Fig. 214.—Solemn entry of the Emperor Charles V. and Pope Clement VII. into Bologna, November 5th, 1529. The persons at the head of the cortége are the great dignitaries of the Church, the first bearing the pastoral staff, the second the pontifical tiara, and the two others golden candelabra. The taper-bearers precede the Holy Sacrament. (See next engraving.)
Fig. 214.—Solemn entry of the Emperor Charles V. and Pope Clement VII. into Bologna, November 5th, 1529. The persons at the head of the cortége are the great dignitaries of the Church, the first bearing the pastoral staff, the second the pontifical tiara, and the two others golden candelabra. The taper-bearers precede the Holy Sacrament. (See next engraving.)
Remainder of Fig. 214.)—The Holy Sacrament, borne upon the back of a white horse, is escorted by the patricians and doctors of Bologna. The Pope’s sacristan marches alone in the rear of the dais, and this part of the cortége is brought up by a group of princes, dukes, and counts.—Drawn and engraved on brass by John Hogenberg: in the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.
Remainder of Fig. 214.)—The Holy Sacrament, borne upon the back of a white horse, is escorted by the patricians and doctors of Bologna. The Pope’s sacristan marches alone in the rear of the dais, and this part of the cortége is brought up by a group of princes, dukes, and counts.—Drawn and engraved on brass by John Hogenberg: in the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.
Ten years after this, during the reign of the same pontiff (Martin V.),another and an older schism seemed to all appearance extinguished at the Council of Florence, in which the Emperor of the East and the patriarchs of his Church were present. After grave deliberation, the Greeks drew up an orthodox profession of faith, and, by the complete submission of the Eastern Church to her Roman sister, union was restored in 1439. But the emperor and his patriarchs found upon their return that this was so deeply resented by the Greek people, that they gave way to popular clamour and withdrew from their formal engagements, the schism thus becoming wider than ever. The ruin of the Eastern empire followed very closely upon this decision.
The fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Turks indicated only too plainly the danger with which Europe was menaced, and the popes endeavoured to impress it upon the kings and their subjects. Pius II., who had distinguished himself by his erudition and his writings, was considered to be the most talented man of his day, and in a council held at Mantua in 1459 did his utmost to hurry on the preparations for the crusade. After five years’ hard work, he collected a fleet at Ancona, and was about toset sail, when he was struck down by a mortal illness. His successors continued the work which he had begun; but, though the Christians obtained successes over the Turks which promised well for the undertaking, their compatriots failed to respond to the appeals of the pope, who saw that Italy was seriously threatened with invasion. It was under these critical circumstances that the choice of the cardinals fell upon a man of extraordinary energy, Roderick Borgia, who took the name of Alexander VI. He was charged with crimes which ought to have been laid at the door of members of his family, and he struggled against the oppressive spoliation to which the great Roman families had subjected the city, setting courageously to work in order to reconstitute the temporal power of the Holy See. Pius III., chosen as his successor, died a month after he was elected.
The Cardinal of Rovero was then nominated unanimously, and took the title of Julius II. In pursuance of the idea of Italian independence, this warlike pontiff carried on an obstinate struggle against Louis XII., with the view of retaking several towns of Italy which had once belonged to the States of the Church. Unintimidated either by the armies of Louis XII., or by the threats of the councils convoked under the protectorate of the King of France and the Emperor of Germany, he himself assembled a council at Rome, and this inflexible old man, after having brought about wise measures of reform which all Europe applauded, cited the king and the members of his parliament to come and answer for their revolt against the Holy See. But Julius II., worn out by his exertions, died in 1513. His successor, Leo X., who had effected a reconciliation with Louis XII., was obliged to head the Italian league against Francis I. An understanding had been brought about after the battle of Marignano, and the Pragmatic Sanction, which had been the pretext of so many disputes since the days of Philippe le Bel, was given up and replaced by a concordat concluded in 1516 between France and the Holy See. Leo X., continuing the Italian policy of his predecessor, also kept in view the idea of a crusade against the Turks; but this great work of the papacy was only realised half-a-century later under the pontificate of Pius V. The faithful were aroused by his voice; Cyprus had fallen into the hands of the Mussulmans, and the whole of Europe was in imminent peril. The cost of the expedition was divided between the King of Spain, Venice, and the pope; fifty thousand infantry and four thousand cavalry were got together, and the command of the fleet wasgiven to Don John of Austria. It encountered the Turkish fleet, which consisted of two hundred and twenty-four vessels, in the Gulf of Lepanto, on October 7th, 1571. The infidels were annihilated, losing twenty-five thousand men and ten thousand prisoners, while fifteen thousand Christians whom they had chained to their galleys were set at liberty (Fig. 215). Catholic Europe breathed once more, and in its gratitude attributed this prodigious victory to the protection of the Virgin, to whom the faithful told their beads at the hour at which the battle took place, and the memory of this event was perpetuated by a yearly fête on the first Sunday in October.
