URBAN VIII

3

THE LATER YEARS OF URBAN'S PONTIFICATE

 

THE ill success of the Hapsburgs in their efforts to establish their supremacy in northern Italy, by depriving a legitimate ruler of his inheritance, on the pretext of offended dignity or obsolete rights, was reflected in the actions of their dependents in the Curia. The chief of these was cardinal Borgia, a violent, hot-headed politician, who considered it the main duty of the papacy to forward the interests of Spain. He was seconded by Ludovico Ludovisi, who had once directed the diplomacy of the Quirinal and was deeply mortified to see his policy rejected by a pontiff whom he had himself helped to elect. Rome was then, as now, a fruitful ground for scandal. The two cardinals soon produced a plentiful crop of rumours discreditable to Urban. The success of the king of Sweden furnished a suitable theme for malicious tongues. Ferdinand was represented as the pious son of the church, who had made numerous sacrifices, only to be rewarded by the ill-concealed hatred of his spiritual father. The pope was less zealous for the true catholic faith than Gustavus for his lutheran creed. He cared more for the son of the heretic Bourbon than the devout Hapsburg, from whose head he wished to tear the imperial crown. It was even whispered that he rejoiced at the successes of the Swedes, if he had not encouraged their intervention through his emissaries. The Hapsburg party could find little cause for complaint in the attitude of cardinal Francesco, but they did not hesitate to describe his brother, Antonio, as the tool of the heretic Richelieu.

March 26, May 20, 1631

The capture of Brandenburg and the sack of Magdeburg by Tilly quieted these murmurs for a time: the news that the same general had led his army, increased by reinforcements from Italy, against the territories of John George of Saxony, still further raised the hopes of the Hapsburg cardinals. But the torpid elector was at length roused to action; he refused the imperial demands, made alliance with Gustavus and led his troops against Tilly.

September17, 1631 

The battle of Breitenfeld showed that a power had arisen capable of checking Ferdinand's ambition.

The pope marked his appreciation of the danger to Catholicism by ordering a monthly subsidy of 12,000 thalers to be sent to Ferdinand and the league.

October-December 1631 

He further instructed Bichi, the nuncio at Paris, to request Richelieu's assistance for the catholic cause in Germany. The cardinal promised his aid, and, as an earnest of his good intentions, despatched père Joseph to the court of Madrid. He even went so far as to assemble troops, though he had no real intention of carrying out Urban's wishes.

Meanwhile, his protégé had occupied Würzburg, and was advancing towards the Main. The resentment of Borgia against the pope increased, as the emperor's fortunes declined.

January 1632

Early in the next year he delivered a message from Philip IV, who requested pecuniary assistance for Spain and Austria. The Spaniards demanded the concession of the cruciata of Naples and the doubling of that of the Indies; the transference of the annates of benefices and some other ecclesiastical revenues to the secular power; and a triennial subsidy from the clergy of all the Hapsburg territories. The two first requests were refused, the last granted. Urban was perfectly ready to help the catholic cause, but was not prepared to surrender the rights of the church to her lay protectors.

The folly and the arrogance of the Spaniards were well shown in their reception of the papal concessions. At Madrid Olivarez complained, because the money was to be collected by the nuncio: at Rome, Borgia accused Urban of squandering the ecclesiastical revenues on his nephews and asserted that the church could easily afford large subsidies to the emperor. Urban denied the assertion, and evaded the accusation by instancing the example of his predecessors. Borgia next proposed that recourse should be had to the treasure of St. Angelo: again the pope refused. He pointed out with justice that the hoard of Sixtus V was intended for the vassals and subjects of the Holy See, and that it could not be depleted for the sake of foreign sovereigns. He went on to indicate the mistakes of the Spanish government: they had excited the resentment of France by their alliance with the Huguenots and Gaston of Orleans; they had alienated Bavaria from the Hapsburg cause by making peace with England and by proposing the restoration of the Palatinate; in fact, the weakening of the imperialist position, of which they complained, was largely due to the blunders of their own policy.

The primary need of Catholicism was not money, but the reconciliation of the crowns of France and Spain. Urban saw that this could be obtained in two ways—by influencing either the two kings or the two ministers. He instructed his emissaries to try both methods of securing the desired reconciliation, but his efforts were fruitless. His failure drew forth renewed protests from the implacable and impolitic Borgia. Urban disregarded the outcry and steadily pursued the policy he had adopted. He ordered Monti, the nuncio at Madrid, to collect immediately the ecclesiastical tenth for the crown, and sent Grimaldi to Vienna with the first contribution to the imperial treasury. He made fresh efforts to concentrate the forces of Catholicism against Gustavus, and Bichi reported that there was every prospect that Louis, jealous of the continual success of his ally, would endeavour to "put a limit to the progress of this Goth". But the breach was kept open by the assistance afforded by the Hapsburgs to the royal opposition in France: the Spanish government of the Netherlands sheltered Marie de Medicis, while the emperor supported the duke of Lorraine in protecting Gaston of Orleans. The Hapsburgs were as keenly desirous of injuring their Most Christian Brother as he was of breaking their power: both parties were quite unscrupulous in their choice of allies, but Gustavus was a more efficient weapon than Gaston.

The opening of a new campaign excited the fears of the Spanish party in the curia. The imperial ambassador, Savelli, presented a demand for subsidies, which was re­fused by Urban, who referred bitterly to the miseries of the Mantuan war, and declined to recognize Ferdinand as the devout crusader.

February 1632

Borgia made another demand for money, and again suggested the depletion of  the treasures of St. Angelo: he further asked the pope to declare himself definitely on the side of Spain. Urban refused to yield, and Borgia, exasperated by the imagined injustice to his public and private claims, brought matters to a crisis. He drew up a protest against the papal policy, which he determined to read in full consistory, where the presence of Borghese, the protector of Germany, Ludovisi, the protector of the Catholic League and Aldobrandini, the representative of the emperor, might lend weight to his defiance.

The document embodied very clearly the views of the Spanish party on the political conditions of the time and on the secular functions of the papacy. Borgia began by enumerating the good deeds of his master in the service of the church. Philip had sacrificed his interests in the Indies, in Italy, in Flanders and in Spain, that he might tread in the footsteps of his ancestors, who fought for the catholic faith rather than for their own empire. On hearing of the victories of the Swede he had sent troops from the Netherlands to protect his oppressed co-religionists, and had forwarded money from Spain to recruit their armies. He had begged humbly for financial and diplomatic assistance from the pope in the task of defending the true religion in its hour of need. He had entreated his Holiness to rally the princes of the church against the common enemy and to emulate the greatest of his predecessors, who had led Christendom against the infidel,"with the trumpet tones of their apostolic voice".  Having recited his master's grievances, Borgia proceeded to attack the pope:

"But while these evils increase daily and your Holiness still delays, his majesty has bidden me repeat in his name, in this most august assembly also, all these matters, which have been mentioned often in private to your Holiness by the most reverend the lord-cardinals of Spain and by me: so that there may be as many witnesses before God and man, as there are here present most reverend fathers, that his majesty has not failed the cause of God and the faith either in zeal or influence or deed. At the same time he has bidden me protest with fitting humility and reverence that any loss which the catholic religion may sustain must be ascribed, not to the most dutiful and obedient king, but to your Holiness."

