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

ATTITUDE OF PHILIP II. I75
Philip II. benefited greatly by the downfall of the Carafa ;
in May, 1561, a bull was expressly issued to protect him against
the serious allegations made against him by Cardinal Carafa
in the time of Paul IV. ^ The king's attitude during the whole
tragedy, had been of such a nature that he attained his object of
destro\'ing his old enemies without committing himself on
either side. His share in the fall of the nephews of Paul IV.
remained the secret of but few people, but the Spanish king
had been able to keep himself free from all odium by inter-
ceding at the last moment for Cardinal Carlo, again by cooperating
in the release of Cardinal Alfonso, and lastly by
affording the Marquis of Montebello and the son of the Duke
of Paliano a refuge in Naples. The circumstance that he had
persisted in leaving Vargas, the faithful friend of the Carafa, in
spite of the strong wishes of the Pope, in his position as
ambassador in Rome, was calculated to dispel any suspicion
that he had been acting in concert with Pius IV.-
The Spanish king proved equally sagacious in the delicate
question as to what was to be done with the possessions of the
condemned men ; the same cannot be said of the attitude
adopted by Pius IV. with regard to this matter.
As the Carafa had been condemned to death, not only for
the murder of the Duchess of Paliano, but also expressly for
high treason and felony, their inheritance fell to the Apostolic
Camera, Justifying his action on this fact, the Pope seized
for his nephews, not only the movable goods of the Carafa,
but also their claims in law. Paliano was only to be handed
over to the Colonna when Philip II. had §p"anted to the Pope's
nephews the same annual revenues as had formerly been
promised to the Carafa ! Philip at first made difficulties ; he
demanded the immediate enfeoffment of Colonna, and wished
the sums paid to the relatives of Pius IV. to be treated as a
favour, but in no sense as an obligation imposed upon him by
any agreement. This painful affair, in which Pius IV. appears
1 See Raynaldus, 1561, n. 81. Cf. *Acta consist. Cancell.,
VIII., on May 9, 1561, and Acta consist. Cam., IX. 42 (Consistorial
Archives of the Vatican).
2 See HiLLiGER, 18.