Chapter IV: , VII (212)

"Such scenes [as the execution of Berquin], added to the
preaching and dissemination of the Scriptures and religious
tracts, caused the desire for reform to spread far and wide.
In the autumn of 1534, a violent placard against the mass was
posted about Paris, and one was even fixed on the king's own
chamber. The cry was soon raised, 'Death! death to the
heretics!' Francis had long dallied with the Reformation. …
Now … he develops into what was quite contrary to his
disposition, a cruel persecutor. A certain bourgeois of Paris,
unaffected by any heretical notions, kept in those days a
diary of what was going on in Paris, and from this precious
document … we learn that between the 13th of November, 1534,
and the 13th of March, 1535, twenty so-called Lutherans were
put to death in Paris. … The panic caused by the Anabaptist
outbreak at Munster may perhaps account for the extreme
cruelty, … as the siege was in actual progress at the time. It
was to defend the memories of the martyrs of the 29th of
January, 1535, and of others who had suffered elsewhere, and
to save, if possible, those menaced with a similar fate, that
Calvin wrote his 'Institution of the Christian Religion.' A
timid, feeble-bodied young student, he had fled from France
[1535], in the hope of finding some retreat where he might
lose himself in the studies he loved. Passing through Geneva
[1536] with the intention of staying there only for a night,
he met the indefatigable, ubiquitous, enterprising, courageous
Farel, who, taking him by the hand, adjured him to stop and
carry on the work in that city. Calvin shrank instinctively,
but … was forced to yield. … Calvin once settled at Geneva had
no more doubt about his calling than if he had been Moses
himself."

_R. Heath,
The Reformation in France,
book 1, chapters 2-3._

ALSO IN:
_H. M. Baird,
History of the Rise of the Huguenots of France,
chapters 2-4 (volume 1)._

_R. T. Smith,
The Church in France,
chapter 12._

PAPACY: A. D. 1521-1555.
Beginnings of the Reformation in the Netherlands.

See NETHERLANDS: A. D. 1521-1555.

{2454}

PAPACY: A. D. 1522.
Election of Adrian VI.

PAPACY: A. D. 1522-1525.
The deepening and strengthening of the Lutheran Reformation
and its systematic organization.
The two diets of Nuremberg.
The Catholic League of Ratisbon.
The formal adoption of the Reformed Religion in Northern Germany.

"Fortunately for the reformation, the emperor was prevented
from executing the edict of Worms by his absence from Germany,
by the civil commotions in Spain, and still more by the war
with Francis I., which extended into Spain, the Low Countries,
and Italy, and for above eight years involved him in a
continued series of contests and negotiations at a distance
from Germany. His brother, Ferdinand, on whom, as joint
president of the council of regency, the administration of
affairs devolved, was occupied in quelling the discontents in
the Austrian territories, and defending his right to the
crowns of Hungary and Bohemia; and thus the government of the
empire was left to the council of regency, of which several
members were inclined to favour innovation, In consequence of
these circumstances, the Lutherans were enabled to overcome
the difficulties to which innovators of every kind are
exposed; and they were no less favoured by the changes at the
court of Rome. Leo dying in 1521, Adrian, his successor, who,
by the influence of Charles, was raised to the pontifical
chair, on the 9th of January, 1522, saw and lamented the
corruptions of the church, and his ingenuous, but impolitic
confessions, that the whole church, both in its head and
members, required a thorough reformation, strengthened the
arguments of his opponents. … Nothing, perhaps, proved more
the surprising change of opinion in Germany, the rapid
increase of those whom we shall now distinguish by the name of
Lutherans, and the commencement of a systematic opposition to
the church of Rome, than the transactions of the two diets of
Nuremberg, which were summoned by the archduke Ferdinand,
principally for the purpose of enforcing the execution of the
edict of Worms. In a brief dated in November, 1522, and
addressed to the first diet, pope Adrian, after severely
censuring the princes of the empire for not carrying into
execution the edict of Worms, exhorted them, if mild and
moderate measures failed, to cut off Luther from the body of
the church, as a gangrened and incurable member. … At the same
time, with singular inconsistency, he acknowledged the
corruptions of the Roman court as the source of the evils
which overspread the church, [and] promised as speedy a
reformation as the nature of the abuses would admit. … The
members of the diet, availing themselves of his avowal,
advised him to assemble a council in Germany for the
reformation of abuses, and drew up a list of a hundred
grievances which they declared they would no longer tolerate,
and, if not speedily delivered from such burdens, would
procure relief by the authority with which God had intrusted
them. … The recess of the diet, published in March, 1523, was
framed with the same spirit; instead of threats of
persecution, it only enjoined all persons to wait with
patience the determination of a free council, forbade the
diffusion of doctrines likely to create disturbances, and
subjected all publications to the approbation of men of
learning and probity appointed by the magistrate. Finally, it
declared, that as priests who had married, or monks who had
quitted their convents, were not guilty of a civil crime, they
were only amenable to an ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and
liable at the discretion of the ordinary to be deprived of
their ecclesiastical privileges and benefices. The Lutherans
derived their greatest advantages from these proceedings, as
the gross corruptions of the church of Rome were now proved by
the acknowledgment of the pontiff himself. … From this period
they confidently appealed to the confession of the pontiff,
and as frequently quoted the hundred grievances which were
enumerated in a public and authentic act of the Germanic body.
They not only regarded the recess as a suspension of the edict
of Worms, but construed the articles in their own favour. …
Hitherto the innovators had only preached against the
doctrines and ceremonies of the Roman church, without
exhibiting a regular system of their own." But now "Luther was
persuaded, at the instances of the Saxon clergy, to form a
regular system of faith and discipline; he translated the
service into the German tongue, modified the form of the mass,
and omitted many superstitious ceremonies; but he made as few
innovations as possible, consistently with his own principles.
To prevent also the total alienation or misuse of the
ecclesiastical revenues, he digested a project for their
administration, by means of an annual committee, and by his
writings and influence effected its introduction. Under this
judicious system the revenues of the church, after a provision
for the clergy, were appropriated for the support of schools;
for the relief of the poor, sick, and aged, of orphans and
widows; for the reparation of churches and sacred buildings;
and for the erection of magazines and the purchase of corn
against periods of scarcity. These regulations and ordinances,
though not established with the public approbation of the
elector, were yet made with his tacit acquiescence, and may be
considered as the first institution of a reformed system of
worship and ecclesiastical polity; and in this institution the
example of the churches of Saxony was followed by all the
Lutheran communities in Germany. The effects of these changes
were soon visible, and particularly at the meeting of the
second diet of Nuremberg, on the 10th of January, 1524. Faber,
canon of Strasburgh, who had been enjoined to make a progress
through Germany for the purpose of preaching against the
Lutheran doctrines, durst not execute his commission, although
under the sanction of a safe conduct from the council of
regency. Even the legate Campegio could not venture to make
his public entry into Nuremberg with the insignia of his
dignity, … for fear of being insulted by the populace. …
Instead, therefore, of annulling the acts of the preceding
diet, the new assembly pursued the same line of conduct. … The
recess was, if possible, still more galling to the court of
Rome, and more hostile to its prerogatives than that of the
former diet. … The Catholics, thus failing in their efforts to
obtain the support of the diet, on the 6th of July, 1524,
entered into an association at Ratisbon, under the auspices of
Campegio, in which the archduke Ferdinand, the duke of
Bavaria, and most of the German bishops concurred, for
enforcing the edict of Worms.
{2455}
At the same time, to conciliate the Germans, the legate
published 29 articles for, the amendment of some abuses; but
these being confined to points of minor importance, and
regarding only the inferior clergy, produced no satisfaction,
and were attended with no effect. Notwithstanding this
formidable union of the Catholic princes, the proceedings of
the diet of Nuremberg were but the prelude to more decisive
innovations, which followed each other with wonderful
rapidity. Frederic the Wise, elector of Saxony, dying in 1525,
was succeeded by his brother, John the Constant, who publicly
espoused and professed the Lutheran doctrines. The system
recently digested by Luther, with many additional alterations,
was introduced by his authority, and declared the established
religion; and by his order the celebrated Melanchthon drew up
an apology in defence of the reformed tenets for the princes
who adopted them. Luther himself, who had in the preceding
year thrown off the monastic habit, soon after the accession
of the new sovereign ventured to give the last proof of his
emancipation from the fetters of the church of Rome, by
espousing, on the 13th of July, 1525, Catherine Bora, a noble
lady, who had escaped from the nunnery at Nimptschen, and
taken up her residence at Wittemberg. The example of the
elector of Saxony was followed by Philip, landgrave of Hesse
Cassel, a prince of great influence and distinguished civil
and military talents; by the dukes of Mecklenburgh, Pomerania,
and Zell; and by the imperial cities of Nuremberg, Strasburgh,
Frankfort, Nordhausen, Magdeburgh, Brunswick, Bremen, and
others of less importance. … Albert, margrave of Brandenburgh,
grand-master of the Teutonic order, … in 1525, renounced his
vow of celibacy, made a public profession of the Lutheran
tenets, and, with the consent of Sigismond, king of Poland,
secularised Eastern Prussia."

