reformation of the Church must be accomplished in Trent, not left to the judgment of the Papal Curia; and threatened to arrive from Innsbruck by the Brenner.  Though Ferdinand was in a position of ecclesiastical and political weakness, such an Imperial rescript could not be altogether contemned; especially as Cardinal Lorraine, soon after his arrival, had made the journey to Innsbruck on purpose to confer with the Emperor.  It therefore behoved the Pope to act with decision; and an important event happened in the first days of March, which materially assisted him in doing so.  This was the death of Cardinal Gonzaga, whom Pius determined to replace by the moderate and circumspect Morone.[45]

[Footnote 44:  He reached Trent, November 13, 1562, with eighteen Bishops, and three Abbots of France, charged by Charles IX. to demand purified ritual, reformed discipline of clergy, use of vernacular in church services, and finally, if possible, the marriage of the clergy.]

[Footnote 45:  The confusion at Trent in the spring of 1563 is thus described by the Bishop of Alife:  ’Methinks Antichrist has come, so greatly confounded are the perturbations of the holy Fathers here.’  Phillipson, p. 525.]

Through Ippolito d’Este, Cardinal of Ferrara, he opened negotiations with the French Court, showing that the wishes of the prelates in the Council on the question of episcopacy were no less opposed to the crown than to his own interests.  Cardinal Simoneta urged the same point on the Marquis of Pescara, who governed Milan for Philip, and was well inclined to the Papal party.  Cardinal Morone was sent on a special embassy to the Emperor.[46] By wise concessions, in which the prerogatives of the Imperial ambassadors at Trent were considerably enlarged, and a searching reformation of the Church was promised, Morone succeeded in establishing a good working basis for the future.  It came to be understood that while the Pope would allow no further freedom to the bishops, he was well disposed to let his Legates admit the envoys of the Catholic powers into their counsels.  From this time forward the Synod may be said to have existed only as a mouthpiece for uttering the terms agreed on by the Pope and potentates.  Morone returned to Trent, and the Emperor withdrew from Innsbruck toward the north.

[Footnote 46:  When Morone set out, he told the Venetian envoy in Rome that he was going on a forlorn hope.  ’L’illmo Morone, quando parti per il Concilio, mi disse che andava a cura disperata e che nulla speserat della religione Cattolica.’  Soranzo, op. cit. p. 82.  The Jesuit Canisius, by his influence with Ferdinand, secured the success of Morone’s diplomacy.]