THE COUNTER REFORMATION

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THE COUNTER REFORMATION

• The empire strikes back

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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.

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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

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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.

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THE COUNCIL OF TRENT1545-1563

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

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Pope Paul III
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THE COUNCIL OF TRENT1545-1563

• 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) didnt want to further alienate
  Luther
• French did not want to reconcile Catholics and
  Lutherans in Germany to keep the area divided and
  weak

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THE COUNCIL OF TRENT1545-1563

• Problems existed with the council
• Arguments over the supreme authority of the
  Church council or pope
• Bishops tended to support local issues over
  global

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ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COUNCIL

• Doctrine
• Equal authority to Scripture and Church tradition
• Seven sacraments
• Transubstantiation
• Rejected Lutheranism and Calvinism

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ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COUNCIL

• Reform of Abuses
• Bishops must reside in their diocese
• No pluralism or simony
• Forbid the sale of indulgences
• Priests must give up mistresses
• Bishops 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

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ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE COUNCIL

• What the Council did not do
• Reconciliation with Protestants
• Reforms were not immediate

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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
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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 nuns order
  was to combat heresy through the education of
  girls. They thought they could help
  re-Christianize society by training future wives
  and mothers

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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.

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Society of Jesus

• Loyolas 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

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Society of Jesus

• This total and complete loyalty is why the Jesuit
  order, although at first under suspicion by a
  cautious papacy with Loyolas 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

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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.

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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.