From the Diet of Worms to the Augsburg Confession - James Aitken Wylie

At this hour intrigues, ambitions, and wars
were rife all round Protestantism. The Kings of
Spain and France were striving with one another
for the possession of Italy. The Pope thought, of
course, that he had a better right than either to be
master in that country. He was jealous of both
monarchs, and shaped his policy so as to make the
power of the one balance and check that of the
other. He hoped to be able one day to drive both
out of the peninsula, if not by arms, yet by arts; but
till that day should come, his safety lay in
appearing to be the friend of both, and in taking
care that the one should not be very much stronger
than the other.
All three–the Emperor, the King of France, and
the Pope–in whatever else they differed, were the
enemies of the Reformation; and had they united
their arms they would have been strong enough, in
all reckoning of human chances, to put down the
Protestant movement. But their dynastic ambitions,
fomented largely by the personal piques and crafty
and ambitious projects of the men around them,
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