office only for the period of interregnum. The particular duty intrusted to his charge was to secure the Cardinals from molestation, and to this end it became customary to erect barricades at the limits of the Leonine city, whereby the free circulation through it was prevented, except for those armed with a special permit.
One of the most riotous elections on record is that when, in 1623, Urban VIII. —Barherini—was raised to the chair of St. Peter. The disturbances which then hap-
extend to him his sovereign protection, when the Sbirri and Papal soldiers drew up to receive him with due honours. But the Ambassador took up the matter in a high tone, and put his hand to his sword-hilt in ordering the Papal captain to leave the house of a prince who stood under French protection. This action of his was imitated by his followers, who all drew their swords and struck the Sbirri, whereupon these fired a volley, by which some were killed and wounded, and a regular skirmish ensued, in which the Ambassador himself narrowly escaped being struck. The Sacred College immediately did all in its power to apologize for what hall happened, but the Ambassador absolutely refused to be satisfied, and left Rome two days after for Tuscany in high dudgeon, nor would he return to Rome during the interregnum. A full account, with the official correspondence interchanged, will be found in the second volume, p. 99, E. 6, of the third edition of the Histoire des Conclaves, Cologne, 1703,—a book full of valuable information.
