ope de Soria. "At other times," he said, "many things could be got out
of the Pope by sheer intimidation; but now that could not be tried, for he
would fall into despair, and the Imperialists would lose him altogether.
They owed him something for what he had done for them before, otherwise he
would be of opinion that it would be for God's service to reduce them to
their spiritual powers."[55]

Occasionally Mai's temper broke through, and he used language worth
observing. One of the Cardinals had spoken slightingly of the Emperor.

"I did not call on his Holiness," he wrote to Charles, "but sent him a
message, adding that, if ever it came to my notice that the same Cardinal,
or any member of the College, had dared to speak in such an indecent
manner of the Emperor, I took my most solemn oath that I would have him
beheaded or burnt alive within his own apartment. I had this time
refrained out of respect for his Holiness; but should the insult be
repeated I would not hesitate. They might do as they would with their
Bulls and other rogueries--grant or refuse them as they liked; but they
were not to speak evil of princes, or make themselves judges in the
affairs of kingdoms."[56]

This remarkable message was conveyed to the Pope, who seemed rather
pleased than otherwise. Mai, however, observed that the revolt of the
Lutherans was not to be wondered at, and in what they said of Rome he
considered that they were entirely right, except on points of faith.[57]

Cardinals had been roughly handled in the sack of the Holy City at but a
year's distance. The possibility was extremely real. The Imperial
Minister, it appeared, could still command the services of the Spanish
garrisons in the Papal territories if severity was needed, and the members
of the Sacred College had good reason to be uneasy; but King Henry might
reasonably object to the trial of his cause in a country where the
assessors of the supreme judge were liable to summary execution if they
were insubordinate. That Charles could allow his representative to write
in such terms to him proves that he and Mai, and Henry himself, were in
tolerable agreement on Church questions. The Pope knew it; one of his
chief fears was that the Emperor, France, England, and the German Princes,
might come to an understanding to his own disadvantage. Perhaps it might
have been so had not the divorce kept Henry and Charles apart. Campeggio
wrote to Sanga on the 3rd of April that certain adv