moral laxity, he insisted on discipline, and strove to develop the practice of the monastic virtues. He fasted, did penance, passed long hours of the night in meditation and prayer, traveled on foot without a cloak in deep silence, or only speaking to his companions of the things of God. As his reformist zeal provoked resentment, he was compelled to return to Rome in 1550, where, after having been employed in several inquisitorial missions, he was appointed to the commissariat of the Holy Office. In 1556 he was made Bishop of Sutri by Pope Paul IV and was selected as inquisitor of the faith in Milan and Lombardy. In 1557 he was made a cardinal and named inquisitor general for all Christendom. His defense of Bartolomé Carranza, Archbishop of Toledo, who had been suspected of heresy by the Spanish Inquisition, earned him a reprimand from the pope. Under Pope Pius IV (1559–65) he became Bishop of Mondovì in Piedmont. Frequently called to Rome, he displayed his unflinching zeal in all the questions on which he was consulted. Thus he offered opposition to Pius IV when the latter wished to make Ferdinand de' Medici, then only thirteen years old, a Cardinal. His opposition to the pontiff led to his dismissal from the palace and limits being placed on his authority as inquisitor. Papal election Before Michele Ghislieri could return to his diocese, Pope Pius IV died. On 4 January, a courier from Spain arrived, prompting rumors that King Philip II favoured the election of Cardinal Ghislieri. This in turn gave additional momentum to the efforts of Charles Cardinal Borromeo and his allies, who already supported the candidacy of Ghislieri. As the cardinals conferred with each other more intensely, the number of those who looked to Ghislieri increased, and this led eventually to his election as the new pope on the afternoon of 8 January 1566. Ghislieri took the regnal name Pope Pius V. He was crowned ten days later, on his 62nd birthday by the protodeacon. Six weeks after the conclave, Cardinal Borromeo wrote to Henry I, Cardinal-King of Portugal recalling the election. He spoke of the new pope, and of his "high esteem for him on account of his singular holiness and zeal", seeing these qualities as a sign that he would make a good pope "to the great satisfaction of all". Pontificate His pontificate saw him dealing with internal