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

ABSTEMIOUSNESS OF THE POPE. 55
of State and granted audiences. He was indefatigable in
this latter respect, and even when Rome lay under a heavy
scirocco, he would not allow himself any rest.^ He said that
the best cure for the oppressive heat was to eat and drink
very little. The small quantity of food and drink that sufficed
him was extraordinary. At noon he took some bread-soup
with two eggs, and half a cup of wine, and his supper in the
evening generally consisted of some vegetable broth, salad,
shell-fish, and cooked fruit. Only twice a week did meat
appear at his table. Before and after the meal long prayers
were recited, and during part of it a book was read, after
which he and his guests maintained a monastic silence. ^
Nor did he act differently all through the day ; only rarely
did he allow himself any recreation, yet in spite of this he
was of a naturally lively disposition, as Berna.rdo Cirillo, his
majordomo, often had occasion to remark.^
The health of Pius V. had for many years suffered from
stone ;* the doctors and diplomatists therefore thought that
he would not live very long.^ Although he often felt very
^ Cf. the *report of C. Luzzara of March 27, 1566, Gonzaga
Archives, Mantua, the *letter of Requesens, supra p. 54, n. 5,
and the *letter of Arco of August 31, 1566, State Archives,
Vienna.
' See Tiepolo in Mutinelli, L, 55 seq. (where instead oi fortaia
is found toytaia). C . Marini, II., 320 ; Catena, 27 seq. On
November 18, 1567, Arco *states that the Pope has still further
reduced his table, on which he only spends three and a half scudi
a day. State Archives, Vienna.
'See the " Informatione delle qualita " in Anal. Bolland.,
XXXIIL, 195.
* See Tiepolo, 181 ; Marini, II., 318 seq. and the *report of
Arco on September 7, 1566, State Archives, Vienna.
"See the letter of Granvelle of March 10, 1566 (Corresp., ed.
PiOT, I., 155) and the *report of C. Luzzara of June 12, 1566 :
*" La maggior parte di questi medici del Papa intendo che
conchiudono che S.S*^ habbia la pietra et grossa, et che facciano
mal giuditio de la vita sua, aggiunto a questo la magrezza et
attinuatione ne la quale e, che non puo essere maggiore." Gon-
zaga Archives, Mantua,