Yet in spite of all these reverses, had the Church been blessed with a
succession of worthy Popes burning with zeal for religion, free to
devote themselves to a thorough reform, and capable of understanding
the altered political and social conditions of the world, the Papacy
might have been restored to its old position. But unfortunately the
Popes from Nicholas V. to Leo X. were not the men to repair the damage
that was done, or to ward off impending danger. The calamities that
threatened Europe from the advance of the Turks, and the necessity of
rousing its rulers to a sense of their responsibilities occupied a
large share of their attention; while the anxiety which they displayed
in the miserable squabbles of the Italian kingdoms, sometimes out of
disinterested regard for the temporal States of the Church, as in the
case of Julius II., more frequently from a desire of providing
territories for their unworthy relations, left them little time to
safeguard the general well-being of the Church. In case of some of
them, too, if one may judge them by their actions, the progress of
Humanism seemed to be nearer to their hearts than the progress of
religion.

In his personal life Nicholas V. (1447-55) was not unworthy of his
exalted position, but the necessity of repairing the damage that had
been done by the unruly assembly at Basle, which arrogated to itself
the authority of an independent General Council, the removal of the
last obstacle to the Turkish invasion of Europe in the fall of
Constantinople, and the importance of securing for Rome a pre-eminent
position in the great classical revival, engaged all his energies to
the exclusion of necessary reforms. Calixtus III. (1455-58) was too
old to do much, yet, notwithstanding his advancing years and the
indifference of the European rulers, he threw himself into the
struggle against the Turks, aiding and encouraging Hungary and Albania