Herein lies the peculiarity of his position as Paul III.

The pupil of Pomponius Laetus, the creature of Roderigo Borgia, the representative of Italian manners and culture before the age of foreign invasion had changed the face of Italy, Paul III.

was called at the age of sixty-six to steer the ship of the Church through troubled waters and in very altered circumstances.

He had witnessed the rise and progress of Protestant revolt in Germany.

He had observed the stirrings of a new and sincere spirit of religious gravity, an earnest desire for ecclesiastical reform in his own country.