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The Popes had long opposed the ambitions of the Holy Roman Emperor and the Spanish whom they believed correctly wanted to dominate Italy.<ref> Duffy, Eoin, <i>History of the Popes</i> (London, Penguin, 2005), p. 267</ref> The Papacy was pivotal to the Italian resistance to the ambitions of the Spanish. This changed after the Sack of Rome in 1527, the Pope was cowed and to an extent meekly followed the policies of Charles V, they also ceased resisting his growing control. This after the death, enabled Charles V’s, heir to established de-facto control over Italy, except for Venice. The Pope had bankrolled the armies that had been pivotal to the Italian resistance to outsiders and after 1527, this was no longer possible.  The Papacy, sack had been practically bankrupted by the Sack Papacy and no longer could offer the financial support needed by the City-States to recruit armies, which were mainly composed of mercenary soldiers. By 1550 the Spanish Monarch, Phillip II was the dominant influence in Italy and not the Pope. The Spanish control lead to a loss of political and individual freedom , and this dealt a blow to the Renaissance as increasingly artists and thinkers were unable to create the worked they wanted or to freely express their own ideas and opinions.<ref> Burke, Peter. <i>The Italian Renaissance: Culture and Society in Italy Princeton</i> (Princeton University Press, 1999) p. 6 </ref>