzas by Tasso, "All*

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 329

to the Piazza di Spagna, which offer the most direct line of
communication between that height and the lower city. 4 Along
the summit he laid out the Via Felice and the Borgo Felice,
opening streets that even to our day continue to be the great
thoroughfares from all directions to Santa Maria Maggiore.
It was his purpose to connect all the other basilicas by spacious
avenues with this church. The poets boast that Rome had
nearly doubled her extent, and was again resuming her old
abodes.

These fine constructions on the heights were not the only
works by which Sixtus distinguished himself from earlier
popes. His designs were, in some respects, directly opposed
to the purposes and ideas of his predecessors.

Under Leo X, the ruins of ancient Rome were regarded
with a species of religious veneration. The presence of a
divine genius was hailed in these relics with rapturous delight ;
with a ready ear did that sovereign listen to him who ex-
horted to the preservation of " the all that yet remains to us
of our city ; that ancient mother of the greatness and renown
of Italy." 5

Distant as earth from heaven were all the ideas of Sixtus
from these modes of view and feeling; for the beauties of
antiquity, this Franciscan had neither comprehension nor sym-
pathy. The Septizonium of Severus, a most extraordinary
work, could find no favor in his eyes, though surviving the
storms of so many centuries. He demolished it entirely, and
carried off a part of its columns for the church of St. Peter. 6

4 Gualterius: " That he might form a tain expressions in this letter with those

more convenient road from the lower of the well-known epigram on the death

part of the city to the Pincian mount, of Raphael : " vedendo quasi il cadavero

and between that and the Esquiline, he di quella nobil patria cosi miseramente

lowered the Pincian hill before the lacerate ; " " urbis lacerum ferro igni

Church of the Most Holy Trinity, so annisque cadaver ad yitam revocas."

that carriages might pass; he built This certainly does intimate a restora-

steps also, convenient as well as beauti- tion, but in idea only, in a descrip-

ful, which lead to the Pincian hill and tion, not more; an opinion not es-

to that church, where there is a most sentially at variance with those before

pleasant and fair prospect." expressed it is rather confirmatory of

6 Passages from Castiglione's well- them. I think we may conclude that
known letter to Leo X, " Lettere di the work with which Raphael occupied
Castiglione," Padova, 1796, p. 149. But the latter part of his life was far ad-
I can find no intimation here of a plan vanced, since a dedication of it was
for excavating the ancient city; rather already composed in his name. What
it seems to me that this is the preface a name to add to the list of describers
to a description of Rome, with a plan, of cities (astyographers) ! These papers,
reference being frequently made both with the plan, may have fallen into the
to the plan and description. It is hands of Fulvius, who probably took
highly probable that the works of an active part in the researches.
Raphael himself were to be introduced 8 Gualterius: " Above all he caused
by this preface, an opinion that is the Septizonium of Severus to be de-
strengthened by the similarity of cer- molished, to the infinite grief of the

330 RANKE

His rage for destruction seemed equal to his zeal in build-
ing, and great fears were entertained that he would go be-
yond all bounds of moderation in both. Let us hear what
Cardinal Santa Severina relates as to this matter were it not
the testimony of an eye-witness, we should find it incredible:
" When it was perceived," he tells us, " that the Pope seemed
resolving on the utter destruction of the Roman antiquities,
there came to me one day a number of the Roman nobles,
who entreated me to dissuade his holiness with all my power
from so extravagant a design." They addressed their petition
to that cardinal, who was then, without doubt, himself con-
sidered as a confirmed zealot. Cardinal Colonna united
his prayers to theirs. The Pope replied that he would " clear
away the ugly antiquities," but would restore all others that re-
quired restoration. And now for an instance of those he found
" ugly." That tomb of Cecilia Metella, which was even then
one of the most valuable relics of the republican times, and
a monument of admirable sublimity this it was among his
purposes to destroy! How much may not have perished be-
neath his hand!

He could not persuade himself to endure the Laocoon and
the Apollo Belvedere in the Vatican without great difficulty,
and would not suffer those ancient statues with which the
Roman citizens had enriched the Capitol to retain their places.
He thereatened to destroy the Capitol itself if they were not
removed. These were a Jupiter Tonans between Apollo and
Minerva; the two first-named were in fact removed, and the
Minerva was permitted to remain only because Sixtus had
contrived to invest her with the character of Rome, 7 and
Rome christianized, by taking the spear of the goddess from
her hand and replacing it with a gigantic cross.

The columns of Trajan and of Antonine he restored in the
same spirit, removing the urn which was believed to contain
the ashes of the Emperor from the former, which he dedicated
to St. Paul. The column of Antonine was in like manner
assigned to St. Peter, and from that time the statues of the
two apostles have stood confronting each other on that airy

Romans, using its columns and mar- 7 Passage from the life of Sixtus V,

bles for his works; and in many places ipsius manu emendata, given in Bun-
of the city might excavations be seen sen's " Description of Rome," i. p. 7 02 -
where he had extracted various mar-
bles."

palmela

elevation, overlooking the dwellings of men. The pontiff thought that he had thus secured a triumph for Christianity over paganism.
He had set his heart on erecting the obelisk before the church of St. Peter, principally because " he desired to see the monuments of unbelief subjected to the cross on the very spot where the Christians had formerly suffered the bitter death
of crucifixion."
This was indeed a magnificent design, but his mode of conducting it was highly characteristic, evincing a singular mixture of despotism, grandeur, pomp, and bigotry.
He threatened to punish the architect, Domenico Fontana, who had worked his way up under his own eyes from the condition of a mason's apprentice, should the enterprise fail, or the obelisk sustain injury.
The task was one of exceeding difficulty: to lift this monument from its base near the sacristy of the old church of St.Peter, lower it to a horizontal position, remove it to the placeassigned, and fix it on a new basis.
The work was undertaken with a consciousness in those concerned that their enterprise was one which would be famed throughout all ages. The men employed, 900 in number, began by hearing mass, confessing and receiving the sacrament. They
then entered the enclosure set apart for their labors, the master placing himself on a raised platform. The obelisk was defended by straw mats and a casing of planks firmly secured by strong iron bands. The monstrous machine which was to
upheave it with thick ropes, received motion from thirty-five windlasses, each worked by two horses and ten men. When all was ready, the signal was given by sound of trumpet. The first turn proved the efficacy of the means employed. The obelisk was lifted from the base on which it had rested dur-
ing 1,500 years. At the twelfth turn it had risen two palms and three-quarters, where it was held fast. The architect saw the ponderous mass (weighing, with its defences, more than 1,000,000 Roman pounds) in his power. This took place, as - at least is the P inio P of J- p - natio sublata teterrimis cruciatibus ne Mattei, among others, " Historiarum caretur, ibi supposita cruci, et in crucis ab ? ce . s *J Gregorii XIII," lib. i. p. 5. versa honorem cultumque ipsa impiebixti V, i. m e.: Ut ubi grassa- tatis moaumenta cernerentur." (See

