The reconstruction of Catholic Christendom, which took visible shape in the decrees of the Tridentine Council, was actually settled in the Courts of Spain, Austria, France and Rome.  The Fathers of the Council were the mouthpieces of royal and Papal cabinets.  The Holy Ghost, to quote a profane satire of the time, reached Trent in the despatch-bags of couriers, in the sealed instructions issued to ambassadors and legates.

[Footnote 33:  Soranzo, op. cit. p. 75, says:  ’Con li principi tiene modo affatto contrario al suo predecessore; perche mentre quello usava dire, il grado dei pontefici esser per mettersi sotto i piedi gl’imperatori e i re, questo dice che senza l’autorita dei principi non si puo conservare quella dei pontefici.’]

We observe throughout the negotiations which crowned the policy of this Pope with success, the operation not only of a pacific and far-seeing character, but also of the temper of a lawyer.  Pius drew up the Tridentine decrees as an able conveyancer draws up a complicated deed, involving many trusts, recognizing conflicting rights, providing for distant contingencies.  It was in fact the marriage contract of ecclesiastical and secular absolutism, by which the estates of Catholic Christendom were put in trust and settlement for posterity.  In formulating its terms the Pope granted points to which an obstinate or warlike predecessor, a Julius II. or a Paul IV., would never have subscribed his signature.  In purely theological matters, such as the concession of the chalice to the laity and the marriage of the clergy, he was even willing to yield more for the sake of peace than his Court and clergy would agree to.  But for each point he gave, he demanded a substantial equivalent, and showed such address in bargaining, that Rome gained far more than it relinquished.  When the contract had been drafted, he ratified it by a full and ready recognition, and lawyer-like was punctual in executing all the terms to which he pledged himself.

We must credit Pius IV. with keen insight into the new conditions of Catholic Europe, and recognize him as the real founder of the modern as distinguished from the mediaeval Papacy.  That transition which I have been describing in the present chapter remained uncertain in its issue up to his pontificate.  Before his death the salvation of Catholicism, the integrity of the Catholic Church, the solidity of the Roman hierarchy, and the possibility of a vigorous Counter-Reformation were placed beyond all doubt.

It is noticeable that these substantial successes were achieved, not by a religious fanatic, but by a jurist; not by a saint, but by a genial man of the world; not by force of intellect and will, but by adroitness; not by masterful authority, but by pliant diplomacy; not by forcing but by following the current of events.  Since Gregory VII., no Pope had done so much as Pius IV. for bracing the ancient fabric of the Church and confirming the Papal prerogative.  But what a difference there is between a Hildebrand and a Giovanni Angelo Medici!  How Europe had changed, when a man of the latter’s stamp was the right instrument of destiny for starting the weather-beaten ship of the Church upon a new and prosperous voyage.