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

176
HISTORY OF THE POPES.
the general blight had made its way into this, the holiest
of the Roman tribunals.^
Attempts to bring about an improvement had not been
wanting. All the Popes of the XVIth century except Pius III.
had turned their attention to it, not even Alexander VI. and
the three weeks' pontificate of Marcellus II. being exceptions.
The bull of Pius IV. of May 4th, 1562, marked a notable ad-
vance in the reform of the Penitentiaria,^ which, however, it
was left to Pius V. to set upon an entirely new basis.
A first step was taken at the end of 1566. With the object
of obtaining dispensations from matrimonial impediments
more easily some of the oihcials of the Penitentiaria had been
making false statements in their supplicas ; this abuse was
declared by the Pope to fall under the same penalties as
forgery,'* It was not long, however, before he set his hand
to effecting a radical change in the whole department, at the
suggestion, and with the advice of Cardinal Borromeo and his
confidant, Ormaneto.-^ We again hear of reforms and projects
of reform during 1567 ;^ in the following year Cardinals were
appointed to consider these projects,' and in 1569 definite
1 It is therefore untrue that the fees demanded by the Curia
were a payment for absolution ;
they were nothing but the charges
made for the drawing up of the documents. Ibid. 132 seqq.
2 GoLLER, II., I, loi seqq. For Paul III. and Paul IV. see also
Vol. XI. of this work p. 197 ; Vol. XIV., p. 203.
2 GoLLER. II., I, 126 seqq. Cf. Vol. XV. of this work, p. 411.
*Muto proprio of December 5, 1566, Bull. Rom., VII., 315,
The date in Laderchi, 1566, n. 88.
^ Letter from Ormaneto to Borromeo, February 7, 1567, on the
reform of the Penitentieria, Ambrosian Library, Milan, F, 38,
Inf. p. 85-91 b, with many other matters connected with this
reform attached.
* The reform of the Grand Penitentiary and other court dig-
nitaries is announced as complete in an *Avviso of August 9,
1567 (Urb. 1040, p. 413, Vatican Library) ; there is hardly any
more business ; the employes can hardly support themselves.
An *Avviso of August 9, 1567 [ibid. 427 b) speaks of a Papal decree
according to which all the employes must be clerics.
' *Arco, March 13, 1568, State Archives, Vienna.