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.
Pius IV.

was greatly assisted in his work by circumstances, of which he knew how to avail himself.

Had it not been for the renewed spiritual activity of Catholicism to which I have alluded in this chapter, he might not have been able to carry that work through.