lorence (1529) mark almost the last fluttering of
real independence in Italy. From that time the country remained in the
grasp of the Hapsburgs or their heirs and allies. Petty tyrants, minions
of Austria or Spain, ruled over the various cities. Their intellectual
supremacy passed over to France. Only within the last half-century has a
brighter day redawned for Italy, has she ceased to be what she was so
long called, "the battle-ground" of other nations.

Meanwhile since neither Pope nor Emperor had found time to offer any
vigorous opposition to the German Reformation, it had grown unchecked.
In its inception it had unquestionably been a pure and noble movement:
but as the "protesting" princes moved further in the matter, it dawned
on them that the suppression of the Roman Church meant the suppression
of all the bishoprics and abbeys, to which at least half the lands of
the empire belonged. Such an opportunity for plunder, and such easy
plunder, had never been before. Luther and the other preachers urged
that the church property should be used to erect schools and support
Protestant divines; but only a small fraction of it was ever surrendered
by the princes for these purposes. The Reformation had ceased to be a
purely religious movement.

In no country was this new aspect of the revolt so marked as in England.
There Henry VIII had grown ever more secure in his power by holding
aloof from the jangling that weakened Charles and Francis. He had sunk
into a tyrant and a voluptuary. Yet England herself, profiting by almost
half a century of peace, was progressing rapidly in culture. She was no
longer behind her neighbors. The Renaissance movement can scarce be said
to have begun in England before 1500, yet by 1516 her famous chancellor,
Sir Thomas More, was writing histories and philosophies. In 1522 the
King himself sighed for literary fame and gave opportunity for many
future satirists by writing a Latin book against the Lutherans. The Pope
conferred upon his royal champion a title, "Defender of the Faith."

As Henry, however, devoted himself more and more to pleasure, the real
power in England passed into the hands of his great minister Cardinal
Wolsey, who had risen from humble station to be for a time the most
influential man in Europe.[7] He even aspired to be pope, with what
seemed assured chances of success. But destiny willed otherwise. Henry
chanced to fall in love with a lady who insisted on his marrying her. To