Evelyn Waugh, in his life of Edmund Campion, spoke of a period when “it was the pride and slight embarrassment of the Church that, as has happened from time to time in her history, that the See of Peter was at this moment occupied by a saint”. The saint in question was the Dominican Michele Ghislieri, who ruled as pontiff from 1566-72 under the title of Pius V, and made it his business to implement the reforms of the Council of Trent. He also made it his business, as he had throughout his long career as the papal inquisitor, to ensure that at least Italy was kept free of Protestantism. During his pontificate the numbers of accused and convicted of heresy soared, and yet he still blamed himself for being too lenient on such miscreants.He was canonised in 1712 by the ineffectual