turn ohm supphcus, in Chnstianos et text.)
passim fixae cruces, in quas innoxia

was carefully recorded, on April 30, 1586, at the twentieth hour (about three in the afternoon). A salute was fired from the castle St. Angelo. All the bells of the city pealed forth, and the workmen carried their master round the enclosure in tri-
umph, uttering joyous and reiterated acclamations.
Seven days were suffered to elapse, when the obelisk was lowered to the desired level with similar skill. It was then conveyed on rollers to its new destination; but it was not tillthe hot months had passed that they ventured to attempt the
re-erection.
The day chosen by Sixtus for this undertaking was September loth, a Wednesday (which he had always found to be a fortunate day), and that immediately preceding the festival of the Elevation of the Cross, to which the obelisk was to be
dedicated. The workmen again commenced their labors by commending themselves to God, all falling on their knees as they entered the enclosure. Fontana had profited by the description given in Ammianus Marcellinus of the last raising of an obelisk
for making his arrangements, and was, besides, provided with a force of 140 horses. It was considered peculiarly fortunatethat the sky chanced to be clouded that day: all succeeded perfectly. The obelisk was moved by three great efforts, and an
hour before sunset it was seen to sink upon its pedestal, formed by the backs of four bronze lions that seem to support it. The exulting cries of the people filled the air, and the satisfaction of the pontiff was complete. This work, which so many of his predecessors had desired to perform, and which so many writers had recommended, he had now accomplished. Henotes in his diary that he has achieved the most difficult en-
terprise conceivable by the mind of man. He struck medals in commemoration of this event, received poems of congratulation in every language, and sent official announcements of his success to foreign powers. 10 The despatches of Gritti of May 3 fall while thus suspended, and extend-

and ip, July 12, and October 11, allude ed it along the ground on a huge tray
to this elevation of the obelisk. The formed of beams to receive it. Then
effect is well described in the " Vita on cylinders, wooden columns rounded
Sixti V.," ipsius manu emendata: He and smooth, it was dragged along by held the eyes of the whole city fixed four windlasses over the line which had
on the spectacle of a new thing, or been built and elevated to the level of
rather one repeated after a lapse of the base whereon it was to stand; and
more than 1,500 years; when either he lastly, being again set up and poised
raised the mass, a'fter wrenching it from exactly, it was fixed on the place newly

its site by the force of tbirty-five cap- assigned it."
stans, or that he slowly suffered it to

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 333

The inscription he affixed has a strange effect ; he boasts of
having wrested the monument from the emperors Augustus and
Tiberius, to consecrate it to the holy cross; and a cross was
erected on the obelisk, enclosing within it a piece of the sup-
posed true cross. This proceeding is an eloquent expression
of his whole mode of thought. The very monuments of pa-
ganism were to be made ministers to the glory of the cross.

Sixtus devoted himself with his whole spirit to his architect-
ural undertakings. A herd-boy, brought up among fields and
gardens, for him the city had peculiar attractions. He would
not hear mention of a villa residence ; his best pleasure, as he
declares himself, was " to see many roofs." He doubtless meant
that his highest satisfaction was derived from the progress of
his buildings.

Many thousand hands were kept constantly employed, nor
did any difficulty deter him from his purpose.

The cupola of St. Peter's was still wanting, and the archi-
tects required ten years for its completion. Sixtus was willing
to give the money, but he also desired to gratify his eyes by
the completed building. He set 600 men to work, allowing no
intermission even at night. In twenty-two months the whole
was finished, the leaden covering to the roof alone excepted;
this he did not live to see.

The arbitrary and impetuous character of the pontiff was
manifest even in labors of this kind. He demolished without
remorse the remains of the papal patriarchium, which were by
no means inconsiderable, and were singularly interesting.
These antiquities were connected with the dignity of his own
office, but he destroyed them nevertheless to erect his palace
of the Lateran on their site ; a building not at all wanted, and
which excites a very equivocal interest, solely as one of the
earliest examples of the uniform regularity of modern archi-
tecture.

How complete was the revolution which then took place in
the relations of the age to antiquity ! As in former times men
emulated the ancients, so did they now ; but their earlier efforts
were directed toward an approach to their beauty and grace of
form; now they sought only to vie with, or exceed them, in
extent and magnitude. Formerly the slightest trace of the
antique spirit was reverenced in however trifling a monument ;

334 RANKE

now the disposition seemed rather to destroy these traces. One
sole idea held predominance among the men of this day; they
would acknowledge no other. It was the same that had gained
ascendancy in the Church the same that had succeeded in
making the State a mere instrument of the Church. This rul-
ing idea of modern Catholicism had penetrated throughout the
being of society, and pervaded its most diversified institutions.

Section IX. General Change in the Intellectual Tendency

of the Age

It is not to be supposed that the Pope alone was subjected
to the dominion of the spirit we have seen to prevail ; toward
the close of the sixteenth century, a tendency became obvious
in every manifestation of intellect directly opposed to that which
had marked its commencement.

Highly significant of this change is the fact that the study
of the ancients, which in the first part of the century had been
a primary condition to all knowledge, had now greatly declined.
Another Aldus Manutius had indeed appeared in Rome, and
was professor of eloquence ; but neither for his Greek nor Latin
did he find admirers. At the hour of his lectures he might be
seen pacing up and down before the portal of the university
with one or two hearers, the only persons in whom he found
congeniality of sentiment or pursuit. How rapid a progress
was made by the study of Greek in the early part of this cen-
tury ! yet there did not exist at its conclusion one single Hellen-
ist of reputation in all Italy.

Not that I would assert this change to be altogether symp-
tomatic of decline ; it was in a certain sense connected with the
necessary progress of science and literature.

For if in earlier times all science had been immediately de-
rived from the ancients, this was now no longer possible. How
enormous was the mass of knowledge brought together by Ulis-
ses Aldrovandi, for example ; during the labors of his long life
and extensive travels, in comparison with anything that could
be possessed by the ancients! In the construction of his
museum he had labored to produce completeness, and wherever
the natural object was unattainable, had supplied its place by
drawings, carefully appending to each specimen an elaborate

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 335

description. How far, too, had the knowledge of geography
extended beyond what had even been imagined by those best
informed in the ancient world ! A more profound and search-
ing spirit of investigation had arisen; mathematicians had in
earlier days sought only to fill up the chasms left by the an-
cients ; as for example, Commandin, who, believing he had dis-
covered that Archimedes had either read or written some
treatise on gravitation, which was afterward lost, was led by
this supposition, himself to investigate the subject. But by
this very process men were conducted to more extensive obser-
vations; even while seeking to pursue the light offered by the
ancients, the mind of the student became freed from their
tutelage. Discoveries were made that led beyond the circle
prescribed by them, and these again opened new paths to further
inquiries.

More especially did the study of nature attract zealous and
self-relying students. For a moment men wavered between an
acquiescence in the mysteries attributed to natural phenomena
and the bold, deep-searching examination of those phenomena ;
but the love of science soon prevailed. An attempt was already
made to produce a rational classification of the vegetable king-
dom. In Padua, the science of anatomy was zealously pursue'd ;
and a professor of that university was called " the Columbus
of the human body ! " Inquirers marched boldly forward in all
directions, and knowledge was no longer restricted to the works
of the ancients.

