TheCounter-Reformation (Latin:Contrareformatio), also sometimes called theCatholic Revival,[1] was the period ofCatholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, theProtestant Reformations at the time. It was a comprehensive effort arising from the decrees of theCouncil of Trent.[2]
As a political-historical period, it is frequently dated to have begun with theCouncil of Trent (1545–1563) and to have ended with the political conclusion of theEuropean wars of religion in 1648, though this is controversial.[3] However, as a theological-historical description, the term may be obsolescent or over-specific:[a] the broader termCatholic Reformation (Latin:Reformatio Catholica) also encompasses the reforms and movements within the Church in the periods immediately before Protestantism or Trent, and lasting later.
The effort producedapologetic andpolemical documents, anti-corruption efforts, spiritual movements, the promotion of new religious orders, and the flourishing of new art and musical styles. War and discriminatory legislation caused large migrations of religious refugees.[5]
Suchreforms included the foundation ofseminaries for the proper training ofpriests in the spiritual life and thetheological traditions of the Church, the reform ofreligious life by returning orders to their spiritual foundations, and new spiritual movements focusing on the devotional life and a personal relationship withChrist, including theSpanish mystics and theFrench school of spirituality.[1] It also involved political activities and used the regionalInquisitions.
A primary emphasis of the Counter-Reformation was a mission to reach parts of the world that had beencolonized as predominantly Catholic and also try to reconvert nations such as Sweden and England that once were Catholic from the time of theChristianisation of Europe, but had been lost to the Reformation.[1] Various Counter-Reformation theologians focused only on defending doctrinal positions such as the sacraments and pious practices that were attacked by the Protestant reformers,[1] up to theSecond Vatican Council in 1962–1965.[6]
'Counter-Reformation’ is a translation ofGerman:Gegenreformation.[7]: 33
Protestant historians[8] have tended to speak in terms of Catholic reform as part of the Counter-Reformation, itself a response to the Reformation.
In nineteenth-century Germany, the term became part of theGerman:Kulturkampf: ‘Counter-Reformation’ was used by Protestant historians as a negative and one-dimensional concept that stressed the aspect of reaction and resistance to Protestantism and neglected that of reform within Catholicism. The term was understandably shunned by Catholic historians. Even when the Protestant historianWilhelm Maurenbrecher introduced the term ‘Catholic Reformation’ in 1880, German historiography remainedconfessionally divided on the subject. The term ‘Catholic Reformation’ appealed to Catholic historians because it offered them the possibility of avoiding the term ‘Counter-Reformation’, with its problematic connotation of a mere reaction to Protestantism. But it was rejected by Protestant historians – largely because they did not want the term ‘Reformation’ to be used for anything other than the Protestant Reformation.[7]: 33
Catholic historians[9] tend to emphasize them as different. The French historianHenri Daniel-Rops wrote:
The term ('counter-reformation'), however, though common, is misleading: it cannot rightly be applied, logically or chronologically, to that sudden awakening as of a startled giant, that wonderful effort of rejuvenation and reorganization, which in a space of thirty years gave to the Church an altogether new appearance. … The so-called 'counter-reformation' did not begin with the Council of Trent, long after Luther; its origins and initial achievements were much anterior to the fame of Wittenberg. It was undertaken, not by way of answering the 'reformers,' but in obedience to demands and principles that are part of the unalterable tradition of the Church and proceed from her most fundamental loyalties.[10]
The Italian historian Massimo Firpo has distinguished "Catholic Reformation" from "Counter-Reformation" by their issues. In his view, the general "Catholic Reformation" was "centered on the care of souls ..., episcopal residence, the renewal of the clergy, together with the charitable and educational roles of the new religious orders", whereas the specific "Counter-Reformation" was "founded upon the defence of orthodoxy, the repression of dissent, the reassertion of ecclesiastical authority".[11]
TheGregorian reforms of the late 11th century —to e.g. reduce kingly and dynastic control of religious life and use of assets and to prevent parishes from becoming "family businesses"— flowed out from Rome, for example reaching Ireland around 35 years later with the IrishSynod of Ráth Breasail (1111): this established theepiscopal system over the aristocracy-dominated monasteries in Ireland, resulting in the eventual dissolution of many monasteries in the 12th century, such as theAbbey of Kells. The reforms lead to the rise of theCanons Regular as alternatives to monks or friars: priests living, like monks, in perhaps-avowed communities but focused outward (e.g., serving parish or cathedral pastoral duties) rather than inward (e.g.,cloistered or necessarily observing the fullLiturgy of the Hours.)[12] The reforms reached Germany in 1122 with theConcordat of Worms.