_W. Coxe,
History of the House of Austria,
chapter 28 (volume 1)._

ALSO IN:
_L. von Ranke,
History of the Reformation in Germany,
book 3, chapters 2-5 (volume 2)._

_P. Bayne,
Martin Luther: his Life and Work,
books 10-13 (volume 2)._

_L. Häusser,
The Period of the Reformation,
chapters 5-6._

PAPACY: A. D. 1523.
Election of Clement VII.

PAPACY: A. D. 1523-1527.
The double-dealings of Pope Clement VII. with the emperor
and the king of France.
Imperial revenge.
The sack of Rome.

See ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527, and 1527.

PAPACY: A. D. 1524.
Institution of the Order of the Theatines.

See THEATINES.

PAPACY: A. D. 1525-1529.
The League of Torgau.
Contradictory action of the Diets at Spires.
The Protest of Lutheran princes which gave
rise to the name "Protestants."

"At the Diet of Nuremberg it had been determined to hold an
assembly shortly after at Spires for the regulation of
ecclesiastical affairs. The princes were to procure beforehand
from their councillors and scholars a statement of the points
in dispute. The grievances of the nation were to be set forth,
and remedies were to be sought for them. The nation was to
deliberate and act on the great matter of religious reform.
The prospect was that the evangelical party would be in the
majority. The papal court saw the danger that was involved in
an assembly gathered for such a purpose, and determined to
prevent the meeting. At this moment war was breaking out
between Charles and Francis. Charles had no inclination to
offend the Pope. He forbade the assembly at Spires, and, by
letters addressed to the princes individually, endeavored to
drive them into the execution of the edict of Worms. In
consequence of these threatening movements, the Elector of
Saxony and the Landgrave of Hesse entered into the defensive
league of Torgau, in which they were joined by several
Protestant communities. The battle of Pavia and the capture of
Francis I. [see FRANCE: A. D. 1523-1525] were events that
appeared to be fraught with peril to the Protestant cause. In
the Peace of Madrid (January 14, 1526) both sovereigns avowed
the determination to suppress heresy. But the dangerous
preponderance obtained by the Emperor created an alarm
throughout Europe; and the release of Francis was followed by
the organization of a confederacy against Charles, of which
Clement was the leading promoter.

See ITALY: A. D. 1523-1527.

