13 8
ESSAYS ON LIBERTY
The hidden thoughts which the Court of Rome bctra yed by its conduct on this memorable occasion have brought upon the Pope himself an amount of hatred greater than he deserved. Gregory XIII. appears as a pale figure between the two strongest of the modern Popes, without the intense zeal of the one and the ruthless volition of the other. He was not prone to large conceptions or violent resolutions. He had been converted late in life to the spirit of the Tridentine Reformation; and when he showed rigour it was thought to be not in his character, but in the counsels of those who influenced him. 1 He did not instigate the crime, nor the atrocious sentiments that hailed it. In the religious struggle a frenzy had been kindled which made weakness violent, and turned good men into prodigies of ferocity; and at Rome, where every loss inflicted on Catholicism and every wound was felt, the belief that, in dealing with heretics, murder is better than toleration prevailed for half a century. The predecessor of Gregory had been Inquisitor-General. In his eyes Protestants \vere worse than Pagans, and Lutherans more dangerous than other Protestants. 2 The Capuchin preacher, Pistoja, bore witness that men were hanged and quartered almost daily at Rome; 3 and Pius declared that he would release a culprit guilty of a hundred murders rather than one obstinate heretic. 4 He seriously contem- plated razing the town of Faenza because it was infested with religious error, and he recommended a similar expedient to the King of France. 5 He adjured him to
che in tutti i luoghi del suo regno fossero posti a fil di spada quanti heretici vi si trovassero, onde in pochi giorni n' erano stati ammazzati settanta milla e d' avan- taggio (Cicarelli, Vita di Gregori XII/.; Platina, Vile de' Pontefici, 17 1 5, 59 2 ), 1 II tengono quasiche in filo et il necessitano a far cose contra la sua natura e la sua volontà perche S, sta è sempre stato di natura piacevole e dolce (Relatione di Gregorio XI/I. ; Ranke, Pãþste, App. 80). Faict Cardinal par Ie pape Pie IV., Ie 12 e de Mars 1559, lequel en Ie créant, dit qu'il ll'avoit créé un cardinal ains un pape (Ferralz to Charles IX., May 14, 1572). 2 smus Dominus N oster dixit nullam concordiam vel pacem debere nec posse esse inter nos et hereticos, et cum eis nullum foedus ineundum et habendum. , , verissimum est deteriores esse haereticos gentilibus, eo quod sunt adeo perversi et obstinati, ut propemodum infideles sint (Acta C01zcistorialia, June 18, 1571; Bib, Imp, F, Lat. 12,561),
{ Ogni giorno faceva impiccare e squartare ora uno, ora un altro (Cantù, ii. 4 10 ), 4 Legazioni di Serristori, 43 6 , 443. CJ Elle desire infil1iment que vostre Majesté face quelque ressentement pIus