The kinds of positive reforms considered were not necessarily the ones that pre-occupied theHussites (e.g.,communion under both kinds, married priests) and laterProtestants (e.g.,indulgences, justification). Ending schism and war (especially papal war) was regarded by some prelates as the pre-condition for reformation.[15]: 174
At times, the reform talk in the councils tended to lack enough specificity to result in an effective program—except for a tendency to follow theObservantist[16] faction of the monastic orders (that less slackness regarding external observances would aid fervour in internal piety) or to promote a top-down ("head and body") institution-centric focus[17]: ii that reform needed to start at and from the Pope, or bishops, or councils, or princes, or canon law.[15] There was considerable support for theevangelical counsels' ideal of poverty as a way to short-circuit careerism, thoughJohn Wycliffe's doctrine of mandatory apostolic poverty was decisively rejected at the Council of Constance.
Issues such aspapal nepotism and the wealth, dioscese-absenteeism, and pre-occupation with secular power of important bishops were recognized as perennial and scandalous problems. These resisted serious reform (by successive popes and councils with those bishops, unable to compromise their own interests) for centuries, causing friction as radical reformers periodically arose in response, such asSavonarola.[17]: ch.1
In the half-century before the reformation, the phenomenon of Bishops closing down decadent monasteries or convents had become more common, as had programs to educate parish priests.[17]: ch.1 In the half-century before the Council of Trent, various evangelical Catholic leaders had experimented with reforms that came to be associated with Protestants: for example,Guillaume Briçonnet (bishop of Meaux) in Paris, with his former teacherJacques Lefèvre d’Etaples,[18] had statues other than Christ removed from his churches (though notdestroyed), replaced the Hail Mary with the Pater Noster prayer, and made available vernacular French versions of the Gospels and Epistles.[17]: ch.1
Conservative and reforming parties still survived within the Catholic Church even as the Protestant Reformations spread.Protestants decisively broke from the Catholic Church in the 1520s. The two distinct dogmatic positions within the Catholic Church solidified in the 1560s.
The regular orders made their first attempts at reform in the 14th century. The 'Benedictine Bull' of 1336 reformed theBenedictines andCistercians. In 1523, theCamaldolese Hermits of Monte Corona were recognized as a separate congregation of monks.
In 1435,Francis of Paola founded the Poor Hermits of Saint Francis of Assisi, who became theMinim Friars. In 1526,Matteo de Bascio suggested reforming theFranciscan rule of life to its original purity, giving birth to theCapuchins, recognized by the pope in 1619.[19] This order was well known to the laity and played an important role in public preaching.
At the end of the 1400s, a reform movement inspired by StCatherine of Genoa's hospital ministry started spreading: in Rome, starting 1514, theOratory of Divine Love attracted an aristocratic membership of priests and laymen to perform anonymous acts of charity and to discuss reform;[20] the members subsequently became the key players in the church handling the Reformation. In 1548, then-laymanPhilip Neri founded aConfraternity of the Most Holy Trinity of Pilgrims and Convalescents:[21] this developed into the relatively-free religious community theOratorians, who were given their constitutions in 1564 and recognized as a religious order by the pope in 1575. They used music and singing to attract the faithful.[22]
Pope Paul III (1534–1549) is considered the first pope of the Counter-Reformation,[1] and he also initiated theCouncil of Trent (1545–1563), tasked with institutional reform, addressing contentious issues such ascorruptbishops andpriests, the sale ofindulgences, and other financial abuses.
The council upheld the basic structure of themedieval church,[23] itssacramental system, religious orders, anddoctrine. It recommended that the form of Mass should be standardised, and this took place in 1570, whenPope Pius V made theTridentine Mass obligatory.[24]It rejected all compromise with Protestants, restating basic tenets of theCatholic Faith. The council upheldsalvation appropriated by grace through faithandworks of that faith (notjust by faith, as the Protestants insisted) because "faith without works is dead", as theEpistle of James states (2:22–26).
