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

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HISTORY OF THE POPES.
scattered among the various convents. For the future no
one was to be superior of a convent unless he belonged to the
stricter branch. What was thus ordered in the case of the
Franciscans was to apply equally to all the other Spanish
Orders which were divided into Conventuals and Observants,
such as the Canons Regular, the Benedictines, the Cistercians,
the Dominicans, the Augustinian Hermits, and the Carmelites.
Where more grave defects had occurred severe penalties
must be inflicted, and, in case of need, even condemnation
to the galleys and imprisonment for life. The convents
of nuns, which had hitherto been under the direction
of the Conventuals, must also be reformed by the bishop
and his colleagues, and placed under the care of the
Observants.^
Naturally the bishops were unable to visit all the houses of
their dioceses at the same time, and it was therefore possible
for the religious who were unwilling to change their manner
of life, to fly to another house of their Order before the arrival
of the commissioners and thus perpetually escape the notice
of the bishop. Several of the Conventual houses, moreover,
were not conveniently situated for the purposes of the
Observants, and could only with great difficulty be taken
over by them. As the result, therefore, of some represen-
tations made to him by the king, the Pope declared^ that the
visitation could also be carried out by other persons com-
missioned for this purpose by the bishops and the provincial
superiors, and that the bishops and provincials might decide
^ Edict of December 12, 1566. Bull. Rom., VII., 496; of.
Wadding, XX., 435.
* April 16, 1567, ibid. 565 seqq. A *bull for the reform of the
Spanish nuns, July 15, 1567, in the Archives of Briefs, Roma ;
cf. Laderchi, 1568, n. 38. In the Archives of Briefs, Rome, there
is another *bull of November 9, 1568, on the extension of the
reform of the convents of the Franciscans and Poor Clares to the
kingdoms of the crown of Aragon. A *brief of January 7, 1571,
to the Bishop of Urgel, who is unwilling to assist the provincial
in the reform of the recalcitrant nuns, in Brevia, Arm. 44, t. 15,
p. 2 86. Papal Secret Archives.