CRISTO RAUL.ORG

READING HALL

THE DOORS OF WISDOM

CHAPTER XVII. Negotiations as to the Council, to the Pacification of Nuremberg, 1532.

In Rome the transactions of the Diet had been followed with strained attention. Even if as early as the beginning of August the provocative attitude of some of the Protestant princes had made the armed interference of the Emperor a possibility to be reckoned with, there was still a desire to await fuller information, and a temporary hope of a peaceful agreement, especially as Melanchthon continued to show his previous conciliatory disposition. When afterwards the Catholic princes succeeded in once more setting in motion negotiations for a settlement, Salviati wrote, on the 8th of September, to Campeggio that the Pope was ready to permit communion in both kinds and the marriage of the clergy if the protesting party would give way on the remaining points.

Clement VII wished by these means to facilitate the Emperor’s negotiations for a settlement. At this time he was especially active in his endeavours to gratify the wishes of Charles V; only in the matter of the Council did he raise difficulties. “This,” wrote the Roman correspondent of the Duke of Mantua on the 7th of September, “will be a tedious matter, even if the Council takes place, which I do not believe.” The longer the question was treated in the Diet the greater grew the suspense in Rome. On the 4th of October came the announcement of the departure of the Elector of Saxony; it was now as clear as day that all attempts at union had miscarried. To the whole Sacred College it now appeared that force was the only resource available, and it was hoped that Charles would have recourse to it.

The Emperor had certainly promised the Pope, in the Treaty of Barcelona, that, in the case of contumacy on the part of the Protestants, he would terminate the schism, which had been the cause of so much violence towards Catholics, with the sword. But such a policy was alien to his character; nor was he adequately prepared for it, and the support of the Catholic Estates was by no means certain. Urgent as were the recommendations of Campeggio to apply force, Charles still persisted in his preference for peaceful methods. His patience seemed to have no limits, and only when he could no longer shut his eyes to the fruitlessness of all his efforts at peace did he turn his thoughts to a policy of repression, but without being able even then to come to a firm decision in its favour. “Force,” he wrote to his Ambassador in Rome on the 4th of September 1530, “would certainly be the most productive of results, but the necessary weapons are not forthcoming.” The insulting departure from the Diet of the Elector of Saxony was certainly the cause of this change in the Emperor’s feelings. Further obstinacy on the part of the Protestant princes, so he declared to the Cardinal-Legate, he was determined to punish, but it was an undertaking which he could not carry out single-handed. On the 4th of October he addressed a letter to Clement VII in which he expressed himself still more clearly and incisively. In it he announced his intention of putting forth all his power to subdue in open warfare the contumacious Protestants; the Pope would see that the other princes were invited to co-operate with him and support him with contributions in money.

Clement VII met this communication in a most characteristic way. Already, on the 13th of October, when the Ambassador Miguel Mai made known the contents of the Imperial letter, Salviati had emphasized the Pope’s confidence in the Emperor’s course of action, since the latter had already exterminated by his might other and even greater heresies than those of Luther. But after the letter had been received Clement relapsed into his habitual indecision and pleaded various objections. Besides the considerable pecuniary resources required he referred to the danger of an invasion of the Turks, with the Lutherans as confederates; but, on the other hand, the Pope realized the extreme danger of allowing the Lutherans to remain unpunished; the Imperial authority as well as the Catholic cause would, in such a case, suffer incalculable injury. Soon afterwards Charles ordered Muscettola to unfold his plans more minutely in Rome. The defiance of the Lutherans, he was charged to explain, had been on the increase since the disbanding of the Imperial army; he therefore intended to collect a force of ten thousand Spaniards and Italians for service in Germany, in order not merely to strike fear among the Lutherans but also, if circumstances should call for it, to act on the offensive towards the Turks; to keep up such an army he must have financial help from the Pope and the princes of Italy. Clement now called on the Italian States to help, while Charles, in a letter of the 25th of October, in which he requested the Cardinals to further the cause of the Council, solemnly declared that he would, in the affair of Luther, spare neither kingdoms nor dominions in order to accomplish what was necessary.

