BOOK 12.

ADRIAN VI A.D. 1522-1523

CHAPTER I Situation in Rome at the Death of Leo X. Election of Adrian VI.

CHAPTER II. Early Career of Adrian VI. Projects of Peace and Reform.

CHAPTER III. Adrian VI as a Reformer and Ecclesiastical Ruler.

CHAPTER IV. The Mission of Francesco Chieregati to the Diet of Nuremberg. —Adrian's Attitude towards the German Schism.

CHAPTER V. Adrian's Efforts to restore Peace and promote the Crusade. — The Fall of Rhodes and the Support of Hungary.

CHAPTER VI. The Intrigues of Cardinal Soderini and the Rupture with France. —Adrian VI joins the Imperial League. — His Death.

CHAPTER I

Situation in Rome at the Death of Leo X. Election of Adrian VI.

The death of Leo X in the prime of life, coming unexpectedly, altered the whole basis of the political situation in Italy. So strong was the reaction, that everything which had hitherto been accomplished became once again an open question. The victorious career of the Imperial and Papal forces in Lombardy came to a standstill, while simultaneously, in the States of the Church, the enemies of the Medici lifted up their heads. Cardinals Schinner and Medici had to quit the army of the League and hasten to Rome for the Conclave, while at the same time the funds, which had been supplied almost exclusively by the Papal treasury, were cut off at their source. In consequence Prospero Colonna was obliged to dismiss all his German mercenaries, and his Swiss to the number of five hundred men. A portion of the Papal forces withdrew, under Guido Rangoni, to Modena; the remainder stayed in Milanese territory with the Marquis of Mantua. All further movements depended on the result of the election. The Florentine auxiliary troops marched back home to the Republic. Had it not been for the caution of Guicciardini, Parma would have fallen into the hands of the French. To the latter, provided that they were resolutely supported by Francis I, the opportunity lay open of recovering all their losses in Lombardy.

No one rejoiced more over the death of Leo than the Duke Alfonso of Ferrara, who ordered a medal to be struck with the circumscription : “Out of the Lion’s paw” (de manu Leonis). Making use of the favourable moment, Alfonso at once occupied Bondeno, Finale, the Garfagnana, Lugo and Bagnacavallo; his successful progress was not checked until he reached Cento. The deposed Duke of Urbino and the sons of Giampaolo Baglioni, Orazio and Malatesta, also rose in arms. Francesco Maria della Rovere recovered without difficulty his entire dukedom, with the exception of the portion in the possession of Florence; he also made himself master of Pesaro. Orazio and Malatesta Baglioni entered Perugia on the 6th of January 1522. At the same time Sigismondo da Varano drove out his uncle Giammaria, who had been made Duke of Camerino by Leo X, while Sigismondo Malatesta seized Rimini. Under these circumstances the fear that the Venetians might snatch Ravenna and Cervia from the Papal States was not groundless.

The situation in Rome also was critical; but Vincenzo Caraffa, Archbishop of Naples, who had been appointed Governor of the city, knew how to maintain tranquillity. In the meantime the government of the Church was carried on by the Sacred College, whose members were unremitting in their endeavours to maintain peace and order in all directions. Their difficulties, however, were increased, during this period of political tension, by the exceptional drain on the exchequer which had been brought about by the prodigal and random expenditure of Leo X. In order to meet the most pressing necessities, almost all the treasures of the Holy See, which had not already been pawned, were gradually put into the hands of the money­lenders; the mitres and tiaras, the ecclesiastical ornaments of the Papal chapel, and even the precious tapestries designed by Raphael were pledged. At the time of Leo’s death a detailed inventory was taken of all the precious contents of the Vatican, including the pontifical mitres, tiaras, pectoral crosses, and precious stones. This catalogue shows that the current report, that Leo’s sister Lucrezia Salviati had rifled the Vatican of all its most costly belongings, was, to say the least, a gross exaggeration.

Worse than the political confusion and the want of money was the moral condition of the Sacred College, which consisted for the most part of men of thoroughly worldly character, who offered only too true a picture of that spirit of faction and enmity which was then the disintegrating factor in Italy and Christendom at large. The divisions of party among the electors were so great that it was the belief of many that the Church was on the verge of schism.

Manuel, the Ambassador of Charles V, mentions as true Imperialists the Cardinals Vich, Valle, Piccolomini, Jacobazzi, Campeggio, Pucci, Farnese, Schinner, and Medici; Cesarini as not having a mind of his own; the three Venetians, Grimani, Cornaro, and Pisani, as well as Fieschi, Monte, Grassis, and Cajetan, as doubtful, and Accolti and Soderini as decidedly hostile. The leader of the Imperialists was the Cardinal Vice-Chancellor Giulio de’ Medici, who had already reached Rome on the nth of December 1521. On his side were by no means all, but only a portion, of the Imperialists and those younger Cardinals who had been nominated by Leo X. Among the circumstances which weighed strongly in favour of the candidature of the Vice-Chancellor was the extraordinary reputation which he enjoyed, grounded on the assumption that he had had untrammelled direction of Leo’s policy, along with his connection with Florence and his wealth, which would prove of great assistance in relieving the financial necessities of the Papal government.

The Imperial Ambassador, who was supported by the representatives of Portugal and of the Florentine Republic, did all he could to secure the election of Medici, although the candidature of the latter was opposed not only by the Franco-Venetian party, but also by the senior Cardinals. The latter, many of whom desired the tiara, laid great importance on the fact that no one under fifty years of age was eligible for the Papacy. From another quarter came the objection that it would be a discredit and danger if Leo were succeeded by a member of his own family, the hereditary principle being thus introduced into a Papal election. Many who had imperialist leanings were disinclined to accept Medici, while Cardinal Colonna showed more and more his decided hostility. To all these enemies were added the Cardinals who, for one reason or another, had become dissatisfied with Leo X. Next to Colonna the most important leader of the opposition was Soderini; since the discovery of the conspiracy of Petrucci, he had lived in exile and discontent, and had often said openly that he would do all in his power to prevent a return of the Medicean tyranny. Medici could count on a sum total of fifteen or sixteen votes; all the others were against him. Disunited as these opponents were on other points, they were unanimous in their determination that in no case should a Florentine Pope again ascend the chair of Peter

Not less eagerly than Medici did the ambitious Wolsey, who remained in England, strive after the tiara. He was ready, he declared, to pay 100,000 ducats in order to reach this goal. From England, at the instance of the King himself, the Emperor was besieged with formal entreaties to intervene in favour of his election. The shrewd Hapsburger gave fair promises, but took no serious steps to fulfil them. It was impossible, in the existing conditions of things, that an English Pope, and above all such a man as Wolsey, could be acceptable to the Emperor. Wolsey on his side, strange to say, placed a delusive trust in the Emperor’s assurances he even suggested unblushingly to the latter that he should march his troops on Rome and compel the Cardinals by main force to carry his election. Charles V paid so little attention to this that it was not until December the 30th that he specifically named Wolsey as a candidate in a letter to his Ambassador Manuel. The time for this recommendation, as for the coming of the English envoy, Richard Pace, had passed. The latter, by his stay in Rome, could only have been strengthened in his conviction that the candidature of the English Cardinal had never been seriously considered.

Among the other numerous candidates for the Pontificate, Grimani, Carvajal, Soderini, Grassis, Gonzaga, and above all Farnese, were prominent. The last named did all in his power to win Medici and Manuel. The Cardinal Vice-Chancellor and the Ambassador did not shut their eyes to the fact that a united combination of their opponents would render the election of a second Medici Pope impossible. It was therefore agreed upon between the two that the votes of the Imperialist party should be transferred to another candidate acceptable to Charles V. Under these circumstances Manuel reminded the electors, upon whose pledges he could rely, that, in the case of their being unable to vote unanimously for one of the Cardinals in Conclave, they should bethink themselves of Cardinal Adrian of Tortosa, then resident as Viceroy in Spain. At this juncture nothing more was done, since Medici continued to hope that he might yet carry the day, if not for himself, at least for one of the Cardinals present, on whose devotion he could thoroughly rely.

Public opinion in Rome had been from the first almost entirely on the side of Medici; before his arrival he had been marked as the future Pope. This Cardinal, it was stated in a report of the 14th of December 1521, or some other of his choosing, would receive the tiara. Next to those of Medici the chances of Grimani and Farnese were in advance of all others; there were also some who considered that Cardinals Gonzaga and Piccolomini had a favourable prospect. The elevation of Wolsey or any other foreign candidate was wholly impossible, owing to the highly developed consciousness of their nationality and civilization to which the Italian people had attained.

The strong tendency to satire which characterizes the Italian is especially marked among the Romans, whose vocabulary is uncommonly rich in humorous and mordant expressions. A vacancy in the Holy See invariably gave them an opportunity for turning this vein of satire on the electors and candidates. On the present occasion this mischievous habit was carried beyond all previous limits. Like mushrooms after rain, lampoons and pasquinades sprang up in which first the dead Pope and his adherents, and then the electors of the future Pontiff were, without exception, attacked in unheard-of ways. It was now that the statue of Pasquino assumed its peculiar character as the rallying-point for libellous utterances and raillery. The foreign envoys were amazed at the number of these pasquinades in prose and verse and in different languages, as well as at the freedom of speech prevailing in Rome. Among the Cardinals there were not a few whose conduct deserved to be lashed unsparingly; but there were also many to whom failings and vices were attributed only for the sake of giving vent to scorn and ridicule.

The master-hand in raising this rank crop of abusive literature was that of Pietro Aretino, who turned the favourable opportunity to account without scruple. His epigrams sparkled with wit and intelligence in originality and biting sarcasm he had no equal, but his language was foul and full of a devilish malice. Only a portion of the malignant allusions contained in these lampoons is now intelligible to the reader; contemporaries were well aware at whom each of the poisoned shafts was aimed. In this way, in the eyes of the people, each of the Cardinals whose candidature came up for discussion, was morally sentenced in advance. As many of these pasquinades made their way into foreign countries, a deadly blow was then given, as Giovio remarks, to the reputation of the Sacred College.

The longer the hindrances to the Conclave were protracted, the larger was the scope afforded for the satirists and newsmongers. As soon as the obsequies of Leo X were brought to an end on the 17th of December 1521, attention was at once directed to the Conclave, when the news arrived that Cardinal Ferreri, who was on the side of France, had been detained in Pavia by the Imperialists hereupon it was decided to wait eight days longer for the Cardinal, whose liberation had been urgently demanded. In diplomatic circles, moreover, it was confidently asserted that as early as the beginning of December the French envoy had formally protested against the beginning of the Conclave prior to the arrival of the French Cardinals.

Already in the autumn of 1520, when Leo’s health gave no grounds for anticipating his early death, Francis I had been eagerly occupied with the question of the Papal succession; it was then stated that the King was ready to spend a million of gold thalers in order to secure at the next conclave a Pope after his own mind. Since then the question had become one of still greater importance for Francis I. If the choice were now to fall on a nominee of the Emperor, Charles V would command not only in Italy but in all Europe a crushing preponderance over France; it can therefore be well understood that Francis should have made his influence felt in Rome. He took steps, however, which went beyond what was just and permissible, and threatened a direct schism if Cardinal Medici were chosen. The repeated expression of such menaces by the partisans of Francis in Rome did as little to further the French prospects as the churlish proceedings of Lautrec. An emissary of the latter demanded of the Cardinals, who were administering the affairs of the Church, the withdrawal of the Papal troops; to the carefully prepared answer that they must first await the issue of the election, he replied with threats, so that the Cardinals in anger remarked that they must take measures for the security of Parma and Piacenza, whereupon the Frenchman, in corresponding terms, rejoined that these cities were the property of his sovereign.

Under such gloomy auspices the election began on the 27th of December 1521. After the Mass of the Holy Ghost, Vincenzo Pimpinella delivered the customary address to the Sacred College, and immediately afterwards, amid a press of people in which life was endangered, thirty-seven Cardinals proceeded to the Vatican for the Conclave; two others who were ill, Grimani and Cibo, were carried there in litters, so that at evening, when the doors were shut upon the Conclave, the total number of electors amounted to thirty-nine. Forty cells had been prepared which were distributed by lot. The persons—upwards of two hundred—who are thus confined, wrote the English envoy Clerk to Wolsey, have within the electoral enclosure as much room at their disposal as is contained within the great apartments of the King and Queen, as well as the banquet-hall and chapel, at Greenwich. According to the same informant each cell was only sixteen feet long and twelve broad: they were all situated in the Sixtine Chapel.

Since the Swiss, on account of their close relationships with Cardinal Medici, were distrusted by many, a levy of 1500 men was raised to keep watch over the Conclave. So strict was their vigilance that next to nothing of the proceedings in Conclave reached the outer world; consequently, there was ample room for rumours of all sorts. In the prevalent mania for betting, wagers would often be laid in the gaming-houses on as many as twenty names in a day. Outside Rome opinion was still more divided. At the different Courts the most varied surmises were current, all of which were more or less inconsistent with the actual facts. Of the thirty-nine electors who were present on this occasion, all were Italians save three, the two Spaniards, Carvajal and Vich, and the Swiss, Schinner; of the remaining nine foreigners, not one appeared in Rome.

The disunion among the Cardinals present was extraordinarily great. Besides the division, so frequently observed, into junior and senior Cardinals (of the thirty-nine electors, six had been nominated by Alexander VI, five by Julius II, and twenty-eight by Leo X), another cause of dissension was added by the sharp opposition of the Imperialist to the Franco-Venetian party. But an even more potent factor of disunion was the immense number of aspirants to the Papacy. So calm an observer as Baldassare Castiglione was of opinion, on the 24th of December 1521, that many, if not all, had a chance of election; “Medici has many friends, but also many enemies; I believe he will have difficulty in fulfilling his wishes, at least so far as he is personally concerned”. The same diplomatist wrote two days later that there had not been for two hundred years such diversity of opinion in a Conclave; certain of Medici’s opponents were so ill-disposed towards him that, in the view of most men, his election was held to be impossible; in such an event, he had given promises to Cardinal Gonzaga1 After the Cardinals had entered the Conclave, Castiglione repeatedly remarks that on no previous occasion had there been so great a want of unanimity on the part of the electors; “perhaps,” he adds prophetically, “God will yet bring it to pass that the final result shall be better than anyone has dared to anticipate.”

As a matter of fact, the Conclave began in utter confusion. As soon as Soderini brought forward his motion in favour of secret voting, parties came into collision. On the other hand, unanimity prevailed in the settlement of the election capitulations and the subsequent distribution among the Cardinals of the cities and offices of the States of the Church. In the opinion of contemporaries, the binding force of these arrangements on the future Pope was already discounted; it was lost labour, thought a Venetian, since the Pontiff on election could observe or ignore the capitulations at pleasure. Moreover, it is clear, from the absence of all provision for such a contingency, that the Cardinals had then no anticipation that their choice would fall on an absentee.

The far-reaching divisions among the electors opened up the prospect of a prolonged Conclave, although the condition of Christendom, as well as that of the imperilled States of the Church, called urgently for a speedy decision. In the event, no less than eleven scrutinies were necessary before a decision was reached. The reports of various conclavists on the votes of individuals are extant, but they disagree on important points; without the disclosure of new and more reliable sources of information, we are not likely to succeed in establishing the full truth as regards the process of voting in individual cases. The difficulties are less in considering the principal phases of the Conclave, since here there is substantial agreement on the essential points.

The Medicean party had at their disposal more than a third of the votes. They could thus exclude any undesirable candidate, but were not strong enough to carry the election of their leader Giulio de' Medici. Since not only the French party but also a portion of the Imperialists, led by Pompeo Colonna, declined to support the cousin of Leo X, the latter soon recognized the hopelessness of his candidature; he now strove to transfer the majority of votes to one of his friends. His candidate was Cardinal Farnese, who, in the belief of many, would also be acceptable to the group of senior Cardinals. After the first scrutiny on the 30th of December the junior Cardinals agitated so strongly for Farnese that the conclavists looked upon his election as secured. But the senior Cardinals stood firm, and watched throughout the whole night. At the scrutiny of the following day, Farnese had only a few votes his own followers had not kept their word. On this very 31st of December a circumstance occurred which has not yet been sufficiently cleared up. Cardinal Grimani asked leave, on grounds of health, to quit the close quarters of the conclave, which were filled with smoke and foul air it was only after his physician had sworn on oath that longer confinement would endanger the Cardinal's life that Grimani’s petition was granted. Whether his condition was as critical as was represented, is open to question. Probably other motives, mortified ambition and disappointed hopes, led the Cardinal to take this remarkable step.

The third scrutiny, held on the 1st of January 1522, was again without result; whereupon Medici once more tried his fortune on the candidature of Farnese. The younger Cardinals also worked during the following days in this direction, but without avail; the seniors maintained a stubborn opposition, and the fourth, fifth, and sixth scrutinies (from the 2nd to the 4th of January) were fruitless. The reports which continued to come in from without, of the growing danger to the States of the Church, and of the approach of the French Cardinals, did as little to unite the electors as the orders, already issued on the fourth day, to reduce the appointed rations. Many conclavists believed that Farnese’s prospects still held good, while others thought that the tiara would fall to Fieschi, and a few had hopes of Schinner.

By the beginning of the new year it was the opinion of the majority in Rome that the candidature of Medici or one of his adherents was hopeless; the chances seemed all in favour of Farnese. It was rumoured that together with the latter Egidio Canisio and Numai had also been proposed by Medici. Among the Cardinals of the opposite party Fieschi, Grassis, and Monte were named.

Ever since the 29th of December the couriers had been in readiness to carry the news of the election to the ends of the earth. The longer the result was delayed, the higher rose the expectation and excitement, and Rome was buzzing with contradictory rumours. On the report that Farnese had been elected, his houses were at once set upon for plunder; it was not only in Rome that this bad custom prevailed—in Bologna, Cardinal Grassis fared no better.

Masses and processions were celebrated in Rome, but still no decision was arrived at. “Every morning,” writes Baldassare Castiglione, “one awaits the descent of the Holy Spirit, but it seems to me that He has withdrawn from Rome. So far as one knows, Farnese’s chances are the best, but they may again easily come to nothing.”

On the 5th of January it was reported that Medici had made an attempt to secure the tiara for Cibo. Perhaps the cleverly constructed plot might have succeeded had it not been betrayed by Armellini, so that, at the last moment, Colonna was able to make an effectual countermove. Thereupon Medici, on the following day, renewed his efforts on behalf of Farnese. No stone was left unturned, and at the eighth scrutiny Farnese received twelve votes, whereupon eight or nine Cardinals proclaimed their accession. At this point, although the two-thirds had not been obtained, Cardinal Pucci called out “Papam habemus”. He wished in this way to create an impression so as to gain over the four or five hesitating Cardinals. The result was the reverse of his expectations: Cardinals Colonna and Soderini, the two most irreconcilable enemies of Farnese, insisted on the proceedings being carried out in strict conformity with rule. Not only had Farnese not received the requisite number of votes, but the older Cardinals now formed a more compact body of resistance.

For some time it seemed as if the Medicean party really intended to push Farnese’s election at any cost, but now at last they practically abandoned his candidature, and at the tenth scrutiny on the 8th of January he had only four votes. Thereupon Medici consented to the putting forward of Cardinal Valle, and negotiations were carried on into the night, but without result; some still clung to Farnese, while the elder members of the College refused to hear of him, Valle, or Medici. The Medicean party on their side emphatically rejected either Carvajal or Soderini. Yet they were not wholly to blame for the delay in the election Colonna and Soderini, close confederates, did all in their power to worst every candidate put forward by Medici.

While the factions were thus opposed more sharply than ever, the final crisis arose. Informants whose reports could be relied on announced that Francesco Maria della Rovere had made a compact with the Baglioni to make an attack on Siena. The special representations of Cardinal Petrucci were hardly needed to convince Medici of the danger to which Florence was thus exposed. This consideration wrought in him a change of mind. As the electors on the 9th of January were gathered together for the eleventh scrutiny, Medici rose in his place: “I see”, he said, “that from among us, who are here assembled, no Pope can be chosen. I have proposed three or four, but they have been rejected; candidates recommended by the other side I cannot accept for many reasons. Therefore we must look around us for one against whom nothing can be said, but he must be a Cardinal and a man of good character”. This met with general agreement. On being asked to name one of the absent Cardinals, Medici, who knew that the person whom he was indicating was one acceptable to the Emperor, replied, in his characteristic way of dealing playfully with grave concerns, “Choose the Cardinal of Tortosa, a venerable man of sixty-three who is generally esteemed for his piety”.

The proposal may or may not have been an electioneering manoeuvre; the result of the voting gave fifteen votes apiece to Adrian of Tortosa and Carvajal the Medicean party voted for the nominee of their leader. At this moment Cardinal Cajetan, the commentator of St. Thomas Aquinas, and a man conspicuous for learning, gave the turning-point to the decision. In eloquent language he described the high qualities of the Cardinal of Tortosa, whom he had come to know personally during his legation in Germany, and announced his accession. This proceeding on the part of Cajetan made all the more impression, as he had always shown himself an opponent of Medici. As Colonna also now gave his adhesion to the proposed candidate, the final decision could be no longer deferred, and Jacobazzi, Trivulzio, and Ferreri declared their approval.

In vain Orsini shouted to his party, “Blockheads, do you not see that this is the ruin of France?”—he was answered in like terms. As if driven by some irresistible force, first one and then another elector gave in his accession, and before the majority had realized the importance of the proceedings five-and-twenty votes had been given in. The six-and-twentieth whereby the two-thirds majority was secured was given by Cupis, a Roman, who said, “I also am for the Cardinal of Tortosa, and I make him Pope”. For the rest, nothing remained for them but to declare their concurrence.

All this was the work of a few minutes. Hardly had the Cardinals become fully aware that they had helped to crown with the tiara a sojourner in a distant land, a German, and therefore, from the Italian standpoint, a barbarian, the tutor of the Emperor, a personality utterly unknown to Rome and Italy, than the windows of the Conclave were thrown open, and Cardinal Cornaro, as senior Deacon, announced to the expectant crowd outside the election of Cardinal Adrian of Tortosa, titular of the Church of St. John and St. Paul. As Cornaro had a very feeble voice, Campeggio again announced the result of the election.

Very few expected to hear the result that day. An eyewitness, the Venetian Francesco Maredini, relates how he suddenly heard confused cries of “Medici, Palle, Colonna, Cortona, Valle”, and then saw people singly and then in numbers running towards the piazza of St. Peter’s. As the outcries and tumult increased, there could no longer be any doubt that the Pope had been chosen, although his name was not yet clearly grasped. But in a very short time he must appear in person in St. Peter’s. On the steps of the basilica Maredini heard the incredible announcement that the new Pope was living in Spain. Full of astonishment, he made haste with his companions to the cells of the Conclave, which were by this time thrown open here Cardinals Campeggio and Cibo confirmed the news which he had just heard. “When”, writes Maredini, “we were told all, we were well-nigh struck dead with amazement”. On his way home the Venetian had an opportunity of observing the despair of Leo X’s courtiers; one wept, another uttered lamentations, a third took to flight; all were agreed upon one thing: it would be at least six months before the new Pope arrived, and in the meantime they would be unprovided for; as a Fleming, Adrian would certainly give appointments only to his own country­men perhaps he would live altogether in Spain, or come to Rome in the company of the Emperor”. “In short”, Maredini concludes, “no one rejoices all lament”.

Most of the electors were filled with the same emotions. A friend of the poet Tebaldeo, who entered the conclave immediately after the election had been declared, writes “I thought that I saw ghosts from limbo, so white and distraught were the faces I looked on. Almost all are dissatisfied, and repent already of having chosen a stranger, a barbarian, and a tutor of the Emperor”. After the election, says the Venetian envoy, Gradenigo, the Cardinals seemed like dead men. They had now begun to see clearly the full bearings of their action. The States of the Church threatened to break in pieces unless energetic measures were taken at once—but months must go by before the new Pope could enter Rome. Leo’s extravagance and his participation in the great struggle between the French King and the Emperor had exhausted the exchequer of the Holy See; no one but an entirely neutral Pope could arrest the total ruin of the finances. Such impartiality, however, could hardly be hoped for in the former instructor of Charles and his present commissioner in Spain. So intimate was the union between the two supposed to be that Cardinal Gonzaga wrote, “One might almost say that the Emperor is now Pope and the Pope Emperor”. Most of the electors had everything to fear for themselves in the event of a thorough reform of the Curia. What was to be expected if the newly elected Pope were really the ascetic personality extolled by Cardinal Cajetan?

As soon as the Cardinals, after long consultation, had decided to send a letter to Adrian announcing his election, the bearer of which was to be Balthasar del Rio, Bishop of Scala, a Spaniard, and to despatch three Cardinal­Legates to the new Pope, they quitted the conclave. The crowds gathered before the doors received them with loud expressions of contempt and mockery, with cries and whistling. The Cardinals might be glad that the hot-blooded Romans confined themselves to such demonstrations and did not do them personal injury. During the next few days there was an orgy of scorn and wit. Pasquino’s statue was covered with lampoons in Italian and Latin in which the electors and the elected were handled in the basest terms of ridicule. “Robbers, betrayers of Christ’s Blood”, ran one of these sonnets, “do you feel no sorrow in that you have surrendered the fair Vatican to German fury?”. In many of these lampoons the Pope was assailed as a foreign “barbarian”, in some also as a Spaniard. Under one ran the complaint of St. Peter that he had been delivered up out of the hands of the usurers into those of the Jews, i.e. the Spaniards. Another represented Adrian as a schoolmaster chastising the Cardinals with the birch; beneath was written, “Through their disunion they find themselves in this unlucky plight.”

These gibes were eagerly read by the Romans, and so threatening was the position of the Cardinals, that for many days they dared not leave their palaces. Hardly anyone was acquainted with the new Pope. All that was known of him was that he was a foreigner and therefore a “barbarian”, a dependent of the Emperor, who lived in distant Spain, whither he would probably transfer the Curia. In this sense a placard was posted up on the Vatican: “This Palace to Let.” So strongly were the Romans convinced that the Papal Court would be removed, that soon hundreds of officials were making ready to decamp to Spain, there to seek for places near the person of Adrian. The three senior Cardinals, who were carrying on the Government, endeavoured by stringent prohibition to check the exodus of officials. Those who commiserated themselves most—and not without reason were the numerous curialists, who had bought their appointments, or had lived solely on the extravagant expenditure of Leo’s household. Not merely all the persons of this sort, but the largest part of the population of Rome would be brought face to face with ruin if the Pope’s absence from the city were of long duration. Nor were the Cardinals unmoved by like apprehensions, and the Legates who were appointed to approach Adrian were therefore laid under the strictest injunctions to urge him most earnestly to begin his journey Romeward without delay.

