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

ENERGY OF THE POPE. 185
to bring the matter before the Cardinals in a few days time,
at a consistory, and that he would then acquaint the ambas-
sadors with his decision. The suspension must be removed,
and the Council of Trent continued. He desired to carry
on the work of reform, even as to his own person and
his own affairs, but also to safeguard the interests of
the faith and of the Holy See. The Papal supremacy
must not be infringed, but he was not disinclined to
grant reasonable claims. Mula was specially instructed to
make secret inquiries in Venice as to whether the
government of the Republic would be prepared, in case
of need, to place a suitable city in their territory, as for
example Vicenza, at his disposal for the meeting of the
Council.^
The declarations made by Pius IV. in the consistory on
May 29th were to a similar effect ; two days later he again
spoke on the subject to the Venetian ambassador, and
amplified his previous statements. The Council, he said,
should undertake the necessary work of reform, including
his, the Pope's, own affairs, with complete freedom. In
order that this freedom might be assured, it must not
assemble at any place which, directly or indirectly, belonged
to the States of the Church, but neither must it meet in the
territory of heretics, w^here the bishops would not be in
safety.^
Pius IV. addressed himself to Ferdinand I. and Philip II.
in similar terms, and the instructions of Borromto on May
25th and 26th, 1560, to the nuncios in Vienna and Madrid,
had a very determined sound. The Pope, it is stated in the
letter to Hosius, will anticipate the French national coimcil
by continuing the Council of Trent, which was only suspended,
^ Cf. the full *account of Mula of May 27, 1560 (Court Library,
Vienna, and Papal Secret Archives), from which Reimann (Unter-
handlungen, 595) was the first to quote a passage. See also
Ehses, VIII., 28.
2 C/. Mula's report of May 31, in Reimann, loc. cit. ; Ehses,
VIII., 28. See also Dembinski, Ryzm, I., 35 seq.