Immediately after the Emperor’s first announcement Clement had invited the opinion of the Venetian Government concerning warlike operations against the Protestants; that their answer would be in the nature of a refusal he was led to infer from the objections previously tendered by the Ambassador of the Republic. The remaining Italian states showed no enthusiasm in the matter, notwithstanding the Pope’s advocacy, and to Clement’s great disgust the Republic sent a direct refusal. The whole scheme fell through, for the Emperor, in view of the unreliability of the Catholic Estates, soon abandoned it. On the 30^th of October he sent his majordomo, Don Pedro de la Cueva, to Rome to inform the Pope that owing to the advanced season of the year it was no longer possible to think of an immediate undertaking against the Lutherans, for which Clement might be engaged in preparations. Cueva was also instructed to represent to Clement that, since all hopes of converting the heretics by friendly means had been shattered by their obstinacy, the summons of a Council was the only means remaining of saving Germany from permanent apostasy; his Holiness should therefore take the necessary steps to convene the same as soon as possible, since every delay was detrimental. The choice of locality was left by the Emperor to the Holy Father; but the Ambassador was to do his best to secure the choice of some place as near as possible to German territory, say Mantua or Milan.

Charles spoke in a similar sense in the letter to Clement to be personally handed to him by the Ambassador. He thanked the Pope for his reply of the 31st of July, and showed him that he had left nothing undone to bring the Protestants to accept the conditions on which the Council was to depend. But notwithstanding the failure of these endeavours he was now or opinion that the Council, the demand for which came not only from the Protestant but also from the Catholic princes, must not be abandoned as, in view of these very circumstances, it offered the only remaining means of salvation. He held it to be his duty to declare plainly and distinctly “that the meeting of the Council must take place for the cure of the present errors, the welfare of Christendom, the settlement of belief, the elevation of the Apostolic See, and the personal honour of your Holiness; failing this, no adequate course is open, and far greater are the evils contingent on the Council not taking place than those which, it is supposed, would accrue from its deliberations, for the present errors are many, various, and daily increas­ing in number.” Nor could the danger of the Turkish war be made a valid argument against the Council, for, on the contrary, it would afford the best means of uniting the whole of Christendom in effectual opposition to the infidels. Charles V therefore begged the Pope, in the most urgent terms, to sanction the summons of the Council as soon as possible, and to obtain the agreement of the other Christian sovereigns. In the meanwhile Clement might also consider what steps could be taken against the Lutherans. The Emperor accounted for his wish that the Council should be held near German territory on the ground that, in this way, the Lutherans would be deprived of any excuse for non attendance. Cueva reached Rome on the 15th of November, and on the following day he waited on the Pope together with the Imperial Ambassador. In addition to the letter already referred to, he presented a second touching the election of Ferdinand I. as King of the Romans, and a communication on Florentine affairs.

Clement VII sent an answer to Charles as early as the 18th of November, without at first committing himself definitely. He had so much confidence in the Emperor’s sympathy and discretion that he would like nothing better than to be guided by his advice entirely; but, as a matter of decorum, he must first consult the Cardinals; yet, seeing how important the matter was for Christendom in general, he would give a definite reply as soon as possible. Accordingly the deputation of Cardinals was summoned to meet on the 21st of November. The “pros” and “cons” were thoroughly considered. Opinions differed so greatly that the final vote was postponed until the 25th of November. The interval was made use of by the Imperialist Cardinals and envoys in trying to bring about a speedy decision favourable to the policy of Charles. At the second meeting of the deputation the Cardinals who shirked reform again brought forward the dangers involved in a Council; still, the majority were of opinion that the Emperor’s advice should be followed, since still greater dangers were to be expected if the Council did not take place; yet, if the presence of the Emperor were called for, that of the other Christian princes ought also to be invited.

On the 28th of November the Pope, who had still the gravest apprehensions, laid the matter before a secret Consistory, in which Cardinals Farnese, Monte, and Canisio spoke so warmly in favour of a Council that all the six-and-twenty Cardinals present gave their unanimous support.2 Nevertheless Loaysa, and with him Mai and Cueva, did not alter their opinion that the Pope and Cardinals shrank from a Council and were working against it. “If they now vote otherwise,” wrote Loaysa, “it is because they see that, in your Majesty’s opinion, all is lost if the Council is not held; they realize that the consequence of their’ rejection would be to offend all Christian people and especially your Majesty. These Cardinals in thus voting are acting like merchantmen, who fling their goods into the sea in order to save their own lives. With the exception of five or six, among whom is Monte in particular, I do not know one among them whose heart is really in the matter. So true is this, that although the Pope has said exactly what I have written, I am yet afraid that, under the condition of inviting the other princes to the Council, opportunities will be sought and made to hinder and destroy the objects which your Majesty, as the servant of God, is aiming at. The Pope is so astute and crafty that we shall only find this out when your Majesty comes yourself to recognize the impediment, and to say that the Council is impossible ; then the blame will not fall on the guilty party, but, with much greater probability, will be dealt out to the innocent.” On the other hand, there were those who believed that Clement really wished for a Council. One was the agent of the Duke of Mantua, to whom the Pope had spoken approvingly of Mantua as the place of assembly.