The Legates, moreover, were to submit to Adrian a confession of faith in this the Pope was to promise to maintain the Catholic Faith and to extirpate heresy, especially as spread abroad in Germany; he was also to pledge himself not to change the seat of the Papacy without the consent of the Sacred College. Finally, the Legates were further commissioned to pray the Pope to confirm the existing enactments of the Cardinals and to abstain, for the present, from any decisive measures of Government. Although these stipulations were duly drawn up by the 19th of January 1522, the departure of the Legates was put off from week to week. The want of money for the journey and the difficulty of obtaining ships could not have been the only reasons. Probably the Cardinals hesitated to leave Italy, in view of the possibility of a new Conclave; for the news that Adrian had accepted his election was long waited for in vain. It was repeatedly reported in Rome that the Pope was already dead. The French said openly that steps ought to be taken for holding a new election.

Perplexity, anxiety, alarm, and fear filled the great majority of the inhabitants of Rome only the Imperialists and the Germans rejoiced. “God be praised”, wrote Manuel, the Ambassador of Charles, “since there exists no living person who is more likely to conduce to the peace and prosperity of the Church and the might of the King than this Pope, who is a man of holiness and the creature of your Imperial Majesty”. To a friend Manuel repeated his opinion that the new head of the Church was undoubtedly the most pious of all the Cardinals within or without Rome, and in addition to that a man of great learning. The Netherlander, Cornelius de Fine, long a resident in Rome, who evidently had private sources of information regarding his fellow-countryman, wrote in his diary: “According to the counsels of God, the hitherto disunited Cardinals have chosen as Pope, contrary to their own intention, Adrian of Tortosa, who was absent from the Conclave. He is a man of very simple life, who has always been of a God-fearing disposition; at Louvain he lived only for science and learning; he is a man of solid education, a distinguished theologian and canonist, springs from a very humble family, and for three years he has governed Spain well. Truly, this distinguished man is the choice of the Holy Ghost”.

In Italy the first impression was one of general astonishment that the thirty-nine Cardinals, although almost all Italians, should have chosen a foreigner. The national feeling was so strong that this was a matter of the greatest reproach. “The Cardinals have incurred the deepest shame”, wrote a Roman notary, “in bestowing the tiara on an utter stranger, a dweller in outlandish Spain”. Most characteristic also is the verdict of the Sienese Canon, Sigismondo Tizio, who is obliged, like other Italians, to acknowledge that Adrian by his uprightness and learning was worthy of the tiara, but cannot refrain from blaming the “blindness of the Cardinals”, which has handed over the Church and Italy to “slavery to barbarians”—so that the unhappy lot of Italy is to be deplored!

On the 18th of January 1522 the despatch announcing the Papal election reached the Imperial Court at Brussels. Charles V, to whom the missive was handed during Mass, gave it to his suite with the remark, “Master Adrian has become Pope”. Many looked upon the surprising news as false, until a letter which arrived on the 21st set all doubt at rest. “He felt sure”, so wrote the Emperor on the same day to his Ambassador in London, “that he could rely on the new Pope as thoroughly as on anyone who had risen to greatness in his service”. “His own election as Emperor”, Charles assured the Pope later by the mouth of the envoy who conveyed his homage, “had not afforded him greater joy than this choice of Adrian”. The Imperial letter of thanks to the Cardinals was couched in terms of exuberant recognition. Charles entrusted to Adrian’s friend Lope Hurtado da Mendoza his message of congratulation. “It is a remarkable circumstance”, observed the Venetian Gasparo Contarini, then resident at Brussels as envoy, “that so large a number of Cardinals should have chosen an absentee and one who was unknown to most of them. The Pope is said to be very pious, and to be endowed with the highest qualities. He says Mass daily, and performs all his duties as a virtuous prelate”. The same diplomatist thought that Adrian’s devotion to the Emperor exceeded all that the latter could wish. The Grand Chancellor Mercurino Gattinara also was convinced that everything would now go as Charles desired, since God’s grace had called to the Papacy one who had no rival in loyalty, zeal, and integrity towards the Emperor.

It is easily understood that, at the Court of France, feelings of a quite contrary character should have prevailed. Francis I began by making jests on the election of the Emperor’s “schoolmaster”, and seems even, for a while, to have refused to him the title of Pope; he saw in Adrian only the Emperor’s creature. But from Rome, on the contrary, came other accounts; Cardinal Trivulzio wrote to the King direct that of all who had a prospect of the tiara Adrian was the best for him. The French envoy in Rome, moreover, thought that if the choice must fall on an Imperialist, the Cardinal of Tortosa was to be preferred as good and the least likely to do harm, not only with regard to the excellent accounts given of him personally, but also because six or eight months would have to elapse before he could reach the place where he or his pupil (the Emperor Charles) would be in a position to put hindrances in the King’s way.

While princes and diplomatists attached the most varied expectations to the new Pope, all those who had the good of Christendom at heart broke out into rejoicing. The new Head of the Church, said Pietro Delfini, enjoys everywhere so great a reputation as a pious. God-fearing, and pure-hearted priest that in his election the hand of God is visible. “It is only thy blameless life”, wrote Joannes Ludovicus Vives to the newly elected Pontiff, “that has raised thee to the loftiest rank on earth”. Another summed up his judgment in the words: “We have a Pope who was neither a competitor for the office nor present in conclave no better nor holier head could have been wished for the Church”.

CHAPTER II.

Early Career of Adrian VI. Projects of Peace and Reform.

The new Pope was indeed a remarkable man, who through untiring diligence and the faithful performance of duty had raised himself from a very humble condition. Adrian was born on the 2nd of March 1459, in the chief city of the Archbishopric of Utrecht. At this date Netherlanders, who did not belong to the nobility, had no family names; they simply added their baptismal name to that of their fathers. Thus Adrian was called Florisse or Florenz (i.e. Florenssohn) of Utrecht; his father Florenz Boeyens (i.e. Boeyenssohn), whose occupation has been variously stated, died early. His excellent mother Gertrude laid deep the foundations of piety in her gifted son. She also took care that he received solid instruction and training, and for this purpose she entrusted him to the Brothers of the Common Life, whose community had been founded in the Netherlands by Gerhard Groot. According to some accounts, Adrian first went to school with them at Zwolle according to others, at Deventer. The impressions thus received lasted throughout his whole life. He learned to look upon religion as the foundation of all true culture, and at the same time acquired a love for intellectual pursuits. His earnest view of life, his high ideal of the priesthood, his horror of all profanation of holy things, his preference for the study of the Bible and the Fathers which he was to display later on all this was due to the powerful influence of his first teachers.

In his seventeenth year he entered, during the summer of 1476, the University of Louvain, which, hardly touched by humanism, enjoyed a high reputation as a school of theology. During his first two years he studied philosophy with distinguished success and then, for other ten, theology and canon law. After thus acquiring a thorough knowledge of the scholastic system, he held a professorship of philosophy at the College at Eber, to which he had been attached at the beginning of his student period. In the year 1490 he became a licentiate in theology, and in 1491 took the degree of Doctor of Theology. Although from the first he had never been in total poverty, and now held two small benefices, his means were yet so limited that his promotion was rendered possible only through the protection of the Princess Margaret, the widow of Charles the Bold. Adrian’s financial position gradually improved as the number of his benefices increased. He saw nothing reprehensible in this abuse, which at that time was general, and at a later date accepted still further preferment. He made, however, the noblest use of the income which he thus accumulated, for his alms were munificent. It is also worthy of remark that as parish priest of Goedereede in South Holland he took pains to secure a substitute of sound character, and yearly, during the University vacations, undertook the pastoral charge of his parishioners.

Adrian’s theological lectures, which even Erasmus attended, as well as his able disputations, steadily increased his reputation; he helped to form such solid scholars as Heeze, Pighius, Tapper, Latomus, and Hasselius. One of his pupils published in 1515 a selection of his disputations, another in 1516 his lectures on the sacraments; both works soon went through many editions. Chosen in 1497 to be Dean of St. Peter’s Church in Louvain, Adrian had also to fulfil the additional duties of Chancellor of the University; twice (in 1493 and 1501) he was appointed Rector. In spite of all these official duties his application to study was as keen as before; he even found time for preaching, and three of his sermons have been preserved, which show extensive learning, but are the dry compositions of a bookworm. In his enthusiasm for study as well as in his strong moral character he showed himself a worthy pupil of the Brothers of the Common Life. It is related that he inveighed especially against the relaxation of the rule of celibacy, in consequence of which the mistress of a Canon tried to take his life by poison. The repute of the unspotted life, the learning, humility, and unselfishness of the Louvain Professor continued to extend, and he became the counsellor of persons in all ranks of life. Monks, clerics, and laymen from all parts of the Netherlands came to him for help. It was no wonder that the Court also coveted his services; probably as early as 1507 the Emperor Maximilian chose him as tutor for his grandson, the Archduke Charles, the future Emperor, to whom he imparted that deep sense of religion which he never lost amid all the storms of life. The Duchess Margaret also employed him in other capacities, and in 1515 she named him a member of her Council.

Alarmed at the growing influence of the learned Professor, the ambitious Chièvres determined to withdraw him from the Netherlands upon some honourable pretext. In October 1515 Adrian was entrusted with a difficult diplomatic mission to Spain. He was there to secure for his pupil Charles the full rights of inheritance to the Spanish Crown, and on Ferdinand’s death was to assume the provisional Government. Ferdinand received the diplomatist, whom Peter Martyr accompanied as secretary, with openly expressed mistrust, but Adrian found a protector in Cardinal Ximenes.

When the King died on the 23rd of January 15 16 the Cardinal and Adrian entered on a joint administration of affairs until the arrival of the new King, Charles. Although within the sphere of politics differences of opinion were not lacking between the two, yet so highly did the Cardinal value the pious Netherlander that he used his influence to raise the latter to places of eminence in the Spanish Church. In June 1516 Adrian was made Bishop of Tortosa; the revenues of the see were not great; nevertheless Adrian at once resigned all his benefices in the Low Countries, with the exception of those at Utrecht. Neither then nor afterwards did he contemplate a permanent residence in Spain. It was long before he was able to adapt himself to the conditions of life in that country, so entirely different from those he had known before. As early as April 1517 he expressed his hope to a friend that the coming of Charles might be his deliverance “from captivity”, since he did not suit the Spaniards and Spain pleased him still less. In July 1517 he wrote in jest, “Even if I were Pope, it would be my desire to live in Utrecht”. At this time he had had a house built there, and made no concealment of his intention, as soon as his Sovereign’s service permitted, of returning to his native land in order to devote himself wholly to study.

Very different from Adrian’s expectations was the actual outcome of events; he was never to see his beloved fatherland again. In the first instance, Spanish affairs detained him Ximenes and Charles contrived that Adrian should be appointed Inquisitor by the Pope in Aragon and Navarre on the 14th of November 1516. Adrian’s conduct of affairs in Spain must have given Charles great satisfaction, for, on the occasion of the great nomination of Cardinals in the summer of 1517, he was recommended by the Emperor for the purple; Leo X consented, and on the 1st of July Adrian received a place and voice in the Senate of the Church; his title was that of St. John and St. Paul. He was able to write, in truth, that he had never sought this honour, and that he had only accepted it under pressure from his friends. From the former tenor of his life, ordered strictly by rule and divided between prayer and study, this man of ascetic piety and scholastic learning never for one moment swerved.

During his sojourn in Spain, the pupil of the Brothers of the Common Life became closely associated with the men who were throwing all their strength into projects for ecclesiastical reform. In this connection the first place must be given to the famous Ximenes, Cardinal-Archbishop of Toledo. Although often of divergent views in politics, the Spanish and the Netherlander Cardinal were of one heart and soul where the interests of the Church were concerned; like Ximenes, so also was Adrian (who during the controversy between Reuchlin and the Dominicans of Cologne, took the side of the latter) of opinion that the religious and moral renewal must follow the lines of the old authorized Church principles within the strict limits of the existing order.

Around Ximenes, the leader of Church reform in Spain, grouped themselves three men of kindred spirit, with whom the Cardinal of Tortosa was also on terms of closest intimacy: the Dominican Juan Alvarez di Toledo, son of the Duke of Alba; the jurist Tommaso Gozzella of Gaeta and the latter's close friend, the Nuncio Gian Pietro Caraffa.

On the death of Ximenes, on the 8th of November 1517, the Cardinal of Tortosa carried on the Government alone until the coming of the King, which took place soon afterwards. Charles placed the greatest confidence in his former master, and often employed him on difficult negotiations, and repeatedly lent a willing ear to his counsels. Thus Adrian, who since the 3rd of March 1518 had also become Inquisitor-General of Castille and Leon, was successful in restraining the young King from giving his assent to the demands of the Cortes of Aragon that the existing judicial procedure of the Inquisition should be essentially altered. Against Luther’s errors Adrian had pronounced from the first, and when the University of Louvain asked their former Rector for his opinion of the teaching newly set forth by the Wittenberg professor, he, in a letter intended for publication, remarked that his heresies were so crude that they would hardly be attributed to a theological student. While Adrian encouraged Luther’s condemnation, he at the same time warned the authorities of Louvain to take care that Luther’s own words were accurately quoted. During the Diet of Worms he strongly exhorted the Emperor to protect the Church. Where the faith was in question Adrian was inflexible—in other respects he showed exceptional kindness of heart, and he gave proof of this in repeated instances. When one of his servants fell ill of fever on a journey, the Cardinal gave up his litter to him, and in spite of bodily infirmity made the rest of the toilsome way on horseback.

Before Charles embarked for the Netherlands and Germany, on the 20th of May 1520, he appointed the Cardinal of Tortosa to be his Viceroy in Spain. Charles was justified in thinking that he had chosen the right man. Adrian’s position as a Cardinal and Inquisitor­General was a highly important one yet he by no means failed to secure affection. His independent spirit, as compared with the intrigues of other Netherlanders in Spain, and his unspotted integrity won for him the respect of many. But he was a foreigner; that no Spaniard could overlook, least of all the grandees of the kingdom. Charles had hardly left before the insurrection of the Castilian Comuneros broke out, and Adrian, on foreign soil and without money, found himself in the greatest embarrassment. His sensitive nature was not able to cope with a most difficult situation; moreover, as a foreigner, he misunderstood the actual circumstances confronting him. The experience was for him a real martyrdom, for, now in his sixty-first year, his health was shattered by the dangers and excitement of this time. The full weight of these responsibilities was still pressing upon Adrian when, on the 24th of January 1522, at Vittoria, in the Basque country, he heard through Blasio Ortiz, provisor of the Bishop of Calahorra, the wholly unexpected announcement that a yet heavier burden had been imposed upon him. The news seemed incredible, although confirmed by letters from other quarters. Not until the 9th of February, when Antonio de Studillo, one of Cardinal Carvajal’s chamberlains, who had been delayed by violent snowstorms, entered Vittoria bearing the official despatch of the Sacred College declaring the result of the election, could all doubt be allayed as to the truth of an event of such worldwide importance.

The wish, so often anxiously expressed by the best representatives of Christendom, for a Pope in whom piety, learning and sanctity should be combined, was now granted. The custom, which since 1378 had become an unbroken precedent, of raising only an Italian to the Papal throne, was now interrupted. A conclave, composed almost exclusively of Italians, had, against their own inclinations, for the first time after a lapse of 461 years, elected to this position of great eminence a man of German origin, and one who was worthy, on account of his virtues, as hardly any other, of so great an honour.

Immersed in the whirlpool of secular life and of political affairs, the Popes of the Renaissance and, above all, Leo X, had too often lost sight of the weightiest of all duties, those inherent in their ecclesiastical station. Now the call had come to one who stood entirely aloof from Italian polities, and whose heart was set on the defence of Christendom and the restoration of the relaxed discipline of the Church. A simple, sincerely pious, and humble man, who had fled from rather than sought out titles and honours, had risen from the rank of a poor student to that of University Professor, to become the tutor of an Emperor, a Spanish Bishop, Cardinal, Grand Inquisitor, and Viceroy, and finally Chief Pastor of the universal Church.

On the first reception of the news of his election, Adrian had displayed that immovable calm which was one of his most prominent characteristics, and was in keeping with his racial origin, as well as with his deep piety. All accounts agree that his elevation, so far from being a source of pleasure to him, distressed him, and although all the letters announcing the outcome of that crisis in his life have not been preserved, yet those known to us are sufficient to show the emotions of his soul. On the 2nd of February 1522 he wrote to Henry VIII that he had neither sought nor wished for election; his strength was unequal to his task; did he not fear to injure the cause of God and His Church, he would decline the tiara. In like manner, in a letter to the Emperor, he dwelt on the sorrow which his accession caused him when he considered how weak and powerless he was; rest, and not an unbearable burden, was what he needed.

Adrian also showed imperturbable gravity when, on the 9th of February, Antonio de Studillo, as envoy of the Sacred College, handed him the official announcement of his election. He read the letter without remark, and then, in his dry manner, told Studillo, who was fatigued by the journey, to go and take some repose. On the same day he composed his answer to the College of Cardinals; in this he also reiterated his sense of unfitness for his new dignity and his willingness to have declined it; but, trusting in God, whose honour alone was his aim in all things, and also out of respect for the Cardinals, he acquiesced in his election; as soon as the Legates arrived and the fleet was ready to sail, he would make all haste to reach Rome. But the letters written by him to an intimate friend in the Netherlands reflect still more plainly than these official documents the nobleness and purity of his soul. “Dear friend”, he wrote on the 15th of February 1522 from Vittoria to the Syndic of Utrecht, Florentius Oem van Wyngarden, “there can be no one who would not have been surprised and who was not astonished at the Cardinals’ unanimous choice of one so poor, so well-nigh unknown, and, moreover, so far removed from them as to fill the position of Vicar of Christ. To God only is it easy thus suddenly to uplift the lowly. This honour brings me no gladness, and I dread taking upon me such a burden. I would much rather serve God in my provostship at Utrecht than as Bishop, Cardinal, or Pope. But who am I, to withstand the call of the Lord? And I hope that He will supply in me what is lacking, and continue to grant me strength for my burden. Pray for me, I beseech you, and through your devout prayers may He vouchsafe to teach me how to fulfil His commandments, and make me worthy to serve the best interests of His Church”.

Not until he had received the official notification of his election did Adrian resign his Viceroyalty and assume the title of Pope-elect. Contrary to the custom observed for five hundred years, he adhered to his baptismal name. He was determined, even as Pope, to be the same man as before.

Although Adrian was now in full possession of his Papal prerogatives, he yet resolved, in deference to the urgent wish of the Cardinals, to abstain from using them until the arrival of the Legates. But in order to be secure in every respect, he ordered, on the 16th of February, a notarial deed to be executed registering his consent to his election. This was done in strict secrecy the public declaration was reserved until after the arrival of the Cardinal-Legates, which was delayed in unexpected ways. From day to day Adrian increasingly felt the embarrassment of his position, whereby he seemed to be reconsidering his acceptance of the Papacy. Nor, until he had publicly given consent to his election, could he act effectively as Pope, use his influence with the Princes of Europe for the restoration of peace, or for arbitration. When, in the beginning of March, there were still no tidings of the departure of the Cardinal-Legates, Adrian made up his mind to wait no longer, and on the 8th of that month, in the presence of several bishops and prelates, and before a notary and witnesses, he made the solemn declaration of his acceptance of the Papacy. With emphasis he expressed, on this occasion, his trust that the Divine Founder of the Primacy would endow him, though unworthy, with the strength necessary to protect the Church against the attacks of the Evil One, and to bring back the erring and deceived to the unity of the Church after the example of the Good Shepherd.

Adrian’s biographer pertinently remarks: “It must have been a more than ordinary trust in God which led him to bend his back to a burden the weight of which was immeasurable, and to take over the colossal inheritance of all the strifes and enmities which Leo had been powerless to allay. In the background, apart from the German revolt, lurked also a schism with France, whose King, through the Concordat with Leo, had made himself master of the French Church and was in no haste to acknowledge the German Pope, the creature, as it was asserted, of the Emperor”.

Not less great were the difficulties presented by the States of the Church, and in particular by the condition of Rome itself. The ferment among the youth of the city and the divisions among the Cardinals, many of whom acted quite despotically, gave rise towards the end of January to the worst apprehensions. As time went on the situation became more precarious from week to week. The circumstance that the three Cardinals at the head of affairs changed every month added to the insecurity and brought men into office who were altogether dis­qualified. An unparalleled confusion prevailed; above all, the want of money was pressingly felt, and the Cardinals were reduced to the pawning of the remainder of the Papal mitres and tiaras; this led to the discovery that the costly jewels in the tiara of Paul II had been exchanged for imitation stones. So great was their financial necessity that on one occasion they could not raise fifty ducats for the expenses of an envoy who was deputed to ascertain the state of affairs in Perugia : in order to make up the amount they were obliged to pledge some altar lights.

On the 18th of February the Sacred College concluded a temporary treaty with the Duke of Urbino; they also hoped to come to an understanding with the Baglioni in Perugia. But in the Romagna, especially in Bologna, great unrest was felt ; Ravenna and Foligno showed a readiness to throw off the authority of the Regents appointed by Leo X. The Marquis of Mantua asked in vain for his pay as Captain-General of the Church. The plague broke out in Rome, in addition to which great excesses were committed by the Corsican soldiery; assassinations took place daily with impunity. Nothing else could be expected, since the discord between the Cardinals of French and Imperialist sympathies showed no abatement. When Cardinals Ridolfi and Salviati wished to excuse the Medicean Governor of Loreto, Cardinal Grimani remarked: “Leo X having ruined the Church, his relations now wish to bring all that is left to the ground”.

At the beginning of March little was known in Rome of Adrian’s movements, the report of his death having often been current. At last, on the 18th of that month, Studillo arrived with the first authentic information concerning the new Pope. He was described as a man of middle height, with grey hair, an aquiline nose, and small, lively eyes his complexion was rather pale than sanguine; he was already a little bent, but still vigorous in body, being especially a good walker; he still continued to wear his Cardinal’s dress, kept only a few servants, and loved solitude. In bearing he was extremely reserved, neither giving way to impetuosity nor inclined to jocosity; on receiving the news of his election he had shown no signs of joy, but had sighed deeply; he was in the habit of going early to bed and of rising at daybreak. He said Mass daily, and was an indefatigable worker; his speech was slow and generally in Latin, which he spoke not exactly with polish, but yet not incorrectly he understood Spanish, and sometimes tried to express himself in that language. His most earnest wish was to see the Princes of Christendom united in arms against the Turk. In religious affairs he was very firm, and was determined that no one henceforward should receive more than one ecclesiastical office, since he adhered to the principle that benefices should be supplied with priests, and not priests with benefices.

Such reports made no pleasant impression on the worldly-members of the Curia. At first they had flattered themselves with the hope that, out of conscientious scruples, the pious Netherlander would have declined election; then the opinion gained ground that he would certainly not come to Rome. Now they realized with what a firm hand he intended to direct affairs. A total breach with the traditions of government as embodied not only in the system of Leo X, but in that of all the Renaissance Popes, was to be expected. With fear and trembling the coming of the stranger was awaited; everything about him was matter of dislike, even the circumstance that he had not changed his name.

Studillo handed to the Cardinals Adrian’s letter of thanks dated the 28th of February, to the effect that he only awaited the arrival of the Legates to begin his journey to Rome; the College of Cardinals replied forthwith that it was unnecessary to wait for their coming, but that he ought to hasten with all possible speed to Rome, his true place of residence. Individual Cardinals, such as Campeggio, also adjured the Pope in special letters to expedite his journey in order to bring to an end the confusion and incompetence there prevailing. How much the Cardinals still feared that he might not permanently establish his court in Rome is shown by their original hesitation in sending to the Pope the fisherman’s ring. The longer the Pope’s arrival was delayed, the greater was the general dissatisfaction and the fear that Spain might prove a second Avignon; this last alarm was heightened by a forged brief summoning the Cardinals to Spain.

In reality Adrian had never thought of remaining in Spain. His repeated assurances that it was his most urgent wish to come to Rome have been confirmed by unimpeachable testimony; however, obstacles of various kinds stood in the way of his departure. Adrian had to transfer his functions as Viceroy, and, owing to the voyage being insecure on account of the Turkish pirates, it was necessary to levy troops for the protection of the flotilla to secure them he was forced, owing to his poverty, to rely on foreign, that is Spanish, support. An overland route through France was out of the question, since the Emperor would have seen in such a step an open bid for the favour of his enemy.

The difficulty of the Pope’s position, confronted as he was by two great rival powers, each of whom wished to secure the Papal influence for the attainment of his own objects, showed itself also in other ways. The Imperialists gave the new Pope no rest with their irksome importunity. The Ambassador Manuel took a delight in offering unasked-for advice, sometimes tendered in letters which were frankly discourteous, while Mendoza made attempts to bribe those in Adrian’s confidence. Charles V was assiduous in approaching the Pope with a host of wishes and business concerns, but mainly with the request that he should, like his predecessors, join in the alliance against the French. Adrian’s dealings with his former lord and master were marked by great shrewdness, caution, and reserve where he could he acted as the father and friend, but never at the cost of his high office as head of universal Christendom.

After waiting long, and in vain, in Vittoria for the arrival of La Chaulx, the Emperor’s envoy, Adrian, on the 12th of March, betook himself by S. Domingo and Logroño, in the valley of the Ebro, to Saragossa, which he reached on the 29th of March. Many Spanish bishops and prelates, with a great number of grandees, had assembled in the capital of Aragon to pay homage to the new Pope, the first whom Spain had ever seen. As well as La Chaulx, envoys also soon arrived from England, Portugal, and Savoy whose chief task it was to induce Adrian to enter the anti-French League. In one of the letters in Charles’s own hand which he delivered, the Emperor had permitted himself to remark that Adrian had been elected out of consideration for himself. In his answer, animated by great goodwill, the Pope declared with delicate tact that he was convinced that the Cardinals, in making their choice, had been mindful of the Emperor’s interests; at the same time, he felt very happy that he had not received the tiara, the acquisition of which must be pure and spotless, through Charles's entreaties; thus he would feel himself to be even more the Emperor’s ally than if he had owed the Papacy to his mediation.

