A powerful reaction against Protestantism had taken place since the
commencement of the second half of the sixteenth century, and he looked
on himself as destined to complete it. The Reformed doctrines had been
thoroughly rooted out from Italy and Spain. Belgium, which had
previously been half Protestant, had been reconquered both in allegiance
and creed by Philip, and had become one of the most Catholic countries
in the world. Half Germany had been won back to the old faith. In Savoy,
in Switzerland, and many other countries the progress of the
Counter-reformation had been rapid and decisive. The Catholic league
seemed victorious in France. The papal court itself had shaken off the
supineness of recent centuries, and, at the head of the Jesuits and the
other new ecclesiastical orders, was displaying a vigor and a boldness
worthy of the days of Hildebrand or Innocent III.
Throughout Continental Europe the Protestants, discomfited and dismayed,
looked to England as their protector and refuge. England was the
acknowledged central point of Protestant power and policy; and to
conquer England was to stab Protestantism to the very heart. Sixtus V,
the then reigning Pope, earnestly exhorted Philip to this enterprise.
And when the tidings reached Italy and Spain that the Protestant Queen
of England had put to death her Catholic prisoner, Mary, Queen of Scots,
the fury of the Vatican and Escurial knew no bounds.
Pages:
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444
445
446
447
448