REFORMATION AND COUNTER-REFORMATION The healing successor to this scion of the Medici was Adrian VI. (1522-1523)—a man who saw his noblest task, not in an artistic Maecenate, nor in the prosecution of political designs, but in the reform of the Church in all its members. Careless of the glories of Renaissance art, a stranger to all worldly instincts, the earnest Netherlander inscribed on his banner the healing of the moral ulcers, the restoration of unity to the Church—especially in Germany—and the preservation of the West from the Turkish danger. How clearly he read the causes of religious decadence, how deeply he himself was convinced of the need of trenchant reform, is best shown by his instructions to Chieregati, his nuncio to Germany, in which he laid the axe to the root of the tree with unheard-of freedom. Unfortunately, it was all in vain. Luther and his adherents overwhelmed the noble pope with un measured abuse. The two great rivals, Francis I. and Charles V., were deaf to his admonitions to make common cause against the Turks. The intrigues of Cardinal Soderini led to a breach with France and drove Adrian into the arms of the imperial league. Soon afterwards, on Sept. 14, 1523, he died. Long misunderstood and slandered, Adrian VI., the last German pope, is now by all parties ranked among the most revered and most worthy of the popes. No one now denies that he was one of those exceptional men, who without self-seeking spend their lives in the service of a cause and fight bravely against the stream of corruption.
enough courage and perspicacity to await in patience the result of the race between France and Germany for the duchy of Milan—a contest which was decided at Pavia (Feb. 24, The haughty victors found Clement on the side of their opponent, and he was forced into an alliance with the emperor (April 1, 1525). The overweening arrogance of the Spaniards soon drove the pope back into the ranks of their enemies. On May 22, 1526, Clement acceded to the League of Cognac, and joined the Italians in their struggle against the Spanish supremacy. This step he was destined bitterly to repent. The tempest descended on the pope and on Rome with a violence which cannot be paral leled, even in the days of Alaric and Genseric, or of the Norman, Robert Guiscard. On May 6, 1527, the Eternal City was stormed by the Imperial troops and subjected to appalling devastation in the famous sack. Clement was detained for seven months as a prisoner in the castle of St. Angelo. He then went into exile at Orvieto and Viterbo, and only on Oct. 6, 1528, returned to his desolate residence. After the fall of the French dominion in Italy he made his peace with the emperor at Barcelona (June 29, 1529) ; in return for which he received the assistance of Charles in re-establishing the rule of the Medici in Florence. During the Italian turmoil the schism in Germany had made such alarming progress that it now proved impossible to bridge the chasm. With regard to the question of a council the pope was so obsessed by doubts and fears that he was unable to advance a single step; nor, till the day of his death could he break off his pitiful vacil lation between Charles V. and Francis I. While large portions of Germany were lost to the Church the revolt from Rome pro ceeded apace in Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries. To add to the disasters, the divorce of Henry VIII. led to the English schism. At the death of Clement (Sept. 25, 1534), the complete disruption of the Church seemed inevitable.