While the traditional fundamentals of the Church were reaffirmed, there were noticeable changes to answer complaints that the Counter-Reformers were, tacitly, willing to admit were legitimate. Among the conditions to be corrected by Catholic reformers was the growing divide between the clerics and the laity; many members of the clergy in the rural parishes had been poorly educated. Often, these rural priests did not knowLatin and lacked opportunities for proper theological training. Addressing the education of priests had been a fundamental focus of thehumanist reformers in the past.[25]
Parish priests were to be better educated in matters of theology andapologetics, while Papal authorities sought to educate the faithful about the meaning, nature and value of art and liturgy, particularly in monastic churches (Protestants had criticised them as "distracting"). Handbooks became more common, describing how to be good priests and confessors.[citation needed]
Thus, the Council of Trent attempted to improve the discipline and administration of the Church. The worldly excesses of the secularRenaissance Church, epitomized by the era ofAlexander VI (1492–1503), intensified during the Reformation underPope Leo X (1513–1521), whose campaign to raise funds for the construction ofSaint Peter's Basilica by supporting use of indulgences served as a key impetus forMartin Luther's95 Theses. The Catholic Church responded to these problems by a vigorous campaign of reform, inspired by earlier Catholic reform movements:humanism,devotionalism, andobservantism.[26][citation needed]
The council, by virtue of its actions, repudiated thepluralism of the secularRenaissance that had previously plagued the Church: the organization of religious institutions was tightened, discipline was improved, and the parish was emphasized. The appointment of bishops for political reasons was no longer tolerated. In the past, the large landholdings forced many bishops to be "absent bishops" who at times were property managers trained in administration. Thus, the Council of Trent combated "absenteeism", which was the practice of bishops living inRome or on landed estates rather than in their dioceses. The Council of Trent gave bishops greater power to supervise all aspects of religious life. Zealous prelates, such asMilan's ArchbishopCarlo Borromeo (1538–1584), later canonized as a saint, set an example by visiting the remotest parishes and instilling high standards.[citation needed]
This 1711 illustration for theIndex Librorum Prohibitorum depicts the Holy Ghost supplying the book burning fire.
The 1559–1967Index Librorum Prohibitorum was a directory of prohibited books which was updated twenty times during the next four centuries as books were added or removed from the list by theSacred Congregation of the Index. It was divided into three classes. The first class listed heretical writers, the second class listed heretical works, and the third class listed forbidden writings which were published without the name of the author. TheIndex was finally suspended on 29 March 1967.
The 1713 papal bullUnigenitus condemned 101 propositions of theFrenchJansenist theologianPasquier Quesnel (1634–1719).Jansenism was a Protestant-leaning or mediating movement within Catholicism, in France and the Spanish Netherlands, that was criticized for being crypto-Calvinist, denying that Christ died for all, promoting that Holy Communion should be received very infrequently, and more. After Jansenist propositions were condemned it led to the development of theOld Catholic Church of the Netherlands.
Farnese led a successful campaign 1578–1592 against theDutch Revolt, in which he captured the main cities in the south (the futureBelgium) and returned them to the control of Catholic Spain.[28] He took advantage of the divisions in the ranks of his opponents between the Dutch-speaking Flemish and the French-speaking Walloons, using persuasion to take advantage of the divisions and foment the growing discord. By doing so he was able to bring back the Walloon provinces to an allegiance to the king. By thetreaty of Arras in 1579, he secured the support of the 'Malcontents', as the Catholic nobles of the south were styled.
Farnese finally laid siege to the great seaport ofAntwerp. The town was open to the sea, strongly fortified, and well defended under the leadership ofMarnix van St. Aldegonde. Farnese cut off all access to the sea by constructing a bridge of boats across theScheldt.Antwerp surrendered in 1585 as 60,000 citizens (60 per cent of the pre-siege population) fled north. All of the Southern Netherlands was once more under Spanish control.
In a war composed mostly of sieges rather than battles, he proved his mettle. His strategy was to offer generous terms for surrender: there would be no massacres or looting; historic urban privileges were retained; there was a full pardon and amnesty; return to the Catholic Church would be gradual.[29]
Meanwhile, Catholic refugees from the north regrouped in Cologne and Douai and developed a more militant, Tridentine identity. They became the mobilizing forces of a popular Counter-Reformation in the south, thereby facilitating the eventual emergence of the state ofBelgium.[30]
The Augsburg Interim was a period where Counter-Reformation measures were exacted upon defeated Protestant populations following the Schmalkaldic War.
During the centuries of Counter-Reformation, new towns, collectively termedExulantenstädte [de] (plural), were founded especially as homes for refugees fleeing the Counter-Reformation. Supporters of theUnity of the Brethren settled in parts of Silesia and Poland. Protestants from theCounty of Flanders often fled to theLower Rhine region and northern Germany. French Huguenots crossed theRhineland toCentral Germany. Most towns were named either after the ruler who established them or as expressions of gratitude, e.g.Freudenstadt ("Joy Town"),Glückstadt ("Happy Town").[31]
Others moved to Saxony or theMargraviate of Brandenburg. TheSalzburg Protestants were exiled in the 18th century, especially toPrussia. TheTransylvanian Landlers were deported to the eastern part of the Habsburg domain. As heir to the throne,Joseph II spoke vehemently to his mother,Maria Theresa, in 1777 against the expulsion of Protestants from Moravia, calling her choices "unjust, impious, impossible, harmful and ridiculous."[32] His 1781Patent of Toleration can be regarded as the end of the political Counter-Reformation, although there were still smaller expulsions against Protestants (such as theZillertal expulsion). In 1966, Archbishop Andreas Rohracher expressed regret about the expulsions.
