Giovanni Morone

1509-1580. Bishop of Modena. While bishop of Modena from 1529 Morone became close friends with the group of Catholic reformers gathered around Pole,* Contarini,* Cortese,* and Flaminio. Pope Paul III sent Morone to Germany as a nuncio in 1536. After attending Ratisbon with Contarini in 1541, Morone submitted an important memorandum to Rome. When he became a cardinal in 1542, heresy broke out in Modena. The academy signed a confession of faith prepared by Cortese and Contarini which involved Morone as bishop. Unpublished letters from his vicar in Modena prove that Morone knew what was happening and approved of its progress. As cardinal he became papal governor in Bologna at Contarini's death. From 1553-55 he studied the English problem and attended the Diet of Augsburg (1555). Paul IV seized Morone and cast him into the Castel Sant' Angelo during 1557-59. As president at the Council of Trent* during 1563, Morone made possible the effective reforms of the church. His latter work in Germany deserves a full-scale study. Among other tributes in his founding of the German College in Rome (1552) and his work at the 1576 Regensburg Diet.*