Introduction

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Stefan Bauer
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
History Writing ◽  
Source Criticism ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Roman Antiquity ◽  
Catholic Reform ◽  
The Catholic Church

This Introduction presents Onofrio Panvinio (1530–68), an Augustinian friar who gained prominence as a historian of both the Catholic Church and Roman antiquity. Historiography in sixteenth-century Rome and the interrelationship between history and theology have been awaiting a profound re-examination. Panvinio’s case enables us to trace changes in the approach to history-writing across the epochs of the Renaissance and the Catholic Reformation. This Introduction discusses Panvinio’s methods, which were modelled on humanist source criticism. It highlights differences between Panvinio and the more strongly confessionalized and dogmatized historiography (such as that of Cesare Baronio) which came after him. Lastly, there is a brief discussion of the terms Catholic Reform and Counter Reformation.

A Tridentine Response

2020 ◽  
pp. 104-131
Author(s):  
Kenneth Austin
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Catholic Church

This chapter analyzes “Counter Reformation,” a terminology that implies the developments within the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century and beyond of reactions to the Protestant challenge. It explains how historians generally prefer the term “Catholic Reformation” over Counter Reformation as it is more neutral and better able to accommodate the range of initiatives witnessed in the period. It also points out reform efforts that predate the Protestant challenge, in which a new ethos developed within the Catholic Church in the middle of the sixteenth century. The chapter talks about the fathers of the Council of Trent, who sought to address a wide range of issues relating to belief and practice. It looks at the “Tridentine” decrees that were implemented alongside various papal initiatives and efforts at the local level.

scholarly journals They Tore God Limb From Limb

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katlyn Kichko
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Discourse ◽  
Singular Case ◽  
Historical Discourse ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Catholic Church

This paper interacts specifically with two separate texts, that is Michel de Certeau’s The Possession at Loudun and Carlo Ginzburg’s The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth Century Miller. Both of these texts present a narrative of religious turmoil, demonic possessions and a heretical Inquisition, respectively, and the events which surround a single religious dissenter. Examining the two heretical men presented within these texts in comparison allows for an understanding of Catholic Church dogma during the age of the Counter Reformation, and how such an institution managed threats, both external and internal. Moreover, this paper also examines the methodologies behind the historical discourse, in order to understand the validity of the narratives presented, and the scope of historical depth sought. Addressing methodology is crucial when one narrows focus to two singular case studies by two separate historians. Thus, this paper intends to illustrate the threats to normative religious discourse which Urbain Grandier and Menocchio possessed in the face of the Catholic Church, while also demonstrating the methodologies by which the two men are presented within their respective histories.

Rethinking “Catholic Reform” and “Counter-Reformation”: What Happened in Early Modern Catholicism—a View from Italy

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 293-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Massimo Firpo
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Early Modern Period ◽  
Roman Catholicism ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
Early Modern Catholicism ◽  
Modern Period ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Catholic Reform

There are now a number of ways to describe the phenomena which come under the umbrella of innovations in Roman Catholicism in the early modern period including “Counter Reformation”; “Catholic Reformation” and “Early Modern Catholicism.” After a brief survey of the various labels used by scholars over the last half century or more, this article seeks to rehabilitate the use of the label “Counter Reformation” in the light, particularly, of the determining role played by the Holy Office (aka Roman Inquisition) in shaping the Catholic Church down to Vatican ii (1962-65). A key role in this was played by Gian Pietro Carafa, who was made head of the congregation of the Holy Office at its foundation in 1542 and who became pope as Paul iv in 1555. During the key decades from the 1540s to 1570s the Inquisition in Rome set the agenda and by means, not only, of a series of trials of prominent members of the clerical establishment whom they regarded as their enemies, succeeded in intimidating their opponents. In doing so they also subverted episcopal authority, whose strengthening had been a watchword at the Council of Trent.

scholarly journals The Contributions of the Council of Trent to the Catholic Reformation

Perichoresis ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 3-20
Author(s):  
Robert Fastiggi
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Final Section ◽  
The Other ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Ecumenical Council ◽  
Parish Priests ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractThis article begins by examining what is meant by the Catholic Reformation and how it relates to the other frequently used term, Counter–Reformation. It then discusses the different ways Catholics and Protestants in the early 16th century understood ecclesial reform. Next there is a consideration of the call for a general or ecumenical council to resolve the differences between the Catholics and Protestant reformers; the reasons for the delay of the council; and the reasons why the Protestants did not participate. The article then provides a summary of the three main periods of the Council of Trent: 1545–1547; 1551–1552; and 1562–1563 along with the 1547–1549 Bologna period. This is followed by a detailed overview of the reforms of the council, which were both doctrinal and disciplinary. The article shows that, while abuses related to various Catholic practices and the sacraments were addressed, the main concerns in the various disciplinary decrees related to clerical corruption and immorality. The article addresses the need for bishops to reside in their dioceses; stop clerical corruption, greed, and nepotism; and establish seminaries for the proper formation of priests. After the review of the disciplinary reform decrees, attention is given to the Catechism of the Council of Trent that served as a resource for parish priests in their instruction of the faithful. The final section considers viewpoints of different historians regarding the effect of the Council of Trent on reform within the Catholic Church.

