Music, patronage and reform in 16th-century Italy: new light on Cardinal Carlo Borromeo

Early Music ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (4) ◽  
pp. 499-513
Author(s):  
Valerio Morucci
Keyword(s):  
Musical Instruments ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Local Churches ◽  
Important Research ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Comprehensive Investigation ◽  
Musical Life ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Private Correspondence ◽  
Tomas Luis De Victoria

Abstract Music historians are certainly familiar with the figure of Cardinal Carlo Borromeo. Important research has illuminated his association with the composer Vincenzo Ruffo, his reform of female convents, and, more generally, his influence over the musical life of Milan, including local churches and confraternities; more recently, Borromeo’s relationship with the musician Tomás Luis de Victoria has been closely examined. However, our knowledge of his role as a promoter of the so-called ‘Counter-Reformation’ in music is fragmentary. In particular, a comprehensive investigation of Borromeo’s private correspondence is lacking. In order to fill this lacuna, this article uses newly discovered letters (housed in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan) to illuminate several interrelated aspects of Borromeo’s activity as a patron and reformer in the aftermath of the Council of Trent: firstly, his support for musicians and the much discussed issue of textual intelligibility, and secondly, the prohibition of musical instruments in church and his directives against public musical entertainments.

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.

Culture and the Spanish Civil War - A Fascist View: 1936-1939

1965 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 557-577 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kessel Schwartz
Keyword(s):  
Civil War ◽  
Spanish Civil War ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Scientific Investigation ◽  
Intellectual Freedom ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Spanish Inquisition ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Foreign Ideas ◽  
The Church

Almost from the inception of the Spanish Inquisition which sought to stifle scientific investigation and philosophical speculation while rejecting foreign ideologies, contrary currents existed in Spain. The liberal humanistic movement headed by Erasmus preached intellectual freedom and a defense of interior religión. This ideology never disappeared in Spain in spite of the formation of the Company of Jesus by Ignacio de Loyola and the efforts of Spanish theologians who promoted the Counter Reformation at the Council of Trent. Under Felipe II foreign ideas were forbidden as heretical and interpretations independent of the Church were stifled. Nevertheless, criticism of the status quo continued. Reginaldo González Montano wrote the first attack on the Inquisition, Sanctae Inquisitioms Hispanicae in 1567.

Milk and Miracles: Heteroglossia and Dissent in Venetian Religious Art after the Council of Trent

2021 ◽  
Vol 51 (2) ◽  
pp. 285-319
Author(s):  
Jutta Sperling
Keyword(s):  
Religious Art ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Religious Imagery ◽  
Wet Nurse

This essay investigates Benedetto Caliari's Nativity of the Virgin (1576) with its provocative and unorthodox depiction of a bare-breasted wet-nurse in the context of both Protestant and Catholic criticism of “indecent” religious imagery. Reformers on both sides drew a connection between the Virgin Mary's ostentatious display of her lactating breasts and her presumed, derided, or hoped-for miracle-working capacities or intercessory powers. In post-Tridentine Venice, several artists, including Tintoretto and Veronese, all of whom were connected to the Scuola de’ Mercanti that commissioned Caliari's painting, employed religious breastfeeding imagery in a wide array of iconographies in order to express dissent with the Counter-Reformation church's emphasis on orthodoxy. In contrast to writers, artists were able to claim a certain degree of nonconformity and freedom from prosecution. In light of Mikhail Bakhtin's concept of heteroglossia, it is argued that religious lactation imagery after Trent produced irony, parody, doubt, and dissent.

scholarly journals Co się stało z konfessyjonistą? Dzieje leksemu w polszczyźnie

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 207-219
Author(s):  
Paulina Michalska-Górecka
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
History Of

The history of the lexeme konfessyjonista shows that the word is a neologism that functioned in the literature of the sixteenth century in connection with religious documents/books, such as the Protestant confessions. Formally and semantically, it refers to Confessio Augustana, also to her Polish translations, and to the Konfesja sandomierska, as well as konfessyja as a kind of genre. In the Reformation and Counter-Reformation period, the word konfessyja was needed by the Protestants; the word konfessyjonista was derived from him by the Catholics for their needs. The lexeme had an offensive tone and referred to a confessional supporter as a supporter of the Reformation. Perhaps the oldest of his certifications comes from an anonymous text from 1561, the year in which two Polish translations of Augustana were announced. The demand for a konfessyjonista noun probably did not go beyond the 16th century, its notations come only from the 60s, 70s and 80s of this century.