Matanzas Inlet, Florida, where the survivors were killed
In France, from 1562 Catholics andHuguenots (Reformed Protestants) fought aseries of wars, resulting in millions of deaths until theEdict of Nantes brought religious peace in 1598. It affirmed Catholicism as the state religion but granted considerable toleration to Protestants, as well as political and military privileges. The latter would be lost at thePeace of Alès of 1629, but the religious toleration lasted until the reign ofLouis XIV, who resumed persecution of Protestants and finally abolished their right to worship with theEdict of Fontainebleau in 1685.
In 1565, several hundredHuguenot shipwreck survivors surrendered to the Spanish authorities in Florida, presuming they would be treated fairly. The small number of Catholics among the shipwrecked were spared but the rest were all executed for heresy, with active clerical participation.[33]
The effects of the Council of Trent and the Counter-Reformation also paved the way forRuthenian Orthodox Christians to return to full communion with theCatholic Church while preserving theirByzantine tradition.PopeClement VIII received the Ruthenian bishops into full communion on February 7, 1596.[34] Under the treaty of theUnion of Brest, Rome recognized the Ruthenians' continued practice of Byzantine liturgical tradition, married clergy, and consecration of bishops from within the Ruthenian Christian tradition. Moreover, the treaty specifically exempts Ruthenians from using aCreed with theFilioque clause as a condition for reconciliation, and the Ruthenians agree not to debatePurgatory.[35]
Scholars have made a distinction between the political issue of a state'sestablished religion remaining Catholic and the advance of religious reforms within Catholicism: Anglican historian G.E. Duffield notes "RC reform[...]does not easily fit into geographical patterns as Protestant reform does."[36]: 149
The Theatines undertook checking the spread of heresy and contributed to a regeneration of the clergy. The Capuchins, an offshoot of theFranciscan order notable for their preaching and for their care for the poor and the sick, grew rapidly. Capuchin-founded confraternities took special interest in the poor and lived austerely. Members of orders active in overseas missionary expansion expressed the view that the rural parishes often needed Christianizing as much as the heathens of Asia and the Americas.
The Ursulines focused on the special task ofeducating girls,[37] the first order of women to be dedicated to that goal.[38] Devotion to the traditional works of mercy exemplified the Catholic Reformation's reaffirmation of the importance of both faith and works and salvation through God's grace and repudiation of the maximsola fide emphasized by Protestants sects. Not only did they make the Church more effective, but they also reaffirmed fundamental premises of the medieval Church.[citation needed]
The Jesuits were the most effective of the new Catholic orders. An heir to thedevotional,observantine, andlegalist traditions, the Jesuits organized along military lines. The worldliness of the Renaissance Church had no part in their new order. Loyola's masterworkSpiritual Exercises showed the emphasis of handbooks characteristic of Catholic reformers before theReformations, reminiscent ofdevotionalism.
Jesuits participated in the expansion of the Church in the Americas and Asia, by their missionary activity. Loyola's biography contributed to an emphasis on popular piety that had waned under political popes such asAlexander VI andLeo X. After recovering from a serious wound, he took a vow to "serve only God and the Roman pontiff, His vicar on Earth." The emphasis on the Pope is a reaffirmation of the medieval papalism, while the Council of Trent defeatedconciliarism, the belief that general councils of the Church collectively were God's representative on Earth rather than the Pope. Taking the Pope as an absolute leader, the Jesuits contributed to the Counter-Reformation Church along a line harmonized with Rome.
The Catholic Reformation was not only a political and Church policy oriented movement, but it also included major figures such asCatherine of Genoa,Ignatius of Loyola,Teresa of Ávila,John of the Cross,Francis de Sales, andPhilip Neri, who added to thespirituality of the Catholic Church. Teresa of Avila and John of the Cross were Spanish mystics and reformers of theCarmelite Order, whose ministry focused oninterior conversion to Christ, the deepening of prayer, and commitment to God's will. Teresa was given the task of developing and writing about the way to perfection in her love and unity with Christ.Thomas Merton called John of the Cross the greatest of all mystical theologians.[39]
The spirituality of Filippo Neri, who lived in Rome at the same time as Ignatius, was practically oriented, too, but totally opposed to theJesuit approach. Said Filippo, "If I have a real problem, I contemplate what Ignatius would do ... and then I do the exact opposite".[citation needed] As a recognition of their joint contribution to the spiritual renewal within the Catholic reformation,Ignatius of Loyola,Filippo Neri, andTeresa of Ávila werecanonized on the same day, March 12, 1622.
