Publisher's Synopsis
Excerpt from The Church of England, Vol. 3: A History for the People; The English Reformation
Let us rapidly glance over the careers and characters of this line of mighty prelates, with their awful claims to a supreme spiritual power.
Sixtus IV., who filled the papal chair ad. 1471 to 1484, began what may be termed the secularisation of the Papacy. Of him Machiavelli writes: He was the first Pope who began to show the extent Of the papal power, and how things that before were called errors could be hidden behind the papal authority. The his torian of these popes thus explains these weighty words: The papal power which Machiavelli had before his eyes was not the moral authority of the head of Christen dom, but the power of an Italian prince who was engaged in consolidating his dominions into an important state This object Sixtus IV. Pursued passion ately, to the exclusion of the other duties of his Office.
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