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The Council of Trent had accomplished the work for which it was
called. Though it failed to extinguish the rising flames of heresy or
to restore peace to the Christian world, it had swept away most of the
glaring abuses that had proved the main source of Luther's success,
and rendered impossible for the future any misunderstanding about the
doctrines that had been called in question. The Catholic Church,
purified by the severe trials through which she had passed, stood forth
once again active and united under the leadership of the Successor of
St. Peter, still face to face it is true with a powerful
opposition, but an opposition on which the disintegrating influence of
private judgment was already making itself felt. Thus the foundations
of the great Catholic Counter-Reformation were laid securely, and a
movement was begun which stayed the further advance of Protestantism,
secured the allegiance of individuals and nations that were wavering,
and won back many who had been seduced from the faith during the early
days of the religious upheaval.
But if the labours of the Fathers of Trent were to be productive of
the good results that might be anticipated, earnest, religious,
energetic Popes were required to give a lead to their spiritual
children, whose courage had been damped by over thirty years of almost
uninterrupted defeats, to put into force the valuable reforms that had
been planned with such minute care, and above all to make the court and
city of Rome an example for the princes and people of the world.
Here, again, the providence of God watching over His Church was
manifested in a striking manner. Pius IV deserves to be remembered
with gratitude by all future generations for the part that he took in
bringing to a successful conclusion the Council of Trent in face of
almost insuperable difficulties, for having taken such energetic and
withal such prudent action to secure the acceptance of its decrees and
their reduction into practice, and for having given to Rome and to the
Catholic Church so gifted, so saintly, and so disinterested an
ecclesiastic as his nephew, the Cardinal-Archbishop of Milan,
St. Charles Borromeo.
On the death of Pius IV the conclave, mainly through the
exertions of Cardinal Borromeo, elected Cardinal Ghisleri, who
took the title of Pius V[106] (1566-72) in memory of his
predecessor. In his youth the future Pope joined the Order of St.
Dominic, and for years had acted as professor of theology, master of
novices, and prior. He was noted specially for his simplicity and
holiness of life, a holiness which it may be remarked had nothing in
common with the morose rigour of Paul IV, for his humility, his
love of silence and meditation, and for his kindness towards the poor
and the suffering. As a man of good education and of conservative
tendencies he was summoned to assist Cardinal Caraffa, then president
of the Holy Office, and when the latter became Pope he was created
cardinal and appointed Grand Inquisitor. After his election Pius
V followed still the strict life of fasting and prayer to which he
had been accustomed as a Dominican friar. He did not seek to create
positions, or to carve out estates from the papal territories for his
relatives. Anxious to promote the temporal as well as the spiritual
welfare of the people in his temporal dominions he took steps to see
that justice was meted out to poor and rich, banished women of loose
character from the streets, put an end to degrading amusements,
enforced the observance of the Sunday, and, backed by St. Charles
Borromeo and the princes of Italy, he changed the whole face of the
capital and the country. Rome was no longer the half-pagan city of
the days of Leo X, nor yet did it partake of the savage rigour of
Geneva.
Pius V was most anxious to enforce the decrees of Trent, and it
was for the accomplishment of this object that he had prepared for the
instruction of pastors the Catechism of the Council of Trent. In
compliance with the wishes of the bishops he published also a revised
edition of the Roman Breviary and of the Missal. With the Catholic
princes of Europe he maintained very friendly relations. He furnished
supplies to Charles IX of France in his struggle with the
Huguenots, and to Philip II of Spain in his wars against the
Calvinists of the Netherlands. He encouraged the Emperor,
Ferdinand I, and Maximilian of Bavaria to stand firm against the
further encroachments of the Lutherans, and sympathised actively with
the unfortunate Queen of Scotland. Having realised that Queen
Elizabeth was lost hopelessly to the Church and that she was making
every effort to involve the whole English nation in heresy, he
directed against her a Bull of excommunication and deposition. But
though he endeavoured to cultivate friendly relations with the Catholic
rulers he had no intention of abandoning the rights of the Church or of
yielding in the slightest to the increasing demands of the civil power.
Against the wishes of some of his advisers and to the no small
annoyance of the Catholic princes he republished the Bull, known as
the "In Coena Domini", because he commanded that it should be read
in all churches on Holy Thursday.
