Recent Important Literature Regarding the Catholic Church During the Late Renaissance Period, 1500–1648

1941 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-37
Author(s):  
Raphael M. Huber
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Recent Literature ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Complete Coverage ◽  
Renaissance Period ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Late Renaissance

In evaluating recent literature pertaining to the Catholic Renaissance regard must be taken rather to choice selection than complete coverage; furthermore, the period must be strictly defined, for the number of books that have been written is veritably immense. I shall therefore first of all restrict myself to the late rather than to the early Renaissance, i. e., roughly speaking from the beginning of the Protestant Reformation to the Peace of Westphalia (1500–1648); or to put it in another ecclesiastico-historical way, from the pontificate of Julius II (1503–1513) to Innocent X (1644–1655). I shall further restrict myself to the Catholic controversies arising from, and following in, the immediate wake of Protestantism; reaction taken to the Protestant Reformation by the Catholic or Counter-Reformation, e. g., by the Council of Trent with its re-affirmation and re-definition of traditional Catholic dogmas and practices, with corresponding condemnation of all new teachings opposed to such traditional doctrines; to certain controversies among Catholic scholars occasioned by the capitula and canones of the Council of Trent, e. g., those referring to the compatibility between the necessity of grace for every supernatural act and the required co-operation of man's free will for a meritorious act (Congregatio de auxiliis gratiae) under Clement VIII and Paul V, etc.

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.

Images of the Priesthood: An Analysis of Catholic Sermons from the Late Seventeenth Century

2000 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Renate Dürr
Keyword(s):  
Seventeenth Century ◽  
Pastoral Care ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
The State ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
The Catholic Church

“All, therefore, who consider themselves Christians may be absolutely certain that we are all equally priests.”1 With this declaration Martin Luther categorically repudiated the Catholic understanding of priesthood as a holy estate with indelible marks bestowed at consecration. According to the reformers all Christians, in principle, have the same authority in word and sacrament, but only those authorized by the respective community of believers may wield it. This assessment not only reflected certain irregularities within the clergy but also signified a completely new definition of the priesthood. It cannot be understood outside the context of existing contemporary criticism—not only from reformatory circles—of the state of numerous parishes who suffered under poorly educated, morally unacceptable (from a contemporary point of view) or indeed absent clergymen. The Catholic Church's answer to this challenge, therefore, had two aims: plans for far-reaching reforms were intended to renew the image of priests and, primarily, to provide effective pastoral care. Polemical theological debates against Protestants and discussions within the Catholic Church were intended not only to strengthen the certainty of the fundamental essence of priestly identity but also to facilitate a differentiation of Catholic from Protestant understanding. The decisions of the Council of Trent also touched both areas. At the 23rd session both the theological basis of the sacrament of consecration and the plans to reform the rules concerning the bishops' obligatory residence in their parishes were debated.2

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 Protestant Reformation in Counter-Reformation Italy, c. 1550–1660: An Overview of New Evidence

2014 ◽  
Vol 83 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-589
Author(s):  
Simone Maghenzani
Keyword(s):  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Iron Curtain ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Wars Of Religion ◽  
Practical Advice ◽  
Critical Junctures ◽  
French Wars Of Religion ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Key Questions

This article aims to open up and overview some key questions surrounding the Italian Reformation. It argues that the Italian Reformation cannot be viewed as a closed book after the conclusion of the Council of Trent; instead there emerged new forms of engagement between Italy and Protestantism, both within and outside the peninsula. In particular, this article considers Protestant propaganda: the efforts by communities of exiles, especially the Genevan Italian congregation, in printing materials to send into Italy, and also sending personnel at critical junctures, all extremely sensitive to political and religious contexts. The French Wars of Religion provided an immediate model for what could be attempted in Italy, and so addressed sometimes delicate issues such as nicodemism and martyrdom, while also providing practical advice and support to Protestants in Italy. As such, this article shows that Italy was not partitioned by some religious “Iron Curtain” from the rest of Europe, but rather was still viewed as a potential battleground for international Calvinism.

Re-Imaging The Marian Catholic Church

2007 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 353-364
Author(s):  
William Wizeman
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
The Other ◽  
English Reformation ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Late Professor ◽  
Religious Texts ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Reformation England ◽  
Mary Tudor

The late Professor Geoffrey Dickens in his book, The English Reformation, condemned the Marian church for ‘failing to discover’ the verve and creativity of the Counter-Reformation; on the other hand, Dr Lucy Wooding has praised the Marian church for its adherence to the views of the great religious reformer Erasmus and its insularity from the counter-reforming Catholicism of Europe in her book Rethinking Catholicism in Reformation England. However, by studying the Latin and English catechetical, homiletic, devotional and controversial religious texts printed during the Catholic renewal in England in the reign of Mary Tudor (1553–58) and the decrees of Cardinal Reginald Pole's Legatine Synod in London (1555–56), a very different picture emerges. Rooted in the writings of St John Fisher—which also influenced the pivotal decrees of the Council of Trent (1545–63) on justification and the Eucharist—Marian authors presented a theological synthesis that concurred with Trent's determinations. This article will focus on three pivotal Reformation controversies: the intrepretation of scripture, justification, and the Eucharist.

