Where did the meeting of Francis I and Pope Leo X take place ?
Unable , however , to resist the urging of Charles V , the pope , after proposing Mantua as the place of meeting , convened the council at Trento ( at that time a free city of the Holy Roman Empire under a prince - bishop ) , on 13 December 1545 ; the Pope 's decision to transfer it to Bologna in March , 1547 on the pretext of avoiding a plague failed to take effect and the Council was indefinitely prorogued on 17 September 1549 .