On the 30th of November the deputation of Cardinals was consulted on the form of the briefs to be addressed to the princes. Already, on the following day, the 1st of December, the work of composing and despatching them began. On the 6th of December the Pope sent a brief communication to the Emperor that he had written to the princes, and had made up his mind to conform his opinion to that of Charles. Even Loaysa’s unfavourable view of Clement underwent a change.

For the purpose of closer verbal communication, Clement sent Uberto da Gambara, Bishop of Tortona, to the Emperor, in place of Nicolas von Schonberg, Archbishop of Capua, originally nominated for the mission, but prevented by illness from making the journey. In his instructions, drawn up by Cardinal Cajetan, the objec­tions to the Council, which the envoy was once more to lay before the Emperor in the name of the Pope and the Cardinals, held a special place. They were six in number. If the heretics were allowed to raise fresh disputations concerning their errors, already condemned by several councils, a bad and dangerous precedent would be established; but if they were forbidden discussion they would complain that they had been condemned unheard, and, while repudiating the decrees of the Council, would adhere more closely to their errors. If they refused to acknowledge the authority of previous councils what ground was there for the hope that they would submit to the forthcoming one? But, this being so, the situation would be changed very much for the worse if conciliar decrees were to be passed which could not be put into execution. The Protestants would stand by the letter of the Bible, and, rejecting the authority of councils and fathers, refuse to be convinced with the obstinacy habitual in heretics. The whole conduct of the heretics at the Diet of Augsburg showed that in their demand for a Council, they were only carrying out their intention of persisting in their tenets up to the moment of its summons and decisions, in the hope that in this way much time would be consumed and that eventually the Council might be dissolved without coming to any general decision. If, as might easily happen, the old controversy as to the supremacy of the Pope or Council were to be revived, a schism might thus be brought about and great injury would be inflicted on the authority of the Emperor as well as on that of the Pope. It was open to question whether the other princes would attend a Council held under the protection of the Imperial power, while, on the other hand, the Pope could only preside if that protection were given. The dangers arising from the Turks, and the objections put forward on this score, were also urged for further consideration. Gambara, who had left Rome on the 30th of December 1530, reached Aix on the 15th of January 1531, just as Charles V was taking farewell of his brother Ferdinand, and preparing to begin his journey into the Netherlands; on the 16th or 17th of January, in Liege, he had the first opportunity of speaking to the Emperor; he handed him the Pope’s letter and unfolded to him his objections in accordance with his instructions.

It is impossible to say definitely whether, on the occasion of this interview, Gambara also laid before the Emperor the five conditions attached by Clement to the convening of the Council, or whether this took place at some other time. These five conditions were: (1) The Council was to be summoned and held only for the discussion of the affairs of the Turkish war, the reconciliation of the Lutherans, the extirpation of heresies, and the adequate punishment of the contumacious. (2) The Emperor was to attend the Council in person from its beginning to its end, and on his departure the sessions were to terminate. (3) The Council was to be held in Italy and nowhere else, the Pope nominating beforehand a city for its seat. (4) Those only to have a decisive vote who were canonically qualified. (5) The Lutherans were to sue formally before the Council and to send their plenipotentiaries with proper mandates, a course which appeared to be of great use towards facilitating their safe return.

The effect of Clement’s present mood, who, during the deliberations with the Cardinals in November 1530, was prepared to carry out the Emperor’s wishes in reliance on the latter’s friendly dispositions, was to throw the responsibility of a decision entirely on Charles. If he gave a favourable reply and accepted the conditions, then without doubt the speedy summons of the Council would have been decided on.