On March 8 the consistory was held: after everyone except the cardinals had withdrawn, Borgia proceeded to read his extraordinary document. Urban listened to the recital of Philip's good deeds and the unflattering comparison between himself and his predecessors. But when the cardinal passed from implied reproach to open reproof, and reached the words, "and your Holiness still delays", the pope exclaimed, "Be silent". Borgia repeated the remark and Urban again commanded him to be silent. The dispute increased in violence: the pope asked by what right Borgia spoke, and the cardinal replied by taunting his sovereign with ingratitude for past favours. Urban insisted that, if Borgia protested as cardinal, he had no right to speak "palam" in consistory, unless he had leave to deal with the subject in question; his representation was out of place and should have been made at a formal audience. The Spaniard replied that he had been unable to obtain one, and then, shifting his ground, declared that he spoke in virtue of his ambassadorship. If this were so, he had no business to exercise ambassadorial functions in an assembly of cardinals. The pontiff refused to accept this explanation, and asked for his mandate. Borgia evaded the point, and the two ecclesiastics endeavoured to shout one another down, the cardinal reading his document and the pope exclaiming: "Do you wish to excite a tumult and make me slave instead of master?" Some of the members of the consistory approved of Borgia's action, while others thought it "scandalous and full of irreverence". The pope's brother, cardinal Antonio, endeavoured to lead Borgia from the room. But the Spaniard refused to listen to friend or enemy, and insisted that he had a right to be heard as protector of Spain. Thereupon cardinal Francesco, the friend of Spain, intervened to remind him that a protector's duty was to guard the welfare of national churches, not to recite political manifestoes. Borgia retorted, “While matters proceed thus, we sacrifice our cause to the heretics by these dissensions”. This insult stung the pontiff to fury, and he peremptorily ordered his accuser to withdraw his objectionable utterances. At length Borgia was induced, by the intervention of cardinal Colonna, to show some respect for his spiritual father; he expressed himself as willing to obey his Holiness, but requested leave to present his document. Urban took the protest in his hand and ended the discussion by saying: "To us belongs the care of the catholic religion: to that end we have laboured and still do labour; and we do love our beloved son, the Catholic King, as we show by our actions."

The consistory broke up after a scene of violence, unusual in the deliberations of the curia. Urban's resolute opposition to Spanish pretensions was popular with the masses, but the cardinals were divided. Borgia did not scruple to boast of his victory: he scattered copies of his protest broadcast, in spite of cardinal Francesco's vigilance, and proclaimed that he had successfully asserted the rights of his temporal lord against those of his spiritual sovereign. There was even some talk of summoning a council to depose Urban: the champions of Catholicism were not indisposed to risk the chance of a schism. The pope was deeply mortified by the insult he had received, and hardly troubled to justify by precedents's his action in suppressing Borgia.

March 1632 

He ordered Monti to remonstrate with Philip on his subject's outrageous conduct's Olivarez had the sense to see that the cardinal had only injured Spanish interests by his recklessness, and assured the nuncio that the court of Madrid had not directed Borgia to read his document in consistory, nor authorized the violent language in which it had been couched. But the tardy disavowal failed to mollify the offended pontiff. He determined to prevent the recurrence of such scenes and to punish the princes of the church who had accused their sovereign of deliberate treachery to the Subjects he was supposed to protect. He ordered Ludovisi, the ally of Borgia, to retire to his bishopric, and threatened the archbishop of Seville with similar treatment. The former was alarmed by the rumour that the pontiff was prepared to use force, if necessary: the latter, so far from yielding, urged his colleague to defy Urban, and promised the support of the king of Spain in his insubordination. But Ludovisi had stood too near the papal throne to venture on open rebellion: he acknowledged that he was the pope's subject, and obeyed his commands. He retired to his diocese of Bologna, where he died eight months later.

March 1632

Ubaldini, another of the Spanish partisans, heard that Urban had threatened him with imprisonment in St. Angelo: he also left Rome, much to the disgust of Borgia, who was left to continue his intrigues alone.

Urban's attitude drew down upon him the reproaches of Richelieu and Ferdinand—a fact which would seem to prove that he had acted with impartiality.

April 1632

France complained that the papacy was aiding her enemy: to which Francesco Barberini answered that the subsidy was of reasonable size and was intended to help the emperor to extirpate heresy. The imperial ambassador, Pazman, addressed to Urban a statement of his master's grievances, mingled with threats of what the Hapsburgs might do. He repeated the story that Ferdinand of Hungary's failure at Regensburg was due to a papal intrigue, which aimed at securing the imperial crown for Bavaria. Urban flatly denied the accusation. The cardinal then proceeded to hint that Spain would throw off her allegiance to Rome, if the pope did not act as the Hapsburgs wished. In accordance with his instructions, he explained Ferdinand's policy, as Borgia had explained Philip's; after the conquest of the Palatinate, the emperor had aimed at nothing except peace and the furtherance of Catholicism. How either of his master's objects had been forwarded by the policy of revenge against Nevers the envoy did not make clear. While Pazman was trying in vain to draw Urban into the Hapsburg net, his master had received the pope's subsidy. The news was joyfully welcomed at the court of Madrid: Olivarez assured the nuncio that the pope had "truly shown the bowels of a father" in his care for his children's calamities. But Urban was soon at variance with the catholic princes again.

April 14, 1632

The battle on the Lech laid Bavaria at the feet of Gustavus. Maximilian, in his anger at his failure to shelter himself from Sweden behind the French alliance, turned against the pope.

May 1632

The news that Munich and Prague had fallen, drew forth fresh complaints from Philip and Ferdinand, Richelieu attacked the pope, because he refused to abandon Gaston of Orleans to his mercy. Borgia, protected by his ambassadorship, kept alive the discontent against Urban among the Hapsburg party in Rome, and accused his enemy of rejoicing in the victories of Gustavus.