Fig. 216.—A Sitting of the Council of Trent in 1555.—From a Painting by Titian, in the Louvre (Sixteenth Century).
Fig. 216.—A Sitting of the Council of Trent in 1555.—From a Painting by Titian, in the Louvre (Sixteenth Century).
Fig. 215.—Iron shield presented to Don John of Austria by Pius V., in recognition of his services to Christendom by the victory at Lepanto (1571), with an inscription signifying, “Christ has won the victory; it is He who reigns and governs.”—From the “Armeria Real” (Madrid), published by M. Ach. Jubinal.
Fig. 215.—Iron shield presented to Don John of Austria by Pius V., in recognition of his services to Christendom by the victory at Lepanto (1571), with an inscription signifying, “Christ has won the victory; it is He who reigns and governs.”—From the “Armeria Real” (Madrid), published by M. Ach. Jubinal.
Fig. 217.—The Triumph of Christ.—From an engraving of the early part of the Seventeenth Century, reproduced from a composition attributed to Titian.
Fig. 217.—The Triumph of Christ.—From an engraving of the early part of the Seventeenth Century, reproduced from a composition attributed to Titian.
Led away from our subject in order to relate an account of the struggle against the then indomitable Islam power, we omitted to mention anotherevent which was the second greatest achievement of the popes in the sixteenth century, namely, the Council of Trent (Fig. 216). The progress made by Protestantism led to the convocation of a general council, which was to pronounce as to all the disputed points of doctrine, and to effect the indispensable and long-looked-for reforms in ecclesiastical discipline. The town of Trent was selected as the place of meeting, because its situation between Italy and Germany made it so easy of access for those who were expected to attend. Although the holding of this council was mutually agreed on by Pope Paul III. and the Emperor Charles V., in concert with the other Christian princes, the opening was deferred until 1545, and it lasted with frequent adjournments until 1563, when Pius IV. was pope. No council ever dealt with so many topics, both of dogma and of discipline. The abuses which had been pointed out by many Catholic divines were abolished even before the Protestants could draw attention to them. The catalogue of holy books which were received as canonical was inserted in one of the first decrees of the council; and it was there declared, that the interpretation of these sacred works should be given by the Church, to whom alone it belonged to decide what was the true meaning of Scripture. The questions at issue were then gone into minutely; original sin, the justification of the sinner, the seven sacraments, the mass, purgatory, indulgences, the worship of saints, &c. The twenty-fifth and last session was held on the 3rd of December, 1563. But the hopes of conciliation to which this assembly gave rise were not realised, and the Protestant Churches rejected the decisions of the Fathers of the Council of Trent, whose authority they refused to recognise. The unity of the Christian republic, which had been the work of the Middle Ages, was destroyed, and a new era brought with it new duties for the head of the Catholic Church.
Fig. 218.—Leaden Bull with which Pope Boniface VIII. sealed his letters; on it are seen the names of Boniface VIII., and of St. Peter and St. Paul, with their effigies (Thirteenth Century).—French National Archives.
Fig. 218.—Leaden Bull with which Pope Boniface VIII. sealed his letters; on it are seen the names of Boniface VIII., and of St. Peter and St. Paul, with their effigies (Thirteenth Century).—French National Archives.