Counter Reformation
 Called by Pope Paul III (1534-
1549)
 1545-1573
 Three-fold purpose
 1. Stop the spread of Protestantism
 2. Stop the abuses within the RCC
 3. Reaffirm Church Doctrine
Council of Trent Cont….…
Most important reforms:
Internal discipline
Steps taken to stop the sale of church
offices
Priests had to be devoted, dressed
properly, and highly educated
***Not one concession made to the
Protestants****
 Index of Prohibited Books
 Inquisition – 13th century established to uncover
heretics
 Heresy – tortured to secure confessions
 Unrepentant – handed over to civil authorities =
death
 Jesuits
 Ignatius of Loyola
 1548 – Spiritual Exercises
 Spiritual leader who fought Protestantism
– preserved Catholicism in Germany,
Poland, and Belgium
 Officially recognized by Catholic Church
Spiritual Exercises
Contained mental and emotional exercises designed
to teach one absolute self mastery over one’s feelings.
That a person can shape his/her own behavior
Protestants were viewed as being disobedient to the
Catholic Church whereas the Jesuits were good
Catholics who were asked to submit to a higher
church authority without question.
 Stopped the sale of indulgences, pluralism, clerical
absenteeism, concubines of women
 Established seminary for education and training of priests
 Veneration of Saints and the Cult of Virgin Mary
continued
 Individual interpretation of scripture denied
 Strong leadership from a succession of Popes continued
reform
 Religious unity destroyed
 Religious Wars
 State gained power at the expense of the Church
 Encouraged education
Reformation and Education
Humanism was accepted by many of the Protestant
schools
Focus on the classical studies
Compared to the scholastic ways of teaching
Reformation and Women
Protestant reformers accepted clerical marriage
Protestants opposed the medieval viewpoints of women
(how they were portrayed as inferior)
Praised women, but especially in the biblical vocation
as mother and housewife
Equal right to divorce like men in Protestant cities
Family Life in Early Modern Europe
Later marriages:
Men: mid-late 20’s
Women: early-mid 20’s
Protestants and Catholics required parental consent to
get married
Arranged marriages:
Men and Women could legally protest a marriage that
was arranged by their parents
Family Size:
Families consisted of mother, father and 2-4 children
(who survived)
Women produced 6-7 children, but 1/3 died as infants,
and ½ died in their teens.
Family Life cont…
Birth Control:
Various methods
Church opposed birth control
Wet Nursing:
Noble women would hire women to suckle their
newborns out of convenience
Infant deaths were higher for children who were wet
nursed b/c the women who provided the service were
not in good health
Loving families?
Children between the ages of 8-13 were often sent from
their homes into apprenticeships, school, or
employment in homes or businesses of family friends,
or relatives.
Widowers and widows often remarried a few months
after the passing of their spouse.