But it was now the Emperor who, by his delay in sending the anxiously expected answer to Rome, hindered the further progress of affairs. It was not until the 4th of April 1531 that Charles, who was then in Brussels, caused his reply to be made known to the Legate, Cardinal Campeggio, and to the Bishops Gambara and Girolamo de Schio in Ghent through Covos and Granvelle. He had, as he here explains, first informed his brother Ferdinand of the hindrances and objections to a Council as set forth by Gambara, and by Ferdinand they were to be made known to the other Catholic princes of Germany. The result of their consultation was that the princes declared themselves “bound by their former determination, and that no other adequate method of healing the existing disorders was to be found except in the Council; even if the matters to which the Pope had called attention were of great importance and significance, yet it appeared to them that neither the existing errors nor those to be looked for in the future could be met by any other means; nor had the evils in question reached such a pitch as to justify the abandonment of the Council.” Charles showed less discernment in thinking that it was necessary to sound Francis I beforehand on his opinion with regard to the Council.

Charles V, as well as the Pope, had allowed himself to be deceived for a while as to the real sentiments of his wily adversary by the letter written by Francis to Clement VII on the 21st of November 1530, and communicated in December to the Emperor at Mayence. The French King’s policy had been directed unfalteringly to frustrating a Council which was to heal the disunion in the German Empire. In his letter he seemed to proclaim his thorough good-will towards such a project, but he expressed himself in such a way that, in the event of the Council becoming a serious probability, many pretexts should remain open to him whereby he might yet nullify the action of that assembly. But when the letter was read in Consistory on the 5th of December 1530, such an impression was made that the Pope and Cardinals were filled with joy and thanked God that the two greatest rulers were now of one mind on this weighty topic. On the 13th of December, Clement wrote a letter of thanks to Francis, full of lavish praise for having shown himself worthy of the title of “most Christian King.” Trusting to the present sincerity of Francis, Charles sent to him, on the 1st of February 1531, Louis de Praet to inquire of him how he stood with regard to the question of the Council. Francis kept the Emperor waiting two months for an answer; when at last it was received at Ghent, on the 28th of March, it was seen to contain the demand that the agreement of all princes to the Council should first be invited, and that for this object a convention should be held at Rome to which all Christian kings and princes should send their representatives. “That,” wrote Loaysa to the Emperor, when the terms of this answer were made known in Rome on the 14th of April, “makes the Council quite impossible and shows a determination that it shall not take place.” The further negotiations of Charles with the King had also no better success.

The Emperor, in the answer already mentioned, which was at length given to the Papal Ambassador on the 4th of April, accounted for the long delay, for which he was not to be blamed, on the ground of his previous negotiations with Francis I., and announced that he left it to the Pope to make a final decision, with the petition that the latter would avoid the scandal which must be expected if the Council were delayed; he gave his assurances that the Pope might count upon him and his brother Ferdinand. At the same time, Covos and Granvelle gave the Emperor’s answer touching the five conditions under which the Council was to be summoned. On the first point the Emperor remarked that, in order to safeguard the procedure hitherto observed in the Holy Councils and strictly regulated by law, as well as to obviate any opportunity for depreciating or calumniating a Council held under such limitations, it seemed to be more fitting that it should be summoned simply and without restrictions. Having been summoned, the Pope could then decide what matters were to be brought forward and dealt with. To the second condition the Emperor assented, and, putting his own affairs in the background, promised to attend the Council so long as this was deemed to be conducive to favourable results. As to the seat of the Council, he expressed himself as personally satisfied with all the cities proposed by the Pope, but the German princes and others of that nation asked for Mantua or Milan. On the fourth point, the Emperor observed that the laws and usages of the Holy Councils must be observed in accordance with former precedents. The fifth condition had been already dropped by the Bishop of Tortona himself. The Emperor added that there was, besides, no object in disputing with the heretics in cases of recognized contumacy.

Gambara, on the receipt of this answer, should, in accordance with the Emperor’s intentions, have left immediately for Rome, but he wished to speak with the latter once more on the affair of the Council. He went to him at Brussels, Charles having deferred his journey from thence to Ghent, from which former place, on the 19th of April, he was dismissed, after an interview, with a letter for the Pope. At the same time, Gambara had drawn up, while in Brussels, for the Imperial Council a counter document to the Emperor’s reply on the five conditions; he explained, in particular, how much better it would be to restrict the synod to a definite task than to assign to it an entirely general purview.

When the Emperor’s answer was at last received in Rome, it was understood that the strange delay was not due to him, but that the obstacle standing in the way of the Council was Francis I., and that all efforts were unavailing if it proved impossible to bring that monarch to another mind. Clement VII therefore agreed that the Emperor should continue his negotiations through Louis de Praet, and wrote himself to the Nuncio in France, Cesare Trivulzio, as to the methods for winning Francis. He also conceded to the Kings of England and France, who were preparing to raise difficulties about the seat of the Council, that to Milan and Mantua, already proposed by the Emperor, the choice of Piacenza and Bologna should be added, places to which no objection could be taken.