This changed the imperial policy in reference to the
Lutherans. The Diet of Spires in 1526 unanimously resolved
that, until the meeting of a general council, every state
should act in regard to the edict of Worms as it might answer
to God and his imperial majesty. Once more Germany refused to
stifle the Reformation, and adopted the principle that each of
the component parts of the Empire should be left free to act
according to its own will. It was a measure of the highest
importance to the cause of Protestantism. It is a great
landmark in the history of the German Reformation. The war of
the Emperor and the Pope involved the necessity of tolerating
the Lutherans. In 1527, an imperial army, composed largely of
Lutheran infantry, captured and sacked the city of Rome. For
several months the Pope was held a prisoner. For a number of
years the position of Charles with respect to France and the
Pope, and the fear of Turkish invasion, had operated to
embolden and greatly strengthen the cause of Luther. But now
that the Emperor had gained a complete victory in Italy, the
Catholic party revived its policy of repression."

_G. P. Fisher,
The Reformation,
chapter 4._

"While Charles and Clement were arranging matters in 1529, a
new Diet was held at Spires, and the reactionists exerted
themselves to obtain a reversal of that ordinance of the Diet
of 1526 which had given to the reformed doctrines a legal
position in Germany. Had it heen possible, the Papist leaders
would have forced back the Diet on the old Edict of Worms, but
in this they were baffled. Then they took up another line of
defence and aggression. Where the Worms Edict had been
enforced, it was, they urged, to be maintained; but all
further propagation of the reformed doctrines, all religious
innovation whatever, was to be forbidden, pending the
assemblage of a General Council. … This doom of arrest and
paralysis —this imperious mandate, 'Hitherto shall ye come,
but no further,'—could not be brooked by the followers of
Luther. They possessed the advantage of being admirably led.
Philip of Hesse supplied some elements of sound counsel that
were wanting in Luther himself. … Luther regarded with favour
… the doctrine of passive obedience. It was too much his
notion that devout Germans, if their Emperor commanded them to
renounce the truth, should simply die at the stake without a
murmur. …
{2456}
The most ripe and recent inquiries seem to prove that it was
about this very time, when the Evangelical Princes and Free
Cities of Germany were beginning to put shoulder to shoulder
and organise resistance, in arms if necessary, to the Emperor
and the Pope, that Luther composed 'Ein' feste Burg ist unser
Gott,' a psalm of trust in God, and in God only, as the
protector of Christians. He took no fervent interest, however,
in the Diet; and Philip and his intrepid associates derived
little active support from him. These were inflexibly
determined that the decree of the majority should not be
assented to. Philip of Hesse, John of Saxony, Markgraf George
the Pious of Brandenburg-Anspach, the Dukes of Lunenburg and
Brunswick, the Prince of Anhalt, and the representatives of
Strasburg, Nürnberg, and twelve other free cities [Ulm,
Constance, Reutlingen, Windsheim, Memmingen, Lindau, Kempten,
Heilbron, Isna, Weissemburgh, Nordlingen, and St. Gallen],
entered a solemn protest against the Popish resolution. They
were called Protestants. The name, as is customary with names
that felicitously express and embody facts, was caught up in
Germany and passed into every country in Europe and the
world."

_P. Bayne,
Martin Luther, his Life and Work,
book 14, chapter 4 (volume 2)._

ALSO IN:
_L. von Ranke,
History of the Reformation in Germany,
books 4-5 (volumes 2-3)._

_J. H. Merle D'Aubigne,
History of the Reformation,
book 10, chapter 14,
and book 13, chapter 1-6 (volumes 3-4)._

_J. Alzog,
Manual of Universal Church History,
section 311 (volume 3)._

PAPACY: A. D. 1527-1533.
The rupture with England.

See ENGLAND: A. D. 1527-1534.

PAPACY: A. D. 1530-1531.
The Diet at Augsburg.
Presentation and condemnation of the
Protestant Confession of Faith.
The breach with the Reformation complete.

"In the year 1530, Charles V., seeing France prostrate, Italy
quelled, and Solyman driven within his own boundaries,
determined upon undertaking the decision of the great question
of the Reformation. The two conflicting parties were summoned,
and met at Augsburg. The sectaries of Luther, known by the
general name of protestants, were desirous to be distinguished
from the other enemies of Rome, the excesses committed by whom
would have thrown odium upon their cause; to be distinguished
from the Zwinglian republicans of Switzerland, odious to the
princes and to the nobles; above all, they desired not to be
confounded with the anabaptists, proscribed by all as the
enemies of society and of social order. Luther, over whom
there was still suspended the sentence pronounced against him
at Worms, whereby he was declared a heretic, could not appear
at Augsburg; his place was supplied by the learned and pacific
Melancthon, a man timid and gentle as Erasmus, whose friend he
continued to be, despite of Luther. The elector, however,
conveyed the great reformer as near to the place of
convocation as regard to his friend's personal safety rendered
advisable. He had him stationed in the strong fortress of
Coburg. From this place, Luther was enabled to maintain with
ease and expedition a constant intercourse with the protestant
ministers. … Melancthon believed in the possibility of
effecting a reconciliation between the two parties. Luther, at
a very early period of the schism, saw that they were utterly
irreconcilable. In the commencement of the Reformation, he had
frequently had recourse to conferences and to public
disputations. It was then of moment to him to resort to every
effort, to try, by all the means in his power, to preserve the
bond of Christianity, before he abandoned all hope of so
doing. But towards the close of his life, dating from the
period of the Diet of Augsburg, he openly discouraged and
disclaimed these wordy contests, in which the vanquished would
never avow his defeat. On the 26th of August, 1530, he writes:
'I am utterly opposed to any effort being made to reconcile
the two doctrines; for it is an impossibility, unless, indeed,
the pope will consent to abjure papacy. Let it suffice us that
we have established our belief upon the basis of reason, and
that we have asked for peace. Why hope to convert them to the
truth?' And on the same day (26th August), he tells Spalatin:
'I understand you have undertaken a notable mission—that of
reconciling Luther and the pope. But the pope will not be
reconciled and Luther refuses. Be mindful how you sacrifice
both time and trouble.' … These prophecies were, however,
unheeded: the conferences took place, and the protestants were
required to furnish their profession of faith. This was drawn
up by Melancthon." The Confession, as drawn up by Melancthon,
was adopted and signed by five electors, 30 ecclesiastical
princes, 23 secular princes, 22 abbots, 32 counts and barons,
and 39 free and imperial cities, and has since been known as
the Augsburg Confession.

