THE COUNTER
REFORMATION
The “empire” strikes back
COUNTER REFORMATION
• Although it took several decades to be
effective, eventually there was a Catholic
response to the Protestant Reformation. It
was Counter-Reformation in the sense
that the Catholic Church was taking steps
to counteract some of the success of the
Protestant side. By 1547, Protestant
religions were established in England,
Scandinavia, much of Scotland, France,
Germany, and Switzerland.
COUNTER REFORMATION
Reforms prior to 1517
• centered around creating a new spiritual fervor
and mild attempts to reform institutional vices.
• Institutional reform is slow
– Popes more interested in political affairs
– Many popes live lavish lifestyles and were
uninterested in spirituality or holiness.
– Reform had been linked to the idea of the church
council which was often seen as a threat to papal
authority
– Papal bureaucracy moved slowly
COUNTER REFORMATION
Reforms after 1540
• The Catholic Church began a reform
movement aimed at eliminating the effect
of dissidents and heretics, reforming the
Church, and checking the spread of
Protestantism.
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
1545-1563
1. Called by Pope Paul III to establish church
doctrine, He was unlikely reformer – an
aristocrat, humanist, astrologer whose first act
as pope was to appoint his teen-aged
grandsons as cardinals
2. Unlike the medieval conciliar movement, which
sought to place the papacy under the control of
a church council or parliament, the Council of
Trent was dominated by the papacy and, in
turn, enhanced its power
Pope Paul III
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
1545-1563
3. Problems existed with the council
•
•
The church invited Lutherans and Calvinists, but
they refused to attend because the council would
not agree that the Bible was the sole authority of
God.
Politics repeatedly influenced theological debates
•
•
Charles V (HRE) didn’t want to further alienate Luther
French did not want to reconcile Catholics and Lutherans in
Germany to keep the area divided and weak
THE COUNCIL OF TRENT
1545-1563
• Problems existed with the council
– Arguments over the supreme authority of the
Church – council or pope
– Bishops tended to support local issues over
“global”
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
COUNCIL
• Doctrine
– Equal authority to Scripture and Church
tradition
– Seven sacraments
– Transubstantiation
– Rejected Lutheranism and Calvinism
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
COUNCIL
• Reform of Abuses
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–
–
–
–
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–
Bishops must reside in their diocese
No pluralism or simony
Forbid the sale of indulgences
Priests must give up mistresses
Bishop’s authority over the clergy in his diocese is absolute
Bishops must visit each parish in diocese every two years
Every diocese must set up a seminary that teaches a set
curriculum by educated professors
– Religious vocations must be the result of a calling, not
predetermined by parents
– Marriage became the jurisdiction of the Church to stipulate
validity
• Must have consent of both parties and witnesses
ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE
COUNCIL
• What the Council did not do
– Reconciliation with Protestants
– Reforms were not immediate
CREATION OF RELIGIOUS
ORDERS
• Supported the effort to reform and to stop
and turn back the spread of Protestantism
throughout Europe
Angela Merici
Ignatius of Loyola
CREATION OF RELIGIOUS
ORDERS
• Ursulines were founded by Angela Merici,
daughter of a country gentleman who was
known for her work with the poor. The
purpose of the nun’s order was to combat
heresy through the education of girls.
They thought they could help reChristianize society by training future
wives and mothers
CREATION OF RELIGIOUS
ORDERS
• Society of Jesus (Jesuits) organized by Ignatius
of Loyola (1491-1566)
– A Spanish noble who was wounded in battle and
spent his recuperation time reading various Catholic
tracts. After undergoing a religious conversion, he
attempted, not unlike Luther, to reconcile himself to
God through austere behavior. He became a hermit
but still felt something was amiss. While Luther, in his
search for spiritual contentment, decided that the
Bible was the sole source of faith, Loyola hit on the
idea that even if the Bible did not exist there was still
the spirit.
Society of Jesus
• Loyola’s ideas are laid out in his Spiritual
Exercises; one passage in particular states his
belief in total obedience to the Church:
– “To arrive at complete certainty, this is the attitude that
we should maintain. I will believe that the white object
I see is black if that should be the desire of the
hierarchical church for I believe that linking Christ our
Lord the Bridegroom and His Bride the church, where
is one and the same Spirit, ruling and guiding us for
our souls’ good. For our Holy Mother the church is
guided and ruled by the Spirit, the Lord who gave the
Ten Commandments”
Society of Jesus
• This total and complete loyalty is why the Jesuit order,
although at first under suspicion by a cautious papacy
with Loyola’s fervor, would be accepted as an official
order of the church in a papal bull in 1510.
• Jesuits opened school, became confessors and advisors
to the nobility (resulting in great political influence),
became missionaries, and sometimes resorted to “the
ends justifies the means” mentality by spying and
fighting in wars. They were instrumental in returning
most of southern Germany and Eastern Europe to
Catholicism
THE ROMAN INQUISITION
• Established to stamp out heresy. It was governed by a committee of
six cardinals called the Sacred Congregation of the Holy Office. It
was led by the fanatical Cardinal Caraffa who vehemently attacked
heresy. The Inquisition used roman law principles, including relying
on hearsay evidence, not informing the accused of the charges, and
at times, applying torture. Among their steps was the creation of the
notorious Index of Prohibited Books including works by writers such
as Erasmus and Galileo.
• The Inquisition had a huge influence on the Papal States, but was
less successful in other areas. Because the banning of books cut
into the profitable book trade in places such as Venice, the
Inquisition had little effect when local concerns were compromised
by restriction.
THE RELIGIOUS
SITUATION ABOUT
1560 By 1560, Luther,
Zwingli, and Loyola
were dead, Calvin was
near the end of his life,
the English break from
Rome was complete,
and the last session of
the Council of Trent
was about to assemble.
This map shows
“religious geography” of
western Europe at the
time.