On the 25th of April 1531, Clement VII wrote to the Emperor that if the consent of the French King were procured, he would summon the Council at once; but if Francis were unwilling or made difficulties it would be better to refrain, since a Council held in the face of disagreement between two such sovereigns would only embolden the Lutherans to be more obstinate. At the same, time the Pope, through Salviati, informed the Legate Campeggio of the deliberations in Consistory. The Cardinals were determined that the Council should not be summoned for general purposes, but with the specific object of dealing with matters of belief and the Turkish war. Moreover, the Cardinals, dissatisfied with the general terms of Charles’s announcement, wished him to give a direct promise that he would assist at the Council throughout its entire duration, and they requested that the fifth point, too easily granted by Gambara, that the Lutherans should be represented, should be again withdrawn. If the Emperor made these concessions and the King of France agreed to its summons, then the Council would take place. But if Francis (and Henry VIII) were not willing, then it would be better that the Council should fall through and no more time be wasted, and other steps taken to restore order in Germany, either by the Emperor endeavouring to suppress Lutheranism by force, in which case the Pope would assist him with all the means in his power, or by trying to bring them back to obedience by means of Confessions of Faith stated in terms not detrimental to Catholic belief. These letters were so long on the way that Campeggio could not discuss them with the Emperor before the 5th of June, and then without making any progress, for the latter was stubborn in his determination regarding the summons of the Council and his own attendance at it. At the same time, he was informed by Charles that an answer had come from the King of France which was even more unfavourable than his previous communication on the subject.

Gambara returned from his mission on the 13th of May, and gave a full report to the Pope. Four days later Cardinal Gramont, whose coming was eagerly desired, arrived; on his instructions the fate of the Council depended. Unfortunately, they no longer left it doubtful that Francis was determined to thwart the general assembly of the Church. He would never consent in any way to the Council, unless it were held in Turin and he present in person. If the Emperor also wished to attend, well and good, but in that case each of them must be attended by an equal number of armed men. To the question of Clement VII.: Why then did the king object to Piacenza or Bologna? Gramont answered, because His Majesty did not wish to travel through the Duchy of Milan if it did not belong to him. To the Pope’s further remark that it was not really necessary that Francis should be present in person, and that he could send a representative in his name, Gramont rejoined that that was impossible. The Emperor must not suppose that he can lay down laws for the French. That Clement VII was not in any underhand way connected with this French policy, as has often been asserted without proof, is shown also by Salviati’s letter of the 31st of July 1531 to Campeggio on the subject of French practices.

On the 23rd of June Charles V informed Campeggio that he intended to assemble a new Diet before his return to Spain. He expressed, indeed, a doubt whether he would be able in this way to produce any effect on the obstinate Lutherans; but he wished to hold the Diet, for he had promised at Augsburg that the Council should be held, and the latter was still a remote contingency. On the question of the Council the Emperor held out the prospect of an answer at a later date; this was presented to the Legate by Covos and Granvelle on the 17th of July, and on the 27th it was forwarded to Rome with a letter from the Emperor. Charles expressed his displeasure at the hindrances always being raised against the Council; he did not fail to recognize their importance, but begged that the Pope would persevere in his efforts to remove them, since he knew of no other remedy than a Council. He would soon visit Germany in person and exert himself to the same end. Other expressions of the Emperor showed that at this time he very strongly suspected that the Pope was in secret understanding with the French policy of obstruction. This suspicion was nourished by the French proposal for a marriage between Catherine de’ Medici, Clement’s niece, and the second son of King Francis, Henry, Duke of Orleans, by which alliance the French King thought to draw the Pope over to his side. But on this occasion even Loaysa, who in prior circumstances had spoken his mind so sharply, defended Clement’s sincerity against the suspicions of Charles V in letters of the 9th of June and the 26th of July. Loaysa also informed the Emperor that the arrangement of this marriage, so far as it depended on the Pope, was not by any means an accomplished fact.