Like his great namesake Pius II he had especially at heart the
defence of Europe against invasion by the Turk. Owing to the
religious controversies and the eagerness of some of the princes to ally
themselves with the Sultan the followers of Islam had grown bolder,
and had shown that they dreamed still of overcoming Western Europe and
of planting the crescent even in the very city of the Popes. Pius
V appealed to the rulers of Europe to close up their ranks against
their common enemy. He granted generous subsidies to the Knights of
Malta and the rulers of Venice and Hungary upon whom the brunt of the
struggle must inevitably fall. When on the accession of Selim II
in 1570 the danger was pressing, the Pope succeeded in bringing
about a Christian confederacy composed of Spain, Venice, and the
Papal States with Don Juan of Austria in command of the Christian
forces. For the success of the enterprise the Pope ordered that
public prayers and particularly the Rosary should be recited in the
churches throughout the world. The decisive struggle between the two
forces, as a result of which the Turkish fleet was almost completely
annihilated, was fought in the Bay of Lepanto on Sunday, 7th
October 1571.[107] In memory of this great victory the Pope
instituted the Feast of the Holy Rosary to be celebrated for ever on
the first Sunday of October. While he was engaged in making
arrangements to follow up his success by driving the Turks beyond the
Bosphorus he was called to his reward. Even by his contemporaries
Pius V was regarded as a saint. It is not to be wondered at,
therefore, that one hundred years after his death he was beatified,
and forty years later, in 1712, he was canonised formally by
Clement XI.
When the cardinals met in conclave, mainly by the intervention of
Cardinal Granvelle, viceroy of Philip II in Naples, Cardinal
Buoncompagni was elected almost immediately, and proclaimed under the
title of Gregory XIII (1572-85). He had been a
distinguished student and professor of law at the University of
Bologna, where he had the honour of having as his pupils many of the
ablest ecclesiastics of the age. Later on he was sent as confidential
secretary to the Council of Trent. On his return from this assembly
he was created cardinal, and appointed papal legate in Spain. At the
time of his election to the Papacy he had reached his seventieth year.
As a young man his life was not blameless from the point of view of
morality, but after he became a priest nothing could be urged against
his conduct even by his worst enemies. Though it must be admitted that
he was not of such an ascetic and spiritual temperament as his
predecessor, he was a man of irreproachable character, not over
anxious to promote his own relatives, and determined to strengthen the
Catholic Church by raising the standard of education and by appointing
to the episcopate none but the most worthy ecclesiastics. Hence he
drew lavishly upon the funds of the Holy See to erect Catholic
Colleges in Rome and in several countries of Europe. He founded the
magnificent "Collegium Romanum" for the education of students from
all parts of the world, and placed it under the administration of the
Jesuits, in whom he reposed the most signal confidence. As the
circumstances that led to the establishment of the "Collegium
Germanicum" had not improved, he conferred on it more generous
endowments, and united it later on with the college which he had
founded for the Hungarians. Owing to the persecutions in England and
Ireland and the suppression of institutions for the education of the
clergy, Gregory XIII founded an English College (1579)
and provided funds for the erection of an Irish College. The money
intended for this latter institution was spent in assisting the Irish
in their wars against Elizabeth. In addition to this, more than
twenty colleges situated in various parts of Europe, amongst them
being the Scotch College at Pont-a-Mousson, owe their origin in
whole or in part to his munificence. He was, also, very determined
that none but the most worthy men should be appointed to episcopal
sees, and with this object in view he took pains to inquire personally
about the merits of distinguished ecclesiastics in each country, and to
prepare lists of them for use as vacancies might arise. He was equally
careful in the appointments which he made to the college of cardinals.
In order to keep touch with the progress of affairs in Germany he
established a nunciature at Vienna in 1581, and another at
Cologne in the following year. The results of this experiment were so
successful that in a short time nunciatures were established in nearly
all the Catholic countries.[108]
Like his predecessor he was determined to continue the war against the
Turks, but the circumstances were unfavourable in France and in the
Empire, while Venice and Spain, the former allies of the Holy
See, concluded peace with the Sultan. In England and Ireland
neither by peaceful measures nor by the expeditions fitted out by him in
connexion with the Desmond Rebellion was he able to achieve any
lasting results. His legates succeeded in inducing John III of
Sweden to abjure heresy and to return to the bosom of the Catholic
Church, but, unfortunately, the conversion lasted only until
political circumstances demanded another change. In Russia his
representatives arranged a peace with Poland, and put an end for the
time to any active persecution of Catholicism within the Russian
dominions.[109] In all parts of Europe, where Catholic rulers
found themselves in difficulties, subsidies were sent by Gregory
XIII to their assistance. Charles IX in France, Philip
II of Spain, Austria, the Knights of Malta, and the
Catholics of England and Ireland shared largely in his munificence.