_J. Michelet,
Life of Luther,
(translated by W. Hazlitt),
book 3, chapter 1._

"A difficulty now arose as to the public reading of the
Confession in the Diet. The Protestant princes, who had
severally signed it, contended against the Catholic princes,
that, in fairness, it should be read; and, against the
emperor, that, if read at all, it should be read in German,
and not in Latin. They were successful in both instances, and
the Confession was publicly read in German by Bayer, one of
the two chancellors of the Elector of Saxony, during the
afternoon session of June 25, held in the chapel of the
imperial palace. Campeggio, the Papal Legate, was absent. The
reading occupied two hours, and the powerful effect it
produced was, in a large measure, due to the rich, sonorous
voice of Bayer, and to his distinct articulation and the
musical cadence of his periods. Having finished, he handed the
Confession to the Emperor, who submitted it for examination to
Eck, Conrad Wimpina, Cochlæus, John Faber, and others of the
Catholic theologians present in the Diet." These prepared a
"Confutation" which was "finally agreed upon and read in a
public session of the Diet, held August 3rd, and with which
the Emperor and the Catholic princes expressed themselves
fully satisfied. The Protestant princes were commanded to
disclaim their errors, and return to the allegiance of the
ancient faith, and 'should you refuse,' the Emperor added, 'we
shall regard it a conscientious duty to proceed as our
coronation oath and our office of protector of Holy Church
require.' This declaration roused the indignant displeasure of
the Protestant princes. Philip of Hesse … excited general
alarm by abruptly breaking off the transactions, lately
entered upon between the princes and the bishops, and suddenly
quitting Augsburg. Charles V. now ordered the controverted
points to be discussed in his presence, and appointed seven
Protestants and an equal number of Catholics to put forward
and defend the views of their respective parties."
{2457}
Subsequently Melancthon "prepared and published his 'Apology
for the Augsburg Confession,' which was intended to be an
answer to the 'Confutation' of the Catholic theologians. The
Protestant princes laid a copy of the 'Apology' before the
emperor, who rejected both it and the Confession. … After many
more fruitless attempts to bring about a reconciliation, the
emperor, on the 22nd of September, the day previous to that
fixed for the departure of the Elector of Saxony, published an
edict, in which he stated, among other things, that 'the
Protestants have been refuted by sound and irrefragable
arguments drawn from Holy Scripture.' 'To deny free-will,' he
went on to say, 'and to affirm that faith without works avails
for man's salvation, is to assert what is absurdly erroneous;
for, as we very well know from past experience, were such
doctrines to prevail, all true morality would perish from the
earth. But that the Protestants may have sufficient time to
consider their future course of action, we grant them from
this to the 15th of April of next year for consideration.' On
the following day, Joachim, Elector of Brandenburg, speaking
in the emperor's name, addressed the evangelic princes and
deputies of the Protestant cities as follows: 'His majesty is
extremely amazed at your persisting in the assertion that your
doctrines are based on Holy Scripture. Were your assertion
true, then would it follow that his Majesty's ancestors,
including so many kings and emperors, as well as the ancestors
of the Elector of Saxony, were heretics!' … The Protestant
princes forthwith took their leave of the emperor. On the 13th
of October, the 'Recess,' or decree of the Diet, was read to
the Catholic States, which on the same day entered into a
Catholic League. On the 17th of the same month, sixteen of the
more important German cities refused to aid the emperor in
repelling the Turks, on the ground that peace had not yet been
secured to Germany. The Zwinglian and Lutheran cities were
daily becoming more sympathetic and cordial in their relations
to each other. Charles V. informed the Holy See, October 23,
of his intention of drawing the sword in defence of the faith.
The 'Recess' was read to the Protestant princes November 11,
and rejected by them on the day following, and the deputies of
Hesse and Saxony took their departure immediately after. … The
decree was rather more severe than the Protestants had
anticipated, inasmuch as the emperor declared that he felt it
to be his conscientious duty to defend the ancient faith, and
that 'the Catholic princes had promised to aid him to the full
extent of their power.' … The appointment of the emperor's
brother, Ferdinand, as King of the Romans (1531), gave deep
offence to the Protestant princes, who now expressed their
determination of withholding all assistance from the emperor
until the 'Recess' of Augsburg should have been revoked.
Assembling at Smalkald, … they entered into an alliance
offensive and defensive, known as the League of Smalkald, on
March 29, 1531, to which they severally bound themselves to
remain faithful for a period of six years."

_J. Alzog,
Manual of Universal Church History,
section 312 (volume 3)._

ALSO IN:
_H. Worsley,
Life of Luther,
chapter 7 (volume 2)._

_F. A. Cox,
Life of Melancthon,
chapter 8 (giving the text of the "Augsburg Confession")._

See, also,
GERMANY: A. D. 1530-1532.

PAPACY: A. D. 1530-1532.
Protestant League of Smalkalde and
alliance with the king of France.
The Pacification of Nuremberg.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1530-1532.

PAPACY: A. D. 1533.
Treaty of Pope Clement VII. with Francis I. of France,
for the marriage of Catherine d'Medici.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1532-1547.

PAPACY: A. D. 1533-1546.
Mercenary aspects of the Reformation in Germany.
The Catholic Holy League.
Preparations for war.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1533-1546.

PAPACY: A. D. 1534.
Election of Paul III.

PAPACY: A. D. 1534-1540.
Beginnings of the Counter-Reformation.

