The German prelates intimated their reluctance to take part in the proceedings.

The Court of France demanded that the chalice for the laity and the use of the vulgar tongue in religious services should be conceded.

The Emperor also insisted on these points, making a further demand for the marriage of the clergy.

Circumstances both in France and Germany seemed to render these conditions imperative, if the rapid spread of Protestant dissent were to be checked and the remnant of the Catholic population to be kept in obedience.

Of ecclesiastics, only Spaniards and Italians, the latter in a large majority, appeared at Trent.