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 Receiving the Word in Image: Federico Zuccaro’s the Annunciation Broadcast by Prophets (1565) and the Reception History of the Bible in the Counter-Reformation

2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Chloe Church
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Reception History ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Biblical Scholarship ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Biblical Texts ◽  
Visual Exegesis ◽  
Church Tradition

Abstract The Annunciation Broadcast by Prophets (1565) was an altarpiece created by Federico Zuccaro (1541–1609) for the Church of the Annunciation, Rome. It was the first image commissioned by the Order of the Jesuits, a movement involved in propagating the objectives of the Counter-Reformation Church. Altarpieces were particularly effective points of communication between the Catholic Church and the lay beholder, and used visual exegesis as a means to communicate appropriated receptions of biblical texts. The intimate connection that these objects have to their theological and political context marks them as significant moments of biblical reception, that have, up to this point, been overlooked by historians in the field. This article identifies the broader lacuna in scholarship surrounding the reception history of the Bible during the Counter-Reformation. Whilst this is due to a preference for studies of the Bible in the Protestant Reformation, the lack of scholarly investment poorly reflects the relevance of the Counter-Reformation period to the reception-historical methodology. The context prioritized the interpretation of the Bible through the lens of Church tradition, or in other words, the history of the Bible’s reception. This affinity is echoed in the reception-historical approach found in contemporary biblical scholarship, creating a hermeneutical link between the two contexts. Visual culture was a valuable expression of Counter-Reformation rhetoric and visualized the mediation of biblical texts through Church tradition. This article uses Zuccaro’s altarpiece as a tool to argue this hypothesis and postulate the intimate relationship maintained between texts and their reception in Counter-Reformation Catholicism.

Johannes Dietenberger and his Counter-Reformation German Bible

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Roman Fischer ◽  
Jourden Travis Moger
Keyword(s):  
Catholic Church ◽  
Martin Luther ◽  
Protestant Reformation ◽  
Frankfurt Am Main ◽  
Bible Translation ◽  
The Bible ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
Catholic Tradition ◽  
Scholarly Attention ◽  
The Catholic Church

AbstractJohannes Dietenberger (ca. 1475–1537), native of Frankfurt am Main, university-trained Doctor of Theology, and Dominican friar, served as prior in Frankfurt and Koblenz during the 1525 Urban Revolt of the German Peasants’ War and the early Protestant Reformation, respectively. Like Martin Luther, Dietenberger translated the Bible into the vernacular German after consulting recently published Greek and Hebrew biblical texts; however, unlike Luther he produced a translation that remained true to the Latin Vulgate and the traditional teachings of the Catholic Church. Dietenberger aimed to counter those parts of Luther’s translation which contradicted Catholic tradition, and at the same time to provide a translation whose language was less coarse and offensive. Still, there were more commonalities between the translations of Luther and Dietenberger than earlier research in controversial theology assumed. Overshadowed by the famous Wittenberg reformer and slandered by polemical Protestant scholarship of previous centuries, Dietenberger and his Bible translation have never received the scholarly attention they deserve. This article represents an attempt to correct the oversight.

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.

scholarly journals Lay Female Devotional Lives in the Counter Reformation

2017 ◽  
Vol 97 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 369-380
Author(s):  
Jennifer Hillman
Keyword(s):  
Early Modern ◽  
Catholic Church ◽  
Religious Life ◽  
Council Of Trent ◽  
Early Modern Women ◽  
Lay Women ◽  
Counter Reformation ◽  
The Reformation ◽  
New Directions ◽  
The World

In 1563, the Catholic Church responded to the Protestant challenge to the religious life as the most holy feminine state with the maxim aut maritus aut murus (wife or wall). The navigation of that dictum by early modern women across Catholic Europe has arguably been one of the dominant themes in the scholarship over the last thirty years. Certainly, there had always been the opportunity for women to lead a religious life outside of marriage and the cloister as beatas, tertiaries and beguines. Yet it was after the Council of Trent (1545–1563) that women had to renegotiate a space in the world in which they could lead spiritually-fulfilling devotional lives. If this was one unintended legacy of 1517, then the quincentenary of the Reformation seems a timely moment to reflect on new directions in the now burgeoning historiography on lay women in Counter-Reformation Europe.

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