Nella lingua di ciascuno: Church Communication between Latin and Vernacular during the Counter-Reformation

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 ◽  
pp. 196-209
Author(s):  
Silvia Manzi
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Local Translation ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Italian Language ◽  
Vernacular Language ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Catholic Church

This article investigates the reasons for the choice of vernacular language instead of Latin in the communications of bishops with clergy and laity at the end of the sixteenth century and into the first decades of the seventeenth. The spread of Lutheran doctrine, which encouraged the use of the vernacular in the Scriptures and in the mass, was confronted by a reaction: the Catholic Church denied all access to the mysteries of faith to anyone ignorant of Latin through the three Indices of prohibited books issued in the second half of the sixteenth century (1559, 1564, 1596). However, concurrently with the issuing of these prohibitions, the bishops of Italy used the Italian language to translate some papal bulls and decrees of the Council of Trent. On which issues and under what circumstances did they feel it was necessary to be understood by the non-Latinate and therefore find it necessary to supply Italian translations of official documents, such as papal constitutions and Tridentine decrees? Was the local translation of such documents faithful to the original? And if not, why not?

The Sermon as A Multimedial Instrument of Communication in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Reformation and Counter-Reformation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dalia Marija StančIene
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
The Other ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
Important Means ◽  
The Church ◽  
The Catholic Church

Abstract At the end of the sixteenth century, during the Christianization of Lithuania, sermons became one of the most important means of communication. As a medium, the sermon functioned through systems of codified sounds and symbols, as well as representing the institution of the Church for which it served as a broadcaster. Increased attention to the sermon was prompted by the desire of the Catholic Church to resist the Reformation and to preserve its spiritual monopoly. Martin Luther and Erasmus of Rotterdam underlined the importance of preaching, claiming that preaching the Gospels could improve society. The Jesuits instructed preachers not to limit themselves to religious matters alone but also to pay attention to social and political problems. There were two kinds of sermon: one for churchmen, preached in Latin; the other for lay people, in the vernacular. The Jesuits trained priests to preach in Lithuanian.

Imperial Policy and Church Income: The Sixteenth Century Mexican Church

1986 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victoria Hennessey Cummins
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Spanish America ◽  
Internal Conflict ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Church Finance ◽  
Church Hierarchy ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
New Research

The long-traditional view of the Roman Catholic Church in Spanish America as a monolithic, wealthy, and all powerful institution has been gradually modified by successive studies over the last thirty years. From these examinations emerges the picture of a complex institution characterized by diversity, and internal conflict. New research continues to enlarge and clarify understanding of the Church's role as an institution of the Spanish empire.What follows will, in highlighting the colonial Church's relationship to the Spanish crown, add to this view of it as a complex and diverse institution. An examination of crown policy with regard to Church finance in the sixteenth century shows that the episcopal hierarchy of the Mexican colonial Church had a subordinate relationship to the crown in the era of the Counter Reformation. Rather than a strong Church influencing the crown, what emerges is the portrait of a relatively weak, dependent institution, supported by the king. The secular church hierarchy had only enough power to carry out its function and serve as a counterpoint to the religious orders, not enough to achieve financial independence on its own. The basis for this relationship lies in the patrimonial nature of Castilian government and its dominant position over the Church hierarchy because of the Patronato Real.

scholarly journals The Reformation as a Turning Point for the Roman Catholic Church (16th and 17th Centuries)

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alan Charles Henriques
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Roman Catholic Church ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Catholic Reformation ◽  
Christian Community ◽  
Christian Churches ◽  
Vatican Council ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Christian Thought

In this article the effects of the Protestant Reformation on the Roman Catholic Church are investigated. The event of 1517, when Luther posted 95 theses on the castle church door in Wittenberg, had a profound effect on society in Europe and the Roman Catholic Church in particular. The Council of Trent (1545–1563) was the official response of the Roman Catholic Church to the Protestant Reformation and issued in the Catholic Reformation (Counter-Reformation). Christian thought went from a uniform approach to one of diversity. The Catholics of the day responded by focusing on strategies such as printing, the liturgy, the inquisition and finally excommunication. The wound to the unity of the Christian community was finally healed at the Second Vatican Council when the Roman Catholic Church joined the ecumenical movement of all Christian Churches. The Roman Catholic Church learnt tremendous lessons from the Protestant Reformation. In certain parts of Europe there was friction and in other parts cooperation between Protestants and Catholics. Through the course of time cooperation and dialogue won the battle eventually, as Protestants and Catholics grappled with both their common beliefs and their many differences.

Papal Efforts Toward Protestant Representation at Trent

1948 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 427-436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephan Kuttner
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Modern World ◽  
The Political ◽  
Sacramental Theology ◽  
Political Realism ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Historical Significance ◽  
The One ◽  
The Catholic Church

It is not within the purpose of this paper to appraise the historical significance which the Council of Trent held for the consolidation of Catholic doctrine on all the points of dogmatic and sacramental theology that had been put into question by the religious innovators. Nor shall we examine the role which its measures of canonical legislation played in the great process of spiritual and disciplinary renewal which eventually determined the position of the Catholic Church in the modern world. We propose rather to turn our attention to the great goal which the Council did not reach: the restoration of the one Respublica Christiana, of the Catholic unity which prior to the sixteenth century had been the only conceivable form of Christian religious existence. To the eye of the historian, it is true, the rift in Western Christendom appears quite obviously prepared by the developments of two centuries preceding Luther's challenge. The exile of Avignon; the great schism; the constitutional unrest of the conciliar epoch of Constance and Basel; the political realism by which Renaissance popes had sought above all to consolidate their position as Italian territorial rulers; the growth of the national states and national sovereignties; the ferment of humanistic ideologies—they all were alarming and distressing symptoms of the radical disintegration of mediaeval unity.

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