ecently been troubled by the reforming ardour of the Fraticelli and
by the promulgation of Abbot Joachim's Eternal Gospel. This new
evangelist had preached the doctrine of progression in religious
faith, proclaiming a kingdom of the Spirit which should transcend
the kingdom of the Son, even as the Christian dispensation had
superseded the Jewish supremacy of the Father. Nor did he fail at
the same time to attack the political and moral abuses of the
Papacy, attributing its degradation to the want of vitality which
pervaded the old Christian system, and calling on the clergy to lead
more simple and regenerate lives, consistently with the spiritual
doctrine which he had received by inspiration. The theories of
Joachim were immature and crude; but they were among the first signs
of that liberal effort after self-emancipation which eventually
stirred all Europe at the time of the Renaissance. It was,
therefore, the obvious policy of the Popes to crush so dangerous an
opposition while they could; and by establishing the dogma of
transubstantiation, they were enabled to satisfy the craving
mysticism of the people, while they placed upon a firmer basis the
cardinal support of their own religious power.

In pursuance of his plan, Urban sent for Lorenzo Maitani, the great
Sienese architect, who gave designs for a Gothic church in the same
style as the Cathedral of Siena, though projected on a smaller
scale. These two churches, in spite of numerous shortcomings
manifest to an eye trained in French or English architecture, are
still the most perfect specimens of Pointed Gothic produced by the
Italian genius. The Gottico Tedesco had never been received with
favour in Italy. Remains of Roman architecture, then far more
numerous and perfect than they are at present, controlled the minds
of artists, and induced them to adopt the rounded rather than the
pointed arch. Indeed, there would seem to be something peculiarly
Northern in the spirit of Gothic architecture: its intricacies suit
the gloom of Northern skies, its massive exterior is adapted to the
severity of Northern weather, its vast windows catch the fleeting
sunlight of the North, and the pinnacles and spires which constitute
its beauty are better expressed in rugged stone than in the marbles
of the South. Northern cathedrals do not depend for their effect
upon the advantages of sunlight or picturesque situations. Many of
them are built upon broad plains, over which for more t