Counter Reformation: The Council of Trent
- Created by: Alasdair
- Created on: 23-05-18 19:25
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- Counter Reformation: The Council of Trent (according to Gerritsen, Gould and Marshall)
- Reasons for Council of Trent
- Lutheran protest gathered steam
- Led to secular leaders fearing disorder and disunity caused by confessional clashes
- Led to calls for Papacy to act more effectively began to mount
- Led to secular leaders fearing disorder and disunity caused by confessional clashes
- Holy Roman Emperor Charles V
- Foremost in calling for Papacy to act more effectively
- Aggrieved at growing challenges to his authority from Protestant German rulers
- 1521, imperial Diet of Worms (petition)
- Charles demanded general council of Church be called matter of priority to reconcile faiths and so end the schism
- Papacy rejected petition and deflected subsequent calls by procrastinating over feasible locations of any assembly
- Charles wanted to host council in the Empire
- Papacy wanted to host council in Italian states
- Rome could not deflect pressures for council indefinitely
- Lutheran protest gathered steam
- Council of Trent (core details)
- 13th December 1545
- 19th general council in Church's long history
- held at Trent
- Small, northern Italian town
- Technically part of Holy Roman Empire
- Became clear site of assembly was only concession Rome was willing to make
- Council's constitution, terms and agenda were all dictated by Papacy
- Left secular rulers disenfranchised
- Charles V failed to secure forum to restore order to his territories
- France railed at papal control of affairs and refused its delegated permission to attend
- Spain complained at prevalence of Italian bishops on Council
- Lutheran delegates who attended first sessions were undermined or ignored
- Left secular rulers disenfranchised
- Council's constitution, terms and agenda were all dictated by Papacy
- General council summoned in early 1520s could have reconciled Church's critics and keep them within the fold
- Events had moved on
- Arguably Council of Trent came 25 years too late - medieval Church was split irrevocably
- Three sittings
- 1545-49
- 1551-52
- 1562-63
- Influence of Trent on fortunes of Catholicism
- Described as 'profound' by Gerritsen, Gould and Marshall
- Early sessions
- Reflected personality of presiding chair, Paul III
- Concerned with combating heresy rather than healing schism
- Protestant principles of Sola Scriptura and Justification by faith were formally refuted
- Orthodox Catholic tenet such as papal primacy, authority of tradition, validity of good works, transubstantiation and authenticity of seven sacraments were defined and confirmed
- Later sessions
- Showed greater concern with internal reform
- every bishopric was order to establish seminary for training of priests
- Bishops were ordered to be personally resident in their dioceses
- Intense debate about whether residence was required 'by law of God'
- Brought up question of whether bishops held office directly from God or only as delegates of the Pope
- According to O'Malley the decree managed to fudge this crucial theological issue
- Brought up question of whether bishops held office directly from God or only as delegates of the Pope
- Final sessions
- Confirmed Index Librorum Prohoiborum
- created one of the most vigorous opponents, Paul IV (1555-59)
- Had been architect of reactivation of Roman Inquisition in 1542
- Early C16th popes had feared general council would undermine their powers
- papal authority emerged enhanced from Trent
- Pius IV (1559-65) confirmed the decrees but reserved their interpretation to himself and his successors.
- Following Trent
- Next Pope, Pius V (1566-72), carried on reforming work of the council
- Standardised text of the Mass
- so-called Tridentine rite which remained standard form until 1960s
- Standardised text of the Mass
- Standardised Catechism commissioned by council was issued in 1566 and new edition of Latin Vulgate Bible (declared by Trent the official version) followed in 1592
- Many of these reforms were overseen by new administrative structure, so-called 'congregations' of cardinals, which made Roman Curia or central administration seem less like medieval court and more like bureaucratic state
- Fairly or not, the congregation responsible for propagation of the faith, Propaganda Fide, has given name to a modern term of political manipulation
- By end of C16th, authority of the Papacy had been restored in moral as well as institutional terms
- Tridentine popes like Pius V, Gregory XIII (1572-85) and Sixtus V (1585-90) were ascetic figures, quite unlike the 'Renaissance popes' of a century before
- Next Pope, Pius V (1566-72), carried on reforming work of the council
- Reasons for Council of Trent
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