Adrian also showed plainly in other ways that, with all his personal liking for the Emperor, he would not, on that account, as Pope, follow the lead of the Imperial policy. He declined positively to take part in the anti-French League. With all the more insistence he called upon Charles to forward the cause of peace by the acceptance of moderate, reasonable, and equitable terms, and provisionally to conclude a longer armistice. Every day made it clearer that he looked upon his Pontificate as an apostolate of peace. The interests he was bent on serving were not those of individual monarchs, but of Christendom in general. On this account he had from the beginning urged the necessity of restoring peace among the Christian states and of uniting them in opposition to the oncoming assaults of the Ottoman power. On behalf of peace it was decided to send at once special envoys to the Emperor and to the Kings of France, England, and Portugal. Stefano Gabriele Merino, Archbishop of Bari, was appointed to proceed as Nuncio to France. Adrian had asked the French King to grant the Nuncio a safe-conduct, and at the same time exhorted Francis and the most important personages of his Court to make for peace. This letter was not despatched until after the 8th of March, when Adrian had publicly and solemnly accepted the Papal office. Francis I complained of this in very harsh terms, saying that the accession of the Pope had been communicated to him later than was customary it would even seem that he went so far as to still address the duly elected Pontiff as Cardinal of Tortosa. Adrian replied to this calmly in a brief of the 21st of April 1522. The apostolic gentleness of tone disarmed the French King in such a way that in his second letter of the 24th of June he evinced a very different temper. Francis avowed his inclination to conclude an armistice, and even invited the Pope to make his journey to Rome by way of France.

Adrian declined this invitation, as he did also that of Henry VIII to pass through England and Germany on his way to Italy. He wished to avoid every appearance of sanctioning by a visit to the English King the latter’s warlike bearing towards France. But he was all the more distrustful of the intentions of Francis, inasmuch as the improved attitude of the French King was undoubtedly connected with his military failures in upper Italy. French domination in that quarter was well-nigh at an end the defeat at Bicocca on the 27th of April was followed on the 30th of May by the loss of Genoa. To the strange advice of Manuel, that he should travel through the Netherlands and Germany to Italy, Adrian also sent a refusal.

Towards the College of Cardinals Adrian maintained the same position of independence with which he had encountered the sovereign powers. Through his intimate friend, Johannes Winkler, he let the former understand that they were in nowise to alienate, divide, or mortgage vacant offices, but that all such must be reserved intact for the Pope's disposal.

Nor was Adrian long in coming forward as a reformer. He set to work in earnest, since, to the amazement of the Curia, he did not simply confine himself to bringing the rules of the Chancery into line with established usage, but in many instances made changes whereby the privileges of the Cardinals were specifically curtailed. Jointly with the publication of these regulations, on the 24th of April 1522 the Pope appointed a special authority to deal with the petitions which were always coming in in large numbers.

In the first week of May, Adrian was anxious to leave Saragossa and to pass through Lerida to Barcelona, but an outbreak of the plague in both cities caused a fresh hindrance, and another port of departure had to be found. In the meantime the Pope wrote to the Cardinals and the Romans on the 19th of May, and at the same time enumerated the difficulties with which he had to contend before he could get together a flotilla to protect him on his voyage to Italy across the Gulf of Lyons, then infested by Turkish pirates. By the 3rd of June he was at last able to inform the Cardinals that these hindrances had been overcome.

On the 11th of June the Pope left Saragossa, and reached Tortosa on the eve of Corpus Christi (June 18th). On the 26th of June he wrote from there that he intended to embark in a few days. As all his vessels were not yet assembled,  new delay arose; and not until the 8th of July was the Pope able to take ship, in spite of the excessive heat, in the neighbouring port of Ampolla. His departure was so unexpected that the greater part of the suite did not reach the harbour until nightfall. Owing to unfavourable weather it was impossible to sail for Tarragona before the 10th of July. Here again a stoppage took place, a sufficient number of ships not being available. At last, on the evening of the 5th of August, the fleet put out to sea. The hour of departure was kept a secret. On board were Cardinal Cesarini, representing the Sacred College, Mendoza on behalf of the Emperor, and nearly two thousand armed men. The galley which conveyed Adrian was recognizable by its awning of crimson damask, bearing the Papal escutcheon.

In addition to Marino Caracciolo, who was already resident at the court of Charles, Adrian VI had, on the 15th of July, sent to the Emperor another intimate friend in the person of Bernardo Pimentel. Charles, who had landed at Santander on the 16th of July, despatched to the Pope as his representative Herr von Zevenbergen, who, among numerous other matters, was to express the Emperor’s wish to see Adrian in person before he left Spain. Adrian, however, on various pleas, evaded the fulfilment of this wish. In a letter of the 27th of July he assured the Emperor of his great desire to effect a meeting, but that he was reluctant to suggest a rapid journey in the great heat, and that he himself could not wait longer, as his departure for Rome had, in other ways, been so long delayed.

Since Adrian, previously, had expressed a repeated wish to see the Emperor before he left Spain, this excuse was hardly sufficient to explain the fact, which was everywhere attracting attention, that the Pope, after a month’s delay, had embarked at the very moment of Charles’s arrival on Spanish soil. Reasons were not wanting why Adrian should avoid a personal interview. He knew well that Charles disapproved of his dealings with France; he also may have feared that Charles would remind him of other wishes now impossible to gratify. Among the latter was the nomination of new Cardinals, a point urgently pressed by Charles, and refused in the letter of excuse above mentioned. But of greater weight than all these considerations was Adrian’s regard for that position of impartiality which, as ruler of the Church, he had determined to adopt; he would not give the French King cause to suppose that by such an interview he was transferring to the side of his adversary the support of the Holy See. But in order that the Emperor might not be offended, Adrian wrote again, on the 5th of August, from on board ship, an affectionate letter, containing, together with valuable advice, a further apology for his departure; letters from Rome and Genoa had informed him how necessary his presence in Italy was. Their different ways of looking at the relations with France were also touched upon: he knew well that the Emperor was averse to a treaty with France until the French King’s plumage, real or borrowed, was closely clipped, so that he could not direct his flight wherever his fancy pleased him; “but we also take into consideration the dangers now threatening Christendom from the Turk, and are of opinion that the greater dangers should be first attacked. If we protect and defend the interests of our faith, even at the loss of our worldly advantage, instead of meeting the evils of Christendom with indifference, the Lord will be our helper”.

Although the fleet on which Adrian was bound for Italy consisted of fifty vessels, the coast-line was followed the whole way for safety. At Barcelona the reception was cordial, but at Marseilles it was impossible to stop owing to distrust of the French. The Pope kept the feast of the Assumption at S. Stefano al Mare, near San Remo  at Savona the Archbishop Tommaso Riario showed all the splendid hospitality of a prelate of the Renaissance. From the 17th to the 19th of August Adrian stayed in Genoa comforting the inhabitants, on whom the visitations of war had fallen heavily. Here came to greet him the Duke of Milan and the Commanders-in-Chief of the Imperialists, Prospero Colonna, the Marquis of Pescara, and Antonio da Leyva.

The passage to Leghorn was hindered by stormy weather, and the Pope was detained for four days in the harbour of Portofino. Amid incessant fear of attacks from Turkish pirates, Leghorn was reached at last on the 23rd of August. Here Adrian was received in state by the representatives of the States of the Church and five Tuscan Cardinals : Medici, Petrucci, Passerini, Ridolfi, and Piccolomini. The latter were in full lay attire, wearing Spanish hats and carrying arms; for this the Pope seriously rebuked them. When he was offered the costly service of silver with which the banquet table in the citadel had been spread, he replied: “Here, of a truth, the Cardinals fare like kings; may they inherit better treasures in heaven”. He disregarded the entreaties of Cardinal Medici and the Florentines that he should visit Pisa and Florence and at first make Bologna his residence, on account of the plague. “To Rome, to Rome”, he replied, “I must needs go”. The presence of the plague there caused him no anxiety; with the first favourable wind he made haste to embark, without informing the Cardinals, who were sitting over their dinner.

Late in the evening, on the 25th of August, Adrian lay off Civita Vecchia, and on the following morning set foot for the first time on the soil of the Papal States. A great concourse of persons, among whom were many members of the Curia, awaited him on the shore; Cardinals Colonna and Orsini were present to represent the Sacred College. To the greetings of the former the Pope made a short but suitable reply. Here, as in all other places visited on his journey, he first made his way to the cathedral; thence he proceeded to the Rocca, where he took a midday collation and held audiences. By the 27th of August the Pope was again on board. To the beggars who pressed around him he said : “I love poverty, and you shall see what I will do for you”. Head-winds made the landing at Ostia on the 28th of August a matter of difficulty. Adrian, in a small boat, with only six companions, was the first to gain the land; he sprang ashore without assistance, and with almost youthful alacrity. Here also he visited the church without delay and prayed. The Cardinals had prepared a repast in the Castle, but the Pope declined their invitation. He ate alone, and, at once mounting a mule, made his way to the cloister of St. Paul without the Walls. The Cardinals and the others who accompanied him followed in the greatest disorder, through mud and heat, the rapid progress of the Pontiff, who was met on his way by sightseers moved by curiosity, and by the Swiss guard carrying a litter. Into this he got reluctantly, but suddenly quitted it and again mounted his mule. His vigorous bearing astonished all who saw him, for during the voyage and even after his arrival Adrian had felt so ill that many were afraid he would not recover; having reached his journey’s end, he seemed to regain youth and strength. He rode in front in animated conversation with the Ambassador Manuel. “His face is long and pale”, writes the Venetian Envoy; “his body is lean, his hands are snow-white. His whole demeanour impresses one with reverence; even his smile has a tinge of seriousness”. All who saw the Pope for the first time were struck by his ascetic appearance. In a letter sent to Venice the writer says, “I could have sworn that he had become a monk”.

The plague being unabated in Rome, many advised the Pope to be crowned in St. Paul’s. Adrian refused, and decided that the ceremony should take place in St. Peter’s with all possible simplicity; the coronation over, he intended to remain in Rome notwithstanding the plague, since he desired by his presence to tranquillize his sorely afflicted subjects and to restore order in the city. Owing to the Pope’s absence and the outbreak of the pestilence, a majority of the court had left Rome, so that Castiglione compared the city to a plundered abbey. The state of affairs was utterly chaotic; while the faithful had recourse to litanies and processions, a Greek named Demetrius was allowed to go through the farce of exorcising the plague by means of an oath sworn over an ox, whereupon the Papal Vicar at last interfered, for it was understood that Adrian was rapidly approaching, and his arrival on the following day was even looked upon as settled.

On the 29th of August, at a very early hour, the Pope said a low Mass—as he had never omitted to do even amid the difficulties of the voyage—and afterwards presented himself to the Cardinals in the noble transept of St. Paul’s. He received them all with a friendly smile, but singled out no one for special recognition. Then followed the first adoration of the Sacred College in the small sacristy adjoining. On this occasion Carvajal, as Dean and Cardinal-Bishop of Ostia, delivered an address, in which he frankly bewailed the calamities called down upon the Church by the election of unworthy and simoniacal Popes, and welcomed Adrian the more joyfully inasmuch as he had been chosen by other means. Although in the presence of such a Chief Pastor no special exhortations were necessary, he would yet ask him to lay seven points to heart : first, to remove simony, ignorance, and tyranny, and all other vices which deform the Church, while turning to good counsellors and keeping a firm hand on those in office; secondly, to reform the Church in accordance with her Councils and Canons, so far as the times permitted; thirdly, to honour and exalt the good Cardinals and prelates, and have a care for the poor; fourthly, to see to the impartial administration of justice and to confer offices on the best men fifthly, to support the faithful, especially the nobility and the religious orders, in their necessities; sixthly, the speaker touched on the duty of opposing the Turks in their threatened attacks on Hungary and Rhodes; to do this an armistice among the Christian princes and the levy of money for a crusade were indispensable. In conclusion, Carvajal urged the reconstruction of St. Peter’s, which to his great grief had been pulled down. If the Pope fulfilled these conditions, his glory would shine forth before God and men.

In his short reply the Pope thanked the Cardinals for his election and explained the reasons of his late arrival, at the same time stating his agreement with the programme of reform so comprehensively unfolded by Carvajal; he then asked the Cardinals to waive their right to give asylum to criminals; to this all consented. The second adoration in the basilica of St. Paul then followed, and in a further speech Adrian impressively adjured the Cardinals, prelates, envoys, and Roman dignitaries present to help him with their prayers.

The extraordinary strength of character at once exhibited by the new Pope aroused attention. Out of the numerous petitions presented to him he only countersigned those submitted to him by the conclavists. When Ascanio Colonna ventured to intercede for Lelio della Valle, who had committed a murder, Adrian replied: “Pardons for cases of murder will not be given except for very weighty reasons, and after hearing the case of the injured parties. We are determined to listen to both sides, since it is our intention to see that justice is done, though we perish in the attempt.” Then a palafreniere whom Adrian had brought with him from Spain asked for a canonry. “Canonries,” he was told, “will be given only to those who can be residentiary, not to palafrenieri.” Even the Bishop of Pesaro, on applying for a canonry in St. Peter’s, was met with a flat refusal; to Cardinal Campeggio, who expressed a similar wish, Adrian replied, “We will see.” All sales of dispensations the Pope absolutely refused; the favours which were in his power to bestow he preferred to bestow freely. When, finally, the palafrenieri of Leo X thronged round him in a body, and on their knees begged to be reinstated in their office, he merely gave a sign with his hand that they might arise. To the Romans, who intended to set up a triumphal arch in his honour at the Porta Portese, he intimated his desire that they would discontinue the works, since such an erection was heathenish and out of keeping with Christian piety. The deputation of the city magistrates was met with words of encouragement in view of the prevailing pestilence. “The inhabitants,” he remarked, “must be of good cheer; he personally would be satisfied with very little.

Although, at Adrian’s express wish, all extravagant display was avoided on his entry into Rome, the inhabitants would not allow themselves to be prevented from decorating their houses with tapestries. Delighted, at the end of nine long months, to look once again upon their Pope, they went out to meet him with acclamations of joy. Adrian was carried as far as the Porta S. Paolo; there he mounted a white charger. At the Church of S. Celso he was met by a procession of children with the picture of the Madonna del Portico, which, during thirteen days, had been carried through Rome on account of the plague, Adrian not only removed his hat, but also his skull-cap, and bent low before the sacred picture, while the Cardinals only slightly uncovered. While the cannon thundered from St. Angelo, the procession wended its way under the burning August sun to the basilica of the Prince of the Apostles. On the following Sunday, the 31st of August, the coronation took place in St. Peter’s with the customary ceremonial. On account of the plague the concourse of people was not so great as usual. The festivities, which were carried out with economy, passed off quietly, but the coronation banquet, without being lavish, was not stinted. On rising from table the Pope passed into an adjoining room and conversed with the Cardinals ; he then withdrew to his own apartments.

The Pope’s first edict proscribed under heavy penalties the wearing of arms in the city and banished all disorderly persons from Rome. A second ordinance forbade ecclesiastics to grow beards, a fashion which made them look more like soldiers than priests. Such simplicity, piety, and determination as were displayed by the new Pope had never before been seen by the members of the Curia. They were in sharp contrast to the excessive display, the brilliant secularity, and the refined culture which had pervaded the court of Leo X.

While the Cardinals, prelates, and courtiers of the last pontificate murmured in secret, unbiassed observers did not refrain from expressing their approval of the new Pope. His exemplary and holy life, his great simplicity, piety, and love of justice made a deep impression even on those who were disposed to watch him with critical eyes. “Adrian”, one of this class reports, “is a friend of learning, especially theology. He cannot suffer ignorant priests. His time is divided with strict regularity between prayer and official work. He has only two personal attendants, Netherlanders and homely fellows; in other respects his retinue is composed of as few persons as is possible”. To the Cardinals who begged that he would maintain a household more befitting his rank, he replied that that was impossible until he had first discharged his predecessor’s debts. When he was informed that Leo had employed a hundred palafrenieri, he made the sign of the cross and said that four would suffice for all his needs, but as it was unseemly that he should have fewer than a Cardinal, he would appoint twelve. It was the general opinion that the new Pope’s outward appearance was at once dignified and agreeable; although he was in his sixty-fourth year he did not look more than sixty. He always spoke Latin and, as the Italians did not fail to remark, correctly, seeing that he was a “barbarian”; his guttural pronunciation gave less satisfaction. In contrast to Leo X’s love of recreation, it was observed by all that Adrian did not abate, as Pope, his strict mode of living and, as the Venetian Ambassador remarked, set thereby a thoroughly edifying example.

The Spaniard Blasio Ortiz said that he had seen nothing bad in the Pope, who was a mirror of all the virtues. A strict observer of the canonical hours, Adrian rose in the night to say Matins, returned again to his bed, and was up again by daybreak ready to say Mass and attend that of his chaplain. That a Pope should offer the holy sacrifice daily was such an innovation that even chroniclers of a later day call special attention to this evidence of Adrian’s piety. An hour in the forenoon was devoted to audiences, which Adrian usually gave in the study, lined with books, adjoining his bedchamber. His dinner and supper, which he always ate alone, were of the utmost simplicity; a dish of veal or beef, sometimes a soup, sufficed: on fast days he had fish only. On his personal wants he spent as little as possible; it was even said that he ate off small platters like a poor village priest. An old woman servant, from the Netherlands, looked after the cooking and washing. After his meal he took a siesta, then finished what remained to be said of his office, and again gave audiences. Conscientious in the extreme, circumspect and cautious in his dealings, Adrian, suddenly plunged into an entirely new set of circumstances, appeared to be wanting in resolution. It was further deplored that he was disinclined to relax his studious habits, not only of reading but of writing and composing, for these, combined with his love of solitude, made him difficult of access. Moreover, his curt manner of speech was very displeasing to the loquacious Italians. Adrian’s capital offence, however, in the eyes of the Curia, lay in his being a foreigner. All Italians of that period prided themselves on their high culture; they looked down with contempt on the natives of all other countries, and specially on the coarse “barbarians” of Germany. And now in Rome, hitherto the centre of the Renaissance of art and letters, one of these barbarians was ruling and would settle the direction Italian politics should follow.

The antagonism of nationality between Adrian and the Italians was further intensified by the circumstance that the Pope was now too far advanced in years to adapt himself to those things around him which were indifferent in them­selves and of minor importance. With the speech and social habits of those amongst whom he had come to sojourn he never became familiar; there was even a touch of pedantry in his obstinate clinging to his former way of living. His long years of professorial duty had cut him off completely from the charm of manner and social address on which the Italians set so much value. Even in Rome he remained the same quiet, dry scholar, devoted to the seclusion of his study and easily put out of humour by the bustle of general society. The homeliness of Adrian’s person and his austere asceticism compared with Leo X, presented a contrast a greater than which it is impossible to conceive. This contrast, conspicuous from every point of view, was especially noticeable in Adrian’s attitude towards the culture of the Italian Renaissance.

All persons of culture were then filled with enthusiasm for the art of antiquity. But Adrian, whose turn of mind was pre-eminently serious and unimpassioned, was so absolutely insensible to such forms of beauty that he looked upon them merely as the debris of paganism. To his exclusively religious temperament the array of gleaming marbles set up by his predecessors in the Belvedere afforded not the slightest interest. When the group of the Laocoon, then considered the most remarkable of these works of art, was pointed out to him, he observed in his dry manner: “After all, they are only the effigies of heathen idols”. This might be regarded as merely a bit of gossip if the anecdote were not well authenticated. “He will soon”, said Girolamo Negri, Cardinal Cornaro’s secretary, “be doing as Gregory the Great did, and order the antique statuary to be burned into lime for the building of St. Peter’s”. As a matter of fact, he sold some antiques, and had all the entrances to the Belvedere walled up save one, the key of which he kept in his own custody.

The magnificent art of the Renaissance also seemed to be a closed book to Adrian. The continuation of the paintings in the Hall of Constantine was stopped, and Raphael’s pupils had to seek employment elsewhere. And yet Adrian was not totally wanting in artistic culture, but to his northern taste the Italian art of the Renaissance was unpalatable. He ordered a Dutch painter, Jan Scorel, to paint his portrait. Moreover, his interest in the progress of the reconstruction of St. Peter’s was sincere, although here again his point of view was religious rather than artistic. Another circumstance which contradicts the notion that Adrian held uncivilized views about art is the fact that, in spite of his monetary distress, he redeemed the tapestries of Raphael which had been pledged on the death of Leo X, and restored them once more to the Sixtine Chapel on the anniversary celebration of his coronation.

Adrian was not at home amidst the splendour of the Vatican, and from the first had felt disinclined to occupy it. He wished to have, as a dwelling, a simple house with a garden. The Imperial Ambassador reports with amazement this strange project of the newly elected Pope to whom God had given the noblest palaces in Rome. No small astonishment was likewise caused by Adrian’s abstention from any signs of favour towards the swarm of accomplished poets and humanists with whom Leo X had been so much associated. Although not indifferent to the elegance of a fine Latin style, the practical Netherlander thought little of the gifts of the versifiers; he even sought opportunities for evincing his contempt for them. On appointing Paolo Giovio to a benefice at Como, the Pope remarked that he conferred this distinction upon him because Giovio was an historian and not a poet. What Adrian took especial exception to in the humanist poets of his day was the lax habit of life of the majority, and their frivolous coquetry with the spirit of heathen mythology. Leo X, in his enthusiastic admiration of beauty, had overlooked such excrescences; the serious-minded Teuton rightly judged them by a standard of much greater severity. Yet his reaction was carried too far. He discriminated too little between the good and the bad elements in humanism; even Sadoleto, with his excellence and piety, found no favour in his eyes. He caused simple amazement by his depreciatory criticism of the letters, the theme of general admiration, remarking that they were letters of a poet.

Adrian was completely a stranger in the midst of the intellectual culture of which Leo’s reign had been the culminating point. His entrance into Rome was followed by an abrupt transition, all the more strongly felt since the Medici Pope had flung himself without reserve into every tendency of the Renaissance. Loud were the laments over the new era and its transformation of the Vatican, once echoing with the voices of literature and art, into a silent cloister. All Adrian’s admirable qualities were forgotten he was looked upon only as a foreigner, alien to the arts, manners, and politics of Italy, and his detachment from the literati and artists of Italy was not merely the outcome of a want of intelligent sympathy with the Renaissance; the shortness of his reign and his financial difficulties hindered him from the exercise of any liberal patronage. His contemporaries shut their eyes to this impossibility; they laid all the blame on the “barbarism” of the foreigner.

Nor was less offence taken at his foreign surroundings. Adrian at first recruited his bodyguard from the Spaniards as well as the Swiss. The castellan of St. Angelo was a Spaniard. The Pope’s domestic servants, whose numbers were reduced within the limits of strict necessity, were also chiefly composed of non-Italians. Thus the hopes of Leo’s numerous retainers of all ranks of continuing in busy idleness were disappointed. The chief objects of complaint and ridicule were the Pope’s servants from the Low Countries, who contributed not a little to estrange the feelings of those around them. Even before Adrian’s arrival in Rome, his court was contemptuously spoken of as a collection of insignificant persons. In reality, the Pope’s three principal advisers were men of excellent character and no mean endowments.

This was especially the case with Wilhelm van Enkevoirt, a native of Mierlo in North Brabant, who, attached to Adrian by a friendship of many years’ standing, had entered the Papal Chancery under Julius II. and subsequently became Scriptor apostolic, Protonotary, and Procurator in Rome for Charles V. In character Enkevoirt presented many points of resemblance with the Pope ; like the latter he had a warm affection for his native land, his piety was genuine, and he was of studious habits and gentle disposition. One of Adrian’s first acts was to bestow the important post of Datary on this old friend, who was of proved responsibility and thoroughly versed in Roman affairs. Enkevoirt had before this been described as one with Adrian in heart and soul, and with a zeal which often overstepped due limits, took pains to assert his position as first and foremost of the Pope’s confidential advisers. Besides Enkevoirt, Dietrich von Heeze, Johann Winkler, and Johann Ingenwinkel had free access to the Pope. The last named, from the lower Rhineland, was a man of great ability, who knew how to retain office and confidence under Clement VII; he died as Datary of the second Medici Pope. Johann Winkler was born in Augsburg; he had already, under Leo X, been notary of the Rota, and died, at the beginning of Paul III’s pontificate, a rich and distinguished prelate.

If Winkler, like Ingenwinkel, showed an undue anxiety to take care of his own interests in the matter of benefices, Dirk (Dietrich) van Heeze, on the contrary, was a thoroughly unselfish and high-minded personality. Originally a friend of Erasmus, Heeze, at a later period, did not follow the great scholar on the path which, in some respects, was so open to question, but took up a decided position on behalf of reform on strong Catholic lines. Heeze, who was extolled by his contemporaries for profound learning, modesty, piety, and earnestness of moral character, was placed by Adrian at the head of the Chancery as private secretary; it cost him some trouble to make himself at home in the processes of preparing and sending forth the Papal briefs. After his patron’s early death he left the Curia and returned to his own country, and died at Liege as Canon of St. Lambert’s. Apart from these fellow-countrymen, however, Adrian also honoured with his confidence some Spaniards, such as Blasio Ortiz, and several Italians the Bishops of Feltre and Castellamare, Tommaso Campeggio, and Pietro Fiori, and especially Giovanni Ruffo Teodoli, Archbishop of Cosenza. Girolamo Ghinucci became an Auditor of the Camera. The Italian, Cardinal Campeggio, was also frequently selected by the Pope for important transactions. All this the courtiers of Leo X entirely overlooked in order to vent their dislike of the Netherlanders : “Men as stupid as stones”. Almost all the Italians were as unfriendly to these trusted councillors of the Pope, whose names they could never pronounce aright, as they were to the “foreign” Pontiff himself, whose earnestness and moderation they would not understand. They distrusted their influence and pursued them with their hatred. The poet Berni expressed the general opinion in his satirical lines

Ecco che personaggi, ecco che corte

Che brigate galante cortegiane :

Copis, Vincl, Corizio et Trincheforte!

 Nome di for isbigottir un cane.

The repugnance to the stranger Pope grew into bitter hatred the further Adrian advanced his plans for a thorough reform of the secularized Curia. Had it not been for this project, his native origin and character would have been as readily forgiven him as had once been the Spanish traits and Spanish surroundings of Alexander VI. Ortiz hit the mark exactly when he fixed on the efforts at reform as the seed-plot of all the odium aroused against Adrian VI.

CHAPTER III.

Adrian VI as a Reformer and Ecclesiastical Ruler.

Before he reached Italy Adrian had already announced by his words and actions his intention of encountering with all his energy the many and grave disorders in religion. The numerous memorials and offers of advice addressed to him immediately after his election show what high hopes had been set on him as a reformer, and to what an extent his intentions in this respect had been anticipated. A number of these documents have been preserved. They differ much in their value and their contents; but all recognize the existence of grievous abuses.

The “Apocalypsis” of Cornelius Aurelius, Canon of Gouda, is unusually comprehensive and highly rhetorical. This strange document outspokenly describes, in the form of a dialogue, the scandalous lives of the clergy, especially of the Cardinals, the abuses at Rome, with particular reference to those of the Rota, and expresses the confident expectation that reform would proceed from Adrian, of all men the most just, the chastiser of wrongdoers, the light of the world, the hammer of tyrants, the priest of the Most High. As the essential means of restoring discipline the writer calls in burning words for the summoning of a general council such as Adrian himself had already advocated when a professor at Louvain.