It followed, if I am not mistaken, as a matter of course, that
antiquity, being no longer studied with so exclusive an atten-
tion as regarded the subject, could no longer exert its earlier
influence with reference to form.

Writers of learned works began now to think principally of
accumulating material. In the beginning of the century, Cor-
tesius had embodied the essence of the scholastic philosophy,
spite of the intractable nature of his subject, in a well- written
classical work, full of wit and spirit. But at this time, the sub-
ject of mythology, well calculated to call forth and to repay the
most genial and imaginative treatment, was handled by Natal
Conti in a dull and uninviting quarto. This author also wrote a
history composed almost entirely of sentences quoted directly
from the ancients ; the passages whence he has borrowed being

336 RANKE

cited ; but he does not possess one qualification for giving a gen-
uine description; a mere heaping together of the bare facts
seemed sufficient for his contemporaries. We may safely affirm
that a work like the Annals of Baronius, so entirely destitute of
form written in Latin, yet without one trace of beauty or ele-
gance, even in detached phrases could not have been thought
of at the commencement of the century.

Nor was this departure from the track of the ancients, in sci-
ence, in form, and in expression, the only change; others took
place in all the social habits of the nation; changes by which
an incalculable influence was exercised both on literature and
art.

Republican and independent Italy, on whose peculiar circum-
stances the early development of her people, intellectual and
social, had depended, was now no more; all the freedom and
simplicity of intercourse proper to the earlier days had departed.
It is worthy of note that titles came into use at this time. As
early as the year 1520, it was remarked with disgust that all
desired to be called " Sir " : this was attributed to the influence
of the Spaniards. About the year 1550, the old forms of ad-
dress, so noble in their simplicity, were encumbered, whether in
speech or writing, by ponderous epithets of honor; at the end
of the century duke and marquis were titles everywhere pre-
vailing; all wished to possess them, every man would fain be
" Excellency." Nor are we permitted to consider this a mere
trifle ; even in the present day, when this system of titles is be-
come old and familiar, they still have their effect; how much
more then when all were new? In every other respect also,
society became more rigid, stiff, and exclusive; the cheerful
easy tone of manner, the frank intercourse of earlier times were
gone forever.

Be the cause of this where it may whether a change incident
to the nature of the human mind thus much is manifest, that
so early as the middle of the century a different spirit pervaded
all productions ; new wants were making themselves felt in the
external forms, as in the living essence of society.

We find evidence of this change in many striking phenomena,
and perhaps one of the most remarkable is the remodelling of
Bojardo's "Orlando Innamorato," by Berni. It is the same
work, and yet altogether different ; all the freshness and charm

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 337

of the original have disappeared. On a more rigid examination,
we shall find that Berni has invariably displaced the individual
to substitute the universal ; he has obliterated the unfettered ex-
pression of a lovely and most vivid nature, for the conventional
decorums then and now demanded by Italian manners. 1 His
success was perfect, the manufacture he presented was received
with incredible approbation, and entirely superseded the origi-
nal poem. How rapidly too, for it was not yet fifty years since
Bojardo had first published his work.

This essential change, this infusion of a different spirit, may
be traced through most of the productions of that period.

If the longer poems of Alamanni and Bernardo Tasso are
tedious and uninviting, this does not proceed entirely from the
absence of talent, in the case of the latter more especially. But
the very conception of these works is cold. In compliance with
the demands of a public that was certainly not very virtuous,
but had put on manners of serious sedateness, both these writers
chose immaculate heroes, Bernardo Tasso selected Amadis, of
whom the younger Tasso says, " Dante would have retracted
his unfavorable opinion of chivalric romance, had he known the
Amadis of Gaul or of Greece; characters so full of nobleness
and constancy." The hero of Alamanni was Giron le Courtoys,
the mirror of all knightly virtues. His express purpose was to
show youth by this example, how hunger and night-watching,
cold and heat, were to be endured ; how arms should be borne ;
how justice and piety were best to be exemplified ; how enemies
were to be forgiven, and mercy extended to all. Proceeding
with this their moral and didactic aim, entirely after the man-
ner of Berni, and intentionally divesting the fable of its poetic
basis, the result they have gained is a work of infinite prolixity
and insipid dulness.

The nation would seem, if we may venture on the expression,
to have worked out and used up the whole amount of the poeti-
cal conceptions, descending to it from its by-gone history, and
from the ideas proper to the Middle Ages ; it had even lost the
power of comprehending them. Something new was sought
for, but the creative genius would not come forth, nor did the
life of the day present any fresh material. Up to the middle of

1 In the Academical Treatise before sue this subject in a more detailed
Alluded to, I have endeavored to pur- form.

338 RANKE

the century, Italian prose, though from its nature didactic, was
yet imaginative, life-like, flexible, and graceful. Gradually
prose also became rigid and cold.

And as with poetry, so was it with art. She lost the inspira-
tion derived from her connection with religion, and soon after
that which had informed her more profane efforts. Some few
traces of it yet lingered in the Venetian school alone. How en-
tirely had the disciples of Raphael, with one exception only,
degenerated from their master. While they sought to imitate
him, they lost themselves in artificial beauties, theatrical atti-
tudes, and affected graces. Their works sufficiently show in
how total an absence of feeling and with how feeble a sense of
beauty they were conceived. With the scholars of Michael
Angelo it fared no better. Art no longer comprehended her
object; the ideas that she had formerly taxed her powers to
clothe with form were now abandoned. There remained to her
only the externals of method.

In this state of things, when antiquity was deserted ; when its
forms were no longer imitated; when its science was left in
the background, and far overpassed; when the old national
poetry and all religious modes of conception were despised and
rejected by literature and art, the resuscitation of the Church
commenced. It obtained the mastery over the minds of men,
either with their consent or in spite of their resistance, produc-
ing a radical change in the whole being and system of art and
of literature.

Its influence was equally obvious in science, but if I am not
mistaken, the effect was in this case of a totally different char-
acter from that exercised over art.

Philosophy, and indeed all science, now passed through a
very important epoch. Having restored the genuine Aristotle,
men soon began to set themselves wholly free from his author-
ity in matters of philosophy, as had happened jn other branches
of knowledge and with other ancient writers, and proceeded to
the unfettered investigation of the most recondite and highest
problems. But from the very nature of things it was impossi-
ble that the Church could favor this freedom of inquiry, she
lost no time in laying down first principles in a manner that per-
mitted no doubt. The adherents of Aristotle had not unfre-
quently expressed opinions, such as the Church had never sane-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 339

tioned, and which were derived from the light of nature only ;
might not something similar be apprehended from those who
set themselves to oppose that philosopher? for their purpose
was, as one of them expressed it, to compare the tenets of
former teachers, with the original handwriting of God, the
world and nature. This was a project of which it was difficult
to determine the probable result; but whether discoveries or
errors ensued, they could not fail to be deeply perilous; the
Church, consequently, extinguished this evil in the germ. Tele-
sius did not suffer his speculations to pass beyond the domain
of physical science; he was nevertheless confined through his
whole life to his small native town. Campanella was subjected
to torture, and compelled to live in exile. The most profound
thinker of all, Giordano Bruno, a true philosopher, after many
persecutions and long wanderings, was at last seized by the In-
quisition, was sent to Rome, imprisoned and condemned to the
flames, " not only," as the legal record sets forth, " because
himself a heretic, but as a dangerous heresiarch, who had writ-
ten things affecting religion, and unseemly." 2 How could men
find courage for earnest investigation with such examples be-
fore them? One only of those who ventured on innovations
found favor with Rome, and he did so, because his attacks on
Aristotle were confined to the accusation that his principles
were opposed to the Church and to Christianity. This was
Francesco Patrizi. He believed himself to have discovered a
genuine philosophical tradition, descending from the pretended
Hermes Trismegistus, and which he traced through all succeed-