The responsibility for the failure of the Council under Clement VII. falls undoubtedly in the first instance on Francis I. But it certainly was a great mistake on the part of the Pope to have been drawn into negotiations with the King of such a kind that he was bound to incur the suspicion of complicity with Francis in this question. In any case the prospects grew worse and worse, so that even Loaysa wrote to the Emperor, on the 12th of September, that he could only entreat him a thousand times “to withdraw as soon as possible from this dark undertaking, the Council; for on many grounds,” he went on to say, “which are clear to me, I see no advantage in it for your Majesty, and what has hitherto taken place has only brought you harm. Your intentions could not be better; ... but since you perceive plainly that you are here opposed by envy and pusillanimity, rest satisfied with having secured the favour of God, and lead your affairs some other way by which you will quicker attain your own advantage; the blame of having abandoned the good which you might have done will fall on others to their condemnation, while your glory will remain unimpaired.”

The communication to Clement of the Emperor’s intention of holding a Diet at Spires on his return to Germany was received by the former with joy, which found expression in his letters to Charles on the 24th and 26th of July. In the latter he even assented to certain concessions being made to the heretics in Germany, if there were good hopes that by this means their obedience could be secured, in order that undivided attention might be given to the Turkish question. The Legate Campeggio held other views on the latter point. Having had opportunities of studying events close at hand, he could not discard his opinion that armed force, and armed force alone, was the only method to pursue with the heretics.

The Pope was inclined to give way on three particular points: communion under both kinds; the marriage of the clergy as practised by the Greeks; and, further, that in respect of the transgression of ecclesiastical ordinances, only that which was forbidden de jure divino was to be looked upon as mortal sin. Cajetan was especially in favour of an agreement based on such far-reaching terms, while other Cardinals were opposed to it.

In the Consistory of the nth of August 1531 it was determined that a special Nuncio should be sent to the Diet. A resolution was passed that the Pope should apply himself to the removal of the hindrances which stood in the way of the meeting of the Council. At the end of August, Aleander, who had been nominated Nuncio by the Pope, left Rome with Briefs for the Emperor, King Ferdinand, and other temporal and spiritual princes of the Empire. In his Brief to the Emperor, Clement VII spoke especially of his wish, on which point the Nuncio also had received full instructions, to support Charles in his good intentions concerning the Council. In another letter to the Emperor, which reached Aleander when he was already on his way, Clement recommended special caution in the contingency of any concessions being made; if the Emperor were convinced of the necessity of such concessions, in order to avoid greater evils, he must take care that they were not entered into recklessly, for otherwise scandal might be given to the rest of Christendom. Charles must make such a settlement in Germany as should render a return to the former disorders impossible. Moreover, any concessions allowed to the Germans must be of such a character as not to give an impetus to other nations to make similar demands for themselves.

As the Diet appointed to be held at Spires was postponed and transferred to Regensburg at a later date, Aleander at once betook himself to the Netherlands to meet the Emperor, to whom he presented the Papal messages at Brussels on the 6th of November 1531. On the 14th Aleander had a long interview with the Emperor, to whom he read the Brief. To the expressions of the Pope relating to the Council, Charles observed that he “thanked God that his Holiness kept true to his promise and gave the lie to those who asserted that he wished with heart and soul to be rid of the Council.” Aleander replied that the Pope had no wish to be rid of it, if only it could be held in a befitting manner; that is, if Charles, before all things, were always present in person, as were the Emperors of old at oecumenical councils; if, further, there were solid grounds for hoping that the Lutherans would consent and return to the bosom of the Church, that no other schism with Catholic nations arose, as would happen if France, England, and Scotland did not join, and finally, that a good and holy reformation of the whole Church of God in head and members would be taken in hand. To this the Emperor replied that the Pope’s first hope was well grounded ; that, on the other hand, the fear of a schism had no foundation ; with the desire for a reformation he was in entire agreement—the laity, indeed, stood in need of one themselves.

On the 18th of November 1531 the report reached Rome that the Elector of Saxony had become reconciled and had ordered the restoration of Catholicism throughout his territories. As this astonishing announcement came from the Imperial Court, it obtained credence with Clement. But subsequently it proved just as fallacious as the other numerous reports of Lutheran advances towards the Church, which were occasioned not a little by the vacil­lating and often ambiguous attitude of Melanchthon. Clement VII. in his hours of weakness gave only too ready an ear to such fantastic rumours. In the beginning of May 1532 Clement VII again wrote to the Emperor that the Council must in any case be held, and that he was straining every nerve to ensure its assembling, only the consent of the French King must be obtained, for without that it might lead to results contrary to those hoped for.

