and the Scandinavian countries. To add to the disasters,
the divorce of Henry VIII. led to the English schism. Whether
another head of the Church could have prevented the defection
of England is of course an idle question. But Clement VII.
was far from possessing the qualities which would have enabled
him to show a bold front to the ambitious Cardinal Wolsey and
the masterful and passionate Henry VIII. At the death of
Clement (Sept. 25, 1534), the complete disruption of the Church
seemed inevitable.
When all seemed lost salvation was near. Even in the reign
of the two Medici popes the way which was to lead to better
things had been silently paved within the Church. Under
Leo X. himself there had been formed in Rome, in the Oratory
of the Divine Love, a body of excellent men of strictly Catholic
sentiments. It was by members of this Oratory—especially
St Gaetano di Tiene, Carafa (later Paul IV.), and the great
bishop of Verona, Giberti—that the foundations of the Catholic
reformation were laid. Under Clement VII. the establishment
of new religious orders—Theatines, Somascians, Barnabites
and Capuchins—had sown the seeds of a new life in the ancient
Church. The harvest was reaped during the long pontificate
of the Farnese pope, Paul III. With his accession
Paul III.,
1534–1549.
devotion to religion and the Church began to regain
their old mastery. True, Paul III. was not a
representative of the Catholic reformation, in the full sense of
the words. In many points, especially his great nepotism—witness
the promotion of the worthless Pier Luigi Farnese—he
remained, even as pope, a true child of the Renaissance period
in which he had risen to greatness. Nevertheless he possessed
the necessary adaptability and acumen to enable him to do
justice to the demands of the new age, which imperatively
demanded that the interests of the Church should be the first
consideration. Thus, in the course of his long reign he did
valuable work in the cause of the Catholic reformation and
prepared the way for the Catholic restoration. It was he who
regenerated the College of Cardinals by leavening it with men
of ability, who took in hand the reform of the Curia, confirmed
the Jesuit Order, and finally brought the Council of Trent into
existence (Sessions I.–X. of the council, first period, 1545–1540).
In order to check the progress of Protestantism in Italy
Paul III. founded the Congregation of the Inquisition (1542).
Political differences, and the transference of the council to
Bologna in 1547, brought the pope into sharp collision with
the emperor, who now attempted by means of the Interim to
regulate the religious affairs of Germany according to his wishes—but
in vain. The disobedience of his favourite Ottavio
hastened the death of the old pope (Nov. 10, 1540).
Under the Farnese pope art enjoyed an Indian summer. The most important work for which he was responsible is the “Last Judgment” of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. In 1547 Michelangelo was further entrusted with the superintendence of the reconstruction of St Peter's. He utilized his power by rejecting the innovations of Antonio da Sangallo, saved the plan of Bramante, and left behind him sufficient drawings to serve the completion of the famous cupola. Titian painted Paul's portrait, and Guglielmo della Porta cast the bronze statue which now adorns his grave in St Peter’s.
After a protracted conclave Giovanni Maria del Monte was
elected, on the 7th of February 1550, as Pope Julius III. He
submitted to the emperor’s demands and again convened
the council (Sessions XI.–XVI. second period),
but was obliged to suspend it on the 22nd of April
Julius III.,
1500–1555.
1552, in consequence of the war between Charles V. and
Maurice of Saxony. From this time onwards the pope failed
to exhibit requisite energy. In his beautiful villa before the
Porta del Popolo he sought to banish political and ecclesiastical
anxieties from his mind. Yet even now he was not wholly
inactive. The religious affairs of England especially engaged
his attention; and the nomination of Cardinal Pole as his legate
to that country, on the death of Edward VI. (1553), was an
extremely adroit step. That the measure was fruitless was not
the fault of Julius III., who died on the 23rd of March 1555.
The feeble regime of Julius had made it evident that a pope of another type was necessary if the papal see were to preserve the moral and political influence which it had regained under Paul III. On the 10th of April 1555, after a conclave which lasted five days, the reform party secured the election of the distinguished Marcellus II. Unfortunately, on the 1st of May, an attack of apoplexy cut short the life of this pope, who seemed peculiarly adapted for the reformation of the Church.
On the 23rd of May 1555 Gian Pietro Carafa, the strictest of the strict, was elected as his successor, under the title of Paul IV. Though already 79 years of age, he was animated by the fiery zeal of youth, and he employed the most drastic methods for executing the necessary reforms and combating the advance of Protestantism. Always an opponent of the Spaniards, Paul IV., in the most violent and impolitic fashion, declared against the Habsburgs. The conflict with the Colonna was soon followed by the war with Spain, which, in spite of the French alliance, ended so disastrously, in 1557, that the pope henceforward devoted himself exclusively to ecclesiastical affairs. The sequel was the end of the nepotism and the relentless prosecution of reform within the Church. Protestantism was successfully eradicated in Italy; but the pope failed to prevent the secession of England. After his death the rigour of the Inquisition gave rise to an insurrection in Rome. The Venetian ambassador says of Paul IV. that, although all feared his strictness, all venerated his learning and wisdom.
The reaction against the iron administration of Paul IV.
explains the fact that, after his decease, a more worldly-minded
pope was again elected in the person of
Cardinal Giovanni Angelo de’ Medici—Pius IV.
In striking contrast to his predecessor he favoured
Pius IV.,
1559–1565.
the Habsburgs. A suit was instituted against the Carafa,
and Cardinal Carafa was even executed. To his own relatives,
however, Pius IV. accorded no great influence, the
advancement of his distinguished nephew, Carlo Borromeo
(q.v.) being singularly fortunate for the Church. The most
important act of his reign was the reassembling of the Council
of Trent (Sessions XVII.–XXV., third period, 1562–1563). It was
an impressive moment, when, on the 4th of December 1563, the
great ecumenical synod of the Church came to a close. Till
the last it was obliged to contend with the most formidable
difficulties: yet it succeeded in effecting many notable reforms
and in illuminating and crystallizing the distinctive doctrines
of Catholicism. The breach with the Protestant Reformation
was now final, and all Catholics felt themselves once more united
and brought into intimate connexion with the centre of unity
at Rome (see Trent, Council of).
The three great successors of Pius IV. inaugurate the heroic
age of the Catholic reformation and restoration. All three
were of humble extraction, and sprang from the
people in the full sense of the phrase. Pius V.,
formerly Michele Ghisleri and a member of the
Dominican Order observed even as pope the strictest rules of
Pius V.,
1566–1572.
the brotherhood, and was already regarded as a saint by his
contemporaries. For Rome, in especial, he completed the task
of reform. The Curia, once so corrupt, was completely metamorphosed,
and once more became a rallying point for men of
stainless character, so that it produced a profound impression
even on non-Catholics; while the original methods of St Philip
Neri had a profound influence on the reform of popular morals.
In the rest of Italy also Pius V. put into execution the reformatory
decrees of Trent. In 1566 he gave publicity to the Tridentine
catechism; in 1568 he introduced the amended Roman
breviary; everywhere he insisted on strict monastic discipline,
and the compulsory residence of bishops within their sees. At
the same period Carlo Borromeo made his diocese of Milan the
model of a reformed bishopric. The pope supported Mary
Stuart with money; his troops assisted Charles IX. of France
against the Huguenots; and he lent his aid to Philip II. against
the Calvinists of the Netherlands. But his greatest joy was
that he succeeded where Pius II. had failed, despite all his efforts,