2 In a Venetian MS. now in the been accused in Naples and other
Archives of Vienna, under the Rubric places; that his arrest being communi-
Roma, Espositioni, 1592, will be found cated to the authorities in Rome, the
the original of a protocol respecting most illustrious cardinal Santa Severina
the surrender of Giordano Bruno. There had written and commanded that he
appeared before the college the vicar of should be sent to Rome by the first
the patriarch, the father inquisitor, and safe opportunity. Such an opportunity
Tommasso Morosini, the assistant of these officers now had. To this apph-
the Inquisition. The vicar stating that cation they received no immediate re-
there had been arrested within the last ply; and, in the afternoon, the father
few days, and was then in the prison inquisitor again appeared; but the Savi
of the Inquisition, a certain Giordano replied that the matter was of weight,
Bruno of Nola, accused not of heresy and demanded reflection; that the af-
only, but also as an heresiarch, he hav- fairs of the state were pressing and
ing written various books wherein he numerous, so that they had not yet
spoke in terms of praise of the English been able to come to any decision. The
queen and other principal heretics; and inquisitor was very earnest for their re-
alsp had said divers things concerning ply, because the boat was about to de-
religion, which were not becoming, part. But this time it had to go without
even though he spoke philosophically; the prisoner, whether his being after-
that this man was besides an apostate, ward surrendered was in consequence
having been a Dominican friar, but had of further application 1 have not been
lived many years in Geneva and in able to ascertain.
England: of these things he had also

340 RANKE

ing ages. This tradition contradicted the views of Aristotle,
and gave a clearer explanation of the Trinity than was to be
found even in the Mosaic .records. Patrizi was anxious to re-
store it, and to substitute its tenets for those of the Aristotelian
philosophy. In all the dedications of his works he alludes to
this purpose, and insists on the utility and necessity of its exe-
cution. His mind was peculiarly constituted ; he was not with-
out critical discernment, but evinces this quality, rather in what
he has rejected than in what he adopts. He was invited to
Rome, and maintained himself there in high credit, not by the
influence of his works, which was extremely insignificant, but
because the peculiarities of his opinions and the tendency of his
labors were in harmony with the views of the Church.

The investigation of physics and natural history was at that
time almost inseparably connected with philosophical inquiry.
The whole system of ideas as previously accepted was called in
question; there was indeed among the Italians of that period
an earnest tendency toward the vigorous pursuit of truth, a zeal
for progress, a noble loftiness of anticipation. Who shall say
to what glorious results this might have led? But the Church
set up a barrier which they must not overpass ; woe to him who
should be found beyond it !

That the restoration of Catholicism produced unfavorable
effects on science it is impossible to deny. Poetry and art on
the contrary received benefit from its renovation; a living sub-
ject, a prolific material was needful to them, and this they once
more received from the Church.

Of the dominion exercised by the regenerated spirit of relig-
ion over the minds of men, we have an example in Torquato
Tasso. His father Bernardo, had chosen a hero of blameless
moral character; he took a step further in the same direction.
The crusades had been selected as the subject of a poem by an-
other writer of that day, on the ground that " it is better to han-
dle a true argument in a Christian fashion, than to seek a little
Christian fame from an argument without truth." Torquato
Tasso did likewise. He sought his hero not in fable, but his-
tory, and Christian history. Godfrey is more than ^Eneas, he
is like a saint satiated with the world and with its passing
glories. The work would nevertheless have been very tedious
and dry, had the poet contented himself with the mere represen-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES

341

tation of such a personage ; but Tasso seized on all the resources
offered by the sentimental and enthusiastic portion of religious
feeling; this harmonized most happily with the fairy world,
whose rainbow tints he has wrought into the fabric of his poem.
The work is perhaps occasionally somewhat prolix, the effect
is not always fully made out, yet on the whole it is replete with
feeling and fancy, national spirit, and truth of character. The
love and admiration of his countrymen were secured by it to the
author, and have been continued to his memory even down to
our own days. But what a contrast does he present to Ariosto !
At an earlier period the art of poetry had fallen off from the
Church. Religion, now rising in the might of her renovated
empire, subjected poetry once more to her allegiance.

At no great distance from Ferrara, where Tasso composed
his poem, at Bologna namely, there soon after arose the school
of the Caracci, the origin of which marks a general revolution
in painting.

When we ask whence this change proceeded, we are assured
that it was due to the anatomical studies of the Bolognese acad-
emy to their eclectic imitation, and their learned style of art.
There was, unquestionably, great merit in the zeal with which
they sought, in their manner, to approach the truth of nature :
but the subjects they selected, and the spirit in which these were
treated, appear to me no less important.

The most earnest efforts of Ludovico Caracci were devoted
to a realization of the ideal of Christ. He is not always suc-
cessful ; but in the Calling of St. Matthew he has indeed most
happily presented the mild and serious man, full of truth and fer-
vor, of grace and majesty. This, as is well known, has become
the model of many succeeding painters. He has doubtless im-
itated earlier masters, but in a manner entirely characteristic
of himself. The Transfiguration of Raphael was evidently in
his mind ; but even while appropriating this, he infuses his own
idea, and the hand of Christ is raised toward Moses as in the act
of teaching. The master-piece of Agostino Caracci is without
doubt his St. Jerome. The old man is on the very point of
death : he has lost all power of movement, but aspires with his
last breath in fervent longing toward the host about to be pre-
sented to him. The Ecce Homo of Annibale Caracci in the
Borghese palace, with its deep shadows, its delicate, transparent

342 RANKE

skin and tearful eyes, is the ideal of Ludovico, but raised to a
more exalted sublimity. Admirably is this exemplified, once
more, in the Dead Christ; the rigidity of death has not con-
cealed the grandeur and freedom of conception that distinguish
this fine work; the tragical event just completed is expressed as
it was conceived with new and characteristic feeling. The
lunettes of the Doria palace present us with landscapes rendered
eloquently vivid by the simple expression of human events in
the sacred histories.

These masters, then, though not refusing profane subjects,
yet devoted themselves with peculiar earnestness to sacred ones ;
they are not indebted wholly to their technical and external
merits for the rank they maintain ; this is secured to them prin-
cipally by the fact that they once more caught the full inspira-
tion of their subject the religious representations they set be-
fore us had once more significance to themselves.