A similar standpoint was taken in the memorial of Joannes Ludovicus Vives, the distinguished humanist who, by birth a Spaniard, had, through long years of residence in Louvain and Bruges become almost a Netherlander, and was among the number of Adrian’s friends. With sound Catholic views, Vives, who had distinguished himself by his writings on educational and politico-social subjects, was not blind to the transgressions of the clergy. In a document issued at Louvain in October 1522, he takes as his text the sentence of Sallust, that no Government can be maintained save only by those means by which it was established. Vives requires that the Pope shall, in the sphere of politics, restore the peace of Christendom, and in that of religion institute a radical reform of the clergy. The latter can only be reached by a general council wherein all, even the most hidden and therefore most dangerous evils, must come to light. If other Popes had avoided a general council as though it had been poison, Adrian must not shrink from one. Even if the existing tempest had not broken loose, the assembling of a council, at which the principal matters to be dealt with, would not be theoretical questions but the practical reform of morals, would have been necessary the religious controversy could be relegated to professional scholars and experts. In giving this advice, Vives certainly overlooked the fact that the Lutheran controversy had long since passed from the academic to the popular stage, that the denial of the most important articles of belief would compel any council to declare its mind, and, finally, that the new teachers themselves were demanding a conciliar decision. The best and the most practical advice as regards reform reached Adrian from Rome itself. Two Cardinals, Schinner and Campeggio, there spoke openly and, with an exhaustive knowledge of the circumstances, explained the conditions under which the much-needed reforms could be effected. Schinner’s report, dated the 1st of March 1522, is, unfortunately, only preserved in an abstract prepared for Adrian; this is much to be regretted, for in the fuller document his carefully considered counsels on the political as well as the ecclesiastical situation were imparted in the most comprehensive way. Schinner first of all urges a speedy departure for Rome, otherwise a Legate must be appointed; but in no case should the Sacred College be allowed to represent the Pope. Other suggestions concerned the maintenance of the States of the Church and the restoration of peace to Christendom. As the enemy of France, Schinner advised the conclusion of a close alliance with the Emperor and the Kings of England and Portugal, since the French must be kept at a distance from Italy, otherwise it would be impossible to take any steps against the Turks. To relieve the financial distress, Adrian should borrow from the King of England 200,000 ducats.

“If your Holiness”, he says further, “wishes to govern in reality, you must not attach yourself to any Cardinal in particular, but treat all alike, and then give the preference to the best. On this point more can be said hereafter by word of mouth, as there would be danger in committing such confidential matter to paper.” Trustworthy officials are to be recommended to the Pope in Rome by Schinner and Enkevoirt; for the present his attention is called to Jacob Bomisius as Secretary, and to Johann Betchen of Cologne as Subdatary. Hereupon follows the programme for the reform of the Curia. As regards the reductions in the famiglie of the Cardinals, the Pope is to set a good example by keeping up as small a Court as possible. The sale of offices, especially those of court chaplains and Abbreviators, must be done away with; the number of Penitentiaries and Referendaries reduced; and both these classes, as well as persons employed in the Rota, have fixed salaries assigned to them. The officials of the Rota may receive fees not exceeding, under penalty of dismissal, the sum of two ducats; the same scale to apply to the Penitentiaries; should the latter receive more from the faithful, the surplus shall go to the building fund of St. Peter’s. The Papal scribes are to keep themselves strictly within the limits of the taxes as assessed. The river tax is to be reduced by one-half, whereby an impetus will be given to trade; under no circumstances is this tax any longer to be farmed. The numerous purchasable posts established by Leo X are simply abolished.

The “Promemoria” sent by Cardinal Campeggio to the Pope in Spain called for not less decisive measures; apart from recommendations concerning the States of the Church, this document deals exclusively with the removal of ecclesiastical abuses; here, however, the advice is so uncompromising that it must be distinguished as the most radical programme of reform put forward at this critical time. With a noble candour and a deep knowledge of his subject, he exposes, without palliation, the abuses of the Roman Curia. His position is that of a staunch Churchman; the authority of the Holy See is based on divine institution; if, in virtue of this authority, all things are possible to the Pope, all things are not permissible. Since the source of the evil is to be traced back to the Roman Curia, in the Roman Curia the foundations of reform must be laid.

In the first place, Campeggio desires a reform of Church patronage. A stop must be put to the abuse of conferring benefices without the consent of the patrons; to the plurality of livings, a custom having its origin in covetousness and ambition; to the scandalous system of “commendams”, and finally, to the taxation known as “composition”, an impost which had brought upon the Holy See the odium of princes and had furnished heretical teachers with a pointed weapon of attack. Campeggio points to the absolute necessity of a limitation of the powers of the Dataria, the officials of which were often as insatiable as leeches. The reservation of benefices must be entirely abolished, unless some case of the most exceptional kind should occur; those which were already sanctioned, however, were to be strictly maintained; every opportunity for illicit profit on the part of officials must be cut off. He lays down sound principles with regard to the bestowal of patronage. The personal qualifications of a candidate should be considered as well as the peculiar circumstances of a diocese; foreigners ought not to be preferred to native candidates; appointments should in all cases be given to men of wholly virtuous and worthy character. Special sorrow is expressed over the many conventions, agreements, and concordats with secular princes whereby the greater part of the spiritual rights and concerns of the Holy See have been withdrawn from its authority. Although Campeggio in the very interests of ecclesiastical dignity and freedom recommends the utmost possible restriction of the concessions which earlier Popes had made through greed or ignorance, he is yet careful to exhort great circumspection and moderation in approaching this delicate ground.

In the second place, he denounces the gross abuses arising from the indiscriminate issue of indulgences. On this point he suggests, without qualification, important limitations, especially with regard to the grant of indulgences to the Franciscan Order and the special privileges relating to confession. The approaching year of Jubilee offers a fitting opportunity for sweeping changes in this matter. The rebuilding of St. Peter’s, a debt of honour for every Pontiff, need not be hindered on this account; Christian Princes must be called upon to pay a yearly contribution towards its completion.

In a third section the “Promemoria” considers the general interests of the Christian Church; the return of the Bohemians to unity; the restoration of peace, especially between Charles V and Francis I, in order to promote a crusade against the Turks, in which Russia also must be induced to join; finally, the extirpation of the Lutheran heresy by the fulfilment of the terms of the Edict of Worms.

Campeggio’s memorial also pleads for a thorough reform of the judicial courts. In future, let all causes be referred to the ordinary courts, without any private intervention of the Pope in this domain. The judges of the Rota, where bad, should be replaced by good; the auditors’ salaries should be fixed, and the charges for despatches, which had risen to an exorbitant excess, must be cut down and settled at a fixed scale. Similar reforms are recommended for the tribunal of the Auditor of the Camera. Supplementary proposals are added concerning a reform of the Senate, of the Judges of the Capitol, of the city Governors, Legates, and other officials of the States of the Church. Last of all, means are suggested for alleviating the financial distress. The Cardinal deprecates an immediate suspension of those offices which Leo X had created in exchange for money, since such a proceeding might shake men’s confidence in Papal promises; he advocates a gradual suppression and their exchange for benefices. Further recommendations have reference to the appointment of a finance committee of Cardinals, the sequestration of the first year's rents of all vacant benefices, and the levy of a voluntary tax on the whole of Christendom. Other proposals Campeggio keeps in reserve for oral communication.

Bitter lamentations over Rome as the centre of all evil are also contained in another letter through which Zaccaria da Rovigo endeavoured indirectly to influence Adrian VI. Here the principal abuse inveighed against is the appointment of young and inexperienced men to Church dignities, even bishoprics; this paper, composed at the moment of the Pope’s arrival, also exhorts him to be sparing in the distribution of privileges and indulgences. An anonymous admonition, also certainly intended for Adrian, singles out, as the most important and necessary matter for reform, the episcopal duty of residence in the diocese. Henceforth Cardinals should not receive bishoprics as sources of revenue. Their incomes should be fixed at a sum ranging from 4000 to 5000 ducats, and a Cardinal-Protector should be given to each country. The author advocates a strict process of selection in appointing members of the Sacred College; their number should be diminished, for thereby unnecessary expenditure would be avoided and the respect due to the Cardinalate increased. The importance of appointing good bishops, intending to reside in their sees, is justly enforced. Under pain of eternal damnation, says the writer, the Pope is bound to appoint shepherds, not wolves. As regards the inferior clergy, he lays stress on the necessity for a careful choice of priests anxious for the souls of their people, performing their functions in person, and not by deputy, and faithful in all their duties, especially that of preaching.

By these and other communications Adrian was accurately informed of the true state of things and of the existing scandals, as well as of the means for their removal. Having had experience in Spain of the success of a legitimate Church reform, working from within, he was determined to bring all his energies to bear in grappling with a decisive improvement in Rome itself, on the principle of ancient discipline, and extending this amelioration to the whole Church. He had hardly set foot in Rome before he removed all doubt as to his intentions of reform by appointing Cardinal Campeggio to the Segnatura della Justizia, and nominating Enkevoirt as Datary. He also soon addressed the Cardinals in no uncertain language. In his first Consistory, on the 1st of September 1522, he made a speech which caused general astonishment. He had not sought the tiara, he declared, but had accepted it as a heavy burden since he recognized that God had so willed it. Two things lay at his heart before all others : the union of Christian princes for the overthrow of the common enemy, the Turk, and the reform of the Roman Curia. In both these affairs he trusted that the Cardinals would stand by him, as the relief of Hungary, then sorely threatened by the Sultan, and of the knights of Rhodes, admitted of as little delay as the removal of the grievous ecclesiastical disorders in Rome. Going more closely into the latter question, Adrian cited the example of the Jews, who, when they refused to amend, were constantly visited by fresh judgments. Thus was it with Christendom at that hour. The evil had reached such a pitch that, as St. Bernard says, those who were steeped in sins could no longer perceive the stench of their iniquities. Throughout the whole world the ill repute of Rome was talked of. He did not mean to say that in their own lives the Cardinals displayed these vices, but within their palaces iniquity stalked unpunished; this must not so continue. Accordingly, he implores the Cardinals to banish from their surroundings all elements of corruption, to put away their extravagant luxury, and to content themselves with an income of, at the utmost, 6000 ducats. It must be their sacred duty to give a good example to the world, to bethink themselves of the honour and welfare of the Church, and to rally round him in carrying out the necessary measures of reform.

The Pope, according to a foreign envoy, made use of such strong expressions that all who heard him were astonished; he rebuked the ways of living at the Roman Court in terms of severity beyond which it would be impossible to go. A lively discussion thereupon arose, since, as the Venetian Ambassador declares, there were a score of Cardinals who considered themselves second to none in the whole world. The Pope's strongest complaints were probably aimed at the Rota, where the administration of justice was a venal business. On this point it was decided, most probably on the advice of Schinner, to take prohibitive measures at once ; any Auditor who should in future be guilty of illegality, especially in the matter of fees, was to be liable to peremptory dismissal.

The Curia realized very soon that Adrian was the man to thoroughly carry out his projects of reform. The Cardinals in Curia, who had taken up their residence in the Vatican, were obliged to leave; only Schinner, whose name was identified with the programme of reform, was allowed to remain. To Cardinal Cibo, a man of immoral character, the Pope showed his displeasure in the most evident manner; when he presented himself for an audience, he was not even admitted to his presence. Still greater astonishment was caused when Cardinal Medici, who had carried the Pope's election, was treated in exactly the same way as all the others. To the Cardinals it seemed an unheard-of proceeding that the prohibition to carry weapons should be at once enforced with rigour on members of their own households. A clerk in Holy Orders who had given false evidence in the Rota, was punished by the Pope with immediate arrest and the loss of all his benefices. Unbounded consternation was aroused by the steps taken against Bernardo Accolti, who had been accused of participation in a murder during the vacancy of the Holy See, and had fled from his threatened punishment. The favourite of the court circle of Leo X, who had given him the sobriquet of “the Unique”, was cited to appear instantly for judgment, or, in case of contumacy, to suffer the confiscation of all his property, movable and immovable. “Everyone trembles”, writes the Venetian Ambassador, “Rome has again become what it once was; all the Cardinals, even to Egidio Canisio, a member of the Augustinian Order, have put off their beards”. A few days later, the same narrator reports “The whole city is beside itself with fear and terror, owing  to the things done by the Pope in the space of eight days”.

Already, in the above-mentioned Consistory, on the 1st of September, Adrian had annulled all indults issued by the Cardinals during the provisional government, subsequent to the 24th of January. Soon afterwards the number of the referendaries of the Segnatura, which had been raised by Leo to forty, was reduced to nine; in this matter also Adrian followed the advice of Schinner. At the same time, it was reported that the Pope had commanded the Datary Enkevoirt to appoint no one in future to more than one benefice. When Cardinal Agostino Trivulzio asked for a bishopric on account of his poverty, the Pope asked the amount of his income. When Adrian was informed that this amounted to 4000 ducats, he remarked : “I had only 3000, and yet laid by savings out of that which were of service to me on my journey to Italy”. He also published strong enactments, in the middle of September, against the laxity of public morals in Rome. In Germany, Adrian insisted on the strict observance of the decree of the last Lateran Council that every preacher should be furnished with a special licence by his bishop.

The wholesome fear which had fallen on the Curia was still further increased by the news that Adrian intended to suppress the College of the Cavalieri di San Pietro, and to recall collectively many of the offices bestowed by the deceased Pope. Everyone who had received or bought an official place under Leo X dreaded the loss of position and income. Numberless interests were at stake. Thousands were threatened in their means of existence as Adrian proceeded to divest “ecclesiastical institutions of that financial character stamped upon them by Leo, as if the whole machinery of Church government had been a great banking concern”. In addition to this, the Pope at first held himself aloof as much as possible from the decision of questions of prerogative, and even in matters of pressing importance generally answered with a “Videbimus”—“We shall see”. Not less firm were the Datary Enkevoirt, the private secretary Heeze, and the Netherlander Petrus de Roma, who was responsible for the issue of Papal dispensations. Rome rang with innumerable complaints. The verdict on Adrian was that he carried firmness to excess, and in all matters was slow to act. Among the few who did justice to the conscientiousness of the Pope were Campeggio, Pietro Delfino, and the representative of the Duchess of Urbino, Giovanni Tommaso Manfredi. As early as the 29th of August the last-named had reported: “The Holy Father appears to be a good shepherd; he is one of those to whom all disorder is unpleasing; the whole of Christendom has cause for satisfaction”. On the 8th of September Manfredi repeats his good opinion; even if Adrian is somewhat slow in coming to his decisions, yet, he remarks very justly, it must be taken into consideration that, at the beginning of his reign, a new Pope has to take his bearings. At the end of December the envoy of Ferrara is emphatic in calling attention to the Pope’s love of justice. Leo is certainly aimed at when he says expressly, at the same time, that Adrian is a stranger to dissimulation and a double tongue. Also, in January 1523, Jacopo Cortese praises in the highest terms, to the Marchioness Isabella of Mantua, the tenacious conscientiousness, the justice, and the holy life of the Pope.

The above opinions, however, among which that of the Portuguese Ambassador may, to a certain extent, be included, form an exception. The general verdict was increasingly unfavourable. This we must connect, in the first place, with Adrian’s limited expenditure, in order to relieve the finances which, under Leo, had become so heavily involved. Regardless of the fact that the Pope, face to face with empty coffers and a mountain of debt, had no other course open to him than that of extreme economy, he was soon reviled as a niggard and a miser. The prodigal generosity and unmeasured magnificence of the Popes of the Renaissance had so confused the general standard of opinion that, to an Italian of those days, a homely and frugal Pope was a phenomenon none could understand. Leo X was popular because he piled up debt on debt; his successor was unpopular “because he neither could make money nor wished to make it”. The sharp break with all the traditions of the Medicean reign disappointed the hopes and damaged the private interests of thousands, who now bitterly hated the foreign Pope, and looked with hostility on all his measures. Even in cases where one might with certainty have expected his actions to meet with general approval, they incurred censure. A nephew of Adrian’s, a student at Siena, had come to him in haste; the Pope at once made it clear to him that he ought to return to his studies. Other relations who had come to him on foot, full of the highest expectation, were dismissed after receiving some very slender gifts. The same persons who could not sufficiently blame the Pope for surrounding himself with Netherlanders, now pointed to his sternness towards his own family as the very acme of harshness.

What currency was given to the most unfair criticism of Adrian is shown, not only in the reports of the Imperial Ambassador  who, on political grounds, was bitterly opposed to him, but in those of most of the other envoys. Adrian was not turned aside by the general dissatisfaction with that firmness which had always been one of his characteristics, he set himself with determination to carry out what he saw to be necessary. His programme consisted in, first of all, giving help in the Turkish troubles and secondly, in making headway with his Church reforms his responsibilities towards the States of the Church he placed, for the present, in the background.

The gigantic tasks which he had thus undertaken were made more difficult not merely by the hostility of the Curia and the want of funds, but by a calamity for which also the Pope was not responsible. Early in September 1522 the plague had broken out afresh in Rome. Isolated cases had been reported on the 5th of that month, a season always dreaded on account of its unhealthiness. Later on the pestilence became epidemic, and on the nth the daily death-rate was reckoned at thirty-six. Adrian did not delay in taking the necessary measures. He took care that the spiritual needs of the sick should be attended to under strict regulations; at the same time he endeavoured to check the spread of the disease by forbidding the sale of articles belonging to those who had died of the disorder.

The members of the Curia wished the Pope to abandon the city, now plague-stricken in every quarter. They could remember how even a Nicholas V had thus ensured his safety. Not so the Flemish Pope: with courage and composure he remained steadfast at his post, although the plague gained ground every day. In answer to representations made on all sides that he might be attacked, his reply was, “I have no fear for myself, and I put my trust in God”. Adrian kept to his resolve, although on the 13th of September he was indisposed. It is to be noted that, notwithstanding his ailment, he did not abstain from saying Mass and attending to the despatch of business. The fever, however, had so much increased on the 15th that he was obliged to suspend his daily Mass. As soon as he felt better, he devoted himself again to business, although his physicians implored him to take some rest. Notwithstanding the exertions into which Adrian, in his zeal for duty, threw himself, regardless of the claims of health, he made such improvement that on the 22nd of September his recovery was regarded as complete. He now redoubled his activity, and the audiences were once more resumed. “The Cardinals”, writes an envoy, “besiege the Pope and give him more trouble than all the rest of Christendom put together”. Meanwhile the plague still lasted, and once more the Pope was advised from all quarters to secure the safety of his life by flight, but to their counsels Adrian would not listen; regardless of the danger, on the 28th of September he visited S. Maria del Popolo. The only concessions he at last consented to make were to defer the Consistories, and to permit the affrighted Cardinals to leave Rome. At the end of September the daily death-rate amounted to thirty-five, and the cases of sickness to forty-one.

Cardinal Schinner died on the 1st of October of a fever which had attacked him on the 12th of September. His death was a heavy loss to the cause of reform, of which he had been the eager champion. It was already reported in Germany that the Pope had succumbed to the plague. In the first week of October, under ordinary circumstances the pleasantest month in Rome, the mortality made great strides; on the 8th the death-roll numbered a hundred. All who could took to flight; only the Pope remained. He attended to the Segnatura and even still continued to give audiences; not until two inmates of the Vatican were stricken did he shut himself up in the Belvedere. The Cardinals were directed to apply to the Datary for affairs of pressing importance. On the 10th of October Cardinals Ridolfi and Salviati left Rome, followed on the 13th by Giulio de' Medici and on the 14th by the Imperial Ambassador Sessa. The members of the Curia were of opinion that the Pope ought to do the same at any cost, but found Adrian as irresponsive as ever; he remained in the Belvedere and held audiences at a window. In November even this was given up; of the entire College of Cardinals only three remained in Rome and, at last, one only, Armellini. The Italian officials had almost all taken to flight only the faithful Flemings and some Spaniards refused to leave the Pope.

No diminution in the plague was observable in October, nor yet in November. At the end of the former month there were 1750 infected houses in Rome. Baldassare Castiglione draws a fearful picture of the misery in the city. In the streets he saw many corpses and heard the cries of the sufferers : “Eight out of ten persons whom one meets”, he writes, “bear marks of the plague. Only a few men have survived. I fear lest God should annihilate the inhabitants of this city. The greatest mortality has been among grave-diggers, priests, and physicians. Where the dead have none belonging to them, it is hardly any longer possible to give them burial”. According to Albergati, the confusion had reached such a pitch that the living were sometimes interred with the dead. With the arrival of cold weather in the first half of December signs appeared that the pestilence was on the wane. On the 9th of December the daily sum of deaths was still thirty-three, on the 15th thirty-seven, on the 18th only nine. Since the Cardinals hesitated about returning—on the 10th of December only six had been present in Consistory—the Pope gave orders that they must all return to their places in the Curia. The cases of sickness having very greatly lessened by the end of the year, the Pope resumed his audiences; the fugitive Italians, one by one, returned to Rome and the business of the Curia was once more reopened.

While the plague raged four precious months were lost. It is indeed worthy of our admiration that Adrian, as soon as the greatest danger was over, should have returned immediately to his work of reform. As early as the 9th of December 1522 there appeared a measure of great importance and utility in this direction. All indults granted to the secular power since the days of Innocent VIII concerning the presentation and nomination to high as well as inferior benefices were repealed, thus leaving the Holy See free to provide for the choice of fit persons. Even if this general ordinance were limited to no small extent by the concordats entered into with separate countries, still, it was made known “that the Pope had no intention of stopping at half measures, and that, whenever he found a bad condition of things, he was determined to replace it by a better”. On the 5th of January 1523 Adrian reopened the Segnatura for the first time. He took this opportunity of expressly enjoining that only such persons should receive benefices as were fitted for and worthy of them.

An actual panic was caused in the first months of 1523 by the renewal, in a more circumstantial form, of the report that the Pope was busy with his scheme for abolishing all the new offices created by Leo X and bestowed or sold by him, and for making a great reduction of all officials, especially of the scribes and archivists. In the beginning of February a Congregation of six Cardinals was in fact appointed in order to draw up proposals with regard to the recently made Leonine appointments. Adrian had now brought himself into complete disfavour with the ecclesiastical bureaucracy—of all bureaucracies the worst. It gave rise to astonishment and displeasure when Adrian, in the beginning of April 1523, dismissed most of the Spaniards in his service from motives of economy and soon afterwards made further reductions in his establishment. If strong expression had before this found vent in the Curia on the subject of Adrian’s parsimony, or, as they preferred to call it, his miserliness, now indignation knew no bounds. According to the Ferrarese envoy, no Pope had ever received so much abuse as Adrian VI. Prelates and Cardinals accustomed to the pomp and luxury of the Leonine period found a continual stumbling-block in the asceticism and simplicity of Adrian's life. The contrast was indeed sharp and uncompromising. While Leo loved society and saw much of it, delighted in state and ceremony, in banquets and stage plays, his successor lived with a few servants in the utmost possible retirement; he never went abroad save to visit churches, and then with a slender retinue. He gave his support, not to poets and jesters, but to the sick and poor.

It was a moment of the greatest importance for the Papal schemes of reform when, in March 1523, Dr. John Eck, a staunch supporter of loyal Catholic opinion in Germany, came to Rome. The cause of his visit was certain matters of ecclesiastical policy in the Duchy of Bavaria, which were happily settled through the advances of Adrian VI. Amid the interests of his sovereign Eck was not unmindful of the welfare of Christendom; both the question of the Turkish war and that of reform were thoroughly discussed in his interviews with the Pope. Eck's notes have been preserved;  they form an important contribution to the history of Church reform at this time.

Eck thoroughly reviews the situation. Not only the rapid spread of the Lutheran teaching even in South Germany, but also the grievous harm wrought within the Church itself, was known to him down to the smallest detail. In the existing political situation of Europe he did not, in the first place, hope much from a general council quite as little, he thought correctly, would be gained by a mere condemnation of the heretical doctrines. In agreement with the most enlightened men of the age, above all with the Pope, he calls for comprehensive reform in Rome itself. He unsparingly discloses the abuses there existing, especially in the matter of indulgences he points out that there is a crying necessity for a substantial reduction in the different classes of indulgence;  he also wishes to see some limit set to the bestowal of faculties to hear confessions.

Eck draws an equally interesting and repulsive picture of the doings of the benefice-hunters and their countless tricks and artifices. He remarks with truth that, since many of these men came from Rome, the odium they incurred recoiled on the Holy See. On this point he implores Adrian without reserve to take decisive measures; the system of pluralities had been the source of abuses profoundly affecting the life of the Church. Eck especially recommends the diminution of pensions and expectancies and the entire abolition of commends and incorporations. If Eck’s proposals with regard to indulgences and the system of patronage command our entire approval, not so entirely satisfactory are his suggestions for a reform of the Penitentiary. The complete removal of the taxes on dispensations goes too far; in order to produce an effect he exaggerates in many particulars. On the other hand, he speaks to the point in dealing with the misuse of the so-called lesser excommunication, the laxity in giving dispensations to regulars in respect of their vows and habit, and the too great facility with which absolutions were given by the confessors in St. Peter's. A thorough reform of the Penitentiary officials and of the whole system of taxation was certainly necessary.

Eck made extensive proposals for a reform of the German clergy, the need of which he attributes to the unfortunate neglect of the decrees of the last Lateran Council. With a minute attention to detail, he here gives his advice concerning the conduct of the bishops, prelates, and inferior clergy, the system of preaching, diocesan government, and the excessive number of festivals. For a realization of his projects for the reform of the Curia, Eck hopes great things from the German Pope, whom he also counsels to pledge himself to convoke a general council. Eck also recommends the issue of a fresh Bull against Luther and his chief followers, the suppression of the University of Wittenberg, the appointment of visitors for each ecclesiastical province, furnished with Papal authority and that of the ruler of the country, and lastly, the restoration of the ancient institution of diocesan and provincial synods, for the summoning of which and their deliberations he makes extensive suggestions; these synods are to form an organizing and executive centre for the systematized struggle with the innovators.

We have, unfortunately, no authentic information in detail as to the attitude of Adrian towards this comprehensive programme of reform, nor as to the more immediate course of the conferences on the question of indulgences. One thing only is certain, that although the capitulations of his election afforded Adrian an opportunity for approaching the subject directly, yet the difficulties were so great that he did not venture on any definite step. If he did not here anticipate the decision of the council which it was his intention to summon, yet, in practice, he proceeded to issue indulgences most sparingly.

Not less serious were the obstacles to be met with when Adrian began his attempts to reform the Dataria. It was soon shown that salaries only could not take the place of the customary fees without introducing laxity of discipline besides, the abolition of fees for the despatch of Bulls and the communication of Papal favours could not take effect, at a time of such financial distress, without great loss to the already exhausted exchequer, still chargeable, irrespective of these minor sources of revenue, with the remuneration of the officials. Thus the Pope saw himself forced in this department also, to leave things, provisionally, for the most part as they were; nevertheless, he kept close watch over the gratuities of the Dataria in order to keep them within the narrowest possible limits.

