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

DETERMINATION OF THE POPE, 203
of Trent ; it was at once taken to Spain by Gherio, Bishop of
Ischia, together with that of October 5th.
On October 13th, the Pope also informed the French
ambassador that he was firmly resolved to continue the Council
of Trent, and on the same day he discussed the matter in the
congregation of Cardinals, who almost all voted for the plan
of opening the synod by the removal of the suspension.
Pius IV. declared to the Imperial ambassador on October 14th
that he could not delay the removal of the suspension later
than St. Martin's day ; he anxiously awaited the answers of
the Emperor and of the Kings of Spain and France before that
date. 3
It has been justly remarked^ how striking a fact it was that
a person of such sanguine character as Pius IV. should, in
spite of all resistance, have held firmly to his plan of con-
tinuing the Council of Trent. His high digm'ty, as the first
ruler of Christendom, seemed, as it were, to raise Pius IV.
above himself. It gave him the strength to carry through
the great task without wavering, in spite of all the difficulties
which presented themselves. The Council could no longer
lemain unfinished ;
it must be brought to a close, if the Church
were not to suffer the gravest injury.
The representatives of the Pope at the court of Philip II.,
Prospero Santa Croce and the nuncio, Ottaviano Raverta,
made an official communication to the Spanish king on
October 24th, to the effect that the Pope, after serious consider-
ation, had resolved to lose no more time in the matter of the
Counci\ After he had convinced himself that the Emperor
and the King of France could not be induced to agree to the
removal of the suspension of the Council of Trent, he wished
to order it without any further delay, or to remove it to some
^ See Voss, 102 seq. ; Ehses, Berufung des Konzils, 15-16,
and VIII. , 86.
^ See Corresp. de Babou de la Bourdaisiere, 45; Sickel,
Konzil, 116 seq. Corresp. of Card. O. Truchsess, 215, and the
report in Ehses, VIII., 88.
' See Arco's report of October 15, 1560, in Sickel, Konzil, 104.
* Voss, 104.
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