Trissino had chosen a national subject for his epic; but the _Italia Liberata_ was an acknowledged failure, and neither the past nor the present conditions of the Italian people offered good material for a serious poem.

The heroic enthusiasms of the age were religious.

Revived Catholicism had assumed an attitude of defiance.

The Company of Jesus was declaring its crusade against heresy and infidelity throughout the world.

Not a quarter of a century had elapsed since Charles V.attacked the Mussulman in Tunis; and before a few more years had passed, the victory of Lepanto was to be won by Italian and Spanish navies.