The history of the popes, from the close of the middle ages : drawn ...

Xl INTRODUCTION.
diplomatic relations with the Imperial court which had been
broken off by his impetuous predecessor.
Though personally inclined to a more secular course of
action, Pius IV., by his confirmation of the decrees of the
Council, by his appointment of a special congregation to see
to the carrying out of those decrees, as well as by his continu-
ation of other important undertakings, such as the re-
arrangement of the Index, the compilation of a Catechism,
and the reform of important liturgical books, proved his com-
prehension of the tasks of the Church, and won an ever last-
ing name by his work for Catholic reform. By confirming
the decrees of the Council, he for the first time gave to the
various regulations a legal sanction, while only by his care in
enforcing their execution could the written law be introduced
into active life, and the renewal of the ecclesiastical state be
inaugurated.
In this manner the Apostolic See proved itself to be, even
under a Pope in whose character there were many faults, a
solid foundation and a safe place of refuge for the renewal of
the prosperity of the Church. Without his intervention the
entire reform work of Trent would have remained in the con-
dition in which the canons of the previous sessions were at the
time of the new assembly of the Council in 1562 ; that is to
say, still awaiting execution because they had not as yet been
confirmed by the Holy See.^
Pius IV. also continued with much greater success than his
predecessor the regeneration of the Roman Curia, and the
reform of its tribunals and scholastic institutions. It was,
it is true, of extreme importance in this respect that his
^ The prelates assembled in Trent complained in 1562, " non
havendo anco quel che si decreto interne alia riferma (in the
years 1546 and 1547) qualunque si fesse conseguite effecto alcuno "
(the legates en April gth, 1562, in Susta, Kurie, II., 79). The
Pope replied that there was nothing to be astonished at, the
Fathers of the Council themselves knew, " che i concilii che nen
sono finiti ne apprebati dai papi, non obbhgane altrui ad obser-
vargli, ne S. S^^ poteva sforzargli " {ibid., in).