Thus the movement had become general throughout Italy. Many admitted that no reforms were to be ex- pected from the Church or its hierarchy, and separated from it, some silently, others openly ; the latter inclined more and more to a union with the Protestants of Ger- many and Switzerland. Still a large number retained the hope that the Church itself would make the neces- sary reforms, either by the long-wished-for council, or by other concessi9ns. The evangelical tendencies final- ly acquired such influence, even among the clergy, that pope Paul III thought it best to make apparently some concessions; he appointed Contarini, Sadolet, Poole, and Fregoso (but at the same time also Caraffa), members of the college of cardinals. As a preliminarj' step to- wards the convocation of a council, he formed them, to- gether with some other prelates, into a congregation, with the mission of drawing up a project of the refonns most needed. Soon, however, the uncompromising op- ponents of all reformatory measures gained the ascend- ency with the pope, and it Avas resolved to put down the reformatory movement at any price. A superior tribunal of the Iii<iuisition was established at Rome, with full power <if life and death in all cases concerning religion, and acting with the same severitj'- against all, without distinction of rank or person. The buU estab- lishing the new Congregation of the Holy Office Avas is- sued July 21, 1542. It was composed of six cardinals, with Caraffa at their head. They were authorized to appoint envoys, with full power to act for them in the different provinces. The pope alone had the power of pardoning those they had condemned. The new insti- tution was soon adopted in Tuscany, iMilan, and Naples ; all the Italian states gave it the necessary support. Venice itself was unable to resist its introduction, though here lay judges were joined to the inquisitors. Books were also subjected to the judgment of the Inquisition; after 1543 no book was permitted to be published with- out its sanction, and soon there appeared lists of forbid- ■ den books. Next to the Inquisition, the Council of Trent proved a heavy blow to Italian Protestantism. Many who were wavering or lacked courage were in- duced to return to the old fold ; many others left tlieir native land for safety, and a great number became mar- tyrs to their faith in dungeons or at the stake. Rome gave the signal of most of the persecutions which the Protestants suffered in Italy. Caraffa had spies every- wliere. Among the first who were obliged to seek safety in flight were Occhino and Vermigli. The congregation which had been established by them and Valdez at Na- ples was subjected to severe attacks as soon as the lat- ter was dead; many of its members gave way under the persecution, and the others were obliged to use the utmost secrecy. Giovanni jNIollio, of Montalcino, a Fran- ciscan, still oihciated among them for some time, but he
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also was obliged to leave Naples in 1543. An Augiis- tinian from Sicily, Lorenzo Komano, subsequently shared the same fate, and finally became reconciled with Kome.
The congregation founded at Lucca by Peter Vermigli met with the same fate. Rome compelled the senate in 1545 to issue severe edicts against the Protestants, who here also submitted to outward conformity, and by so doing lost the spirit which had animated tlieni. so that when the Inquisition was really estalilislied among them the greater lumiber became reconciled to tlie Cliurch. Many, however, resisted to the last, and a number of prominent citizens left for Geneva, Berne, Lyon, and other places. See Inquisition.
The countess of Ferrara was no longer able to protect her fellow-Protestants. A papal decree commanded that all suspicious persons should be examined ; imprison- ment, banishment, death, or, at best, flight, was the usual fate of the accused. Fannio, of Faenza, fell a martyr to his faith. Renata herself was much persecuted by her husband, but remained steadfast, and after her husband's death retired to France, where she showed herself a courageous protector of the Protestants. All Italy was awed into obedience by the Inquisition. The prisons at Rome were filled with prisoners brought from all parts of Italy. jNIollio, having returned from Naples to Bologna, was taken, brought to Rome, and executed. The Gospel had made great progress among the Fran- ciscans, especially in Upper Italy; a large number of them were imprisoned, others escaped, and most of them were compelled to recant. The persecution became still more violent when Carafl^i himself, aged seventy-nine years, ascended the papal throne in 1555 under the name of Paul IV. To purify and restore the Church was his chief aim, and, in order to attain this, he was most zeal- ous in the persecution of all unbelievers and heretics. He spared none — not even the leaders of the moderate reform party. The most distinguished of these (Con- tarini being dead), cardinal jMorone, remained a prison- er until the pope's death, in the castle of St. Angelo. Bishop Foscarari, of Modena, and San Felice, of Cava, were also arrested, while cardinal Poole was summoned to come from England to justify himself. Among the chief points of accusation against Morone were that he doubted the correctness of the decisions of the Council of Trent, especially in regard to justification ; that he rejected the efficienc}' of good works, and advised his liearers to trust only in the redeeming sacrifice of Christ. The first martyr in the reign of Paul IV was Pomponio Algieri, who had labored faithfidlj^ for the propagation of evangelical views at Padua; he died courageously at the stake. Under Pius IV, the Inquisition did not re- lent in its work. He was himself present at an auto- da-fe at which Ludovico Pascali, a minister of the Wal- denses of Calabria, was executed. When the Domini- can Ghislieri, former president of ;he Inquisition, and a worthy disciple of Caraffa, ascended the papal throne in 15C6, under the name of Pius V, the Inquisition entered a new era of prosperity. He accomplished the final suppression of Protestantism in Italy. Prisoners were sent to Rome from all parts of Italy. The duke of Flor- ence himself sent there, as his peace-offering, the emi- nent apostolical protonotary. Pietro Carnesecchi, whom his learning, piety, and position had heretofore protect- ed, and who now became a martyr. The same fate be- fel Antonio del Pagliarici (Aonio Paleario), who, as pro- fessor of rhetoric at Sienna, Lucca, and IMilan, had ac- quired universal reputation, and who is generally con- sidered as the author of the treatise Del Benejicio di Chrisfo, a truly evangelical work, which, by its clear exposition of the doctrine of justification by faith, gain- ed many adherents to Protestantism.