"A well-known sentence in Macaulay's Essay on Ranke's 'History
of the Popes' asserts, correctly enough, that in a particular
epoch of history 'the Church of Rome, having lost a large part
of Europe, not only ceased to lose, but actually regained
nearly half of what she had lost.' Any fairly correct use of
the familiar phrase 'the Counter-Reformation' must imply that
this remarkable result was due to a movement pursuing two
objects, originally distinct, though afterwards largely
blended, viz., the regeneration of the Church of Rome, and the
recovery of the losses inflicted upon her by the early
successes of Protestantism. … The earliest continuous
endeavour to regenerate the Church of Rome without impairing
her cohesion dates from the Papacy of Paul III. [1534-1549],
within which also falls the outbreak of the first religious
war of the century.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1546-1552.

Thus the two impulses which it was the special task of the
Counter-Reformation to fuse were brought into immediate
contact. The onset of the combat is marked by the formal
establishment of the Jesuit Order [1540] as a militant agency
devoted alike to both the purposes of the Counter-Reformation,
and by the meeting of the Council of Trent [1545] under
conditions excluding from its programme the task of
conciliation."

_A. W. Ward,
The Counter Reformation,
pages vii-viii._

"I intend to use this term Counter-Reformation to denote the
reform of the Catholic Church, which was stimulated by the
German Reformation, and which, when the Council of Trent had
fixed the dogmas and discipline of Latin Christianity, enabled
the Papacy to assume a militant policy in Europe, whereby it
regained a large portion of the provinces that had previously
lapsed to Lutheran and Calvinistic dissent. … The centre of
the world-wide movement which is termed the
Counter-Reformation was naturally Rome. Events had brought the
Holy See once more into a position of prominence. It was more
powerful as an Italian State now, through the support of Spain
and the extinction of national independence, than at any
previous period of history. In Catholic Christendom its
prestige was immensely augmented by the Council of Trent. At
the same epoch, the foreigners who dominated Italy, threw
themselves with the enthusiasm of fanaticism into this
Revival. Spain furnished Rome with the militia of the Jesuits
and with the engines of the Inquisition. The Papacy was thus
able to secure successes in Italy which were elsewhere only
partially achieved. … In order to understand the transition of
Italy from the Renaissance to the Counter-Reformation manner,
it will be well to concentrate attention on the history of the
Papacy during the eight reigns [1534-1605] of Paul III., Julius
III., Paul IV., Pius IV., Pius V., Gregory XIII., Sixtus V.,
and Clement VIII. In the first of these reigns we hardly
notice that the Renaissance has passed away. In the last we
are aware of a completely altered Italy."

_J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy: The Catholic Reaction,
chapter 2, with foot-note (volume 1)._

{2458}

PAPACY: A. D. 1537-1563.
Popular weakness of the Reformation movement in Italy.
Momentary inclination towards the Reform at Rome.
Beginning of the Catholic Reaction.
The Council of Trent and its consolidating work.

"The conflict with the hierarchy did not take the same form in
Italy as elsewhere. … There is no doubt that the masses saw no
cause for discontent under it. We have proof that the
hierarchy was popular—that among the people, down to the
lowest grades, the undiminished splendour of the Papacy was
looked upon as a pledge of the power of Italy. But this did
not prevent reform movements from taking place. The Humanistic
school had its home here; its opposition tendencies had not
spared the Church any more than Scholasticism; it had
everywhere been the precursor and ally of the intellectual
revolt, and not the least in Italy. There were from the first
eminent individuals at Venice, Modena, Ferrara, Florence, even
in the States of the Church themselves, who were more or less
followers of Luther. The cardinals Contarini and Morone, Bembo
and Sadolet, distinguished preachers like Peter Martyr, Johann
Valdez, and Bernardino Occhino, and from among the princely
families an intellectual lady, Renata of Ferrara, were
inclined to the new doctrines. But they were leaders without
followers; the number of their adherents among the masses was
surprisingly small. The Roman Curia, under the Pontificate of
Paul III., 1534-49, vacillated in its policy for a time;
between 1537-41, the prevailing sentiments were friendly and
conciliatory towards Reform. … They were, in fact, gravely
entertaining the question at Rome, whether it would not be
better to come to terms with Reform, to adopt the practicable
part of its programme, and so put an end to the schism which
was spreading so fast in the Church. … An honest desire then
still prevailed to effect a reconciliation. Contarini was in
favour of it with his whole soul. But it proceeded no further
than the attempt; for once the differences seemed likely to be
adjusted, so far as this was possible; but in 1542, the
revulsion took place, which was never again reversed. Only one
result remained. The Pope could no longer refuse to summon a
council. The Emperor had been urging it year after year; the
Pope had acceded to it further than any of his predecessors
had done; and, considering the retreat which now took place,
this concession was the least that could be demanded. At
length, therefore, three years after it was convened, in May,
1542, the council assembled at Trent in December, 1545. It was
the Emperor's great desire that a council should be held in
Germany, that thus the confidence of the Germans in the
supreme tribunal in the great controversy might be gained; but
the selection of Trent, which nominally belonged to Germany,
was the utmost concession that could be obtained. The
intentions of the Emperor and the Pope with regard to the
council were entirely opposed to each other. The Pope was
determined to stifle all opposition in the bud, while the
Emperor was very desirous of having a counterpoise to the
Pope's supremacy in council, provided always that it concurred
in the imperial programme. … The assembly consisted of Spanish
and Italian monks in overwhelming majority, and this was
decisive as to its character. When consulted as to the course
of business, the Emperor had expressed a wish that those
questions on which agreement between the parties was possible
should first be discussed. There were a number of questions on
which they were agreed, as, for example, Greek Christianity.
Even now there are a number of points on which Protestants and
Catholics are agreed, and differ from the Eastern Church. If
these questions were considered first, the attendance of the
Protestants would be rendered very much easier; it would open
the door as widely as possible, they would probably come in
considerable numbers, and might in time take a part which at
least might not be distasteful to the Emperor, and might
influence his ideas on Church reform. The thought that they
were heretics was half concealed. But Rome was determined to
pursue the opposite course, and at once to agitate those
questions on which there was the most essential disagreement,
and to declare all who would not submit to be incorrigible
heretics. … The first subjects of discussion were, the
authority of the Scriptures in the text of the Vulgate,
ecclesiastical tradition, the right of interpretation, the
doctrine of justification. These were the questions on which
the old and new doctrines were irreconcilably at variance; all
other differences were insignificant in comparison. And these
questions were decided in the old Roman Catholic sense; not
precisely as they had been officially treated in 1517—for the
stream of time had produced some little effect—but in the main
the old statutes were adhered to, and everything rejected
which departed from them. This conduct was decisive. …
Nevertheless some reforms were carried out. Between the time
of meeting and adjournment, December, 1545, to the spring of
1547, the following were the main points decided on:

