as has been shown, were Christians only in name. In their writings and
in their lives they showed clearly that they were thoroughly imbued
with the spirit of Paganism. Such men merited severe condemnation, and
it is to be regretted that the Popes, particularly Sixtus IV. and Leo
X., did not adopt a firmer attitude towards this section of the
Italian school. But before judging too harshly the friendly relations
maintained by Sixtus IV. and Leo X. with the Italian Humanists, it is
well to remember that the age in which they lived was noted for its
general laxity and for the decline of a proper religious spirit, that
the Pagan tone and Pagan forms of expression used by these writers
were regarded as exhibitions of harmless pedantry rather than as clear
proofs of opposition to Christianity, that most of these writers were
always ready to explain away whatever might appear objectionable in
their works, and that, finally, mildness in the circumstances may have
been deemed the best policy. The attitude of the Popes at any rate
prevented an open conflict between the representatives of the two
schools in Italy until the outbreak of the Reformation and the
invasion of Rome put an end to the danger by destroying the Humanist
movement.

In Germany and France there were few traces of an anti-Christian
tendency amongst the supporters of the new learning. But in both
countries, more especially in the former, the supporters of the new
learning criticised severely the ignorance of the monks and
Theologians, and took little pains to conceal their contempt for the
Scholastic methods of education. They blamed the Popes for their
neglect of the true interests of the Church, and held them responsible
in a large measure for the general decline of religion. According to
them the study of theology must be reformed so as to give a more
prominent place to the Scriptures and the writings of the early