Amongst the many tasks that St. Pius V was faced with when he ascended the papal throne was the reform of the College of Cardinals decreed by the General Council of Trent. One source of abuse had been the demands made on the Holy See by secular governments for the elevation of royal children or favoured ministers to the purple, also the appointment of unworthy relatives of the Popes. Much against his will St. Pius, early in his reign, allowed himself to be persuaded by the cardinals to admit his nephew, Michael Bonelli, into their ranks; but although he had agreed to their request he insisted on the young cardinal retaining his Dominican dress, refused him permission to wear the red biretta or the silk robes of his new dignity, to use silver plate at his table, and other cardinalitial privileges. He had hopes that Bonelli would prove himself another Charles Borromeo, but if this was beyond his nephew’s powers St. Pius’s choice was nevertheless a good one, and Bonelli remained until his death thirty-two years later one of the best prelates in Rome.