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

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IMPROVED CONDITIONS IN ROME. I29<br />

Este and Charles Borromeo were members. <strong>The</strong>y were to meet<br />

every Thursday, and to prepare important changes in <strong>the</strong><br />

Papal tribunals and <strong>the</strong> conclave. <strong>The</strong> bishops who were<br />

lingering at <strong>the</strong> curia were called upon to fulfil <strong>the</strong>ir duty <strong>of</strong><br />

residence,^ and immediately afterwards three Cardinals<br />

received orders to take steps to provide Rome with grain.<br />

To <strong>the</strong> great joy <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Curia, Pius IV. also showed his love<br />

<strong>of</strong> peace in <strong>the</strong> most unequivocal manner, ^ promised to provide<br />

for strict justice, willingly granted audiences to all, discharged<br />

business quickly and skilfully, and displayed, in addition,<br />

great activity in building.'* A bull <strong>of</strong> May 15th, 1560, graciously<br />

forgave <strong>the</strong> Romans for <strong>the</strong> excesses <strong>of</strong> which <strong>the</strong>y had<br />

been guilty at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> death <strong>of</strong> Paul IV.,^ and <strong>the</strong> city<br />

<strong>of</strong> Rome, which had suffered so much under <strong>the</strong> Carafa Pope,<br />

improved in a remarkable manner, both with regard to its<br />

prosperity, and also in <strong>the</strong> number <strong>of</strong> its inhabitants, which<br />

rose in 1563 to 80,000. <strong>The</strong> Venetian ambassador, Girolamo<br />

Soranzo, describes Rome at this time as <strong>the</strong> most beautiful<br />

^Massarelli in Merkle, II., 343, without exact date. An<br />

*Avviso di Roma <strong>of</strong> February 10, 1560 (Urb. 1039, p. 127 Vatican<br />

Library) tells <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> appointment <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> " congregatione generale<br />

per la reformatione generale," which Arco announces as impending<br />

on January 31, 1560 (Sickel, Konzil, 26). According to Massar-<br />

ELLi, 349, <strong>the</strong> sessions <strong>of</strong> this congregation took place in September,<br />

1560, every Sunday in <strong>the</strong> presence <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Pope. Cf. Ehses,<br />

Berufung des Konzils, 2.<br />

2 *Avviso di Roma <strong>of</strong> February 10, 1560 {lo:. cit., Vatican<br />

Library). Cf. Benigni, 35 seq., and Cupis, 147 seq.<br />

3 When <strong>the</strong> general in command <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> infantry, Torquato<br />

Conti, was granted an audience on <strong>the</strong> occasion <strong>of</strong> his appointment,<br />

<strong>the</strong> Pope said to him that he would like to reward him,* " ma<br />

ch' il non vuole ne soldati ne guerra, ma vuole che li contadini<br />

attendino a cultivare li terreni per il ben di tutti " (Avviso,<br />

Urb. 1039, p. 114b, Vatican Library). Cf. Mocenigo, 51.<br />

* Cf. Arch. stor. Napolit., I.. 648. Concerning <strong>the</strong> rapid<br />

transaction <strong>of</strong> business in <strong>the</strong> Signatura, Ricasoli *reports as<br />

early as January 13, 1560, (State Archives, Florence).<br />

^ <strong>The</strong> bull is to be found in <strong>the</strong> *Editti in <strong>the</strong> Papal Secret<br />

Archives.<br />

VOL. XV.. Q<br />

^

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