1. The bishops were to provide better teachers and better
schools.

2. The bishops should themselves expound the word of God.

3. Penalties were to be enforced for the neglect of their
duties, and various rules were laid down as to the necessary
qualifications for the office of a bishop.

Dispensations, licenses, and privileges were abolished. The
Church was therefore to be subjected to a reform which
abolished sundry abuses, without conceding any change in her
teaching. The course the council was taking excited the
Emperor's extreme displeasure. … He organized a sort of
opposition to Rome; his commissaries kept up a good
understanding with the Protestants, and it was evident that he
meant to make use of them for an attack on the Pope. This made
Rome eager to withdraw the assembly from the influence of
German bishops and imperial agents as soon as possible. A
fever which had broken out at Trent, but had soon disappeared,
was made a pretext for transferring the council to Bologna, in
the spring of 1547. The imperial commissioners protested that
the decrees of such a hole-and-corner council would be null
and void. The contest remained undecided for years. Paul III.
died in the midst of it, in November, 1549, and was succeeded
by Cardinal del Monte, one of the papal legates at the
council, as Pope Julius III.
{2459}
The Emperor at length came to an understanding with him, and
in May, 1551, the council was again opened at Trent. … The
assembly remained Catholic; the Protestant elements, which
were represented at first, all disappeared after the turn of
affairs in 1552.

See GERMANY: A. D. 1546-1552; and 1552-1561.

After that there was no further thought of an understanding
with the heretics. The results for reform were very small
indeed. The proceedings were dragging wearily on when a fresh
adjournment was announced in 1552. Pope Julius III. died in
March, 1555. His successor, the noble Cardinal Cervin, elected
as Marcellus II., died after only twenty-two days, and was
succeeded by Cardinal Caraffa as Paul IV., 1555-9. … He was
the Pope of the restoration. The warm Neapolitan blood flowed
in his veins, and he was a fiery, energetic character. He was
not in favour of any concessions or abatement, but for a
complete breach with the new doctrines, and a thorough
exclusiveness for the ancient Church. He was one of the ablest
men of the time. As early as in 1542, he had advised that no
further concessions should be made, but that the Inquisition,
of which indeed he was the creator, should be restored. It was
he who decidedly initiated the great Catholic reaction. He
established the Spanish Inquisition in Italy, instituted the
first Index, and gave the Jesuits his powerful support in the
interests of the restoration. This turn of affairs was the
answer to the German religious Peace. Since the Protestants no
longer concerned themselves about Rome, Rome was about to set
her house in order without them, and as a matter of course the
council stood still." But in answer to demands from several
Catholic princes, "the council was convened afresh by the next
Pope, Pius IV. (1559-65), in November, 1560, and so the
Council of Trent was opened for the third time in January,
1562. Then began the important period of the council, during
which the legislation to which it has given a name was
enacted. … The Curia reigned supreme, and, in spite of the
remonstrances of the Emperor and of France, decided that the
council should be considered a continuation of the previous
ones, which meant—'All the decrees aimed against the
Protestants are in full force; we have no further idea of
coming to terms with them.' The next proceeding was to
interdict books and arrange an Index. …

See PAPACY: A. D. 1559-1595.

The restoration of the indisputable authority of the Pope was
the ruling principle of all the decrees. … The great
achievement of the council for the unity of the Catholic
Church was this: it formed into a code of laws, on one
consistent principle, that which in ancient times had been
variable and uncertain, and which had been almost lost sight
of in the last great revolution. Controverted questions were
replaced by dogmas, doubtful traditions by definite doctrines;
a uniformity was established in matters of faith and
discipline which had never existed before, and an impregnable
bulwark was thus erected against the sectarian spirit and the
tendency to innovation. Still when this unity was established
upon a solid basis, the universal Church of former times was
torn asunder." The Council of Trent was closed December 4,
1563, 18 years after its opening.

_L. Häusser,
Period of the Reformation,
chapters 19 and 16._

ALSO IN:
_J. A. Symonds,
Renaissance in Italy: The Catholic Reaction,
chapters 2-3 (volume l)._

_L. von Ranke,
History of the Popes,
books 2-3 (volume l)._

_L. F. Bungener,
History of the Council of Trent._

_T. R. Evans,
The Council of Trent._

_A. de Reumont,
The Carafas of Maddaloni,
book 1, chapter 3._

[IMAGE: Map of CENTRAL EUROPE
AT THE ABDICATION OF CHARLES V (1556).
AUSTRIAN HAPSBURGS.
SPANISH HAPSBURGS.
VENETIAN POSSESSIONS.
GENOESE POSSESSIONS.
ECCLESIASTICAL STATES OF THE EMPIRE.
STATES OF THE CHURCH.]

[IMAGE: CENTRAL EUROPE
SHOWING THE DISTRIBUTION OF RELIGIONS ABOUT 1618.
LUTHERAN.
ZWINGLIAN.
CALVINIST.
UNITED BRETHREN.
CATHOLIC.
LANDS RECLAIMED BY THE CATHOLIC CHURCH
DURING THE COUNTER REFORMATION SHOWN THUS.
GREEK.
MOHAMMEDAN.]

PAPACY: A. D. 1540.
The founding of the Order of the Jesuits.

See JESUITS: A. D. 1540-1556.