Their pupils are distinguished by a similar tendency. That
ideal of St. Jerome, which Agostino Caracci had originated,
was elaborated by Dominichino with such felicitous industry,
that in variety of grouping and perfection of expression he has
perhaps gone beyond his master. His head of St. Nilus ap-
pears to me a noble work, from its mingled expression, suffer-
ing, and reflection. His Sibyls, too, how youthful and inno-
cent, yet how profoundly meditative! Dominichino delighted
in contrasting the joys of heaven with the sufferings of earth,
as we find them in his Madonna del Rosario the Divine
Mother, rich in grace and beauty, as opposed to the feeble and
wretched mortal.

Guido Reni, also, has occasionally presented us with this con-
trast: the Virgin, radiant with immortal beauty, is placed to-
gether with monkish saints attenuated by fast and vigil. Guido
displays vigorous force of conception and originality of manner.
How sublime is his Judith, exulting in the deed she has accom-
plished, and glowing with gratitude for the aid bestowed by
heaven! Who but will remember his Madonnas exalted
wrapt in the ecstasy of their devotion? Even in his saints he
embodies an ideal of enthusiastic reverie.

Certain other characteristics of this tendency in art remain
to be described, but of less attractive quality. The invention
of these painters is occasionally deformed by a fantastic incon-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 343

gruity. In the fine group of the Holy Family, for example, is
found a St. John ceremoniously kissing the foot of the Divine
Infant, or the apostles are brought in to condole with the Vir-
gin, and are deliberately preparing to wipe away their tears.
The horrible, too, is expressed with needless frequency, and
without the slightest mitigation. We have the St. Agnes of
Dominichino, with the blood starting beneath the sword ! Guido
has set the Slaughter of the Innocents before us in all its atroc-
ity the women with their mouths all open pouring forth shriek
on shriek the savage executioners whose hands are dyed with
the blood of their victims!

Religion had resumed her empire over the minds of men, but
the mode of her influence was no longer that of earlier times :
in the older periods her external manifestations were pure and
simple; in this later epoch they became fantastic, forced, and
conventional.

The talents of Guercino are admitted and admired by all, but
what a St. John is that of the Sciarra gallery those large mus-
cular arms, those bare gigantic knees that face too, inspired
without doubt, but darkened by a gloom that makes it difficult
to decide whether the inspiration be not rather of earth than
heaven. His St. Thomas lays so heavy a hand on the wounds
of Christ, that we fancy the Redeemer suffering from so rude
a touch. Guercino has depicted Peter Martyr at the very mo-
ment when the sword cleaves his head. By the side of the
Duke of Aquitaine, whom St. Bernard is investing with the
cowl, stands a monk, busily occupied with the conversion of a
squire belonging to the duke, and the spectator is inexorably
consigned to a scene of premeditated devotion.

This is not the place to inquire how far the limits of art were
overstepped by this mode of treating the subject now ex-
travagantly ideal, now unnaturally hard; it will suffice to say,
that over the restored art of painting the Church acquired com-
plete dominion; by the inspiration of poetry, and the princi-
ples of a positive religion, she doubtless infused new life into it,
but she also imposed on it a character essentially ecclesiastical,
sacerdotal, and dogmatic.

This was effected with greater ease in architecture, which
was more immediately vowed to her service. I am not certain
that anyone has investigated the progress of modern architect-

344 RANKE

ure, from the imitation of antiquity to the canon devised by
Barozzi for the construction of churches, and which has been
observed in Rome and through all Catholic countries to the
present day. Here, too, the lightness and cheerful freedom dis-
tinguishing the early part of the century were abandoned for
pompous solemnity and religious magnificence.

As regarded one art, only, did the question long remain
doubtful whether or not it could be made subservient to the
purposes of the Church.

This was music, which toward the middle of the sixteenth
century had become lost in the most artificial intricacies. Vari-
ations, imitations, proportions, and fugues formed the reputa-
tion of composers ; the meaning of the words was no more re-
garded. Masses of that period may be found in great number,
of which the themes are furnished by well-known profane melo-
dies. The human voice was treated as a mere instrument. 8

We cannot be surprised that the Council of Trent should
take offence at the introduction of music thus arranged in the
churches. In consequence of the discussion there commenced,
Pius IV appointed a commission to inquire into the subject,
and to settle definitely whether music should be admitted to the
divine service, or banished from it entirely. The decision was
very doubtful. The Church required that the words sung
should be intelligible, and that the musical expression should
be in harmony with the sense. The professors of music
asserted that this was unattainable, according to the rules of
their art. Cardinal Borromeo was in the commission, and the
known rigor of that eminent churchman rendered an adverse
decision extremely probable.

Happily the right man once more presented himself, and he
appeared at the right moment.

Among the Roman composers of that day was Pier Luigi
Palestrina. This master was married, and the severity of Paul
IV had driven him on that account from the papal chapel. After
his expuls'ion he lived retired and forgotten, in a wretched hut
among the vine-grounds of Monte Celio. But his was a spirit
that could not yield to adverse fortune. Even in this abandon-
ment he devoted himself to his art with a singleness of purpose

8 Giuseppe Baini, " Memorie storico- 1828," supplies the information of which
critiche della Vita e delle Opere di Gio- I have made use.
vaniii Pier Luigi di Palestrina, Roma.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 345

that secured the originality of his conceptions, and the free
action of that creative force with which he was endowed. It
was here that he wrote the " Improperie " which to this day
ennoble the solemnities of Good Friday in the Sistine Chapel.
The profound significance of a scriptural text, its symbolic im-
port, its power to move the soul, and its application to religion,
have perhaps in no instance been more truly appreciated by any
composer.

If the experiment whether his method were applicable to the
grand and comprehensive purposes of the mass could be suc-
cessfully made by any man, that man was Palestrina; to him
accordingly the commission intrusted it.

Deeply conscious that on this trial was now depending the
life or death of the grand music of the mass, it was with earnest
tension of all his powers that the composer proceeded to his
task. The words, " O Lord, open thou mine eyes," were found
.written on his manuscript.

His success was not immediate ; the first two attempts failed.
At length, however, the happy moment arrived, and the mass
known as " the mass of Pope Marcellus " was completed. All
expectation was far surpassed by this composition. Full of
simple melody, it will yet bear comparison in rich variety with
any work preceding it. Choruses separate and again blend.
The meaning of the words received the most eloquent expres-
sion. The Kyrie is all submission, the Agnus humility, the
Credo majesty. Pope Pius IV, before whom it was performed,
was enchanted. He compared it with those heavenly melodies
that St. John may have heard in his ecstatic trance.

The question was set at rest forever by this one great exam-
ple ; a path was opened, pursuing which, works the most beauti-
ful and most touching, even to those who are not of the Romish
creed, have been produced. Who can listen to them without
enthusiasm? Nature herself seems to have acquired voice and
utterance ; it is as if the elements spoke ; and the tones breathing
through universal life, poured forth in blended harmony of
adoration ; now undulating, like the waves of the sea, now ris-
ing in songs of triumph to the skies. Amidst the consenting
sympathies of creation, the soul is borne upward to the region
of religious entrancement.