Summer  1632

Urban did not quail before the storm. He justified himself to Richelieu for the protection of the heir presumptive to the French crown. The nuncio at Madrid was ordered to enter another protest against Borgia's insult to the papal dignity: such conduct was "an offence to the pope, an offence to God in His Vicar, a scandal to the world".  The spoliation of the church by the king was also made the subject of severe comment. Olivarez replied by describing the pope as a temporal prince, who occupied himself mainly with the task of protecting French interests. As the curia refused to grant the subsidies Spain demanded, he would cripple the Roman revenues. The datary yielded an income of 20,000 scudi a month: large sums of money passed out of Spain for dispensations, annates and other ecclesiastical dues: if these supplies were cut off, Urban would soon listen to reason. To settle the outstanding disputes between the Quirinal and the Escurial, two commissioners were despatched to Rome.

Meanwhile, Borgia was still in Rome, proud of his defiant attitude and confident of his temporal sovereign's favour. Men talked of the cardinal's victory, when the pope was forced to receive the unwelcome ambassador. Castel Rodrigo had arrived from Madrid in May, but he was only accredited as ambassador extraordinary. The story that Spain and Austria were ready to sever their connection with Rome, if the pope proved refractory, passed from mouth to mouth, and probably lost little in the telling. But Olivarez had made a tactical mistake in despatching Castel Rodrigo to Italy. The pope found it easier to deal with two ambassadors than with one: dissensions sprang up between the layman and the priest, and the ambassador extraordinary ranged himself with the partisans of the Barberini. 

June 1632

Although Wallenstein had gone to support Ferdinand's failing cause, and had received the papal benediction for his piety, the fortune of war had not yet declared against Gustavus. The news of the Swedes' retreat from Nuremberg raised Borgia's hopes once more, but Gustavus' sudden rally to the defence of Saxony reduced him to despair.

September  1632

Convinced of the failure of the Hapsburg arms and doubtful of his colleague's support, he humbled himself so far as to ask for a private audience, as a favour, from the pope.

October 1632, November 16, 1632

But he could not then be induced to give Urban the required satisfaction, and the tidings of Lützen restored all his confidence. Once again the pope was described as the friend of heretics: the delay in singing a "Te Deum", occasioned by some faulty arrangement of church service, was represented as a proof of Urban's disloyalty to catholicism.

January 1633 

Although the death of Ludovisi had robbed him of a powerful ally, Borgia felt himself perfectly secure in his duel with Urban. Castel Rodrigo had definitely thrown in his lot with the Barberini, but the cardinal was convinced that the two Spanish commissioners would cow the pope into submission. The tension between the two parties increased. Urban's friends talked of excommunication, Borgia's of a general council, that favourite resort of discontented catholicism.

March 1633 

The news that another large subsidy had been forwarded to Madrid, through the ambassador extraordinary, was interpreted as a sign of weakness on the part of the Barberini. Borgia, reassured of Olivarez' support, looked forward eagerly to the arrival of the commissioners.

June 1633

The exact nature of their duties was not yet certain: Borgia's friends said that they were coming to insist on a reform of the datary, while his enemies asserted that his conduct was to be made the subject of inquiry, if not of reprimand. Urban intimated to the Escurial his willingness to receive the bishop of Osma and his colleague, and the Spanish cardinals waited impatiently for the triumph of their party. The refusal of the pope to allow Antonio Barberini to undertake the protectorate of France was welcomed at Madrid; at the same time Francesco became protector of Aragon and Portugal. At length the long­expected commissioners arrived, and Borgia felt that the hour of victory was at hand.

But the cardinal was destined to receive a rude awakening from his dreams. The proposed reform of the datary occasioned a lengthy diplomatic correspondence, but led to no definite result. Urban refused to abandon his hostility towards Borgia, unless he received satisfaction for the protest. Cardinal Francesco was not unskilled in the arts of diplomacy, and the two commissioners were induced to accept the papal view of their compatriot's conduct. A fresh subsidy to the emperor removed all the grounds of complaint against Urban.

March 1634 

The lengthy negotiations between the courts of Rome and Madrid only resulted in weakening the position of the cardinal-archbishop. The victory of the Hapsburgs at Nordlingen and the outbreak of frontier disturbances at Benevento gave him a momentary gleam of hope. But if his stubbornness equalled Urban's, his power did not. His attempts to embroil the pope with Philip, by exaggerating the military preparations of the papacy, allowed the Quirinal to state its Italian policy clearly and to press for the removal of all causes of disagreement. Olivarez offered to appoint Borgia to the governorship of Milan, but the proposal was declined. At length the weary wrangle was ended. On December 12 Urban promulgated the bull "Sancta Synodus Tridentina".  By its provisions the regulations of Paul III and Pius IV for the residence of bishops were extended and enforced under severe penalties. The clause which dealt with the case of cardinals, who were at the head of metropolitan churches and cathedrals, sealed Borgia's fate. There was some talk of reprisals from Naples, and the nuncio Campeggi was forced to listen to violent language at Madrid. When threats failed, the cardinal offered to resign Seville and to reside at Albano. The offer was refused, and he was recalled to Spain.

April  1635

Seven days after he had received this order, he withdrew from Rome. His six months' delay at Naples served no useful purpose, but merely embittered relations between the Quirinal and the Escurial. Even when he reached Spain he contrived to indulge his spirit of insubordination by residing at Madrid, instead of Seville. Although he obeyed Urban by retiring for awhile to his diocese, he soon returned to the capital, where lie continued to encourage Philip, by every means in his power, to attack and to insult the pontiff.

The episode of Borgia's protest and the wearisome negotiations which ensued, afford a reliable picture of the general relations of the Hapsburgs to the papal power. Although Philip was violent, where Ferdinand was conciliatory, the two monarchs were at one in representing their struggle as a religious war. They never ceased to urge the pope to unite Catholicism in a crusade against the heretic. It would be an idle task to attempt a decision on their claims by analyzing their motives. Whatever these may have been, their actions belied their words. Gregorovius decides that the coalition against the Hapsburgs "must have sunk helpless, if Urban had striven to unite all the catholic powers at the right time under his papal authority". Such a criticism ignores the facts of the case. However hard Urban had striven for union, he would have been foiled by the designs of Richelieu and Olivarez, whose interests lay in the aggrandizement of their respective countries. Possibly Ferdinand was a more devout catholic than Louis, but he hated France as bitterly as France hated him. Even Maximilian of Bavaria, whose energy had won back Bohemia for Catholicism and overwhelmed the Calvinists of the Rhineland, was not whole-hearted in his alliance with the emperor. Ferdinand's attempt to revive the mediaeval empire was as impracticable as Urban's effort to reassert all the ancient claims of the papacy. The spirit of nationality was too strong for the old theories, which were based on the unity of Christendom. It was not the intolerant Urban, but the tolerant Richelieu, who fixed the bounds of the catholic restoration in Germany. The Swedish monarchy and, to a less degree, the electorate of Saxony played their part in defeating the Hapsburg. The pope's influence was much smaller. His parsimony towards all but his immediate neighbours caused him to dole out miserable subsidies to the imperial exchequer. His knowledge of the European situation, sharpened by his dread of Hapsburg encroachment in Italy, prevented him from blessing with the title of a religious war the efforts of the statesmen who supported the Huguenots and ravaged the Milanese. Even if he had done so, it is doubtful whether the course of history would have been altered. If he had had the power, he would have forced on the world a system, which would have stifled progress: he had, at any rate, the good sense or the good fortune to struggle to prevent Europe from being crushed under the dead weight of Hapsburg autocracy.