In the meantime the Protestants in Germany had created a strong political organization. This was the League of Schmalkald, formed in February 1531. Confident of their strength, they not only let the term allowed for their submission (15th April 1531) by the decree of Augsburg to pass by, but they also refused to give any help to the Emperor in his struggle with the Turks, now a serious menace to Austria and Hungary. Thus, at the opening of the Diet of Regensburg, on the 17th of April 1532, Charles found himself compelled to enter on fresh negotiations. In these Campeggio, who had come in the Emperor’s suite, took a part. The reports of the small attendance of princes at Regensburg had from the first the most depressing effect on the hopes aroused at Rome on this occasion.

In his crying need for help against the Turks, Charles was prepared to make extraordinary concessions to the Protestants. He was strengthened in this resolve by his fear lest the latter should put their threats into execution and turn their arms against the Catholics during an attack of the infidels. Even in Rome this danger was fully understood. Consequently Clement VII, as Muscettola relates, urged the Emperor, in March, to persevere in his negotiations with the Protestants: if he could not get all that he wished, he might at least get what was then prac­ticable, so that, if the Turks should come, they would be met by a resistance not in any way weakened by the dissensions of Germany; although their opponents were Lutherans, they were yet, for all that, Christians. It is clear from a report of Muscettola, of the 19th of April, that efforts were being made at Rome at this time to find some via media whereby the German troubles might be disposed of.

When the Papal Nuncio became aware of the Emperor’s negotiations with the Protestants for a temporary religious peace, he gave way to an outburst of indigna­tion. Campeggio, who, on other occasions, in opposition to Aleander, had advocated a policy of procrastination, was now entirely at one with his colleague. On the 1st of June he presented a memorial to the Emperor in which he pronounced the concessions offered to the heretics, especially the permission to adhere to the Augsburg Confession until the next Council should meet, to be pernicious in the highest degree; he also objected that no express statement about the Council had been made to the effect that it was to be held in conformity with the ancient oecumenical councils, and that submission to its decrees was to be promised. By the agreement as proposed, so Campeggio declared, the return of the erring would be made more difficult and the path of the Protestants’ advance more easy.

In spite of this urgent warning, the Emperor, taking into consideration the invasion of Hungary by the Turks, guaranteed his toleration to the members of the Schmalkaldic League, as well as to Brandenburg-Culmbach, and the cities of Nuremberg and Hamburg, to the greatest portion, that is to say, although not to all, of the Protestant Estates, until the next general, free, Christian Council as decided on by the Diet of Nuremberg.” He added that he would devote all his energy to having the Council summoned within six months and held within a year from then; should circumstances turn out to the contrary, a fresh Diet would be assembled to deliberate. These ample concessions were not made, however, on the authority of the Empire; the Emperor guaranteed them on his own personal responsibility. Of this agreement he only laid before the Estates at Regensburg the stipulation concerning the Council. This gave rise to heated debate; the Catholic Estates, under the influence of the Bavarian Chancellor, Eck, an old enemy of the house of Hapsburg, demanded a Council with unwonted vehemence, and cast upon the Emperor the blame for its delay. They even went so far as to abandon the Catholic standpoint altogether and to call upon the Emperor, if the Pope did not soon summon the Council, to exercise his Imperial authority by convoking one, or, at least, a council of the German nation.

Charles informed the Estates that the delay in holding a Council was not to be attributed to the Pope, but to the King of France, from whom, regardless of all the letters and embassies sent to him, no agreement could be obtained either regarding its character or the place where it should be held. He would do all in his power to urge the Pope to send out his summons within six months and to hold the Council within a year. Failing this, he would convene a fresh Diet, lay before the Estates the causes of the delay, and take counsel with them as to the best means of relieving the pressing needs of the whole German people, whether by a Council or by other means, and in a decisive way. To the suggestion that he should call a Council on his own responsibility, the Emperor declined to listen, as it was not any affair of his.

In Rome, as in Germany, opinion as to the policy to be pursued towards the Protestants was much divided. It seems that Clement personally, confronted with the appal­ling danger threatening Christendom from the Turks, was in agreement with the Emperor’s policy of indulgence. Aleander therefore from the first had pledged himself to the Pope to refrain from any approval of the religious compromise and to recommend complete neutrality on this very delicate question. Clement VII, on his part, abstained from any express approval of the pacification of Nuremberg, which was followed by the participation of the Protestants in the war of the Empire against the Turks.