Still more injurious to the cause of reform than the difficulties referred to was the growing peril from the Turks, which made increasing claims on Adrian's attention. “If Adrian, in consequence of the fall of Rhodes, had not been occupied with greater concerns, we should have seen fine things”, runs the report of a Venetian unfriendly to reform. Excitement in the Curia ran high when Adrian withdrew a portion of their income from the Cavalieri di San Pietro, the overseers of corn, and others who had bought their places under Leo X. The Pope excused himself for these hard measures on the plea that, in order to satisfy all, he was forced to a certain extent to make all suffer. The charges of greed and avarice were now openly brought against him in the harshest terms, and the total ruin of the city was proclaimed as inevitable. On the 25th of February 1523 one of these officials, whose means of subsistence was threatened by Adrian’s course of action, tried to stab the Pope, but the vigilance of Cardinal Campeggio baulked this attempt made by one whose mind had become deranged.

Neither by dangers of this kind nor by the piteous complaints which assailed him from all sides could Adrian be diverted from his path. Where it was possible he took steps against the accumulation of livings, checked every kind of simony, and carefully watched over the choice of worthy men for ecclesiastical posts, obtaining the most accurate information as to the age, moral character, and learning of candidates; moral delinquencies he punished with unrelenting severity. He never made any distinction of persons, and the most powerful Cardinals, when they were in any way blameworthy, received the same treatment as the humblest official of the Curia.

In the beginning of February 1523 thirteen Cardinals complained of the small importance attached by Adrian to the Sacred College, since he limited their prerogatives and in all matters consulted only his confidants, Teodoli, Ghinucci, and Enkevoirt. The Pope answered that he was far from intending any disrespect towards the dignities and rights of the Cardinalate; the reason why his choice of confidential advisers had lain elsewhere than with them was that he had never before been in Rome, and that during the time of the plague he had not been able to become acquainted with the members of their body.

In the despatches of Ambassadors the chief complaint is directed against his parsimony and his dilatory method of transacting business. As regards the first point, the complaints were not justified, but as to the second, they were not altogether groundless. Even when allowance is made for exaggeration on the part of the numerous malcontents, there can still be no doubt that unfortunate delays arose in the despatch of business. The officials of Leo X who had most experience in drafting documents were either dead or had left Rome. Since Adrian took no pains to make good this deficiency, intolerable delay often occurred in the preparation of deeds and papers. Moreover, business was often performed in a slovenly way; it was expressly stated that the persons appointed by the Pope were not only few in number but for the most part ill-acquainted with affairs and naturally slow; in addition, occupants of important posts, such as Girolamo Ghinucci, the acting Auditor of the Camera, caused delays by an exaggerated scrupulosity. The Datary Enkevoirt also was very dilatory; he often kept Cardinals waiting for two or three hours, and even then they were not sure of admission.

Adrian’s intense dislike of the motley crew of officials belonging to his predecessor was undoubtedly connected with the fact that many of them were persons of irregular life. That such elements should have been expelled from the Curia is cause for commendation, but it was a deplorable mistake when Adrian quietly acquiesced in the withdrawal of such an eminent man as Sadoleto, an enthusiast for reform and one ready to render the cause willing service. “The astonishment in Rome”, writes Girolamo Negri in March 1523, “is general. I myself am not astonished, for the Pope does not know Sadoleto”. Negri on this occasion repeats the saying then current in the city, “Rome is no longer Rome”. He adds with bitterness: “Having escaped from one plague, we have run into another and a worse. This Pope of ours knows no one. No one receives tokens of his grace. The whole world is in despair. We shall be driven again to Avignon or to the furthermost ocean, Adrian’s home; if God does not help us, then all is over with the Church’s monarchy, in this extremity of danger”.

In a later letter Negri, like Berni, corrects his at first wholly unfavourable impressions. He asserts that the Pope raises extraordinary difficulties in conferring any graces. This reluctance proceeds from his ignorance of Roman life and from distrust of his surroundings, but also from his great conscientiousness and fear of doing wrong. When the Pope grants favours, though they may be few, they are in the highest degree just: he does nothing contrary to rule, which, to a court accustomed to every gratification, is certainly displeasing. Cicero’s remark on Cato might be applied to the Pope : “He acts as though he were living in some republic of Plato’s, and not among the dregs of Romulus”. This expression indicates with precision an undoubted weakness in the character of Adrian. Gifted by nature with high ideals, he only too often judged others by himself, set before them the most lofty vocations, and attributed the best intentions even to the least worthy men. The many disappointments which he was thus bound to experience made him in consequence too distrustful, unfriendly and even hard, in circumstances where such feelings were misplaced.

The majority of the Sacred College were men of worldly life, and severity towards them in general was certainly justified. But Adrian distinguished too little between the worst, the bad and the good elements among them. With none of the Cardinals was he on confidential terms; even Schinner, Campeggio, and Egidio Canisio, who as regards the reform question were thoroughly at one with him, were never on an intimate footing. How unnecessarily rough the Pope could be is shown by an incident at the beginning of his Pontificate which the Venetian Ambassador has put on record. It was then the custom to hand over the Neapolitan tribute amid great ceremony. Cardinal Schinner presumed to call the Pope’s attention to this pageant. At first Adrian made no reply, and when the Cardinal again urged him to appear at the window, Adrian flatly gave him to understand that he was not to pester him. If he thus treated a fellow-countryman and a man of kindred aspirations, it can be imagined how it fared between him and the worldly Italians.

In course of time, however, Adrian seems to have perceived that he must come into touch with his Italian sympathizers if he was to carry out effectually his ever­widening projects of reform. He therefore summoned Gian Pietro Caraffa and his friend Tommaso Gazzella to Rome with the avowed object of strengthening the cause of reform. Both had apartments assigned to them in the Vatican. Unfortunately we do not know the precise date of this important invitation, nor have we any further information as to the results of the visit ; we can only infer from Giovio that the summons was sent towards the end of the pontificate, when Adrian's plans for the reform of the corrupt city were taking a yet wider range; special measures involving the severest punishments were to be taken against blasphemers, scoffers at religion, simonists, usurers, the “New Christians” of Spain (Marani), and corrupters of youth.

That the coming of so strong and inflexible a man as Caraffa could only add to Adrian’s unpopularity in Rome admits of no doubt. The general dissatisfaction found utterance in bitter satire and invective. What insults, what infamous and senseless accusations were permitted is shown by the notorious “Capitolo” of Francesco Berni which appeared in the autumn of 1522. It combines in itself all the contempt and rage which the strong and upright Pontiff with his schemes of reform, his foreign habits, and his household of foreigners provoked in the courtiers of Leo X. The talented prince of burlesque poets has here produced a satire which ranks as one of the boldest in the Italian literature of that age. It is a masterpiece of racy mendacity breathing hatred of the foreigner, of the savage set down amid artistic surroundings, of the reformer of men and manners. But the hatred is surpassed by the studiously displayed contempt for the “ridiculous Dutch-German barbarian”.

Against such ridicule, deadly because so laughable, the Pope was powerless. When he forbade, under the severest penalties, the feast of Pasquino on St. Mark’s day 1523 and its pasquinades, the measure was useless: for satire is like the Lernaean hydra with its crop of heads. The public were determined to take the Pope on his ludicrous side, and the story ran that Adrian had only desisted from having Pasquino’s statue flung into the Tiber because he was assured that, like frogs in water, he would make a greater noise than before.

Almost all contemporary accounts make it clear that the mass of public opinion in Rome was very ill-disposed towards the foreign Pope. Even critics who recognized his good and noble qualities thought him too much the Emperor's friend, too penurious, too little of the man of the world. An instructive instance of this is given in a letter of the Mantuan agent Gabbioneta of the 28th of July 1523 in which—an exception to the Italian chroniclers of those days—he to a certain extent does justice to Adrian's good qualities. Gabbioneta describes the Pope’s majestic appearance; his countenance breathes gentleness and goodness; the impression he gives is that of a religious. In tones of grief Gabbioneta deplores the change that he has seen come over the animated and light-hearted court of Leo X. “Rome is completely altered, the glory of the Vatican has departed; there, where formerly all was life and movement, one now hardly sees a soul go in or out”. The deserted state of the Papal palace is also accounted for in other ways, though the change had taken place gradually. For months Adrian had been forced, owing to the danger of the plague, to seclude himself in the Vatican and keep entirely apart from the life of the city. Always a great lover of solitude, this cloistered existence had so delighted the serious-minded Pope that he determined later on to adhere to it as much as possible. In this resolve he was strengthened by those around him, for they found it to their advantage that Adrian should see as few people as possible. Another inducement was the fear of poison, by which from the first the Pope had been haunted. In January 1523 it was even believed that a conspiracy to murder him had been detected. By occurrences such as these Adrian’s original distrust of most Italians was only intensified. He therefore continued to be waited on, by preference, by his own countrymen, whom he was satisfied that he knew thoroughly.

The complaint of Adrian’s inaccessibility was combined with another, that of his excessive confidence in those about him. There must have been some ground for the imputation when it is raised by such an enthusiastic partisan of the Pope as Ortiz. Some of those in his more immediate circle did not deserve the confidence placed in them by Adrian. From the reports of the Imperial Ambassador Sessa it is only too plain that many who were nearest to the Pope’s person were very open to bribes; this was especially true of the secretary Zisterer, a German. What Sessa also reports concerning the Pope’s confidential friends, especially his allegation of Enkevoirt’s dependence on Cardinals Monte and Soderini, is not confirmed from other quarters. There is no doubt that Enkevoirt, now as always, had the greatest influence with Adrian, and that from the beginning this was a cause of friction between the former and Ruffo Teodoli. In consequence the latter lost for a considerable time his position of confidence;  as, however, he was an excellent man of affairs, his absence was perceptibly felt, and all the more so because Adrian was very often unlucky in the choice of his officials. Blasio Ortiz attributes the delays in the transaction of business which were so generally found fault with to the slackness and dilatoriness of the officials, since Adrian personally did more hard work than any other Pontiff before him. That in spite of this the despatch of affairs was very protracted, was also owing to Adrian's extreme conscientiousness, which often went the length of pedantry. The Pope attempted to attend to all kinds of business in person, especially spiritual matters, without discriminating between what was important and what was not. This devotion to duty, which made him sacrifice himself to public affairs, was so great that his early death was thought by some to have been caused by over-exertion in one already advanced in years and exposed to an unaccustomed climate.

The shortness of Adrian's pontificate—it lasted one year and eight months—was the primary cause why the movement of Church reform produced such meagre positive results. As the period of delay in Spain and of the plague in Rome can hardly be taken into account, the duration of his actual government was shorter still. Quite irrespective of his own idiosyncrasies and his advanced age, it is therefore not surprising that, among the new as well as arduous conditions in which, by an almost marvellous turn of events, he was placed, he was unable to strike any very deep roots. He had come to Rome a total stranger, and such he remained until his death; therefore, for the execution of his noble intentions and great plans hie was more or less dependent on the Italians with whom he was never able to find genuine points of contact. The circumstance that his knowledge of their language was always inadequate not only led to great misunderstandings, but also made an interchange of ideas impossible. A stranger, surrounded by intimates of foreign birth, the Flemish Pope could not make himself at home in the new world which he encountered in Rome. Just as Adrian was beginning to recognize the disadvantages inherent in his isolated position, and was making the attempt to ally himself with the Italian party of reform, and also to devise some improved and accelerated methods of business, he was seized by the illness of which he died. But even if his reign had lasted longer the Pope would with difficulty have reached the full solution of his great tasks. The proper machinery for the accomplishment of his measures of reform was wanting. Moreover, the difficulties inherent in the very nature of the case were too vast, the evils too great, the force of deeply rooted conditions—which in a naturally conservative atmosphere like that of Rome had a twofold strength—too powerful, and the interests at stake too various to permit of the great transformation which was necessary being accomplished within the limits of a single Pontificate. The accumulated evils of many generations could only be healed by a course of long and uninterrupted labour.

Adrian, who had sometimes found himself driven by exceptional and weighty reasons to relax the stringency of the ecclesiastical laws, perceived with grief in hours of depression that all his work would be but fragmentary. “How much does a man’s efficiency depend”, he often said, “upon the age in which his work is cast”. On another occasion he said plaintively to his friend Heeze, “Dietrich, how much better it went with us when we were still living quietly in Louvain”. At such times he was sustained only by the strong sense of duty which was always a part of his nature. Providence, he was strongly convinced, had called him to the most difficult post on earth, therefore he braced himself unflinchingly for the task, and devoted himself, heedless of his failing health, to all the obligations of his office until the shadows of death closed around him.

If Adrian is judged only by the standard of success, no just verdict will be given. The significance of his career lay not in his achievements, but in his aims. In this respect it is to his undying credit that he not only courageously laid bare the scandals in the Church and showed an honest purpose of amending them, but also with clear understanding suggested the right means to be employed, and with prompt determination began reform at the head.

CHAPTER IV.

The Mission of Francesco Chieregati to the Diet of Nuremberg. —Adrian's Attitude towards the German Schism.

In taking in hand the thorough regeneration of the Roman Curia, Adrian not only aimed at putting an end to a condition of things which to him must have been an abomination, but also hoped in this way to remove the grounds for defection from Rome in the countries beyond the Alps. But as the reform of the Curia was by no means a matter of swift realization, no other course remained open to the Pope than “to make a qualified appeal to the magnanimity of his enemies”. This explains the mission of Francesco Chieregati to the Diet convened at Nuremberg on the 1st of September 1522.

This native of Vicenza, chosen by the Pope for this difficult mission in Germany, where the elevation of a fellow-countryman to the Holy See had at once been accompanied by the highest hopes, was no novice in Papal diplomacy; already under Leo X he had been Nuncio in England, Spain, and Portugal. At Saragossa and Barcelona Adrian, then Viceroy for Charles V, had come to know him as a man of learning and earnest moral character, and one of his first appointments as Pope was to present him to the bishopric of Teramo in the Abruzzi. Almost immediately afterwards he was nominated Nuncio in Germany. Chieregati must have entered at once on his difficult and responsible mission to the country then in the ferment of revolt, for by the 26th of September 1522 he had already entered Nuremberg with a retinue. Two days later he had his first audience with the Archduke Ferdinand. On this occasion he directed himself to obtaining measures against the Lutheran heresy, and dwelt upon the Pope's serious intention of carrying on the war against the Turks and removing ecclesiastical abuses; at the same time he stated, in the Pope’s name, that henceforth annates and the fees for the pallium should not be sent to Rome, but retained in Germany and applied exclusively to the expenses of the Turkish war.

The Diet having at last been opened on the 17th of November, Chieregati appeared before it for the first time on the 19th, and appealed for the aid of the Hungarians in a forcible speech. He wisely avoided weakening the effect of his words by any reference to Church affairs. Not until the loth of December, when he made a second speech on the Turkish question, did he consider the opportune moment to have come for introducing his errand as it bore on Church affairs, and then, at first, only cautiously. He was commissioned by the Pope to call the attention of the States of the Empire to the spread of Lutheran teaching, a peril even more threatening than that of Turkish invasion, and to ask for the enforcement of the Edict of Worms. The Pope also did not deny the existence of many abuses in the Roman Curia, but had decided to take steps against them with the utmost promptitude. The States declared that before they could confer and come to any final judgment on these matters they must have the Papal proposals put before them in writing; they had evidently little inclination to meddle with this delicate matter. It was not until the arrival, on the 23rd of December, of Joachim of Brandenburg, who had already fought energetically at the Diet of Worms on the Catholic side, that matters seem to have come to a head.

On the 3rd of January 1523 Chieregati read before the Diet and the representatives of the Empire several documents which had been sent after him clearly setting forth the intention and proposals of the Pope. The first was a Brief of the 25th of November 1522, addressed to the Diet assembled at Nuremberg, in which Adrian, after mentioning his assiduous efforts to restore peace in view of the danger arising from the Turks, went thoroughly into the question of the religious confusion in Germany. The originator of the trouble was Luther, who had himself to blame if he, Adrian, could no longer call him a son. Regardless of the Papal Bull of condemnation and of the Edict of Worms, he continued, in writings full of error, heresy, calumny, and destruction, to corrupt the minds and morals of Germany and the adjacent countries. It was still worse that Luther should have adherents and abettors among the princes, so that the possessions of the clergy—this perhaps was the first inducement to the present disorder—and the spiritual and secular authority were attacked, and a state of civil war had been brought about. Thus, at what was perhaps the worst moment of the Turkish danger, division and revolt had broken out in “our once so steadfast German nation”. The Pope recalled how, when residing in Spain as Cardinal, he had heard with heartfelt sorrow of the disturbance in his beloved German fatherland. He had then consoled himself with the hope that this was only transitory, and would not long be tolerated, especially among a people from whom in all ages illustrious antagonists of heresy had arisen. But now that this evil tree—perchance as a chastisement for the people’s sins or through the negligence of those who ought to have administered punishment—was beginning to spread its branches far and wide, the German princes and peoples should take good heed lest through passive acquiescence they come to be regarded as the promoters of so great a mischief: “We cannot even think of anything so incredible as that so great, so pious a nation should allow a petty monk, an apostate from that Catholic faith which for years he had preached, to seduce it from the way pointed out by the Saviour and His Apostles, sealed by the blood of so many martyrs, trodden by so many wise and holy men, your forefathers, just as if Luther alone were wise, and alone had the Holy Spirit, as if the Church, to which Christ promised His presence to the end of all days, had been walking in darkness and foolishness, and on the road to destruction, until Luther’s new light came to illuminate the darkness”. The Diet might well consider how the new teaching had renounced all obedience and gave permission to every man to gratify his wishes to the full. “Are they likely”, continued Adrian, “to remain obedient to the laws of the Empire who not merely despise those of the Church, the decrees of fathers and councils, but do not fear to tear them in pieces and burn them to ashes? We adjure you to lay aside all mutual hatreds, to strive for this one thing, to quench this fire and to bring back, by all ways in your power, Luther and other instigators of error and unrest into the right way; for such a charitable undertaking would be most pleasing and acceptable to us. If, nevertheless, which God forbid, you will not listen, then must the rod of severity and punishment be used according to the laws of the Empire and the recent Edict. God knows our willingness to forgive; but if it should be proved that the evil has penetrated so far that gentle means of healing are of no avail, then we must have recourse to methods of severity in order to safeguard the members as yet untainted by disease”.

Besides this Brief, Chieregati read an Instruction closely connected with it, and then demanded the execution of the Edict of Worms and the punishment of four preachers who had spread heretical teaching from the pulpits of the churches of Nuremberg.

This Instruction, which Chieregati communicated to the Diet, is of exceptional importance for an understanding of Adrian’s plans of reform, and his opinion of the state of things. The document, unique in the history of the Papacy, develops still more fully the principles already laid down in the foregoing Brief for the guidance of the German nation in their opposition to Lutheran errors. Besides the glory of God and the love of their neighbour, they are bidden to remember what is due to their glorious loyalty to the faith, whereby they have won the right to be considered the most Christian of all peoples, as well as the dishonour done to their forefathers by Luther, who has accused them of false belief and condemned them to the damnation of hell. Moreover, they must consider the danger of rebellion against all higher authority introduced by this doctrine under the guise of evangelical freedom, the scandals and disquiet already aroused, and the encouragement to break the most sacred vows in defiance of apostolic teaching, by which things Luther has set an example worse than that of Mohammed. On all these grounds Chieregati is justified in demanding the execution of the Papal and Imperial decrees; yet at the same time he must be ready to offer pardon to penitent sinners.

The objection, which ever gained wider acceptance, that Luther had been condemned unheard and upon insufficient inquiry, meets with thorough refutation in the Papal Instruction. The basis of belief is divine authority and not human testimony. St. Ambrose says : “Away with the arguments by which men try to arrive at belief; we believe in the Fisherman, not in dialecticians”. Luther’s only vindication lay in the questions of fact, whether he had or had not said, preached, and written this or that. But the divine law itself, and the doctrine of the sacraments, were to the saints and to the Church an irrefragable truth.

Almost all Luther’s deviations of doctrine had already been condemned by various councils; what the whole Church had accepted as an axiom of belief must not again be made a matter of doubt : “Otherwise, what guarantee remains for permanent belief? Or what end can there be to controversy and strife, if every conceited and puzzle­headed upstart is at liberty to dissent from teaching which puts forth its claims not as the opinion only of one man or of a number of men, but as established and consecrated by the unanimous consent of so many centuries and so many of the wisest men and by the decision of the Church, infallible in matters of faith? Since Luther and his party now condemn the councils of the holy fathers, annul sacred laws and ordinances, turn all things upside down, as their caprice dictates, and bring the whole world into confusion, it is manifest, if they persist in such deeds, that they must be suppressed, as enemies and destroyers of public peace, by all who have that peace at heart”.

In the last and most remarkable portion of the Instruction, Adrian set forth with broadminded candour the grounds on which the religious innovators justified their defection from the Church on account of the corruption of the clergy, as well as that corruption itself. “You are also to say”, so run Chieregati’s express instructions, “that we frankly acknowledge that God permits this persecution of His Church on account of the sins of men, and especially of prelates and clergy of a surety the Lord's arm is not shortened that He cannot save us, but our sins separate us from Him, so that He does not hear. Holy Scripture declares aloud that the sins of the people are the outcome of the sins of the priesthood; therefore, as Chrysostom declares, when our Saviour wished to cleanse the city of Jerusalem of its sickness, He went first to the Temple to punish the sins of the priests before those of others, like a good physician who heals a disease at its roots. We know well that for many years things deserving of abhorrence have gathered round the Holy See; sacred things have been misused, ordinances transgressed, so that in everything there has been a change for the worse. Thus it is not surprising that the malady has crept down from the head to the members, from the Popes to the hierarchy.

“We all, prelates and clergy, have gone astray from the right way, and for long there is none that has done good; no, not one. To God, therefore, we must give all the glory and humble ourselves before Him; each one of us must consider how he has fallen and be more ready to judge himself than to be judged by God in the day of His wrath. Therefore, in our name give promises that we shall use all diligence to reform before all things the Roman Curia, whence, perhaps, all these evils have had their origin ; thus healing will begin at the source of sickness. We deem this to be all the more our duty, as the whole world is longing for such reform. The Papal dignity was not the object of our ambition, and we would rather have closed our days in the solitude of private life; willingly would we have put aside the tiara; the fear of God alone, the validity of our election, and the dread of schism, decided us to assume the position of Chief Shepherd. We desire to wield our power not as seeking dominion or means for enriching our kindred, but in order to restore to Christ’s bride, the Church, her former beauty, to give help to the oppressed, to uplift men of virtue and learning, above all, to do all that beseems a good shepherd and a successor of the blessed Peter.

“Yet let no man wonder if we do not remove all abuses at one blow ; for the malady is deeply rooted and takes many forms. We must advance, therefore, step by step, first applying the proper remedies to the most difficult and dangerous evils, so as not by a hurried reform to throw all things into greater confusion than before. Aristotle well says: ‘All sudden changes are dangerous to States’.”

In some supplementary instructions based on Chieregati’s reports, Adrian also undertook that in future there should be no infringement of the concordats already agreed upon. With regard to cases decided in the Rota, in which a reversal of judgment was desired in Germany, he would, as soon as the Auditors, who had fled before the plague, were reassembled, and as far as was consistent with honour, come to some understanding; he anxiously awaited proposals as to the best way to hinder the advance of the new teaching, and wished to be made acquainted with the names of learned, pious, and deserving Germans on whom Church preferment could be bestowed, as nothing had been more hurtful to the saving of souls than the appointment of unworthy priests.

The unprecedented publicity which Adrian in this Instruction gave to the abuses so long dominant in Rome, and the communication of this document to the Diet, certainly not in opposition to the Pope’s wishes, have often been blamed as impolitic acts; even the Papal admission of guilt has itself been questioned as incorrect and exaggerated. The charge of exaggeration cannot be sustained: the corruption in Rome was undoubtedly as great as Adrian described it to be. If there was to be any effectual cure, it was necessary that this lofty-minded Pope, in his enthusiasm for reform, should lay bare, with heroic courage, the wounds that called for healing.

On looking at the Instruction as a whole, we see that the Pope did not surrender, even on the smallest point, his firm ecclesiastical principles. He draws a sharp and definite line between the divine and human elements in the Church. The authority of the latter rests on God only : in matters of belief it is infallible. The members of the Church, however, are subject to human corruption, and all, good as well as bad, must not shrink from confession of guilt before God, the confession which every priest, even the holiest, has to lay on the steps of the altar before offering the sacrifice of the Mass. Such a confession Adrian as High Priest made before the whole world openly, solemnly, and  explicitly in expiation of the sins of his predecessors and as the earnest of a better future. Firmly convinced of the divine character of the Church, he nevertheless does not shrink one jot from speaking freely, though in grief, of the evils and abuses that lay open as day before the eyes of the world and brought dishonour on her external system of government

What is to be said of the charge of impolicy brought against the Instruction? Was the Pope’s uncompromising admission of the corruption of Rome a short-sighted blunder whereby he sharpened one of the keenest weapons of the enemy? Many staunch partisans of the Church have thought so; but this is a narrow conception, without justification. Adrian was right in rising to a much higher idea of the Church; moreover, he was too clear-sighted a theologian to feel alarm for the true interests of the Church from a confession of guilt which was an actual matter of fact. It is sin itself, not its acknowledgment, which is dishonouring. With genuine German frankness and sincerity, which on this very account were unintelligible to the Romans, Adrian VI, in a magnanimous and honourable spirit, had turned to the noble and well­loved nation from which he came, with a courageous confession of abuses, promises of thorough reform, and exhortations to the maintenance of unity, law, and order in the Church. “It lay with the nations to reply in the same noble temper. But the existing tone was one of discord, and the prospect of reconciliation vanished never to return ; the gulf grew wider and wider, and no power on earth was able to close it”.

Had it depended upon the Archduke Ferdinand and the Elector Joachim of Brandenburg, the Pope’s solicitations for the execution of the Edict of Worms would have been acceded to. But neither succeeded in having his way. Hans von der Planitz, who was devoted to the new teaching and an active and astute champion of the Saxon Elector, knew how to procrastinate; the majority determined not to commit themselves at first to any definite answer, but to refer the whole matter to a consultative committee. In addition to the pressure put upon them by the unsettled condition of the Empire, they were influenced by an outbreak of indignation cleverly worked up by the Lutheran party on account of Chieregati’s demand for proceedings against the four preachers of Nuremberg. The town council had already, on the 5th of January 1523, decided to prevent this, if necessary by force. As Chieregati still remained obstinate, this matter also was referred to the committee. The Papal Nuncio soon found himself exposed to such insults, threats, and acts of violence that he hardly any longer dared to show himself in the streets.

