THE COUNTER-REFORMATION 811 The Jesuits were distinguished from the ancient orders of monks by their gentle and polished manners; they made themselves loved especially in the upper classes; and as they had the strongest organization and the most effective methods, they soon became, and have remained for three centuries, the most powerful religious order in the church, and the one most for- midable to the Protestants. The Council of Trent—From the moment that the Reformation broke out many Catholics demanded a general council, in order to reorganize the church and reform the abuses which had given the Protestants a motive for revolt. But the council could not be assem- bled as long as the pope was at war with Charles V., and the Reformation had time to win over all Germany before they came to terms. The council, which was finally convoked at Trent in the territory of the em- peror, was twice interrupted, and could not deliberate until twenty years had passed after the first convoca- tion. The assembly was formed of the bishops of four nations, Italy, Spain, Germany, France; England was not represented there. But the Italians alone were more numerous than all the others together; as they voted individually, and not by nationality, they, the Italians, formed the majority, and after long discus- sions they finally voted for all the resolutions demanded by the pope. The aim of the council was to state precisely the belief of the church, and to strengthen the discipline. The Emperor of Germany demanded the acceptance of some of the Protestant reforms, communion under two kinds, the marriage of priests, the suppression of