It was precisely this art, at one time alienated more com-

346 RANKE

pletely perhaps than any other from the Church and her service,
that was now to become one of her most efficient handmaids.
Few things could more effectually promote the interests of
Catholicism. Even in its dogmas, the Church, if we are not
mistaken, had embodied some portion of that enthusiasm and
reverie which form the leading characteristic of its devotional
books. Spiritual sentimentality and rapture were favorite sub-
jects for poetry and painting. Music, more direct, more pene-
trating, more resistless than any other exposition, or any other
art, now embodied the prevailing tendency, in language more
pure and appropriate, fascinating and subjecting the minds of
men.

Section X. The Curia

While all the elements of social life and of intellectual ac-
tivity were seized and transformed by the ecclesiastical spirit,
the Court of Rome, in which these varying elements met, was
also greatly changed.

This change was remarked under Paul IV, and it was essen-
tially promoted by the example of Pius V. Under Gregory
XIII it became palpable to all. " Several pontiffs in succession
have been men of blameless lives," says Paolo Tiepolo in 1576,
" and this has contributed immeasurably to the welfare of the
Church ; for all other men have become better, or at least have
assumed the appearance of being so. Cardinals and prelates
attend diligently at the mass; their households are careful to
avoid whatever might give offence. The whole city has indeed
put off its former recklessness of manner People are all much
more Christian-like in life and habit than they formerly were.
It may even be safely affirmed that in matters of religion Rome
is not far from as high a degree of perfection as human nature
is permitted to attain."

Nor are we by any means to conclude that the court was
composed of demure hypocrites or feigned puritans. It was
formed, on the contrary, of distinguished men ; but these men
had in a high degree assimilated themselves to the rigorous
tone of manner and opinion prevailing in the Church.

If we represent to ourselves the Papal Court as it existed
under Sixtus V, we find many among its cardinals who had
taken a considerable share in the politics of the world. Gallio

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 347

of Como had conducted the affairs of state as prime minister
during two pontificates, and possessed the art of governing by
address and pliancy. He was now distinguished by the ec-
clesiastical endowments his large revenues enabled him to
establish. Rusticucci, powerful under Pius V, was not with-
out influence under Sixtus; laborious in his habits, of pene-
trating mind, and endowed with cordial kindness of heart, he
was, perhaps, rendered more circumspect and irreproachable
in his life, by the hope he entertained of the papal throne.
Salviati had gained reputation by his conscientious govern-
ment of Bologna ; simple and blameless, his manners were not
merely serious, they were austere. Santorio, Cardinal of Santa
Severina, the man of the Inquisition, long commanding influ-
ence on all questions of ecclesiastical polity, inflexible in opin-
ion, rigorous to his servants, severe even toward his own family,
still more so toward others, harshly cold and inaccessible to all.
In contrast with him stood Mandruzzi, always deep in the coun-
sels and secrets of Austria, whether of the German or Spanish
lines, and called the Cato of the college; but with reference
to his learning and unclouded virtues only, not to any cen-
soriousness or arrogance, for he was modesty itself. Sirleto
also was still living; beyond question the most profoundly
skilled in science, and the most accomplished linguist of all the
cardinals of his time. Muret calls him a living library; yet,
when he rose from his books, he would gather around him the
poor boys who were carrying a few fagots of wood to the mar-
ket, give them religious instruction, and then buy their wood.
He was, indeed, a most kindly and compassionate man. 1 The
example of Carlo Borromeo, who was afterward canonized,
could not fail to produce effects of great utility. Federigo Bor-
romeo was by nature impetuous and irritable; but, influenced
by his uncle, he led a religious life, and did not permit the mor-
tifications that he frequently experienced to deprive him of his
self-command. But he who most resembled the excellent Arch-
bishop of Milan, was Agostino Valiere, a man whose nature was
pure and noble, as his learning was extraordinary. Following
implicitly the plan prescribed by his conscience, he had now

1 Ciacconius, " Vitae Pontificum," iii. p. Cardella, in his "Me.jorie storiche de'

078. He also gives the epitaph of Sir- Cardinali," has nothing more than the

leto, where he is described as the notices of Ciacconius translated into

"patron of the learned and the poor." Italian.

348 RANKE

arrived at extreme old age, and presented a true type of a
bishop of the primitive Church.

The remainder of the prelates were careful to regulate their
lives by the pattern they received from the cardinals, whose
associates they were in the congregation, and whose seats they
were one day to occupy.

There were also two men who distinguished themselves
highly among the members of the supreme tribunal, the Au-
ditori di Rota. These were Mantica and Arigone, men of equal
talent, but of characters entirely opposite. Mantica lived only
among books and legal documents ; his works on jurisprudence
were of authority in the forum and the schools; his manners
and address were unstudied and abrupt. Arigone, on the con-
trary, devoted less time to books than to the world, the court,
and public affairs. He was remarkable for the acuteness of his
judgment and the flexibility of his character; but neither of
these men yielded to the other in efforts to maintain a high
reputation for purity and sanctity of life. Among the bishops
about the court, those who had been much employed in lega-
tions were especially noticed ; as, for example, Torres, who had
taken active part in concluding the league that Pius V formed
with Spain and Venice against the Turks ; Malaspina, who had
carefully watched over the interests of Catholicism in Germany
and the North; Bolognetti, to whom had been intrusted the
arduous visitation of the Venetian churches: all men whose
talents and zeal for religion had procured them distinction.
Men of learning held a very eminent place in the Roman Court :
Bellarmine, professor, grammarian, and the most powerful con-
troversialist of the Catholic Church, whose memory is held in
reverence for the apostolic purity of his life. Another Jesuit,
Maffei, who wrote a history of the Portuguese conquests in
India, with particular reference to the effect produced by them
on the diffusion of Christianity through the South and East.
He is also the author of a life of Loyola, every phrase labored
with the most deliberate prolixity and most studied elegance. 2
Distinguished foreigners were also to be found here; as the
German Clavius, who combined profound learning with purity
of life, and was the object of universal respect; or Muret, a
Frenchman, and the best Latinist of his day. He passed a large

" Vita J. P. Maffeji," Serassio Auc-tore. In the edition of Maffei's Works,

1747-

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 349

part of his life in expounding the Pandects; which he did in
an original and classic manner. Muret was famed for wit as
well as eloquence ; yet, in his old age, he took orders, read mass
every day, and devoted the close of his existence to the study
of theology. Here also was the Spanish canonist, Azpilcueta,
whose " responsa " were received as oracles, not in Rome only,
but throughout the Catholic world. Pope Gregory would some- '
times pass hours in conversation with Azpilcueta, pausing to
talk with him before the door of his house, while, at the same
time, the Spaniard humbly performed the lowest offices in the
hospitals.

