Each decree, emanating from the different authorities, is here given separately and at length, thus presenting a convenient summary of the sources from which originate the prohibitions and criticisms in the Indexes. The series comprises edicts of the Inquisition, edicts of the Congregation of the Index, edicts of the master of the sacred palace, and decrees of the pope, and extends from the year 1601 to 1629. The Index with which the series of edicts is printed as a sequel bears date 1632. In a second edition, issued in 1640, the series of edicts is brought down to 1637. The master of the sacred palace, whose name appears in the first decrees issued by that official, was Brasichelli, whose abortive _Index expurgatorius_ has already been referred to. Four of the decrees issued by his successor, Lud. Ystella, in the years 1609 and 1610, were the subjects of severe animadversion on the part of Fra Paolo Sarpi of Venice. In the _Discorso_ concerning the Inquisition at Venice, printed in 1638, Sarpi complains of an attempt on the part of the Papacy to undermine and to violate the Concordat instituted in 1596 between Rome and the Venetian Republic. In the Concordat, it is stipulated that no other Index than the Clementine is to have force in Venice. In the two decrees in question it is declared that the Indexes and separate decrees issued since 1596 are to be “in force in all cities, territories, and places, of whatsoever kingdom, nation, and people, and are to have authority, in whatsoever way, even without publication, the edicts should be made known.” Such a claim on the part of the Papacy certainly appears to constitute an attempt to invalidate the conditions of the Concordat and to give grounds for the criticisms of the intrepid defender of the independence of the Republic. The 66th decree (1644) is directed against the _Lettres Provinciales_ of Pascal; and makes a separate condemnation of each of the eighteen letters. This author ought certainly to have remained in favour with the Church. In number seventeen of these _Lettres Provinciales_ he expresses himself thus: _Grâce à Dieu, je n’ai d’attaches sur la terre qu’à la seule Église Catholique, Apostolique et Romaine, dans laquelle je veux vivre et mourir, et dans la communion avec la Pape son souverain chef, hors de laquelle je suis très persuadé qu’il n’y a point de salut_. It would appear, however, as if some wave of Jesuitism must have influenced Pope Innocent X at the time this condemnation was issued. It may easily be understood that from the point of view of the Jesuits, Pascal could hardly be considered a good Churchman. Decree number seventy-seven, issued by Pope Alexander VII, January 12, 1661, states that some sons of perdition had arrived at such a condition of madness as to turn the Roman missal into the vulgar tongue of the French. CHAPTER XII