The historian David Kertzer suggests that by the 1850s "what had once appeared so solid—a product of the divine order of things—now seemed terribly fragile".
Sejarawan David Kertzer berpendapat bahwa sepanjang kurun waktu 1850-an, Negara Gereja "yang dulu tampak begitu kukuh—hasil dari penerapan kaidah-kaidah agama—kini terlihat sangat rapuh".