MORONE, GIOVANNI

MORONE, GIOVANNI. — Cardinal, born in Milan on 25 January 1509 to Girolamo, chancellor of Maximilian and Francesco Sforza, and to Amabilia Fisiraga. He studied law at Padua and was appointed by Clement VII, at the age of twenty, as Bishop of Modena on 7 April 1529, in fulfillment of a promise made to his father; despite the opposition of Alfonso d'Este, he held the diocese until 23 May 1550. On 12 September 1552 he was given the diocese of Novara, which he held until 13 March 1560. He regained the diocese of Modena on 23 February 1564 and held it until 16 September 1571. He himself defined himself as neither a theologian nor a canonist; yet his consummate experience and dignified conduct compensated for this undeniable deficiency. He may well be called one of the purest and most clear-sighted Churchmen of his age.

After a brief mission to France in 1529, Morone began his brilliant diplomatic career under Paul III, when on 21 October 1536 he was appointed to succeed Pier Paolo Vergerio as nuncio to Ferdinand of Germany, with the special task of promoting the convocation of the Council then summoned for Mantua: on that occasion he immediately gave proof of that special acuteness of observation and almost proverbial skill which was his hallmark. Recalled on 3 September 1538, he was again sent to Germany on 20 January 1539, especially in view of the religious colloquy intended to be held at Speyer with the princes of the Empire to put an end to religious discord. When it was decided that the theological discussions would be held at Hagenau, on 25 May 1540 Morone went there with King Ferdinand. When the conference was moved to Worms (28 October), he arrived there on 27 November. He was present at the Diet of Regensburg on 31 January 1541; Cardinal Legate Gaspare Contarini joined him there on 12 March. Morone’s shrewd efforts at a most delicate moment for Catholicism in Germany failed to prevent the futile theological disputes and the recourse to the Regensburg Interim (29 June), which proved disadvantageous to Catholics. While Contarini returned to Italy, Morone remained with King Ferdinand to promote the convocation of the Council of Trent. On 9 February 1542 he attended the Diet of Speyer, and on 2 June he was created cardinal, after which he left Germany.

On 16 October 1542, together with Cardinals Pole and Parisio, he was appointed legate to the Council to be held at Trent (v.) and reached that city on 22 November 1542; he left again at the end of July 1543, having remained the sole legate at a Council which, for political reasons, could not then function. On 2 April 1544 Paul III appointed Morone legate to Bologna and he held that legation until 1548, during which time, on 23 July 1544, he was sent as legate to Charles V regarding Council affairs; but Charles V refused to receive him, so he returned to Bologna at the end of September. Morone was convinced that it was necessary to carry forward the reform of the Church if the progress of heresy was to be stemmed, and during his absences he had taken care to safeguard the purity of the faith in his diocese of Modena. It was in these years that he formed the particular friendship that bound him to Cardinal Pole and to that spiritual circle which gathered around him first at Capranica and then at Viterbo (1541–45), where, along with Vittoria Colonna, Marco Antonio Flaminio, Alvise Priuli, there sometimes gathered Pietro Carnesecchi, Donato Rullo, Vittore Soranzo, Apollonio Merenda and others whose faith was not entirely secure. From this arose the suspicions entertained against him by Cardinal Gian Pietro Carafa, which were to cause him so much trouble when the latter became Paul IV. Like these men, Morone at that time inclined towards the Lutheran principle of justification by faith alone, through the merits of the Saviour, without however impugning the mystery of the Real Presence; he admitted the necessity of good works and the authority of the Church. He erred, as many Catholics did, in contributing to the spread of the heretical treatise *Il Beneficio di Cristo* (1541–43), which was later condemned. Nevertheless, on 27 February 1550 Morone became a member of the Roman Inquisition, assisted the nascent Society of Jesus and promoted the foundation in Rome of the German College (1552). Julius III had recourse to him when, in 1555, the Diet of Augsburg was being prepared, and appointed him legate to King Ferdinand (7 January 1555) with the task of safeguarding the dignity of the Apostolic See. Morone, who had left on 18 February, soon had to return to take part in the conclave at the end of March.

In June 1555, immediately after his election, Paul IV appointed a commissioner to gather charges of heresy against Morone. On 31 May 1557 Morone himself was imprisoned in Castel Sant’Angelo and a commission of cardinals was designated to judge him on the charge that “forgetful of the benefits received from the Roman Church, he had dissented from the Catholic faith in many words and deeds, both secretly and publicly.” The trial, resumed in October, did not lead to positive proof, and Paul IV would have wished to release Morone by an act of grace; but Morone insisted on a sentence and drew up a defence (cf. C. Cantù, *Gli eretici d’Italia*, II, Turin 1866, pp. 176–90; P. Tacchi-Venturi, *Storia della Compagnia di Gesù*, II, Rome 1950, pp. 125, 156 ff.). The sad episode came to an end with the death of Paul IV, when Morone (18 August 1559) was released and then admitted to the conclave from which Pius IV was elected. In the consistory of 13 March he was absolved from all charges and declared innocent. On that same day he opted for the suburbicarian see of Albano. After the deaths of Cardinals Seripando and Gonzaga, legates to the reopened Council of Trent, Pius IV replaced them on 7 March 1563 with Morone and Navagero, and from that moment Morone became the soul of the Council, which seemed on the point of foundering and yet he succeeded in bringing it happily to a conclusion in December, overcoming the many difficulties that arose at every turn. By Christmas 1563 he was already in Rome to promote the solemn approval of the Council. In the conclave of 1566 a strong party led by Cardinal Borromeo advocated his election, but he was greatly hindered by the fact that he had been subjected to an inquisition. Even under Pius V, who was never entirely favourable to him, he continued to be consulted on German affairs (being regarded, as he was, as the best connoisseur of German matters) and also on the occasion of the war against the Turk. He was held in particular esteem by Gregory XIII, who on 18 March 1575 sent him to Genoa to settle the city’s internal discord and to frustrate the intrigues of Philip II. Having settled the Genoese affairs in the best manner, Morone returned to Rome on 14 April 1576. But a few days later he left again as legate to Germany for the Diet of Regensburg, to promote the league against the Turk, and there he worked admirably to restore discipline among Catholics, reviving their courage “with unparalleled prudence.” He returned to Rome on 17 November. From 3 July 1570 he had been Bishop of Ostia and Dean of the Sacred College. He died on 1 December 1580, mourned by the entire city; poor, for he had never importuned the popes, but had striven with every industry to overcome envy and ill-will. He was protector of several religious orders and of the new German and English colleges.

He had attended zealously to the government of his dioceses, especially that of Modena, where he convened three synods.

Besides the *Defensa*, there survive letters of Morone in various collections; his diplomatic dispatches, of the greatest importance, are in *Nuntiaturberichte aus Deutschland* (I, II, IV, VI, III, I, Gotha 1892–1908; partially [period 1536–41] in H. Lämmer, *Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Epistolae selectae pontificum*, I, Berlin 1861; see index).