[Illustration: (Remainder of Fig. 214.)--The Holy Sacrament, borne upon the back of a white horse, is escorted by the patricians and doctors of Bologna. The Pope’s sacristan marches alone in the rear of the dais, and this part of the cortége is brought up by a group of princes, dukes, and counts.--Drawn and engraved on brass by John Hogenberg: in the Collection of M. Ruggieri, Paris.] Ten years after this, during the reign of the same pontiff (Martin V.), another and an older schism seemed to all appearance extinguished at the Council of Florence, in which the Emperor of the East and the patriarchs of his Church were present. After grave deliberation, the Greeks drew up an orthodox profession of faith, and, by the complete submission of the Eastern Church to her Roman sister, union was restored in 1439. But the emperor and his patriarchs found upon their return that this was so deeply resented by the Greek people, that they gave way to popular clamour and withdrew from their formal engagements, the schism thus becoming wider than ever. The ruin of the Eastern empire followed very closely upon this decision. The fall of Constantinople into the hands of the Turks indicated only too plainly the danger with which Europe was menaced, and the popes endeavoured to impress it upon the kings and their subjects. Pius II., who had distinguished himself by his erudition and his writings, was considered to be the most talented man of his day, and in a council held at Mantua in 1459 did his utmost to hurry on the preparations for the crusade. After five years’ hard work, he collected a fleet at Ancona, and was about to set sail, when he was struck down by a mortal illness. His successors continued the work which he had begun; but, though the Christians obtained successes over the Turks which promised well for the undertaking, their compatriots failed to respond to the appeals of the pope, who saw that Italy was seriously threatened with invasion. It was under these critical circumstances that the choice of the cardinals fell upon a man of extraordinary energy, Roderick Borgia, who took the name of Alexander VI. He was charged with crimes which ought to have been laid at the door of members of his family, and he struggled against the oppressive spoliation to which the great Roman families had subjected the city, setting courageously to work in order to reconstitute the temporal power of the Holy See. Pius III., chosen as his successor, died a month after he was elected.