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

364
HISTORY OF THE POPES.
told him that he had not been able yet to come to a decision ;^
when in October the ambassador insisted on knowing when the
matter would be settled, Pius answered him on oath that he
himself did not know.^ The Pope was almost continually
occupied with the acta of the trial, and had not j^et completed
his examination of them, in spite of the assistance given him
by Cardinals Montalto and Aldobrandini.^
In this way the whole of 1571 went by. In the first months
of 1572 the state of the Pope's health did not allow of his
dealing with important business,^ with the result that when his
death occurred on May ist, 1572, the trial of Carranza was not
yet finished. One determination alone had remained clearly
before the mind of this conscientious judge, amid all the
vicissitudes of the discussions ;
he was determined not to give
the judgment of a Pilate, but to decide according to the dictates
of justice alone, even though the whole world should fall in
ruins. ^ There can be no doubt that the wearisome business
had entailed for him a whole world of anxieties and troubles ;
the unwearied perseverance with which he had always assisted
in person at the endless discussions aroused the wonder of
his contemporaries.^ On February 24th, 1568, Bernardino
Pia wrote to Mantua that he had been unable to get through
his business because of the constant meetings which were held
over the affair of the archbishop.''
^ Zuniga, July 13, 1571, ibid. 388.
^ " Preguntele quando pensava acabar este negocio, Jurome que
no lo sabia." Zuniga, October 12, 1571, ibid. 471.
^ Ibid. 470, 474.
* Ibid.
^ " Confesome el Papa, que era verdad que habia dicho a Alvaro
de Lugo que si el Arcobispo estaba innocente, que el no haria la
sentencia de Pilatos, que per temor del alboroto del pueblo
conden6 a Nuestro Redentor conociendo que no tenia culpa."
Zuniga, July 4, 1571, ibid. xxiv. " Pero S.S. non e mai per
deviare del retto guiditio, ne da quello che concerne la giustitia,
se bene ruinasse il mondo." Rusticucci to Castagna, August 25,
1570, ibid. III., 515.
« Ibid. II., xxiii.
^ Gonzaga Archives, jNIantua.