better informed as to what was afoot in Madrid than as to what was afoot in Rome, once more interviewed Philip II and urged him to stop Luis de Leon's proceedings. Philip took action. As Luis de Leon's supporters were filing into the room where they were to discuss the situation, they were approached by a member of the royal household who informed them that he had it in command from the King to bid them suspend the execution of the brief till fresh orders came from Rome. Annoyed at this piece of fussiness, Luis de Leon is stated to have left the room, remarking: 'No order of His Holiness can be carried out in Spain'[251]. This report, which comes down to us on the dubious authority of the Carmelite chronicler, Fray Francisco de Santa Maria, may, or may not, be correct. The impetuous Luis de Leon was no doubt extremely capable of showing that he resented Philip II's interference in church matters. On the other hand, Santa Maria cannot have written with any personal knowledge of the facts, as he belonged to a much later generation. Even had he been an exact contemporary,[252] Santa Maria's statements would call for careful examination, for he does not appear to have had a critical intelligence, since he commits himself to two assertions, one of which is certainly false and the other--intrinsically unlikely--is without a shred of corroboration. Santa Maria avers that Philip II showed his displeasure by forbidding the Augustinians of Castile to elect Luis de Leon as their Provincial. It is on record, however, that Luis de Leon was elected Provincial of the Augustinians of Castile on the earliest opportunity (August 14, 1591) that presented itself. Santa Maria further states that Luis de Leon took the King's annoyance so much to heart that his death was hastened in consequence. No evidence is produced to support a story so innately improbable. This legend evidently throve in credulous opposition circles, for something of the same sort had been set about earlier by Fray José de Jesús y Maria, a Carmelite historian who, unaware that Luis de Leon had declined an archbishopric, added a calumnious insinuation that the editor of Saint Theresa's works was a disappointed aspirant to episcopal honours.[253] Santa Maria, not knowing that Philip II highly esteemed Luis de Leon, seems to have been content to report such gossip as filtered down to him.