The preachers, on the other hand, only became more vehement; “If the Pope”, declared one of them from the pulpit in the church of St. Lawrence, “were to add a fourth crown to the three already on his head, he would not on that account rob me of the word of God”. This feeling in the city, as well as the critical condition of the Empire, had from the first a strong influence on the conduct of affairs. The result gave satisfaction to neither party. The Lutherans certainly in no way derived a complete victory, but the Catholics and the Pope were equally unsuccessful in achieving their most important object, the execution of the Edict of Worms. This was postponed as being at the time impracticable; simultaneously demands were made on the Curia in a more imperative and aggressive form for the removal of German grievances and the convocation of a free Council on German soil; until then nothing else was to be preached except “the Holy Gospel as laid down in the Scriptures approved and received by the Christian Church, and nothing new was to be printed or offered for sale unless first examined and approved by learned persons especially appointed for that purpose”. Had the clergy, with their decided preponderance in the Diet, fulfilled their duties in a corporate capacity, the unsatisfactory result of the negotiations would be inexplicable. But both courage and good-will were wanting in too many of the prelates. The critical condition within the Empire, threatened by an outbreak of revolution, “put them”, as Planitz wrote,  “in fear of their skins”. Had it not been for the determined action of the Papal Nuncio, the affairs of the Church might well have been entirely neglected.

The prelates were not only weak-spirited, they were also steeped in worldliness. Heedless of the necessities of the age, they thought more of worldly enjoyments, the banquet and the dance, than of the deliberations of the Diet. The earnestness of the Nuncio was displeasing to them, still more the frank avowal of general blame and responsibility by a Pope who knew only too well the laxity of the German hierarchy. Adrian’s hope that the German prelates would search their own hearts, and even now smite their breasts as penitent sinners, was proved to be futile. Far from it, these worldly-minded men felt themselves affronted and roused to wrath at the bare idea of paying attention to the Papal declarations. Such small amount of zeal as there was for co-operation in Adrian’s wishes very soon sank below zero. Moreover, among the Catholic secular princes opinion was for the most part “out-and-out Lutheran.”

The party of the new belief, cleverly led by Planitz and Johann von Schwarzenberg, opposed at first a discreet silence to the Pope’s magnanimous candour, in order there and then to bring to the front the demand for the punishment of the preachers and afterwards to fall upon the Nuncio. Even a man of so refined a culture as Melanchthon was not ashamed4 to describe the latter as no better than a weathercock; still worse was the license with which he and Luther inveighed against Adrian. In the spring of 1523 they issued a foul pamphlet aimed, under allusions to a monstrosity discovered in Rome in the reign of Alexander VI, at the strictest and most austere Pope ever raised to the Chair of Peter. Luther did not think it worth his trouble even to take notice of Adrian’s good intentions. He saw in him only the Antichrist: the whole “injustice and savagery” of his polemic is shown in the gibes “at the stupidity and ignorance” ascribed by him to this great man. “The Pope” he wrote, “is a magister noster of Louvain; in that University such asses are crowned; out of his mouth Satan speaks”.

Luther and his associates show thus plainly that their object was not the removal of abuses from the Church, but its fundamental overthrow. Regardless of the stipulation of Nuremberg, they urged on their politico-religious agitation. On the 28th of March 1523, Luther addressed to the heads of the German religious orders his appeal, calling on them to break their vows, contract marriages, and divide amongst themselves the property of their orders. He continued as before to revile the noble German Pontiff as a blind tyrant, a charlatan, even as the special minister of Satan.

For this Luther found a pretext on the 31st of May 1523 in Adrian’s canonization of Bishop Benno of Meissen. On the same day the Florentine Archbishop Antonino was raised to the altars of the Church. The lavish expenditure hitherto associated with such ceremonies was prohibited by Adrian. The canonization of such illustrious examples of the bygone episcopate was intended to appeal to their less spiritual successors. But the Pope’s lofty intention of thus uplifting the higher clergy was as little understood in Italy as in Germany; he also experienced a bitter disappointment in Erasmus, who had written to his former teacher immediately after his election, assuring Adrian of his orthodoxy and dedicating to him his edition of Arnobius. In answer, Adrian addressed Erasmus on the 1st of December 1522 in a lengthy and paternal Brief, thanking him for the dedication, setting his mind at rest with regard to certain accusations brought against him, and at the same time urgently entreating him to use his great literary gifts against the new errors. This practical Netherlander, now seated in the Papal Chair, wished to see Erasmus doing something and not merely conveying to him graceful words of compliment. He shrewdly remarks that Erasmus by such activity would best put to silence those who wished to implicate him in the Lutheran business: “Rouse thyself, rouse thyself to the defence of the things of God, and go forth to employ in His honour the great gifts of the Spirit thou hast received from Him. Consider how it lies with you, through God’s help, to bring back into the right way very many of those whom Luther has seduced, to give steadfastness to those who have not yet fallen, and to preserve from falling those whose steps are tottering”. He recommends as best that Erasmus should come to Rome, where he would find at his disposal literary resources and the society of learned and pious men. Adrian, who was well aware of the disinclination of Erasmus to any violent treatment of the innovators, very adroitly seizes this opportunity of impressing upon him that he also was much more desirous of the voluntary return of those who had been misled than of their compulsion under spiritual and secular penalties; to the attainment of this end, Erasmus would best conduce by engaging in a literary warfare with the friends of Luther. In the same spirit and at the same time, Adrian also admonished the University of Cologne.

On the 22nd of December 1522, Erasmus himself wrote a second letter to Adrian, in which he already makes sufficiently clear the advice that he purposes to communicate to the Pope in a more confidential manner; he only begs that there shall be no measures of suppression, no intrusion of personal hatreds, to the dishonour of the cause of Christ. To this Adrian answered in the most friendly way on the 23rd of January 1523, again inviting Erasmus to Rome. He looks forward with eager anticipation to the promised advice, “since he has no greater desire than to find the right means of removing from the midst of our nation this abominable evil while it is yet curable, not because our dignity and authority, so far as they concern us personally, seem endangered in the stormy tempests of the times—for not only have we never set our heart on these things, but, seeing that they come upon us without any connivance of ours, have greatly dreaded them, and, God be our witness, would have declined them altogether had we not feared thereby to offend God and injure our own conscience—but because we see so many thousands of souls, redeemed by the blood of Christ and committed to our pastoral care souls, moreover, belonging, after the flesh, to peoples of our own race—led away on the direct path of destruction through the hope of an evangelical freedom which, in very truth, is a bondage to the Devil”.

The answer of Erasmus to this letter is only preserved in part. Enough remains, however, to show what his position at this time actually was. He coldly declines the enthusiastic summons of the Pope to devote his learning, reputation, and influence to the cause of the Church; he has not the adequate knowledge, nor does he enjoy a sufficient reputation, seeing that both parties, the Lutherans and their opponents, tear him in pieces. Even if his frail health permitted him to make the journey to Rome, he could get through much more work in Basle besides, if he were to write against Luther in measured and decorous terms, he would appear to be jesting with him. “If I were to imitate his own style of writing and make a hostile onslaught on Lutheranism, I should raise about me a hornet’s nest”. To this excuse Erasmus joins a warning against violent measures yet, in contradiction to this, he expresses the wish that the authorities “may beat back the innovations”; further, he trusts that the Pope may lead the world to hope that some of the things justly complained of may be altered. He recommends that incorruptible, moderate, and dispassionate men should be convoked from every country in Europe, in order to deliberate on reform. Here the letter breaks off. We are left in uncertainty whether Erasmus still adhered to his scheme of settling the Lutheran question by means of the arbitration of learned men; in any case, the conditions were less favourable for such a course than they had been in 1520, when Erasmus exerted himself to carry out this favourite project.

Adrian VI had also made attempts to win back the man who, in connection with the Lutheran ideas, had introduced into German Switzerland a movement of apostasy from Rome. The Pope’s position was one of twofold difficulty in respect of Switzerland, as there remained a debt of 30,000 ducats due from Leo X to the cantons. With great exertions Adrian VI succeeded, in the first instance, in finding the money required to pay the Zurichers, and in January 1523 he handed over to them 18,000 Rhenish gulden. In April he sent Ennio Filonardi to the Swiss in order to secure their neutrality, and, in case of a French invasion of Italy, an alliance; he gave him a letter to Ulrich Zwingli promising him rewards if he supported the Nuncio. But in the meantime Zwingli had already initiated his breach with Rome in his first discourse at Zurich on religion. Similar designs occupied the mind of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, Albert of Brandenburg, despite his still repeated asseverations of loyalty to the Pope and the Church. He had even instructed the Roman procurator of the Order to obtain from the Pope a penal edict against any of his knights who had joined the party of Luther! Adrian, who had ordered Albert to accept without alteration the reforms of the Order already prescribed by Leo X, was spared the experience of seeing this German Prince, in violation of his vows, obtain the secularization of the lands of the Order for which he had denounced in Rome the King of Poland.

Next to Germany the countries of Scandinavia repeatedly claimed Adrian’s attention. The want of determination shown by Leo X with regard to the arbitrary government of the tyrannical Christian II of Denmark had inflicted serious injury on the Church in those countries. That under Adrian a stronger conception of duty prevailed is clear from the transactions of a Consistory held on the 29th of April 1523. But before a decree against Christian was drawn up, the King had been compelled to leave his kingdom, where the government was taken over by his uncle, Frederick of Gottorp. On the ground of the Union of Colmar, Frederick also claimed acknowledgment in Sweden; but in vain. Gustavus Wasa, the gifted leader of the Swedish national party, since 1521 administrator of the kingdom, was, on the 6th of June 1523, proclaimed in the Diet of Strengnas “King of Sweden and of the Goths”.

Luther’s teaching had also made its way into Sweden through the efforts of Olaus Petri, and during the confusion of the war of independence had spread unhindered. As an apt pupil of the Wittenberg Professor, at whose feet he had sat, Olaus Petri declaimed quite openly in Strengnas against the sacrament of penance and the veneration of the saints; at the same time he proclaimed the duty of the Church to return to apostolic poverty. He soon found a like-minded colleague in Laurentius Andrea. Their anti­Catholic agitation was able to make unimpeded progress as long as the see of Strengnas was vacant. The state of disorder into which the Swedish Church had fallen, in consequence of the turmoil of the preceding years, is best illustrated by the fact that, with the exception of the excellent Johann Brask in Linkoping, and the revered Ingemar in Vexjo, there were no other bishops in the whole country.

Adrian did not neglect the needs of the Swedish Church in order to help, he sent, in the person of Johann Magni, a legate of Swedish extraction, with whom he had been personally acquainted from the Louvain days. Magni arrived in Strengnas when the election of Gustavus Wasa to the throne was already accomplished. The cunning sovereign, at heart estranged from the Church, and covetous of the rich possessions of the clergy, concealed his real feelings and received the Pope’s representative with every token of honour. Johann Magni’s mission resembled that of Chieregati: he was to announce Adrian’s readiness to remove abuses in the Church, but at the same time to call upon the government of the kingdom to take steps against the Lutheran innovations. In reply, the royal council, inspired by the King, first expressed satisfaction at the Pope’s promises of reform, but immediately went on to insist, as indispensable preliminaries for the Swedish Church, on the formal deposition of the Archbishop of Upsala, Gustavus Trolle “the turbulent”, who had been sentenced to perpetual exile as a partisan of the Danish king Christian II, and the institution of good native-born bishops to the vacant sees, and especially of a peace­abiding primate. Until this was done it would be a hard task to eradicate the many errors introduced into the Christian religion—the name of Luther being intentionally omitted. The question of the Episcopate being settled, the Papal Nuncio was to return and undertake the best reform possible.

When the Legate on a further occasion made personal representations to the King respecting the payments of money to the Church, and the Lutheran heresy, he received such a very conciliatory answer that he believed his mission to have come to a prosperous issue. The too trustful Magni seems to have shut his eyes to the fact that the King, for all his courtesy, had shirked the essential points, and had not forbidden Olaus Petri to preach Lutheran doctrine in Strengnas. On the loth of September 1523 Gustavus Wasa wrote himself to the Pope that, when the vacant bishoprics were filled by peace-abiding bishops who would be loyal to the Crown, and the Legate returned with newly constituted powers, he would then do all in his power, after taking counsel with the bishops, to extirpate the destructive heresies, and to forward the union of the Muscovites with the Church and the conversion of the Laplanders. A few days later the King forwarded to the Pope the list of bishops chosen by the Swedish chapters, with the name of the Papal Nuncio at their head as Archbishop of Upsala, and asked for their confirmation and for the remission of the customary dues.

It was an extremely clever move thus to link the personal interests of Magni with the formal deposition of Trolle. Magni was on the point of starting for Rome, when a Brief from Adrian arrived to the effect that Trolle was still to be considered Archbishop of Upsala and to be reinstated as such. The Nuncio declared that the document was spurious, but his supposition was wrong : the Pope had actually taken this impolitic step. The King now dropped his mask. Evidently under the influence of the events that had recently taken place at the Diet of Nuremberg, and guided by his secretary, Laurentius Andrea, a man of Lutheran opinions, he sent to the Holy See in the beginning of October a threatening ultimatum; that if the Pope did not withdraw his demands respecting Trolle, the rebel and traitor to his country, he would, on the strength of his royal authority, dispose of the bishops and the Christian religion in his territories in such a manner as would, he believed, be pleasing to God and all Christian princes. To Magni, Gustavus used still plainer language: if his patience and goodness were unavailing, he was determined to let his prerogative have full play and free his people from the intolerable yoke of strangers. A royal letter of the 2nd of November 1523 informed the Pope, the news of whose death had not yet come, that if the confirmation of the proposed candidates for the vacant sees was refused or any longer delayed, he, the King, had made up his mind to care for the orphaned Church in other ways and would enforce the confirmation of those chosen by Christ, the highest Pontiff. All doubt was removed that the King had determined to sever his countries from that Church to which they owed their culture and civilization.

As a consolation amid the sorrow caused to Adrian by the dangers and losses of the Church in Germanic lands came the reconciliation of Theophilus, the schismatic Patriarch of Alexandria, the dawning hopes of a reunion with the Russian schismatics, and the spread of Christianity in the New World. To promote the missionary activity of the Franciscans in America, the Pope conferred upon the Order in that continent extensive privileges : they were to elect their own superior every three years, to possess the full powers of the Minister-General, and even to exercise episcopal functions, except those of ordination. This new organization encouraged the hope that races which, notwithstanding highly developed civilization, were yet votaries of a bloodstained heathen worship, would soon be delivered from the night of idolatry and be won over to the truth of Christianity.

CHAPTER V.

Adrian's Efforts to restore Peace and promote the Crusade. — The Fall of Rhodes and the Support of Hungary.

Adrian’s attitude towards the complicated politics of the European States, then involved in a dangerous crisis, through the rivalry between Francis I and Charles V and the renewed aggressiveness of the Ottoman power, was inspired by that lofty earnestness and magnanimity which had directed his treatment of ecclesiastical affairs. As Vicar of the eternal Prince of Peace the lofty-minded Pope had felt most bitterly the protracted state of war, with its menace to the future of Christendom. Since the greatest danger came from without, from the side of the infidel, he deemed it a twofold duty, towards God and his own conscience, to leave nothing undone to procure the reconciliation of the two monarchs who confronted one another in deadly enmity.

The pacification and union of the Christian powers in presence of the onslaught of Islam, the reform of the Church, and the restoration of ecclesiastical unity, so especially threatened in Germany, were the three great ideas dominating his Pontificate.

From the first Adrian had shown a firm determination, in contrast to his predecessors, not to attach himself to any of the contending parties, but by all the means in his power to bring about a peace, or at least a truce, so that all the united forces of Europe might be turned against the hereditary foe of Christendom. In this sense he had already written to the Emperor on the 25th of March 1522, urging him to conclude peace or an armistice with the French King; for identical reasons he despatched Gabriele Merino, Archbishop of Bari, from Spain to Paris, and Alvaro Osorio, Bishop of Astorga, to England, to confer with the Emperor and Henry VIII.

Immediate help was necessary, for it was no longer doubtful that the Sultan Suleiman I, following up the capture of Belgrade in August 1521, was preparing to deal another deadly blow by an attack on Rhodes, the last bulwark of Christendom in the south. Held by the Knights of St. John, this island, on account of its situation and exceptional strength, was as great a hindrance to the development of the Turkish sea power as it was for Christendom a position of incalculable value.3 Suleiman was determined to capture it at all costs. On the 1st of June 1522 he sent his declaration of war to the Grand Master; at the same time he moved against Rhodes a powerful fleet conveying an armament of 10,000 men and all the requisites for a siege. The Sultan at the head of 100,000 men proceeded through Asia Minor along the coast of Caria. Although the Grand Master had little over 600 knights and 5000 soldiers, he was yet determined to resist to the last. The preparations for holding the strongly fortified and well-provisioned fortress were so thorough, the heroism of the defenders so great, that, at first, all the assaults of the Osmanli were repulsed, but in spite of serious losses the enemy held on. Everything depended on the arrival of relief for the besieged, and for this the conditions of Western Europe were as unfavourable as possible. The spread of the religious upheaval in the German Empire was the precursor of a social revolution, so that men feared the overthrow of established order. Things were no better in Hungary, torn by party strife; while Venice, the mistress of the seas, seemed now, as always, occupied only in safeguarding her own possessions. The great powers of central Europe were embroiled in internecine strife; only an immediate cessation of their quarrels could justify the hope that they would take part in a defensive movement against the Turk. No one worked for this more zealously than Adrian VI, for the danger besetting Rhodes occupied him as a personal concern. Although there was little prospect of his efforts to reconcile the contending Christian powers being successful, he tenaciously adhered to his purpose; in spite of all failures he stood firm.

The Pope’s position as the intermediary of peace was from the first exceptionally difficult. He had to try and convince Francis I that he was not a partisan of his former pupil, sovereign, and friend, Charles. From the latter he had, at the same time, to remove the suspicion that he was too favourably inclined towards Francis. A further difficulty arose from the decisive turn of affairs on the scene of war in Italy, when the French, defeated at Bicocca on the 27th of April 1522, soon after (May 30th) lost Genoa also. The alliance between the Emperor and Henry VIII was drawn even closer than before; on his journey into Spain, Charles paid Henry a visit, during which a joint expedition into France was agreed upon both monarchs confidently hoped to win the Pope as the third confederate against Francis. While Adrian’s proposals of mediation fell upon deaf ears at the English as well as at the Imperial Court, Francis, in his humiliation, assumed a conciliatory mien. This induced Adrian to make a fresh appeal to the Emperor but Charles, in a letter of the 7th of September 1522, declared himself unable to make peace without the King of England; he observed that the French terms of agreement did not admit of acceptance. Adrian called the Emperor’s attention to the danger of Rhode; adjured him in the most impressive terms to help the island, to put his private interests in the background, and to consent to a truce. If Charles were in Rome, Adrian wrote, and were to hear the appeals from Rhodes and Hungary, he would not be able to keep back his tears. He, the Pope, was doing what he could; the money he had sent he had been forced to borrow. He did not ask Charles to conclude a peace without the concurrence of the English King, but thought that he might at least induce the latter to consent to an armistice.

The Pope sent to England Bernardo Bertolotti, who, as well as the Spanish Nuncio, was to work for peace. Besides this, in respect of the Turkish war, Tommaso Negri, Bishop of Scardona, had already, in August, been entrusted with a comprehensive mission to the Princes of Christendom. He first of all betook himself to Venice.

In a letter to Charles V, written in French, on the 30th of September 1522—an admirable memorial of Adrian’s lofty and truly Christian disposition—the Pope quiets the Emperor with regard to the report that he had a greater partiality for Francis than for himself; he then declares that it is utterly impossible for him to take part in the war as a confederate of Charles, since he is totally without the material means for so doing. Since his accession to the Holy See ce siège plein de misère—he has not had enough money to meet the current expenses of government; but even had the means been his, let the Emperor himself say whether it would become him to sacrifice his exertions for the welfare of Christendom in order to hand it over to greater turmoil and danger. In a second letter of the same date he beseeches the Emperor to come to the help of Rhodes; willingly would he shed his own blood to rescue this bulwark of Christendom. On the anniversary of his coronation and on the 1st of September respectively he had earnestly exhorted the Ambassadors and the Cardinals in Consistory to raise funds for the support of Rhodes and Hungary, and on the 4th of September a commission of Cardinals was appointed to attend exclusively to this matter.

By means of rigid economy Adrian collected a sufficient sum to provide the equipment of a few ships. He did not disguise from himself how little this amounted to; but it was impossible for him to do more. A thousand men, who were landed at Naples in October, deserted because they had received no pay. To the Imperialists the defence of Lombardy against the French seemed a much more urgent necessity than the relief of Rhodes. The Pope, writes the Venetian Ambassador, is in despair, since he sees no possibility of forwarding to Rhodes the troops he has collected. To crown all, there was a fresh outbreak of the plague in Rome, and the solemn occupation of the Lateran, hitherto deferred for want of money, had once more to be postponed; in the subsequent course of events it did not take place at all.

Together with the Turkish danger, the quieting of the States of the Church claimed the Pope’s attention at the beginning of his reign. All recognition is due to the promptitude with which he met the difficult situation and resolutely carried out what seemed to him the necessary measures for saving what there was to save.

Since grave charges were made against the governors appointed by Leo X, a general change in every city of the Papal States was already under consideration in September 1522. While Adrian was disposed to leniency towards the Dukes of Ferrara and Urbino, and even suffered the return of the Baglioni to Perugia, he had determined from the first not to recognize the usurpation (hitherto vainly opposed by the College of Cardinals) of Sigismondo Malatesta in Rimini. In December 1522 he ordered Sigismondo’s son to be arrested in Ancona, and at the same time despatched the Spanish soldiers who had accompanied him into Italy against Rimini. The undertaking, which had at first appeared difficult proved all the easier as Malatesta had brought upon himself the bitter hatred of those who had submitted to him.

As vassals of the Church both Alfonso of Ferrara and Francesco Maria della Rovere of Urbino, now fully reconciled to the Holy See, gave Adrian their loyal support. As early as the 15th of September 1522 Alfonso’s son had come to Rome, where negotiations had at once been opened for his father’s absolution and reinvestiture. They proceeded with astonishing expedition, and by the 17th of October everything was arranged. In the investiture with the Dukedom of Ferrara the fiefs of San Felice and Finale were also included, and Adrian even showed an inclination to reinstate the Duke in the possession of Modena and Reggio ; but this did not take effect owing to the opposition of the Cardinals. According to Contarini, it was also the Pope’s fixed intention to restore Ravenna and Cervia to the Venetians; in favour of the credibility of this statement is the circumstance that Adrian detested the excessive eagerness of the clergy to acquire wealth and property; from the standpoint of his high ideals an overgrowth of the States of the Church was an evil likely to divert the Papacy from its true vocation.

The transactions with Francesco Maria della Rovere lasted longer. He had already, on the 11th of May 1522, on the recommendation of the Sacred College, been absolved from all censures, but not until he reached Rome in person, on the 18th of March 1523, was the definite treaty of peace concluded with him. He was reinstated in the Dukedom of Urbino, with the exception, however, of Montefeltro; this fief remained in the hands of the Florentines, to whom it had been ceded in payment of debts incurred by the Apostolic Chamber.

Adrian’s success in restoring order to the Papal States could not compensate him for the insurmountable obstacles which stood between him and his efforts for the union of the chief powers of Christendom against the Turks. True to his original plan of undertaking the office of peacemaker, he steadily refused to enter into the league for offensive purposes, which was the object of the Imperial diplomacy. This led to a difference with Charles's representative in Rome and to strained relations with Charles himself, between whom and Adrian in other matters (e.g. with regard to the retention of Naples as an appanage of the Empire) there had always been a good understanding.

Seldom was an Ambassador placed in such an unsuitable position as that of Manuel at the Court of Adrian VI. This unscrupulous and masterful Spaniard was a man of such one-sided political understanding that he was quite incapable of comprehending a character such as Adrian’s, who approached everything from the point of view of his religious ideals. In Manuel’s estimation the Pope owed everything to the Emperor, and was therefore under the self-evident obligation to subordinate himself in all respects to the wishes of Charles. The more he perceived that Adrian was pursuing his own policy, the greater grew his displeasure. Before Manuel came really to know the Pope, he had convinced himself that he was a weak and  incompetent personality, and Adrian’s part of peacemaker filled him with anger and mistrust. In his reports he described the Pope as miserly, ignorant of all the affairs of the world, and weak and irresponsible as a child he even denounced him, entirely without grounds, to the Emperor, as carrying on secret intrigues with France.

Adrian, who had at first received Manuel with friendliness, and indeed with confidence, could not disarm his hostile feelings. Their mutual relations, already rendered acute by disputes concerning the appointment to bishoprics in the Milanese, became in a very short time so strained that Manuel saw how untenable his position had become and applied for his recall. Half in despair he left Rome on the 13th of October 1522, with the firm resolve to bring about a breach between the Emperor and the Pope. He at once advised Charles to pay no obediential, hoping thus to force the Pope to relinquish his position of neutrality. His place was taken in October 1522 by Luis de Corduba, Duke of Sessa, who, although he had no hope of success, nevertheless, in his very first audience, invited the Pope to enter into alliance with the Emperor. The Pope replied that he had neither the money nor the wish to wage war; all his energies were directed to procuring an armistice and later on a peace. As Adrian stood firm in his conviction that, as Father of universal Christendom, it was his paramount duty to restore peace in Europe, Sessa soon became of the same mind as Manuel. In addition, disputes arose over territorial claims. The French in their dealings with the Pope showed themselves cleverer diplomatists than the Imperialists. While the latter incessantly repeated that Adrian’s love of peace only made the French more stubborn, and that his one hope of safety lay in the league with Charles, Francis sent the Cardinal Castelnau de Clermont to Rome with instructions to praise the Pope’s love of peace and to assure him that the French King was animated by the same dispositions.

Adrian, who had shown great patience towards the Emperor’s Ambassadors and the Emperor himself, was, however, at last put upon his mettle; this is discernible in his two Briefs of the 21st and 22nd of November 1522. In these he once more urgently calls on Charles to give help to Rhodes, and complains bitterly of the excesses of the Imperial forces in the Papal States; the favour shown to him by Charles consists in words and not in deeds. Under these circumstances he felt it strange that the Imperial Ambassador should continue to bring forward an inexhaustible series of fresh wishes and suggestions touching ecclesiastical policy and finance; many of these requests Adrian was obliged to refuse from a sense of duty. The Spanish Ambassador now had recourse to bribery in order to gain the ear of the Papal entourage. He succeeded in learning a good many secrets from the Secretary, Zisterer, but concerning the principal point he learned nothing, and his surmise that Adrian was a puppet in the hands of his confidential servants proved to be quite beside the mark.

