He was a man of fierce, impulsive and uncompromising temper, animated by two ruling passions--burning hatred for the Spaniards who were trampling on his native land, and ecclesiastical ambition intensified by rigid Catholic orthodoxy.

The first act of his reign was a vain effort to expel the Spaniards from Italy by resorting to the old device of French assistance.

The abdication of Charles V.had placed Philip II.

on the throne of Spain, and the settlement whereby the Imperial crown passed to his brother Ferdinand had substituted a feeble for a powerful Emperor.
But Philip's disengagement from the cares of Germany left him more at liberty to maintain his preponderance in Southern Europe.

It was fortunate for Paul IV.