, and after employing all the arts of
diplomacy and cajolery, carried his point. Ferdinand, with duplicity
which was not honorable, let the word remain, saying that it was not his
act, but that of his ambassador. The pope affected satisfaction with the
formal acknowledgment of his power, while Ferdinand ever after refused
to recognize his authority. Thus terminated the long dependence, running
through ages of darkness and delusion, of the German emperors upon the
Roman see.

Ferdinand did not trouble himself to receive the crown from the pope,
and since his day the emperors of Germany have no longer been exposed to
the expense and the trouble of a journey to Rome for their coronation.
Though Ferdinand was strongly attached to the tenets of the papal
church, and would gladly have eradicated Protestantism from his domains,
he was compelled to treat the Protestants with some degree of
consideration, as he needed the aid of their arms in the wars in which
he was incessantly involved with the Turks. He even made great efforts
to introduce some measure of conciliation which should reconcile the two
parties, and thus reunite his realms under one system of doctrine and of
worship.

Still Protestantism was making rapid strides all over Europe. It had
become the dominant religion in Denmark and Sweden, and, by the
accession of Elizabeth to the throne of England, was firmly established
in that important kingdom. In France also the reformed religion had made
extensive inroads, gathering to its defense many of the noblest spirits,
in rank and intellect, in the realm. The terrors of the inquisition had
thus far prevented the truth from making much progress in Spain and
Portugal.

With the idea of promoting reconciliation, Ferdinand adopted a measure
which contributed greatly to his popularity with the Protestants. He
united with France and Spain in urging Pius IV., a mild and pliant
pontiff, to convene a council in Germany to heal the religious feud. He
drew up a memorial, which was published and widely scattered, declaring
that the Protestants had become far too powerful to be treated with
outrage or contempt; that there were undeniable wrongs in the Church
which needed to be reformed; and that no harm could accrue from
permitting the clergy to marry, and to administer both bread and wine to
the communicants in the Lord's Supper. It was a doctrine of the Church
of Rome, that the laity could receive the bread only; the wine was
r