scholarly journals La Universidad de Valencia: semblanza de profesores (1596 – 1611) = The University of Valencia: Semblance of Professors (1596 – 1611)

2019 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 153
Author(s):  
José Seguí Cantos
Keyword(s):  
Economic Crisis ◽  
17Th Century ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Philip Ii ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The University ◽  
Catholic Reform

Resumen: Este trabajo trata de mos­trar un retrato de los profesores más impor­tantes de la Universidad de Valencia en los años de Felipe II y primeros años del reinado de Felipe III. Se describen las distintas trayec­torias vitales de profesores de los estudios de latinidad y de las distintas facultades. La sucesión de maestros y discípulos es la cons­tatación de que en los años finales del siglo XVI y primeros del siglo XVII asistimos en Valencia al paso de la Universidad del huma­nismo a la universidad de la contrarreforma provocado por el relevo en los profesores, la aplicación de los decretos de Trento al ámbito de la cultura, la aparición de las cátedras pa­vordías y la crisis económica que afecta a la ya maltrecha economía de la Universidad.Palabras clave: Universidad Valencia, profesores, humanismo, reforma católica.Abstract: This research intends to show a biographical portrait of the most im­portant professors of the university of Valen­cia during the reign of Philip II and the first years of the reign of Philip III. It focuses on the different vital trajectories of the profes­sors of the studies of Latinity and the various faculties. The succession of professors and disciples is the confirmation that, in the final years of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th century, Valencia is witnessing the turn of the Humanism university into the Counter-Reformation university. This was mainly caused by the replacement of profes­sors, the application of the decrees of Trent to the field of culture, the emergence of the pavordía chairs and the economic crisis that affected the already battered economy of the university.Keywords: University of Valencia, tea­chers, humanism, catholic reform.

Visual Arts: Reformation and Counter-Reformation (Reforms of Trent and Catholic Art)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Viladesau
Keyword(s):  
Middle Ages ◽  
Old Testament ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Primary Concern ◽  
Sacred Art ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Devotional Practices ◽  
Fitting In

The reformers of the 16th century brought to the fore questions regarding sacred images that had arisen in the context of changes in society, religion, and art in the late Middle Ages. Late medieval Catholicism already produced warnings against idolatry in the cult of images, superstition, and the misuse of popular devotional practices for monetary gain. Reformation-era re-evaluations of sacred images arose primarily from three overlapping impulses: (1) the humanistic enlightenment and critique of external religion; (2) concern for the Scriptures, including the Old Testament prohibition against idolatrous images; and (3) the ethical complaint against ecclesiastical luxury and neglect of the poor. Some of the Reformers fostered a more or less complete iconoclasm (e.g., Karlstadt, Bucer, and Hätzer). Others had positive attitudes toward art in general, but had reservations about religious representations (Calvin). Yet others had more ambiguous attitudes. Zwingli thought that images are inherently dangerous because of the temptation to idolatry, but his position softened toward the end of his life. Luther’s ideas on sacred representations changed through his career from a somewhat negative to a fairly positive evaluation. He held that the Old Testament prohibition pertained only to idols, not to images themselves. His primary concern was that images and devotion to them could foster a spirituality of external works as the means to salvation. This problem could be met by uniting images with texts and stressing their didactic function. The Council of Trent dealt with sacred art in 1568. The Council agreed with the reformers that abuses were possible in the cult of the saints and in the use of art, and also that much of the art itself was “inappropriate” for sacred use because of its worldliness. However, its decree insisted on the validity and usefulness of images and their veneration. The decree of Trent did not give specific guidelines for sacred art, but only general principles, leaving implementation in the hands of bishops. The vagueness of Trent’s decree made room for a wide range of practical judgments about what was “appropriate” or “fitting” in sacred art. But in the second half of the 16th century, several bishops and theologians wrote treatises on painting to guide artists. The Tridentine reforms, although put into practice in varied ways, included several general characteristics: (1) elimination of “sensual” and secular elements from sacred art; (2) faithfulness to Scripture and tradition; (3) concern for doctrine and devotion above artistry; (4) use of art as a means of education, indoctrination, and propaganda; (5) the valuing of visual naturalism; (6) polemical concentration on contested dogmatic themes in content; and (7) the sensual as a means of entry into the spiritual. With the advent of the Baroque in the later stages of the Counter-Reformation, a spirit of triumph prevailed. Art that was pleasing to the senses brought an atmosphere of spiritual exaltation. Baroque art was purposefully theatrical, artful, and dramatic. An unintended result of the image controversies was the separation of sacred and secular art and the formulation of separate criteria for each.

