Page:On papal conclaves (IA a549801700cartuoft).djvu/192

 176 added to those taken by the Sacred College before entering a Conclave. Moreover, it was enjoined that a new Pope, 'after his accession, should promise and swear the same, and after his coronation reiterate his promise and oath by special confirmatory rescripts, and that if this, which cannot be believed, were to be refused or postponed by the Pope, then, in the first secret Consistory, the Cardinals, and specially their Dean, and with him the Capi d'Ordine, should incessantly and most pressingly with every instance ask, pray, and implore the observance of these presents, and take most diligent care that this should happen.' These very elaborate prescriptions received solemn confirmation in full from various subsequent Popes, until Gregory modified the binding force of the engagements he had himself sworn on accession, in conformity to custom, by the issue of a rescript highly illustrative of the absolute nature of Papal authority. This Pope, who reigned only a few months, was a vehement partisan of Spain in the war of the League, and was probably actuated in his relaxation of stringent obstacles in the way of turning property into money by his desire to assist Philip