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Calvin's political interests had a beginning in his humanistic studies, before his conversion, or commitment to Protestantism.His Commentary on Seneca's De Clementiaappeared April 4, 1532. The date of his conversion is much disputed, but there is fairly good evidence for placing it almost exactly two years later, about the time of his visit to Lefèvre in April, 1534. His own statements here must be given more weight than those made by Beza after Calvin's death. If, as is probable, he was inwardly half convinced of the Protestant position in 1532, he was, nonetheless, still clinging tenaciously—in his own words “obstinately devoted (adonné)”—to the papacy and had apparently not definitely discarded any of his traditional assumptions with respect to religion.

In the Reformation the phrase “The Word of God” was mighty and prevailed. It was pronounced with assurance and heard with acceptance. To use it was to invoke in one's behalf a divine utterance of incontestible authority, that was documented of old in the canonical scriptures but now freshly reverenced and understood after long centuries of disregard. The Reformation was, or at any rate aimed to be, a reform of the visible church by applying to it the superior authority of the Word of God, so that the Word may be said to be the panoply of the Reformation, its all-sufficient armor and resource. This appears from Luther's early writings through Calvin's whole work, and that of Protestant writers to a much later era, and is a familiar note in our day.

This arresting work may be described as a history of papal diplomacy viewed in the light of the conflict of papal theocratic theory with secular nationalism. Two introductory chapters trace the chief aspects of the papal control of politics to Luther's time. The Peace of Augsburg is viewed as a step in the secularization of politics. The author's heavy labor is bestowed, however, on the Peace of Westphalia, to which, with the controversial literature attending it, chapters IV to XVI are devoted. Innocent X entrusted to his nuncio, Chigi, the task of conserving the traditional papal rights; where this was impossible he was to protest all decisions. In order to nullify these protests in advance, the Protestant plenipotentiaries declared that no reservation or protest should be held valid. The adoption (1647) of this clause by the imperial and French negotiators despite the vigorous representations of the Jesuits and Spaniards marks that definite turn of affairs against the papacy which is specially termed "secularization." This diplomatic revolt, which to the author appears to have been a necessary condition of peace, was due primarily to Trauttmannsdorf, the liberal minister of Frederick III, and was firmly supported by Frederick, and by Maximilian of Bavaria for whom a short cut to peace was an urgent necessity. In order to satisfy demands for indemnities, the imperialists further sacrificed church properties to their war enemies. Professor Eckhardt explains this procedure on the ground that the relations of Austria and the papacy had been most unsatisfactory because of recent favors to Spain, and by the long delay of the pope in conferring the cardinalate upon Mazarin's brother.

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