 

Although Urban's tastes made him an admirer of France, and his position as an Italian prince predisposed him to favour the Bourbon against the Hapsburg, he was often at variance with Richelieu. The insult to the papal flag in the Valtelline was not easily forgiven. When he was nuncio at Paris, Urban had viewed with alarm the growth of gallican pretensions: during the whole of his pontificate, he did his best to combat them. Louis and Richelieu gave way from time to time, but the pope's triumphs were mostly paper victories.

March 5, 1626

The treaty of Monzon had marked the successful termination of Richelieu's struggle against the combined forces of the Escurial and the Quirinal. The gallican party were encouraged to continue their duel with the ultramontanes.

1626

The Sorbonne condemned the treatise of the Jesuit, Antonio Santarelli, on  the power and authority of the pope: it singled out for special censure two articles, which inculcated the doctrines that the pope could punish with temporal penalties all kings and princes, and deprive them of their subjects' allegiance, if they were heretics, and that, as the apostles had been subject to the temporal power "de facto", but not "de jure", the pope was supreme in all matters, temporal and spiritual. The parlement joined in the protest against this flagrant production of ultra-montane principles. Urban would not willingly disavow these doctrines, and he objected to priests being compelled to swear that they did not hold them. Although the parlement decreed that no subject of the French crown should have dealings with the nuncio, the king adopted a more conciliatory attitude, and vetoed the censure of the Sorbonne.

1627

In the next year the count of Soissons was received with special marks of favour at Rome—the first of the measures which Urban took to show his inclination to favour the royal house in their struggle against Richelieu.

May 28, 1628

But he was still on good terms with the cardinal, and celebrated the latter's triumph at La Rochelle with such splendour that the Spanish ambassador entered a protest. The Mantuan question drew the two ecclesiastics even more closely together.

November 11, 1630. July 1631

The Day of Dupes passed and left Richelieu more powerful than ever. Those who had plotted against him fled—Gaston to Lorraine, the queen-mother to Brussels. Urban endeavoured to reconcile the various members of the royal family to one another, while he remonstrated with Richelieu on the progress of the Swede. But the cardinal was not likely to welcome a reconciliation, when Gaston was already meditating marriage with Marguerite of Lorraine.

Autum 1632

The heir presumptive hoped to winter recover his position by the help of a coalition between the emperor, Spain and his prospective brother-in-law. Richelieu struck promptly, and Lorraine humbly sued for peace. Urban's invitation, issued to the cardinal about this time, to retire from political life and accept the welcome of the Barberini at Rome, reads quaintly in the light of after events.

Although Richelieu did not accept the pope's thoughtful offer, he had little reason to complain of papal policy. Before seeking refuge in Lorraine, Gaston had endeavoured to find shelter for himself and his dependents in Avignon.

Urban ordered d'Ornano and Ubaldino, the Spring civil and military governors of that ecclesi astical province, to refuse the request. Gaston's attempt to secure a representative in the college of cardinals, by the promotion of Cogni, was equally unsuccessful. The pope refused to place himself in a false position by assisting Orleans' rebellious schemes, although he instructed Bichi, the nuncio at Paris, to work for the restoration of peace in the royal family. The coalition against Richelieu resulted in the execution of Montmorency and the flight of Gaston to Brussels.

Spring 1633 

 The heir presumptive continued his intrigues from Hapsburg territory, but  Richelieu met the dangers which threatened France, by negotiating the league of Heilbronn between Sweden and the circles of the upper and lower Rhine, Franconia, and Suabia. This step roused the pope's anger, though he was somewhat mollified by the protection extended to the electoral archbishop of Trier. At Paris, Bichi tried in vain to protect the duke of Lorraine from Richelieu's anger.

September 1633

Deprived of Spanish help, Charles was forced to surrender Nancy, and to agree to the annulling of his sister's marriage with Gaston. Richelieu steadily refused to acknowledge this clandestine union, and Louis informed the nuncio that it was against the laws of the kingdom for a member of the royal house to marry without the king's knowledge and consent. Such an argument had no weight with the pope; he would not tolerate for a moment the encroachments of the secular power. It was in vain that the French court tried to mollify him by explaining the clandestine nature of the marriage.

October 1633

Urban's reply was short and uncompromising. "I know nothing", he wrote to Bichi", of the laws of the kingdom, but I know well that Christ has said: What God hath joined, let not man put asunder. On that point your lordship will give no pledge." Nothing could persuade Urban to sacrifice the rights of the church to political expediency. Richelieu's action in bringing the case before the parlement drew from him another protest.

 February 1634

Gaston's wife herself seemed willing to submit to the French government, and signed herself "Marguerite de Lorraine" in writing to Rome. Cardinal Francesco answered her despatch, addressing her as duchess of Orleans. Richelieu made fresh overtures, to which Barberini replied that, as the marriage was true and real, he did not know how it could be untied by human laws.

August 1634 

 But Richelieu was determined to carry his point, and the parlement decided that the marriage was invalid. To pacify the pope, an envoy was despatched to explain that the decision only affected the secular aspect of the case. Urban persisted in maintaining the validity of the tie, and showed his displeasure with Richelieu by refusing his request for the promotion of pare Joseph to the cardinalate.

Fresh efforts were made to persuade Louis to abandon the cardinal-duke's policy, by breaking off the Swedish alliance and receiving Gaston back to favour.

May 1635

The treaty of Prague was equally distasteful at Rome and at Paris. Urban was angry at Austrian concessions to the heretic, Richelieu at the desertion of Saxony. France saw that the time for overt action had at last arrived, and on May 19 she declared war against Spain.

Summer 1635

Once more the north of Italy became the battleground of the Bourbon and the Hapsburg. Rohan seized the Valtelline, thus cutting off the Spaniards from Germany, and the allied forces of France, Savoy, Mantua and Parma converged on the Milanese. Each party hoped to secure Urban's active support, and complained to the pope of the other's misdeeds: the Spaniards inveighed against Richelieu's policy of helping the heretic Dutch; the French replied that the Hapsburgs had fomented rebellion, aided Charles of Lorraine, and insulted the dignity of the church by seizing the elector of Trier. But Urban steadily refused to abandon his neutrality, and was rewarded by the reproaches of both parties. At first Richelieu's great schemes met with little success in Italy, while in north Europe they failed completely.

