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The Catholic Church before the Council of Trent

The Catholic Church before the Council of Trent. Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation?. Catholic Reformation = a movement of reform that the Catholic Church initiated by itself, and in the process of which it seemed willing to compromise with Luther (We call it ‘PLAN A’)

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The Catholic Church before the Council of Trent

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  1. The Catholic Church before the Council of Trent

  2. Catholic Reformation or Counter-Reformation? • Catholic Reformation = a movement of reform that the Catholic Church initiated by itself, and in the process of which it seemed willing to compromise with Luther (We call it ‘PLAN A’) • Counter-Reformation = the attack on the part of the Catholics against the Protestants, and the strengthening of the Catholic doctrine, discipline and theology (We call it ‘PLAN B’)

  3. Which definition is the better one? • Both: it was a chronological issue! • 1541 represents the transition from PLAN A to PLAN B • Today we talk about A, or ‘Catholic Reformation’, until 1541. In the following classes we will take into consideration the rest…

  4. Before we start, let us examine the Spanish example • 1469: Isabel of Castile and Ferdinand of Aragon get married and unify the country • Religion is their weapon!

  5. The Union of the Crowns • The marriage provided a dynastic union: how did they get a political union? • Through religion, which was used as a weapon ensure Spain’s uniformity

  6. 1483: the Spanish Inquisition is born (the first inquisitor is Torquemada)

  7. We saw the Inquisition already during the crusade against the Albigensians, what is new now? • The Spanish Inquisition is a centralized tribunal, not a series of uncoordinated local ones • The Spanish Inquisition is closely linked with the Spanish monarchy: so you see religion and politics working together…

  8. 1492: an important year • Columbus discovers America • A crusade is launched against Jews • The ‘Reconquista’ is launched against Muslims • So you see the repressive and aggressive features of the Spanish Catholicism; however….

  9. ..There is more! • Spanish Catholicism also started a Reformation from ‘the inside’: • Main figure is Ximenes de Cisneros, Isabel’s Confessor and Archbishop of Toledo from 1495

  10. Cisneros was a Franciscan: he enforced strict monasticism and vehemently opposed simony and other clerical abuses

  11. Cisneros was also a Humanist, and he founded the University of Alcala’ in 1502 Complutensian Polyglot Bible, started at Alcala’ in 1507

  12. In conclusion… • Spanish Catholicism is a good example of these two tendencies of 16th c. Catholicism: on the one hand, Reformation along the Erasmian lines and struggle against abuses, on the other hand, ruthless persecution of the ‘Others’

  13. What happens in Rome after Luther? The making of Plan A Sack of Rome, 1527

  14. The 1520s were a difficult moment in Rome.. • 1521: Luther is excommunicated, but he succeeds in escaping thanks to the protection of Frederick the Wise • 1527: the sack of Rome: Charles V enters and sacks Rome, and takes the Pope as prisoner, to punish him for allying himself with the French

  15. Going for Plan-A: the ‘Spirituali’ (spirituals) • The ‘Spirituali’ were those people who thought that all this was a signal that the Church needed to reform itself, and ‘learn from Luther’ (they were the ‘Plan-A people’!) They had three main components: • 1) Theologians and ‘Intellectuals’ (Juan de Valdes, Bernardino Ochino) • 2) Cardinals (Gasparo Contarini) and high Churchmen (Reginald Pole) • 3) Noblemen and noblewomen (Vittoria Colonna)

  16. In 1537 Pope Paul III appoints a committee ‘De Emendanda Ecclesia’ Paul III, Titian, 1546

  17. So what are the elements of this Plan-A? Look at the source! • ‘The court of Rome’..is ‘suffering’: the Popes have made mistakes! • Priests are unqualified: ‘totally unlearned of the vilest origins and appalling morals’ • Bishops are not above the law, against simony • Rome is a sick city: it has to be fixed too!

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