Page:Englishhistorica36londuoft.djvu/274

 266 REVIEWS OF BOOKS April and conservative in their outlook. Apart from the reform of morals, upon which all parties were agreed, their chief aim was to apply the fruits of the new learning to matters of religion. Yet such had been the course of events that ideals which would have been shared by the popes of the renaissance were anathema to the papacy of the late sixteenth century. 1 We live in times when we must devote ourselves to the studies which we are invited to pursue, and not to those from which we are bidden to turn away ' (p. 303). So wrote Cardinal Sadoleto to his friend Antonio Paleario, beseeching him to listen to the warnings which he gave in the name of Cardinal Bembo as well as in his own. Paleario, however, continued to give expression to his theological opinions, and in 1570 this fine scholar perished at the stake in Eome. The age of humanism had vanished. M. Rodocanachi has produced a compendium of information on the Italian reformers rather than a critical study of the reform movement. Yet his material is carefully collected and pleasantly put together. His book should prove of real assistance to students of the subject. C. M. Ady. Spanish Influences in Scottish History. By John E. Elder, M.A., D.Litt. (Glasgow : MacLehose, 1920.) The history of Scotland has too often been regarded from a parochial point of view, and Professor Elder's book, which traces the working of Spanish influences in Scotland between the years 1488 and 1603, is a step in the right direction. The author points out that, with the birth of the Atlantic phase of European history, and with the development of strong 1 nationalities ' in Spain, France, and England, Scotland was inevitably drawn into world politics. He goes on to show how, with the advent of the reformation, the importance of Scotland steadily increases ' until in the end of the century when England and Spain are at death-grips, Philip realises that Scotland is the dominating factor in the problem ' (p. 35). Pre-reformation days are dismissed in a single chapter, both sound and interesting, which shows how Scotland was affected by the oscillations of the balance of power. Ferdinand of Aragon, jealous of French influence north of the Tweed, is revealed as an ardent promoter, if not the original designer, of the Anglo-Scottish match effected by Henry VII. Not always, however, did the balance of power thus make for peace. In 1524 detach France from Scotland, with a view to the subjugation of the northern realm. His effort, however, was purely tentative ; the project of 1524 was not a ' treaty ' (p. 22), but a mere truce, and nothing came of it. It is in the remaining seven chapters of the book, which cover the period from 1557 to 1603, that the author's troubles begin. By this time Spain is not only an imperial power, she is also marching in the van of the counter-reformation, and her foreign policy is an extraordinary complex of political and religious diplomacy. It is no easy task to extricate from the vast mass of evidence the facts which bear primarily upon Scotland, and to weld these facts into a clear and consistent whole. Dr.
 * Henry VIII took advantage of the European situation to attempt to