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

204 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
othei city, eithei in Italy, in the dominions of His Majesty,
or in those of his allies, and in this he begged the king to
support him. Philip praised the Pope's zeal, and in general
terms declared his readiness to do so ; the final answer was
tc be given to the nuncios in three or four days timx. In the
meantime, the Spanish king laid the mattei before an assembly
of theologians for discussion. The latter were, as Santa Croce
learned, of various opinions ; some spoke in favour of removing
the suspension, and others for a new convocation of the Council.
On October 28th, the Duke of Alba addressed the question
to the nuncios, whether the Pope would prefer to remove the
suspension cr to summon a new Council, and whether he would
agree to Besan^on as its place of assembly. The nuncios,
however, could give no definite answer on these two points.
This change of front in the Spanish policy was the result of
consideration for France, after steps had again been taken
by the French ambassador to Spain, the Bishop of Limoges, to
come to an agreement on the matter of the Council. Philip
II. in his reply to the latter on October 30th, promised that
he would intercede with the Pope, so that the Council should
be convoked at once, and immediately after it had assembled
be removed to Besangon or Vercelli. This decision of the
Spanish king was then handed to the nuncios by Alba on
October 31st. ^ On November loth, Gherio left the Spanish
court for Rome, with an autograph letter from Philip II. to
Pius IV., in which the king agreed to the continuation of the
Council of Trent, and did not show himself averse to its subse-
quent removal ;
if this course were decided upon, he proposed
Besan^on as a suitable place. In a letter to Vargas, written
at the same time, he declared that he could only agree if, for
the time being, all reference to the validity of the former decrees
of Trent were avoided.^
^ See the report of Santa Croce of October 31, 1560, in Laemmer,
Melet., 182 seq. ; Ehses, VIII., 92 seq.
^ Cf. ibid., 183 seq. Concerning the secret correspondence
of the nuncios with Rome, which, according to the wish of Phihp II.
should have ceased, see Voss, no seq. As to this, cf. Ehses,
VIII., 93, and 118 in the notes. ^ See Voss, in.
^