Catholic kings, and we pray the Lord to be the support of your majesty in all your enterprises. According to the usage in the courts of the kings of Europe, the sword and hat should be received at the end of a mass, to which we shall attach a plenary indulgence for all sins for the benefit of all who may assist thereat, and who, after having confessed themselves, shall pray for the tranquillity of the Catholic church, the salvation of the Christian princes, and the extirpation of heresies—provided they have a true confidence in the divine mercy, in the power which has been given to the holy apostles Peter and Paul, and in that with which we are clothed. Given at Rome, at St. Peter’s, under the seal of the fisherman,” etc. From Rome, escorted out of the city with all honors, the ambassadors went by way of Loretto, where they paid their devotions, to Venice, and thence to Milan and Genoa, at which latter place they embarked for Barcelona. They declined, as they had been so long from home, a pressing invitation from Henry III to visit France, and, after a new audience with Philip II, they hastened to sail from Lisbon on their return voyage, embarking April 13, 1586.[48] CHAPTER XI _Events meanwhile in Japan—Downfall of Nobunaga—Accession of Hashiba, afterwards known as Kwambacudono, and, finally, as Taikōsama—Edict against the Jesuits—Return of the Ambassadors—A. D. 1582-1588._ While the ambassadors were on their way to Europe, great changes had taken place in the Japanese islands. A few months after they had sailed from Nagasaki, Akechi Mitsuhide, a favorite general of Nobunaga’s, had marched from Miyako to join Hashiba Hideyoshi, another favorite general, employed in prosecuting the war against Nagato. The stern severity of Nobunaga had rendered him very unpopular, of which Akechi took advantage to turn about and attack him, left as he was at Miyako almost without troops. Nobunaga, thus betrayed and surprised, having no other resource, set fire to his palace, and perished in it, June 15, 1580, with his eldest son. His second son, overwhelmed by this disaster, went mad, and in that condition set fire to his father’s patrimonial palace at Azuchiyama, thus kindling a conflagration which consumed almost the entire city, including a splendid temple, which Nobunaga had lately erected there, and in which, suspending all other worship by edict, he had required divine honors to be paid to a stone graven with his arms[49] and other devices. To the missionaries, who had all along counted upon making a convert of Nobunaga, this step had caused no less horror than surprise; and they found in it a ready explanation of the sudden ruin which had overtaken himself and his family, especially as his eldest son had been the first to pay the required worship.