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

THE PROMOTION OF GHISLIERI. 49
would be glad to die as a martyr dressed in the habit of St.
Dominic. Twice Ghislieri acted as Inquisitor at Bergamo, a
very difficult office.^ In 1551, at the recommendation of
Carafa, Julius III. summoned him to Rome as commissary
general of the Inquisition. In this office he displayed the
greatest zeal, and had many dealings with Marcello Cervini,^
who, after the death of Julius III., ascended the Papal throne
as Marcellus II. After the death of the latter, which followed
almost immediately,^ his patron Carafa became Pope, and he
confirmed Ghislieri in his office of commissary general of the
Inquisition, and on September 4th, 1556, appointed him
Bishop of Sutri and Nepi, taking care at the same time that
this indefatigable man should not be altogether removed
from his previous activities, by making him Prefect of the
Palace of the Inquisition.'*
Michele fought hard against accepting the episcopal dignit}',
but Paul IV. thought it well to attach a chain to his feet,
lest he should again think of retiring to his convent.^ How
highly the Pope esteemed the humble Dominican is shown
by the fact that on March 15th, 1557, he appointed him
Cardinal, and on December 14th in the following year Grand
Inquisitor of the Roman Church.^ Ghisheri received as his
^ See P. TiEPOLO, 191 ; Catena, 9 seq., 148 ; Gabutius, 9 seq.
Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, p. 219.
2 Cf. Vol. XIII. of this work, pp. 220, 222 ; XIV.,
269 seqq.
2 A letter of Fra Michele Alessandrino to G. B. Brunatello in
Venice, dated Rome, June 8, 1655, refens to the trial of the
surgeon of Marcellus II., who was accused of having poisoned the
Pope; see Fillon, n. 2447.
* See Vol. XIV. of this work, p. 271. Cf. Moroni, LXXI., 118.
In the episcopal palace of Sutri, the door through which Ghislieri
was accustomed to pass has been walled up, so that no one should
use it any more. The episcopal archives at Nepi were destroyed
during the French occupation. In the episcopal palace there
nothing but a picture (Pius V. in prayer before the crucifix) tells
of the former occupant of the see.
* See Alb^ri, II., 4, 200 seq.
* See Vol. XIV. of this work, pp. 262, 271.
VOL. XVII. 4