He issued a new edition of the Roman Martyrology in 1584, and
directed that it should be used to the exclusion of all others. His
predecessor had appointed a committee of jurists to prepare a revised
edition of the Decrees of Gratian. He had been a member of that
commission, and as Pope he brought the work to a successful
conclusion. But the achievement for which he will be best remembered
is undoubtedly the Gregorian Calendar. The errors of the calendar
had been noticed by many, but how to correct them and prevent them for
the future was the problem that was still unsolved. Gregory XIII
appointed a body of experts to examine the subject, the most prominent
of whom were the Jesuit Father Clavius and Cardinal Sirleto. The
committee had the advantage of having before them the papers of the
Italian scientist, Lilius, and the suggestions of the Catholic
universities. In 1582 the Gregorian Calendar was published, and
was accepted generally in all the Catholic countries of Europe. But
for a long time the Protestant countries, believing that nothing good
could come from Rome, remained attached to the old style. It was
only in 1700 that the Gregorian Calendar was accepted in Germany
and Holland, and at a still later period (1752) England
consented to the change. The following year Sweden followed suit,
and by 1775 the use of the new calendar had become general outside
Russia and the other countries involved in the Eastern schism, in
which the old style is followed till the present day.
The immense sums expended by Gregory XIII in endowing colleges
and subsidising Catholic sovereigns proved too great a strain on the
resources of the papal treasury. To raise funds the Pope was obliged
to increase the taxes, to impose tariffs on imports and exports, to
curtail the privileges of certain sections of his subjects, and to
recall many of the fiefs granted to feudal proprietors. These measures
led to grave discontent among all classes. Secret societies were
formed, in which the dispossessed nobles encouraged their poorer
followers to acts of violence. Robber bands led by some of the younger
barons made their appearance in all parts of the Papal States, so
that even in the very streets of Rome the lives of the papal officials
were not secure. Gregory XIII was too old to cope with such a
serious situation. Before order could be restored he passed away
leaving his successor a very difficult task.
After a conclave lasting only four days Cardinal Felice Peretti,
better known as the Cardinal di Montalto, secured the required
majority of votes, and ascended the papal throne under the name of
Sixtus V[110] (1585-90). He belonged to a very poor
family in Italy, had joined the Franciscans as a boy, and had risen
from office to office till at last in 1570 he was created cardinal.
At the time of his election he was practically unknown, partly because
he was not a scion of one of the leading families of Italy, partly,
also, because during the reign of Gregory XIII with whom he was
in disagreement he lived a retired life, devoting himself almost
completely to the preparation of an edition of the works of St.
Ambrose. Throughout the Catholic world the news of his elevation was
received with joy. He was a man of strict life and tireless activity,
more inclined to act than to speak, unwilling to burthen his spiritual
or temporal subjects with new laws, but fully determined to enforce
those already made, and almost unchangeable in his views once his
decision had been given.
The restoration of order in the Papal States and the suppression of
the robbers who terrorised peaceful citizens were the first work to
which he directed his attention. Nor was it long till the severe and
almost extreme measures he adopted, and in which he was supported by
the Italian princes, produced their effect. The bankrupt condition
of the papal treasury necessitated a close revision of the papal
finances, and so well did Sixtus V succeed in this respect that he
was able to bequeath to his successor immense reserves. Though very
careful about expenditure for his own uses or on the papal court he
spent money freely on the erection and decoration of churches, and on
the improvement of the city of Rome. He extended the Vatican
Library, in connexion with which he established a new
printing-press, provided a good water supply ("Acqua Felice"),
built the Lateran Palace, completed the Quirinal, restored the
columns of Trajan and Antoninus, erected the obelisks of the
Vatican, St. Mary Major, the Lateran and Santa Maria del
Popolo, and built several new streets to beautify the city and to
prevent congestion.
