The Counter-ReformationThe Catholic Church Responds

Pope Leo X

The Counter-Reformation

• Catholic Church did not give up without a fight

• Those protecting the Church acted with passion and became less tolerant of heresy

• Strategy: reform, propaganda (information used to publicize or promote a viewpoint), and the Inquisition

Attempt at Reform• Council of Trent met from

1545-1563

• Council members tried to reform, but change (end of corruption) was not easy

• Continued to approve selling indulgences, and said only the Church— and not the individual— could properly understand the Bible

Control of the Message• Ignatius Loyola: Spanish soldier

• When wounded, he had a religious reawakening

• To stop the spread Protestantism, founded the Society of Jesuits (known as the Jesuits)

• Group active in spreading the message and worked hard to convert people back

• Became missionaries

Control of the Message• banned books they thought

might cause people to question the dogma of the Church

• Works by Luther and Galileo were forbidden

• Church hired artists and set strict rules for them to follow: emphasize the glory and good deeds of the Church and its saints

The Spanish Inquisition• The Church had already been using

the Inquisition for hundreds of years

• Now given more power to question, torture and kill the “enemies” of the Church

• The Spanish Inquisition was particularly enthusiastic in pursuing heretics

• Court had absolute powers: could arrest and imprison anyone on the slightest suspicion

• Officers tortured people to get confessions

The Spanish Inquisition• Muslims had been in Spain since the 8th century,

and their last city fell in 1492. But there were still lots of Muslims there and the pope wanted to make Spain a completely Christian country.

• Spain also had a large Jewish population. Say no more. You know how that ends. (Think plague blame.)

• In 1496, Pope Alexander VI gave King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Spain title of “Catholic Monarchs” (Fun Fact! They financed Christopher Columbus’ exploration.)

• They decided to use force (the Spanish Inquisition)

• People put on trial to test their faith: if people did not confess that they were not Christian, they were tortured until they did. Maximum pain!

• Tortured tens of thousands of people, and up to 5000 people were burned at the stake after being sentenced to death.

Warring Faiths• Reformation NOT an age of

tolerance

• Wars fought over differences of opinions, and people committed horrible atrocities (something wicked and cruel) in the name of God

• Peace of Augsburg in 1555 brought some relief to German states; treaty: ruler of each state could choose the religion of that state

• Huge victory for Protestants because Protestantism could now become state religion

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

• In the 16th century, many French business families became Calvinists, but France was officially Catholic and Protestantism was against the law

• They were known as Huguenots

• They worked hard and were an important part of the French economy

• But they had many enemies, including the French queen, Catherine of Medici

St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre

• At a wedding on St. Bartholomew’s Day in 1572, Catherine urged the murder of Protestant guests

• Within hours, Protestants throughout France were being hunted down and killed

• Result: a religious war that lasted 26 years

• Ended in 1598 when King Henry IV issued the Edict of Nantes: allowed Protestants to practice their religion in France