The pope was faced with special difficul ties in England, where Queen Elizabeth in creased the severity of the legislation against Catholic priests. The help of Spain having proved useless, Clement endeavoured to preserve what remained of Catholic England by the peaceful means of preaching and education. Schools for the training of Englishmen abroad were founded in Spain and Flanders, and after the death of Cardinal Allen an arch-priest, who was not consecrated as a bishop, was appointed for England. Seminaries for the training of Scottish and Irish priests were also instituted on the continent, including the Scottish College which was founded in Rome in 1600.
The spread of Christianity made great progress in China, where the gifted Jesuit Matteo Ricci was received by the emperor, and also in Japan, the Philippines, Persia, Abyssinia, West Africa and America. Clement created a special authority for the supervision of missions. His work in averting the Turkish peril recalls the great days of the middle ages. The agreement which he reached with Henry IV. of France after the latter's reception into the Catholic Church was one of the turning-points of European his tory. It prevented the victory of Protestantism in Western and Central Europe, and the Holy See became more independent of Spain and was therefore once more able to mediate between the Powers in the interests of peace as in the middle ages. It was as a result of its recovery of political independence that the papacy was able to act as mediator for the conclusion of peace between France and Spain in 1598. In the Papal States, which were now enlarged by the acquisition of Ferrara, and in which the nobility led an inactive and vicious life, Clement enforced order ; it was at this time that Beatrice Cenci suffered the extreme penalty for the murder of her father. Clement was seconded in his work for the encouragement of learning by the great Cardinals Baronius and Bellarmine. His name is also connected with that of Tor quato Tasso, whose Gerusalemme Liberata reflects the renewed vitality of the Church. The Jubilee Year of 1600, when over a million pilgrims visited Rome, clearly showed how much of its former vitality the Catholic Church had recovered.
member of the Borghese family, became pope. Great monuments such as the Villa Borghese still bear witness to the memory of this family in Rome. Paul, like his predecessors, was a nepotist; although he did not carry this practice to the extent of former times, he lost no opportunity of promoting his relatives to wealth and power. This weakness, however, enabled him to continue the patronage which so many of the popes had extended to the arts, to beautify the Eternal City and thus to enhance the splen dour of the papacy. The Church of St. Peter was completed, an extension was added to Michelangelo's central structure by Carlo Maderno, and the impressive vestibule was constructed. Pope Paul also decorated the Confessio and the subterranean chambers of St. Peter's, and in token of his special veneration for Our Lady he built the Cappella Paolina in S. Maria Maggiore, which is adorned with frescoes by Guido Reni. Paul V. is buried in this chapel. The completion of the interior of the Quirinal, the Acqua Paola and other fountains, and the improvement of the streets of Rome are also due to the constructive energy of this pope, under whom the population of Rome increased to over ioo,000. In addition, he reformed the administration of justice in Rome and laid the foundation of the new papal secret archives.
Paul V., who was a man of great piety and virtue, was also active in the religious sphere. He completed the reform of the liturgical books by the issue of the admirable Rituale Romanum, promoted the veneration of saints, and wherever possible carried out reforms on the lines laid down by the Council of Trent. At this time the Capuchins were achieving great success as popular preachers. In the conflict which was then raging between the Roman theologians and the representatives of the new scientific knowledge which was growing up, the pope showed kindness to Galileo Galilei and comforted him in his misfortunes. He proved himself a vigorous defender of the rights of the Church in his relations with temporal powers, and in particular against the en croachments of Venice, where Paolo Sarpi wished to make the Church dependent on the State. Much was done to promote mis sionary work in Japan, China, India, Persia, Ethiopia, the Congo and the colonies of the New World.