the exertions of Cardinal Ximenez (1436-1517). The leading
universities, Seville, Alcala, and Salamanca, were not unfriendly, and
the whole educational system was remodelled in favour of the classics.
Cardinal Ximenez devoted himself to the preparation of the Polyglot
edition of the Bible, the New Testament portion of which was printed
so early as 1514, and the whole work was published in 1522. The
leading Humanist scholars were Lebrixa, or as he is called in Latin
Lebrissensis, Nunez, and Ludovico Vives (1492-1540), the latter of
whom was deemed by his contemporaries not unworthy of being compared
with Erasmus and Budaeus.

The Humanist movement and the general revival of literary, scientific,
philological and historical studies to which it gave birth were not in
themselves anti-religious, nor did they find in the Catholic Church a
determined opponent. Such studies, on the contrary, might have
contributed much to promote a more enlightened understanding of
theology, and more especially of the Scriptures, a fact which was
understood thoroughly by the ablest ecclesiastics of the time. In
Italy, Germany, France, and England, bishops and abbots vied with
secular princes in their patronage of scholars, while the influence of
the Popes, notably Nicholas V., Sixtus IV., Julius II., and Leo X. was
entirely in favour of the Humanist party.

Yet, while all this is true, the Humanist movement did much,
undoubtedly, to prepare men's minds for the great religious revolt of
the sixteenth century. Springing into life as it did at a time when
the faith of the Middle Ages was on the wane, and when many educated
men were growing tired of the cold formalism and antiquated methods of
the Schoolmen, it tended to develop a spirit of restless inquiry that
could ill brook any restriction. The return to the classics recalled