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 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

Pope Paul III

THE COUNCIL OF TRENT1545-1563

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 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”

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– 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

Ignatius of LoyolaAngela Merici

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 re-Christianize 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.