The Virgin Mary played an increasingly central role in Catholic devotions. The victory at theBattle of Lepanto in 1571 was accredited to the Virgin Mary and signified the beginning of a strong resurgence of Marian devotions.[40] During and after the Catholic Reformation, Marian piety experienced unforeseen growth with over 500 pages of mariological writings during the 17th century alone.[41] The JesuitFrancisco Suárez was the first theologian to use theThomist method on Marian theology. Other well-known contributors to Marian spirituality are SaintsLawrence of Brindisi,Robert Bellarmine, andFrancis de Sales.
Thesacrament of penance was transformed from a social to a personal experience; that is, from a public community act to a private confession. It now took place in private in a confessional. It was a change in its emphasis from reconciliation with the Church to reconciliation directly with God and from emphasis on social sins of hostility to private sins (called "the secret sins of the heart").[42]
The Catholic Church was a leading arts patron across much of Europe. The goal of much art in the Counter-Reformation, especially in the Rome ofBernini and the Flanders ofPeter Paul Rubens, was to restore Catholicism's predominance and centrality. This was one of the drivers of theBaroque style that emerged across Europe in the late sixteenth century. In areas where Catholicism predominated, architecture[43] and painting,[44] and to a lesser extent music, reflected Counter-Reformation goals.[45]
The Council of Trent proclaimed that architecture, painting and sculpture had a role in conveying Catholictheology. Any work that might arouse "carnal desire" was inadmissible in churches, while any depiction of Christ's suffering and explicit agony was desirable and proper. In an era when some Protestant reformers were destroying images of saints and whitewashing walls, Catholic reformers reaffirmed the importance of art, with special encouragement given to images of the Virgin Mary.[46]
The Last Judgment, a fresco in theSistine Chapel byMichelangelo (1534–1541), came under persistent attack in the Counter-Reformation for, among other things, nudity (later painted over for several centuries), not showing Christ seated or bearded, and including the pagan figure ofCharon.Italian painting after 1520, with the notable exception of the art ofVenice, developed intoMannerism, a highly sophisticated style striving for effect, that concerned many Churchmen as lacking appeal for the mass of the population. Church pressure to restrain religious imagery affected art from the 1530s and resulted in the decrees of the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563 including short and rather inexplicit passages concerning religious images, which were to have great impact on the development of Catholic art. Previous Catholic councils had rarely felt the need to pronounce on these matters, unlikeOrthodox ones which have often ruled on specific types of images.
The decree confirmed the traditional doctrine that images only represented the person depicted, and that veneration to them was paid to the person, not the image, and further instructed that:
... every superstition shall be removed ... all lasciviousness be avoided; in such wise that figures shall not be painted or adorned with a beauty exciting to lust ... there be nothing seen that is disorderly, or that is unbecomingly or confusedly arranged, nothing that is profane, nothing indecorous, seeing that holiness becometh the house of God.And that these things may be the more faithfully observed, the holy Synod ordains, that no one be allowed to place, or cause to be placed, any unusual image, in any place, or church, howsoever exempted, except that image have been approved of by the bishop ...[47]
Ten years after the decreePaolo Veronese was summoned by theHoly Office to explain why hisLast Supper, a huge canvas for the refectory of a monastery, contained, in the words of the Holy Office: "buffoons, drunken Germans, dwarfs and other such scurrilities" as well as extravagant costumes and settings, in what is indeed a fantasy version of a Venetian patrician feast.[48] Veronese was told that he must change his painting within a three-month period. He just changed the title toThe Feast in the House of Levi, still an episode from the Gospels, but a less doctrinally central one, and no more was said.[49]
The number of such decorative treatments of religious subjects declined sharply, as did "unbecomingly or confusedly arranged" Mannerist pieces, as a number of books, notably by the Flemish theologianMolanus,Charles Borromeo and CardinalGabriele Paleotti, and instructions by local bishops, amplified the decrees, often going into minute detail on what was acceptable. Much traditionaliconography considered without adequate scriptural foundation was in effect prohibited, as was any inclusion of classical pagan elements in religious art, and almost all nudity, including that of the infant Jesus.[50]
The Council of Trent is believed to be the apex of the Counter-Reformation's influence on Church music in the 16th century. However, the council's pronouncements on music were not the first attempt at reform. The Catholic Church had spoken out against a perceived abuse of music used in the Mass before the Council of Trent ever convened to discuss music in 1562. The manipulation of theCreed and using non-liturgical songs was addressed in 1503, and secular singing and the intelligibility of the text in the delivery of psalmody in 1492.[52]: 576 The delegates at the council were just a link in the long chain of Church clergy who had pushed for a reform of the musical liturgy reaching back as far as 1322.[53]
Fueling the cry for reform from many ecclesial figures was the compositional technique popular in the 15th and 16th centuries of using musical material and even the accompanying texts from other compositions such asmotets,madrigals, andchansons. Several voices singing different texts in different languages made any of the text difficult to distinguish from the mixture of words and notes. Theparody mass would then contain melodies (usually the tenor line) and words from songs that could have been, and often were, on sensual subjects.[53] The musical liturgy of the Church was being more and more influenced by secular tunes and styles. The Council of Paris, which met in 1528, as well as the Council of Trent were making attempts to restore the sense of sacredness to the Church setting and what was appropriate for the Mass. The councils were responding to issues of their day.[52]: 580–581
One of the most austere moves at reform came late in 1562 when, perhaps instructed by some legates,Egidio Foscarari (bishop of Modena) andGabriele Paleotti (archbishop of Bologna) began work on reforming religious orders and their practices involving the liturgy in their dioceses.[54] Paleotti's reforms for convents of nuns allowed only the use of an organ,[55]: 32–33 prohibited professional musicians, and banishedpolyphonic singing; this was much more strict than the Trent council's eventual edicts or even those devised for thePalestrina legend.[56]
The Council of Trent met sporadically from December 13, 1545, to December 4, 1563, to reform many parts of the Catholic Church.
