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 COUNTER-REFORMATION

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COUNTER-REFORMATION

results verj' unfortunate for Catholicism. I'or in- stance. King Philip had arranged with the Holy See in 1559 for certain changes in the Flemish sees. Sleeh- lin, (^ambrai. and Utrecht were made archbishoprics, and fourteen smaller districts were formed into bish- oprics. This measure, wise .and commendable in itself, was badly received when it came from Spanish rulers. The redistribution of benefices, which had to be made in order to endow the new sees, caused com- plaints which grew constantly louder, and in the end proved one of the chief causes of the revolt of the Netherlands.

England. — Of all the countries of Europe none changed sides with such appalling facility as England. At first she had seemed the least likely of any to re- volt. She had been peaceful and contented; the ob- servance of the canons compared favourably with that in many other countries: her icing was emphatically on the side of the Church, until "the Gospel light first shined in Boleyn's eyes". Then it was found that the absolute power of the sovereign was easily greater than any other force in the realm. There were some glorious martyrs (see Flsher ; Hough- ton; More) and, in general, sufficient resistance to show that the countrj-, as a whole, clung to its old faith, and would never have changed l)ut for force. When that force was apjilied. the change was shame- fully rapid and complete. Wlien Queen Mary gained the upper hand, there was remarkably little difficulty found in the much more arduous task of restoring the old order, in spite of the church property, which had been confiscated, and had already been redistributed into thousands of hands. Only about two years were available for the actual restoration of the Church, and though the work was carried out in a way that was not verj' conciliating, yet the Marian establishment proved itself more stable, wlien tried in the fire of Elizabeth's persecution, than the ancient Church when attacked by King Henr^-. In neither case, however, could the Church withstand the power of the Crown; and again the resistance, though sufficient to be reckoned a magnificent protest against the rcryal tyranny, -was entirelj' inadequate to hinder the dic- tates of the Tudor sovereign and her powerful minis- ters. The Marian reaction movement should not be reckoned under the Counter-Reformation proper, for it was in effect almost entirely a restoration of old methods and old ideas, and derived its force from the okl religious feelings of the land. These had lain dormant while beaten down by overwhelming force, but rose again as soon as that repression ceased.

Scotland ntui Irelaml. — These countries were prob- ably included by Mocenigo under England, thovigh their condition was in reality widely different. Scot- land, unlike England, was perhaps of all countries in Europe the most likely to take up the Reformation. Bloody and incessant feuds had sadly demoralized monastic life, and rendered ch\irch government ex- tremely difficult, while the rough liarons had intruded their illegitimate children into a large number of the livings, abbacies, and episcopal sees. Yet Scotland resisted for a generation the reformation which Henry and Edward strove with all their might to impose upon her. Elizabeth's efforts were more subtle and more successful. Mary of Guise, Queen Regent of Scotland, relied almo.st entirely upon the French arms for the maintenance of royal and religious authority. It wa.s represented to the nobility that this w.'is an insult and an injury to those on whom the government of Scotland .should naturally have fallen, the House of Hamilton and the nobility of the land. -Moreover the C.alvinists in France had won over many young Scottish soldiers and .students in Paris, notably the ICarl of Arran who stood but two or three steps from the throne. The revolution took place, and though the regent might have held her own if England had been neutral, there could be no doubt

as to the issue when Elizabeth actively supported the rebels with money, men, and ships. The ninth clause of the Treaty of Edinburgh (6 July, 1560) stipulated that " the matter of religion be passed over in silence", which in effect left to the Scottish Prot- estants, with England at their back, absolute power to do what they liked. The estates of the Church were seized by the laity, and (except in the inaccessi- ble North) every vestige of Catholic observance was forcibly banished from the land. It was the last na- tional revolt from the Church, and was the more la- mentable because of Scotland's previous constancy.

As to Ireland, Rome probably knew nothing ex- cept the darkest features. The Marian bishops and indeed all the Anglo-Irish of the Pale had thrown in their lot with Elizabeth, though she had as yet made few changes. Officially the state of Ireland seemed as bad as that of England. Communication with the Irish beyond the Pale was most difficult to keep up; it had probably not yet been opened.

Scaiidinavia aiid Italy. — Mocenigo said nothing of these nations. The former was so far away from Roman influence that the Counter-Refonnation never reached it. Of the latter he would surely have given a better account than of any other European nation. A couple of generations back, when the pagan Renais- sance was at its height, it might have been, or at least seemed, otherwise. There was then corruption in high places, as everyone could see, but the miseries of war had checked the spread of luxury, which had not permeated far down among the people, and better conditions resulted (Cantu. Gli eretici d'ltalia, Turin, 1865-67). At every papal election better men were chosen, and the College of Cardinals certainly con- tained more enlightened reformers than could be found in any other body. Aleander, Contarini, Mor- one, Pole, Sadolet may be named as good examples of their class. There were many admirable prelates like GianMatteoGiberti. Bishopof Verona. Moreover, sev- eral new and efficient religious orders had lately come into existence, the Capuchins, The.atines, and Bama- bites, while St. Jerome EmUiani had formed the Clerics Regular known as the Somaschi.

Pope Paul IV (Giovanni Pietro Caraffa) was him- self a representative of the best traditions of the Ital- ian Church immediately before the Council of Trent. He was holy and sincere, business-like and energetic, as he had proved before his elevation to the papacy. But the virtues of a great reformer are not always the virtvies most needed in a ruler. Like St. Pius V, on certain occasions, Paul IV wa.s sometimes rash in having recourse to medieval methods. His Bull against nepotism wa.s a reform of the utmost impor- tance, yet he was betrayed, in a great measure by nepoti.sm, into the fatal war against Spain (1557-58), the misfortunes and disturbances of which affected the cause of Catholicism so adversely throughout Western Europe. Because of this war Mary Tudor's reign closed in gloom, the Netherlands were distracted, intercourse with the pope was practically intermitted for England, Flanders, and Spain, and the Reformers inFran'ce maintained that the evils of the time were due to the ambition of the popes. As soon as the Peace of Paris was concluded, in l.'>.j9, the evils which had hitherto been working unperceived became evident. While England fell away, followed by Scotland, France and the Netherlands were found to be deeply infected l)y heresy; the Holy .See had either no repre- sentatives in those countries to combat the evil, or they were so out of favour as to have little or no power. This explains the words of Paul IV on his death-bed, quoted .above, which so vividly describe the unfortunate condition of the Church at this mo- ment.

III. St. Io.natius .\m) the jEstirr.s, Pioneeks op THE New- Movement. — But though Paul IV diil not advert to it, the Catholic reaction had already made