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

96 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
already mentioned there were yet other Milanese relatives on
his mother's side, the five sons of Gian Pietro Serbelloni, who
were all struggling for honours and office. The ambassador
of the Duke of Ferrara announces on January lyth, 1560, that
the Pope has taken affairs in hand so energetically that hopes
may be entertained of a better era, and that the number of
his nephews who are flocking to Rome is constantly increasing ;
already eighteen or twenty have arrived. A week later the
same ambassador says that the number of the Pope's relatives
is still growing. 1 This is not, indeed, matter for surprise, for
the prospects which opened before them were brilliant.
Pius IV. showed the greatest favour to the sons of his sister
Margherita, the two Counts Borromeo. The elder, Federigo,
had already been present at the Pope's coronation, and soon
afterwards the younger brother, Charles, also appeared,^ at the
express summons of the Pope.*"* It was a memorable day in
the history of Rome and the Church when this youth of twenty-
^ See the *letteis of Giulio Grandi of January 7 and 24, 1560,
in the State Archives, Modena. In the former he says :
"
*Li
nipoti suoi ogni di multiplicano da Milano et Germania." See
also the *Avvisi di Roma of January 6 and 13, 1560. In that
of the 13 we read : " Et tuttavia vengono delli parenti assai,
liqual e da credere che vorano per loro se non il tutto, almanco
la maggior parte al fermo." ([Jrb. 1039, Vatican Library).
^ According to the *Avviso di Roma of January 6, 1 560, Carlo
Borromeo and Giov. Batt. Serbelloni were summoned to Rome
by letter on the day after the election. (Urb. 1039, p. 14, Vatican
Library)
.
^ The Bishop of Verona, Cardinal Agostino Valiero, wrote the
earliest biography of Charles Borromeo (Latin, Cologne, 1587,
perhaps the best was that of the General of
Italian, Milan, 1 587) ;
the Barnabites and Bishop of Navara, Bascape (first pub. Ingoldstadt,
1592). Bascape says himself (p. 2) : " Eloquentiam
historiaeque scribendae artem concedens multis, rerum ipsarum
notitiam veritatemque iure mihi vendicare posse videor." On
the same page he gives as his sources : personal acquaintance
of many years with Charles Borromeo, information from his
intimate friends, and countless documents, among which are
some 30,000 letters from and to Charles. Cf. P. L. Manzini in
La Scuola catt., Ser. 4, Vol. XVIII., 330-7 (1910) ; Analecta