The general opinion formed of the new Pope at the Imperial Court was entirely erroneous. There he was looked upon exclusively as the former subject of Charles, to whom he owed everything, and to whom he was expected to give unconditional support in fulfilment of his dutiful allegiance. Gattinara presumed to remind the Head of the Church of these obligations in the arrogant language of his Court.

The tactless pressure of the Spaniards confirmed Adrian more than ever in his previous policy of a firm neutrality: not until Francis I attacked Italy, he declared, would he take a hostile part against him. About this time the unscrupulous Manuel intervened in a way which was sure to touch Adrian to the quick. Cardinal Castelnau de Clermont had provided himself, for his journey to Rome, which he reached on the 6th of December 1522, with a safe­conduct from the Spanish Government as security against the Imperial troops. In spite of this Manuel allowed the Cardinal’s servants to be made prisoners and their property to be seized. He thus fell under the penalty of excommunication to which those who put hindrances in the way of persons travelling to Rome were liable. Moreover, Castelnau was not only the Ambassador of the French King, but a Cardinal and Legate of Avignon. Thus a direct challenge was offered to the Pope. As an amicable settlement proved futile, Adrian pronounced the sentence of excommunication against Manuel, and requested the Emperor to repudiate the conduct of his Ambassador. The transactions over this matter added considerably to the Emperor’s irritation.

Notwithstanding these occurrences, Adrian persisted in his hopes of a change of mind on the part of his former pupil. That he might propitiate his interest in the common cause of Christendom, the Pope had determined to present him with the sword, consecrated on Christmas Day, which the Popes were accustomed to send to the defenders of the Faith. This solemnity was disturbed by an unlucky accident; the architrave of the doorway of the Sixtine Chapel fell down and crushed one of the Swiss guards standing close to the Pope. Already, on the 10th of December 1522, Adrian had once more called the attention of the Doge to the urgency of the Turkish danger and had instructed the Nuncio Altobello to exhort him to levy subsidies for the war.

On the 1st of January 1523 Adrian VI informed the Emperor that Francis I had given his Ambassador full powers to conclude a peace. Before this came to pass an armistice was to be entered into for three years, and the Pope hoped that Charles would be a consenting party; on account of the Turks the necessity for such a course was greater than ever. The letter had hardly been despatched before news arrived that the Imperialists had plundered the town of San Giovanni in the Papal States and had made prisoner the resident Papal Commissary. Adrian, usually so mild-tempered, was now roused to an indescribable pitch of excitement. He summoned at once to his presence Lope Hurtado de Mendoza, and informed him that nothing but his great regard for the Emperor held him back from an immediate alliance with Francis the authors of this deed of violence, Juan Manuel and Prospero Colonna, he would lay under the ban of the Church.

The Imperialists saw that some steps must be taken to appease the Pope. Accordingly, Sessa invited the Viceroy of Naples, Charles de Lannoy, who had formerly been a friend of Adrian’s in the Netherlands, to come to Rome. There was meanwhile another reason for bringing the Viceroy thither. For some time the most disquieting reports of the fate of Rhodes had been coming in, and Lannoy brought the announcement that, according to credible information from private sources, Rhodes had capitulated. On hearing this Adrian burst into tears. “Still”, he exclaimed, “I cannot believe it”. Henceforward, so he informed the Cardinals, he could make no more payments whatsoever; his whole income must be spent on the defence of Christendom, even if he had to content himself with a linen mitre.

On the 28th of January 1523 a Consistory was held which the Pope opened with a speech about Rhodes; he declared himself ready to sell all his valuables for the funds of the Turkish war. It was decided to appoint a Commission of Cardinals to take measures for the restoration of peace in Christendom and the collection of money for the prosecution of the war against the Turks. The Commission met on the following day. The alarm caused by Lannoy’s intelligence was all the greater as it coincided with news from Germany announcing a further advance of the Lutheran errors.

Subsequently different reports came in, affirming that Rhodes still held out, and even Adrian seems for a long time to have been loath to believe that the island had fallen. On the 3rd of February 1523 he still wrote, in a most affectionate letter to the Emperor, “As long as Rhodes was in such great danger he could not under any consideration join the league, as Lannoy had requested”. But the allocution which Adrian addressed to the Consistory on the 11th of February shows that he then looked upon the bulwark of Christendom as lost. In this assembly the Pope informed the Cardinals that he had determined to enjoin on the Christian Princes a truce of three or four years’ duration, to levy a tithe on them, and to send Legates, especially to Hungary. A few days before, King Ferdinand’s embassy to do homage had laid before the Pope in most urgent terms the danger to which the country was exposed and had appealed for help against the Turks.

On the 23rd of February another Consistory was held. The Pope announced that Francis had declared his readiness to make peace, but that the answers of Charles V and Henry VIII were not yet forthcoming; he therefore proposed that the Sacred College should again invite both these princes to agree to a peace or at least to a truce. The nomination of the Legates to the Christian princes was entrusted to the Pope, and on the 27th of February the first appointment followed, that of Colonna to Hungary.

Adrian was justified in now concentrating his attention on the defence of Hungary. The fall of Rhodes had long been disbelieved in Rome; for the most contradictory accounts—even such as the repulse of the Turks with great loss—had been received. Up to the last it had been hoped that the island would hold out. All the more overwhelming was the effect when the truth became known that on the 21st of December 1522 the Grand Master had been forced to capitulate. The Knights had withstood the enemy with exemplary valour; twenty times they had victoriously driven back their assailants, and only when their last ammunition was expended were the defenders, deserted in their extremity by the rest of Western Christendom, driven, in spite of Adrian’s most earnest exhortations to consent to a capitulation, the terms of which, on the whole, were entirely honourable.

When the Venetian envoy was relating fuller details of the fall of Rhodes, the Pope exclaimed, with tears in his eyes : “Alas for Christendom! I should have died happy if I had united the Christian princes to withstand our enemy”.

The Pope saw clearly the far-reaching significance of the fall of Rhodes and its dependent islands. The passage between Constantinople and Alexandria, hitherto barred, was now opened to the Ottoman navy and a wedge driven in between the islands of Cyprus and Crete, still in the possession of Venice. As the Turks were preparing to seize the mastery of the Eastern Mediterranean, they had also taken one important step towards the conquest of Italy. Rumours had already spread of their intention to attempt a landing in Apulia. The Pope, reported one of Wolsey’s agents, was in mortal anguish, and so were all men. When Hannibal stood before the gates of ancient Rome the terror was not half so great, for now men knew that they had to do with the greatest ruler in the world. Many persons of note made preparations to leave the city. It was believed that the Pope would retire to Bologna, the plague having again broken out in Rome, and the dread increased when several Turkish spies were arrested in the city.

The notable loss which had befallen Christendom formed a heavy indictment of the negligence of the Western Powers, and a proportionately weighty justification of Adrian’s policy. As to leaving Rome, the Pope had no such thoughts. In spite of the dangers from the plague and the enemy, he remained steadfast at his post, anxiously endeavouring to save from destruction what could be saved. In the first place, he took a step of which the secret was so well kept that—as the Imperial Ambassador, with a watchful eye on everything, reports—neither the Secretary, Zisterer nor anyone else had the slightest knowledge of it. After Adrian, in a letter of the 2nd of March 1523, had declined to enter into the proposed special league with Charles V, and had complained of the misdemeanours of Charles’s servants and of those of Manuel in particular, he addressed, on the following day, another letter to his former pupil and sovereign, not less candid in expression. In it he recalled his hitherto fruitless efforts to bring the Emperor and the other princes to terms of peace and to take active measures against the Turks. There was no doubt that the Sultan, being in possession of Belgrade and Rhodes, would prosecute his war of conquest in Hungary, as well as on the Mediterranean. This danger could only be averted by the conclusion of peace among the princes. He had been deceived in his hope that the Emperor would have been the first to do this. If Charles and the Kings of England and France were still unwilling at least to arrange a truce for three years and to begin a general war against the Turks, the Emperor was in danger of being driven out of his hereditary dominions, and this danger was all the greater because not a few Christian princes ruled their subjects more oppressively than the Sultan. He, the Pope, in virtue of his office, was compelled to call upon the contending princes to make a peace or, at least, a truce.

On the same day letters of similar import were sent to the Kings of France, England, and Portugal, and soon afterwards to other Christian princes, such as Sigismund of Poland. The Pope reminded Francis I of the fate of those Asiatic rulers who had been vanquished by the Turks because they had lulled themselves into a false security. In the name of that obedience due to Christ’s representative on earth, he adjured him by the vengeance of God, before whose tribunal he must one day stand, to give his consent forthwith, on the receipt of the letter, to a truce, and then to take his part with vigour in war against the Turks. The letter to the King of Portugal also was couched in most earnest language. “Woe to princes”, so it ran, “who do not employ the sovereignty conferred upon them by God in promoting His glory and defending the people of His election, but abuse it in internecine strife”. The Sacred College was invited to exhort by special letters the Christian Kings to do their duty. To Cardinal Wolsey Adrian pointed out that Rome would be the most suitable place for the truce negotiations. Bernardo Bertolotti was also sent back to England as Nuncio, with instructions to sound Francis on his journey through France. With tears in his eyes Adrian addressed to the envoys resident in Rome the most urgent representations. He already saw the Turks in Italy, for they had, it was believed, on their entrance into Rhodes and Constantinople, shouted “To Rome, to Rome”.

Along with these earnest remonstrances to the Christian powers Adrian took decisive measures for the collection of the funds necessary for the crusade. Owing to the emptiness of his exchequer the Pope was forced, against his will, to find means of supply by a levy of tithes and taxes. Before the end of January these measures had been discussed, and Adrian then told the Cardinals that he was ready to sell his silver plate. Before taxing other countries for the Turkish war he wished to make a beginning in his own dominions. His measures were at once put into execution. A Bull of the 11th of March 1523 laid upon the whole body of the clergy and on all officials of the Papal States the payment of a Turkish tithe for the next two years, Cardinal Fieschi being entrusted with its collection. Adrian justified this ordinance by the danger then menacing Rome and all Christendom. The immediate publication of this Bull was expected, but the Cardinals, it seems, still raised objections. They did not give their consent until the 16th of March, in a Consistory at which the Ban of Croatia appealed to them for help. On the 18th of March a second Bull was agreed to in which a hearth-tax was levied at the rate of half a ducat throughout the Papal States.

By these taxes it was hoped to raise a sum sufficient to equip a force of 50,000 men for the Turkish war; the chief command was given to the Duke of Urbino. It was an indication of the Pope’s zeal that, contrary to his usual principles, he accepted payments for offices and dignities he pleaded the needs of Christendom, which made such methods permissible. “Adrian”, writes one, “is so beaten down by anxiety that he almost repents having accepted the tiara”. But he never relaxed his efforts for the protection of Christendom and, before all, of the kingdom of Hungary, then exposed to the greatest danger; this formed the subject of lengthy deliberation in the Consistory held on the 23rd of March. The point of chief importance was the means of raising the money to be supplied to the Legate appointed to Hungary. Full power was also given him—but under secret instruction and only to be used in case of necessity—to alienate church property for the defence of that kingdom against the Turks. In a Bull of the 11th of March 1523 Adrian, having the same object in view, granted King Ferdinand I a third of the year's income of the whole clergy of the Tyrol, secular and regular.

The Portuguese Ambassador, Miguel da Silva, in a despatch to his sovereign, advances, together with other reasons why he should contribute ships and money for the war, the eminently holy life of the Pope, which must arouse in every good Christian feelings of love and the wish to give him practical help. More impression was made on the princes by the concessions which Adrian determined to make. Thus he bestowed on the Portuguese King for life the command of the Order of Christ; to this were afterwards added other marks of favour.

In order to secure the English King’s support of the crusade, Adrian made exceptional use of dispensations, thus gratifying, in various ways connected with the bestowal of benefices, the wishes of Henry’s all-powerful minister, Cardinal Wolsey; and even at last conferred on the latter Legatine power in England for life. Wolsey thereupon succeeded in obtaining from the King the appointment of a special envoy, Dr. Clerk, to attend to the negotiations with regard to the peace and armistice. Francis I continued the line of action that he had hitherto employed in his dealings with Adrian. His attitude was apparently most conciliatory, and he gave verbal assurances of his inclination to peace and his sympathy with the crusade, but, at the same time, declared frankly that, as a first step, his rightful inheritance, the Milanese, must be restored to him. After his receipt of the urgent Brief of the 3rd of March, it was rumoured that Francis had given carte blanche for the terms of peace. But at the end of that month a letter came from the King again demanding, in haughty language, the aforesaid restoration of Milan. This was all the more painful to Adrian since Francis I, on the previous 5th of February, had expressed his desire in the humblest terms that the Pope would use his authority in taking in hand the peace negotiations. The Pope lost all self-control when Cardinal Castelnau de Clermont tried to justify the proceedings of Francis. The King, said Adrian to the Cardinal, was the cause of the obstruction of this indispensable peace. The Cardinal, who deplored his master’s obstinacy to the Pope, kept saying that no tree was ever felled at one stroke; Adrian must address him in another Brief. This advice the Pope followed, always hoping to bring about a change of mind in the French King.

The Emperor showed more statesmanship. Adrian’s determination and the circumstance that in Picardy as well as in the Pyrenees the war with Francis had not been successful, had inclined Charles, before the middle of February, somewhat to reconsider his position. He then instructed Sessa to make known the conditions under which he would be ready to accept an armistice or peace, but without letting this come to the knowledge of the French or English Ambassadors. By means of this understanding Charles sought especially to secure the grant of the “Cruzada” hitherto asked for in vain, and the assignment to his own use of a fourth of the ecclesiastical revenues in his dominions. The fall of Rhodes had unquestionably made a deep impression on Charles, but his courtiers were of a different mind, and Gattinara advised him to send no answer to the Brief of the 3rd of March. Charles, however, determined to give Sessa full powers to conclude an armistice subject to the clauses agreed to by Adrian. At the same time he sent a memorandum to Rome intended to justify his previous conduct and to bring the Pope round to his views. Most of the proposals in this document were simply nothing else than a list of conditions laid down with a view to Charles's personal advantage. Simultaneously a wholesale system of bribery was set in motion amongst those who were in the Pope's immediate confidence. Affairs having gone thus far an event occurred to change at one blow the whole situation in Rome.

CHAPTER VI.

The Intrigues of Cardinal Soderini and the Rupture with France. —Adrian VI joins the Imperial League. — His Death.

On his arrival in Italy Adrian had found the College of Cardinals split into factions. The anti-Medicean party brought the heaviest reproaches against him, especially with regard to the proceedings connected with the conspiracy of Cardinal Petrucci. Adrian found it impossible to have the case revised a step, moreover, which could not have led to any result. An attempt to reconcile Cardinal Francesco Soderini, whose animosity was exceptionally virulent, with the Vice-Chancellor Cardinal de' Medici, failed completely; this was not surprising, for the latter had information of Soderini’s complicity in the conspiracy contrived in Florence.

Medici, who could not console himself for the loss of his powerful influence in the Curia, had gone back to Florence in October 1522. This left full scope to his opponent Soderini in Rome. Adrian’s misunderstandings with the Emperor and the crafty temporizing of Francis I proved helpful to Soderini, and the former partisan of France gained more and more influence with the Pope. He managed successfully to conceal from Adrian his one­sided devotion to the interests of Francis. He appeared to throw himself eagerly into the Pope's endeavours for peace, and warned him against the warlike and Imperialist leanings of Medici, whom he even accused of enriching himself dishonestly under Leo X. Meanwhile Sessa and the Vice-Chancellor were carefully watching the alliance of their enemy with Francis I. At the end of March 1523 Medici succeeded in securing the person of a Sicilian, Francesco Imperiale, who had been sent by Soderini on a commission to his nephew, then residing in Venice and France; on this man letters of the Cardinals were found to the effect that, if Francis delayed longer his entrance in person into Italy, he would alienate the Venetians and all his other friends in the Peninsula; when the cipher, used in certain passages of the letters, was interpreted, the discovery was made that a plot was on foot to raise an insurrection in Sicily against the Emperor, which, when it had taken shape with French connivance, was to be the signal for the descent of Francis upon Upper Italy. The Pope besides was described in the letters, quite contrary to the truth, as making common cause with the Emperor. Medici at once made known his discovery to the Imperial Ambassador at Rome, who made haste to lay all before the Pope. Medici and the representative of King Ferdinand were overjoyed at having in their hands clear evidence of French knavery; they were confident that Adrian would now be led to renounce his neutrality, and every effort was made to reach this end.

Adrian was, at first, unwilling to believe in the treachery of his friend, but soon he had to convince himself that Soderini had not shrunk from thwarting his ardent wishes for peace and, at the moment when the Turkish danger was at its worst, wantonly stirring up the fury of war in Italy itself He determined to unmask the guilty party and to visit him with heavy punishment; it was also no longer doubtful that Soderini had deceived him as regards Cardinal de' Medici, and before taking any other steps he summoned the latter, the head of the Imperial party in the Sacred College, to Rome. Medici, who till now had been living in Florence, expectant and discontented, obeyed the call with great delight. With an almost royal retinue of more than a thousand horsemen he made his entry into Rome on the 23rd of April 1523; the most notable personages, many Cardinals, and even deadly enemies of long standing such as Francesco Maria della Revere, met him at the Ponte Molle. He was present in Consistory on the 25th and 26th of April; on the latter day the Pope received him after dinner in private audience, and it was said that they both withdrew to the Belvedere and then to a country-house, spending the whole afternoon in one another’s company.

On the next day, the 27th of April, about seven o'clock in the evening, Adrian sent for Cardinal Soderini, who hastened on horseback to the Vatican accompanied by his retainers. As he passed through the streets astonishment was roused that a Cardinal should go to an audience at such an unusual hour. Half an hour later his suite returned without him, and it was soon understood that he had been arrested; such, in fact, was the case.

When Soderini came into the Pope’s presence in the Borgia tower he found there Cardinal de' Medici and Sessa. To Adrian’s inquiry whether he had written to the French King, he answered in the negative; then the Pope at once placed before him the intercepted letters. As he even then tried to persist in a denial, Adrian broke out into great excitement and pronounced him under arrest. Soderini begged in vain to be detained in the Vatican, but he was conveyed to St. Angelo, whither none of his household were allowed to follow him, and that same evening all his papers and valuables were seized. At a Consistory held on the following morning the Pope explained his action, and entrusted to Cardinals Carvajal Accolti, and Cesi the superintendence of Soderini’s trial. In prison the Cardinal refused food until the castellan, in pity, first tasted the dishes in his presence. Even the Pope felt compassion for the aged man, and subsequently allowed three of his servants to wait upon him and restored to him his property. He pushed on the judicial process with all the more expedition because it had become known that, during Adrian’s absence from Italy, Soderini had, with the help of France, worked for a schism.

The fall of Soderini gave at once a commanding position in the Curia to the Vice-Chancellor Cardinal de’ Medici. His palace became a more active centre of life than the Vatican, and his antechambers were crowded with visitors waiting for an audience. Not a day passed without four, or even five, Cardinals coming to see him, and before long he was spoken of as the coming Pope. Henceforward Adrian himself was greatly influenced by Medici, and the Imperialists saw with satisfaction a change for the better in the Pope's feelings towards Charles. But they were deceiving themselves if they believed that Adrian had any intention of identifying himself with the Spanish party. Even if, in giving his sanction on the 4th of May to the permanent incorporation of the three grand­masterships of Santiago, Calatrava, and Alcantara in the Spanish Crown, he made a remarkable concession, yet in the great questions of European politics he continued steadfast to the neutrality becoming the Father of Christendom, and to his efforts on behalf of peace. With this aim in view he issued on the 30th of April a Bull enjoining, in the name of his supreme authority, a truce of three years' duration for the whole of Christendom, compliance with which was demanded from the princes under pain of the heaviest penalties of the Church, immediate interdict and excommunication. There had been enough fraternal bloodshed he said, the sovereigns had already indulged too much in mutual enmity; they had every reason for behaving in such a way as not to forfeit that power which had been lent to them by God.

For Hungary, now in extreme danger, Adrian did all he could. The despatch of the Legates had been delayed, for the nominees, first Colonna and then Campeggio, had declined the post; the greatest difficulties had accompanied the collection of the funds intended for the support of that kingdom, and in view of the vivid descriptions brought to him of the perilous situation there, the Pope was deeply grieved that he could not give immediate help.

Fear was already felt in Rome that the King of Hungary might make peace with the Turk. When at last, in the person of Cajetan, a suitable Legate had been found, it cost a great amount of trouble to raise the 50,000 ducats of which he was to be the bearer. In a Consistory on the 8th of May Cajetan’s appointment as Legate to Hungary, Poland, and Bohemia was announced; but on the 27th of the same month the arrangements for getting in the money were still under consideration. The Romans objected strongly to the payment of the Turkish tax. Many were bold enough to say, in their ill humour with the new imposts, that the Pope’s project of a crusade was a chimera. This lack of self-sacrifice distressed the Pope not less than the continuance of the plague in Rome. About the 19th of May he had himself been suffering from fever; by the 27th he had recovered. On the same day he heard that the ruler of Wallachia had already come to terms of peace with the Turks. “The Turkish trouble”, reported the Portuguese Ambassador, “is the Pope’s daily subject of talk”. The Consistory was repeatedly occupied with appeals for help from Hungary and Croatia. A well-meant suggestion, emanating from the Franciscans, that troops should be raised from each religious order, had to be dismissed by the Pope as fantastic. Adrian was in the extremest perplexity, for he could not send out the Legate empty-handed. At last, on the 1st of July, everything was in order; on that day Cajetan took leave in Consistory, and on the following morning set out post-haste. On the 9th of July the Pope sent his chamberlain Pietro with fresh sums of money to the markets to buy grain for the Hungarian levies. For some time longer fear prevailed in Ragusa, as well as in Rome, that the Turks, by sending a fleet against Italy, might attempt to separate the Christian forces and cut off support from Hungary. “The Pope”, wrote Vianesio Albergati, “has done all that he could possibly do to restore peace, but the hearts of Christians are hardened. Francis I will make any sacrifice to get Milan, Charles V Fuenterrabia, and Henry VIII Brittany. Help now can come from God alone”.

An event that brought joy to Adrian was the final reconciliation of Venice with the Emperor. For this, though for long without success, he had been labouring directly for many months by means of the Nuncio. On the 12th of June he was informed that the reconciliation was at hand;  but this report was premature. As late as the 14th of July the Papal Legate Tommaso Campeggio had to use sharp words to the Doge on account of the little love of peace shown by the Republic. The Pope himself addressed most pressing representations to the Venetian Ambassador in Rome and even threatened him with a monitorium;  but not until considerable concessions had been made by the Imperial envoy did the situation change. At the last hour, though in vain, French diplomacy did all it could to keep the Republic firm. It was of great importance in this respect that Lodovico di Canossa, who had been sent into Italy as early as May, fell ill in Geneva and could not reach Venice until the beginning of July. Thence he wrote to the French Queen, on the 10th of July, that Venice was of so much importance that Francis I should consent to everything rather than lose such an ally. The diplomatic Canossa came too late, for on the 29th of July a treaty was made between the Emperor, his brother Ferdinand, the Duke Francesco Sforza of Milan, and Venice to defend Italy against attack from any European power. For this end the Pope had co-operated without giving up his neutrality; this only gave way owing to the violent behaviour of the French.

The French party in Rome, like Francis himself, looked upon the arrest of Soderini as an overt act of hostility on the part of Adrian, who had unjustly yielded to the wishes of Medici and the Emperor’s party. Cardinal Trivulzio took the liberty of saying to the Pope’s face that they had not elected him in order that he might imprison Cardinals in St. Angelo without cause. Other members of the Sacred College also complained of the Pope’s action, as showing little respect for the dignity of their office. These complaints had as little effect on Adrian as the menaces of Francis I; the trial went on its way. The Pope was determined that it should be conducted in strict accordance with order. As Soderini at first denied everything, fell ill in June, and no advocate could be found to plead for him, the affair was long protracted. The general opinion was that it would end in the deposition of Soderini, whose high treason was proved, but that Adrian would not permit the death sentence to be carried out.

Although, on his return from his mission, in the middle of May, Bernardo Bertolotti brought back very unfavourable accounts of the disposition of the Christian princes towards union, Adrian persisted in his pursuit of peace. The French were willing to suspend hostilities for two months at the utmost, while the Imperialists wished a truce of at least half a year. The Pope was of opinion that it was of the greatest importance that at least a beginning should be made; from the mission, already mentioned, of Canossa to Rome he had hoped favourable things. But that diplomatist did not come, while the negotiations of the Imperialists with Cardinal Clermont proved more and more hopeless. The latter, in complete despair, went back to Avignon on the 23rd of June. On the 15th of June Adrian had asked the French King to open fresh negotiations with the Nuncio he might, urged the Pope, in conformity with his high station and with his name of most Christian King, at last take the step which was so necessary for the protection of Christendom.

The “most Christian” had not the slightest intention of giving ear to such representations. The turn in favour of Charles which had shown itself in the Curia in consequence of Soderini’s treachery had thrown Francis into uncontrollable fury. When Adrian ordered a truce for the sake of the Turkish war, Francis exclaimed that the real Turk was the clergy. To the Venetian Ambassador he remarked in the latter half of June that the Pope was forbidden by Canon Law to impose a truce under penalty of excommunication. If Adrian persisted in so doing, he, Francis, would set up an antipope.

To this period must also belong the quite unprecedented letter in which Francis threatened the Pope with the same fate that had befallen Boniface VIII in Anagni, i.e. the loss of freedom and even of life through violent French intervention in the Vatican. At the beginning of this threatening letter Francis first recounts the services rendered by his kingdom to the Holy See from the days of King Pepin down to his own time. The very persons who ought to acknowledge those services have denied the rights of the French Crown and used their power to prevent the restoration of Milan to France. He further goes on to remind the Pope in incisive language that the Roman Pontiffs had always feared the Imperial power in Italy and had found protection from it on the part of France. The champions of the Papal States now suffer loss, and the enemies reap the advantage. Even if, at first, he had had fears that Pope Adrian would allow himself to be drawn into the policy of Leo X, yet he had become more and more convinced that the Pope’s sense of honour and goodness, as well as considerations for the safety of his soul and for his dignity and age, would never allow him to lose sight, as the common father of Christendom, of impartial justice and equity. Unfortunately his former fears had not proved groundless, since the arrest of Soderini had only taken place because the Pope relied on Medici’s information that the Cardinal was favourable to France; if equal justice prevailed, the enemies of France ought to receive the same treatment. Francis I characterized as strange the Pope’s proclamation, under ecclesiastical censures, of a three years’ peace as if he, the King, were averse to peace. Yet for this very reason he had had an envoy at Calais, he had sent his secretary to the Pope at Nice, and then Cardinal Clermont to Rome, and when Adrian had called upon him to conclude a truce, for the defence of Christendom, he had declared his readi­ness to comply provided that Milan, his lawful possession, was restored to him. When the Pope found this condition excessive, he had sent Ambassadors to Rome to conclude a peace or a truce for two months or longer. More he could not do. When he became aware that the Pope was determined to proclaim an unconditional truce, he had forbidden his representatives to enter into it, and had explained to the Pope why he considered one lasting for three years useless.

