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 CAMPEGGIO

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CAMPEGGIO

Lorenzo Ca

Campeggio, Lorenzo, Cardinal, nn eminent canon- ist, ecclesiastical diplomat, and reformer, b. 1472 famous civil lawyer; d. at Rome, 25 July, 1539. He studied civil law under his lather at Padua and Bologna, and in due course married and had a family
 * I -17-11 at Bologna, the son of Giovanni Campeggio, a

of five children.

After the death of

his wile (1509), he . "N. entered the eccle-

siastical state. In \ \ 17)12 lie was ap-

11 ■• \ pointed to theBish-

.'. opric Of Kelt re by I j Julius II, and was made auditor of \ tin- Rota, at that time the supreme court of justice in .v the Church, and

kVv SBi the universal court

of appeal. Thence- forth till his death he took a leading 010 part as papal repre- sentative in some of the greatest events of the Reformation, especially in Southern Germany and England. In 1513 he was sent by Leo X as Nuneio'to Maximilian I. to bring about peace among the Christian princes and unite i in a crusade against the Turks. While still in Germany he was nominated cardinal (1 July, 17)17), at first of the Title of SanTommaso in Parione, after- wards of Sant' Anastasia, and finally of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Returning to Rome, he was sent as car- dinal legate to England for the purpose of engaging Henry VIII in the crusade. He set out on his jour- ney in the middle of April, 1518, but was not allowed ier England until the end of July. The delay arose from Henry's objection to the presence of a f. ireign legate within his dominions. The pope agreed that Campeggio should share the legatine powers with Wblsey, who was his senior in the Sacred College. Accordingly the two cardinals worked together, though Wolsey managed to secure the precedence. The main object of Campeggio's mission was not ac- complished; instead of a universal league against the Turk, Wolsey arranged an alliance between France and England. He also contrived to obtain an exten- sion of his legatine powers for three years and after- wards for life. Campeggio made a favourable im- pression on Henry, who bestowed upon him the Bish- opric of Salisbury (which he held until 1534) and the Roman residence now known as the Giraud-Torlonia palace, then recently built from Bramante's designs. On his return to Rome (28 November, 1519), Cam- peggio was appointed to tic Snjimtinn, at that timi a post of the highest dignity and power. When Adrian VI was elected pope (1522), many plans for reform of the abuses in the Church wen' submitted to him. One of the best and most thorough-going of these was that of i lampeggio. He boldly declared

that the chief source of all the evils was the Roman Curia, of which, as has been slated, he was himself a most influential member. He recommended that the ixjwersof the Dataria, whose officials he styled "blood- suckers' . should 1"' greatly curtailed; that benefio

should not be combined, or reserved, or held

im; and that none but able and virtUOUfl men should be appointed to them. He bewailed the fact that the Holy See had. by means of concordats, sur- rendered the rights of the Church to the secular pow- ers. He spoke strongly against tic reckless granting of indi.i pecially against those of the Fran

ciscans, and those connected with the contributions towards the building of St. 1'eter's in Rome. As one who had held high diplomatic posts, he urged the im-

portance of peace between the Emperor Charles V and Francis I of France, so thai these two great monarchs might join hands against the common enemy, the Turk. He also pleaded strongly for the extirpation of the Lutheran errors by the enforce- ment of the Edict of Worms. Adrian's pontificate wa too short to enable him to carry out any of the proposed reforms. His successor, ('lenient VII, ap- pointed Campeggio to the See of Bologna and sent him to Germany as cardinal legate (8 January, 1524).

Campeggio soon had reason to note the vast changes which had taken place since his former visit. At Augsburg he was grossly insulted by the populace: at Nuremberg he was obliged to dispense with the ceremonies of a public entry, lie adopted a concilia- tory attitude at the diet which was being held at the latter city, but he insisted that the Fdiet of Worms should be carried out. The members of the diet de- manded that a national council should be held at Speyer, but he induced the emperor to veto this, on condition that a general council should be summoned at Trent. Moreover he obtained from Charles a prom- ise that the Edict of Worms should be enforced. Campeggio, however, saw clearly that the spread oi the Lutheran errors could lie checked only by a re- form of the German clergy, lor this purpose he held an assembly of twelve bishops, with the Archduke Ferdinand and the Bavarian dukes. The outbreak of the Peasants' War (November, 1524) destroyed all hope of a peaceful solution of the difficulties with the Reformers. Campeggio was recalled because his ef- forts had not met with the success which the pope had expected, and also because he was said to lie on too friendly terms with the emperor. He was back in Rome 20 October, 1525, and was made a member of the papal commission on the affairs of the Teutonic Knights. During the sack of Rome by the imperial troops (1527), he remained with Clement in Castel Sant' Angelo, and after the escape of the pontiff was left behind as legate.

The next year (1528), at Wolsey 's request, he was sent to England to form, jointly with Wolsey, a court to try the so-called divorce suit of Henry VIII. (For a complete account of the case see article Henry VIII.)

Here we need Only refer to ( 'ami ieL r gio's conduct in it.

He did his best to escape the responsibility which the pope thrust upon him. lor he knew well the difficulties both of law and fact connected with the case; and he thoroughly realized, from hi intimate acquaintance with Henry and Charles (Catherine's nephew), that, whichever way it was decided, a great nation would

In- lo-i to tin Church. His instructions were to pro- ceed with extreme slowness and caution: to bring about if possible 1 1 ii reconciliation of Henry with Catherine; and under no circumstances to come to a final decision. In spite of all \\ olsey's wiles and the bribes held out to him by the king, lie refused to ex- press any opinion and adhered strictly to the orders

which he had received. He did. indeed, try his best

to induce ( latherine to enter a convent, but when she

with much spirit declined to do SO, he praised her

conduct. In the trial (June July, 1529), it should be noted, Campegtrio treated Wolsey as a subordinate

and as the king's advocate rather than as a judge.

(>n the last day (23 Julj t, when everyone exp

tin- final decision, he boldly adjourned the court. Some days later the news arrived that Catherine's appeal had already been received ill Home and that

the case was reserved to the Holy See. On his way

back to Italy Campeggio was detained at Dovei while his bau. bj I he king's officials

in the hope of finding the decretal Bull denning the

law of the divorce. But the prudent legate had al- ready destroyed the document, and the search only

I that he left the country ] rer than when he

bad entered it.

We next find Campeggio at Bologna, his episcopal