His administrative ability manifested itself in the establishment of
various congregations, to each of which was committed some particular
department of work in the administration of the Church and of the
Papal States. Hitherto most of this work had been done by the
"auditores" or the "penitentiarii" according as it belonged to the
external or internal forum, or else in consistories of the cardinals.
The idea of Sixtus V was not entirely a novel one. The
Congregation of the Index (1571) and the Holy Office
(1588) had been established already, as also a commission to
watch over the execution of the decrees of the Council of Trent
(1564). By the Bull, "Immensa Aeterni Dei"[111] (11th
Feb. 1588) Sixtus V established fifteen different
congregations, the most important of which were the Congregation of
the Index, of the Inquisition, of the Signatura, of the Council
of Trent, of Rites and Ceremonies, and of Bishops and Regulars.
By means of these various bodies the work was done better and more
expeditiously without impairing in the slightest the authority of the
Pope. In 1586 he issued the Bull, "Postquam verus" by which
he fixed the number of cardinals at seventy, namely, six
cardinal-bishops, fifty cardinal-priests and fourteen
cardinal-deacons. He had prepared and published a new edition of the
Septuagint (1588) as a preparation for the revised edition of the
Vulgate, which was brought out later, and was of so faulty a
character that it was necessary to withdraw it from circulation.
Sixtus V had great hopes of inducing the princes of Europe to form
an alliance against the Turks, and, indeed, it was with a view to
some such struggle that he laid aside such immense reserves, but his
hopes were doomed to disappointment. In England no progress could be
made, more especially as the defeat of the Spanish Armada served only
to strengthen the throne of Elizabeth. The condition of affairs in
France was calculated to cause the Pope great anxiety. The murder of
the Catholic leaders and the alliance of Henry III with the
Calvinist King of Navarre compelled the Pope to espouse warmly the
cause of Spain and the League. But towards the end of his reign
Sixtus V began to realise that Spain's intervention in favour of
the League was not nearly so disinterested as it might seem, and that
the aim of Spanish statesmen was the union of the two countries in one
great empire, an event which, were it to come to pass, might be as
dangerous for the Holy See as for the succession of Henry of
Navarre. He was, therefore, more inclined to compromise than to
fight.
After the death of Urban VII, Gregory XIV, and Innocent
X, who followed one another in rapid succession, a large number of
the cardinals, determined to put an end to the dominating influence of
Spain, put forward as the candidate of their choice Cardinal
Aldobrandini, whose election had been vetoed twice before by the
Spanish representatives. Notwithstanding the opposition of Spain
they succeeded in their effort, and Cardinal Aldobrandini was
proclaimed under the title of Clement VIII[112]
(1592-1605). The character of the new Pope both as a man
and an ecclesiastic was beyond the shadow of reproach. He was the
special disciple and friend of St. Philip Neri who acted as his
confessor for thirty years. As Pope his choice of a confessor fell
upon the learned and saintly Baronius whom he insisted upon creating
cardinal. His activity and zeal were manifested soon in the visitation
which he undertook of the churches and institutions of Rome, and
during the course of which he suppressed many abuses.
The situation in France was sufficiently delicate. Henry IV was
beginning to recognise that notwithstanding his victories he could never
reign as a Calvinist over a united France. Clement VIII was
very decidedly in favour of a solution that would put an end to the war
and would prevent France from degenerating into a Spanish province.
Hence as soon as the conversion of Henry IV was proved to be
genuine the Pope acknowledged his title as king of France, and
exhorted French Catholics to receive him as their ruler. Such a
course of action was of necessity displeasing to Spain, but a few
years later the Pope had the happiness of putting an end to the
struggle between these two countries. During his term of office
Clement VIII founded at Rome a national college for providing
priests for the mission in Scotland, issued a revised edition of the
Vulgate (1598), of the Breviary, the Missal, the
Caerimonial and the Pontifical, and instituted the "Congregatio de
Auxilis" to investigate the matters in dispute between the Thomists
and the Molinists. He presided personally at many of its sessions
though he never issued a definite sentence. It was also during his
reign that the infamous ex-monk Giordano Bruno was condemned by the
Inquisition, handed over to the secular power, and burned at the
stake (17th Feb. 1600). In his youth Giordano joined the
Dominicans, from which order he fled because definite charges of
heresy, the truth of which he could not deny, were brought against
him. Later on he was excommunicated by the Calvinists of Geneva and
the Lutherans of Germany, and refused permission to lecture by the
professors of Oxford when he visited that seat of learning. Many of
his writings are strongly anti-Christian, and some of them thoroughly
indecent. He was condemned to die solely on account of his denial of
the Divinity of Christ and other heretical views and not, as is said
by some, because he defended the Copernican system.[113]
Leo XI succeeded, but survived his election less than a month.