PAPACY: A. D. 1545-1550.
Separation of Parma and Placentia from the States
of the Church to form a duchy for the Pope's family.
The Farnese.

See PARMA: A. D. 1545-1592.

PAPACY: A. D. 1550.
Election of Julius III.

PAPACY: A. D. 1555 (April).
Election of Marcellus II.

PAPACY: A. D. 1555 (May).
Election of Paul IV.

PAPACY: A. D. 1555-1603.
The aggressive age of the reinvigorated Church.
Attachment and subserviency to Spain.

Giovanni Piero Caraffa, founder of the Order of the Theatines,
was raised to the papal chair in 1555, assuming the title of
Paul IV. He "entered on his station with the haughty notions
of its prerogatives which were natural to his austere and
impetuous spirit. Hence his efforts in concert with France,
unsuccessful as they proved, to overthrow the Spanish
greatness, that he might extricate the popedom from the
galling state of dependence to which the absolute ascendancy
of that power in Italy had reduced it. Paul IV. is remarkable
as the last pontiff who embarked in a contest which had now
become hopeless, and as the first who, giving a new direction
to the policy of the holy see, employed all the influence, the
arts, and the resources of the Roman church against the
protestant cause. He had, during the pontificate of Paul III.
[1534-1549], already made himself conspicuous for his
persecuting zeal. He had been the principal agent in the
establishment of the inquisition at Rome, and had himself
filled the office of grand inquisitor. He seated himself in
the chair of St. Peter with the detestable spirit of that
vocation; and the character of his pontificate responded to
the violence of his temper. His mantle descended upon a long
series of his successors. Pius IV., who replaced him on his
death in 1559; Pius V., who received the tiara in the
following year; Gregory XIII., who was elected in 1572, and
died in 1585; Sixtus V., who next reigned until 1590; Urban
VII., Gregory XIV., and Innocent IX., who each filled the
papal chair only a few months; and Clement VIII., whose
pontificate commenced in 1592 and extended beyond the close of
the century [1603]: all pursued the same political and
religious system. Resigning the hope, and perhaps the desire,
of re-establishing the independence of their see, they
maintained an intimate and obsequious alliance with the royal
bigot of Spain; they seconded his furious persecution of the
protestant faith; they fed the civil wars of the Low
Countries, of France, and of Germany."

_G. Procter,
History of Italy,
chapter 9._

"The Papacy and Catholicism had long maintained themselves
against these advances of their enemy [the Protestant
Reformation], in an attitude of defence it is true, but
passive only; upon the whole they were compelled to endure
them. Affairs now assumed a different aspect. … It may be
affirmed generally that a vital and active force was again
manifested, that the church had regenerated her creed in the
spirit of the age, and had established reforms in accordance
with the demands of the times.
{2460}
The religious tendencies which had appeared in southern Europe
were not suffered to become hostile to herself, she adopted
them, and gained the mastery of their movements; thus she
renewed her powers, and infused fresh vigour into her system.
… The influence of the restored Catholic system was first
established in the two southern peninsulas, but this was not
accomplished without extreme severities. The Spanish
Inquisition received the aid of that lately revived in Rome;
every movement of Protestantism was violently suppressed. But
at the same time those tendencies of the inward life which
renovated Catholicism claimed and enchained as her own, were
peculiarly powerful in those countries. "The sovereigns also
attached themselves to the interests of the church. It was of
the highest importance that Philip II., the most powerful of
all, adhered so decidedly to the popedom; with the pride of a
Spaniard, by whom unimpeachable Catholicism was regarded as a
sign of a purer blood and more noble descent, he rejected
every adverse opinion: the character of his policy was however
not wholly governed by mere personal feeling. From remote
times, and more especially since the regulations established
by Isabella, the kingly dignity of Spain had assumed an
ecclesiastical character; in every province the royal
authority was strengthened by the addition of spiritual power;
deprived of the Inquisition, it would not have sufficed to
govern the kingdom. Even in his American possessions, the king
appeared above all in the light of a disseminator of the
Christian and Catholic faith. This was the bond by which all
his territories were united in obedience to his rule; he could
not have abandoned it, without incurring real danger. The
extension of Huguenot opinions in the south of France caused
the utmost alarm in Spain; the Inquisition believed itself
bound to redoubled vigilance. … The power possessed by Philip
in the Netherlands secured to the southern system an immediate
influence over the whole of Europe; but besides this, all was
far from being lost in other countries. The emperor, the kings
of France and Poland, with the duke of Bavaria, still adhered
to the Catholic church. On all sides there were spiritual
princes whose expiring zeal might be reanimated; there were
also many places where Protestant opinions had not yet made
their way among the mass of the people. The majority of the
peasantry throughout France, Poland, and even Hungary, still
remained Catholic. Paris, which even in those days exercised a
powerful influence over the other French towns, had not yet
been affected by the new doctrines. In England a great part of
the nobility and commons were still Catholic; and in Ireland
the whole of the ancient native population remained in the old
faith. Protestantism had gained no admission into the Tyrolese
or Swiss Alps, nor had it made any great progress among the
peasantry of Bavaria. Canisius compared the Tyrolese and
Bavarians with the two tribes of Israel, 'who alone remained
faithful to the Lord.' The internal causes on which this
pertinacity, this immovable attachment to tradition, among
nations so dissimilar, was founded, might well repay a more
minute examination. A similar constancy was exhibited in the
Walloon provinces of the Netherlands. And now the papacy
resumed a position in which it could once more gain the
mastery of all these inclinations, and bind them indissolubly
to itself. Although it had experienced great changes, it still
possessed the inestimable advantage of having all the
externals of the past and the habit of obedience on its side.
In the council so prosperously concluded, the popes had even
gained an accession of that authority which it had been the
purpose of the temporal powers to restrict; and had
strengthened their influence over the national churches; they
had moreover abandoned that temporal policy by which they had
formerly involved Italy and all Europe in confusion. They
attached themselves to Spain with perfect confidence and
without any reservations, fully returning the devotion evinced
by that kingdom to the Roman church. The Italian principality,
the enlarged dominions of the pontiff, contributed eminently
to the success of his ecclesiastical enterprises; while the
interests of the universal Catholic church were for some time
essentially promoted by the overplus of its revenues. Thus
strengthened internally, thus supported by powerful adherents,
and by the idea of which they were the representatives, the
popes exchanged the defensive position, with which they had
hitherto been forced to content themselves, for that of
assailants."

