These things having been done, Pope and Emperor appeared in the cathedral porch. There, Caesar Carlos V vested in full imperial insignia, held the Pontiffs stirrup as He mounted, and led His palfrey several paces, as a public act of homage and allegiance to Him By Whose Sanction Kings Do Reign. Then, he mounted his own charger, and rode by the Lord Clement P.P. VII’s side through the city of Bologna making knights, as the way is, when the Pontiff left him. It is probable enough that the Marquess Don Francisco de Borja witnessed, and assisted at, this superb ceremony. He was attached to the personal suite of Caesar Carlos V: but there is another circumstance that implies that, in some way or another, most presumably in the flesh, he was brought into contact with the Pope’s Holiness about this time. It is that a little later, the Supreme Pontiff conferred an extraordinary favour on his illustrious House, consisting of Five Privileges granted to Duke Juan II of Gandia, his heirs and descendants of both sexes, and whomsoever they might marry, IN CONSIDERATION OF THE SIGNAL SERVICES RENDERED TO THE HOLY SEE BY THE HOUSE OF BORGIA. This unmistakeably distinct statement shews that calumnies and lampoons of Messer Francesco Guicciardini had made no ill impression on the Lord Clement P.P. VII, who actually had met that writer when he was the guest of the _bas bleu_ Madonna Veronica Gambara during the coronation festivities at Bologna. The fable of Borgia iniquity is a plant of later growth. In 1531 the House was considered to have rendered signal services, deserving recognition, _for a perpetual memorial_. Hence the granting of the Five Privileges which follow here. I “To any confessor whom they may select,[104] powers to absolve them from the gravest ecclesiastical censures and penalties: to commute the obligation of fasting to almsgiving: once a year to absolve them in cases usually reserved to the Holy See; or from any oath or vow but those generally excepted. II “Special indulgences for the hour of Death, and for visits to a church, or an altar: also, for every mass offered _by_ a scion of the House (he being in priest’s orders), or _for_ any scion of the House, indulgences equal to those which might be gained at the altars of San Sebastiano, San Lorenzo, Santa Pudentiana, and Santa Maria _de Panis_ in Rome. III “Permission to use _Lacticinia_ (all food made of milk and eggs) and meat,[105] on fast days throughout the year: this permission to extend to guests and servants of the family. Permission to take luncheon at mid-day, and dinner at night. Permission to receive the sacraments within prohibited times.[106] Permission to be buried on any day in the year, Easter alone excepted. IV