The choice of the conclave then fell upon Cardinal Borghese who took
as his title Paul V[114] (1605-21). He had been a
distinguished law student of Bologna and Padua, a papal legate in
Spain, and under Clement VIII cardinal-vicar of Rome. He
was a man of great energy and zealous for the promotion of religion.
During his reign he canonised St. Charles Borromeo and issued a
decree of beatification in favour of Ignatius of Loyola, Francis
Xavier, and Philip Neri, provided generous subsidies for the
advancement of the missions, endeavoured to bring about a re-union
with some of the separated religious bodies of the East, and spent
money freely on the decoration of the Roman churches, notably St.
Peter's, which he had the honour of completing. Like his
predecessors he was desirous of continuing the war against the Turks,
but the state of affairs in western Europe rendered such a scheme
impossible of realisation. With France and Spain he preserved
friendly relations, tried to put an end to the rivalries that weakened
the House of Habsburg and the Catholic cause in the Empire, and
despatched supplies of both men and money to the assistance of
Ferdinand II in his struggle with the Protestants. He wrote to
James I of England (1606) congratulating him on his accession
and his escape from death and asking for toleration of the Catholic
religion, in return for which he promised to induce the Catholics to
submit to all things not opposed to the law of God. The reply of the
king to this overture was the well-known Oath of Allegiance, that
led to such ugly controversies among the Catholic body.
As an earnest student of canon law Paul V was too inclined to
maintain all the rights and privileges of the Church as they were
expounded in the decretals of the Middle Ages. This attitude of mind
brought him into a prolonged and inglorious conflict with the republic
of Venice. This latter state, regardless of the "privilegium fori"
imprisoned two clerics without reference to the ecclesiastical
authorities, and about the same time gave great offence by passing laws
rendering it difficult for the Church to acquire ownership of landed
property, to build new churches or monasteries, or to found new
religious orders or societies. Paul V lodged a solemn protest
against these innovations. When his demands were not complied with he
issued a sentence of excommunication against the Doge, Senate, and
Government, and later on he placed Venice under interdict
(1606). The quarrel was so bitter that at one time it was feared
that it might end in separating the republic from the centre of unity.
Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine entered the lists in defence of the
Pope, while the notorious ex-Servite, Paul Sarpi[115]
(1552-1623), undertook to reply to them on behalf of
Venice. The government forbade the promulgation of the interdict,
and threatened the most severe punishment against all clergy who should
observe it. With the exception of the Jesuits, Capuchins, and
Theatines who were expelled, the clergy both secular and regular took
no notice of the interdict. It was feared that in the end the issues
could be decided only by war in which Spain was prepared to support the
Pope, but through the friendly intervention of Henry IV of
France peace was concluded without any very decisive victory on either
side (1607). The clergy who were expelled for obeying the
interdict were allowed to return except the Jesuits. These latter
were permitted to settle in Venice again only in 1657.
On the death of Paul V Cardinal Ludovisi ascended the papal
throne under the title of Gregory XV (1621-23). The new
Pope had been educated by the Jesuits, and had risen rapidly in the
service of the Church. At the time of his election he was old and
infirm, but by the appointment of his nephew Ludovico to the college
of cardinals he secured for himself an able and loyal assistant. To
put an end to several abuses that had taken place in connexion with
papal elections he published the Bull, "Decet Romanum Pontificem"
(1622), in which were laid down minute regulations about
conclaves, the most important of which were that the cardinals should
vote secretly, that they should vote only for one candidate, and that
no elector should vote for himself.[116] In providing funds for the
assistance of the Catholic missions Gregory XV was very generous
as was also his cardinal- nephew. The success of the missionaries had
been so great, and the conditions of the various countries in which
they laboured so different, that proper supervision of the new
provinces of the Church was by no means easy. Gregory XIII and
Clement VIII had appointed commissions to look after the
spiritual wants of particular districts, but it was reserved for
Gregory XV to establish a permanent congregation, "De
Propaganda Fide" (Bull, "Inscrutabili", 1622) to
superintend the entire field of Catholic missions. He had the
honour, too, of canonising St. Ignatius of Loyola, St. Francis
Xavier, and St. Philip Neri, and of approving the foundation of
several new religious orders.
