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

244 HISTORY OF THE POPES.
on March loth, from among the new Cardinals created on
February 26th, namely Seripando, Hosius and Simonetta.^
The Cardinals chosen to represent the Pope were in the
highest degree suited for their distinguished position.'^ At
their head, as the president of the legatine college, stood
Ercole Gonzaga, Cardinal of Mantua, who had been invested
with the purple by Clement VII., a man who was distinguished
in many ways, and prominent on account of his great personal
qualities. Even though his eager striving for the tiara had
cast a shadow on his character, yet the son of the celebrated
Isabella d'Este, on account of his varied experience extending
over many years, his wide knowledge, his zeal for reform, his
princely rank and his relationship to the Emperor, can only
be described as an able and worthy representative of the
Pope.
Ercole Gonzaga was above all things a diplomatist, and
was not a learned theologian. What was lacking to him in
this respect was possessed in full measure by the other legates ;
Simonetta, Puteo, Seripando and Hosius. Ludovico Simon-
etta, who belonged to a humanist family of Milan, held with
Gonzaga the chief position, although in point of rank he
was the junior of the legates, having only been appointed
Cardinal on February 26th, 1561. A clever canonist, he
appears as the real confidant of Pius IV., whose rights he
always defended with fiery zeal and great skill. It is a signifi-
^ See Massarelli in Merkle, II., 351. Cf. Bondonus, 546;
Seripandi Comment., 464 ;
letter of the Portuguese ambassador
of March 14, 1561, in the Corpo dipl. Portug., IX., 196 seq. ;
report of Saraceni of March 14 and 18, 1561 (State Archives,
Florence)
.
^ For what follows cf. the excellent account of Susta, I., xliii
seq. : Ivi seq. See also Sickel, Berichte, V., 65 seq. ; Sol, II
card. Simonetta, in the Arch. Rom., XXVI., 185 seq. ;
Eder, L,
119 seq. : Lauchert, 536 seq. For Seripando cf. Vols. XL, XII.
of this work, and for Puteo Vols. XIII., XIV. The monograph of
Giov. Drei, La politica di Pio IV. e del card. E. Gonzaga, 1559-60,
in the Arch d. Soc. Rom., vol., 40, was unfortunately not accessible
to me.