If Adrian ordered a truce under ecclesiastical censures, without consulting the Christian princes, without making any stipulation where the crusading contingents were to be sent, the French army would be attacked on its arrival in Italy. Adrian had given Bulls to raise money to the enemies of Francis but Francis himself had been forgotten. When it was such an easy matter for Popes to excommunicate princes, evil results always followed, and this could be no cause of satisfaction. The privileges of the French Kings would be defended by their subjects with the last drop of their blood; moreover, no censure could be pronounced against him except with the observance of the accompanying forms and ceremonies, Adrian’s predecessors had always observed this. Pope Boniface, to be sure, had taken certain steps against Philip the Fair which had miscarried. “You, in your prudence, will certainly not forget this”. A three years’ truce would tie his, the King’s, hands and hinder him from protecting his dominions, while Charles, during this time, could enter Italy on the pretext of his coronation as Emperor. It was astonishing that the Cardinals, who were now recommending such a truce, did not recommend to the Emperor the course which Leo X had intended, namely, to take Milan from the French, although at that moment the Turks were beleaguering Belgrade. Adrian’s present intentions had certainly the appearance of being directed against the Turks, but were really aimed at him, the King. May the Pope be preserved from bringing about, instead of peace, still greater confusion, which would ill become the part of a good and wise pastor. Ever since the report of the truce had got abroad his enemies had done nothing but increase their strength, which he would yet humble. On the other hand he was ready, if the Turks invaded Hungary or Naples, to take the field against them in person; if, therefore, his Holiness were willing to grant him Bulls to raise money similar to those granted to his enemies, the Pope would only be acting in faithful accordance with his duty.

Simultaneously with this letter of menace the news reached Rome that Francis I had broken off diplomatic relations with the Papal Nuncio. What Adrian had endeavoured to prevent by his strictly neutral attitude he stood, wrote the Ambassador of Henry VIII, as immovable as a rock in the sea—now came to pass, an incurable rupture with France.

Nothing could have been more gratifying to the enemies of Francis than his brusque treatment of the Pope. The Ambassadors of the Emperor and Henry became more urgent than ever in pressing upon Adrian the conclusion of an offensive and defensive alliance to protect Italy against France, the common enemy, and to render Francis incapable of continuing the war. Cardinal de’ Medici, whose influence over Adrian was becoming increasingly great, took their side; the Pope, nevertheless, still refused to enter into party combinations of this sort. His conviction that he was thus doing his duty was strengthened by the knowledge that a final breach with France would be followed by consequences of incalculable gravity. “I shall not declare myself against France”, he wrote to Charles de Lannoy, the Viceroy of Naples, “because such a step would be immediately followed by the stoppage of all supplies of money from that kingdom, on which I chiefly depend for the maintenance of my Court, and because I know on good authority that the French King would become a protector of the Lutheran heresy, and make a resettlement of ecclesiastical order in his dominions”.

Some of the Cardinals, moreover, who were interceding on behalf of Soderini, emphatically pointed out to Adrian the danger of some violent display of French power, prompted by the youthful energy of Francis and his advisers, unfriendly to the Court of Rome. If counsels such as these were kept within the bounds of a wise moderation, there were not wanting others who spoke as open partisans of France. These mischievously represented to the Pope that he could confer no greater advantage on his countrymen and those who had helped to raise him to the tiara than by the strictest observance of his neutrality, otherwise he would make himself con­temptible in the sight of the other sovereigns of Europe. These same advisers laid it down as an axiom that Lombardy must be a French possession.

Although it was known by the beginning of July that Francis I had forbidden all payment of money to Rome, Adrian still put off a final decision. He wished to hear first the opinion of his friend of early days, Lannoy, and in a Brief of the 18th of July he begged him to pay a secret visit to Rome without delay .

Lannoy came at once. He, Sessa and Medici, as well as the English Ambassadors, urged an alliance with the Emperor in the strongest terms. Medici especially, who visited the Pope at least once a day, was untiring. The Ambassadors were able to show that Francis I, had vast forces assembled at the foot of the Pyrenees, in Switzerland, and on the immediate frontiers of Italy, ready to give effect to his long-standing and repeated threats and to begin the war for the reconquest of Milan. At an opportune moment for the Imperialists, a fresh letter from the French King arrived on the 18th of July. This left no room for any further doubt as to his utter want of conscience in respect of the ever-increasing Turkish danger. The Pope now saw that he must give up as hopeless the part of peacemaker to which he had hither­to clung with such tenacity. In so doing he did not believe himself to be untrue to his previous policy, for he had already made it plainly known that, in the event of an invasion of Italy by Francis, he would be compelled to take part against him.

The letter of Francis I threatening Adrian with the fate of Boniface VIII was present all the more persistently to the Pope’s mind because the King, in a letter to the Cardinals written in June, had expressed himself in similar terms. On the 16th of July Adrian appealed for help to Henry VIII. How much he feared an attack from the French is shown by the fact that he took precautions for the security of the gates of Rome. He openly took measures to ensure his own life and freedom, and not until matters had reached an extremity and he was compelled to bend before the force of circumstances did he quit the neutral attitude he had hitherto observed. In spite of the hostile conduct of Francis, he was even now indisposed to make an offensive treaty such as the Imperialists wished. He declared that he was not ready to go beyond a treaty of defence; this attitude he considered due to his position as the common Father of Christendom. The general well-being of Europe, the peace of Italy, and the repulse of the Ottoman power were now as heretofore the ruling principles of his policy.

A Consistory was held on the 29th of July; Adrian opened it with a speech on the Turkish danger and pointed out that the Christian princes, instead of destroying the peace of Europe, should take united action against the infidels. In proof of the warlike intentions of Francis I, the letter, full of threats and complaints, addressed by him to Adrian, was read as well as the other in the same tone sent to the Cardinals. Opinions were exchanged as to the conclusion of an alliance for the protection of Italy in view of the threatened French invasion. When the final vote was taken only four, out of eight-and-twenty present, said “No”. They were Monte, Fieschi, Orsini, and Trivulzio.

By the terms of the League, signed by Adrian on the 3rd of August, the Pope, the Emperor, Henry VIII of England, the Archduke Ferdinand of Austria, Francesco Sforza, Duke of Milan, and Cardinal de' Medici, on behalf of Florence, Genoa, Siena, and Lucca, undertook jointly to raise an army to prevent the French from entering Lombardy; Adrian made himself responsible for a monthly contribution of 15,000 ducats and appointed Lannoy Commander-in-Chief, Charles V signifying his approval.

The Imperialists were in high glee. The League and the agreement between Venice and Charles V have, wrote Sessa, entirely altered European politics. Medici’s influence, it seemed, was now firmly established.  In Rome, as well as throughout Italy, the new turn of affairs met with almost unanimous approval; even those who had formerly been Adrian’s enemies now praised the Pope for the excellence of his dispositions and his conspicuous piety. His behaviour in the trial of Soderini had also remarkably enhanced his reputation, and many now realized that the charges of indecision were not justified. It was widely believed that the danger of a French invasion was over, and that the possibility of a campaign against the Turks was secured. On the 5th of August, the Feast of Our Lady of the Snow, the League was solemnly published in S. Maria Maggiore. For this purpose the Pope went very early to the Basilica; he seems to have feared some attempts by the French party; for, contrary to the custom of Julius II and Leo X, he rode thither surrounded by his Swiss guard. It was the first time he had ridden through Rome in pontifical attire; on his return to the Vatican he was greatly fatigued. The ride in the blazing August sun, followed by a chill and still more, the mental excitement, brought on an attack of illness, and the Pope, whose health for some time had not been of the best, had to take to his bed immediately after the ceremony. The contest between the French and Imperial parties had kept him in a state of constant agitation, and, now that a decision had been reached, he broke down. It was a heavy burden on his soul that, for all his love of peace, he should have been forced, even as a measure of necessity, to take part in a war against the disturber of the peace of Christendom.

Great as was the rejoicing of the Emperor and his adherents, they do not appear to have been satisfied with a merely defensive alliance. They hoped to have been able to bring Adrian to decide in favour of an offensive treaty against Francis I, but for the moment the Pope's condition made all negotiations impossible all audiences were deferred, and when the Datary Enkevoirt also became unwell, business was for some time at a complete standstill. An intolerable heat prevailed, causing much sickness; Cardinal Grimani, among others, was seriously ill.

The Pope’s condition was said to be the result of a chill which had first settled on his neck and then gone down to the kidneys. When an abscess in his neck broke, Adrian felt relieved, and on the 12th of August he was so much better that he was able to receive the Marquis of Pescara, who had come with all speed to Rome on behalf of the Emperor. Although the heat continued, the Pope went on improving; he left his bed, said Mass, and did a certain amount of business; although he had become very thin and still felt very weak, his complete recovery was believed to be at hand. An unexpected legacy enabled him at this time to contribute his quota to the funds of the League.

Cardinal Grimani died in the night of the 27th of August. Adrian, on the other hand, seemed entirely recovered, although he still suffered from loss of appetite. On the 27th of August he granted an audience to the Ambassador of Venice;  peace and the League had been proclaimed there on the Feast of the Assumption. Greatly rejoiced, he bestowed on the Signoria two-tenths of the clerical revenues of the Republic; at the same time he asked the Doge to send troops to places threatened by the French. The Marquis Federigo Gonzaga of Mantua was ordered to join the Imperial army at Piacenza and to undertake the defence of Alessandria. On the 31st, the anniversary of his coronation, the Pope held a Consistory in his own chamber; he was still too weak to take part in the public function.

On the 1st of September, de Lisle Adam, the Grand Master of the Knights of St. John, arrived in Rome. Adrian gave him a residence in the Vatican, and showed him every kind of honour; he took steps to find a new home for the exiled Order. From the Grand Master’s lips Adrian heard all the details of the deplorable fall of Rhodes. The narrative could not fail to tell unfavourably on the aged and weakly man. Not less depressing were the accounts of the war now beginning in Lombardy, which threw into the background all his noble designs for the peace of Europe, the Crusade, and the reforming Council. Feelings of sorrow undoubtedly contributed to the fresh attack of illness which declared itself on the 3rd of September.

The report of his death was soon spread through Rome, and the Cardinals began to be busy with the prospects of a Papal election. Adrian’s strong constitution seemed once more to get the better of his malady; on the 6th and 7th of September he felt decidedly better. He then signed the Bull conferring on Charles V and his successors the right to appoint prelates of their own choice to the bishoprics and consistorial abbacies of the Spanish Crown, excepting only when a vacancy in Curia occurred. Adrian’s improvement was deceptive; in the night of the 8th of September he became so much worse that he had no longer any doubt as to the fatal nature of his illness. The next morning he summoned the Cardinals to him and asked them to agree to the nomination of Enkevoirt, consecrated on the 11th of March 1523 Bishop of Tortosa, to the Cardinalate. This request, made by a dying man on behalf of a most deserving friend, met with opposition, for the Datary was greatly disliked on account of his rough and downright ways. In the evening the Pope was so weak that he could hardly speak. On the following morning (the 9th of September) he was no better, and therefore allowed Heeze to make representations to the Cardinals, in consequence of which some of them promised to vote for Enkevoirt’s promotion. On the 10th, Adrian once more, assembled a Consistory in his sick-room. Referring to the ancient custom whereby a Pope bestowed his own Cardinalitial title on a confidential friend, he asked the members of the Sacred College to consent that he should confer this grace on a person of goodness and learning. When all had given their assent, he named the Datary Enkevoirt, who at once, to the vexation of the Court, was received into the ranks of the purple.

After the Consistory the Pope took some food; this was followed by a sharp access of fever. On the next day at noon, the fever having abated, the invalid could not be prevented from again turning his attention, with a touching devotion to duty, to the despatch of business. He sent off some Bulls and Briefs, attached his signature to petitions, and even gave audiences, although speaking was very trying to him. This improvement only lasted till the 12th of September; notwithstanding their efforts, the physicians, who had been assiduous in their attention, held out no hope, since they could do nothing to check the fever and rapid decline of strength. Worn out with sorrow and care, age and sickness, a life was running swiftly to its end, the preservation of which was of the utmost importance to Christendom. With the consent of the Cardinals the dying Pope now made his last dispositions, in which he once more clearly showed his horror of nepotism. His household got only the property which he had brought with him from Spain to Rome, but nothing that had belonged to him as Pope. His possessions in the Netherlands, particularly in Louvain and Utrecht, Enkevoirt was to dispose of for the poor, and for pious purposes for the good of his soul; his house in Louvain he set apart as a college for poor students, giving it a rich endowment. Being asked about his burial, he forbade any funeral pomp; he did not wish more than twenty-five ducats to be spent on his obsequies. He received Extreme Unction with the greatest devotion; so long as he could speak he comforted his friends. “He died”, wrote one of them, “even as he had lived—in peace, piety, and holiness”.

On the 14th of September, at the nineteenth hour, this noble spirit passed away, the last German and last non­Italian Pope. The greedy Romans suspected him of having hoarded great treasures in his carefully guarded study in the Borgia tower. But they found there, together with a few rings and jewels of Leo X, nothing but briefs and other papers. He left behind him, at the highest estimate, not more than 2000 ducats.

As the corpse was disfigured and much swollen, the rumour was at once spread that Adrian had been poisoned, and the Spaniards accused the Netherlanders of carelessness in allowing Frenchmen to come into the Pope’s kitchen. The autopsy of the body afforded no ground for supposing that Adrian had fallen a victim to foul play; nevertheless the suspicion gained ground with many, especially as Prospero Colonna had died from poisoning. The diagnosis of Adrian’s illness affords no proof of other than natural death. In all probability he succumbed to a disease of the kidneys consequent on the exhaustion of a naturally delicate body through exposure to a strange climate, and under the pressure of care and excitement. The reports of poisoning admit of explanation, since the French party and the opponents of reform pursued Adrian, even in the grave, with their fierce hatred, and since, during his lifetime, there had been talk of assassination.

Adrian was laid, provisionally, in the chapel of St. Andrew in St. Peter’s, between Pius II and Pius III, who had been so closely connected with German affairs. The temporary epitaph ran, “Here lies Adrian VI, who looked upon it as his greatest misfortune that he was called upon to rule”.

It was due to the gratitude of Cardinal Enkevoirt that a monument worthy of his master was erected. This was finished ten years after Adrian’s death; on the 11th of August 1533 the body was taken from St. Peter’s and transferred to Santa Maria dell' Anima, the church of the German nation. The monument was raised on the right hand of the choir. Baldassare Peruzzi had prepared the plan ; the execution in marble was carried out by Tribolo, a pupil of Sansovino, and Michelangelo of Siena. The architecture of this somewhat clumsy construction is copied from the tombs of prelates and Cardinals with which previous generations had adorned so many Roman churches, especially that of Santa Maria del Popolo. In the central niche is seen the over-richly decorated sarcophagus with Adrian’s coat of arms and the plain inscription, “Adrianus VI. P. M.”; the supporters are two boys with reversed torches. Above the sarcophagus lies the life-size statue of the Pope on a bed of state; he is represented in full pontifical vesture; as if taking his sleep after exhausting labour, with his left hand he holds on his head the tiara which had been so heavy a burden. On his noble countenance, with its expression of reverential awe, are deep traces of earnestness and sorrow. In the lunette above appears, in accordance with ancient custom, the figure of Our Blessed Lady, the mighty intercessor in the hour of death, with the Apostles Peter and Paul by her side. On the architrave hover two angels carrying branches of palm, and the tiara and keys.

In the side niches, between massive Corinthian columns, are the imposing figures of the four cardinal virtues. Below the sarcophagus a fine relief represents Adrian’s entry into Rome, where a helmeted figure symbolizing the city hastens to meet him at the gates. A broad marble slab on brackets contains the obituary inscription composed by Tranquillus Molossus; on each side, under the niches, boys hold the Cardinal’s hat and armorial bearings of the founder, Enkevoirt. Between the sarcophagus and the relief of the entry into Rome a prominent place is given to the pathetic inscription, “Alas! how much do the efforts, even of the best of men, depend upon time and opportunity”.

Few more appropriate epitaphs have been written than these words of resignation and regret to which the dead Pope had once given utterance respecting himself. In large letters they set forth the life-work of the last German Pontiff, one so often misunderstood and despised, who saw with his dying eyes the unity of the Church and of his beloved Fatherland simultaneously rent asunder. They form the best commentary on the destiny of his life, and on that short span of government in which misfortune and failure followed each other in one unbroken chain. Without ever having sought high place, this humble and devout Netherlander rose, step by step, from the lowliest circumstances, until it was his lot to attain the tiara; he was never dazzled by its splendour. The dignity of the Papacy came to him at a highly critical moment, and he looked upon it as an intolerable burden. Wherever he turned his glance his eye met some threatening evil; in the North a dangerous heresy, in the East the onward advance of the Turk, in the heart of Christendom confusion and war. After an exhausting journey he at last reached his capital, there to find an empty exchequer, a Court composed of officials animated by national pride, personal ambition, and the most unfriendly spirit, and a city ravaged by plague. Moreover, as a thorough northerner, he was neither by bodily nor mental constitution fitted for the position in which Providence had suddenly placed him. Heedless of all these difficulties, he did not flinch, but concentrated all his powers on coping with the almost superhuman tasks set before him. He entered on his work with the purest intentions, and never for a moment turned from the path of duty, which he followed with conscientious fidelity until his wearied eyes were closed in death.

But not one of the objects which he so honestly pursued was he permitted to achieve. Personally an exemplary priest, genuinely pious and firmly attached to the ancient principles of the Church, he threw himself with courage and determination into the titanic struggle with the host of abuses then disfiguring the Roman Curia and well-nigh the universal Church. Strong and inflexible as he was, the difficulties confronting him were so many and so great that at no time was he able to carry out all the reforms he had decreed, as, for example, the rules concerning benefices. His best endeavours were unavailing against the insuperable force of circumstances, and the upshot of his short-lived efforts was that the evils remained as they were before. The generous appeal to his own people to make open confession of their guilt, which he had addressed by his Nuncio to the Diet of the German Empire, was met by the reforming party with scorn and ridicule. So far from checking the schism brought about at Luther’s evil instigation, Adrian had, perforce, to realize that the breach was daily growing wider.

As he laboured in vain for the unity and reform of the Church, so did he also for the protection of Christendom, threatened by the Ottoman power. Although the exchequer was empty and the Holy See burdened with debt, he was called upon to give help on every side. If he saved and taxed in order to help the Knights of Rhodes and the Hungarians, he was called a miser; if he spent money on the Turkish war instead of pensioning artists and men of letters, he was called a barbarian. In vain he grieved over Rhodes and Hungary; in vain he begged, entreated, and threatened the Christian princes who, instead of uniting against their common enemy and that of Western civilization, were tearing each other to pieces in unceasing warfare. The young Emperor, with whom he had so many and such close ties, was unable to understand the neutral position enforced upon his fatherly friend as Head of the Church, if the duties of that great office were to be rightly fulfilled. The Ambassadors of Charles felt nothing but contempt and ridicule for Adrian's actions; their short-sighted policy was exclusively confined to their master’s immediate advantage. The crafty French King rewarded Adrian’s advances with treachery, threats, and deeds of violence. It was the invasion of Italy by Francis which forced the Pope, true to the last to his principle of neutrality, to join the Emperor in a league which, although intended by Adrian to be solely defensive, at length involved him in the war. His death, on the very day on which the French crossed the Ticino, freed the most peace-loving of all the Popes from participation in a sanguinary campaign. He was thus spared from experiencing the shameful ingratitude of those for whose true welfare he had been working.

Few were the Italians who did justice to the stranger Pope; by far the greater number hailed his death as a deliverance, and looked back on his Pontificate as a time of trouble. In Rome the detestation of “barbarians” went hand in hand with the hatred felt by all those whose habits of life were threatened by Adrian’s moral earnestness and efforts for reform. To these motives were added the dissatisfaction caused by the introduction of direct taxation and the withdrawal of the outward splendour to which the Romans, especially since the accession of Leo X, had become accustomed. That Adrian’s physician should have been hailed as a liberator was not by any means the worst insult. The neglected literati took atrocious vengeance in countless attacks on the dead Pope. The most venomous abuse was written up in all the public places. The dead man was assailed as ass, wolf, and harpy, and compared to Caracalla and Nero; Pasquino’s statue was decorated with ribald verses.

The death of the hated Adrian was acclaimed with frantic joy every conceivable vice, drunkenness, and even the grossest immorality were attributed to one of the purest occupants of the Roman See. Every act of the great Pope, the whole tenor of his life and all his surroundings, were distorted by a stinging and mendacious wit, and turned into ridicule with all the refinement of malice. An impudent spirit of calumny, one of the greatest evils of the Renaissance, pervaded all classes slander and vilification were incessant. A month after Adrian’s death a Mantuan envoy reported on the mad excesses of this plague of wits; he sent his master one of the worst sonnets then in circulation, “not in order to defame Adrian, for I dislike those who do so, but in order that your Excellency may know how many wicked tongues there are in this city where everyone indulges in the worst backbiting”.

Adrian with his piety and moral earnestness had become, in the fullest sense of the words, “the burnt-offering of Roman scorn”. It was long before the cavillers ceased to talk. There were some, especially in the literary world, whose hatred was unappeasable. To what extent it was carried may be seen from the report of Vianesio Albergati on the Conclave of Clement VII. While Leo X is there belauded as the chief mainstay of Italy and the wonder of his century, the writer cannot find words enough to depict the greed, the harshness, the stupidity of Adrian. There was no misfortune, not even the fall of Rhodes, for which this barbarian and tyrant was not responsible. Even after the visitation of God on Rome, in the sack of the city, Pierio Valeriano still reviled the “deadly enemy of the Muses, of eloquence, and of all things beautiful, the prolongation of whose life would have meant the sure return of the days of Gothic barbarism”. How deep-rooted was the abhorrence of the foreigner, how habitual it had become to make him matter of burlesque, is best seen in Paolo Giovio’s biography of Adrian. Written at the command of Cardinal Enkevoirt, it ought to be essentially a panegyric; but only a superficial reader can receive this impression. We have scarcely to read between the lines to see that the ungrateful Giovio introduces, when he has the chance, piquant and humorous remarks, and tries in a very coarse way to draw a ludicrous picture of the German Pope, in nervous anxiety for his health, interrupting the weightiest business when a meal draws near, and at last dying from too copious potations of beer. Even those Italians who refrained from the general mockery and abuse of Adrian were not sympathetic. A characteristic instance is the judgment of Francesco Vettori, who remarks, “Adrian was undoubtedly a pious and good man, but he was better fitted for the cloister; moreover, his reign was too short to enable one to form a correct estimate of his government and character.”

At the beginning of Adrian’s pontificate the catchword in political circles was that the Pope was no statesman; this was now repeated. This kind of criticism was uncommonly characteristic of the Renaissance; the men of that period had become so accustomed to look upon the Popes as secular princes, politicians, and patrons of art and letters only, that they had lost the faculty of understanding a Pontiff who placed his ecclesiastical duties before everything, and aimed at being, above all, the shepherd of souls. This saintly man from the Netherlands, with his serious purposes, his indifference to classical and humanist culture, his strict avoidance of Machiavellian statecraft and his single-hearted anxiety to live exclusively for duty, was to the Italians of that age like an apparition from another world, beyond the grasp of their comprehension.

The difficulty of forming a just and thorough appreciation of Adrian was increased to an extraordinary degree by the removal from Rome, by his secretary Heeze, of the most important documents relating to his reign, his correspondence with other princes and with the Nuncios, thus withdrawing sources of the greatest value for historical research. In this way even Pallavicini, adhering to the commonly accepted view of the Italians, sums up Adrian as an admirable priest, bishop, and cardinal, but only a mediocre Pope.

As early as 1536 a fellow-countryman and contemporary of Adrian, Gerhard Moring, had passed a sounder judgment in a biography which found, however, little circulation. Nor did much success attend the attempts of impartial historians in Italy, such as Panvinio, Raynaldus, Mansi, and Muratori, to defend the memory of their noble Pope. In Germany the effects of Luther’s contemptuous depreciation lasted for a long time. Catholic opinions, such as that of Kilian Leib, that the saintly Pope was too good for his age, gained no hearing. It was not until 1727, when the jurist Kaspar Burmann, of Utrecht, dedicated to the Flemish Pope a collection of materials, compiled with much industry, and full of valuable matter, that an impulse was given to the formation of a new opinion. This Protestant scholar, whose work is of permanent value, deserves the credit of having initiated a change in Adrian’s favour. Subsequently, in the nineteenth century, the labours of Dutch, Belgian, German, French, English, and also Italian  students helped to remove the long-standing misconception.

It is matter for rejoicing that on this point difference of creed has imposed no limitations. A distinguished scholar, of strong Protestant convictions, has recently expressed his view of Adrian in the following terms : “To a judgment unaffected either by his scanty successes or his overt concessions, Adrian VI will appear as one of the noblest occupants of the chair of Peter. He will be recognized as a man of the purest motives, who wished only to promote the welfare of the Church, and, in the selection of means to serve that sacred end, conscientiously chose those that he believed to be truly the most fitting. He will have claims on our pity as a victim sacrificed to men around him immeasurably inferior to himself, tainted by greed and venality, and to the two monarchs who, caring exclusively for their own advantage, and thinking nothing of that of the Church, wove around him the net­work of their schemes and intrigues”.

The history of Adrian VI is full of tragic material. Yet it confirms the maxim of experience that, in the long run, no honest endeavour, however unsuccessful, remains unrecognized and barren of result. The figure of this great Pope, who had written on his banner the peace of Christendom, the repulse of Islam, and the reform of the Church, so long belittled, is once more emerging into the light in full loftiness of stature. He is numbered today by men of all parties among the Popes who have the highest claim on our reverence. No one will again deny him his place among those who serve their cause with a single heart, who seek nothing for themselves, and set themselves valiantly against the flowing stream of corruption. If within the limits of his short term of sovereignty he achieved no positive results, he yet fulfilled the first condition of a healer in laying bare the evils that called for cure. He left behind him suggestions of the highest importance, and pointed out beforehand the principles on which, at a later date, the internal reform of the Church was carried out. In the history of the Papacy his work will always entitle him to a permanent place of honour.

BOOK 13

CLEMENT VII. A.D. 1523-1534