During the Thirty Years' War he afforded every possible assistance
to Ferdinand II, and helped to secure the Palatinate for
Maximilian of Bavaria on the expulsion of Frederick. In return for
this favour Maximilian presented the Pope with a goodly portion of the
library of Heidelberg. By the judicious interposition of Gregory
XV war was averted between Spain and Austria on the one side and
France, Venice, and Savoy on the other regarding the possession of
the Valtelline, while in England, though the Spanish Match which
he favoured was broken off, he succeeded in securing some respite for
the persecuted Catholics.
In the conclave that followed upon the death of Gregory XV
Cardinal Barberini received the support of the electors and was
proclaimed Pope as Urban VIII (1623-44). The new
Pope was a man of exemplary life whose greatest fault was his excessive
partiality towards his relatives, though it must be said that some of
the relatives on whom he bestowed favours were by no means unworthy of
them. As a native of Florence he seems to have caught up something of
the spirit of classical learning for which that city had been so
renowned, as was shown unfortunately too clearly in the Breviary that
he published in 1632. He issued the Bull, "In Coena Domini"
in its final form, founded a national college in Rome for students
from Ireland, and issued a series of strict and minute regulations on
canonisation and beatification, many of which remain in force till the
present time. The interests of the foreign missions were specially
dear to the heart of Urban VIII. To provide a supply of priests
for them he established the celebrated "Collegium Urbanum"
(1627), and established there a printing-press for the use of
the missionaries. He reduced the number of holidays of obligation,
opened China and Japan, till then reserved for the Jesuits, to all
missionaries, and forbade slavery of whatsoever kind in Paraguay,
Brazil and the West Indies.
For many reasons the political policy of Urban VIII has been
criticised very severely. Too much money was wasted by him in
fortifying the Papal States and on the disastrous war with the Duke
of Parma (1641-44). He has been blamed also for his failure
to support Ferdinand II more energetically during the Thirty
Years' War, but in reality this hostile view is based largely on a
distorted view of the war itself and of the policy of the Pope. It is
not true that the Pope sympathised with Gustavus Adolphus or that he
grieved over his death. Neither is it true that he procured the
dismissal of Wallenstein from the imperial service. It is a fact
undoubtedly that he did not take energetic measures to prevent the
French from assisting the Protestant princes and the Swedes against
the Emperor, but it remains to be proved that any remonstrances from
the Pope, however strong, would have proved effectual in the
circumstances. In the later stages at any rate the war could not be
regarded at first sight as a religious one, but at the same time it is
to be regretted that Urban VIII did not recognise that the
triumph of the enemies of the Emperor meant a triumph for
Lutheranism. In the war between Spain and Portugal consequent upon
the proclamation of the Duke of Braganza he endeavoured to preserve an
attitude of neutrality by refusing to appoint to episcopal sees in
Portugal the candidates presented by the new king. The policy of
Urban VIII in regard to England and Ireland will be dealt with
under these countries.
When the conclave met to elect a successor to Urban VIII it was
soon discovered that some of the cardinals wished to elect a Pope
friendly to Spain, wile others favoured a pro-French Pope. At
length, as neither party was sufficiently strong to ensure the required
majority for its nominee, a more or less neutral candidate was found in
the person of Cardinal Pamfili who took the title of Innocent X
(1644- 55).[117] He was a man of advanced years, who had
served in many offices with success, and who possessed many of the
qualifications required in a good ruler of the Church.
Unfortunately, his flagrant nepotism did him much harm and gave
occasion to ugly rumours utterly devoid of truth. Finding the papal
treasury empty after his election and believing that the relatives of
the late Pope were responsible for this, he took steps to secure a
return from them; but they fled to France, where they placed
themselves under the protection of Cardinal Mazarin, who succeeded in
bringing about a reconciliation. Innocent X restored order in the
Papal States, punished the Duke of Parma for his crimes,
especially for his supposed connexion with the murder of the Bishop of
Castro, and maintained friendly relations with Venice, which he
assisted against the Turks. He was deeply pained by the terms of the
Peace of Westphalia (1648) against which his representatives had
protested in vain, and which he condemned in the Bull, "Zelus
Domus Dei" published in November 1648.
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