attempted to do, its obsolete rights over fiefs and lands accorded on easy terms or held by doubtful titles.

Meanwhile the retrenchment rendered necessary in all households of the hierarchy, and the introduction of severer manners, threatened many minor branches of industry with extinction.
These changes began to manifest themselves during the pontificate of Pius IV.

The Pope himself was inclined to a liberal and joyous scale of living.

But he was not remarkable for generosity; and the new severity of manners made itself felt by the example of his nephew Carlo Borromeo--a man who, while living in the purple, practiced austerities that were apparent in his emaciated countenance.

The Jesuits ruled him; and, through him, their influence was felt in every quarter of the city.[59] 'The Court of Rome,' says the Venetian envoy in the year 1565, 'is no longer what it used to be either in the quality or the numbers of the courtiers.