tradition of many religious movements. I am thinking rather of what is said about war, about
religion and religious toleration, against the wanton killing of animals (there is a most eloquent
passage against hunting), and in favour of a mild criminal law. (The book opens with an argument
against the death penalty for theft.) It must be admitted, however, that life in More's Utopia, as in
most others, would be intolerably dull. Diversity is essential to happiness, and in Utopia there is
hardly any. This is a defect of all planned social systems, actual as well as imaginary.
CHAPTER V The Reformation and CounterReformationTHE Reformation and Counter-Reformation, alike, represent the rebellion of less civilized nations
against the intellectual domination of Italy. In the case of the Reformation, the revolt was also
political and theological: the authority of the Pope was rejected, and the tribute which he had
obtained from the power of the keys ceased to be paid. In the case of the Counter-Reformation,
there was only revolt against the intellectual and moral freedom of Renaissance Italy; the power of
the Pope was not diminished, but enhanced, while at the same time it was made clear that his
authority was incompatible with the easy-going laxity of the Borgias and Medici. Roughly
speaking, the Reformation was German, the Counter-Reformation Spanish; the wars of religion
were at the same time wars between Spain and its enemies, coinciding in date with the period
when Spanish power was at its height.
The attitude of public opinion in northern nations towards Renaissance Italy is illustrated in the
English saying of that time: