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

THE CASE OF CARRANZA. 359
fers him to the repHes which he had ah'eady made to the same
accusations.
It was true that the Pope " with all the moderation that
was possible in dealing with such a document,"^ had given a
full reply to the complaints of Philip IT. on June 6th, 1570.^
As for the trust which the king put in the theological opinions
which were supposed to make Carranza's guilt clear, the Pope
re pled that if the archbishop were guilty. His Holiness firmly
hopeid that the mercy of God would not allow him to be
deceived against his will ; in other words, if Carranza is
guilty, let the king rest assured that he will be condemned.
But if the appeal to the Spanish opinions is to be taken as
meaning that a Roman decision which did not agree with them
would not meet with the obedience and respect due to it, then
the counsellors who suggested such an idea to the king must
remember that the Church of God has but one head on earth ;
such a view would be clearly at variance with the sense of that
dogma ; in a word it would mean that they were setting up
a rule and measure for the decisions of the Holy See in matters
concerning which it belonged to it alone to judge.
A second matter of complaint was contained in the demand
that more learned theologians should be consulted, and in
greater number. To this it was replied that, although
Philip had a high opinion of the Spanish theologians, the Pope
thought just as highly of the other members of the com-
complaints to the Pope, it is by no means his intention to act in
any way against the obedience which he owes to the Pope as a
loyal son.
^ " con quella maggior temperantia che i .sensi di detta scrittura
permettono." Corresp. dipl.. III., 386.
-Ibid. 386-388.
^ " Si lisponde con lacrime di charita, che lasciando hora da
parte la causa del arcivescovo, s' attcnda bene a chi suggerisse
questi pensieri a S. M.; che la Chiesa di Dio non ha in terra senon
un capo, et che questo sinistro concetto ofienderebbc molto la
integrita di questo articolo, perche cjuesto sarebbe in effetto
volersi far regola dei iuditii di qucsta Santa Sede nelle cause che a
lei sola toccano di giudicare." Ibid. 386.