The Counter Reformation:
The Catholic Church’s
Response
Reforming the Catholic Church
•Counter-Reformation
•The Catholic Church’s series of
reforms in response to the
spread of Protestantism in the
mid-1500’s to the early 1600’s.
Early Reformers
•Girolamo Savonarola
•Monk who tried to
change the church
from within.
•Excommunicated and
Executed in Florence.
New Religious Orders
•Jesuits
•“Society of Jesus”
•Renewed church’s emphasis of
spirituality and service.
•Founded by Ignatius of Loyola
•Basque Nobleman and former
soldier.
New Religious Orders
•Jesuits
•Concentrated on education as a means
of combating the Protestant
Reformation.
•Built schools, sailed with explorers &
fought the spread of Protestantism.
•Spread Catholicism across Africa, Asia
& the Americas.
The Council of Trent
• A council of Church leaders that
met to discuss the state of
Catholicism & the spread of
Protestantism
• 1545, Church members decided
to redefine some religious
doctrines of the Catholic
Church.
The Council of Trent
• Clarified Catholic teaching
1. Addressed Abuses
2. Addressed Corruption
3. Training of Priests regulated
4. Addressed Financial Abuse
5. Sale of Indulgences was
abolished
The Council of Trent
• Outcomes:
• Humans could interpret the Bible
• Faith + Good Works = Salvation
• Ritual & Tradition were still important
• The Pope was head of the Church
• Outlawed Indulgences and Simony
• Opened Seminaries to train priests
• Reinstituted the Inquisition
The Catholic Inquisition
•Three Parts of the Inquisition:
•Roman Inquisition (1542)
•Spanish Inquisition (1478)
•Portuguese Inquisition (1536)
The index of forbidden
books included
•Protestant Bibles
•Scientific Writings
•Galileo
•Copernicus
•John Locke
•John Milton
•Rene Descartes
The Roman Inquisition
•The Roman Inquisition tried people
for:
•Being Protestant
•Witchcraft
•(Malleus Maleficarum) “Hammer of
Witches”
•Breaking with Church Law
The Spanish Inquisition
•King Ferdinand II & Isabella I of Castile
•Tried to convert:
• Jews
• Muslims
• Protestants
•Many accounts of torture and executions!
•Index of Forbidden Books= censorship
The Portuguese Inquisition
•Established by Portuguese King John
III.
•Headed by Grand Inquisitor D. Diogo
da Silva, Bishop of Ceuta
•Main target:
• Jews who had converted to Catholicism
• Called “Conversos” or “New Christians”
The Counter
Reformation’s Long
Term Effects
Changes in Religion
•Jesuits bring many back to the
Catholic Church, and renew the
doctrines of the Catholic Church.
•New denominations form because
reformers interpret the Bible
differently!
Expulsion of Jews & Muslims
•Spain gives these groups of people
three options.
(1) CONVERT to Christianity
(2) GET OUT of Spain
(3) DIE
•Jews segregated to ghettos
•Ghettos- were walled sections of the city and
their gates closed at a certain time each evening.
Censorship in the Church
•The Index Librorum Prohibitorum
•The Forbidden Books were a list of
books that people should not read.
•You could lose your soul by reading
these books.
•Contained Reformer’s writing and
some secular works.
Political Effects
•States and businesses want
church to become less involved
with political affairs.
•Political power becomes
increasingly separate from the
church!
