Chap.  I.]  THE  POPE  AND  THE  EMPEROR  4°5

the  emperor  was  the  predestined  ruler  of  Europe.  A  Neapolitan  descrip-
tion of  the  battle  of  Pa  via  concludes  with  the  words,  "  Thou  hast  placed
the  world  under  his  feet."  "  Now,"  said  Wolsey,  to  one  of  Charles's
ambassadors,  "  your  master  will  be  emperor  no  longer  in  title,  but  in  fact
also."  "  The  counsels  of  God,"  exclaims  a  minister  of  the  pope,  "  are  a
deep  abyss."

Such  a  prospect  was  not,  however,  welcome  to  all.  No  man  had  ever
yet  assumed  a  station  of  this  kind  in  Europe  without  exciting  the  ani-
mosity and  the  resistance  of  all  that  had  a  feeling  of  independence.  The
King  of  England  was,  of  course,  offended  by  the  emperor's  refusal  to  accede
to  his  proposals,  and  every  moment  increased  the  coolness  between  them.
But  this  was  not  all.  In  another  of  the  emperor's  allies — the  Papal
States — opposition  to  his  schemes  arose.  Indeed,  the  exclamation  of
a  papal  minister  which  we  have  just  quoted  savours  more  of  the  terror
of  one  who  feels  himself  menaced,  than  of  the  sympathy  of  an  ally.  For
some  time  past  misunderstandings  of  a  very  serious  nature  had  arisen
between  the  pope  and  the  emperor.  They  originated,  indeed,  merely
in  a  question  of  territory,  but  soon  assumed  the  character  of  one  of  the
most  important  features  in  the  affairs  of  the  times.
MISUNDERSTANDINGS   BETWEEN    THE    POPE    AND    THE    EMPEROR.
When  Leo  X.  concluded  his  alliance  with  the  emperor,  it  was,  as  we  have
seen,  with  a  view  of  getting  possession  of  all  the  countries  which  were
still  claimed  by  the  see  of  Rome,  especially  Ferrara  :  in  this  the  emperor
promised  him  his  assistance.
