wranglings of the schools, and turned their attention to other
intellectual pursuits.

Besides, men's ideas of politics, of social order, and of religion
were changing rapidly, and, in a word, the whole outlook of the world
was undergoing a speedy transformation. In the Middle Ages religion
held the dominant position and was the guiding principle in morals, in
education, in literature, and in art; but as the faith of many began
to grow cold, and as the rights of Church and State began to be
distinguished, secularist tendencies soon made themselves felt.
Philosophy and theology were no longer to occupy the entire
intellectual field, and other subjects for investigation must be
found. In these circumstances what was more natural than that some
should advocate a return to the classics and all that the classics
enshrined? Again, the example set by the tyrants who had grasped the
reins of power in the Italian States, by men like Agnello of Pisa, the
Viscontis and Francesco Sforza of Milan, Ferrante of Naples, and the
de' Medici of Florence, was calculated to lower the moral standard of
the period, and to promote an abandonment of Christian principles of
truth, and justice, and purity of life. Everywhere men became more
addicted to the pursuit of sensual pleasure, of vain glory, and
material comfort; and could ill brook the dominant ideas of the Middle
Ages concerning the supernatural end of man, self-denial, humility,
patience, and contempt for the things that minister only to man's
temporal happiness. With views of this kind in the air it was not
difficult to persuade them to turn to the great literary masterpieces
of Pagan Rome, where they were likely to find principles and ideals
more in harmony with their tastes than those set before them by the
Catholic Church.