Spring 1636

The next year opened even more disastrously for France, although Créqui and Victor Amadeus held their own south of the Alps. The Spaniards signalized their successes by pressing forward the reform of the datary once more. But the pope stood firm; neither threats nor entreaties could induce him to interfere actively on either side. Instead of joining in the war, he endeavoured to mediate, and talked of a crusade against the Turk and the pirates of Algiers. At length he persuaded the contending powers to agree on Köln as the meeting-place for their representatives, but though some of the belligerents despatched peace envoys, the negotiations came to nothing.

October 4, 1636. December 19, 1638. October 16, 1639 

Gradually the fortune  of war changed. The battle of Wittstock  and the capture of Breisach turned the scale decisively against the Hapsburgs on land: the defeat of the Spanish fleet in the Downs crippled their sea-power. Olivarez endeavoured to strengthen his position in Italy by sending Borgia back to preside over the Spanish council of the peninsula; but Urban insisted that the archbishop must not leave his flock at Seville merely to undertake a layman's duties; especially as his Catholic Majesty possessed subjects so well fitted for Italian work as Alva, Ognate and Monterey. The pope went on to complain of the attacks on ecclesiastical immunities in Portugal and Naples. At the same time he proved that he was acting, not to gratify political prejudices, but to protect church interests, by opposing Richelieu in the case of Pierre Dupuy, who had published Libertes de l’eglise gallicane.

December 1640

The imposition of heavy taxation on the French clergy was an even greater offence to papal claims. For a time diplomatic relations between Paris and Rome were seriously strained. Urban despatched a strong protest to the cardinal-duke on the wrongs done by the French crown to the church, contrasted Louis' actions with the saintly dispositions of such bygone heroes as Theuderich, Carloman and Charlemagne, and backed up his letter by publishing the bull "De Preservandis Jurihus Ecclesiarum." Richelieu was not to be moved by the fulminations of the aged pontiff; the French clergy showed no signs of supporting the Quirinal, and the rumour grew that, if necessary, all connection with Rome would be abandoned, and a national patriarchate established.

December 1641

The pope was beaten. Mazarin received the cardinal's hat, which had been  denied to pére Joseph; but the importance  of the concession was somewhat modified by the simultaneous elevation of the Spanish partizan, Peretti.

Although he failed to make good his ecclesiastical claims in France, and was only partially successful in Spain, Urban preserved his control over the church in Italy, even when the secular power was hostile to him. The death of Landriano, bishop of Pavia, brought the temporal and spiritual authorities into violent collision. The governor of Milan claimed the right of administering the church, and answered the protest of the archpriest, Codolo, by despatching an armed force to take possession of the cathedral.

April  1638

The pope appointed a congregation, which included Pamphili and Francesco Barberini, to determine the rights of the church. The cardinals reported that the clergy of Pavia owed no obedience to Milan, and that no royal right of administering vacant benefices existed in the case of such a bishopric. Urban adopted their decision, and a violent quarrel arose between Rome and Milan. Castel Rodrigo threatened cardinal Francesco with the loss of Philip's favour; the governor of Milan quartered his troops on the clergy; the mob burnt down the house of Codolo, who had been expelled from Spanish territory. The pope replied by laying the city under an interdict. For three years neither side would give way. At length a reconciliation was effected, and Codolo received ample satisfaction for the wrongs he had suffered in defence of the church.

December 1, 1640

The failure of the Spanish monarchy abroad was followed by domestic dissensions, which threatened to tear half the peninsula from Philip's grasp. Olivarez' attempt to strengthen the kingdom, by unifying the constitutions of its ill-assorted parts, hastened the disruption. Encouraged by French promises, Portugal and Catalonia revolted; the former set up the duke of Braganza, the representative of the old royal house, as John IV, while the latter elected Louis XIII Count of Barcelona. Borgia urged his sovereign to extinguish the revolt in rivers of blood, and Olivarez did not hesitate to employ the assassin's dagger against Braganza.

February 1641

 In his perplexity the minister turned to Urban; he requested him to condemn the duke's rebellion, and to show his disapproval of the prelates who had lent it their support, by appointing others in their place. The pope turned the matter over to a congregation of cardinals, which presented a non-committal report.

March 1641

It was essential for Spanish schemes that Europe should not recognize the new kingdom; and the Spanish ambassador marked his annoyance at the pope's attitude by saying that he was not the pastor of the church's flock, but a mercenary set over the sheepfold. Braganza, who earnestly desired the papal recognition of his claims, decided to send Melchiore, bishop of Lamego, to Rome. Urban tried to stop the unwelcome visitor, but Melchiore had represented his journey as a pilgrimage to the shrine of the apostles. Unfortunately for the success of the Portuguese envoy, the archbishop of Braga and the Grand Inquisitor had taken part in the abortive conspiracy of August 5 against the new king. The ecclesiastics were treated with great leniency, but their imprisonment was certain to displease Urban. When Melchiore arrived at Rome and took up his residence with the French ambassador, the Spaniards brought fresh pressure to bear on the pope; they were delighted to hear that it had been decided that the envoy should not be received by Urban, but should communicate with cardinal Francesco through a third party. The bishop was informed that Urban was deeply offended at the expulsion and the imprisonment of ecclesiastics which had marked the beginning of John's reign. But at length it was rumoured that Melchiore would be admitted to the pope's presence: the Spaniards were indignant: " if once His Holiness acknowledged Braganza's claims, all the world would do the like."

January 1642

The marquis of Los Veles was sent from Madrid to hold back Urban, and a somewhat stormy audience ensued, in which the Spaniard abused cardinal Francesco in unmeasured terms.

May 1642

Neither Los Veles nor Melchiore could induce the pope to pronounce definitely for their respective kings, and, after three months' futile negotiations, both envoys left Rome. John of Portugal was acknowledged by all the sovereigns in Europe, who were not dependents of the Hapsburgs, but Urban steadily refused to recognize a monarch who maltreated church dignitaries and sent his envoys to Münster to support the policy of Richelieu and Oxenstjerna. The history of the Portuguese negotiations brings out very clearly Urban's attitude towards political affairs. If John had not been compelled to punish clerical treachery, he might well have obtained the papal recognition: as it was, Urban would not countenance the claims of the king, who was dealing a deadly blow to the power of Spain. The pope could not be brought to make concessions which would diminish the power of the church. Though all the diplomatists at Münster and Osnabrück decided that the restitution of the Palatinate was an essential preliminary to peace, Urban refused to lend his sanction to this tardy act of justice to the hated Wittelsbach.

