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POPE 



the need of the time. Rome itself furnished a 

 lamentable illustration of the ruin that had come 

 upon the church. Clement VII. (1523-34), though 

 he had his own political aims, was as a man not 

 unworthy of hi- office, and by character the least 

 able to bear the brunt of the storm ; yet it was he 

 who witnessed Rome ruthlessly sacked ( I.V27), and 

 that by the troops of Charles V., who during the 

 first half of the 16th century was the mainstay of 

 the Catholic cause, and by his dignity as then 

 emperor-elect the recognised protector of the Roman 

 Church. The impression made by this event on all 

 religious minds is well expressed in the measured 

 but weighty words of Cardinal Sadoleto. ' If 

 those,' lie writes, 'had done their duty on whom 

 the obligation chielly rested (I speak not of (lie 

 pontiff whose virtues, mildness, and uprightness 

 are known not as great merely but as admirable), 

 the priesthood would still be venerated as of old, 

 and not now exposed to injury and contempt. I 

 say what I feel, and God and man are my witnesses, 

 that this best of pontiffs desired to cure these 

 corrupt morals ; but the thing needed the knife, 

 not a salve, and his nature and kindly spirit shrank 

 from strong measures.' 



From this point the history of the papacy to the 

 close of the 18th century falls naturally into three 

 divisions. From 1530 to the early years of the 

 17th century there takes place a reconslitution of 

 the papacy on the basis of Catholic reform ; next 

 follows a century of normal activity on the new 

 basis thus formed ; thirdly, a century of decline 

 in influence, the term of which is marked by the 

 conclave in Venice which resulted in the election 

 of Pope Pius VII. 



( 1 ) Xo time was lost in setting alnrnt the work 

 which now all recognised as the imperative need. 

 The papacy was not prominent in the work of re- 

 form ; but the countenance (given by Rome to men 

 like Contarini, Pole, and Glnberti is sufficient evi- 

 dence that the popes themselves did not intend to 

 be behindhand. The pontificate of Paul III. ( 1534- 

 50) witnessed two events of considerable importance 

 to the future of the church the institution of the 

 Jesuits, and the commencement of the Council of 

 Trent. In 1534 Ignatius of Loyola pronounced 

 his vows in the presence of the pope, and thus laid 

 the foundations of a society of men specially devoted 

 to the service of the holy see, with which its 

 fortunes have subsequently been intimately asso- 

 ciated. The ideal conceived by Ignatius was that 

 of an order governed by ' a general whom all should 

 be bound to obey under vow, who should ! per- 

 petual, possessed of absolute authority, subject 

 entirely to the pope, but not liable to be restrained 

 by any chapters of the order. ' Paul III., on Septem- 

 ber 27, 1540, by the bull Regimen militantis, gave 

 the papal approval to the ' form of life ' designed by 

 the founder. The Council of Trent, whatever be 

 the import of its dogmatic definitions, is essentially 

 a council of disciplinary reform ; but in this place 

 it requires notice as being a council of which, 

 though held at a distance from Rome, the control 

 and effective action really vested in the pope. After 

 long negotiations the council convoked by Paul III. 

 met at Trent in December 1545. As early as ]..!_' 

 the papal legates had reached that city ; but the 

 war between France and Germany whieh then broke 

 out mode the furl her delay inevitable. It is worth 

 remarking, as showing the influence already pos- 

 aessed by the newly-founded Society of Jesus, that 

 two of ita MII-IIIII'';- came to the council ON papal 

 theologians. On April 28, 1552, the sittings of the 

 fathers were suspended for two years. On November 

 29, 1500, the then pope. Pius 'IV., convoked it for 

 the following Easter. The decree of reformation of 

 morals and government, consisting of eighteen 

 chapters, was adopted in the 23d session. It con- 



tained a number of important provisions on the 

 residence of bishops ana parish priests, upon the 

 qualifications for the priesthood, and for the erec- 

 tion of seminaries for clerical training. In the 'J.">t h 

 session was paused a series of regulations for the 

 regular clergy and nuns. The decrees of the 

 council were formally confirmed by Pins IV. in 

 1564. By its declarations on dogmatic theology 

 the council gave prominence to the dillei. 

 existing between Catholics and nou-( 'atholics, and 

 thus more sharply divided Christendom into the 

 spiritual subjects and the enemies of the papacy. 

 The cause of Catholic reform dominated the policy 

 of Paul IV. (1555-59), and from his time the 

 constitution of the Roman see in its modern 

 aspect progressed practically without a cheek. In 

 this period, too, falls the establishment of adminis- 

 trative bodies called 'sacred congregations,' which 

 henceforth are the recognised and usual organ - 

 the exercise of papal power in the government of 

 the church. Lesser objects were not neglected. 

 If modern Rome has been for so long the city in 

 Kurope. which has attracted and deserved to attract 

 the curiosity and admiration of all men, this is 

 largely due to the continuation during this period 

 of the works begun under the inspiration of 

 Nicolas V. It is often forgotten that St Peter's 

 iteelf was not completed till 1626. 



(2) By the lir^inning of the 17th century the 

 papacy as an institution had reconstituted it*elf in 

 accordance with the circumstances induced by the 

 Protestant Reformation. Its history in this second 

 period shows no such stirring events as had marked 

 the preceding age. But for its future the transfer 

 of the weight of political power from the House of 

 Austria to that of France was of decisive import- 

 ance. The full consequences of the change were 

 not, of course, perceived immediately, but it is 

 certain it was recognised in Home as momentous, 

 and was not viewed with satisfaction. 



(3) The conclave which assembled in Rome in 

 the year 1700 determined the history of the papacy 

 in the third period. Among the cardinals the one 

 who enjoyed the most respect was the Dominican 

 Cardinal Orsini, the head of a body of cardinals 

 whoso views are sufficiently indicated by the name 

 given to them the Zdanti. He was a man of 

 illustrious family, dominated by a sense of duty in 

 all tilings great and small, of slender intellectual 

 capacity indeed, but endowed with a rare gift of 

 discerning merit and capacity in others; free 

 from petty jealousy, he knew how to gather round 

 him men of ability, and how to use them when 

 he had them. But the change in the balance of 

 power effected during tin 1 17th century determined 

 the election of Cardinal Albani, to whom was 

 given the whole weight of the influence of France. 

 As Clement XI. ( 1700-21) he was in the most im- 

 portant acts of his reign inspired by Louis XIV. 

 To outward appearance, in the lirst half of the 

 18th century, the position of the papacy in its 

 relations with princes and peoples remained as 

 it hod l>eeii before. To gome extent also it is 

 certain that Benedict XIV. (1740-58), by a charm 

 of character which impressed even one M> keenly 

 alive to the weak side of humanity as \Valpole, 

 staved off the evil day. But before his death 

 the signs of disintegration were unmistakable, 

 Throughout Kun>i>e luxury and an accompanying 

 dissoluteness of manners bail increased to shame 

 lessness, whilst the school of infidelity in France 

 was now fully organised and confident of victory. 

 The full effect, moreover, of the displacement of 

 the imperial House of Austria as the political prop 

 of the church in favour of France now made itself 

 manifest, and the Jansenist troubles of the 17th 

 century bore bitter fruit The whole church of 

 France had become involved in the quarrel. On 



