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

CHAPTER III
The Pope's Relatives. Charles Borromeo. Diplomatic
Relations with the Princes.
It is indeed a fact that few Popes have been so richly blessed
with relations as Pius IV., and many of these received so great
signs of affection that a new reign of nepotism might well be
feared. The Medici from Milan gave the -least cause for
anxiety ; Gian Giacomo died childless, and of the other
brothers of the Pope there only remained Agosto. The
disputes with this sarcastic man over the inheritance had been
embittered yet more by his intriguing wife, whose reputation
was none of the best, and the relations between the Pope and
his brother since then had not been of a friendly nature. At
the beginning of the pontificate Agosto was not even allowed
to come to Rome, but when this permission was accorded to
him in 1562, principally through the intercession of Cosimo I.,
he received indeed a monthly allowance of 200 scudi, but not,
as he had expected, any influential office, for which, in any
case, he would not have been suited.^
The three youngest of the five sisters of Pius IV. had been
for years in a convent in Lombardy,^ while the two others
were married : Margherita to Gilberto Borromeo, Count of
Arona,^ and Chiara to Wolf Dietrich von Hohenems.
The noble family of Ems had their seat in the Vorarlberg,
in the Castle of Hohenems, which is situated on a steep rock
1 Cf. MocENiGO, 52 ; GiROL. SoRANZO, 92 seq. ; Susta, Pius IV.,
96. Concerning the intercession of Cosimo I., see the interesting
*report of Fr. Tonina of January 29, 1563. (Gonzaga Archives,
Mantua).
^Cf. Calvi, Fam. Milan., III.
^Concerning the Count of Arona see Wymann, 31 seq., where
the voluminous special literature has been made use of.
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