The papal attack on England had apparently failed with the breakdown of the scheme for its invasion by France and Spain. But Rome had a good friend in high places, who was bound, sooner or later, to aid her cause. Henrietta Maria was a frivolous woman, with little real religious feeling, but, once her sympathies were enlisted on the side of her co-religionists, she did her utmost to improve their condition in England. She never really influenced her husband's religious opinions, but hopes of his conversion to the faith were long entertained at Rome. Despite the nature of his promises to France, made when he was prince of Wales, Charles had been forced to reverse his policy of toleration. The French war had not improved the catholics' lot, but with the dissolution of Charles' third parliament their prospects brightened; their bitterest enemies, the puritans, were silenced, but they were destined to find another obstacle in Laud's rigid application of disciplinary measures. The king accepted loyally the settlement of Elizabeth; though his sympathies inclined to Rome rather than Geneva, he lent his best energies to the defence of the Anglican position against the enemy on either side. Laud's influence over him sometimes drove him into harsh acts; but he was averse to persecution, and his catholic subjects supported him with their purses, and afterwards with their lives. "He spoke always of the catholic religion, not as a heretic king, but as a catholic". In July 1633 the curia received the welcome news that overtures from England had begun. Bichi wrote from Paris that Douglas had arrived there, and had requested to be placed in communication with the pope: the Scot was practically a representative of the queen consort and the nobility of his own country.

January  1635

Urban was delighted; he remarked: “If only Charles had been a catholic, he would have been the gem of all princes",  and hastened to make use of his opportunity. Gregorio Panzani, a secular priest of the Roman oratory, was despatched to England to act as papal representative at the court of queen Henrietta. He was entrusted with the task of securing the safety of the faithful from persecution, the restoration of harmony in their councils, and the propagation of the catholic religion among the heretics. The envoy did not stay long in England, but he managed to effect something for the catholic cause by establishing his influence over Windebank. That amiable theorist would have welcomed a reconciliation between the two churches: there was even some talk of a conference to deal with the subject. The despatch of Hamilton to Rome seemed to augur well for catholic hopes. Panzani returned to the curia at the end of 1636, and was rewarded with the bishopric of Miletus.

April 1637

He was replaced by a Scot, George Con, “whose nationality made him a better instrument for furthering the papal designs”. He succeeded in ingratiating himself with the queen, and the prospects of the catholics improved, though Laud was as unbending as ever. Some of the nobility were converted, among them being Lord Boteler and Lady Newport.

October 1637

Laud's attempts to punish two prominent catholics roused the queen to protect her co-religionists. The proclamation against the Roman worship was openly defied, and mass was celebrated in the houses of the catholic gentry.

August 1639

After nearly three years' service Con retired. His place was taken by Carlo Rosetti. The new  envoy was delighted with the progress Catholicism had made. "I have found," he wrote to  Francesco Barberini, "in all persons a better disposition and a readiness towards the affairs of religion in general, and an obedience, full of reverence towards the particular person of his Holiness, our sovereign, and of your Eminence."

September 1639

Windebank was invaluable for Rosetti's purpose, and the envoy still hoped to influence the king through the secretary. The general condition of the catholics was good, except in the eastern counties. The Roman court were highly pleased with their envoy's reports, and congratulated him on the dexterity with which he had managed Windebank. But the summoning of the Short Parliament threat- ened to destroy the catholics' hopes. Its speedy dissolution was a source of satisfaction,although the Scotch danger still remained.

Spring  1640 

What the king chiefly needed was money: in utter desperation he turned to Rome. Rosetti forwarded his request to the curia, but the pope, so lavish in some ways, was extremely parsimonious in his contributions even to catholic princes: Charles was too loyal an Anglican for Urban to open his treasury to him.

May 1640

However, Barberini wrote to Rosetti, giving his official approval of the catholics' action in collecting money for the king's service.

June 1640

While Charles was negotiating with Rome and the parliamentarians could only express their exasperation in words, Laud still stubbornly opposed Rosetti's plans; he burnt catholic books and endeavoured to enforce penal legislation against puritan and papist alike. But Henrietta Maria conquered in her struggle with the archbishop. Rosetti wrote joyfully to Barberini: "Through the grace of God all the priests and catholics are at last released from prison, to their extreme consolation."

July 1640 

This event exasperated the puritans to madness; they talked of wrecking the catholic chapel, and threatened Rosetti's life.

August 1640 

All the hopes of Rosetti and Barberini rested on the king, and Charles was staggering blindly to his fall. The battle of Newburn reduced him to the necessity of summoning the representatives of the nation. When the Long Parliament met, the last chance of toleration for the catholics vanished. The men who wished to destroy episcopacy were not likely to show much mercy to papists. It was perfectly useless for Rome to instruct Rosetti to urge strong measures on the king, when she refused  to expend a scudo to help him against his unruly subjects. Urban insisted that Charles should become a catholic, at any rate in secret, before he would move. His policy does more credit to his religious optimism than to his political wisdom.

The execution of Wentworth deprived Charles of the only man who could have weathered the storm. In his helplessness, he appealed once more to Rome. Henrietta interviewed Rosetti and assured him that, if the pope would contribute £150,000 to help the English crown, Charles would permit his catholic subjects in England to attend services in the chapels of the queen and the foreign ambassadors, and would grant complete religious liberty to Ireland. The request was refused: Urban would not give money to a heretic prince, who was even then negotiating with the presbyterians of the north.

June 1641 

Rosetti's stay in England was drawing to its close. His efforts to persuade Queen Henrietta and her mother, Marie de Medicis, to break off the marriage between the princess Mary and William of Orange, proved fruitless. Charles yielded to parliament's demand for the banishment of the papal envoy. In a final interview the king thanked Rosetti for the kindness of the pope, promised to treat his catholic subjects with the greatest clemency, if ever again he became master of his kingdom, and ended by a general expression of his kindly feeling to the Roman church. The envoy left the country, after a final exhortation to the queen to bring about her husband's conversion. He retired to Köln, whence he managed to keep up a correspondence with Henrietta.

Diplomacy had failed to lure England back to the bosom of the church. Urban had already urged Louis XIII to support the failing cause of Catholicism in his brother-in-law's kingdom. But France was too busy on the continent to organize a new crusade against the heretical island. The pope could only encourage die catholics to do their utmost to aid their king in his struggle with his parliament. The English Romanists hardly needed this exhortation; they could expect little mercy from parliament. Charles' appeal to them in Lancashire met with an enthusiastic response; led by Lord Herbert they flocked to the Royal standard, and throughout the war they distinguished themselves by their loyalty. The Irish catholics acted in a similar way. Parliament had declared that no toleration was to be granted to the rebels, and the latter naturally fought to the death against their persecutors. Urban sent them his pontifical blessing, and a plenary indulgence for their sins. He even went so far as to forward "four hundred ducats by this our legate Orobie."