The 22nd session required that secular elements be kept out of Mass music, keepingpolyphony implicitly allowed.[57]
[Bishops] shall also banish from the churches all such music which, whether by the organ or in the singing, contains things that are lascivious or impure;
— "Decree Concerning The Things To Be Observed And Avoided In The Celebration Of Mass", Chapter IX, Session 22, Council of Trent, 1562[58]
The issue of textual intelligibility did not make its way into the final edicts of the 22nd session but were only featured in preliminary debates.[59] However Archbishop Paleotti, in his Acts (the minutes of the Council), attempted to bring to equal importance the issues of intelligibility.[60]
The idea that the council called to remove all polyphony from the Church is widespread, but there is no documentary evidence to support that claim. It is possible, however, that some of the Fathers had proposed such a measure.[61] The Council of Trent did not focus on the style of music but on attitudes of worship and reverence during the Mass.[52]: 576
More severe measures had been submitted for consideration, as proposed Canon 8 of "Abuses in the Sacrifice of the Mass" during a meeting of the council on September 10, 1562.[52]: 576 The proposed Canon 8 states that "Since the sacred mysteries should be celebrated with utmost reverence, with both deepest feeling toward God alone, and with external worship that is truly suitable and becoming, so that others may be filled with devotion and called to religion: ... Everything should be regulated so that the Masses, whether they be celebrated with the plain voice or in song, with everything clearly and quickly executed, may reach the ears of the hearers and quietly penetrate their hearts. In those Masses where measured music and organ are customary, nothing profane should be intermingled, but only hymns and divine praises. If something from the divine service is sung with the organ while the service proceeds, let if first be recited in a simple, clear voice, lest the reading of the sacred words be imperceptible. But the entire manner of singing in musical modes should be calculated not to afford vain delight to the ear, but so that the words may be comprehensible to all; and thus may the hearts of the listeners be caught up into the desire for celestial harmonies and contemplation of the joys of the blessed."[62]
The emperorFerdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor has been attributed to be the "saviour of Church music" because he said polyphony ought not to be driven out of the Church. But Ferdinand was most likely an alarmist and read into the council the possibility of a total ban on polyphony.[63]
The Canon 8 text is often quoted as the Council of Trent's decree on Church music, but that is a glaring misunderstanding of the canon; it was only a proposed decree. In fact, the delegates at the council never officially accepted canon 8 in its popular form but bishops of Granada, Coimbra, and Segovia pushed for the long statement about music to be attenuated and many other prelates of the council joined enthusiastically.[64]
The crises regardingpolyphony and intelligibility of the text and the threat that polyphony was to be removed completely, which was assumed to be coming from the council, has a very dramatic legend of resolution. The legend goes thatGiovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina (c. 1525/26–1594), a Church musician and choirmaster in Rome, wrote a Mass for the council delegates in order to demonstrate that a polyphonic composition could set the text in such a way that the words could be clearly understood and that was still pleasing to the ear. Palestrina'sMissa Papae Marcelli (Mass for Pope Marcellus) was performed before the council and received such a welcoming reception among the delegates that they completely changed their minds and allowed polyphony to stay in use in the musical liturgy. Therefore, Palestrina came to be named the "saviour of Church polyphony". This legend, though unfounded, has long been a mainstay of histories of music.[65] The saviour-myth was first spread by an account by Aggazzari and Banchieri in 1609 who said thatPope Marcellus was trying to replace all polyphony with plainsong.[66] Palestrina's "Missa Papae Marcelli" was indeed performed for the Pope in 1564 , after the 22nd session, while reforms were being considered for theSistine Choir.
