To trace the ups and downs of the influence of the two institutions from the beginnings of Ottoman history would be an interesting problem. Much depended of course, as must always be the case in a despotic state, on the character of the sultan. With an active conquering sultan like Mohammed II or Selim I, the Ruling Institution would gain upon its rival; with a pious or mild sultan like Murad II or Bayezid II, the Moslem Influence would increase in importance. Selim I’s vast conquests in Moslem territories, and his acquisition of the protectorate of the Holy Cities and of the title of caliph, prepared the way for a later advance in the power of the Moslem Institution which was not in harmony with his own personal influence. Suleiman had a fiery active period of youth when the liberal policy was stronger in his mind, and a quieter old age when the Moslem influence became predominant; it is not unlikely that a consciousness of his position as caliph grew upon him with advancing years. But in general, through all the reigns, the power of the Moslem Institution grew; the only difference from reign to reign was in the rate of speed. The Ruling Institution also grew in power before the world and the Ottoman nation as long as the empire continued to expand rapidly; but it did not grow relatively so fast as did the Moslem Institution. The reasons for the more rapid growth of Moslem influence lay chiefly in the fact that that influence was cumulative. As to its financial basis, the Moslem Institution, like the Christian church in the West, gained lands and wealth continually, and never lost any; for sultans took great pride, and high officials vied with each other, in founding mosques, schools, colleges, and other charitable and semi-public institutions supported by _vakfs_.[710] In general moral and political influence, also, the institution gained rapidly through its system of education; for, like the medieval Christian church again, it held in its hands all the means and methods of intellectual development. Every new primary school, college, and law school,—and they were many in the days of glory,—strengthened the influence of this institution. In this field, indeed, its power acted constantly upon its rival. Old _Hojas_ taught the pages in the palace, advised the sultan’s mother, and trained the young princes and the sons of high officials. Thus within the nation the external show of the Moslem Institution, and its sway over the minds of men, grew without ceasing.