_L. von Ranke,
History of the Popes,
book 5, section 2 (volume 1)._

PAPACY: A. D. 1559.
Election of Pius IV.

PAPACY: A. D. 1559-1595.
The institution of the Index.

"The first 'Index' of prohibited books published by Papal
authority, and therefore, unlike the 'catalogi' previously
issued by royal, princely, or ecclesiastical authorities,
valid for the whole Church, was that authorised by a bull of
Paul IV. in 1559. In 1564 followed the Index published by Pius
IV., as drawn up in harmony with the decrees of the Council of
Trent, which, after all, appears to be a merely superficial
revision of its predecessor. Other Indices followed, for which
various authorities were responsible, the most important among
them being the Index Expurgatorius, sanctioned by a bull of
Clement VIII. in 1595, which proved so disastrous to the great
printing trade of Venice."

_A. W. Ward,
The Counter-Reformation,
chapter 2._

PAPACY: A. D. 1566.
Election of Pius V.

PAPACY: A. D. 1570-1571.
Holy League with Venice and Spain against the Turks.
Great battle and victory of Lepanto.

See TURKS: A. D. 1566-1571.

PAPACY: A. D. 1572 (May).
Election of Gregory XIII.

PAPACY: A. D. 1572.
Reception of the news of the Massacre of St. Bartholomew's Day.

See FRANCE: A. D. 1572 (AUGUST-OCTOBER).

PAPACY: A. D. 1585.
Election of Sixtus V.

PAPACY: A. D. 1585.
The Bull against Henry of Navarre, called "Brutum Fulmen."

See FRANCE: A. D. 1584-1589.

PAPACY: A. D. 1590 (September).
Election of Urban VII.

PAPACY: A. D. 1590 (December).
Election of Gregory XIV.

PAPACY: A. D. 1591.
Election of Innocent IX.

PAPACY: A. D. 1591.
Election of Clement VIII.

{2461}

PAPACY: A. D. 1597.
Annexation of Ferrara to the States of the Church.

"The loss which the papal states sustained by the alienation
of Parma and Placentia was repaired, before the end of the
16th century, by the acquisition of a duchy little inferior in
extent to those territories:—that of Ferrara." With the death,
in 1597, of Alfonso II., the persecutor of Tasso, "terminated
the legitimate Italian branch of the ancient and illustrious
line of Este. But there remained an illegitimate
representative of his house, whom he designed for his
successor; don Cesare da Este, the grandson of Alfonso I. by a
natural son of that duke. The inheritance of Ferrara and
Modena had passed in the preceding century to bastards,
without opposition from the popes, the feudal superiors of the
former duchy. But the imbecile character of don Cesare now
encouraged the reigning pontiff, Clement VIII., to declare
that all the ecclesiastical fiefs of the house of Este
reverted, of right, to the holy see on the extinction of the
legitimate line. The papal troops, on the death of Alfonso
II., invaded the Ferrarese state; and Cesare suffered himself
to be terrified by their approach into an ignominious and
formal surrender of that duchy to the holy see. By the
indifference of the Emperor Rodolph II., he was permitted to
retain the investiture of the remaining possessions of his
ancestors: the duchies of Modena and Reggio, over which, as
imperial and not papal fiefs, the pope could not decently
assert any right. In passing beneath the papal yoke, the duchy
of Ferrara, which, under the government of the house of Este,
had been one of the most fertile provinces of Italy, soon
became a desert and marshy waste. The capital itself lost its
industrious population and commercial riches; its
architectural magnificence crumbled into ruins, and its modern
aspect retains no trace of that splendid court in which
literature and art repaid the fostering protection of its
sovereigns, by reflecting lustre on their heads."

_G. Procter,
History of Italy,
chapter 9._

PAPACY: A. D. 1605 (April).
Election of Leo XI.

PAPACY: A. D. 1605 (May).
Election of Paul V.

PAPACY: A. D. 1605-1700.
The conflict with Venice.
Opposition of Urban VIII. to the Emperor.
Annexation of Urbino to the States of the Church.
Half a century of unimportant history.

"Paul V. (1605-1621) was imbued with mediæval ideas as to the
papal authority and the validity of the canon-law. These
speedily brought him into collision with the secular power,
especially in Venice, which had always maintained an attitude
of independence towards the papacy. Ecclesiastical disputes
[growing out of a Venetian decree forbidding alienations of
secular property in favor of the churches] were aggravated by
the fact that the acquisition of Ferrara had extended the
papal states to the frontiers of Venice, and that frequent
differences arose as to the boundary line between them. The
defence of the republic and of the secular authority in church
affairs was undertaken with great zeal and ability by Fra
Paoli Sarpi, the famous historian of the Council of Trent.
Paul V. did not hesitate to excommunicate the Venetians
[1606], but the government compelled the clergy to disregard
the pope's edict. The Jesuits, Theatines, and Capuchins were
the only orders that adhered to the papacy, and they had to
leave the city. If Spain had not been under the rule of the
pacific Lerma, it would probably have seized the opportunity
to punish Venice for its French alliance. But France and Spain
were both averse to war, and Paul V. had to learn that the
papacy was powerless without secular support. By the mediation
of the two great powers, a compromise was arranged in 1607.
The Jesuits, however, remained excluded from Venetian
territory for another half-century. This was the first serious
reverse encountered by the Catholic reaction. …

See VENICE: A. D. 1606-1607.