The Pope Marcellus Mass, in short, was not important in its own day and did not help save Church polyphony.[67] What is undeniable is that despite any solid evidence of his influence during or after the Council of Trent, no figure is more qualified to represent the cause of polyphony in the Mass than Palestrina.[68]Pope Pius IV upon hearing Palestrina's music would make Palestrina, by Papal Brief, the model for future generations of Catholic composers of sacred music.[66]
Like his contemporary Palestrina, the Flemish composerJacobus de Kerle (1531/32–1591) was also credited with giving a model of composition for the Council of Trent. His composition in four parts,Preces, marks the "official turning point of the Counter Reformation's a cappella ideal."[69] Kerle was the only ranking composer of the Netherlands to have acted in conformity with the council.[70] Another musical giant on equal standing with Palestrina,Orlando di Lasso (1530/32–1594) was an important figure in music history though less of a purist than Palestrina.[71] He expressed sympathy for the council's concerns but still showed favor for the "Parady chanson Masses."[70]
Despite the dearth of edicts from the council regarding polyphony and textual clarity, the reforms that followed from the 22nd session filled in the gaps left by the council in stylistic areas. In the 24th session the council gave authority to "Provincial Synods" to discern provisions for Church music.[52]: 576–577 The decision to leave practical application and stylistic matters to local ecclesiastical leaders was important in shaping the future of Catholic church music.[72] It was left then up to the local Church leaders and Church musicians to find proper application for the council's decrees.[73]
Though originally theological and directed towards the attitudes of the musicians, the Council's decrees came to be thought of by Church musicians as a pronouncement on proper musical styles.[52]: 592–593 This understanding was most likely spread through musicians who sought to implement the council's declarations but did not read the official Tridentine pronouncements. Church musicians were probably influenced by order from their ecclesiastical patrons.[74] Composers who reference the council's reforms in prefaces to their compositions do not adequately claim a musical basis from the council but a spiritual and religious basis of their art.[52]: 576–594
The Cardinal Archbishop of Milan,Charles Borromeo, was a very important figure in reforming Church music after the Council of Trent. Though Borromeo was an aide to the pope in Rome and was unable to be in Milan, he eagerly pushed for the decrees of the council to be quickly put into practice in Milan.[73] Borromeo kept in contact with his church in Milian through letters and eagerly encouraged the leaders there to implement the reforms coming from the Council of Trent. In one of his letters to his vicar in the Milan diocese, Nicolo Ormaneto of Verona, Borromeo commissioned the master of the chapel,Vincenzo Ruffo (1508–1587), to write a Mass that would make the words as easy to understand as possible. Borromeo also suggested that if Don Nicola, a composer of a more chromatic style, was in Milan he too could compose a Mass and the two be compared for textural clarity.[75] Borromeo was likely involved or heard of the questions regarding textual clarity because of his request to Ruffo.
Ruffo took Borromeo's commission seriously and set out to compose in a style that presented the text so that all words would be intelligible and the textual meaning be the most important part of the composition. His approach was to move all the voices in ahomorhythmic manner with no complicated rhythms, and to use dissonance very conservatively. Ruffo's approach was certainly a success for textual clarity and simplicity, but if his music was very theoretically pure it was not an artistic success despite Ruffo's attempts to bring interest to the monotonous four-part texture.[76] Ruffo's compositional style which favored the text was well in line with the council's perceived concern with intelligibility. Thus the belief in the council's strong edicts regarding textual intelligibility became to characterize the development of sacred Church music.
More celebrations of holidays and similar events raised a need to have these events followed closely throughout the dioceses. But there was a problem with the accuracy of thecalendar: by the sixteenth century theJulian calendar was almost ten days out of step with the seasons and the heavenly bodies. Among the astronomers who were asked to work on the problem of how the calendar could be reformed wasNicolaus Copernicus, a canon atFrombork (Frauenburg). In the dedication toDe revolutionibus orbium coelestium (1543), Copernicus mentioned the reform of the calendar proposed by theFifth Council of the Lateran (1512–1517). As he explains, a proper measurement of the length of the year was a necessary foundation to calendar reform. By implication, his work replacing thePtolemaic system with aheliocentric model was prompted in part by the need for calendar reform.
