the Imperial secretary wrote a pamphlet entitled 'A
Dialogue between a Spanish Cavalier, Lattanzio, and
an Archdeacon, showing how the Events that took
place in Rome in the Year 1527 were for the Glory
of God and the Universal Good of Christendom.'
The argument is as follows: A young Spanish
courtier, named Lattanzio, meets an Archdeacon,
who has lately arrived from Rome, on the Plaza
Major of Valladolid, and, entering the Franciscan
church, discusses the recent catastrophe with him.
In the first part Lattanzio vindicates the Emperor
from any responsibility in the matter. In the second
he recognizes the hand of God in this awful visitation,
which has been sent from heaven as a just chastise-
ment of the corruption and worldliness of the Pope
and Cardinals, and of the sins of the whole Church.
The speaker concludes by calling for a speedy re-
formation of the Church and Papacy, in order that
it may be proclaimed to the end of time how Jesus
Christ founded the Church and the Emperor Charles
restored it. Such language sounded bold in the ears
of Catholic Spain, but in point of fact the sentiments
uttered by Valdès were shared by many of Charles V.'s
ministers.

'The sack of Rome,' wrote the veteran Lopez de
Soria from Genoa to the Emperor, 'must be re-
garded as a visitation from God, who has allowed
Your Majesty, a true Catholic prince and His most
devoted servant, to become the instrument of His
vengeance. . . . Should Your Majesty think that
the Church of God is not what it ought to be, and
that the Pope's temporal power leads him to excite
Christian princes to make war upon each other, I
cannot help reminding Your Imperial Majesty that it
will not be a sin, but, on the contrary, a meritorious

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