The success of the pope's attempt to win back Charles' kingdom to the catholic church was not commensurate with the boldness of the scheme. Urban might well have given a more favourable answer to the king's appeals for money; but his religious principles and his natural parsimony alike prevented him from subsidizing a heretical prince. The emissaries whom he appointed were well fitted for their work; they were, if anything, too successful in their proselytizing. Some of the priests who were despatched to Ireland were not so happily chosen, but Rosetti succeeded eventually in managing them. The curia showed a disposition to override the wishes of the English catholics in some matters; but it was probably perfectly justified in the hostility it displayed towards such place-hunters as Montague. Urban failed to conquer English puritanism, but he might console himself with the thought that he had not sown the good seed altogether in vain. The harvest was reaped, when the sons of Henrietta Maria came back to receive their father's crown.

The pontiff's proselytizing and crusading zeal did not confine itself to England. The Propaganda, which had originated under Gregory XIII and had been placed under the supervision of a congregation of cardinals by Gregory XV, received still more careful organization from Urban. For the education of youthful missionaries he built, in 1627, the college which still bears his name. His envoys followed close upon the victorious march of Ferdinand's troops in north Germany. The Jesuits showed their accustomed energy as teachers and diplomatists. Urban did not despair of winning back to Rome the power which first raised the standard of revolt against her in Germany. John George's conservatism in political matters was interpreted as a sign of religious grace. The papal nuncio accredited to the electoral archbishop of Köln was instructed to make every effort for his conversion, and to endeavour also to win over the reigning house of Darmstadt. While persuasion was to be used with German princes, the city of Geneva was to be conquered by the arms of Saxony and France. Against that nest of heresy Urban continued his predecessor's plan, but, although Charles Emmanuel was eager to make good his ancient claims over the republic, the opposition of France put a stop to the enterprise. In the north Poland served as the advanced outpost of Catholicism against lutheran Sweden and orthodox Russia. The failure of the false Dimitri's audacious attempt had made the latter country more loyal than ever to the national church, and had ruined the prospects of Catholicism. Poland's military weakness was a great obstacle to Urban's plans. The laxity of her religious discipline called for correction. Although the Jesuits were doing good work, the other orders had become demoralized and stood in urgent need of supervision. Palatines, nobles and judges encroached on the immunities of the church. The exercise of rights of patronage by laymen was a serious menace to the doctrines of ultramontanism. To deal with these problems Mario Filomardi was sent to Poland as nuncio: Ladislaus VII was inclined to attack Sweden after the death of her great king. The nuncio assured him that his Holiness was delighted to hear of the project, as Ladislaus was "valorous and courageous above all the princes of Catholicism." But, although he urged the Polish king to protect the interests of the Swedish catholics, Urban doubted the ability of Ladislaus to conquer a country which still reckoned among its generals Horn, Baner, Torstenson and Wrangel. He suggested that the king should leave the heretic alone and turn his arms against the infidel. The pope proposed that a league of catholic powers should be formed to attack the Ottoman empire: the king of Spain and the princes of Italy were to descend upon Greece, the emperor was to advance through Hungary, while to France was allotted the conquest of the Holy Land. While the Turks were thus beset on all sides, Ladislaus would sweep down along the Danube to Constantinople. The chimerical scheme broke down, but Urban was not discouraged. He proposed to turn the arms of the infidel against the Sultan, by enlisting the services of Persia in the crusade. The orthodox church was to be enticed into supporting the Roman see by conciliatory diplomacy, and the Cossacks encouraged to attack their hereditary enemies. Meanwhile Rome, Florence, and Malta would carry on the war by sea and distract the attention of Constantinople from the Polish invasion.

Although he failed to carry out his grandiose scheme, Urban succeeded at any rate in keeping Poland loyal to the church. Ladislaus, who did not display the fanatical zeal of Sigismund III, was carefully restrained from any action which might hinder Catholicism. The pope approved heartily of prince Casimir's entrance into the society of Jesus. Ladislaus refused to be mollified by the description of his brother as a prince "nourished with the milk of piety and skilled in the knowledge of salvation", and complained bitterly of Jesuitical wiles. A more important advantage was gained for Catholicism, when Ladislaus was prevented from marrying a heretic wife.

Urban was as keenly desirous of asserting his temporal as his spiritual authority, and he had the satisfaction of seeing, during his reign, the states of the church reach their largest dimensions. The work of consolidation accomplished by Julius II had put a stop to the nepotism which threatened to shatter the Italian dominions of the papacy: and although Paul III had handed over Parma and Piacenza to his kinsmen, subsequent popes had acquiesced in the change of system, whereby their relatives were rewarded with money, instead of territory. Clement VIII had been enabled, through the extinction of the legitimate line of D'Este, in 1596, to add the duchy of Ferrara to the dominions of the Holy See.

1623

 In the first year of his pontificate, Urban was presented with a similar opportunity. The death of the young duke of Urbino left his father, Francesco Maria II, the last male representative of the della Rovere. That house held the duchy by the grant of Julius II to his nephew, Francesco Maria I, and by marriage with the heiress of the Montefeltro. Venice and the Empire cast greedy eyes on the rich territory, but Ferdinand refused to seize Montefeltro as the republic suggested. Urban made haste to secure the reversion of the duchy to papal rule. He compelled Francesco Maria II to acknowledge that he held all his possessions as a fief of the Holy See. The duke's officials took the oaths of allegiance to the pontiff during their master's lifetime.

April 28, 1631

When the last of the della Rovere expired, Taddeo Barberini was sent with a body of troops to occupy Urbino,  and due precautions were taken to avoid complications with other powers. The emperor was anxious not to widen unneces­sarily the breach between himself and the pope : the claims of the grand duke of Tuscany were satisfied by the allodial domains: Venice was never to be feared, unless she had powerful allies. Urbino was regularly incorporated with the papal states. Apparently she objected bitterly to the change; whether she would have fared better, if she had fallen into the hands of Spain or Venice, may well be doubted. The little republic of San Marino, however, acquired an extension of the privileges it had enjoyed under the ducal house. The death of Francesco Maria left vacant the prefecture of Rome: unfortunately Urban decided to confer the office on Taddeo, thereby causing endless quarrels between his family and the representatives of foreign powers, and exciting the anger of the older nobility.