An actual new calendar had to wait until theGregorian calendar in 1582. At the time of its publication,De revolutionibus passed with relatively little comment: little more than a mathematical convenience that simplified astronomical references for a more accurate calendar.[77] Physical evidence suggesting Copernicus's theory regarding the earth's motion was literally true promoted the apparent heresy against the religious thought of the time. As a result, during theGalileo affair,Galileo Galilei was placed under house arrest, served in Rome,Siena,Arcetri, andFlorence, for publishing writings said to be "vehemently suspected of being heretical." His opponents condemned heliocentric theory and temporarily banned its teaching in 1633.[78] Similarly, theAcademia Secretorum Naturae in Naples had been shut down in 1578. As a result of clerical opposition, heliocentricists emigrated from Catholic to Protestant areas, some forming theMelanchthon Circle.
^abcdMullett, Michael A. (2023).The Catholic Reformation. London: Routledge.ISBN9781032506647.
^Ch.1Jacques Lefèvre d’Etaples. Guy Bedouelle, OP. in Lindberg, Carter (ed.)The Reformation theologians: an introduction to theology in the early modern period. Oxford: Blackwell. 2002.ISBN9780631218395., Part 1
^abPéronnet, Michel (1981).Le XVe siècle (in French), Hachette U, p. 213.
^de Groof, Bart (1993). "Alexander Farnese and the Origins of Modern Belgium",Bulletin de l'Institut Historique Belge de Rome, Vol. 63, pp 195–219.
^Soen, Violet (2012). "Reconquista and Reconciliation in the Dutch Revolt: The Campaign of Governor-General Alexander Farnese (1578–1592)",Journal of Early Modern History 16#1 pp 1–22.
^Janssen, Geert H. (2012). "The Counter-Reformation of the Refugee: Exile and the Shaping of Catholic Militancy in the Dutch Revolt",Journal of Ecclesiastical History 63#4 pp. 671–692.
^Martin, Christiane, ed. (2001)."Exulantenstadt".Lexikon der Geographie (in German). Heidelberg: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag.Archived from the original on 2020-10-28. Retrieved2020-05-30.
^"The Ursulines".Catholic Encyclopedia.Archived from the original on 18 June 2015. Retrieved8 March 2015.A religious order founded by St. Angela de Merici for the sole purpose of educating young girls
^Hughes, Philip (1960) [1957].A Popular History of the Reformation, Garden City, New York: Image Books, Ch. 3, "Revival and Reformation, 1495–1530", Sec. iii, "The Italian Saints", p. 86.
^Monson, Craig A. (15 November 2010).Nuns Behaving Badly: Tales of Music, Magic, Art, and Arson in the Convents of Italy. University of Chicago Press.ISBN978-0-226-53462-6.
^Davey, Henry. "Giovanni Pierluigi, da Palestrina",Proceedings of the Musical Association, 25th Sess. (1898–1899), p. 53.in JSTORArchived 2016-08-18 at theWayback Machine.
^"Some still consider the Tridentine reforms a Counter-Reformation as opposed to a Catholic Reformation."[4]: 19
^Eastern Orthodox churches, following theSeptuagint, generally include the deuterocanonical works with even a few additional items not found in Catholic Bibles, but they consider them of secondary authority and not on the same level as the other scriptures. TheChurch of England may use Bibles that place the deuterocanonical works between theprotocanonical Old Testament and the New, but not interspersed among the other Old Testament books as in Catholic Bibles.
Leichtentritt, Hugo (1944). "The Reform of Trent and Its Effect on Music".The Musical Quarterly, Vol. 30, No. 3.in JSTORArchived 2016-01-31 at theWayback Machine.
Walsh, M., ed. (1991).Butler's Lives of the Saints. New York: HarperSanFrancisco.
Dickens, A. G.The Counter Reformation (1979) expresses the older view that it was a movement of reactionary conservatism.
Harline, Craig. "Official Religion: Popular Religion in Recent Historiography of the Catholic Reformation",Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte (1990), Vol. 81, pp 239–262.
Jones, Martin D. W.The Counter Reformation: Religion and Society in Early Modern Europe (1995), emphasis on historiography
Jones, Pamela M. andThomas Worcester, eds.From Rome to Eternity: Catholicism and the Arts in Italy, ca. 1550–1650 (Brill 2002)
Bradshaw, Brendan. "The Reformation and the Counter-Reformation",History Today (1983) 33#11 pp. 42–45.
Marnef, Guido. "Belgian and Dutch Post-war Historiography on the Protestant and Catholic Reformation in the Netherlands",Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte (2009) Vol. 100, pp. 271–292.
Menchi, Silvana Seidel. "The Age of Reformation and Counter-Reformation in Italian Historiography, 1939–2009",Archiv für Reformationsgeschichte (2009) Vol. 100, pp. 193–217.
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