Jesuits in Colonial Latin America

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guillermo Wilde
Keyword(s):  
Latin America ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Indigenous Populations ◽  
Society Of Jesus ◽  
Colonial Latin America ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Political Activities ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Jesuit Order

The Jesuits have impacted the history of colonial Latin America as have few other religious orders. Founded in 1540 by Ignatius of Loyola and a group of companions, the Society of Jesus defined its profile from the beginning as an order devoted to apostolic activity, especially through missions, and education, which led it to promote new forms of preaching and teaching. Its expansion in the world coincides with the Catholic Counter-Reformation fostered by the Council of Trent (1545–1563), in which the Jesuits had a decisive participation. The growth and expansion of the order in Latin America was rapid and continuous. The first Jesuits arrived in Brazil in 1549, in Peru in 1568, and in Mexico in 1572, and they soon became involved in the main religious, social, economic, and political activities of each region. They founded numerous colleges and residences in the most important cities and dozens of missions, or reducciones, villages among the indigenous populations living on the so-called borderlands of the colonial domains of Spain and Portugal. The several Jesuit establishments in Latin America were territorially organized into provinces, which maintained constant and fluid communication with the headquarters of the order in Rome, where its highest authority, the superior general, resided. Demands by local governments, an increase in the number of operarios, and an expansion of the political and ecclesiastical jurisdictions led to the establishment of new Jesuit provinces in the 17th century, most especially that of Paraguay, which became one of the most famous in Latin America. Each province was staffed by both priests and coadjutor brothers (lay Jesuits who had not completed their training) from different European countries, mainly Spain, as well as Creoles and mestizos born in America. Both internally and externally, the writing of documents of different types served as a central instrument of communication and government of the various Jesuit establishments. This abundance of documents produced is why the corpus of research of the Jesuit order in Latin America is profuse.

7. Modern Mary—Reformation to the present

2021 ◽  
pp. 123-146
Author(s):  
Mary Joan Winn Leith
Keyword(s):  
21St Century ◽  
Vatican Ii ◽  
Virgin Mary ◽  
16Th Century ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
The Enlightenment ◽  
Immaculate Conception ◽  
Religious Ideals ◽  
The Church

‘Modern Mary—Reformation to the present’ looks at the Virgin Mary from the Protestant Reformation of the 16th century to the present. During this period Mary was often at the centre of conflicts over religious ideals that contributed to the Enlightenment. The Catholic Council of Trent reaffirmed Mary’s perpetual virginity, intercession, pilgrimage, and relics. Catholic Marian beliefs were shaped by some of the misgivings that Protestants had voiced about Catholic views of Mary. The rosary and apparitions of Mary illustrate Catholic views of Mary after the Council of Trent. The so-called ‘Marian Century’ began in 1854 with Pope Pius IX’s declaration of Mary’s Immaculate Conception effectively ended in 1965 with the church reforms of Vatican II. Marian spirituality in the 21st century have taken often surprising directions.

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.

The Scottish Counter-Reformation Before 1560

1945 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 104-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
W. Stanford Reid
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Counter Reformation

When one speaks of the Counter-Reformation in Scotland, we usually think of it as something which appeared after 1560. To do that, however, is to regard the Scottish Counter-Reformation as principally post-Reformation, and also as inspired entirely by the Council of Trent. Such an interpretation fails to take into account the very determined efforts made by the Scottish church itself to stay the spread of heretical doctrines before 1560. It fails to realize that while aided considerably by the Tridentine decisions, the Scottish Counter-Reformation was largely a native movement which had its own views of the proper methods of dealing with the growing canker in the body ecclesiastic. Thus in order to have a due appreciation of the background of the Scottish Reformation and all that it entailed, it is necessary that we should have some understanding of the forces opposing Protestant reform in Scotland before 1560. Such a background this article will endeavour to give.

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