Christendom at the Opening of the Sixteenth Century - James Aitken Wylie

mailed hand to crush it.
Charles V. was more powerful than any
emperor had been for many an age preceding. To
the imperial dignity, a shadow in the case of many
of his predecessors, was added in his the
substantial power of Spain. A singular concurrence
of events had made Spain a mightier kingdom by
far than any that had existed in Europe since the
days of the Caesars. Of this magnificent monarchy
the whole resources were in the hands of the man
who was at once the wearer of the imperial dignity
and the enemy of the Reformation. This makes it
imperative that we should bestow a glance on the
extent and greatness of the Spanish kingdom, when
estimating the overwhelming force now arrayed
against Protestantism.
As the Reformation drew nigh, Spain suddenly
changed its form, and from being a congeries of
diminutive kingdoms, it became one powerful
empire. The various principalities, which up till
this time dotted the surface of the Peninsula, were
now merged into the two kingdoms of Arragon and
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