But, among these remarkable personages, few acquired so
deep and extensive an influence as Filippo Neri, founder of the
congregation of the Oratory. This eminent confessor and guide
of souls, was of cheerful temper and playful manners; rigid
in essentials, he was most indulgent in matters of mere form;
it was not his custom to command, but only to advise, or, per-
haps, to request. Agreeable and easy of access, he did not
lecture or harangue he conversed. He possessed a penetration
that enabled him to discriminate the peculiar bent of every mind.
His oratory grew up gradually from visits paid him by young
men, whose attachment to his person and teaching made them
desire to live with him as his disciples. The most renowned
among these is the annalist of the Church, Caesar Baronius.
Perceiving his talents, Filippo Neri induced him to give lectures
on ecclesiastical history in the Oratory. 3 For this occupation,
Baronius showed but little inclination in the first instance, but
he none the less applied himself to it during thirty years ; and
even when called to the College of Cardinals, he rose constantly
before daylight to continue his labors. His meals were taken
regularly at the same table with his whole household : humility
and piety were displayed in his every action. Baronius was
bound in the closest friendship with Tarugi, who was of great
eminence as a preacher and confessor in the College of Car-
dinals, as in the Oratory. This intimacy made the happiness of
these eminent men ; the life of Tarugi being equally pure and
irreproachable with that of his friend; death only interrupted
this affection, and they were buried side by side. Silvio An-
toniano was also a disciple of Filippo Neri. His early disposi-

1 "Gallonius, "Vita Phil. Nerii, Mog. 1602," p. 163.

350 RANKE

tions were rather toward poetry and literature ; he distinguished
himself in both ; and when he was afterward intrusted with the
preparation of papal briefs, they were composed in a manner
unusually skiltul and elegant. He too was remarkable for kind-
liness of heart, modest affability of demeanor, pure truthful-
ness, and exalted piety.

All who rose to eminence in the Papal Court at this time,
whether in the State, the law, poetry, or art, exhibited the same
characteristics.

How widely does all this differ from the Curia of the earlier
part of the century! Then the cardinals lived in continual
contest with the popes, who on their parts buckled on the sword,
and banished from their court and person whatever could re-
mind them of their Christian vocation. How still, how cloister-
like, were now the lives of the cardinals. The failure of Car-
dinal Tosco, who was once on the point of being elected pope,
was principally occasioned by his use of certain proverbs, cur-
rent in Lombardy, but which were found offensive by the
delicacy of Rome ; so exclusive was the tendency of the public
mind, so sensitive were now its ideas of decorum.

We are nevertheless compelled to admit that a different as-
pect of things, and one much less consonant to our notions
of right, was exhibited in social habits, no less than in art and
literature. Miracles, which had not for a long time been heard
of, were revived. An image of the Virgin began to speak in
the church of San Silvestro, and this event produced so power-
ful an impression upon the people that the region around the
church, hitherto neglected and desolate, was presented covered
with dwellings. In the Rione de' Monti, a miraculous image of
the Virgin appeared in a haystack ; and the people of the dis-
trict considered this so especial a token of divine favor that
they rose in arms to prevent its removal. Similar wonders ap-
peared at Narni, Todi, San Severino, and other parts of the
Ecclesiastical States, whence they gradually extended over all
Catholic countries. The pontiffs also resumed the practice of
canonization, which had been suffered to fall into disuse. Nor
were all confessors so judicious and moderate as Filippo Neri;
hollow unprofitable works of sanctity were encouraged, and
fantastic superstitions were mingled with the representation of
things sacred and divine.

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 351

There would be consolation in the belief that together with
these mistaken ideas the majority had acquired a sincere devo-
tion to the precepts of religion.

But from the very nature of this court it resulted inevitably
that the most eager struggle after worldly greatness was min-
gled with the general effort to promote religious interests.

The Curia was not an ecclesiastical institution only, it was
a political government also, and had indirectly to rule a large
part of the world in addition to its own State. In proportion
as men acquired part in the exercise of this power, they also
acquired consideration, riches, influence, and whatever else can
best excite the wish of man. Human nature could not so en-
tirely change as that men should limit themselves to spiritual
weapons alone in their efforts to attain the great prizes of social
life and of the State. Matters proceeded in Rome as in other
courts, but with very peculiar modifications imposed by the
nature of the arena.

The population of Rome was then more fluctuating than that
of any city in the world. Under Leo X it had risen to more
than 80,000 souls. The severe measures of Paul drove so
many to flight, that in his pontificate it sank to 45,000. In
a few years after his death it was found to be increased to
70,000; and under Sixtus V it rose to more than 100,000;
the most peculiar circumstance was that the fixed residents
bore no proportion to these numbers. To few of its inhabi-
tants was the city a home, their abode in it was rather a
long sojourn than a permanent citizenship. It might be said
to resemble a fair or diet, having no stability or fixed continu-
ance, no connecting links of family or kindred. Many were
there simply because no road to preferment was open to them in
the land of their birth ; wounded pride drove one man thither,
boundless ambition impelled another, some came believing they
found more liberty in Rome than elsewhere. But the grand ob-
ject of all was to advance their own interest in their own manner.

These varying classes did not become amalgamated into one
body, the different races were still so distinct that the diversi-
ties of national and provincial character were clearly perceptible.
The courteous and observant Lombard was readily distinguished
from the Genoese, who expected to accomplish all things by
his money. Nor was it difficult to discover the Venetian, ever

352 RANKE

occupied in seeking to penetrate the secrets of others. The fru-
gal and talkative Florentine met here with the sagacious Roma-
gnese, whose eyes were ever bent with instinctive prudence on
the path by which his interests might best be secured. The
ceremonious and exacting Neapolitan came, together with the
simply mannered native of the North, remarked for his love of
comfort; even the learned German Clavius was the subject of
many a jest, provoked by the abundance of his two substantial
breakfasts. The Frenchman kept himself much apart, and re-
linquished his national habits with more difficulty than any
others. The Spaniard, full of personal pretence and projects of
ambition, stalked onward, wrapping his cloak about him, and
casting looks of scorn on all the rest.

In this court there was no position so eminent, but the most
obscure individual might aspire to hold it. People delighted to
recall the words of John XXIII, who, being asked why he was
going to Rome, said " he meant to be pope," and pope he be-
came. It was from a station among the humblest that Pius V
and Sixtus V had been exalted to the supreme dignity. Each
man believed himself capable of all, and hoped for everything.

It was a remark frequently made in those days, and a perfectly
just one, that there was a sort of republicanism in the char-
acter of the prelacy and Curia; this consisted in the circum-
stance that all might aspire to all; examples were continually
presented of men whose origin was most obscure, attaining to
positions of the first eminence. The constitution of this republic
was nevertheless very singular ; to the undisputed rights of the
many stood opposed the absolute power of one, from whose
arbitrary decision it was that all promotion and every advantage
must be derived. And who was this one? It was he who, by
some combination, on which it was impossible to calculate, had
come forth as victor from the conflict of election. Of small
importance hitherto, he was suddenly invested with the supreme
authority. Persuaded that he had been raised by the Holy
Spirit to this height of dignity, he was but slightly tempted to
dissemble his disposition and inclination; thus the pontificate
usually commenced with a complete change in all public offices.
Legates and governors of provinces were removed. There were
certain appointments in the capital that fell as matters of course
to the nephews or other kinsmen of the reigning pope ; for even
when nepotism was under restraint, as was the case in the times

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 353

we are describing, there was no pontiff who did not promote
his immediate confidants and old adherents ; he would naturally
feel indisposed to resign the society of those with whom he had
previously been passing his life. The secretary who had long
served the cardinal Montalto, was most acceptable to that prel-
ate when he became Sixtus V. The adherents of their opinions
also were sure to be brought forward by each new pope. Thus
did every accession to the papal chair cause a perfect change
in all prospects and expectations ; in the approaches to power,
and in ecclesiastical no less than in temporal dignity. Com-
mendone compares the state of things appearing on a new pon-
tificate, to "a city in which the palace of the sovereign had been
transferred to a new site, and all the streets turned toward this
new centre. How many abodes must be demolished? How
often must the road be carried through a palace ; new passages
are opened, and thoroughfares hitherto unfrequented are en-
livened by the crowd." The alterations taking place on these
occasions, and the degree of stability possessed by the new ar-
rangements, are not unaptly typified by this description.