It was in the matter of taxation that Urbino suffered most by its change of rulers. The financial system of the papal states  resulted in a continual increase of the public debt. At the beginning of Urban's pontificate the latter stood at eighteen million scudi: in the course of his reign it was more than doubled. For this increase the pope's military expenditure was largely responsible. He was determined that there should be no possibility of the capital falling once more into the hands of a brutal soldiery, and he was not content to rely on purely spiritual weapons for defence against his neighbours. Although subsequent events were to show the rottenness of the Spanish power in Naples, Urban was keenly suspicious of the designs of the viceroy; with Hapsburg troops in the Milanese, the states of the church were between the upper and the nether mill-stone. There was always the further chance of disturbance among the native Italian princes. Venice threatened little real danger. But acrimonious disputes were continually arising between the republic and the curia upon such subjects as the jurisdiction of the Inquisition, the rights of convents and bishoprics, the patriarchate of Aquileia, the waters of the P0, the delimitation of frontiers, and the inscription in the Sala Regia. Questions, such as the possession of the Valtelline, Urbino and Castro, were a source of even greater trouble. The grand-dukes of Tuscany did not look with a favourable eye on the pretensions of the sovereign, who had once been their subject. Modena and Mantua might at any time adopt a warlike policy, or the dukes of Parma endeavour to emulate the exploits of Alessandro Farnese. It might have been wiser to have relied for protection on the ethical consciousness of Catholicism, but it is more probable that in an age when the whole of Europe was given up to war, disarmament would have meant the virtual extinction of the papacy as an independent power. Urban adopted the principle "Si vis pacem, para bellum." He built Fort Urbano near Bologna to secure his territory against inroads from the north. Particular care was taken to increase the numbers and efficiency of the army. For the greater security of the capital the massive castle of St. Angelo on the right bank of the Tiber was strengthened, and walls were carried round the Vatican and Janiculan hills. Urban was anxious to be entirely independent of external assistance, and founded an arsenal on the Vatican to supply the wants of his troops.

But although the pope did his utmost to increase the efficiency of the papal armaments and himself took a keen pleasure in supervising military details, he did not adopt an aggressive attitude. The policy of his predecessor, and his own sense of duty, forced him to expose his army to the chances of war in the Valtelline. During the years when the Hapsburg and the Bourbon were struggling for Mantua, he steadily played the role of the mediator: neither French promises nor Spanish threats could move him from his dearly-prized neutrality. When in 1637 the north of Italy once more provided a fighting ground for the belligerents, he refused to join either side. Although he had numerous disputes with Venice, he did not emulate the bellicose policy of Paul V. But when he had already passed his seventieth year and the reins of government were slipping from his hands, he was at length provoked into war.

Autumn 1639 

Odoardo Farnese, duke of Parma, refused to render Taddeo Barberini the respect due to his rank as prefect of Rome, or to treat cardinal Francesco as strict etiquette prescribed. The pope's nephews, sensitive as parvenus usually are, were deeply offended, and determined to revenge themselves for the insult. The Farnesi, like most of the Roman nobility, were heavily burdened with debt: it only required the diversion of the high road used for the export of corn, from Ronciglione to Sutri, and the prohibition of the export trade in Montalto di Maremma, to throw their finances into hopeless confusion.

January 1642 

The duke's creditors complained to the pope, who sent a small force to occupy Castro, the territory on which the mortgage  of the Farnese loan was secured. Farnese was excommunicated and his fiefs of Parma and Piacenza declared forfeit. These strong measures alarmed the other Italian powers. The duke of Modena, anxious to avenge the loss of Ferrara, came to the help of Odoardo. Ferdinand II of Tuscany, who had never forgiven the pope for the loss of Urbino, and Venice, always ready to attack the papacy, if any other power would act with her, joined the league. Luckily for Urban, Philip of Spain was too busily employed with Portugal and Catalonia to assist the allies. As it was, he found himself hard pressed by his enemies. The majority of his subjects were apathetic, and the army, whether from Taddeo's incompetence or the unwarlike nature of the population from which it was drawn, disappointed Urban's hopes. The cost of conducting an unsuccessful war was met by taking half a million scudi from the treasure of St. Angelo, and by imposing heavy taxes. No effort was spared to make good the initial blunders. In the next year the fortune of war changed, and the papal troops entered the territories of the league. But neither side could obtain sufficient advantage to bring hostilities to a satisfactory conclusion. Meanwhile, the public debt rapidly increased at Rome. Taxes were imposed on salt and wood, and the customs were raised. The impost on corn was bitterly resented, and when it was proposed to tax wine, the patience of the Romans gave way: Francesco Barberini wisely yielded to popular feeling.

March 1644

At length the pope realized that he could not crush the confederate princes of Italy. He yielded to necessity, and accepted the offer of the French to mediate between him and his enemies. The northern powers were equally ready for peace, and capitulations were signed on March 31. It was provided that hostilities were to cease at once, and that invading troops were to be withdrawn to the territories of their respective states. The pope was to abolish his fortifications at Lagoscuro, and similar concessions were to be made by Venice and Modena. Secular and regular priests were to return to the places whence they had been expelled. The allied powers were to restore the papal possessions which they held, and duke Odoardo was to receive back Castro and Montalto. Urban had not succeeded in punishing his refractory vassal; the army, on which he had spent so much time and money, had failed him in the hour of need. At the end, as at the beginning of his reign, catholics had openly fought against the troops of the church: but there was no such excuse for exposing the papal banner to insult in the war of Castro, as there had been in the struggle for the Valtelline. The attempt to crush Farnese was the last and the worst result of Urban's nepotism. Even his faithful biographer admits that it was an error.

The pope's pride was broken. The shock of defeat and the consciousness of lowered prestige brought him to the grave. He was in his seventy-seventh year and his constitution was worn out by continuous labour. Although the summer was particularly hot and he was in a weak state of health, Urban insisted on continuing his official work, despite the advice of his friends. He felt that he was approaching his end, and he was weary of life. The fear that he had favoured his nephews to the injury of the church haunted him, although the theologians assured him that his actions were perfectly justifiable. He refused to pack the college of cardinals in favour of his family by a death-bed nomination. Even in his last days he could not forgive the princes of the league, who had fought against him; his sense of the wrong done to himself and the papacy was deepened by the conviction that he had been defeated when struggling for the just rights of the church. But the consciousness of failure weighed on him still more heavily. When the priests gathered round his bedside to administer consolation to the dying, he altered the usual words of the ritual, exclaiming: “¡Deus propitius sit mihi maximo peccatori!”

June 29, 1644 

And thus, with the clouds of despondency and defeat gathered round him, Urban passed away from the world, in which his personality had so long played a leading part.