But from these peculiarities there necessarily resulted a con-
sequence very singular in its character.

From the fact that a pope attained the sovereignty when
much older than other monarchs, these mutations were so fre-
quent that a new change might at any moment be expected.
The government might be instantly placed in other hands. This
made people live as in a perpetual game of chance, wherein
nothing could be calculated, but everything might be hoped for.

To attain promotion, to gain advancement, as everyone de-
sired and trusted to do, this would depend on the degree of
personal favor that each could command ; but where all per-
sonal influence was in so perpetual a fluctuation, the calcula-
tions of ambition must necessarily assume a similar character,
and sometimes employ very extraordinary devices.

Among our manuscript collections we find a multitude of
regulations for the conduct of those who are sent to the Papal
Court. 4 The varying modes in which each man pursues fort-

4 For instance : "Instructions to Car- of Rome." Seventy-eight maxims of very

dinal Medici on the manner in which he questionable morality. "Inform." xxv.

must guide himself in the Court of Rome ;" The most important of all is the " Dis-

" Warnings to Cardinal Montalto as to course on the Court of Rome, with its por-

how he may best govern as cardinal and as trait, by Commendone " : Codd. Rang. 18;

nephew of the Pope ; " . " Advice political this last is at Vienna,
and most useful for conduct in the Court

354 RANKE

une present us with a subject not unworthy of observation.
Inexhaustible is the plasticity of human nature ; the more rigid
the limits by which it is restrained, so much the more unexpected
are the forms into which it throws itself.

It is manifest that all could not pursue the same path. The
man who possessed nothing must be content to forward him-
self by rendering service to him who had means. A liberal
domestication in the houses of princes, secular or temporal, was
still accepted by literary men. Whoever was compelled to adopt
this mode of life, must then make it his first object to ingrati-
ate himself with the head of the house, to gain merit in his
eyes, to penetrate his secrets, and in some way to render himself
indispensable to his lord. For this all indignities must be en-
dured ; no injustice must be resented. For who could say how
soon a change in the papacy might cause the star of his master
to rise in the ascendant, and its lustre to be poured on the ser-
vant ? Fortune ebbs and flows ; the man remains the same.

Or to some of those aspirants, the possession of a subordi-
nate office was perhaps the object of desire. From this they
might advance to better employments by the exercise of zeal
and activity. It was, nevertheless, in Rome as elsewhere, and
in those times as in all others, a very critical and dangerous
thing to be compelled to consider interest in the first place, and
honor only in the second.

Much more favorable was the position of those who had
the means of life. The monti, in which they purchased shares,
gave them a certain income every month. They bought a place
by means of which they immediately entered the prelacy; not
only attaining an independence, but also acquiring an opportu-
nity for the brilliant display of their talents. To him that hath,
it shall be given. At the Roman Court the possession of property
was doubly advantageous ; for since this possession reverted to
the treasury, the Pope himself had an interest in granting pro-
motions.

This state of things did not demand servility of attachment
to any one great man ; on the contrary, too earnestly declared
an adherence might prove an impediment to promotion, if
fortune should not happen to be favorable. The grand essential
was to beware of making enemies, to give no offence. This pre-
caution was to be departed from in no circumstance of social

THE HISTORY OF THE POPES 355

intercourse, however slight or trivial. It was essential, for ex-
ample, to offer no man more honor than he was strictly entitled
to claim; equality of deportment toward persons of different
degrees would be inequality, and might produce an unfavorable
impression. Even of the absent, nothing but good was to be
spoken, not only because words once uttered are beyond our
control, and we know not whither they are borne, but also be-
cause few love too keen an observer. If a man possess extended
acquirements, let him be moderate in displaying them; and
above all, let him never permit them to become tedious. It is
not prudent to be the bearer of bad news; the unpleasant im-
pression they make recoils on him who brings them ; but in re-
gard to this, there is an error to be avoided that of maintain-
ing a silence so rigid as would make its motive apparent.

The elevation to higher dignities, even to that of cardinal,
conferred no exemption from these observances ; they were to
be fulfilled with increased caution in his own sphere. Who
could venture to betray a conviction that one member of the
Sacred College was less worthy than another to ascend the
papal throne ? There was none so obscure that the choice might
not fall on him.

It was above all important that a cardinal should cultivate
the good-will of the reigning pontiff. Fortune and dignity,
universal deference and obsequiousness, follow him who has
gained this. But more than ever must he be cautious while
seeking it ; profound silence was to be maintained with regard
to the personal interests of the pope, but these must nevertheless
be secretly penetrated, and the conduct governed accordingly.
It was permitted occasionally to magnify the kinsmen of the
pontiff, their fidelity and talents might be lauded ; this was for
the most part an acceptable subject. To arrive at the secrets
of the papal family, it was expedient to employ the monks ; these
men, availing themselves of religious duties as their pretext, con-
trive to penetrate further than is possible to any other class of
the community.

Ambassadors are imperatively called on by the rapid vicissi-
tudes and extensive importance of personal relations, for the
most vigilant watchfulness. Like a skilful pilot, the envoy is
attentive to mark from what quarter blows the wind ; he must

spare no cost to assure himself of those who possess good in-
Popes (Vol. I). 17

356 RANKE

formation, certain that his utmost expenditure would be largely
repaid by one single piece of intelligence that enabled him to
seize the moment favorable to his negotiation. If he had to pre-
sent a request to the pontiff, he made incredible efforts imper-
ceptibly to interweave some point that the pope himself desired
to carry, with the business he was laboring to promote. Most
of all did he seek to gain the favorite nephew or other kinsman
to his wishes, by persuading him that more permanent and more
important advantages, whether of riches or greatness, were to
be obtained from his court than from any other. Neither must
he neglect to secure the good-will of the cardinals. He would
not promise the papacy to any, but all were to be allured by the
hope of it. He displayed devotion to none ; but even for those
most inimical to his purposes, he would occasionally perform
some act of favor. He resembled the falconer who shows the
piece of meat to the hawk, but gives it him in small quantities
only ; and that morsel by morsel.

Thus did they live, and such was the policy of the Ecclesi-
astical Court. Cardinals, ambassadors, prelates, princes, those
who were the known possessors of power, and those who exer-